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Crom let out a long yawn.

“After all that time you spent sleeping, you still want to sleep more?”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about. When it comes to sleeping, there is no such thing as enough. Besides, they say beauty is a sleepyhead[1], you know.”

“That’s an unnecessarily eloquent excuse for your laziness.” Chang-Sun scoffed.

“I’m not making excuses. Do you know what I dreamed about yesterday?”

“No, what was it?”

“I dreamed about eating a wild red boar barbecue from Agonia! I can’t wake up while I’m having such a delicacy, can I?”

“… Okay… Did you eat a lot?”

Crom didn’t normally talk much, but not because she was a quiet person. She simply had always been busy dozing off. She even got her Divine Name, ‘Thousand-Year Slumbering Dragon,’ from it.

Whenever she was awake, she was as talkative as a naughty, sociable big sister. It was all thanks to her that Chang-Sun, Kali, Richardus, and Xerxes could stick together despite their differences.

“Twilight, do you have any dreams?” Crom asked.

“I’m busy as hell. Why are you asking me this now?”

“You grumble an awful lot for someone who’s going to answer me anyway. Wait, what do people call someone like you? Tsu… tsundere? Well, I think it was something close to that…”

“Cut your nonsense.” Chang-Sun frowned.

“Haha, anyway, do you have a dream?”

“Not really.”

“Why?” Crom tilted her head.

“Do I need one? I just live with the flow, but if I have to choose one…”

“What would it be?”

“To burn all the <Horoscope> and <Purple Star Astrology> bastards,” Chang-Sun firmly answered.

“Phew, you don’t have to be so scary. I already know you’re a fiend.”

“What about you?”

“Me?” Crom pointed at herself.

“You always sleep, so wouldn’t you have a lot of dreams?”

“Oh, you’re quite sharp. This big sister does have many dreams. Do you want to hear about them? Do you? It would take quite a long time.”

“… I’ll take a rain check on that.”

Anyone who knew Crom well enough would know what she dreamed about—the completion of the great magic spell known as the Sky of Pneuma[2]. When she was still just a kid, her entire clan except for her was eradicated. The tragedy caused her to hibernate for a thousand years, allowing her to use her hibernation spell to replenish her depleted energy. She then used her Trait [Dream Walker] to study the great magic spell in her self-made Dream Space.

Since she woke up from her hibernation, she still often went to sleep to accomplish her goal. The Sky of Pneuma was an ancient magic spell that allowed one to manipulate the timeline of a Worldline. Diligent research wasn’t enough to restore it.

Fortunately, Crom was from the Ancient Dragon clan, which was also known as the ancestor of magic. Her lineage allowed her to close in on restoring the Sky of Pneuma spell, but just as she reached the end of her research, Chang-Sun and her other comrades lefther.

* * *

Chang-Sun had heard about one of Crom’s many dreams before.

“There is one thing that this big sister wants to do. Do you know what it is?” Crom asked.

“If you’re just going to talk about your past again, just wash your feet and go to sleep.”

“Seriously, you and your mouth. This isn’t about that.”

“Then?” Chang-Sun shrugged.

“I want to find a remote place with a nice view, build a cabin there, and have a barbecue party with you all. Doesn’t that sound fun?”

Perhaps because their reality back then was far from peace, her dream was quite simple. What did Chang-Sun reply back then?

“That is… funny.”

Oh, yeah. He remembered now.

“We already do that often, so why bother going through all that trouble?”

“Ah, you’re right. Hahahahaha!”

When Chang-Sun first saw the Dragon Monarch, he immediately felt as if he knew the monster because they looked like Crom’s real form. However, Chang-Sun doubted the possibility.

Even though Richardus betrayed Chang-Sun and the others, the time they spent together was genuine. They all knew that Crom spent her whole life looking after her troublesome younger siblings and missing her clan members. Hence, Chang-Sun believed that he wouldn’t dishonor and torment their big sister.

But… Richardus trampled over the last hope that Chang-Sun had for him.

“One thing led to another, and there are many of them now.” Richardus shrugged. Contradicting his enigmatic smile, Chang-Sun’s eyes gradually turned colder and colder. “Our big sister was really huge. Sorting out her pieces proved too difficult, so I had to divide her to several pieces.”

“…!”

Wooosh…!

Chang-Sun’s Divine Class storm raged around him.

[The Celestial ‘Divine Twilight’ is enraged!]

[The first chapter ‘Turbas Effĭcere’ has been applied, starting the Anomalization!]

[The Mystery ‘Death-Summoning Storm’ has been activated.]

Kiyaaaaaaah―!

The gray lightning storm menacingly raged as it tried to devour Richardus and the five Dragon Monarchs.

『He is...』

『... the Twilight you’ve been talking about?』

『There is certainly a record of him in our archive.』

『Lee Chang-Sun the ‘Divine Twilight’ was with Xerxes, Kali, and Crom Cruach, the base of our bodies.』

『... It seems safe to assume that he’s the missing ingredient that would complete our Spirituality. We will start the rescue process.』

The five Dragon Monarchs simultaneously raised their grimoires in the air.

Rustle.

As the grimoires’ pages began to turn, dozens of magic circles appeared and spread above them.

[The five ‘Dragon Monarchs’ have activated the Magic ‘Dragon-Trapping Birdcage’ in unison!]

The magic circles disintegrated into dust, which then dropped onto the ground and amassed above Richardus and Chang-Sun, making it seem as if they were trapped inside a semisphere-shaped birdcage.

[Dragon-Trapping Birdcage]

Created by the old Celestial ‘Thousand-Year Slumbering Dragon,’ this Dragontongue magic spell traps the caster’s target in a birdcage that shrinks in size according to a time limit. It will remain active until the target either manages to escape or is crushed to death. ~

The storm that Chang-Sun unleashed was so strong that it could cover the entire planet, yet even it could not help him escape the black birdcage.

Chang-Sun’s eyebrows twitched in anger. He didn’t care that his storm was blocked, but he couldn’t stomach seeing the Dragon Monarchs using Crom’s trademark magic spell with ease.

‘This is why he turned her into an Undead,’ Chang-Sun thought.

Despite his anger against Richardus, Chang-Sun remained level-headed and rationally assessed the situation. Judging from the conversation among the Dragon Monarchs, they seemed to have a backup archive of Crom’s memory. Considering she created magnificent spells before her death, it wasn’t odd for Richardus and the others to covet them.

‘Monster Celestials are too true to their instincts, so they couldn’t be relied on to use those spells… That’s why Richardus turned Crom into an Undead instead.”

Richardus seemed to have turned Crom into six Undeads because her magic was too powerful for just one to successfully cast. Chang-Sun thought that Richardus would have a good reason behind his betrayal like the Emperor’s Seat… but not anymore. Learning that Richardus treated Crom as nothing more than a tool was all Chang-Sun needed to let go of his last lingering feelings.

Killing Richardus filled Chang-Sun’s head.

Woosh, woosh, woosh…!

As if the Dragon Monarchs noticed what Chang-Sun was thinking, the birdcage began to shrink.

[The ‘Dragon-Trapping Birdcage’ has been activated.]

[The ‘Dragon-Trapping Birdcage’ will completely close in an hour.]

[The ‘Dragon-Trapping Birdcage’ is shrinking.]

…

[Starting the countdown!]

[1:00:00]

[0:59:59:99]

[0:59:59:98]

…

The ‘Dragon-Trapping Birdcage’ was designed to shrink every moment enemies more and more anxious the longer they took finding a way out of it. At the very end of it all, they would be mentally driven to the edge of a cliff until they broke down.

Back when Chang-Sun was still with his comrades, he was the one who used this magic spell the best.

“You’re familiar with this, aren’t you? This place would be particularly special to you.” Richardus smiled.

Chang-Sun pulled out his [Twilight Spear] and ignited his Inferno Sights.

Woosh!

“Did you really think you could kill me with this?” Chang-Sun asked in anger.

“Of course not. This only works when it actually psychologically pressures its target.”

One of the techniques ‘Divine Twilight’ often used in the past was to trap himself with a tricky enemy in this birdcage, essentially burning his own ship. Once the enemy had been psychologically driven into a corner, he would finally end their life.

“Besides, you’re now the bigshot Ksitigarbha King. Even so…” Richardus trailed off.

Even though the public didn’t know about it yet, Richardus already knew that Chang-Sun had been appointed as the Kistigarbha King. Chang-Sun wondered about it for a moment but soon stopped.

“... I can ruin Earth all I want.” Richardus smirked. “As you already know, when the birdcage reaches the last threshold, the pressure inside the birdcage goes out of control, causing the space around it to collapse and turn into a black hole that devours everything around it.”

That was the scariest part about ‘Dragon-Trapping Birdcage.’ Once the gravity inside the birdcage passed the critical point, it would go out of control, and not even a Celestial would be able to do anything about it. The space-devouring blackhole would disintegrate even every bit of divine power that Celestials were made of.

If it managed to reach that point, Earth would likely disappear without a trace—no, most of the solar systems and galaxies of this Worldline would be destroyed, which meant Chang-Sun and Richardus would be killed as well.

“You wouldn’t want that to happen, would you? So let me give you an offer,” Richardus said. He, too, burned his ship for one goal.

“Twilight—no. Join me, Lee Chang-Sun.”

Chang-Sun didn’t answer.

Without paying his silence any heed, Richardus held out his hand. “To be honest, I find my seat too much of a burden. I was forced to take it because I could not withstand Father’s misconduct, but… this is all too complicated for me. However, I think it’ll be okay if I’m with you.”

Richardus looked serious. “Stay by my side. I’ll give you anything you want, including my seat. Together, we can do anything. Weren’t we a powerful duo? <Purple Star Astrology> is full of psychos right now, but we can turn it into an entirely new <Society>. This will also guarantee you’ll finally accomplish your desperate desire to bring down <Horoscope>—!”

Richardus disappeared for a moment, then suddenly stumbled backward. Chang-Sun had swung his spear at him.

“I was wondering what kind of bullshit you were going to come up with, so I decided to hear you out, but that just made me feel so disgusted that I couldn’t let you keep talking for another second.” Chang-Sun roared, thrusting [Twilight Spear] repeatedly.

Woosh, woosh, woosh―!

Whenever Chang-Sun’s spearhead shone, white and black lightning sparks simultaneously shot out.

Rumble, rumble, rumble…!

“It’s disappointing. I thought you would be able to understand the pressure I’m under—!” Richardus muttered.

“You dare ask me to join you after showing me how you violated our old friend’s corpse? Even a sociopath is better than that.”

“Those Dragon Monarchs are just temporary measures. Once we’ve completed analyzing the archive, we’re going to revive her.”

“Go fuck yourself,” Chang-Sun cussed.

The ghost wail echoing around Chang-Sun became more ominous.

Kiyaaaaah!

[The Divine Ground ‘Twilight-Setting Battlefield’ has opened!]

[The Dragontongue magic spell’s Effect supersedes the Divine Ground ‘Twilight-Setting Battlefield’, limiting the Divine Ground’s area of effect within the birdcage.]

The world turned purple, but some part of it was painted red as if blood splattered all over it. Several weapons then appeared one after another, all embedded into the ground.

“it certainly seems like we’ve gone too far to have a rational conversation, but I genuinely wish you to be on my side, so I’ll talk to you after I subdue you instead,” Richardus rolled up his wide-ranged sleeves as his expression darkened.

He lifted his foot up in the air and stomped on the ground.

Booom!

[The Celestial ‘New Tian Shi Yuan’ has activated the Authority ‘Sea Change’!]

His [Sea Change] was on a whole other level than the one Chang-Sun demonstrated before. It did not only change the ground they were standing on but even shattered the entire space inside the birdcage, changing the whole structure.

The shockwave made Chang-Sun lose his balance for a moment. He installed his [Omni-Weapon Chest] in accordance with the route that he planned to take to drive Richardus into a corner, but Richardus almost instantly broke through his plan and even destroyed the storm that Chang-Sun unleashed earlier.

[The Celestial ‘New Tian Shi Yuan’ has activated the Authority ‘Mountain-Crushing Supremacy’, converting all his supremacy into physical strength!]

Richardus used the momentum he gained to charge like an enormous cannonball. In his hand was the [Blood Sword], the trademark of ‘Iron-Blooded Lion,’ his previous Divine Name. In terms of strength, Richardus was one of the best even in all of <Heaven>.

Chang-Sun’s situation looked dangerous. However, just as Richardus closed in on him, a shiver ran down his spine and made him turn in the opposite direction, but no one was there.

‘… What?’ Richardus wondered if he made a mistake, but he soon realized where he was detecting the presence from. ‘Shadow!’

Someone who seemed to be wearing shadow armor came out from where Richardus’ shadow had been.

Claaaang!

Richardus turned his [Blood Sword] inward and narrowly managed to deflect Gyeo-Ul’s Black Dragon Fang. The difference in their strength prevented Richardus from being pushed back. However, he still felt as if someone poured a bucket of cold water on him. In appearance and Traits alone, Gyeo-Ul resembled one of their old comrades.

“Xerxes? How are you here?” Richardus asked in disbelief.

Gyro-Ul didn’t answer. Instead, someone with sharp energy dropped down from the sky.

「Let me answer that question for you.」

Boooom!

Richardus held up his left hand to block the surprise attack. Since he was using [Mountain-Crushing Supremacy], anyone who clashed against him should’ve had to deal with severe aftereffects, yet the person retreated backward and landed on a nearby boulder seemingly unscathed.

Tap!

Realizing who the other intruder was, Richardus froze up. “… Even Kali is here. How in the world? You should all be…”

「Dead? Yes, but we came back like Twilight did.」

Elegantly holding her hands together, Kali coldly roared.

「We’re here to guide you to the <Underworld>, traitor.」

1. It’s a Korean saying. ☜

2. It’s actually an ancient Greek word for breathing. ☜