The Divine Twilight's Return

Chapter 369: Star, the Children of the Emperor’s Seat (4)

The Changgwi Cave’s gate opening up above the fortress city resembled an old plane meeting <Extinction>. As white lightning sparks flew up from the pitch-black clouds, Giants engulfed in scarlet fire poured down from the gate.

Thud!

Thud! Thud!

Thuuud…!

The ground sank and buildings crumbled down every time a Fire Giant landed.

「Warriors of <Muspelheim>! Let us prove our bravery on this battlefield!」

Sinmara let out a battle cry. All the Fire Giants simultaneously stomped on the ground in response.

Thump!

Thump!

Thump!

「Bring disasters to our enemies!」

「Prove our bravery!」

[Your Subordinate ‘Sinmara’ has activated the Skill ‘Giant Roar’!]

[All your Subordinate Giants are responding fervently, increasing their morale!]

[The combat effectiveness of your Subordinates has increased!]

The Fire Giants grew a little with each shout they let out. They burst out fire as if blowing air into balloons, getting bigger from several meters to dozens of meters tall. They were now taller than most buildings, having become literal Giants. Simply standing still was enough for them to exude a great amount of pressure. In addition, there were about a hundred of them!

「Those <Stars> led us into <Extinction> in the past. It’s about time we make all of them crash from the sky!」

Thump, thump, thump…!

Led by Sinmara, the Fire Giants began their march, swinging their axes and cutting down any obstacle that blocked their way. The ground sank with each step they took, and from the cracks they created, fire soared like lava. It didn’t take long for flames, smoke, and the burning smell to fill up the city, making it look as if it came from an apocalyptic novel.

Riding their Dragon-type monsters, the draconic knights also rampaged across the sky and the ground,

“S-sky…!”

“Stop them! Quickly!”

“So Twilight has decided to do this… Stop them! Stop them from approaching the center!”

“B-but—!”

The <Troop> Celestials tried to stop the <Muspelheim> army’s march using any means necessary, but it was futile. Even among transcendental beings, Giants were already known to be great martial artists. However, these <Muspelheim> Giants had regained their original power, and their fire of <Muspelheim> grew stronger when Chang-Sun acquired supreme sacred light. Stopping them now was almost impossible.

No, even if it weren’t for the Giants, most <Troop> Celestials had already lost their will to fight. All this time, they believed that the Incendiary Burial Whale was an impregnable fortress, allowing them to withstand all the hardships even as <Purple Star Astrology> closed in on them.

However, it took less than an hour to blow away half of the Incendiary Burial Whale, rendering their belief meaningless. Even if <Troop> Celestials continued to somehow put up a fight, how many of them could actually survive if the very explosion that destroyed the Incendiary Burial Whale detonated in the center of their city? Supposing they did somehow survive, could they survive again if another chain of explosions occurred? The train of thought made it difficult for them to pick up their weapons.

“We’re going to die… We’re going to die…”

In the end, the <Troop> was crushed before they could even get into battle formation. Even those confident about their abilities ended up slamming their heads on the ground when they encountered Sinmara’s ax. Jin’s ice storm spread over the sky, and Kali and Baek Gyeo-Ul brought their opponents to their knees one after another.

Not long after, Chang-Sun made his appearance.

[The Celestial ‘Divine Twilight’ has descended!]

Rumble!

A lightning bolt struck the center of the city, which had been turned into ruins, and Chang-Sun showed up. He indiscriminately emitted <Darkness> and supreme sacred light in his Anomaly state. The eyes of the Cataclysm Celestial behind him blazed with the desire to grab and throw anything it could get its hands on.

Rumble! Rumble!

Minerva and Mars appeared as well. Minerva looked tired, while Mars was noticeably happy.

“That must be the ‘Shi Yuan Castle,’ the <Troop>’s headquarters.” Minerva covered her face with her hands for a moment to pull herself together.

Since she and the others were here as conquerors, she had to forget about what happened in the Taeum and act like one.

[The Celestial ‘Twilight-Piercing Owl’ spreads her wings!]

Woosh!

When Minerva spread her huge set of golden wings. ripples formed under Chang-Sun’s and Mars’ feet. Minerva had given her allies her blessing to prepare for contingencies.

Tap.

Tap―!

With Chang-Sun in the lead, they walked down the ruined roads and reached the Shi Yuan Castle, but all they could see were ruined and collapsing buildings. Meanwhile, the <Troop> soldiers under the Fire Giants’ control in the conquered sectors were forced to kneel and bow.

The <Troop> members didn’t readily surrender even if they had already lost their will to fight, so Jin bound them in ice shackles. Even then, the Fire Giants glared at their captives and still kept their guard up, ready to swing their weapons if necessary. When Chang-Sun first opened up the portal above the <Troop> hideout, he gave only two orders.

Conquer and subdue.

Since he was here to subjugate the <Troop>, he wanted to minimize the casualties. Fortunately, his warriors seemed to have understood and perfectly executed his commands. However, they seemed to have so faithfully carried his orders out that they tore off the limbs of many of the <Troop> soldiers and rendered them unconscious. Nevertheless, it was safe to say that the warriors successfully completed their task. Since they showed the overwhelming difference in power between the two forces, Chang-Sun believed that the <Troop> would now start thinking twice before resisting.

The <Troop> soldiers naturally didn’t stay quiet just because they had been subdued. Although they were bowing, they continued to glare at Chang-Sun, their eyes filled with fury.

“Twilight!” One of the subdued soldiers abruptly flew at Chang-Sun.

「No!」

a Fire Giant tried to stop the soldier a little too late, allowing the latter to reach Chang-Sun’s vicinity.

Shi Lou, the attacker, used to be one of the Thirteen Commanders and was in charge of the Seventh Corps. Using his exceptional ability in assassination, he pretended to be subdued until he got the chance to carry out his plan. Unfortunately, someone far more skilled in stealth was by Chang-Sun’s side.

Paaah―!

Claaaang!

Right before Shi Lou struck Chang-Sun with his dagger, Chang-Sun’s shadow suddenly grew taller and stood between the two. Baek Gyeo-Ul’s Black Dragon Fang flashed as he deflected Shi Lou’s dagger to the side. He then used his left hand to punch him in the face.

Swoosh, swish, swoosh!

Gyeo-Ul and Shi Lou exchanged several attacks in the blink of an eye, engaging in a fierce battle. After swinging and deflecting each other’s weapons several times, Shi Lou tried to break through Gyeo-Ul’s defense and get Chang-Sun. However, Gyeo-Ul never let it happen. Demonstrating what he had achieved the past year in Durga’s martial arts lessons, Gyeo-Ul closed in on Shi Lou, grabbed him by the collar, and threw him to the ground.

Thuuuud!

Shi Lou’s face hit the ground, causing rocks to fly up in the air.

“You won’t be able to get to Chang-Sun hyung-nim without my permission,” Gyeo-Ul coldly said.

“Get off of me! Let me go!” Shi Lou continued to resist, but Gyeo-Ul didn’t budge. He easily kept him down.

Meanwhile, the Fire Giants surrounded the nearby area. Shi Lou could see Chang-Sun looking at him expressionlessly.

Gritting his teeth, Shi Lou gave Chang-Sun a death glare. “Twilight, you disgusting traitor! How dare you shamelessly come here after you put Father in so much misery?! Are you trying to mock us?!”

“I put Father in so much misery?” Chang-Sun repeated quietly.

Shi Lou flinched, surprised not by Chang-Sun’s tone, which seemed to be holding a lot of mentions, but by the word he used. Father. Chang-Sun rarely called the Emperor’s Seat father even when he was still in <Purple Star Astrology>...

“Gyeo-Ul,” Chang-Sun continued.

“Yes, hyung-nim.”

“Let him go.”

Gyeo-Ul freed Shi Lou without question, knowing full well Chang-Sun would have a good reason for it.

Shi Lou immediately pounced on Chang-Sun again, who simply flicked his dagger away. The ‘Divine Twilight’ that Shi Lou knew never tolerated defiance, so he thought Chang-Sun was about to kill him.

However, Chang-Sun just went on his way, brushing past Shi Lou. It flustered Shi Lou so much that he blanked out for a moment, preventing him from moving. Concluding that Chang-Sun was making fun of him, his face reddened as he yelled, “What in the world are you thinking, Twilight?!”

Without even looking back, Chang-Sun brusquely answered, “Follow me if you want to see the truth.”

“What…?” Shi Lou was having trouble wrapping his head around the current situation.

What could be the truth? Did Chang-Sun have another reason he was invading the <Troop>? Shi Lou wanted to tell him to cut the nonsense, but he couldn’t bring himself to because of the overwhelming pressure that Chang-Sun exuded. Unlike the ‘Divine Twilight’ that Shi Lou knew, who was a lone wolf whose eyes were filled with horrifying murderous intent, the one in front of him looked like a lion leading his pack.

‘He’s like Father…!’ Shi Lou soon shook his head. ‘Nonsense. Something must have bewitched me.’

Too shocked by how powerful Chang-Sun had become, Shi Lou believed that he wasn’t himself right now. With gleaming eyes, he followed Chang-Sun, who was already way up ahead. He thought that although he wasn’t sure what Chang-Sun was trying to do, he wouldn’t just still if Chang-Sun tried anything funny.

* * *

As Chang-Sun and the others climbed up the stone staircase that led to the Shi Yuan Castle’s throne room, the <Troop> ambushed Chang-Sun several times. Shi Lou, Tu Si, Dou, Suo Guan… Each one was the older children of the Emperor’s Seat who had fought Chang-Sun to the death. However, Chang-Sun just subdued them this time instead of killing or sealing them. Instead of putting them in shackles, he just told them to follow him if they wished and left them behind. Left with no other choice, they follow him despite their confusion about his response.

「You all should really look at yourselves,」Kali sneered, glancing at the four bloody Celestials. She couldn’t help feeling happy because of how ridiculous the people who killed her and her comrades looked right now. The four Celestials bit their lower lips in humiliation. They used to be rulers, but now, they seemed to be going through another humiliation since running away from <Purple Star Astrology>.

“... What is Twilight thinking?” Shi Lou asked Kali.

They weren’t fools, so they eventually realized that the goal behind Chang-Sun’s invasion wasn’t solely about conquering. Despite the overwhelming difference between the two forces, the <Troop> suffered practically zero casualties aside from unfortunate accidents. Unfortunately, no matter how hard they thought, they couldn’t figure out Chang-Sun’s real reason. Since Kali worked with Chang-Sun, they thought that she would know something, but…

「I don’t know,」Kali quietly scoffed.

Shi Lou’s face crumpled up. “What?”

「I said I don’t know. He’s never been the talkative type, so he didn’t tell me about this either. You people technically knew Twilight longer than me, but do you understand him?」

No one answered—no, they couldn’t answer.

「Twilight has always been like that. He’s like an illusion that no one ca understand or know. Maybe that’s why he’s called Twilight.」

Kali smiled bitterly as he looked at Chang-Sun.

「I can tell you one thing, though. Nothing bad will happen to any of you today, although that’s very tragic news for me.」

Kali was encouraging the four Celestials to come at her if they were going to anyway. She might not be able to kill them, but she would still be able to slam their heads on the ground. Unable to say anything else, they followed Chang-Sun and the others to the Shi Yuan Castle, feeling both nervous and curious.

Creeeaak―!

Chang-Sun opened up the doors gate to the throne roominner courtyard.

Thud…!