The Divine Twilight's Return

Chapter 353: Star, the Planet Celestial (3)

Sangwon, who once ruled almost the entire galaxy as ‘Tai Wei Yuan’ of the <Purple Star Astrology>, was now lost in his deep grudge.

‘I… I’m not someone who should be locked up in a place like this!’

Unable to accept reality, Sangwon writhed and tried his hardest to escape from the Bloodless Hell when he was locked up in it. However, with Divine Steel shackles attached to every part of him, moving was essentially impossible.

No, he actually couldn’t even feel that he was moving because the Bloodless Hell erased all of its prisoners’ physical senses. They couldn’t even see, hear, or feel. They wouldn’t notice any physical changes either despite having their divine powers sealed away.

Celestials ruled the law of the world with powerful resolve, and the only distinction between them was whether or not they embraced that as part of their large concept. However, once they lost their dominance and resolve, they felt as powerless as an empty-handed human stranded alone in the middle of a vast ocean.

To make things worse, he couldn’t even feel any external stimulant. He couldn’t help but instinctively assume that he would disappear unless he forced himself to keep thinking. Unfortunately, he couldn’t even feel himself writhing no matter how hard he tried to. Hence, while going through a series of emotions, his spite eventually faded away.

‘No! This can’t be! I am ‘Tai Wei Yuan’! The great king of the <Purple Star Astrology>!’

Denial.

‘Twilight, you bastard! You bastard put me in this misery! Once I get out of here, I’m going to tear you to pieces!’

Anger.

‘… T-this is just a strategic withdrawal. I’m simply taking a break.’

Bargaining.

‘But what if this doesn’t end as just a break…? What will happen then?’

Depression, and lastly…

‘W-what am I supposed to do? Should I just accept my reality?’

… acceptance. At some point, Sangwon began to worry about his future—no, he wasn’t even certain if he had a future anymore. Nevertheless, he didn’t let go of his lingering feelings because of his pride, which he still had but was fading away with time.

After who knew how long…

Tap, tap…

‘What is it?’

The noises coming from afar woke Sangwon up from his deep slumber. He looked up—no, he felt as if he raised his head. He was in the BloodlessHell, which caused all light and sounds to get lost in the darkness. It shouldn’t be even the slightest bit noisy.

‘Am I hearing things now?’

Arrrrrrgggh.

‘... No!’ Sangwon’s gaze sharpened. He definitely heard something moving and screaming. Something was happening in this Bloodless Hell.

‘Who is it? Did someone unlock the shackles?’

Sangwon had no idea how they could unlock the shackles, but it didn’t matter. All he cared about was that it was possible even in this wretched place.

Judging from the screaming, the escaping prisoner seemed to be harming the other prisoners, but Sangwon believed that he could neutralize the threat as soon as his shackles were unlocked. Although he was trapped here, he used to be the king of the <Purple Star Astrology>, leading numerous <Stars>.

“Here! I’m here! Untie me! You’ll be handsomely rewarded if you untie me! Come on! Untie me quickly!” Sangwon yelled at the top of his lungs.

He didn’t know if anyone could hear him since this place had no air for the sounds to course through, but he didn’t care.

Paah!

Shortly after, something similar to a will o’ wisps lit up near him.

“Yes, it’s here! It’s right—!” Sangwon’s face brightened up and welcomed the person but abruptly stopped.

‘Richardus?’

Sangwon didn’t expect to see him running toward him in this place, making him naturally doubt the man was the real Richardus. The Richardus that Sangwon knew was very gentle. Although he fought like a berserker, he put his effort into acting like a king on normal days.

The one in front of Sangwon was completely different. He was covered in blood, and his eyes were emitting blood-red light. His mouth was wide open, displaying his gleaming fangs to the world. They looked as sharp as a beast’s.

Krrrrrrr…

Richardus even growled like a hungry beast. Sangwon wondered why Richardus was in the Bloodless Hell, but considering how he was behaving, Sangwon immediately realized it would be dangerous even for him to interact with Richardus right now.

It didn’t take long for him to notice multiple ghosts floating around Richardus. Suo Chao, Wu Yong, Lu Junyi, Liu Tang… They were almost unrecognizable because their Divine Classes had been destroyed, but they were definitely the demonic <Purple Star Astrology> Celestials whom Chang-Sun had sealed!

Sangwon finally understood what Richardus was doing—Celestial Cannibalism, the forbidden ancient ceremony of taking a fellow Celestial’s ability by eating them. The barbaric ceremony was only held in very ancient times, but Richardus was now doing it to his colleagues.

“Shit!” Sangwon resisted as hard as he could, thinking he could also end up being prey.

Roaaar!

However, Richardus didn’t miss the tastiest prey in this place.

“Arrrgghhhhh!” Sangwon’s scream echoed throughout the Bloodless Hell.

* * *

The <Underworld> was extremely vast. The hells in the Purgatory Plane alone were already larger than most planes. Hence, even the King of the Underworld couldn’t keep an eye on its entire region at once.

‘That’s why we can do sneaky stuff like this,’ the Eunuch Star thought. Looking at the huge metal gate to the Bloodless Hell, he burst into laughter.

The metal gate was opening up little by little, causing an earthquake.

Creeeaak―!

All the <Underworld> guards and soldiers in charge of this region had already been eliminated. Some of them were spared to open the metal gate, but once they had served their purpose, they would be killed as well.

‘Who would have expected something like this would happen in the middle of the <Underworld>? Only that ‘maniac’ could even dare to think about actually doing this.’ The Eunuch Star chuckled, recalling the group of maniacs standing behind him and waiting for Richardus’ return.

The Eunuch Star wondered how this world would be ruined once those maniacs finally fully surfaced into the world.

“There he is…” His face brightened up when someone walked out of the slightly-open gate.

Tap, tap.

The man spread a suffocatingly thick, fog-like aura and left a bloody trail with each step he took. As the Eunuch Star got closer to him, he fell into a rapture. This was it—this was the king he had been desperately wishing for. The side that he had always wanted to see from Richardus had finally been created.

In awe, the Eunuch Star handed Richardus’ royal robe over to him, and Richardus casually draped it over his shoulder and looked ahead. Perhaps it was because he had eaten too many Celestials, but he felt quite tired. Learning to properly control all this divine power would likely take quite some time as well.

However, he couldn’t rest yet. He was still in the middle of enemy territory. By now, the King of the Underworld had likely noticed what happened in the Bloodless Hell. He had to stay alert enough to respond to any situation.

Besides, he also had to worry about the being standing in front of him. He worked with the Eunuch Star to save him, but Richardus didn’t have any idea what was going on in his head. The being had silky white hair that beautifully flowed down to his feet and gleaming golden eyes that resembled jewels. His red lips curved into a smile, seemingly having fun.

Sun Wukong, the Monkey King and Victorious Fighting Buddha, was with his group.

“I’m very glad to see you.” Sun Wukong delightedly waved his hand at Richardus, then turned in the opposite direction. “You seem to be done with your business here, so why don’t we get to the next one? Come on, come on. We have a lot to do here.”

Richardus nodded, putting aside his wariness of Sun Wukong. He still had to finish one more goal now that he had come all the way here. To defeat ‘Zi Wei Yuan’ and become the sole king of the <Purple Star Astrology>, he required more power. Although he had swallowed ‘Tai Wei Yuan,’ he had one more target remaining.

‘I’ll see you soon, Father,’ Richardus thought.

The time had come to find the Emperor’s Seat.

* * *

“Whoa… If it was going to be like this, maybe I should have just stayed in the White Tiger Clan.” Shin Geum-Gyu, a Team L member, heaved a very long sigh.

[The Celestial ‘World-Encircling Serpent’ clicks his tongue and tells you that you are saying nonsense and that you are not counting your blessings.]

“… I know, but I can’t help thinking about it. There’s too much work,” Geum-Gyu grumbled.

[The Celestial ‘World-Encircling Serpent’ asks how you plan to help him if you cannot even do this much.]

“Yes, yes, okay. I’ll do my best. Do my best!”

[The Celestial ‘World-Encircling Serpent’ shakes his head, muttering that you are a very unreliable apostle.]

Although Geum-Gyu pouted, his heart pounded when he read the word ‘apostle’ from the message. ‘I’m an apostle!’

Several days ago, Jörmungandr promoted Geum-Gyu from priest to apostle. Notorious for being sharp-tempered around his priests, he didn’t give him any heads-up. Hence, Geum-Gyu couldn’t help feeling surprised. He calmed down after a while and finally understood the reason behind the Celestial’s decision.

‘It’s because of Chang-Sun hyung. My Guardian is keeping a close eye on his movements.’

Geum-Gyu already knew that Chang-Sun was now a Celestial, but it also seemed to be the reason Jörmungandr recently had a lot on his mind.

‘Wait, can I really call him hyung now?’

The recent crisis had almost erased Korea from the map, and when it was stopped, things became really hectic for Geum-Gyu. With the Council’s active lead, the White Tiger Clan and what remained of the Korean forces, took charge of sorting out the aftermath. Dealing with monster byproducts, maintaining the peace in the destroyed cities… a flood of work came rushing in.

Carl Malone also broadcasted Chang-Sun’s achievements to the whole world, which made a crowd of media staff fly in from all over the world to interview him, worsening the chaos. Discussions about how Chang-Sun should be an Emperor ranked higher than the Ten Overlords continued, and the fact that he was the first human to become a Celestial also came to light.

The world couldn’t help going wild, which was understandable. Although Geum-Gyu was at the site to witness it all, he still had goosebumps whenever he recalled the moment.

‘While I didn’t know how to eliminate the draconic army, Chang-Sun hyung made all them all withdraw…!’

Chang-Sun’s most outstanding moment during the recent incident was when he lightly waved his hand and made tens of thousands of Dragon-type monsters slam their heads onto the ground and swear their loyalty. The White Tiger Clan members, the Korean Players, and even the survivors of the Chinese and Japanese volunteer troops… Every human in the area unwittingly bowed to Chang-Sun as well.

Maybe because he found all the attention cumbersome, Chang-Sun suddenly disappeared after doing something so remarkable. Hence, the Team L members were now doing all the work for him. The fact that Team L was personally led by Chang-Sun was enough to gain them a lot of attention. As a result…

“I want to join the <Order>.” Jun Tao suddenly blocked Geum-Gyu’s path in the hallway.

… groups of Chang-Sun’s followers—no, fanatics—was created and chose to target the Team L members.

“… Don’t you already have a Guardian and a Clan you’re leading, Divine Bell Overlord?” Geum-Gyu reluctantly asked, looking at Jun Tao.

Using his injuries as an excuse, Jun Tao had cooped himself up in his hospital room for the past three weeks. It was unclear what emotional changes he had gone through, but his eyes were blazing up with fervor. However, Geum-Gyu knew where his fervor was coming from. He probably looked no different when he first met Chang-Sun.

“My Guardian already allowed me. In fact, my Guardian told me to be closer to him,” Jun Tao said firmly.

“But the Triad…!”

“I want to form an alliance. It doesn’t matter if we become part of the <Order>. Besides, I heard that the <Order> has already formed an alliance with the Illuminati.” Jun Tao didn’t look as if he was going to back down.

‘This man is serious.’ Geum-Gyu scratched the back of his head, chuckling dumbfoundedly.

The Divine Bell Overlord was once called one of the three strongest Overlords with the Immortal and Thousand-Eyed Overlords, so it was quite surprising for him so be so submissive.

‘Well, maybe it’s only natural,’ Geum-Gyu thought.

Jun Tao likey went through a lot of internal conflicts the past three weeks. One could only have the desire to defeat another if they were on similar levels. An unbridgeable difference in levels would only result in awe, just like all people on Earth felt.

“It should be possible, but I don’t really have the authority to give you a definite answer… I would have to get my team leader’s permission first. Would you like to go with me?” Geum-Gyu offered.

“Can… I do that?”

“I happen to have reports to deliver. Let’s go.” Geum-Gyu gestured at Jun Tao.

Becoming noticeably nervous, Jun Tao quietly nodded and gulped. Geum-Gyu found this big man cute now.

‘I feel like I can hear his heart pounding.’ Geum-Gyu chuckled, heading to the room where Chang-Sun and Carl would be talking right now.

Now close to their destination, Geum-Gyu could see…

“Please! Let us meet the mighty god just once!”

“Please give us the chance to meet the god in person!”

… not only the Korean, Chinese, and Japanese survivors of the Player volunteer army but people from all around the world. Too many fanatics were already swarming in front of Chang-Sun’s office.

* * *

“I’m sorry. I tried my best to keep it under wraps, but the news must have gotten leaked somewhere.”

Click.

Chang-Sun frowned a little as he watched Carl put down a teacup in front of him. It wasn’t that he didn’t like the scent of the tea.

Carl was obviously holding in his laughter, which only annoyed him even more. Nevertheless, he couldn’t. After all, he became a Planet Celestial earlier than he originally planned thanks to him.

[Acquiring an astronomical amount of Faith from the Server ‘Earth’!]

[Your Divine Class has drastically increased.]

[Your Divine Class has drastically increased.]

…

[The current level of your Myth is ‘Planet.’]

[All the civilizations and Faith on the Server ‘Earth’ are synchronizing with you.]

[You represent the will of the Server ‘Earth.’]

[The other Celestials’ influence over the Server ‘Earth’ has significantly decreased.]

…

[Current status: Planet Celestial]

…

[The current level of your Myth is ‘Stellar System’.]

[The other Celestials’ influence over the Server ‘Earth’ has been completely eliminated.]

[You are now the only one who can provide the Faith of the Server ‘Earth’ to other Celestials.]

…

[The Divine Class of the Celestial ‘Divine Twilight’ has increased!]

[Current status: Monotheistic Celestial]

[Unlocked a great achievement!]

“Earth’s Only Absolute”

Reward: Will Synchronization with the Server ‘Earth.’ Acquisition of the Stellar System ‘Solar System.’