The Divine Twilight's Return

Chapter 371: Star, the Children of the Emperor’s Seat (6)

Chang-Sun didn’t just observe and analyze the world through his [Gnostic Eye]. Activating omniscience and omnipotence, he could also intervene with the world by releasing his power or infusing it into his target. That was what he was trying to do by going through Qi Gong’s Anomaly and reaching the Incendiary Burial Whale.

The Incendiary Burial Whale was a cluster of grudges created when Celestials of huge <Societies> like the <Jiejiao Sect> and <Chanjiao Sect> were slaughtered. It was filled with tragic ghosts who could not go through samsara anymore, making it easy for Chang-Sun to imbue his energy and consciousness into its subconscious realm.

Woosh!

The pool of blindingly bright light disappeared, revealing a gray world.

[You have accessed the subconscious realm of the Anomaly ‘Incendiary Burial Whale’!]

[The ghosts inhabiting the subconscious realm have sensed your trespassing.]

[The ghosts are sending multiple curses toward you.]

[Your judgment weakens.]

[Your resolve weakens.]

…

[Terminating all the connections to the outside world.]

…

[Warning! This is a dangerous area where normal rules and common knowledge do not apply. You may be unable to use the full extent of your abilities here. Hence, you are advised to escape as quickly as possible.]

[Warning! All the beings in this world are hostile to you. Escape the area.]

Chang-Sun took a look around, maintaining his spiritual form. Bubbles swelled up and popped all over the gray world, each one cramped with bizarrely contorted ghosts that were letting their anger out against Chang-Sun.

―What is it? Why? Suddenly?

―Invader. Invader. It has been tens of thousands of years since an invader—no, a newcomer came.

―Idiots. He isn’t an invader.

―What is he, then?

―The guy that destroyed us.

―Ah, explosions.

―The guy that hurt us.

―I don’t like pain. I hate pain. It still hurts. Painful.

―So.

―Let’s be in pain together.

All the energies and emotions the ghosts emitted were so sharp that Chang-sun felt as if he would get slaughtered.

‘What a mess,’ Chang-Sun thought, having already expected to see such a sight. An Anomaly was an abnormal phenomenon that couldn’t be explained by the laws of nature, so analyzing it required an insight that would allow one to exceed logic and laws and intuitively observe the phenomenon itself.

Fortunately, the information Chang-Sun’s [Gnostic Eye] provided him with allowed him to have that level of insight. With it, he deduced that the Incendiary Burial Whale was very similar to him, not the Anomaly that he made by mixing his <Darkness> and supreme sacred light.

‘It’s like my subconscious realm.’

Some time ago, while Chang-Sun was in the ‘Changgong Library,’ he was dragged into his subconscious realm, where he met his numerous past reincarnations. Some of them led normal lives like farmers or merchants, but most stood out more than others only to fall in the end. Although they all wanted to take Chang-Sun’s place, it wasn’t because they wanted to continue living.

Their reasons were more high-dimensional—lifelong desires. Chang-Sun’s past reincarnations had stories of their own and sought to achieve a purpose, but their pursuits all led to their downfalls. It was remarkably similar to the past of ‘Divine Twilight.’

However, there was a big difference between them and Chang-sun. After visiting the <Underworld>, Chang-Sun had the chance to contemplate his past and learn how to control his pace. Unlike him, his previous reincarnations kept wishing to continue marching like a train with broken brakes.

Perhaps they had noble lifelong desires, but Chang-Sun was certain that they were just lingering feelings that piled up and regressed into madness, filling up his subconscious realm.

The Incendiary Burial Whale’s subconscious realm was no different. On the verge of <Extinction>, the <Jiejiao Sect> grew desperate to survive. Meanwhile, the <Chanjiao Sect> marched already certain of their victory, only to be buried in foreign territory. The mix of their complicated grudges created madness comparable to what Chang-Sun’s soul released.

Chang-Sun became curious about who would win if the Incendiary Burial Whale Celestials and their grudges collided with Chang-Sun and his madness. These Celestials’ grudges had piled up so much that they deteriorated into an Anomaly, and the madness of Chang-Sun’s past reincarnations continued to degenerate to this day.

Luckily, it seemed Chang-Sun could do his experiments again since entering another person’s subconscious realm meant that he could show his subconscious realm too.

“Open.” Chang-Sun activated his [Wordwielding].

The Anomaly enveloping Chang-Sun chaotically entangled and spread all over the place in the form of a cobweb.

Paaah!

[Opening your subconscious realm!]

The Anomaly then transformed into distinct forms. One of its parts turned into a warrior holding a spear, another turned into a wizard wearing an eyepatch. There were also a sitting yogi and a three-meter-tall Giant. Chang-Sun had fought them all in his subconscious realm, so they were all familiar with him.

Woosh woosh, woosh…!

The ones with the highest Divine Class unleashed enormous Divine Class storms as they showed up.

[The ‘One-Eyed Magic Giant’ observes his surroundings!]

Balor grimaced, disapprovingly watching the Incendiary Burial Whale’s subconscious realm.

“Did you call us to pick up the pieces?” he snapped.

[The ‘Small Elemental and Magical Spirit’ wickedly snickers!]

“So? It looks interesting. Getting a chance to run wild is better than being stuck inside, isn’t it?” Tomte cackled, observing the ghosts with sharp eyes. He kept glancing at Chang-Sun, though, seemingly waiting for him to show vulnerabilities so he could pounce at him.

[The ‘Primordial Lightning Deity’ slowly conjures a lightning storm!]

Pzzz!

Meanwhile, Perkwunos scoffed with his arms crossed as though he was uninterested in everything that was going on.

[The ‘'Cane-Holding Father of Warriors' lightly taps the ground with his cane.]

Odin quietly observed Chang-Sun with a proud smile. Not long after, he quickly turned his head in the other direction. “We’re technically an Anomaly as well.”

They researched again and again even after they reincarnated. The gnosis that they accumulated after going through samsara numerous times gradually led them to discover primordial wonders.

They didn’t know how their soul ended up walking down such a path—no, they didn’t even know when their journey had started. Maybe it was the destiny that they were given when their soul was created, but it could have also just started without any reason and simply continued.

Odin believed that the assignment that their soul had was a kind of Anomaly, a phenomenon with a mechanism that couldn’t be understood yet. After all, existing laws couldn’t explain their very being.

“We become a greater Anomaly by eating another Anomaly… As an academic, I should never tolerate this.” Odin smirked. “But divulging forbidden secrets is also a job for an academic. This is going to be interesting.”

The Incendiary Burial Whale wasn’t around yet during Odin’s lifetime. There could have been Anomalies, but there were no such things as the Seven Wonders. Hence, he thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to use this opportunity to study it further. After all, it could lead to the discovery of the secret about them and allow Odin to acquire new gnosis.

‘My Class would get even higher if I devour it!’ Odin tapped the ground with his cane.

Ripples spread out in a concentric circle, turning into raging storms.

Kieeeeeeeh!

With ghost wails, lightning bolts struck the ground, signaling the start of the battle. All of Chang-Sun’s past reincarnations threw themselves at the ghosts.

Rumble, rumble, rumble!

Woosh, woosh, swoosh―!

Thud!

All sorts of magic attacks flew in every direction as lightning bolts continued to strike the ground. Ghost wails ominously echoed, and all the gray cell bubbles simultaneously exploded. In retaliation, the Incendiary Burial Whale released all kinds of bizarre-looking monsters made out of the dead Celestials’ grudges.

The war between two Anomalies had begun.

* * *

[The eye of the ‘One-Eyed Magic Giant’ gleams!]

‘Now’s my chance!’ Balor clenched his fists. With everyone focused on the battle, he believed now to be his golden opportunity.

Balor had been waiting for Chang-Sun to show weakness since he got Odin’s permission to attack Chang-Sun. He judged that it would be difficult to subdue the main personality unless he ambushed him, which required catching him off guard.

However, Chang-Sun never showed weakness. He continued to grow stronger and accumulated more gnosis, which strengthened his mental barrier. Eventually, his Divine Class reached such high levels that Balor couldn’t guarantee his victory even if he fought him with his full power.

It made Balor extremely anxious. Although he had already formed an alliance for his plan, the prolonged lack of progress weakened their unity.

However, Chang-Sun had just unlocked his subconscious realm to swallow the entire Incendiary Burial Whale, which Balor saw as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. While a subconscious realm was open, the lines that separated personalities were gone. In other words, Chang-Sun, Balor, and everyone else were equal right now. If he could kill Chang-Sun and absorb his consciousness…

‘I’ll become the main personality,’ Balor thought.

He would truly reincarnate.

『Now is the time. Get ready, everyone.』

Balor sent telepathic messages to his allies, and some nodded in response. The moment they saw Chang-Sun throwing himself into the black hole in the center of the Incendiary Burial Whale’s wall…

『Now!』

… Balor and his allies made their move. Nimble and quiet, no one noticed that they disappeared except for one person.

“Everyone has to take responsibility for the consequences of their decisions.” Odin clicked his tongue as he watched Balor’s group for a moment. He then looked in the other direction again, only interested in people with whom he would continue this journey together, not those who would soon disappear.