Chapter 469: Star, Identity Establishment (7)

Return of the Shattered Constellation

After deflecting an attack coming for his neck, Chang-Sun suddenly felt scorching heat, so he quickly looked up.

‘What is that?’ Chang-Sun wondered.

A hole had opened up in the sky, but it was unlike the one Ubbo-Sathla had emerged from. While the Outer Celestial had traveled through a hole that glowed with black light, this one seemed like an ordinary spatial gap; and yet, its sheer size made for a surreal sight, as if an indescribably colossal Giant had poked a hole in the sky.

However, to Chang-Sun’s surprise, the hole grew even larger as if someone had torn it open, unleashing gales of superheated winds.

Rummmble...!

The gales were so strong that the heat produced by Chang-Sun and the past reincarnations’ abilities seemed like nothing. The atmosphere only became drier and hotter as the gales blew away all moisture in their way, distorting the entire area with a powerful heat haze. On top of that, the blazefall began to flow once again... turning the Past Life Castle into a hellscape.

[Caution! A Sudden Event ‘Fire Deluge’ has been activated!]

"A-Aaargghhh!”

"It’s hot...!”

"Someone save me!”

Although it was called a ‘deluge’, it also created a river of caustic fire that was extremely hot. Barriers, magic spells, even the realm’s laws of nature... The sticky river melted it all.

Even the hellfire from Sanjiva, the place Chang-Sun could summon as the Ksitigarbha King, was less intense than the heat of the fiery river. Chang-Sun was unsure whether he could stop it if he chose to handle it head-on. The problem was that not even the past reincarnations knew precisely what the disaster was, even though it was taking place in the subconscious realm

"Why can’t I activate my Skills?!”

"My Authorities don’t work either...!”

"I can’t find a Mana Stream!”

"N-No...! Keough!”

"Arrrrghhh!”

The past reincarnations quickly noticed that there was no turning back once they were swept away by the fire deluge, so they quickly fled from it. However, neither their space-type magic spells nor Authorities such as teleportation and levitation worked, so many of them were helplessly swept away in the fire deluge. Of course, their presence could no longer be detected afterward, as they were melted away just like the Past Life Castle.

"Ruuuuun!”

Perhaps that was why the sudden scream sparked a mass exodus. All the surviving past reincarnations ran away from the fire deluge as if they had forgotten what they were just doing, and Chang-Sun and Tomte were no exception.

"Perkwunos! What the hell are you doing?!” Tomte yelled at the top of his lungs, pointing his finger at the sky, but he got no response.

Whoooosh!

The deluge spread outward in all directions, spreading to the entire barren land. There was so much fire that it swelled at an unbelievable pace, creating a flow as tall as a building. No amount of divine power seemed sufficient for a person to run away from the deluge.

"Fuck!”

"Then I’ll just...!”

The past reincarnations who were on the verge of getting swept away by the deluge turned back, gnashing their teeth. Instead of helplessly accepting death, they intended to resist and put up a fight.

Paah! Paah, paah!

Flash!

Rumble, rumble!

Each of them activated their own Signature against the deluge. A rain of lightning bolts poured down, and dozens of swords fell onto the fire.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh―!

However, the deluge did not only swallow all the Signature attacks, but also the past reincarnations who had chosen to fight.

‘Is there really no way to deal with this deluge?’ Chang-Sun thought as he gritted his teeth, running at the forefront.

He occasionally glanced back and used his [Gnostic Eye] to observe the deluge, but he could read nothing—no, there were some things he could see.

The [Gnostic Eye] was a tool to convert all laws of nature into letters; beneath its gaze, the deluge became a mix of countless letters. However, every one of them was ruined. Even the letters that made up the Past Life Castle and the air itself disintegrated once they came into contact with the deluge, not allowing Chang-Sun to read them anymore; it was negating any laws of nature in its way.

[The activation of the Authority ‘Avatar’s Descent’ has been forcibly canceled!]

[The activation of the Authority ‘Heaven and Earth Great Shift’ has been forcibly canceled!]

...

[You are currently unable to use the Authority ‘Avatar’s Descent’ in the area.]

...

That was the reason why all the space-type Skill and Authority activations, as well as all the Signatures used by the reincariations, had been negated. The Skills of both Celestials and Star Signs were based on laws of nature, and this fire deluge negated those laws. In other words, it was the natural bane of all Celestials and Star Signs. Perhaps it was even similar to Ubbo-Sathla, who brought <Extinction>.

‘No, it’s different from that Outer Celestial. That is...’

If that had been the case, Chang-Sun’s attacks would not have been negated...

‘They’re returning to their nature...!’

The red and blue lightning guards, as well as Odin, had definitely said that their soul originated from the <Fire of Origin>, which began with the first universe’s creation. A spark from the fire had become a soul after an eternity, and they had been born after joining samsara.

That meant their soul was originally a <Fire Spark>, and that spark belonged to a fire that had burned before any matter in the universe even existed. If it could be manifested as a deluge like this, it would only be natural for the resulting <Fire> to return something to its original form.

‘Perkwunos. It’s Perkwunos’ Signature,’ Chang-Sun thought.

Perkwunos was Chang-Sun’s first past reincarnation, so he would no doubt understand the <Fire of Origin better than anyone else. An urge began to rise within Chang-Sun. He had the power of a Celestial King and had one foot in the door to becoming an Outer Celestial, but he was still unsure about his chances of victory against Perkwunos. What abilities and secrets could his first past reincarnation possibly have?

Instead of growing dispirited, however, Chang-Sun wondered how he could overcome this disaster and find Perkwunos.

『You noticed what this was.』

Right at that moment, Chang-Sun heard Perkwunos’s voice. It was quiet, as if Perkwunos was muttering to himself; and yet it was crystal clear, seemingly indicating the level of his Divine Class before his death.

『I must say that I see why Odin has his eye on you. Maybe receiving the Number of the Beast wasn’t a bad choice...』

After muttering a few words incomprehensibly, Perkwunos went on.

『Come to where I am, and then I’ll show you my secret.』

The place where Perkwunos was? Chang-Sun’s [Gnostic Eye] had been glued to the fire deluge; he traced the path of the unfathomably high blazefall and looked beyond the hole in the sky.

‘It’s there.’

The letters nearby were still being distorted, but there were zero letters beyond the hole, not even fragments, which meant it was where the fire was strongest. Perkwunos had to be waiting for Chang-Sun at the fire deluge’s origin, which meant Chang-Sun had to travel up it... How in the world was he supposed to do that, though?

Chang-Sun belatedly noticed several boulders around the blazefall that were big enough for only one person to stand on, and he wondered if he was supposed to use those boulders as stepping stones to get to the hole in the sky. Just then...

[Emergency announcement! The Scenario Quest (Identity Search Ⅱ) has been changed!]

[For a long time, a deluge has often been interpreted as an extinction event that brings death to all existing civilizations and creation.]

[Such a deluge has taken place in the Past Life Castle.]

[If the deluge engulfs the entire realm, your subconscious realm will meet <Extinction>. ]

[Find the cause of the deluge and stop the disaster; then, you will be qualified to get closer to the ‘Fire of Origin’.]

"What is this...?”

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? We have to find the cause of the deluge?”

The past reincarnations gasped after reading the announcement window in the sky. A battle royale Quest had suddenly been changed to a death race, so they were naturally bewildered. However, even during the chaos, some of their eyes sparkled.

‘This is...!’

‘This is my chance!’

‘I don’t stand a chance of defeating Lee Chang-Sun and Tomte, but this kind of Quest is...!’

‘All I have to do is reach my soul’s origin, so my odds are good.’

‘Perhaps both Lee Chang-Sun and Tomte are going to die in the fire tsunami...’

It was a great opportunity for the past reincarnations who had given up all hope because of the two huge walls named Chang-Sun and Tomte respectively. Some of the past reincarnations quickly decided to turn back and run toward the fire tsunami.

Fortunately, a line of boulders floated on the surface of the fire tsunami like stepping stones. Some of the boulders looked big enough for ten people, while others were smaller and more precarious. The distance between each of the boulders was different, and no one in the realm could use their Skills and Authorities properly, so the only thing they could rely on was their physical ability. However, the past reincarnations did not seem to mind that one bit and actually liked how things had turned out.

Paah, paah, paah―!

Tap, tap, tap!

"What? Huuuuh?”

"Shit! Why is it so small?”

The moment the past reincarnations landed on the first floating boulder, they let out exclamations of surprise. One slip on these boulders could cause them to fall into the fire deluge, so they could not afford to make any mistakes. Balancing oneself with difficulty, leaping from boulder to boulder... Each of the past reincarnations chose a different method to climb up the boulders.

"I-I did it!”

"Then, on to the next boulder...!”

The past reincarnations who landed on relatively stable boulders could calmly proceed to the next boulder.

"Arghhh! Nooooo!”

"What the fuck! Is this random? Some boulders are intact while others aren’t!”

The past reincarnations who failed to do the same fell to their death as soon as the boulders crumbled away.

"That boulder is mine!”

"Get lost, you bastard! I called dibs on it first!”

"It’s not the time for that right now!”

"You have a death wish, shithead?!”

Clang, clang, clang!

Sword fights broke out over the intact floating boulders. Even during the chaos, the past reincarnations were starting to realize that there was no guarantee that even the sturdier-looking boulders were actually intact.

‘This Quest must not be that easy. It’s just a deception.’

‘There must be a pattern in these boulders to safely climb up to the top... What can it be?’

It was pure mayhem. The reincarnations screamed at the top of their lungs spitefully and hysterically before their imminent death. Although they had experienced death long ago, dying in the subconscious realm was totally different, because it meant that they would never regain their identity. Besides, they knew the frustration and despair that death brought very well because of their past experiences with it, so they struggled even more desperately to survive.

‘Is he <Filtering>?’ Chang-Sun wondered.

Meanwhile, Chang-Sun was displeased about the fact that Perkwunos was using a method similar to Celestial and Star Signs choosing their apostles; he was unsure of what Perkwunos was trying to achieve by testing all the past reincarnations.

‘I have to meet him first.’ Chang-Sun took his first step, clenching his teeth.

"It’s not that boulder. Four people already stepped on it, so it’s not going to hold out any longer.”

Someone suddenly stopped Chang-Sun, causing him to turn back.