Return of the Shattered Constellation

The birdcage was now so small that the people inside could see the whole cage. If it shrank enough to converge on one point, Earth would explode immediately. The impact would be immense enough to detonate not only the solar system, but a part of the galaxy. In other words, Chang-Sun and the other people on Earth would be blown away too.

“…Did ‘see you again’ mean he would see me again after I died?” Chang-Sun wondered with a dumbfounded chuckle, thinking that was a possibility.

The Dragon-Trapped Birdcage was a magic spell that was actually close to an Authority, so destroying it was nearly impossible.

‘Besides, this birdcage has had the Causality of <Purple Star Astrology> added to it, increasing its durability, so the moment I try to destroy it, it’ll explode instantly,’ Chang-Sun thought. He narrowed his eyes as he watched the five Dragon Monarchs, who were focusing on maintaining the magic from outside the birdcage, his [Gnostic Eye] gleaming. ‘If there’s a way, it has to involve disassembling the cage… but that isn’t going to be easy.’

The methods that were suggested by his [Gnostic Eye] included directly attacking the Dragon Monarchs or ripping apart the grimoires in their hands. The problem was that the five Dragon Monarchs were outside the birdcage.

‘The inside and outside of the Birdcage are separated using the refraction of dimensional surfaces, so it won’t be easy to actually impact them with ordinary attacks.’

That could be deduced by the fact that Kali and Baek Gyeo-Ul had kept trying to kill the Dragon Monarchs, but were unable to succeed.

「Even if we kill them somehow, they resurrect.」

At that moment, Kali approached Chang-Sun, having realized what he was thinking about.

“What do you mean?” Chang-Sun asked.

「How many of them do you think Gyeo-Ul and I have killed already?」

“I’m assuming the number is quite high,” Chang-Sun replied.

「We killed four of them at least once each. The one in the middle already died four times.」

Kali frowned in discontentment.

「I don’t know how they’re doing it, but they continue to recover even after their death. They’re not just Undead, they’re undying.」

Gyeo-Ul nodded in agreement, saying, “They also recover ridiculously quickly. It might be because they’re sharing their consciousnesses.”

“In the end, we have to instantly take out at least four of them at once in spite of the dimension surface refraction…? That won’t be easy,” Chang-Sun muttered to himself.

Chang-Sun thought about how many of the Dragon Monarchs he would be able to take out at once using the powers of omnipotence and omniscience. ‘Four at most… The barrier around the farthest one is too sturdy, as if they anticipated something like that.’

The bigger problem was that even if Chang-Sun somehow took out five of them at the same time, there was a Dragon Monarch who was not present, the one Jin Prezia was dealing with.

‘There might even be another Dragon Monarch stashed away somewhere as a contingency.’

In the end, taking them out at the same time was impossible.

‘There must be another way…!’ Chang-Sun thought with a frown.

By merging his 666 egos, he had unlocked the powers of omnipotence and omniscience, but that only applied to things and people in his view, which meant there was a limit. Perhaps it would have been different if Chang-Sun could observe all the Dragon Monarchs in the same place, but making that happen would not be easy, which made him even more frustrated. Nevertheless, Chang-Sun tightened his grip on the [Twilight Spear], thinking he had to find a way somehow.

『Master!』

Just then, Chang-Sun received a telepathic message from Sinmara that sounded particularly urgent for some reason. It was a simple message, but Chang-Sun could tell that Sinmara’s Class leveled up more than once from the way two voices spoke in unison; it seemed that her second face had been restored.

‘What is it?’ Chang-Sun asked.

『I think… we may have been wrong about the Dragon Monarchs.』

‘What were we wrong about?’ Chang-Sun continued.

『A moment ago, I read their past using my Past-Reading Eyes, but they aren’t Undead.』

‘…What do you mean?’ Chang-Sun thought. His eyes widened; he did not understand what Sinmara was saying.contemporary romance

『Those low-ranking Dragon-type monsters among the draconic troops were bewitched by Dragontongue magic to become part of the enemy force. Just like them, the Dragon Monarchs have also been brainwashed, and their souls have been erased. The Dragon Monarchs are Soul Absentees.』

‘Soul Absentee’ was a collective term for beings who had lost their souls and reason. They were only left with their bodies, so in other words…

“…The Dragon Monarchs we’re looking at aren’t the real ones?” Chang-Sun murmured.

『Yes, that’s it. They’re just King Drakes, one of the high-ranking Dragon types that can walk upright…!』

When Sinmara’s explanation reached that point Chang-Sun’s [Gnostic Eye] began shining more brilliantly. Up until then, he and his team had found it troublesome to fight the Dragon Monarchs, but if they were simply King Drakes being controlled by parasitic entities, many things now made sense. With his [Gnostic Eye], he quickly scanned the five Dragon Monarchs; that way, he soon uncovered the identities he had been trying to find—the tomes that the Dragon Monarchs were gripping tightly were gleaming.

‘…Their grimoires,’ Chang-Sun thought.

『I think the grimoires are the parasites that are controlling the Dragon Monarchs.』

“To be precise, the grimoires are terminals, and there must be a separate cloud system that relays the signals and controls the Dragon Monarchs,” Chang-Sun concluded.

『Exactly.』

Chang-Sun looked upward as he shouted, “Simon Magus!”

The iron mask on his face separated from him and floated into the air. At the same time, the [Golem Core] appeared; all the blood in the nearby area gathered around it, taking the form of a person.

Click!

Putting on the mask, Simon looked at the Dragon Monarchs.

“Do you think it’s possible?” Chang-Sun asked.

「Haha, do you still find me unreliable, master? It looks like I have to show you what I’ve got to earn some trust.」

Simon reached out his hand toward the birdcage’s ceiling. Several magic circles repeatedly appeared and disappeared above his hand, sending mana waves spreading out with him at the center.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…!

Through his time with Chang-Sun, Simon had accumulated a lot of gnosis and a deep understanding of this world; thus, when it came to magic, he was better than most Celestials.

Paaah…!

[Your Subordinate ‘Simon Magus’ has activated the Skill ‘Gnosis Tracing’, attempting to hack the Magic ‘Dragon-Trapped Birdcage’!]

[The attempt has failed.]

[The attempt has failed.]

…

[Your Subordinate ‘Simon Magus’ is attempting a new method of hacking using a bypass.]

[The protocol has been located.]

[The network has been located.]

…

[Your Subordinate ‘Simon Magus’ has successfully accessed the cloud system!]

[The firewall is too secure.]

[The hacking attempt has failed.]

「Keough! I’ve heard about this descendant of the Ancient Dragon clan, but it looks like the system won’t open up easily.」

Under the iron mask, Simon Magus’s eyes turned bloodshot as if they were going to burst at any minute, and he trembled precariously as numerous commands flashed past his vision. It was understandable, because the cloud system controlled directly by the Dragon Monarchs was based on the system of magic personally made by Crom Cruach, the best mage of this generation; thus, it had an outstandingly high level of security.

As he marveled at the fact that Crom’s level was vastly higher than what he had expected, Simon received new inspiration, but he also felt stumped, wondering how in the world he could infiltrate the system.

If Simon failed to break through the cloud system, Earth would also meet doom. Even though he had few lingering feelings for Earth, it was the home where he had lived for over two thousand years, so the last thing he wished to happen was for it to crumble in vain.

[Your Subordinate ‘Simon Magus’ is attempting a new method of hacking!]

[The activation of the Magic ‘Dragon-Trapped Birdcage’ has been paused!]

Kieeeeeh!

『An intruder that is trying to infiltrate our cloud system has been detected.』

『Activating the antivirus system…』

『Blocking and subduing the infiltration attempt.』

『Attempting to accelerate the birdcage’s speed…』

『Calculating a method to reduce the shutdown time from fifteen minutes to eight minutes.』

The grimoires shrieked loudly, and the Dragon Monarchs lost their egos and responded mechanically as they created new magic circles.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The mana that had been circling around the interior of the entire birdcage turned into a powerful gust of wind, which was so turbulent that it made the entire birdcage tremble.

Just a little moment… If only the firewall could be nullified for the briefest moment, Simon would be able to finish analyzing the birdcage…!

[The Magic ‘Dragon-Trapped Birdcage’ has been reactivated!]

[The Magic ‘Dragon-Trapped Birdcage’ has been paused.]

[The Magic ‘Dragon-Trapped Birdcage’ has been reactivated!]

[The Magic ‘Dragon-Trapped Birdcage’ has been paused.]

…

As the birdcage continued to repeatedly expand and shrink, Simon’s extended hand trembled as he reached his limit.

“All you need is a moment, yes?” Chang-Sun remarked as he pierced the [Twilight Spear] into the floor, then slowly drew [Tiamat’s Snaggletooth] from the back of his belt.

Simon was unsure what Chang-Sun was trying to do, but he could not ask the question out loud. In fact, it was a wonder that he had held out for so long.

[The Trait ‘King of Weapons’ has been applied, unlocking all the seals of ‘Tiamat’s Snaggletooth’!]

Using his Trait of [King of Weapons], Chang-Sun unlocked [Tiamat’s Snaggletooth] completely. In other words, he could draw out the full power of all the weapons in existence without his golden key.

Click, paah―!

A pool of black light poured out from [Tiamat’s Snaggletooth], which soon turned into a greatsword. The concentrated layer of energy around the sword was so chaotic it seemed as if it could explode at any moment.

Chang-Sun turned his torso and held up [Tiamat’s Snaggletooth], causing the flow of the wind to be disrupted. A flaming lightning bolt struck the birdcage’s spire.

Boooom!

Rumble―!

The precise location Chang-Sun had targeted was the docking port that connected the cloud system and the birdcage.

[Firing a Dragon Breath!]

[The firewall of the cloud system has temporarily collapsed due to a strong shock.]

Pzzzzz, pzzzz―!

The space around the birdcage’s spire distorted.

「…Hup!」

Simon reached out with both hands toward the distortion and pulled it firmly toward him; the distorted space twisted into the shape of a helix as it came down, revealing a glimpse of the hidden dark world behind it.

‘Dream Realm…!’ Chang-Sun thought. He identified it as Crom’s subconscious realm, which she had always accessed whenever she went to sleep before her death.

[The nearby space has been divided by force, revealing the hidden ‘Data Cloud’, the real body of the ‘Dragon Monarchs’!]

[The ‘Data Cloud’ tries to restore the firewall.]

[The attempt has been canceled.]

…

[Your Subordinate ‘Simon Magus’ has infiltrated the system of the ‘Data Cloud’, attempting to analyze the Magic ‘Dragon-Trapped Birdcage’!]

[Analyzing…]

[Analyzing…]

While the light in Simon’s eyes continued to flicker repeatedly, Chang-Sun widened his [Gnostic Eye] and observed the Data Cloud, thinking that disassembling the birdcage with Simon would become easier after he himself acquired more gnosis about it.

Paaaaah…

An enormous flood of information poured into Chang-Sun’s mind, making him feel light-headed; it was undoubtedly Crom’s knowledge of magic, which had been recorded in multiple grimoires. However, the quantity and quality of the information were both so great that despite the fact that he was using the power of omniscience, it felt as if his whole existing knowledge had been shaken.

―Whoa! All this is Keter.

Odin’s exclamation echoed in Chang-Sun’s mind. Chang-Sun asked, ‘What is Keter[1]?’

―The collection of knowledge that the Ancient Dragons created by observing and researching. It’s also known as the First Sefirah[2].

Odin’s laughter became louder and louder.

―I heard it disappeared after the Ancient Dragons went extinct, but I guess it was almost restored. Crom Cruach was a very skilled child, huh?

Chang-Sun could tell that Keter, which Odin had mentioned, was the system of magic that Crom had tried to recreate in her dream.

‘She… almost finished restoring it?’ Chang-Sun thought blankly.

Regardless of how close she had been to achieving her clan’s wish, she had sacrificed herself to save Chang-Sun and the others? Feeling apologetic toward Crom, he bit his lower lip firmly. On the other hand, his enmity against Richardus also grew, as Richardus had tried to harm Crom.

‘Wait… even if he made Crom into an Undead, Richardus restored this much of Crom’s magic?’

Something did not add up. From what Chang-Sun knew, neither Richardus nor anyone else in <Purple Star Astrology> had the ability to understand Crom’s magic.

―It looks like something is inside it.

Odin chuckled quietly. Before Chang-Sun could ask what he meant, Odin coldly continued.

―I’m saying that it seems the child named Crom Cruach left a message for her friend, who would come for her one day.

“...!”

1. Also known as Kether. ☜

2. This concept actually originated from Jewish mysticism. Sefirot, the collective term for all ten sefirahs, refers to the attributes of power that God chose to display in this world. ☜

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