Chapter 425: Interlude - Escape (2) |
Kwon Oh-Jin murmured faintly under his breath, “Sacred Ground…”
I see. That’s what it was.
“You anticipated this,” Kwon Oh-Jin said.
The Celestials defying the Law and deploying their Sacred Grounds to protect their children. They would cast aside their past regrets and take a step forward for the sake of the future.
The Heavenly Demon had anticipated all of it. No, anticipate wasn’t the right word.
“It would be more accurate to say that you knew this would happen, right?”
Unlike Kwon Oh-Jin, the Heavenly Demon was a true Regressor who had literally turned back time.
Even if he had lost a great amount in the process, he hadn’t forgotten the most important thing. In fact, by carving away unnecessary memories, he had sharpened himself for one single deadly strike.
The Heavenly Demon shrugged casually at the Celestials’ Sacred Grounds. “It was actually a really close call when it happened the first time in the past. I mean, I still won in the end by dragging it on, but just barely. And hey, once is enough for that kind of suffering, don’t you think?”
Her furious roar echoed through the void.
The image of Mobius clutching that cheap, apple pendant and screaming in despair flashed before her. To exploit such a cruel tragedy and bottomless grief as a mere tool was unbelievable.
“Used him? When did I ever use Mobius?”
“You orchestrated this entire situation from the shadows, did you not?!”
The Heavenly Demon dryly chuckled and shook his head. “No, no. You’ve got the wrong guy, goddess. I didn’t do anything. The one who attacked Italy to provoke the Awakeners, the one who brainwashed the Black Star Celestials and started a war with you all, that was all Mobius’s doing.”
“None of this would have happened if you had saved Mobius’s child!”
“None of this would’ve happened either if you Celestials hadn’t turned your backs on that child in the first place.”
“That’s…”
“Mobius became what he was not because of me, but because of you Celestials. Isn’t that right?”
Vega narrowed her eyes at the Heavenly Demon, who shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly as if he had done nothing wrong.
“You truly are different,” Vega said.
Although he looked exactly like Kwon Oh-Jin, she could tell that they were entirely different beings.
“Come on. If it were your kid in my position, he would've done the same thing.”
“Nonsense.”
Kwon Oh-Jin did sometimes deceive or manipulate others for his own needs, but there was one crucial difference between him and the Heavenly Demon.
“My child would never cowardly shirk responsibility like you.”
“It’s funny asking a scammer to take responsibility, isn’t it?”
A radiant silver light emanated from Vega. “Do not mock my child with that filthy tongue of yours. You could never understand the pain of one who bears such burdens.”
Her proud child, Kwon Oh-Jin, had to endure the crushing weight and responsibility as the Heaven-Defying Star. He never stopped moving forward and never once tried to cast that burden aside.
That unyielding resolve was deserving of reverence. For the Heavenly Demon to mock it was unforgivable.
The Heavenly Demon chuckled and shook his head. “Ha, look at you, all motherly now. You used to be a lot colder, you know.”
“Dealing with a pathetic being like you, how could I not be cold?”
“Oof, that actually stings a little.”
“You and Oh-Jin have no connection whatsoever, so there’s no reason for you to feel insulted.”
“No connection at all? Isn’t that a bit harsh?”
After all, I am Oh-Jin too.
“Hmph. As the mother of that child, I cannot be wrong.”
“Ha! If anyone overheard that, they’d think he was your biological son.”
“We may not be connected by blood, but we are through our Stigma."
“Wasn’t there… another kind of connection between you two as well?”
“Ahem. That’s called motherly affection.”
“Pretty sure society has a different word for that. Actually…
Though I don’t want to say it out loud myself.
“We’ve rambled enough,” Vega said.
The silver waves created by Vega charged toward the Heavenly Demon.
In unison with her attack, the other Celestials strained their remaining strength to expand their Sacred Grounds once more. However, the Heavenly Demon’s black flames easily shattered the Sacred Grounds.
Fwoosh!
“Ugh…!”
“Kugh…!”
“L-Lady Vega… We can’t…!”
The Heavenly Demon’s flames weren’t overwhelmingly stronger than the numerous Sacred Grounds combined. Their defense fell apart so easily because the Celestials had reached their limit. The backlash from defying the Law’s restrictions and forcing out their Sacred Grounds was finally dragging them down.
“Haa, haa… It's no use…!”
Like a balloon slowly losing air, their Sacred Grounds began to shrink.
Woong.
Vega clenched her teeth, struggling desperately to sustain her power. “Just, a little… longer…”
The Heavenly Demon shook his head with a smirk. “It’s useless. Even if the Law’s restrictions have weakened, Celestials can never escape the shackles placed on them by the creator. Some things just can’t be overcome with willpower alone, goddess.”
Vega’s Sacred Ground began to dim, and she began to fade away. “Kugh… Haa, haa!”
She was being summoned back to the Sanctum as her time on Earth ran out.
“I’m sorry, my child. Soon…”
“Soon? Soon what?”
Before she could finish, Vega scattered like dust in the air. One by one, the other Celestials vanished back to the Sanctum as well.
Silence fell across the battlefield once they all disappeared.
Song Ha-Eun bit her lip and stamped her foot nervously. “Oh-Jin… I think we’re screwed.”
Kwon Oh-Jin remained silent. The situation was, without exaggeration, the worst it could be.
The Celestials, who could be called their final line of defense, had been forcibly summoned back to the Sanctum. The remaining Awakeners were half-conscious at best after their brutal battles against the Black Star Celestials.
Even Kwon Oh-Jin had only barely regained consciousness. The aftereffects of channeling the Milky Way as a human still ravaged his body.
No one is in any condition to fight.
They had fought wave after wave against the demonic beasts that blanketed the city, the Black Star Celestials, and finally Mobius, who even unleashed Open Heaven. It was like playing three back-to-back ninety-minute soccer matches with no breaks. At the end of all that, the Heavenly Demon had entered the field.
“Let’s run.”
They had no other choice. Kwon Oh-Jin barely had enough strength left to fight a one-star Anthorn, let alone the Heavenly Demon. Running for their lives seemed like the only viable option.
“And where exactly do we run to?” Song Ha-Eun asked.
“The Sanctum.”
Kwon Oh-Jin didn’t know what state the Celestials were in after being summoned back, but he believed even the Heavenly Demon wouldn’t be able to directly enter their realm. In the Sanctum, the shackles that bound the Celestials on Earth didn't exist.
If he hadn’t been wary of the Celestials in the first place, he wouldn’t have used Mobius to exhaust their Sacred Grounds.
For now, the Sanctum was the only safe place left.
Isabella looked at the Heavenly Demon. “Even if we run… Do you really think the Heavenly Demon will just let us go?”
He calmly stood there with his arms crossed, watching them as though he already had them in the palm of his hand and could seize them whenever he wished.
It made sense. After all, every Awakener here was utterly drained like dried husks. Naturally, he would look relaxed.
Someone has to hold him off.
Who could possibly stand against the Heavenly Demon, even just to stall him?
Cassia stepped forward, determination burning in her eyes. “I’ll do it.”
“No. You’re exhausted too.”
“Haha. I can manage holding him off for a little bit.”
Though she tried to look composed, her face had already gone ghostly pale.
It’s not just her.
Every Awakener here had reached their limits. It wouldn’t be surprising if they collapsed at any moment.
At this rate, we won’t even be able to hold him off for a bit.
Kwon Oh-Jin had only one option left—Open Heaven.
But if I use it now in my current state…
He could lose everything. Every memory and every trace of himself.
Kwon Oh-Jin bit his lip hard enough for blood to well. He could feel his legs trembling from fear.
“Damn it…”
He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to force down the wave of fear that coursed through him.
I’m scared.
He didn’t want to forget and lose everything.
Damn it, after everything I’ve gone through to survive.
The awe he felt when he first met Ha-Eun on the orphanage rooftop, the thrill of receiving a Stigma from Vega, the intensity of meeting Riarc, the absurd shock of learning Isabella’s true identity, the terror of being caught by Cassia—He didn’t want to lose any of those memories.
He lowered his head and clenched his fists until his knuckles cracked. “How… can I…”
A familiar voice echoed out. “What are you standing around for, kid?”
“Riarc…?”
Back when they were preparing for war against Mobius in the Sanctum, Vega had given Riarc a special mission. He wasn’t able to join the battle right away.
At the time, everything was chaotic. Since Riarc was also bound by the Law’s restrictions, Kwon Oh-Jin hadn’t thought it was much of a loss in manpower and had forgotten about him until now.
“Hmph. Just when you were starting to look like a warrior, you’re still far from it.”
“Grrr. Don’t say that, Khan. He’s a hero who saved our tribe!”
“I told you. I’m not Khan anymore.”
It wasn’t just Rirac who had appeared. Behind him stood the beastkin warriors led by the new khan, Leoru.
Boppy stomped forward, snorting steam and clacking its beak as its wings flared open. “Grrr!”
“You guys…”
Kellion, the leader of the dragonkin, walked forward and leaned on his staff. “We heard what was happening on Earth and immediately crossed over, but it seems we’re a little late.”
Behind him, lines of dragonkin mages formed ranks and pointed their staffs toward the Heavenly Demon. Their eyes lit up when they spotted Song Ha-Eun beside Kwon Oh-Jin.
“We’re sorry we’re late, Maiden!”
“Damn it… To think we arrived only after the Maiden has been this injured!”
“We’re not even worthy to call you Maiden after this incident!”
Tears streamed down the dragonkin’s faces as they looked at Song Ha-Eun, who bore marks of the battle.
“Dragon’s Virgin Maiden! We’ve come!”
“We’ll hold off the Heavenly Demon for you, Dragon’s Virgin Maiden!”
The dragonkin reverted to their old title of her instead of calling her just Maiden.
One dragonkin cocked his head. “Ah, but didn’t she say before that she wasn’t a virgin?"
“Oh yeah! She definitely said that!”
“Right, right! I totally forgot. Lady Ha-Eun isn’t a virgin!”
The dragonkin’s booming shouts rang across the silent battlefield.
All the Awakeners immediately looked at Song Ha-Eun.
Her face turned ghostly pale as all eyes fell on her. “Huh…?”
“Our apologies for the misunderstanding!”
“Shut up.”
“We’ll correct it right away, Dragon’s Non-Virgin Maiden.”
“I said shut up.”
“Dragon’s Non-Virgin Maiden, we’re here to assist you!”
“You little shits!”
For the love of god, just shut your damn mouths.