Swish―!
“... How awful,” Cernunnos commented upon leaving 'Nastrond.’
The world was now in a precarious state due to the poisonous fog mixed with [Gaia's Curse]. Considering the curse had begun to affect Worldline #801, where they had come from, the fog could never be taken lightly.
[The Divine Tree has located many sources of immense energy that have not been turned into its nourishments yet.]
[Warning! The Divine Tree driving Worldline #802 into <Extinction> has found you and your group. You are advised to escape the area.]
[Warning! The Divine Tree has turned into a Beast, the natural enemy of Celestials.]
[Beasts are above Worldlines and only seek chaos and destruction. Not even Emperors can handle their viciousness with ease.]
[Warning! You are advised to escape before the Beast eats you and end Worldline #802...]
...
The special unit fell into silence, appalled by one word in the messages. At the same time, the eyes of Cernunnos, who had been composed a moment ago, widened.
In <Heaven>, the word “Beast” referred to more than just winged, marine, and terrestrial animals. Deities, demons, Dragons, Giants, Star Signs... Although <Heaven> had many transcendental and supreme beings, Beasts were above all of them.
‘Transcendence’ of ‘Transcendence,’ wall of walls.... To become an Emperor, people had to try excruciatingly hard. Hence, failing to accomplish that dream would mutate their souls and turn them into a Beast.
Among Beasts, only a few were like <First Beast>—also known as the Bull Demon King—and <Dull Darkness>, the ‘Last Beast.’ Most of them sought chaos and destruction without a trace of rationality.
Unlike the Star Signs, whose goal was to conquer Worldlines by circumventing their laws, Beasts went for more than just Worldlines. Rather, they created numerous tsunamis of <Extinction>.
Since they had been trying to become an Emperor before breaking down and turning into Beasts, their Divine Classes were on the level of the Great Universe. Celestials from one Worldline didn’t stand a chance against them.
Now, Tiamat was one of those Beasts.
This outcome wasn’t that surprising, however. After all, she used to be a Celestial King before the Mother Terra Celestial’s energy sprouted within her and absorbed nearly all of the nourishment left in Worldline #802. That left her with only two possible futures: becoming an Emperor or turning into a Beast.
Want. Become. Reach. But. Can. Not. Then. Eat. Here. Must.
Chang-Sun clenched his teeth as he looked at the Divine Tree. ‘Did you want to reach that level that badly?’
The Divine Tree was so enormous that it made Great Celestials look tiny and reminded the special unit of the World Tree, which they had only heard about in stories in <Heaven>.
The tree was exuding stinging malice and grudges.
At that moment, Chang-Sun realized that the Divine Tree was not only filled with the Mother Terra Celestial’s wrath but also Tiamat’s resolve.
‘All that’s left of her is her dream.’
Tiamat had likely tried to use the Mother Terra Celestial to become an Emperor instead of resisting her because it was the only chance she had left.
‘... When Odin defeated her, she gained a limit to the amount of Faith she could accumulate as a Celestial King.’
Celestial Kings were supposed to be unbeatable, and arrogant Celestials only accepted those who could not be defeated as their ruler. That was why Bestla and Odin fell right after their first defeat.
Tiamat was no different. Despite believing that Chang-Sun would rescue her, she knew that she no longer had prospects as a Celestial King. Unable to let go of her lingering feelings, she failed to resist the temptation despite being aware of the risks.
Pabilsag, who was part of the special unit as the <Nammu> representative, also seemed to have realized what had happened.
“Mom...!”
In the end, Chang-Sun made a difficult decision. “We’re retreating.”
The special unit members turned to him, their eyes wide with shock. They had made every possible preparation for this mission, so they hadn’t expected that they would retreat this quickly.
Nevertheless, they just nodded quietly. They were up against a Beast whom only Emperors had a chance against. Fighting the Divine Tree head-on would be nothing short of suicide.
Nourishment. Nourishment.
Whirl―!
Dozens of the Divine Tree’s rotten roots flew toward the special unit, each one bigger than most Celestials and coated with countless ghosts.
“Go!” Chang-Sun yelled, clapping loudly after concentrating a great amount of <Supreme Sacred Light> in his right hand and <Darkness> in his left hand.
Rummmble!
As a powerful Rád?us bolt struck and shredded the roots, the special unit quickly retreated from the site.
Their first attempt at the mission ended in failure.
***
J?rmungandr’s brows furrowed as he adjusted his glasses on his nose bridge. “It doesn’t matter where we go. At this rate, no place will last long.”
After Loki was dethroned, J?rmungandr became the leader of <Niflheim> and started actively aiding Chang-Sun. Hence, he had technically become the army’s second-in-command, but no one objected. After all, he had been the United Army’s strategist for quite some time now.
Even if people had an issue with it, after seeing how tired he looked for trying his hardest to ensure that the United Army kept functioning properly, they couldn’t bring themselves to bring it up.
When J?rmungandr suggested withdrawing from ‘Nastrond’, all the other Celestials nodded in agreement. The Divine Tree had already turned into a Beast. Hence, they couldn’t think of another way to overcome the crisis.
Pabilsag gritted her teeth. “Wouldn’t that mean...”
“I’m suggesting that we give up on the Worldline,” J?rmungandr interjected.
“Stop spouting nonse—!”
“We don’t have what it takes to fight the Divine Tree right now.”
“J?rmungandr!”
“I’m just stating facts.”
“Just because it’s not your family, you’re too—”
“Considering you’re rashly objecting, I think you’re the one letting your personal feelings get the better of you.”
“Hey!”
Pabilsag looked ready to attack J?rmungandr.
<Nammu> Celestials stood beside her, menacingly glaring at J?rmungandr. However, the latter wasn’t fazed at all. His eyes remained calm as he looked at Pabilsag.
The other Celestials didn’t join the fight. J?rmungandr and Pabilsag used to bicker a lot but got along great like siblings. Hence, some couldn’t help but be surprised to see them falling out.
Their fight didn’t last long, though. Before it could further escalate, Chang-Sun pulled J?rmungandr and Pabilsag apart.
“Enough. We’ll go with J?rmungandr’s opinion on this matter,” Chang-Sun concluded.
“Twilight! Not you too!”
“J?rmungandr is right.”
Chang-Sun had stopped using a formal tone when talking to Pabilsag and J?rmungandr.
He had been treating them formally to express his gratitude for helping him during his days as a mortal. However, he was now a Celestial King. To properly establish a hierarchy, he couldn’t do that anymore.
Pabilsag bit her lower lip, and her eyes filled with spite. Giving up on Worldline #802 sounded like they were abandoning her mother. “Are you sure that you aren’t doing this because you’re a Celestial King now?”
Slaaaaash!
At that moment, a strong gale blew past Pabilsag. Quickly following the trace it had left on the floor, she found Minerva with her sword drawn and her golden helmet on.
With cold eyes, Minerva said, “Pabilsag, I advise you not to cross that line.”
Instead of standing down, Pabilsag smiled crookedly. “You’re all the same. Just because it’s not your family? Fine. If you intend to keep this shit up, then <Nammu> will withdraw from the United...!”
Before Pabilsag could finish what she was saying, Anze, the second-in-command of <Nammu>, suddenly hit her from behind with a knife-hand strike.
Taking the unconscious Pabilsag into his arms, Anze sighed and then bowed. “Our youngest lady tends to speak whatever comes to her mind when she loses it... I apologize for any concern she might have caused.”
Chang-Sun calmly shook his head. “Don’t worry. I would have reacted the same if I was in a similar situation.”
“Thank you for your understanding. I do have one question, though. You talked about withdrawing from the Worldline, but is there even a place we can retreat to? Returning to our original Worldline seems dangerous.”
<Nammu> and many other Celestials nodded quietly. They had been treating Worldline #802 like it was just a colony, so it didn’t matter if it crumbled down. They had only been actively working on protecting it because, as Anze had pointed out, the same danger it was facing now could also destroy Worldline #801.
Anze continued, “We can’t go to other Worldlines either since the cost would be astronomical. We’d likely burn through a <Society>’s entire stash of Causality.”
Chang-Sun nodded. He could have done it if he was alone, but traveling with this many people to a completely different Worldline would be difficult. Nevertheless, they still had that option since Tiamat had lived up to her name and saved up a great amount of Causality.
They had no connections to other Worldlines. Since they wouldn’t be welcome, they would just aggravate chaos. Above all, Chang-Sun got to where he was right now by rewinding the Small Wheel countless times. He didn’t want to cause problems for other Worldlins too.
“You’re right,” Chang-Sun answered.
“Then correct me if I’m wrong, but there is no place for us to go.”
“Why are you limiting our options to Worldlines?”
Anze tilted his head in confusion. “Huh...?”
They were going to withdraw from the Worldline, so what other option did they have aside from going to a different Worldline?
Suddenly coming to a realization, Anze looked back and forth between Chang-Sun and J?rmungandr.
“Ah! We had the world where the Star Signs came from!”
Chang-Sun nodded again.
After the creation of the universe, the residue of it massed together and created a world that wasn’t real. Known as the Imaginary Plane, it was a kind of Mirror Dimension lying at the bottom of the Great Universe.
Having set up a headquarters in it to stay under the radar of <Deus Ex Machina>, the Star Signs traveled back and forth among many Worldlines to plunge them into <Extinction>. Once the <Heaven> of Worldline #802 had been eradicated, the Star Signs took over the place and used it as their base of operations during their conquest of the Great Universe.
Although their plan went awry when Chang-Sun tore down <Purple Star Astrology> and <Horoscope>, the dimension named the Imaginary Plane still existed, and quite a lot of Star Signs were using it as their shelter.
Anze was surprised by the idea, but he also thought that it was their best option. If the Divine Tree followed them to the Imaginary Plane and ruined the place... the causes of many Worldlines’ torment would be eliminated at once. It would be a bolt out of the blue for the Star Signs in the Imaginary Plane.
“The link to the Imaginary Plane hasn’t been completely severed, so it should be possible... However, from what I’ve heard, the <Laws of Nature> of the Imaginary Plane are completely different from those of the Great Universe. Are you sure it’ll be okay?” Anze asked.
Chang-Sun’s Divine Rank might not even work in the Imaginary Plane.
However, Chang-Sun simply shrugged. “Have you forgotten that I used to be a <Star> too?”
“... Ah, that’s right. You were Ithaca’s heir. I can’t believe even that will actually play a role now... Well, anyway, I believe going there would be okay, then. What do you want us to do?”
Just as Chang-Sun was about to answer Anze’s question, Simon Magus, who had been standing guard outside, sent a telepathic message.
『Master, I think you should come out here for a moment.』
『Why? What happened?』 Chang-Sun asked.
『We have a visitor.』
『A visitor?』
Simon sounded serious. 『Yes. It’s Sun Wukong.』
Swish―!
“... How awful,” Cernunnos commented upon leaving 'Nastrond.’
The world was now in a precarious state due to the poisonous fog mixed with [Gaia's Curse]. Considering the curse had begun to affect Worldline #801, where they had come from, the fog could never be taken lightly.
[The Divine Tree has located many sources of immense energy that have not been turned into its nourishments yet.]
[Warning! The Divine Tree driving Worldline #802 into <Extinction> has found you and your group. You are advised to escape the area.]
[Warning! The Divine Tree has turned into a Beast, the natural enemy of Celestials.]
[Beasts are above Worldlines and only seek chaos and destruction. Not even Emperors can handle their viciousness with ease.]
[Warning! You are advised to escape before the Beast eats you and end Worldline #802...]
...
The special unit fell into silence, appalled by one word in the messages. At the same time, the eyes of Cernunnos, who had been composed a moment ago, widened.
In <Heaven>, the word “Beast” referred to more than just winged, marine, and terrestrial animals. Deities, demons, Dragons, Giants, Star Signs... Although <Heaven> had many transcendental and supreme beings, Beasts were above all of them.
‘Transcendence’ of ‘Transcendence,’ wall of walls.... To become an Emperor, people had to try excruciatingly hard. Hence, failing to accomplish that dream would mutate their souls and turn them into a Beast.
Among Beasts, only a few were like <First Beast>—also known as the Bull Demon King—and <Dull Darkness>, the ‘Last Beast.’ Most of them sought chaos and destruction without a trace of rationality.
Unlike the Star Signs, whose goal was to conquer Worldlines by circumventing their laws, Beasts went for more than just Worldlines. Rather, they created numerous tsunamis of <Extinction>.
Since they had been trying to become an Emperor before breaking down and turning into Beasts, their Divine Classes were on the level of the Great Universe. Celestials from one Worldline didn’t stand a chance against them.
Now, Tiamat was one of those Beasts.
This outcome wasn’t that surprising, however. After all, she used to be a Celestial King before the Mother Terra Celestial’s energy sprouted within her and absorbed nearly all of the nourishment left in Worldline #802. That left her with only two possible futures: becoming an Emperor or turning into a Beast.
Want. Become. Reach. But. Can. Not. Then. Eat. Here. Must.
Chang-Sun clenched his teeth as he looked at the Divine Tree. ‘Did you want to reach that level that badly?’
The Divine Tree was so enormous that it made Great Celestials look tiny and reminded the special unit of the World Tree, which they had only heard about in stories in <Heaven>.
The tree was exuding stinging malice and grudges.
At that moment, Chang-Sun realized that the Divine Tree was not only filled with the Mother Terra Celestial’s wrath but also Tiamat’s resolve.
‘All that’s left of her is her dream.’
Tiamat had likely tried to use the Mother Terra Celestial to become an Emperor instead of resisting her because it was the only chance she had left.
‘... When Odin defeated her, she gained a limit to the amount of Faith she could accumulate as a Celestial King.’
Celestial Kings were supposed to be unbeatable, and arrogant Celestials only accepted those who could not be defeated as their ruler. That was why Bestla and Odin fell right after their first defeat.
Tiamat was no different. Despite believing that Chang-Sun would rescue her, she knew that she no longer had prospects as a Celestial King. Unable to let go of her lingering feelings, she failed to resist the temptation despite being aware of the risks.
Pabilsag, who was part of the special unit as the <Nammu> representative, also seemed to have realized what had happened.
“Mom...!”
In the end, Chang-Sun made a difficult decision. “We’re retreating.”
The special unit members turned to him, their eyes wide with shock. They had made every possible preparation for this mission, so they hadn’t expected that they would retreat this quickly.
Nevertheless, they just nodded quietly. They were up against a Beast whom only Emperors had a chance against. Fighting the Divine Tree head-on would be nothing short of suicide.
Nourishment. Nourishment.
Whirl―!
Dozens of the Divine Tree’s rotten roots flew toward the special unit, each one bigger than most Celestials and coated with countless ghosts.
“Go!” Chang-Sun yelled, clapping loudly after concentrating a great amount of <Supreme Sacred Light> in his right hand and <Darkness> in his left hand.
Rummmble!
As a powerful Rád?us bolt struck and shredded the roots, the special unit quickly retreated from the site.
Their first attempt at the mission ended in failure.
***
J?rmungandr’s brows furrowed as he adjusted his glasses on his nose bridge. “It doesn’t matter where we go. At this rate, no place will last long.”
After Loki was dethroned, J?rmungandr became the leader of <Niflheim> and started actively aiding Chang-Sun. Hence, he had technically become the army’s second-in-command, but no one objected. After all, he had been the United Army’s strategist for quite some time now.
Even if people had an issue with it, after seeing how tired he looked for trying his hardest to ensure that the United Army kept functioning properly, they couldn’t bring themselves to bring it up.
When J?rmungandr suggested withdrawing from ‘Nastrond’, all the other Celestials nodded in agreement. The Divine Tree had already turned into a Beast. Hence, they couldn’t think of another way to overcome the crisis.
Pabilsag gritted her teeth. “Wouldn’t that mean...”
“I’m suggesting that we give up on the Worldline,” J?rmungandr interjected.
“Stop spouting nonse—!”
“We don’t have what it takes to fight the Divine Tree right now.”
“J?rmungandr!”
“I’m just stating facts.”
“Just because it’s not your family, you’re too—”
“Considering you’re rashly objecting, I think you’re the one letting your personal feelings get the better of you.”
“Hey!”
Pabilsag looked ready to attack J?rmungandr.
<Nammu> Celestials stood beside her, menacingly glaring at J?rmungandr. However, the latter wasn’t fazed at all. His eyes remained calm as he looked at Pabilsag.
The other Celestials didn’t join the fight. J?rmungandr and Pabilsag used to bicker a lot but got along great like siblings. Hence, some couldn’t help but be surprised to see them falling out.
Their fight didn’t last long, though. Before it could further escalate, Chang-Sun pulled J?rmungandr and Pabilsag apart.
“Enough. We’ll go with J?rmungandr’s opinion on this matter,” Chang-Sun concluded.
“Twilight! Not you too!”
“J?rmungandr is right.”
Chang-Sun had stopped using a formal tone when talking to Pabilsag and J?rmungandr.
He had been treating them formally to express his gratitude for helping him during his days as a mortal. However, he was now a Celestial King. To properly establish a hierarchy, he couldn’t do that anymore.
Pabilsag bit her lower lip, and her eyes filled with spite. Giving up on Worldline #802 sounded like they were abandoning her mother. “Are you sure that you aren’t doing this because you’re a Celestial King now?”
Slaaaaash!
At that moment, a strong gale blew past Pabilsag. Quickly following the trace it had left on the floor, she found Minerva with her sword drawn and her golden helmet on.
With cold eyes, Minerva said, “Pabilsag, I advise you not to cross that line.”
Instead of standing down, Pabilsag smiled crookedly. “You’re all the same. Just because it’s not your family? Fine. If you intend to keep this shit up, then <Nammu> will withdraw from the United...!”
Before Pabilsag could finish what she was saying, Anze, the second-in-command of <Nammu>, suddenly hit her from behind with a knife-hand strike.
Taking the unconscious Pabilsag into his arms, Anze sighed and then bowed. “Our youngest lady tends to speak whatever comes to her mind when she loses it... I apologize for any concern she might have caused.”
Chang-Sun calmly shook his head. “Don’t worry. I would have reacted the same if I was in a similar situation.”
“Thank you for your understanding. I do have one question, though. You talked about withdrawing from the Worldline, but is there even a place we can retreat to? Returning to our original Worldline seems dangerous.”
<Nammu> and many other Celestials nodded quietly. They had been treating Worldline #802 like it was just a colony, so it didn’t matter if it crumbled down. They had only been actively working on protecting it because, as Anze had pointed out, the same danger it was facing now could also destroy Worldline #801.
Anze continued, “We can’t go to other Worldlines either since the cost would be astronomical. We’d likely burn through a <Society>’s entire stash of Causality.”
Chang-Sun nodded. He could have done it if he was alone, but traveling with this many people to a completely different Worldline would be difficult. Nevertheless, they still had that option since Tiamat had lived up to her name and saved up a great amount of Causality.
They had no connections to other Worldlines. Since they wouldn’t be welcome, they would just aggravate chaos. Above all, Chang-Sun got to where he was right now by rewinding the Small Wheel countless times. He didn’t want to cause problems for other Worldlins too.
“You’re right,” Chang-Sun answered.
“Then correct me if I’m wrong, but there is no place for us to go.”
“Why are you limiting our options to Worldlines?”
Anze tilted his head in confusion. “Huh...?”
They were going to withdraw from the Worldline, so what other option did they have aside from going to a different Worldline?
Suddenly coming to a realization, Anze looked back and forth between Chang-Sun and J?rmungandr.
“Ah! We had the world where the Star Signs came from!”
Chang-Sun nodded again.
After the creation of the universe, the residue of it massed together and created a world that wasn’t real. Known as the Imaginary Plane, it was a kind of Mirror Dimension lying at the bottom of the Great Universe.
Having set up a headquarters in it to stay under the radar of <Deus Ex Machina>, the Star Signs traveled back and forth among many Worldlines to plunge them into <Extinction>. Once the <Heaven> of Worldline #802 had been eradicated, the Star Signs took over the place and used it as their base of operations during their conquest of the Great Universe.
Although their plan went awry when Chang-Sun tore down <Purple Star Astrology> and <Horoscope>, the dimension named the Imaginary Plane still existed, and quite a lot of Star Signs were using it as their shelter.
Anze was surprised by the idea, but he also thought that it was their best option. If the Divine Tree followed them to the Imaginary Plane and ruined the place... the causes of many Worldlines’ torment would be eliminated at once. It would be a bolt out of the blue for the Star Signs in the Imaginary Plane.
“The link to the Imaginary Plane hasn’t been completely severed, so it should be possible... However, from what I’ve heard, the <Laws of Nature> of the Imaginary Plane are completely different from those of the Great Universe. Are you sure it’ll be okay?” Anze asked.
Chang-Sun’s Divine Rank might not even work in the Imaginary Plane.
However, Chang-Sun simply shrugged. “Have you forgotten that I used to be a <Star> too?”
“... Ah, that’s right. You were Ithaca’s heir. I can’t believe even that will actually play a role now... Well, anyway, I believe going there would be okay, then. What do you want us to do?”
Just as Chang-Sun was about to answer Anze’s question, Simon Magus, who had been standing guard outside, sent a telepathic message.
『Master, I think you should come out here for a moment.』
『Why? What happened?』 Chang-Sun asked.
『We have a visitor.』
『A visitor?』
Simon sounded serious. 『Yes. It’s Sun Wukong.』
