Chapter 136: Extinguished Starlight (2)
A path woven from starlight shimmered across the cosmos like a river flowing endlessly through the heart of the Milky Way. From its radiant stream rose hundreds of colossal branches spiraling upward toward their destinations. Three of them reached the grand temples of the North Star that crowned the peak of the Sanctum.
Song Ha-Eun and Kwon Oh-Jin turned solemn as they arrived at Vega’s temple. The place once bathed in a soft, silver glow was now dark like an extinguished star.
“Oh-Jin...” Song Ha-Eun anxiously mumbled.
Kwon Oh-Jin’s pace quickened until he burst through the doors to the temple. “Vega!”
The first thing he saw was a massive wolf standing motionless like it had been waiting for Kwon Oh-Jin to appear.
Riarc's eyes gleamed fiercely as he bared his white fangs, radiating a thick murderous aura.“What the hell happened?”
Sparks of blue lightning flickered wildly across his silver mane.
Crackle!
“Riarc...”
“I asked you—what the hell happened?!”
Riarc shifted into human form, slamming his foot against the ground with a deafening boom that echoed throughout the temple. In the blink of an eye, he appeared right in front of Kwon Oh-Jin and grabbed his collar with a rough grip. His fiery blue eyes drilled into Kwon Oh-Jin's guilt-ridden gaze.
“Vega saved me,” Kwon Oh-Jin answered.
“What?”
Kwon Oh-Jin calmly explained how he'd been in danger while fighting against the King of Owls, how Noctua—the Celestial of Owl Nebula—had used his blessing, and how Vega had finally used her Sacred Ground to defeat Noctua.
“So that’s why Lady Vega...” Riarc trailed off despondently.
“How’s she doing right now?” Kwon Oh-Jin asked.
Riarc turned away blankly. “Follow me. It'll be faster to let you see for yourself.”
They followed Riarc deeper into the temple, down a long corridor stretching toward the far end. Finally, they arrived at a twenty-meter-tall door bathed in a faint silver glow so delicate it looked as if it might fade away at any moment like the rest of the temple’s ethereal light.
“Where are we...?” Oh-Jin asked.
“These are Lady Vega's quarters. Come on in.”
Riarc pushed open the door, revealing a vast chamber awash in silver light. At its center, Vega lay curled up and bound in countless chains of radiant light.
“Vega!” Kwon Oh-Jin instinctively reached for the chains, only to be stopped by Riarc.
“If you touch those rashly, you won’t walk away unharmed even if you’re free from the restrictions as a human.”
Kwon Oh-Jin froze in place. “What happened...?”
“Her consciousness has been sealed by the restrictions,” Riarc replied gravely.
Kwon Oh-Jin bit his lip as he stared at Vega imprisoned in the cocoon of radiant chains. Her eyes remained shut as if she were locked in a deep slumber, and her corpse-like appearance sent a chill down his spine. Only now did the weight of her sacrifice truly hit him.
She pushed herself this far just to protect me...?
He had assumed that Vega would exist freely within the Sanctum and that the restrictions would just bar her from manifesting on Earth, but he'd been wrong.
Song Ha-Eun was just as shocked. “Sh-She’s not going to stay like this forever, right?!”
Riarc shook his head slowly. “The seal will naturally loosen up over time.”
“Phew... That’s a relief.” Song Ha-Eun patted her chest. “So how long until she wakes up?”
“Fifty years.”
Kwon Oh-Jin's and Song Ha-Eun’s eyes widened in shock.
“What?” Ha-Eun muttered.
Riarc gestured toward the numerous chains. “It takes exactly one year in Earth’s time for a single chain to disappear. There are fifty chains in total, which means Lady Vega won’t regain consciousness for fifty years.”
The sheer weight of that number left both Kwon Oh-Jin and Song Ha-Eun speechless.
He felt like he'd just been struck in the back of the head with a hammer. Having lived his entire life as a human, fifty years felt impossibly long even though he was no longer bound by a normal human lifespan.
“W-Wait a second! Does it usually take this long?" Song Ha-Eun squabbled. "Wouldn't the North Star Celestials face less restrictions?!”
Riarc nodded. “It’s certainly not a normal case.”
“Right? Something must’ve gone wrong or there was some kind of mistake, right?”
“No. It’s the opposite, lizard woman.”
“What?”
The opposite? What the hell is that supposed to mean? Kwon Oh-Jin thought.
“The restriction placed on Lady Vega is called the Centenary Chains," Riarc conveyed. "It’s a punishment reserved only for Celestials who have used such an immense amount of power that it wouldn't be surprising if they perished.”
Centenary Chains, huh?
Kwon Oh-Jin frowned, counting the number of chains binding Vega. “But right now...”
“Yeah. That’s why I said this isn’t a normal case.” Riarc sighed deeply and stepped closer to Vega. “The chains were reduced to just fifty.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. I discovered Lady Vega sealed with only fifty chains.”
“... Is it because she’s a North Star Celestial? The stronger a Celestial is, the better they can withstand the restrictions.”
“It has nothing to do with that. If Lady Vega weren't a Celestial of the North Star, her soul would have perished instead.”
So the restrictions always take effect no matter how high a Celestial's rank.
Kwon Oh Jin’s gaze darkened. The fact that the chains were reduced isn't normal then. Song Ha-Eun frowned and broke the silence. “The number of chains isn’t the issue right now! F-Fifty years? Seriously?!”It was far too cruel even if this was the price Vega had to pay for defying the restrictions and using her powers.
“Damn it..." Song Ha-Eun grumbled. "If only I hadn’t gotten kidnapped in the first place...!"
She bit her lip hard, and her eyes welled up with tears. She seemed like she would break down at any moment.
Kwon Oh-Jin felt exactly the same way, but they didn’t have time to waste on regret and self-blame. What mattered now was finding a way to rid Vega of those chains.
Why is it fifty instead of a hundred? There has to be a reason they were reduced.
A supposedly notorious punishment like the Centenary Chains wouldn't just modify itself without cause. He squinted as he examined the chains.
Riarc said there were only fifty from the moment he saw her. That means something happened between Vega's forced return to the Sanctum and Riarc's arrival—something that weakened the restriction's effect.
His eyes suddenly widened. “It can’t be...”
“Is there something you’re thinking of?” Riarc asked, his eyes glowing with anticipation. He seemed to hope that Kwon Oh-Jin, the Regressor, would have a solution for this unknown phenomenon.
“Riarc, take Ha-Eun outside. I need to check something.”
“Okay.” Without question, Riarc turned to leave.
Song Ha-Eun promptly protested. “What? Why are you suddenly—”
“Stop talking, lizard woman. Just come out.”
“Ugh.” She swallowed a grunt before nodding slowly.
“If you need help, call me,” Riarc said to Kwon Oh-Jin before stepping outside with Song Ha-Eun.
Once the door shut behind them, only Kwon Oh-Jin and Vega remained in the chamber bathed in silver light.
He approached her and slowly reached out toward the chains of light that bound her. Black clouds began to emerge from his hands.
Rumble.
The moment the Black Heaven made contact with the chains, an aggressive reaction sparked up violently.
Crackle!
Not long after, the clouds scattered into the air like they'd been repelled by the light coming off the chains.
“As expected.”
If something had weakened the restriction's effect in the short time between Vega’s dismissal to the Sanctum and Riarc’s arrival, there was only one possibility.
Open Heaven. Kwon Oh-Jin realized the Black Heaven's activation had affected the Celestial restrictions. Now that I think back on it, Vega once mentioned that the restrictions had suddenly weakened.
He recalled that it was right after he'd defeated Ashad Khan.
Once could be a coincidence, but twice? That’s no accident.
The Black Heaven held the power to weaken the restrictions. The intense reaction between the black clouds and the chains of light was further proof of that.
“The problem is... just using the Black Heaven isn’t enough to break these chains.”
Kwon Oh-Jin tried again, summoning the clouds and pressing them against the chains. However, the clouds were repelled with a bright spark each time. Even when he poured all his strength into the Black Heaven, the results were the same.
I need to use Open Heaven, but I can't activate it on my own. I could do it by absorbing Ha-Eun's Draconic Eye, but who knows what kind of side effects that'll cause for her?
In the worst-case scenario, she could lose her Draconic Eye completely, without which she wouldn't be able to control the dragon's heart. That would put her at risk of entering an incapacitated or even life-threatening state.
"For now... I have no choice but to leave things as they are.”
He sighed as he watched Vega in her peaceful slumber.
Recalling how she used to run her fingers through his hair with a gentle smile, the veins on his fist bulged.
I want to free her from these damn chains right fucking now... but I have to stay put.
At the very least, he'd found a way to break the seal. Now, he just had to wait until he could use Open Heaven on his own.
“I need to raise the Black Heaven’s stage as quickly as possible.”
The key to activating Open Heaven was in the Dragon Vein’s mana he'd absorbed from the dungeon. His control over that mana would increase by advancing the Black Heaven’s enlightenment stage.
I already have an idea on how to do that. Turning away from Vega, he headed toward the door. Now I need to figure out how to deceive Riarc.
It would be suspicious if he suddenly waltzed in one day and shattered the chains without any explanation. If he wanted to free Vega without revealing that he possessed the Black Heaven, he had to trick Riarc.
The massive doors opened, and Kwon Oh-Jin stepped outside.
Riarc, who'd been waiting right outside, walked over with concern written all over his face. “Did you figure something out?”
“I’m not certain yet... but I may have a way to break the restriction.”
“A-Are you serious?!” Riarc stomped forward with his mouth agape.
Kwon Oh-Jin asked in a cryptic tone, “Riarc, have you ever heard of an Astral Relic called... the Adam's Apple?”
“N-No. This is my first time hearing about it! What is it?!”
I don’t know either. I just made it up on the spot.
“It’s an Astral Relic that can weaken the effects of Celestial restrictions.”
Riarc stared at Kwon Oh-Jin, utterly baffled. “I-I’ve never heard of such a relic's existence! Where in the world did you get this information...?”
Kwon Oh-Jin smirked. “Did you forget who I am, Riarc?”
I’m a goddamn Regressor.