Chapter 305
Chapter 305
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 305
Chapter Title: Sky Mountain Range (11)
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My body was blazing hot.
I could feel every single one of my cells churning.
With every beat, blood pumped from my heart, and my body began to transform into something ‘different’.
Old, fragile tissues vanished, replaced by new cells forged from the magical power of the Seongheun.
It was a sensation akin to remodeling the inside of an old apartment.
Outwardly, there was no significant change, but the inside was being completely rebuilt.
‘So this is physical reconstruction.’
The physical reconstruction that an Awakened who has reached 9-Star is said to experience.
This feeling of every cell being remade was a new sensation, something even Oh-jin had never experienced before.
[Due to the physical reconstruction, the available power of ‘Heukcheon’ has greatly increased!]
A message appeared before my eyes.
It was interesting, but irrelevant for now.
There was no reason to use the power of Heukcheon at this moment.
“Hoo.”
Exhaling a low breath, I clenched my fist.
I violently swung my right arm, which had been pulled back like a drawn bowstring.
*CRACKLE!*
A single punch unleashed a tsunami of blue lightning that swept through the area before me.
“Graaaaaaah!”
Even as it was engulfed by the blue torrent, Behemoth didn't stop, continuing its charge toward Oh-jin.
It was a ferocious display worthy of the ruler of the Sky Mountain Range, but…
“Well now, shall we try using the ‘leg’ this time?”
Oh-jin lifted his left leg, now transformed into blue lightning, and stomped down hard.
The ground rippled as if a boulder had been thrown into a calm lake, and lightning erupted from below.
“Kuaaaaargh!”
Perhaps its bull-headed charge was its undoing.
Unable to avoid the lightning that suddenly shot up from beneath its feet, Behemoth screamed as it was sent flying.
“B-Behi-ring?”
Pellis, who had been watching the battle, let out a bewildered cry.
She had expected Oh-jin to be torn to shreds by the enraged Behemoth, but suddenly, parts of his body had turned into lightning, and the tide of battle had turned in an instant.
“Wh-what in the world is that, nyan?!”
She spun her head toward Vega, demanding an answer.
[My child…]
There, she saw the goddess, her tension seemingly gone, slumping to the ground.
Vega wiped her moist eyes and calmed her racing heart.
Pellis stared at Vega with an expression of disbelief.
“…Didn’t you know this was going to happen, nyan?”
[It is not that I knew.]
Vega slowly shook her head.
[I simply had faith in my child.]
That if it was Oh-jin…
If it was the Yeokcheon-ui Byeol she knew, he would burn brightest in such a desperate situation.
[…You always live up to my faith.]
Watching Oh-jin, who was now pushing Behemoth back, Vega smiled faintly.
To overcome the wall of 9-Star and rise again in a situation where others would have given up countless times…
How admirable, how praiseworthy.
[…]
Now, her heart pounded for a different reason.
Vega blushed and stared blankly at Oh-jin.
Every time she saw his brilliant form, an unknown emotion filled her heart.
No.
It wasn’t unknown.
She already knew what it was, but she was trying her best to ignore it.
“Don’t tell me…?”
Pellis’s jaw dropped as if she’d realized something.
“A-are you crazy, nyan? Harboring such feelings for your own child!”
Contrary to her seemingly free-spirited personality, did she have a surprisingly conservative side?
Pellis glared at Vega as if she’d just seen a bug crawl out of her food.
“Ha! So all that talk earlier about breaking the laws for your child was just to hide your dark intentions, nyan?”
Pellis let out a hollow laugh and glared sharply at Vega.
Although perceptions had changed recently, it was once taboo among the Constellations to harbor personal feelings for one’s own child.
In human society, it would be akin to incest.
Of course, the Constellations’ views had gradually changed over time, but Pellis, having been exiled from the Sanctuary in the distant past, had no way of knowing about that shift.
[…Perhaps you are right.]
Vega placed a hand on her chest with a bitter expression.
The duty of a Polaris Constellation was to act for the fate of the world, for the greater good.
Yet here she was, preparing to break the laws and face extinction, all for a personal emotion.
“How pathetic, nyan! How could a Constellation think of being with their own child…!”
[I am well aware of how pathetic it is.]
She, more than anyone, knew she shouldn't harbor these feelings.
But.
[Feelings… are not so easily dismissed.]
With a hand on her pounding heart…
The goddess of Lyra gazed at her child with burning eyes.
“…Y-you’re insane, nyan.”
Pellis took a hesitant step back.
Vega smiled faintly and looked back at Pellis.
[One day, you too shall understand.]
The life of a Constellation is long.
Even for the Constellation of the Cat, who had now become a Black Star, the day might come when she would understand such emotions.
“Hmph! In the world ruled by the Cheonma, such a thing will never happen, nyan!”
Pellis snorted and shook her head.
[No, such a world will not come to pass.]
Because.
[The Cheonma will die at the hands of my child.]
Vega said with a voice full of conviction.
Pellis’s expression twisted in fury.
“What nonsense are you spouting… Hnyan?!”
Pellis, who had been about to bare her fangs, suddenly jumped.
She whipped her head toward Behemoth.
“B-Behi-ring!”
In the brief moment she was distracted by her conversation with Vega, Behemoth had been slammed to the ground, where it lay gasping for breath.
“G-get up, Behi-ring!”
A spirit held a part of its Constellation’s soul.
If the spirit died, the Constellation would also suffer a great blow.
But despite Pellis’s desperate cries, Behemoth couldn't seem to get up.
“Hah, hah.”
Oh-jin panted heavily as he walked toward the fallen Behemoth.
“It’s… over.”
*Crackle!*
Fierce blue lightning blazed from the Thunder God's arm.
“Stop, nyan!”
Pellis frantically blocked Oh-jin’s path.
Oh-jin ignored Pellis and continued walking steadily toward Behemoth.
“I-I told you to stop, nyan!”
[Who would stop just because you tell them to?]
Vega quietly flew toward Pellis, crossing her arms and looking down at her.
[If you wish to save your child so badly, why not use your Sanctuary to do so?]
“Th-that’s.”
Pellis’s expression hardened.
Although the Cheonma’s power could weaken the restrictions of the laws, using the Sanctuary twice in a row was impossible.
No, to be precise, it was ‘possible’.
But the price could be the annihilation of her existence.
[Are you afraid of the laws’ restrictions?]
“……”
Vega looked down at Pellis, who was trembling with rage, her mouth clamped shut, and smirked.
What was it she had said to her earlier?
Recalling the words, a cold sneer formed on her lips.
[I suppose your child isn’t that precious to you after all?]
“Th-this is…!”
Pellis ran toward Behemoth with a deeply contorted face.
She blocked Oh-jin’s path and bared her teeth fiercely.
“Don’t move, nyan! One more step and… I’ll use my Sanctuary, nyan!”
“……”
Oh-jin’s steps toward Behemoth came to a halt.
“You’d use your Sanctuary to protect your child?”
“That’s right, nyan!”
“Even though your existence might be extinguished?”
“H-hmph! If it means saving Behi-ring, I can handle that much, nyan!”
“……”
Oh-jin let out a smirk.
“That’s not how you lie.”
From her trembling eyes, her raised voice, her hesitant expression…
It wasn’t hard to tell that Pellis was ‘lying’.
“I-it’s not a lie, nyan!”
“Oh, really?”
In that case.
“Go ahead and try to stop me.”
As far as Oh-jin knew, there were no insane Constellations, aside from Vega, who would risk their own existence by using their Sanctuary to protect a mere Apostle of Lament.
*Crackle!*
The torrent of blue lightning gathered in his right arm surged toward Behemoth.
“N-no, you can’t, nyan!”
Pellis cried out desperately.
But she never used her Sanctuary.
“Krrrr…”
Behemoth’s breathing grew fainter and fainter, until it finally stopped.
“B-Behi-riiiiiing!”
Pellis screamed and rushed to the fallen Behemoth.
Was it the effect of her spirit’s death?
Pellis’s body began to fade, slowly disappearing.
“J-just you wait, nyan! Butler or not, I’ll kill you for this, nyan!”
Pellis glared at Oh-jin, seething with killing intent.
[Try it if you can.]
Vega descended in front of Pellis.
[That time, I will be the one to stop you with my power.]
Even if…
The price was the annihilation of her own existence.
“…N-nonsense, nyan! When the time comes, you won’t be able to do anything either, nyan!”
[Is that what you think?]
Vega smiled faintly and placed a hand over her left breast.
[Then I shall swear on the name of Lyra. When my child is in danger, I will save him, even if it means my own existence will be extinguished.]
“…D-did you just swear on the name of your star, nyan?”
An oath sworn on a star’s name.
For a Constellation, this was no empty promise.
Breaking the oath would result in a partial loss of their power as a Constellation and a fall in their ‘status’.
The moment she broke that vow…
Vega would no longer be a ‘Polaris’.
Even though she knew this better than anyone…
Vega calmly uttered the oath sworn on her star’s name.
“Y-you’re both insane, nyan!”
Pellis shook her head as if she was sick of it all.
“Let’s never meet again, nyan!”
Forgetting the vow of revenge she had just made, Pellis turned her back without a second glance.
Her fading corporeal form completely dispersed and vanished.
“…Ve-ga.”
Was it because the tension had finally broken?
Oh-jin collapsed on the spot.
[A-are you alright?]
Vega quickly changed back to her original form and caught the falling Oh-jin.
Perhaps thanks to the physical reconstruction that occurred mid-fight, his injuries weren't as severe as they could have been.
The wound on his chest, so deep his ribs had been exposed, had healed, and his torn limbs had regenerated.
[Hmm?]
Vega stared at Oh-jin’s regenerated limbs, unable to understand.
No matter that he had reached 9-Star and undergone physical reconstruction, she had never heard of severed limbs regenerating.
“Keuk.”
[Ah, w-wait a moment. I will give you a potion.]
Taking a potion from Oh-jin’s sling bag, Vega carefully tilted the bottle and poured it into his mouth.
“Thank… you.”
Perhaps because the potion’s pain-relieving effects were kicking in, Oh-jin’s eyes slowly fluttered shut.
Vega rested the sleeping Oh-jin’s head on her lap and gently stroked his hair.
[Once again… I was unable to help you.]
Vega placed a hand on Oh-jin’s forehead with sad eyes.
She bit her lip and placed a hand over her heart.
*Thump, thump.*
She could feel her heart pounding fiercely.
An uncontrollable emotion welled up from deep within.
[Suppressing one’s heart is no easy task.]
To think the day would come when a Polaris Constellation would suffer such heartache over her affection for a mere human.
It was something she could never have imagined when she was ruminating on her solitude in the vast temple.
[My child.]
She whispered to the sleeping Oh-jin.
[I love you.]
She poured all the emotions she had desperately suppressed into her voice.
Of course, these words would likely never reach him.
But it didn't matter.
Just putting her suppressed feelings into words filled her with such happiness.
[Rest well, my child.]
Vega leaned down to press a kiss to Oh-jin’s forehead.
She paused.
Her lips, about to touch his forehead, suddenly stopped.
[…]
After glancing around, Vega swallowed dryly and shifted her gaze.
To where his sleeping lips were.