The Divine Twilight's Return

Chapter 494: Star Fragments (4)

[Foretelling Eye]

The improved Authority of ‘Gnostic Eye’, which ‘Divine Twilight’ the Celestial inherited from ‘Cane-Holding Father of Warriors’. Based on accumulated gnosis, one can analyze and predict their target’s next moves. They can read a portion of the law of causality depending on mastery, but what they witness is not fixed.

“Those who can see the secrets of nature shall not rashly reveal them ”

· Type: Authority. Signature.

· Effect: Observation Enhancement. Phenomenon Analysis. Possibility Prediction.

The moment Chang-Sun acquired his [Foretelling Eye], one thought filled his mind. ’Nothing is going to be impossible forwith this.’

That was how significant it was to read the law of causality. The ability to read the universe’s flow allowed one to use that flow to their advantage before things even happened. Since Chang-Sun had experienced the power of precognition while using omnipotence and omniscience, he had a lot of hopes for his [Foretelling Eye].

Of course, compared to before, the limit was clear. The future that Chang-Sun could see consisted of possibilities, which meant they could change at any time. However, Chang-Sun was content with the opportunity to choose the best possibility among them, since the ability to choose equaled power.

In fact, Chang-Sun had turned the tide of the battle in his favor and gained the upper hand in his fight against Metatron and Baal using his [Foretelling Eye], even though both of them had revealed their true names and used their power as Elder Celestials. However...

‘I can’t see it.’

...there was still something he could not see even with his [Foretelling Eye].

『Can you not hear me? I doubt it.』

Although R’lyeh’s eyes were only half-open, they were still massive, so it was not difficult to look into his eyes. Chang-Sun froze up, because all the letters in the area had disappeared. After a moment, he recalled that he had experienced something similar in the past—with <Deus Ex Machina>. As a complete being, <Deus Ex Machina> was naturally flawless.

‘No, he’s superior to Machina when it comes to naturalness[1]...!’ Chang-Sun gaped.

Even <SuprLight> had seemed lesser than him. That was how Chang-Sun was able to conclude that the one he had met before was truly just a representative of <SuprLight>.

『Are you... not answeringon purpose? I can’t tell.』

Pzzz...!

At that moment, <Darkness> rose like a haze, but nothing was ordinary about it. It was from somewhere deeper, like <Nihil> or the <Abyss>. The energy amassed and transformed into a human.

As the energy of the <Abyss> washed away, a man slowly appeared. His coat was as black as the <Abyss>, and he had a white mask that bore a sword scar over one eye. Black hair, black eyes... everything about him was dark, and yet there was something about him that felt suffocating to anyone who saw him.

Finally.

Ubbo-Sathla screamed in Chang-Sun’s head.

‘It’s him...!’ Chang-Sun thought simultaneously.

It was <Dull Darkness>. The king of Nyx, chaos, the <Abyss>, and <Darkness>. The Emperor who had been born a human but eaten the previous <Dull Darkness> after becoming his apostle. This man was the incarnation of that very being.

“You’re listening to me, yes?” <Dull Darkness> asked.

Chang-Sun blankly nodded.

“Phew! I already had a lot of business to take care of over there, so I didn’t want to think about this place... What in the world is Jeong-Woo doing?” <Dull Darkness> remarked as he brushed back his hair in annoyance.

Over there? A lot of business to take care of? <Dull Darkness> had been sleeping until now, so Chang-Sun had thought <Dull Darkness> only occasionally sent out his consciousness to many of the Lee Chang-Suns’ Rollback loops. He could understand nothing about what <Dull Darkness> was saying.

However, <Dull Darkness> nonchalantly said, “Well, what’s done is done. I’ll put out the biggest fire first, then deal with you. Wait over there.”

Claaaang!

Upon hearing the last remark from <Dull Darkness>, Chang-Sun felt as if he was bound with invisible chains, unable to lift a finger or use his [Foretelling Eye] to undo his bindings. He could not even speak, as if the very world around him was what formed those chains.

‘It’s incredible...!’ Chang-Sun thought with wide eyes, watching every movement from <Dull Darkness>.

When <Dull Darkness> looked up, Baal and Metatron, who had escaped the explosion with difficulty and been cautiously watching him, becnoticeably bewildered.

“H-Hold on! Letexplain what happened...!”

“We had our reasons. We could have handled it with more time!”

Chang-Sun felt mixed emotions while watching the two, who had shown overwhelming power, hurriedly making excuses.

“I’ll listen to your excuses later,” <Dull Darkness> replied.

“Uh...!”

“T-That...!”

Not caring about Baal’s and Metatron’s excuses, <Dull Darkness> flicked his fingers.

[‘Pneuma's Sky’ has been activated, stopping the ‘Wheel’!]

Tpaused completely, as if someone had forced it to stop. The brilliant explosion, the fiercely active black holes, the crumbling Tower,the rampaging prisoners, the Eight Gods of Disorder who were running around to arrest the prisoners, Aphoom-Zhah, Asclepius, Bel-Marduk... Everyone stopped moving. Chang-Sun, Baal, and Metatron were the only ones who remained unaffected.

The brief silence left by <Dull Darkness> terrified Chang-Sun, because he could sense that this was something he could not fight against.

[Rewinding the ‘Wheel’!]

As <Dull Darkness> casually waved his hand, everything and everyone returned to their previous state. The hole Chang-Sun had created disappeared, and he floated in the air at the stime. Ascle and all the other prisoners returned to their cells. The crumbling Tower pieced itself together.

Not even the golden key, which was supposed to be an Absolute Relic, was effective before <Dull Darkness>. The wide-open prison cells were locked, and the prisoners were in shackles again... Ascle was also forced back into his solitary cell on the ninety-ninth floor.

Clink! Clink!

Only after Chang-Sun was under Divine Steel shackles, the way he had been when he first arrived at the Tower, did tresagain. The whole process left him in awe. It felt different from his encounter with <Deus Ex Machina>.

『Master! I missed youuu~❤』

Just then, Aphoom-Zhah ran into the arms of <Dull Darkness> with heart-shaped pupils. The current incarnation of <Dull Darkness> was as tall as Chang-Sun, so a hug from a rabbit that was dozens of meters tall looked dangerous.

Smaaaack!

<Dull Darkness> simply smacked Aphoom-Zhah’s head in annoyance. With half of his head destroyed, Aphoom-Zhah flew far into the distance.

Thud!

『It’s exhilarating! I missed your spicy touch so muuuuuch! Ahhhhh~❤』

[The Outer Celestial ‘Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young’ looks at the pervert with disgust!]

[The Outer Celestial ‘Nameless Mist’ bawls after reuniting with their father, who gave them their name!]

[The Outer Celestial ‘Source of Uncleanliness’ prostrates to welctheir father!]

[The Outer Celestial ‘Harbinger’ asks his father if he can sing to celebrate his father’s return!]

[The Outer Celestial ‘Green Flame’ dances happily!]

Ooooong―!

Ooong! Oooong!

Kyah, kyah, kyah!

When all the Eight Gods of Disorder let out happy cheers for the return of <Dull Darkness>, bizarre sounds cfrom every direction, and the sky distorted.

“Alright. Everyone, stop,” <Dull Darkness> said.

As the Eight Gods of Disorder instantly fell silent, <Dull Darkness> quietly looked at Bel-Marduk, who froze up in terror.

“D-Darkness is really here...?” Bel-Marduk stuttered, bound to his Divine Steel shackles again like Chang-Sun.

It was different from the tBel-Marduk went against Ascle, who had triggered his trauma. Just like Chang-Sun, Bel-Marduk was overpowered by something indescribably immense. Perhaps he was affected a lot more than Chang-Sun.

The <Stars> had been created after swallowing the fragments that the <First Star> had dropped upon his death. Since <Dull Darkness> was the student of the <First Star>, the <Stars> were thieves who had stolen his teacher’s legacy.

On top of that, many Star Signs had taken advantage of how <Dull Darkness> had been asleep and gone after R’lyeh. In fact, all of those sStar Signs were locked up in the Tower now. Bel-Marduk had also gone after R’lyeh, and that had been the main agenda of <Horoscope> too. However, Bel-Marduk had given up after several tries because he realized that the chance of success was slim despite the risk.

Still, it would nt matter to <Dull Darkness>. From his perspective, <Stars> were Bugs who brought disorder to Eros and Nyx, so he had to exterminate them as an Administrator. Bel-Marduk would be eradicated without a trace if <Dull Darkness> used his power. Bel-Marduk wanted to shout, but could not say anything, so the only thing he could do was tremble.

“You were once one of the best prospective candidates of <Dawn>, so I’ll hold off on deciding what to do with you,” <Dull Darkness> finally said, breaking his silence.

<Dawn>...? Bel-Marduk wondered about that, but just as he was about to ask a question, he suddenly lost consciousness.

<Dull Darkness> turned to look at Chang-Sun and said, “It’s the sfor you. You look like you have a lot of questions, but let’s talk after cleaning up this place. Ah, keep in mind that I’m going to make sure you pay for the havoc you wreaked.”

Chang-Sun felt as if <Dull Darkness> was covering his face with a hand. Thinking that <Dull Darkness> clearly sounded annoyed and Metatron and Baal were terrified of him... Chang-Sun also lost consciousness.

* * *

‘Urgh...!’ Chang-Sun woke up with a horrible headache.

The first thing he could see was...

“Fuck...!”

“U-Until when do we need to do this...”

...Baal and Metatron were in a push-up position using their heads, their hands clasped behind their backs.[2]

1. The raw terms used to describe <Deus Ex Machina> and <Dull Darkness> are ????(完全無缺) and ????(天衣無縫). These describe how naturally flawless the Emperors seem; the first is more literal, while the second is a metaphorical term used to convey an even greater sense of innate, natural perfection. ☜

2.