Chapter 302
Chapter 302
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 302
Chapter Title: Sky Mountain Range (8)
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[What a foolish question.]
Vega shot Felis a sharp glare and shrugged.
[Is it not natural for Vega to accompany the one and only Apostle to inherit the Stigma of Lyra?]
“The Apostle of Lyra…?”
Felis’s gaze shifted to Oh-jin.
“You were an Apostle of the North Star, nyang?”
Unlike her previous friendly approach, her voice was now laced with clear hostility.
Oh-jin subtly shifted his right arm back, ready to draw Dantalion at a moment's notice, and nodded.
“That’s right.”
“How disappointing, nyang! To think the first human in ages I wanted as my butler would be an Apostle of the North Star!”
Felis stomped her front paw in frustration, baring her teeth fiercely.
She shot Vega a glare brimming with jealousy, then irritably scratched the ground with her claws.
“Renounce the Stigma of Lyra this instant and become my butler, nyang!”
So she was just going to be completely unreasonable now.
He had heard that the Constellation of the Cat was prone to jealousy, but he never imagined she would lack common sense.
Just as Oh-jin drew Dantalion, about to say something.
[…Did you just tell my child to renounce the Stigma of Lyra?]
Her voice was as cold as a swirling frost.
Her gaze, directed at Felis, was as inorganic and devoid of emotion as when he had first met her.
“H-Hnyat?!”
Sensing the chilling killing intent, Felis’s fur stood on end as she backed away.
Vega glared at the retreating Felis and continued coldly.
[Why would my child ever be desperate enough to abandon the Stigma of Lyra for something as worthless as the Stigma of the Cat?]
“W-What did you say, nyang?”
[Though you were exiled from the Sanctuary, you were once a member of the Constellations.]
A hint of mockery flickered in her inorganic eyes.
[How dare a mere satellite challenge the authority of the North Star?]
“……”
Felis’s expression hardened.
“What… did you just spout, nyang?”
[I said my child is not someone a mere satellite can dare to covet.]
It was the tone of a strict, wealthy mother-in-law from a morning soap opera.
The atmosphere was so tense that if someone shouted, “You stray cat!” an entire episode could have been made out of it.
Oh-jin glanced between Vega and Felis and clicked his tongue.
‘Looks like talking this out is a lost cause.’
Felis was one thing, but…
this time, Vega was far more agitated than necessary.
For Felis, who had been exiled from the Sanctuary and demoted to a ‘satellite,’ Vega’s words were a direct jab at her sorest spot.
‘She must have gotten too heated over the demand to renounce the Stigma of Lyra.’
He had no intention of blaming Vega.
Felis’s unreasonable attitude had gotten him quite worked up as well, and it wasn’t as if she would have listened to a calm conversation anyway.
In a situation like this, it might even be a good tactic to provoke her and cloud her judgment.
“Riak, Isabella, Nunna.”
While Felis was distracted by Vega, Oh-jin turned to his party and spoke quietly.
“You saw the way down earlier, right? When I give the signal, run straight for it.”
“What about that damn cat? We’re just leaving her?”
“It’s probably just a vessel. What’s the point in fighting it?”
And with Felis here, there was a high chance Behemoth was waiting nearby.
He wanted to avoid fighting a spirit beast in this fog at all costs.
“Even if we have to fight, getting out of this fog comes first.”
“Yes, let’s do that.”
“Okay. So we just bolt, right?”
Oh-jin took a deep breath and counted to three in his mind.
Just as Felis glared at Vega, about to shout.
“Now!”
Oh-jin’s party sprinted toward the exit of the Sky Mountain Range without a single glance back.
Of course, Vega, the only one in the group who hadn’t been briefed on the plan, couldn’t follow the fleeing party and wore a bewildered expression.
‘Vega can just return to the Sanctuary and come back!’
Vega’s summoning location was near the silver pendant she had given him.
And that pendant was currently hanging around Oh-jin’s neck.
Even if she was separated from the party, she could return to the Sanctuary and then meet up with him again.
“This way, kid!”
Riak took the lead, dashing through the thick fog.
Just as the distance between them grew enough to pull the wires connecting them taut.
*Rustle, rustle, rustle!*
The bushes beyond the fog rustled violently, and something could be seen rushing toward them at high speed.
“Where do you think you’re going, nyang!”
Felis’s sharp cry echoed from a distance.
“Oh-jin! It’s those spider bastards we saw before!”
“Dammit.”
He had expected Felis to have some trick up her sleeve, but not that she would react this quickly.
“I’ll break through the encirclement!”
Isabella slit her wrist with her fingernails and thrust her arm forward, unleashing a crimson storm that swept through the approaching monsters.
In an instant, the bodies of hundreds of monsters were torn to shreds, clearing a path.
However.
“Kid, there are too many of them!”
A horde of hundreds, no, thousands of monsters swarmed in moments later, blocking the path again.
Their numbers were several times greater than the last time they fought them.
It wasn’t just the spider monsters; there were unfamiliar ones mixed in as well.
‘Did she summon every single monster in the Sky Mountain Range?’
Oh-jin frowned and scanned his surroundings.
The thick fog and the surrounding monsters made it impossible to get his bearings.
“I’ll guide you from above! Head that way!”
“O-Oh-jin!”
Oh-jin cut the wire connecting him to the party with a knife and used Stepping on Lightning Scars to leap high into the air.
‘Hound of Vega!’
*Crackle!*
Blue lightning spread out in all directions, and the movements of the surrounding monster horde flowed into his mind.
Although his senses were dulled by the fog, it wasn’t a complete sensory deprivation like the Clouds of the Black Heaven, so he could still tell where the monsters were thinnest.
“A hundred meters to the right! Then turn left and run!”
“Yes!”
Isabella ran forward and spread her arms wide.
Blades of blood rained down in all directions, indiscriminately wiping out the monsters blocking their path.
“Fire!”
Not to be outdone, Ha-eun took out a cigarette and aimed it at the monster horde.
A massive wave of fire, like a tidal wave, engulfed the monsters.
“This way!”
Riak, whose ability to handle large numbers was lacking compared to Ha-eun and Isabella, took on the role of guide, leading the party in the direction Oh-jin indicated.
“Oh-jin! You get down here too!”
“Got it!”
Oh-jin deactivated Stepping on Lightning Scars and landed on the ground.
Rejoining the party, Oh-jin followed Riak while mowing down the swarming monsters.
Just as the thought that they could break through the encirclement without issue crossed his mind.
“I told you not to think about escaping, nyang!”
Felis’s cry rang out again.
At the same time.
*Woooooong!*
A black aura spread out wide, covering a certain area in a circle.
‘This is…’
A sight Oh-jin had seen a few times before.
“Crazy… she’s using her Sanctuary?”
Sanctuary.
A space created by the authority of a Constellation.
An absolute domain that twisted not only the laws of physics but also the very cycle of life and death swallowed Oh-jin whole.
‘This insane cat!’
It would be one thing inside the greater Sanctuary where the laws have no restriction.
But she couldn’t possibly be unaware of the price for using a Sanctuary outside of it.
Even Vega, the Constellation of the North Star, had been bound by a restriction that left her immobile for a hundred years.
For Felis, who was of a significantly lower class, the restriction would be so great that it wouldn’t be strange if her very existence was extinguished on the spot.
“Kugh!”
Oh-jin struggled against the powerful force pulling at his body, trying to escape the Sanctuary.
“Hmph! It’s useless, nyang!”
Felis, who had suddenly appeared right behind him, snorted.
“Oh-jin!”
“Oh-jin!”
Isabella and Ha-eun rushed toward Oh-jin, who was being sucked into Felis’s Sanctuary, but…
“Ugh!”
“D-Dammit! The wires!”
The wires they had tied around themselves beforehand got tangled, slowing their steps ever so slightly.
They cut the wires in a second and ran to where Oh-jin was, but.
*Woooooong!*
Felis’s Sanctuary had already vanished without a trace.
Of course.
with Oh-jin, who had been swallowed by it.
* * *
“Ugh.”
Oh-jin clutched his throbbing head and opened his eyes.
A forest covered in thick fog.
It was definitely the Sky Mountain Range, but not the same place he had been just moments ago.
‘Did I get teleported?’
Before the question of where could even cross his mind.
[My child!]
The pendant glowed, and Vega appeared.
Just as Oh-jin had thought, she seemed to have returned to the Sanctuary and then manifested again.
[A-Are you alright? Are you hurt?!]
Vega flew over quickly and felt Oh-jin’s face.
Oh-jin calmed the flustered Vega and nodded.
“Don’t worry. I’m not hurt.”
[Haa. What a relief.]
Her head having cleared a bit, Vega looked around.
[This place is….]
“This is the ‘nest’ where we stay.”
Felis’s voice came from beyond the fog.
Vega’s expression twisted fiercely as she roared at Felis.
[Y-You used your Sanctuary! Do you have any idea what that means?!]
“Hmph! You think I used my Sanctuary without any thought?”
Felis snorted and shrugged.
“With His power, I can use an authority that slightly shifts space without any restrictions~”
His power.
“…Are you talking about the Heavenly Demon?”
Now that it was clear Felis was an enemy, there was no reason to use honorifics.
“Oh my? You knew?”
Felis gave a sly smile, the corner of her mouth twisting up.
Oh-jin bit his lip and frowned.
He knew the Constellations of the Black Star were connected to the Heavenly Demon.
But he never imagined they had the power to use a ‘Sanctuary’ without being bound by the laws’ restrictions.
“So, what’s the reason you used your Sanctuary to drag me here?”
“Didn’t I tell you earlier, nyang?”
Felis’s eyes gleamed as she looked Oh-jin up and down, as if licking him with her gaze.
“That I’m going to make you my butler.”
“……”
This crazy cat.
Oh-jin suppressed the urge to curse and let out a sigh.
“I have no intention of becoming your Apostle.”
“Huhu. We’ll just have to see how long you can keep saying that, nyang.”
Felis smiled leisurely, as if she had an ace up her sleeve.
And her hidden ‘ace’ revealed itself sooner than expected.
*Thump, thump, thump.*
Heavy footsteps echoed from beyond the fog.
“Grrrrrrrr.”
An eerie, soul-crushing growl came from beyond the fog.
Its form was still hidden by the fog.
But it wasn’t hard to guess the identity of the being beyond the mist, even without seeing it.
“…Behemoth.”
The ruler of the Sky Mountain Range was striding through the thick fog.