Chapter 361
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 361
Chapter Title: A Vacation in Three Parts (7)
Stellar Conjunction.
At first glance, it sounded like a term used in astronomy, but it wasn't hard to guess its true meaning.
"...Uh, so."
Oh-jin stared at Vega, looking as if he'd just been hit on the back of the head with a hammer.
"H-Here? You mean, right now?"
Oh-jin, who had never imagined Vega—far more reserved than the other two women—would make such a suggestion, looked at her with a bewildered expression.
Her first time, and she wants to do it outdoors.
He could hardly believe those words had come from the same Vega who used to blush just from holding his hand.
[U-Uuh.]
Vega's ears turned bright red as she hesitantly moved her lips.
[Y-You and the other two children have already… e-experienced it, have you not?]
Just by seeing how Ha-eun and Isabella approached him without hesitation, it was easy to imagine what had happened between them.
Oh-jin nodded with a troubled expression.
"...Well, that's true, but."
For lovers to share their bodies was a natural, expected thing.
Physical intimacy was just as important as emotional intimacy, after all.
Vega turned her head slightly, continuing with a somewhat lonely expression.
[For me to be the only one without experience… it feels a bit, a bit lonely.]
"......"
Oh-jin's eyes quivered as he looked at Vega.
This is insane.
He had faced plenty of temptations from Ha-eun and Isabella before, but never one that shook his heart to this extent.
It was like constantly fielding fastballs thrown straight down the line, only to be suddenly hit with a curveball.
*'Damn it.'*
His breathing grew ragged.
His heart began to pound as if it would burst, and heat rushed to his head.
[W-Why are you looking at me with those eyes...?]
Vega flinched, seeing Oh-jin's bloodshot eyes.
Oh-jin took a slow, deep breath, desperately trying to cool his heated mind.
He wanted to embrace Vega right this instant, but there was one problem he had to address first.
"But what if other Constellations show up? You said this place has that superstition thing."
*'It was a baseless, absurd superstition with no evidence or causality, on the level of 'kissing under the mistletoe at Christmas brings happiness.''*
In reality, many people on Earth also believed in and followed such superstitions.
Certain spots had even become tourist attractions, crowded with people every year.
*'Of course, what we're about to do here is more than just a kiss.'*
In any case, if it was a famous spot as Vega had said, there was a risk of other Constellations barging in.
Even if they were some distance away, he had seen Constellations enjoying intimate moments with their lovers back at the starlight plaza.
[D-Don't worry about that!]
Vega exclaimed with conviction.
He looked at her with questioning eyes, wondering what the basis for her confidence was.
[Uh... W-Well.]
Her eyes darting around, Vega took a short breath and spread her arms wide.
Vwoooooom!
A brilliant silver light flowed from Vega's body, illuminating the Star's Grave.
Sanctuary.
The unique authority of a Constellation spread wide around them.
"Y-You're using your Sanctuary?"
Oh-jin stared at Vega in astonishment.
Even if this was the Sanctuary where the laws didn't apply, to deploy her own Sanctuary just for a stellar conjunction(?) was...
Wasn't this as insane as buying an entire hotel just because you couldn't get a room?
[Hah, hah. N-Now, no one will be able to enter.]
Her breathing ragged, likely from deploying her Sanctuary, Vega swallowed hard and looked back at Oh-jin.
Her tightly clenched fists seemed to say, 'Now there are no problems!'
"...Well, yes, but."
Oh-jin looked at Vega with a dumbfounded expression.
He wondered if he shouldn't have asked what they'd do if other Constellations walked in, but now that she'd already deployed her Sanctuary, there was no turning back.
*'Ah, screw it.'*
His patience was reaching its limit.
"Come here, Vega."
[...Ah.]
He gently pulled her by the hand.
He could feel her clasped hand trembling faintly.
Oh-jin couldn't tell if the emotion within that tremor was anticipation or fear.
*'It's her first time, after all.'*
Being as gentle as possible so she wouldn't be scared was the least he could do for her.
"Just a moment."
Oh-jin reached out to the space around him.
Rumble.
The remnants of the Black Heaven gathered on his hand.
Although they were just empty husks, remnants from which all the energy had been drained.
*'Which is why they're so soft.'*
He lightly clenched the remnants of the Black Heaven gathered on his palm.
Poof, poof.
A soft sensation, like holding a cotton ball, spread through his hand.
"Lie down here."
Oh-jin gathered the remnants of the Black Heaven into a round shape, creating a makeshift bed.
Just as he took Vega's hand to gently lay her down on the bed.
[U-Um... M-My child.]
"Hm?"
Vega's face turned red as an apple as she lowered her head.
[...it's fine.]
"What was that?"
Her voice was too quiet to hear clearly.
Vega stammered and mumbled in a voice as faint as a crawling ant.
[I-It's... al-alright to be... a little rougher.]
"......"
Hmm.
That's it. I can't hold back anymore.
[Kyaa!]
Oh-jin roughly pushed Vega down.
* * *
A place where the death and birth of stars intersected.
After the 'stellar conjunction' concluded in the space covered by the remnants of the Black Heaven.
[......]
Vega was asleep on the makeshift bed of Black Heaven remnants, as if she had fainted.
Haa, haa.
The sound of her soft breathing tickled Oh-jin's ears pleasantly.
Recalling the passionate stellar conjunction from just moments before, Oh-jin cleared his throat with an *ahem*.
*'I knew Vega had that kind of preference(?), but...'*
He never thought she would demand love so fiercely, even during her first time.
*'This wasn't a stellar conjunction; it was a stellar collision.'*
As he entertained such silly thoughts and gently stroked the sleeping Vega's cheek.
[Uum. M-My child... I was wrong... P-Please forgive me.]
Was she reliving the stellar collision from earlier in her dreams?
Vega let out a heated breath and fidgeted in her sleep.
"...Nunna is going to raise hell if she finds out about this."
She'd probably tease Vega until she locked the temple doors and hid herself away again.
A part of him wanted to see Vega on the verge of tears after being teased relentlessly, but he couldn't possibly tell Ha-eun about the intimate night they'd shared.
*'I guess I'll wait for Vega to wake up.'*
Just as he started to get up to explore more of the Star's Grave in the meantime.
"Keuk!"
Sizzle!
A searing pain spread across his left chest.
A pain like his skin was being branded with a red-hot iron.
It wasn't an unfamiliar pain for Oh-jin.
He had already experienced it nine times before.
*'Wait, could this be...?'*
Oh-jin's eyes widened.
He unbuttoned his shirt and looked down at his left chest.
"You've got to be kidding me."
Next to the Stigma of Lyra, a tenth stroke was clearly engraved.
The moment the tenth stroke was carved, the Stigma's magic began to surge throughout his body.
*'D-Did I just become a 10-Star Awakened?'*
It was a situation he couldn't believe even after seeing it with his own eyes.
More than the joy of reaching 10-Star, a level only a handful of the Awakened could ever achieve, he felt bewildered by the situation itself.
The only thing he'd done just now was have a passionate lovemaking session with Vega.
*'No, it can't be. There's no way.'*
No matter that Vega was the Constellation of Lyra, reaching 10-Star just because he'd slept with her made no sense.
Oh-jin checked to see if this place, the 'Star's Grave,' held some kind of special power.
*'Stigma of Canes Venatici.'*
He pushed his senses to their absolute limit, scanning the surrounding area.
Rumble.
On top of that, he even spread the clouds of the Black Heaven to absorb everything around him indiscriminately.
And the result was...
"...Nothing."
The remnants of the Black Heaven filling the area, the corpses of stars illuminating the darkness.
They were all nothing but empty husks.
Reaching 10-Star with energy like leftover shrimp shells was impossible.
That left only one possibility.
"D-Did I really... reach 10-Star by doing it with Vega?"
This is just... ridiculous.
An empty laugh escaped Oh-jin's lips.
No matter how much he tried to deny the absurdity, there was honestly no other plausible reason for him to have reached 10-Star.
"...Come to think of it, the power of the Stigma of Lyra did get suddenly stronger after Vega and I became a couple."
It wasn't without precedent.
He had felt the power of the Stigma of Lyra growing noticeably stronger since becoming lovers with Vega.
But even so, he hadn't thought the actual cause was becoming her lover.
As Vega had said before, Constellations couldn't directly aid an Awakened's growth.
*'I thought it was because of the Black Heaven.'*
He thought it had strengthened rapidly due to the energy of Lyra released during the Black Heaven's tenth bloom.
It seemed that guess had been spectacularly wrong.
"Haaah."
A deep sigh escaped his lips.
He didn't want to admit it, but with such a clear causal link established, he couldn't keep denying the truth.
*'Every time I get closer to Vega... the power of the Stigma of Lyra grows stronger.'*
He couldn't tell if it was the influence of the Black Heaven or a unique property of the Stigma of Lyra.
To confirm it, he would need to compare it with someone else, but how could he do that when the only other person with the Black Heaven was the Heavenly Demon?
*'Besides, I'm the only Awakened with the Stigma of Lyra.'*
With an absolute lack of samples to analyze the phenomenon, he had no choice but to accept the truth before him.
"So, I get stronger every time I do it with Vega..."
And in Isabella's case, she gets stronger every time she drinks my blood and squeezes(?) me dry.
"What kind of erotic novel setting is this..."
Oh-jin sighed deeply and tore at his hair.