Chapter 156: Adam’s Apple (3)
With a trembling voice, Kwon Oh-Jin called her name, “Ve... ga...?”
Vega hurriedly grabbed him as he staggered like he would collapse at any moment.
“M-My child!”
He had heavy, dark circles under his eyes and his face looked gaunt as if he hadn't eaten in days. Seeing him so battered and worn, Vega felt a sharp pain in her chest.
“What in the world happened?”
Holding onto Kwon Oh-Jin, she frantically looked around and rummaged through the chaotic drawers of her memory.
Song Ha-Eun had been kidnapped, and the King of Owls had pushed Kwon Oh-Jin to the brink of death. Vega had attempted to descend and kill the King of Owls herself, but the restrictions of the law forcefully banished her.
“That man! That vile old man! What happened to him?!” Vega asked, her face turning pale.
The thought of what kind of horrors Kwon Oh-Jin experienced in that desperate situation made her heart burn.
“Cheon Do-Yoon is dead.”
Vega’s eyes widened. “H-He’s dead?!”
As far as she could recall, Kwon Oh-Jin had been in no condition to defeat Cheon Do-Yoon.
“H-How did you defeat him?” she asked.
“It’s thanks to you, Vega.”
“Because of me?”
What did he mean? Even though she managed to defeat the Celestial of Owl Nebula, she had ultimately failed to strike down Cheon Do-Yoon.
“When Noctua was forcibly banished, the shock created an opening. At that moment, Ha-Eun reached nine stars too.”
“Ha-Eun is a nine-star now?” she asked.
Her eyes widened like a startled rabbit.
“B-But even if she reached nine stars, defeating him should still have been impossible!”
“He must’ve been completely distracted by you, Vega. He failed to dodge Ha-Eun’s attack and took a direct hit.”
Vega knew full well how powerful Song Ha-Eun’s Dragon Pearl was. If he took a direct hit from that, he would have suffered a fatal wound even if it wasn’t instant death.
“And I also reached seven stars at that moment.”
Kwon Oh-Jin slightly pulled down his shirt, revealing the Stigma engraved on the left side of his chest. Seven strokes were clearly etched next to the Stigma of Lyra.
Vega gasped. “Then you and Ha-Eun ascended stars at the same time?!”
“It does sound like something out of an action comedy, but going up in stars in a crisis isn’t exactly unheard of.”
“Well, that’s true, but...” Vega stared at the Stigma on his left chest, still unable to believe it. “A year? No, it hasn’t even been that long, right?”
It had only been about a year since Kwon Oh-Jin awakened as an Awakener. In fact, it hadn’t even been a full year yet. However, he had already reached seven stars. Not under just any constellation, but with the Stigma of the Weaver.
“It’s truly hard to believe you actually exist.”
After the gates to the Demonic District opened, she had wandered for years searching for a human who could accept the Stigma of Lyra. However, she never found anyone no matter how hard she searched. Then, Kwon Oh-Jin finally appeared and accepted her Stigma. He grew at a rate that left even her speechless.
It’s almost as if...
He had been destined to inherit the Stigma of Lyra.
Vega pressed her lips together and looked at Kwon Oh-Jin in silence.
She suddenly recalled something she had once heard from Spica, the Virgo Celestial. Spica said that among Awakeners, some rare individuals could grow their Stigma at an extraordinary speed as if they had been destined for it. Some Celestials even took such beings as their destined partners.
Back then, I scoffed at the idea and called it nonsense.
The notion that a Celestial would take their apostle as a partner sounded ridiculous, but...
Could it be that my past self and this child were...
Vega swallowed dryly.
Gulp.
Her cheeks flushed pink as she stared intently at Kwon Oh-Jin’s face.
“Vega?”
Vega hastily shook her head, flustered.
“I-It’s nothing!”
“Hmm, anyway, Ha-Eun and I took down Cheon Do-Yoon.”
“Then, did you come straight to me after defeating him?”
“No.”
He bitterly smiled and explained everything that had happened since. How she had been sealed by the restrictions, how he had defeated the Black Star Society faction that ruled over Japan, and how he had found the Divine Tree and obtained Adam’s Apple.
Vega’s eyes trembled after listening to him.
“So that’s why I no longer feel the restrictions. It was because you saved me.”
“Well, I wouldn’t call it saving you. You would’ve been freed in fifty years anyway.”
To humans, fifty years was an eternity. To a Celestial, it was merely a fleeting moment.
“That’s not true.” Vega shook her head with a faint smile. “During the time Celestials are bound by the restrictions, their soul continues to fade away.”
So there was another penalty.
“Had fifty years passed, I might’ve no longer been called the North Star.”
“Then freeing you quickly was the right choice.”
“Haha. And according to the prophecy, the Black Heaven would’ve devoured the world in fifty years. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn't have even known when I died and would’ve disappeared just like that. You did save me.”
“Well... if you put it that way.”
A prophecy, huh?
Who had made such a prophecy that even Vega, a superior Celestial, believed in it without question?
“Now that I think about it, who exactly made that prophecy?” Kwon Oh-Jin asked.
“The one about the resurrection of the Black Heaven?”
“Yeah.”
Vega nodded slightly and answered, “Polaris.”
Polaris was a North Star Celestial like Vega and Deneb, though they weren’t completely the same. Polaris was known as the brightest shining star and stood at the highest rank among the North Star Celestials, or rather, among the hundreds of Celestials.
But I’ve only ever heard of Polaris. No one even knows what Polaris’ Stigma looks like.
Unlike Vega, whose Stigma was at least known, there was almost no information about Polaris. It was said that Polaris never even attempted to have an Awakener, so it made sense not to have much information.
That’s also different from Vega.
If Vega had simply been unable to find someone compatible, Polaris had never even bothered to look. There was a huge difference between not being able to and choosing not to.
“Polaris has the power to glimpse into the future,” Vega said.
“And that’s how Polaris prophesied the resurrection of the Black Heaven?”
Vega nodded. “But there’s one thing even Polaris failed to foresee.”
“What’s that?”
Vega faintly smiled and slowly reached out, gently running her fingers through his hair.
“You.”
“Me?”
“According to Polaris’ prophecy, the Heaven-Defying Star was never supposed to appear, yet here you are.”
“Uh...”
Well, that prophecy isn't exactly wrong.
“Your very existence is proof that fate can be overturned,” Vega said with a radiant smile full of confidence.
It’s not, though.
While keeping up a calm front and returning a smile, Kwon Oh-Jin clenched his fist tightly.
So far, everything had unfolded according to Polaris' prophecy.
The so-called Heaven-Defying Star died the moment he appeared, after all.
Did that mean Kwon Oh-Jin was destined to destroy the world in the future just as Polaris’ prophecy foretold?
No way.
No matter how he thought about it, he had no reason to destroy the world. Of course, he wasn’t sure he would be able to stay sane if he failed to protect Song Ha-Eun and lost all the people he cherished.
But that’s something I can prevent.
He took a deep breath, organized his thoughts, and nodded. “Yeah. You’re right, Vega.”
“Haha. If anyone can change fate, it’s you.”
Vega gently smiled and pulled him into a warm embrace. “Anyway, you look exhausted.”
“I am a bit tired.”
For the past two weeks, he hadn’t gotten any proper sleep. On top of that, he had even used Open Heaven.
Though he tried to act fine in front of Vega, he was on the verge of collapsing from fatigue.
“Then go rest now.”
“What about you, Vega?”
“Perhaps because I was just freed from being sealed, I feel quite tired as well. I’ll rest for now and come to see you tomorrow.”
He had accomplished his goal, so there was no harm in taking a break.
“Alright, then. I’ll head back first.”
“Rest well.”
Vega gently cupped his chin with both hands and lightly kissed his forehead.
Kwon Oh-Jin awkwardly smiled, rubbing the spot with his hand. “See you tomorrow.”
He walked out of the room.
Left alone, Vega took a deep breath and tried to calm her pounding heart. Spica’s words kept echoing in her head.
Having a human as a Celestial’s partner, huh...
“Ugh!
This isn’t the time for such thoughts!”Kwon Oh-Jin was training desperately every day to stop the Heavenly Demon. This wasn’t the time to indulge in unnecessary emotions when she couldn’t even help him properly.
Not long after Kwon Oh-Jin left, Riarc burst into the room.
“L-Lady Vega! The restrictions really have been lifted!”
Vega smiled softly and gently patted Riarc.
“Haha. Were you worried?”
“Ahem! I was just concerned the ritual might have gone wrong...”
“A ritual? What ritual?”
“In order to use Adam’s Apple, a special ritual was required. I was told to wait outside.”
A ritual? What kind of ritual is he talking about?
When she opened her eyes, she hadn’t noticed any visible traces of a ritual. She hadn’t seen any ceremonial spells or special tools either.
“Wait a minute.”
Then, a sudden realization struck her.
D-Didn’t Oh-Jin say he used something called Adam’s Apple to free me? That means...
Gulp.
Vega cautiously turned to Riarc and asked, “This Adam’s Apple... What does it look like?”
“It was a radiant, golden apple.”
Vega’s eyes widened in shock. If Adam’s Apple actually took the form of an apple...
T-Then, could it be that the ritual was...?
Had he placed the apple in her mouth when she was unconscious? Since she wouldn’t have been able to chew it herself, had he perhaps chewed it into smaller pieces so she could swallow it? That too—
“W-With his mouth... Haaaah!”
Covering her flushed cheeks with her hands, Vega kicked her legs in a flustered panic.
“W-What an indecent thought!”
“Lady Vega?”
Twisting around as if she had been bitten by a bug, Vega awkwardly cleared her throat and straightened herself.
“Ah. Ahem! I-I'm just very tired. I shall rest for a while, so you may leave me be.”
“I understand!”
Riarc quickly shut the door and stepped outside.
Now alone, Vega fidgeted with her legs as she wondered what kind of ritual Riarc had meant.
“This is no time for such shameless thoughts... Hmm?”
As she twisted around on the bed, something touched her side.
This is?
It was a shattered fragment of light crushed beyond recognition. At the very tip of that fragment was a darkness so deep, so boundless, and so suffocatingly heavy.
“Why is this here?”
It was unlike the energy felt from the Black Star Celestials. No, this wasn’t even comparable to them. This aura felt so overwhelming that it made even the North Star Celestial tremble in fear.
She had no doubts about it.
“W-Why is the aura of the Black Heaven here?”
It was a remnant of the catastrophe that Polaris had prophesied—the calamity destined to swallow the world whole.