<h4>Chapter 496: Star Fragments (6)</h4>
Chang-Sun quietly swallowed down his saliva, because all hell had broken loose in the ‘Changgong Library’ after <Deus Ex Machina> gave that look.
However, <Dull Darkness> frowned, almost as if he was scolding <Deus Ex Machina> for daring to re at him. <Dull Darkness> asked, “Do you have a death wish or something?”
[<Deus Ex Machina> grumbles that it is because his twin brother is talking too much!]
When <Deus Ex Machina> looked to one side with his golden machine eyes, Chang-Sun was shocked as he thought,‘<i>...Machina tucked his tail between his legs?’</i>
It was Chang-Sun’s first time to see <Deus Ex Machina> responding like that when the situation had nothing to do with Cha Ye-Eun.
“Come down here if you have something to say to me.” <Dull Darkness> gestured at <Deus Ex Machina> with his chin.
[<Deus Ex Machina> says he cannot because someone forcibly handed him the ‘Changgong Library’.]
“Oh, yeah. I forgot that you were stuck there.”
[<Deus Ex Machina> looks at his twin brother quietly.]
“Anyway, his
is pretty much over, so why don’t you exin everything to him now?” <Dull Darkness> asked.
[<Deus Ex Machina> asks with a serious expression why he should do that, when his twin brother is talking about the one who took away their baby sister from them.]
“...You have a point.” <Dull Darkness> turned to look at Chang-Sun.
<i>Gulp!</i>
Chang-Sun swallowed down his saliva again, thinking there were too many obstacles in his love life.
“But not many guys would love and devote themselves to Ye-Eun as much as he has. Keep her by your side if you’re nning to keep Ye-Eun single her whole life. Of course, you’ll have to brace yourself, since she’ll pour out all her resentment on you.” <Dull Darkness> chuckled. “I feel as if Father and Mother would say something before she did, though.”
[<Deus Ex Machina> says that it is low for his twin brother to tattle like that.]
“You should have been born five minutes sooner if you don’t like it.”
[<Deus Ex Machina> grumbles that this is low and cheap.]
[<Deus Ex Machina> purses his lips.]
<Deus Ex Machina> no doubt wanted to avoid being hated by Ye-Eun, so Chang-Sun ended up chuckling. He had been feeling very distant from <Deus Ex Machina> and <Dull Darkness>, but they were growing on him.
<i>‘...Regardless, I still don’t get what they’re thinking.’</i> Chang-Sun did not forget the world-sized gap between the twins and himself.
“Get up now.” <Dull Darkness> got off Chang-Sun.
Chang-Sun stood up despite his wobbling legs, covered in sweat.
<i>Flick!</i>
As <Dull Darkness> flicked his finger, Chang-Sun could feel his fatigue vanishing. His sweat-soaked clothes turned clean again, and his mind cleared up. The <Star Fragment> power, which had been ready to go wild as soon as the restriction devices were removed, also slowly calmed down.
“Clench your teeth and don’t make a sound.” <Dull Darkness> reached out to Chang-Sun.
Chang-Sun did as he was told, knowing that <Dull Darkness> was not trying to harm him, even though he did not know exactly what <Dull Darkness> intended to do.
<i>Thump, thump, thump!</i>
By not making a sound, <Dull Darkness> was telling Chang-Sun to endure the pain. He struck Chang-Sun everywhere with his index finger. Swaying like a kite on a windy day, Chang-Sun endured the pain even though it almost made him lose consciousness.
At the same time, a change started within Chang-Sun every time <Dull Darkness> struck his acupoints, filling him with bliss. The concentrated power of the <Star Fragment> dispersed and spread within him, like a boulder scattering into sand after being pulverized by a hammer.
<i>Kieeeeeeh!</i>
A gale raged around Chang-Sun, filled with ghostly wails.
[<Dull Darkness> is disintegrating your <Star> elements, converting them into different properties!]
[Warning! The leftover identities within you are in pain! Your movement is restricted, and you are unable to escape from external influence!]
[Warning! You are not in your normal condition!]
...
As Star Signs, the Lee Chang-Suns had swallowed many Worldlines where countless people lived, and Ubbo-Sat had devoured those Lee Chang-Suns. All these ghostly wails were their screams.
<i>‘There are... so many of them.’</i> Chang-Sun realized that he had acted too recklessly by eating the <Star Fragment>. At the time, he had been fixated on the thought of keeping his promise with Ubbo-Sat and having to meet <Dull Darkness>, so he had eaten it on an impulse.
<i>‘It would have taken a long time to take care of them without him.’</i>
Perhaps even decades would not have cut it. It could have taken centuries or even longer. Subduing and absorbing all those identities and power was not easy. <Dull Darkness> was making the process shorter by pulverizing the concentration of power and identities in the <Star Fragment>, so Chang-Sun could absorb them into his soul.
[Your <Darkness> is active, absorbing the power of the <Stars>!]
[The amount of your <Darkness> has increased drastically due to the influx of power.]
[The amount of your <Darkness> has far exceeded your Spiritual Body’s capacity.]
[Warning! Your Divine ss has been destabilized!]
...
[Your Divine ss has withstood the change,pressing your <Darkness> to fully embrace it.]
[Your <Darkness> is changing!]
...
Chang-Sun tried very hard to stop quivering. The amount of his <Darkness> had suddenly multiplied uncontrobly and absorbed the entire <Star Fragment>, living up to its name. At some point, the wails had also stopped being audible.
The problem was that Chang-Sun could not even think about controlling his <Darkness> because of its sheer amount. He considered releasing it outward, but since the amount of <Darkness> had increased a lot more than he could release, he could not even try it.
『Follow my lead.』
Only after he heard the Spiritual Voice of <Dull Darkness> could Chang-Sun bring himself to try controlling his <Darkness>. In a corner of his soul, Chang-Sun could feel the clear presence of <Dull Darkness> directing the flow of power. How <Dull Darkness> was leading it had to be the proper way to use <Darkness>; this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Chang-Sun to directly learn from an Emperor.
[Utilizing your <Darkness> little by little.]
[You have gained control over 15% of your <Darkness>.]
...
[You have gained control over 31% of your <Darkness>.]
...
[You have dominated your <Darkness>, learning the more fundamental Attribute <Abyss>.]
[You have gained control over 11% of your new <Darkness>.]
...
[You have dominated your new <Darkness>, acquiring the Subattributes <Nihil> and <Chaos>.]
...
<i>Pzzzz!</i>
Chang-Sun, who had been enveloped in darkness, slowly walked out from it; his destabilized Spiritual Body finally looked like himself again.
[Congrattions! You have sessfully acquired the Divine ss of an Outer Celestial!]
[Your existence has been imprinted in the <Nihil> of Nyx!]
...
[Beings of Nyx have perceived your existence!]
[The Eight Gods of Disorder wee their new brother!]
...
[The Outer Celestial ‘Resident of the Border’ watches you.]
...
* * *
“You’re good.” <Dull Darkness> took his hand off Chang-Sun.
Although it was hard to tell because of his white mask, <Dull Darkness> was actually quite surprised by Chang-Sun. After remaining on the border of Nyx and Eros, Chang-Sun had entered Nyxpletely and be a new Outer Celestial.
Judging from the thick scent of Mephistopheles on him, Chang-Sun had to have acquired deep insights on his own after Mephistopheles’ short lesson on the proper use of <Darkness>. Regardless, Chang-Sun had probably known it on some level instinctively even before Mephistopheles'' help, which meant he was gifted in controlling power.
<i>‘His Divine Name is ‘Divine Twilight’ and he has the experience of dying once... Is that why it’s possible?’ </i><Dull Darkness> wondered.
He had met many Lee Chang-Suns in the past, but Chang-Sun #801 was different. No one had gone through a change like him.
<i>‘That isn’t it. He’s blending the <Myths> he created by going through the Rollback loop over one hundred times into his <Darkness>.’</i> <Dull Darkness> read the system message log in front of Chang-Sun.
[Inscribing all the <Myths> left by the leftover identities in the book.]
...
[You havepleted the second chapter of thest volume of ‘Prti’s Spellbook’!]
[The second chapter ‘Phósph?ros’ has been applied, stabilizing your Divine ss!]
...
<i>‘Phósph?ros... I guess there is no better word than that.’</i>
As Chang-Sun lit up his supreme sacred light amid the <Darkness>, the name of the star that shone the brightest in the dark sky at dawn was perfect for him.
From the perspective of <Dull Darkness>, Chang-Sun was actually going through <Transcendence>, the phenomenon that a mortal went through to be a Celestial. Almost no one went through <Transcendence> twice.
<i>‘Perhaps it’s closer to <Molting>,’ </i><Dull Darkness> thought.
Just as a serpent gained sturdier scales after each molting, Chang-Sun was going through a simr change, which was also the reason why the <Serpent> was his representation in holy icons. However, Chang-Sun’s <Transcendence> was not over yet.
<i>Craaaack―!</i>
[Your soul is going through a change to bnce out your new <Darkness>.]
[Your Trait as a <Supreme Light’s Face> has been applied, evolving your <Supreme Sacred Light>!]
Even if he had <Darkness>, Chang-Sun was still a <Supreme Light’s Face>. Swallowing the <Star Fragment> had caused the amount of his <Darkness> to increase drastically, so it was necessary to bnce his <Supreme Sacred Light> too.
That was another reason why <Dull Darkness> had not distributed the power equally among Chang-Sun’s two Divinities. Had <Dull Darkness> done that, it would have been a lot easier for Chang-Sun to gain control over his power, but that would be it; he would remain limited to being Lee Chang-Sun. <Dull Darkness> wanted Chang-Sun to aplish more than just breaking free from his <Mark>.
<i>Paah!</i>
[You have acquired an Attribute pertaining to the <Laws of Nature>.]
...
[You have acquired the Divine ss of a Celestial King!
[Your existence has been engraved into thews of Eros!]
...
[Beings of Eros have perceived your existence!]
[The dormant Elder Celestials are curious after perceiving your existence.]
...
An Outer Celestial and Celestial King. Nyx and Eros. Chang-Sun now embodied the intersection of two qualities that were extremely ipatible. Thus, <Dull Darkness> realized that now was the time to tell Chang-Sun the truth.
“You came to me because you wanted to know about your <Mark>, didn’t you?” <Dull Darkness> said, watching Chang-Sun getting his two Divinities under control through meditation. He knew Chang-Sun would still be able to hear him.
[<Deus Ex Machina> is silent.]
“First of all, you’re wrong to think that Machina gave you the
and I tried to save you,” <Dull Darkness> quietly continued. “I’m actually the one who caused you more suffering.”