Return of the Shattered Constellation

Chapter 514: False Celestial, the Mother Terra Celestial (8)

Watching numerous Lee Chang-Suns fighting against each other, Chang-Sun shook his head in disbelief. He held up the [Yuchang Sword] and [Tiamat’s Snaggletooth], but suddenly thought, ‘Wait, do I have to join their fight?’

Chang-Sun had not even received a Scenario Quest to help the iron-armored knight. Above all, he lacked the information to decide if it was more beneficial to help the iron-armored knight or those heavenly warriors. They all looked the same as him, so it felt uncomfortable to just pick one side and take out the other side.

In the end, Chang-Sun grinned. ‘In times like this, it’s best to sit back and relax.’

***

Boom, boom, boom―!

The battle between the iron-armored knight and the heavenly warriors began. It seemed they had been fighting for a long time, because they immediately entered battle without exchanging one word, just like the time the iron-armored knight had begun attacking Chang-Sun.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Fire scorched the ground, but ice took root in the ground and clawed the sky. The battle was so intense that even Chang-Sun was quite impressed. The iron-armored knight demonstrated the most exceptional skill even against the dozens of heavenly warriors, showing that it was no coincidence that he could fight equally against Chang-Sun.

‘That knight… is different from me or Bel-Marduk. He’s experienced and mastered the basics.’ Chang-Sun observed the iron-armored knight.

Bel-Marduk, the Heavenly Dragon Emperor, Asclepius, Hsan… Chang-Sun had met many Lee Chang-Suns until now, and their fighting skills were… Raw? Rough? Yes, they were unrefined because those Lee Chang-Suns had learned their skills through countless life-or-death battles. They did not use standardized techniques, so many of their enemies had been defeated because they were unable to predict the Chang-Suns’ course of attack.

In contrast to them, the iron-armored knight used very standardized techniques. They had been passed down for thousands—no, tens of thousands of years, being improved over and over… After so much time, only profound, elevating insights remained in them. It was extremely tricky to receive a chance to learn such techniques, but if one could do so and make them one’s own, that person could reach the zenith instantly.

‘He received elite training.’

That was why the iron-armored knight was disciplined and polite to his opponents. Of course, he killed his opponents regardless.

In addition, the iron-armored knight had another specialty of his own.

Swish, swoosh, swish―!

Clang, clang, clang!

Chang-Sun used his [Foretelling Eye] to watch the quick exchanges of sword attacks and found new potential for improvement, which he had not thought about at all.

‘The Great Universe is certainly large, and there are a lot of ways for me to become stronger.’

It was not just the iron-armored knight.

Paah!

Paah!

Each heavenly warrior was less skilled than the iron-armored knight, but it was worth observing them because of their various abilities. One seemed to be a summoner, conjuring a huge monster from the rear to attack the iron-armored knight. On the other hand, another of the warriors fought against the iron-armored knight head-on, demonstrating spear skill that was on par with the knight’s. A fire wizard, an assassin who was waiting for his chance from the shadows, one who volunteered to be another warrior’s shield… Watching many Lee Chang-Suns walking down paths that Chang-Sun #801 had not found or walked down was an eye-opener.

‘I think choosing to sit back and watch was a good idea.’

Chang-Sun had to have gifts for every skill of theirs, so learning key elements of those skills alone would be a great help to him. Just as expected…

[Observing new techniques.]

[The techniques have been determined to suit your aptitude, deepening your understanding of them!]

…

[You have acquired a clue about the ‘Mahayana Sword Arts’.][1]

[You have learned the structure of the ‘Divine Spear Arts Form 1’.]

[You have acquired a clue about the ‘Monster Play’.]

…

[A new path for developing your prowess is unfolding before you!]

Slash, slash―!

Boom, boom, boom!

With the iron-armored knight’s brilliant performance in the battle, more of the heavenly warriors died over time. One, two, three… Soon, only half of them were left, and it looked as if they would not last long before the iron-armored knight’s sword. The surviving heavenly warriors grew more anxious, but…

‘No, the knight has already lost,’ Chang-Sun thought with conviction.

The way the iron-armored knight moved looked no different from before, but…

‘He’s tired.’

…he could not fool Chang-Sun’s eyes. The knight was out of breath, and his sword quivered a bit. It seemed he had already been tired from fighting against Chang-Sun.

Slash!

Splaaaash―!

Before long, the last heavenly warrior was killed, blood spurting from his neck like a fountain.

“Huff, huff…!” The iron-armored knight panted hard.

Unlike how relaxed he had been, the iron-armored knight was drenched in sweat. However, he did not sit down to take a break. Although he caught his breath, the knight still stayed on guard as if there was more to come. At the same time, he remained vigilant against Chang-Sun, who had not helped anyone.

‘They’re coming.’ Chang-Sun looked up at the sky again with sparkling eyes, not finding the iron-armored knight’s reaction odd.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh―!

The spatial gap in the sky grew wider. The iron-armored knight’s face darkened after seeing a larger group of heavenly warriors descending from the sky.

‘He said that Ymir’s slaves were coming down. That means it isn’t his first time fighting against them.’

Due to a lack of information, Chang-Sun could not be certain; but the heavenly warriors seemed to be Ymir’s slaves, and the iron-armored knight had been protecting the statues and hill against them. Regardless, the important part right now was that the knight had called the heavenly warriors ‘slaves’ in plural.

‘This Ymir must be sending their slave soldiers constantly. The problem is that the knight is tired.’

The iron-armored knight would not have had a big problem maintaining the defense until now; thus, Ymir had been dealing with the knight cautiously, because there was a limit to the manpower they could send in and a need to reorganize their troops.

However, it was different now. There was no way Ymir could have failed to notice the iron-armored knight’s fatigue. Even though the knight seemed to be trying hard not to reveal it… Well, even Chang-Sun noticed it easily, so Ymir would have noticed it more quickly than him, as someone who had been watching the knight for a long time.

Thus, Ymir would no doubt use this golden opportunity to drive the iron-armored knight into a corner by sending in more soldiers.

‘But I don’t like them either.’ Chang-Sun frowned.

Of course, he did not like Ymir as much as the iron-armored knight. All of Ymir’s slave soldiers… looked like Chang-Sun, so there was no way he could like Ymir.

‘I just want to benefit a bit from the fight… What should I do?’ Chang-Sun made a calculation of his own, wondering if it was better to watch the fight a little longer.

“…What are you doing?” The iron-armored knight glanced at Chang-Sun, frowning.

“What did I do?”

“Are you going to make me do all the work again?” the iron-armored knight asked.

Chang-Sun realized that the iron-armored knight talked in a disciplined, standardized tone just like his sword skill, which implied he led a life of honor and courtesy. Had the knight actually received a knighthood or something?

In that case, Chang-Sun could understand the reason behind the iron-armored knight’s scowl. Knights valued honor and loathed cowardice, so he no doubt disapproved of how Chang-Sun was behaving right now. However, Chang-Sun naturally did not care one bit and shamelessly answered, “What’s wrong with that?”

The iron-armored knight pursed his lips, not knowing what to say anymore. Looking at the knight, Chang-Sun scoffed. “I don’t know who you or they are. I even had to fight against you as soon as I arrived in this place, but I’m supposed to fight in this battle without knowing anything about it? Why should I?”

“…You are not wrong.” The iron-armored knight took a deep breath and stood at ease, turning in Chang-Sun’s direction.

Chang-Sun frowned, not knowing what had caused the iron-armored knight’s sudden change of behavior.

Clink!

The iron-armored knight suddenly held up his sword close to his chest in salutation. “It is a bit late, but I, Chaque li Omeister the Scarlet Lotus Knight, apologize for my rudeness earlier. Although I should have realized my mistake earlier and apologized to you sooner, the circumstances have delayed my apology. Will you forgive my discourtesy?”

‘Has he gone nuts?’ Chang-Sun thought, puzzled by Chaque’s apology.

All the Lee Chang-Suns that he had met until now were arrogant and always acted as they pleased, so he could not get used to such a formal version of him.

‘I’m the only one who’s normal.’

Chang-Sun had believed that all Lee Chang-Suns had similar personalities despite being in different Worldlines, but it seemed he was wrong, judging from how upright Chaque was. Regardless, he had no reason to reject Chaque’s apology, so he nodded reluctantly.

A smile slowly spread across Chaque’s serious face. “Then will you help me eliminate…?!”

“I don’t want to.”

Chaque’s smile quickly disappeared.

“I already told you that I know nothing about you and them. Explain properly if you want to persuade me to help you.”

Chaque nodded. “…I was indeed in a rush. Yes, that is the right thing to do when I am asking for help. I should share all the information I have and explain the situation I am in, especially to the person to whom I was disrespectful.”

Chang-Sun quietly let Chaque talk.

“Due to the urgency of the situation, I will be unable to explain in detail, so I ask for your understanding.” Chaque stood at ease and looked up at where the spatial gap covered half of the sky and poured out a legion of heavenly warriors.

“Do you know who Ymir is?”

“I know Ymir is the first Giant,” Chang-Sun answered.

“Then it will be easier to explain.”

Although he knew who Ymir was, Chang-Sun only knew a little information about him. Ymir was the first being and the Giants’ progenitor who appeared in the creation myth of <Asgard>, which was led by Odin.

In primordial times, the universe had been filled with emptiness known as <Ginnungagap>, and only darkness was present. One day, the world of fire named <Muspelheim> and the world covered with ice named <Jotunheim> had manifested, separating the universe into two. During the separation, eleven streams of a river called Elivagar had flowed forth and released fog, in which a Giant named Ymir had appeared for the first time.

Buri, the first Celestial of <Asgard>, had been born from Ymir and become the ancestor of Odin and his brothers, who had killed Ymir and used their corpse to create a world despite Ymir being their ancestor.

By tossing Ymir’s enormous corpse into <Ginnungagap>, Odin and his brothers had filled in the pit and created an ocean with Ymir’s blood. Their bones had become minerals, while their teeth had transformed into jewels. Their flesh had turned into soil. Forests had been born from their hair, and their brain fragments had turned into clouds. Ymir’s eyes had been hung in the sky to become the sun and the moon. The tears from those eyes had nourished the ground as rain. That was how Odin and his brothers had created a world.

Many Celestials who appeared afterward had crowned Odin to be their king for that great accomplishment. In contrast, the Giants, who could be considered Ymir’s direct descendants, had begun to consider Odin and his people their enemies and had gone to war against them.

‘But Odin considered Bestla, who became the queen of all Giants after Ymir, to be his teacher,’ Chang-Sun thought. He did think it was strange, but had not given much thought to it.

“Odin and his brothers killed Ymir for a good reason.”

“A good reason?”

“Yes, although Odin’s personal reason was to become a Creator Celestial, it was mainly out of the fear that Ymir would not stop growing and fill up the entire world.”

It was Chang-Sun’s first time hearing about such a story.

‘Giants can grow bigger without limits, so I can understand the possibility of that happening if Ymir kept feeding on Faith.’

Giants were elemental spirits, which meant they had no limit in size by nature.

“The problem is that killing Ymir physically did not mean that their mind was also murdered. killed. In fact, their mind only gre stronger.”

“Fragments of their mind must have been left in the corpse,” Chang-Sun speculated.

“That is right.”

‘Ymir’s story is similar to that of the Mother Terra Celestial. Well, Ymir has the characteristics of the Mother Terra Celestial in some way. Then does it make them her avatar?’ Chang-Sun wondered.

Chang-Sun was probably right. Otherwise, there was no reason for Ymir to be part of the Mother Terra Celestial’s <Myth>. At that moment, the fog in Chang-Sun’s mind cleared up, giving him a rough understanding of what was going on.

“Then Ymir is mobilizing their slave soldiers to recover their mutilated corpse. What is in this place?”

Chaque hesitated for a moment. Perhaps because he believed that it was necessary to receive Chang-Sun’s help, he solemnly answered, “Ymir’s heart.”

Badump, badump, badump!

At that moment, Chang-Sun’s heart raced intensely; [Laevateinn] and [Fimbulvetr] were responding fervently. And…

Ooong…!

Oooong…!

The statue also shook violently as if it was responding to Chang-Sun’s heart. It was the same as what Chang-Sun had gone through during his encounters with Surt and Bergelmir. Ymir’s heart had to either be the statue, or under it. That was how Chang-Sun could be certain that the two Giant Kings’ relics were closely related to Ymir.

“The slave soldiers are trying to recover the heart under Ymir’s command, and I’m trying to stop it because the world will crumble if Ymir resurrects, just like Odin was concerned about.”

Chang-Sun nodded in agreement after understanding Chaque’s reason.

Thinking he had finally succeeded in persuading Chang-Sun, Chaque’s face brightened up for the first time. “I told you everything I know. Can you understand the situation I am in now?”

“Yeah, I can.”

“Then will you help…?!”

“No, I won’t,” Chang-Sun answered very firmly.

Wondering why Chang-Sun had been such a good listener if he was going to refuse to help, Chaque blankly gaped for a moment.

Swooosh―!

Just then, a ball of fire suddenly flew at Chang-Sun.

“It’s dangerous!” Chaque shouted.

Paah!

Slash―!

Chaque quickly slashed the fireball using his sword.

Booom!

A hot gust of wind blew against Chaque, making his hair flutter. As he looked at Chang-Sun seriously, Chaque said, “It looks as if they believe you are my comrade. If a fight starts right now, it will be troublesome for you too, so will you not help me?”

“No, I won’t.”

Chaque could not control his rage for the first time in his life.

1. Mahayana is a sect of Buddhism. ☜