Ancient Constellation VIII

"Y-You son of a…"

Park Gunwoo took steps back with a pale face.

Bang!—

Ohjin dashed forward like a spark and swung his spear before Gunwoo was able to rile up his mana.

"Kuugh!"

Park Gunwoo urgently tried to raise his spear to block the attack, however…

'Did you really think you'd be able to?'

Even if there was a difference of three Stars, it was implausible for an Awakener who hadn't even used their stigma to block an attack used with Exceed.

Slash!!—

"Kuhak! Kuk!"

The spear engulfed in Lightning Flames easily moved Park Gunwoo's spear aside as it cut a long line across his chest.

Ohjin was planning to pierce his heart right away but had failed as Park Gunwoo twisted his body at the last moment.

"Tch."

Ohjin clicked his tongue in shame.

'I guess he has skill matching that of his words.'

Judging from his nimble reaction speed in a manaless state, Park Gunwoo was indeed a skilled individual.

'So what.'

Ohjin smiled slyly as he looked at the blood gushing out of Park Gunwoo's chest.

He had failed to pierce his heart in one go but had succeeded in inflicting a large wound that was nearly fatal.

"Haa, haa!"

Park Gunwoo clutched the wound on his chest and gasped for air.

"You scamming piece of shit!!"

He continued in a voice boiling with hatred.

"The King's Delegate told me to keep my hands off the Star of the Weaver Girl's apostle…"

Owoooong!!!—

Park Gunwoo's stigma fiercely blazed up.

"But this… this I cannot forgive!"

"Yeah~ Yeah~ Do whatever you want, man."

"Eek!!"

Park Gunwoo's expression scrunched up like a Yaksha as he kicked off.

"Kugh!"

The wound on his chest expanded, causing even more blood to gush out with increased momentum.

"What are you doing? I thought you couldn't forgive me."

"Kuuuh."

Park Gunwoo clutched his widened wound and chewed his lips.

With how things were progressing, he wouldn't be able to last much longer and would collapse due to severe hemorrhage.

There were two options remaining…

Either run away, or…

"...Don't think that it's over yet."

Bam!!—

He slammed his spear into the ground.

"Celestial Noctua!!! Please lay down a blessing of the Black Stars to this humble apostle!!"

He spread his arms out wide and cried out.

Crack! Crackle!—

With the sound of crushing bones, the skin all around his body started to shrivel at a rapid pace.

"Kahk! Keuk!! Kak!"

—Discolored yellow teeth and wrinkly skin like tree bark.

In the blink of an eye, Park Gunwoo looked decades older as black mana surged out of his body.

'Celestial Noctua.'

The transcendent being known as a Black Star raised up Park Gunwoo's dying body.

"Ahh, thank you. Thank you, almighty Noctua."

Park Gunwoo raised his chin up high and mumbled in a low voice while staring at the ceiling.

"Following the will of the Black Stars…"

Kadududududuk!!—

Black feathers pierced out of his skin and covered his body.

It looked as if he was wearing armor that was made out of black feathers.

His black pupils—the only thing that was exposed in the dense black feathers— looked at Ohjin.

"Today on this spot—I shall cause the downfall of the Star of the Weaver Girl's prodigy."

Booom!!!!—

Park Gunwoo wildly kicked off and approached Ohjin.

"Ugh!"

His speed was so fast that it was incomparable to before.

Ohjin narrowly deflected the tip of the spear that was aimed at his neck.

He quickly retreated to gain distance and observed Park Gunwoo, who was covered in black feathers.

'Did he receive a blessing with the price of his lifespan?'

No, could that be called a blessing?

'It would be more fitting to call it a curse.'

In any case, the fight with Park Gunwoo which he had thought to be over ended up continuing a little longer.

"Yeah, it would've been too boring if it finished like that."

Ohjin smirked and rotated the spear in his grasp.

The situation had worsened compared to the beginning, but his mind instead felt at ease.

'It's been a while since I've met a good opponent. I can't miss this good opportunity.'

When looking back at how he had become stronger until then, there were many more instances of gaining explosive growth from dangerous situations compared to consistent training.

"...You look like you're enjoying this."

"Really?"

Ohjin cackled.

"What do you find so enjoyable?"

"I can't feel this kind of feeling no matter how I train."

—The feeling of dancing on top of sharp blades.

Thump, thump—

The beating of his heart rang in his ears like thunder as he felt the electrifying feeling of each and every cell coming to life.

He could never feel that kind of feeling with mere training.

Only in fights with his life on the line could he enjoy the privilege of such thrilling bliss and delight.

"You aren't right in the mind."

"That's my line. You spear freak."

"You will meet your end here, anyways"

Park Guneoo aimed his spear at Ohjin.

He became a wrinkly grandpa as he received the blessing of his celestial, but despite that, his stance was perfect, with no flaws that could be pointed out.

"Die."

"I'll have to pass."

Bang!!!—

Their spears collided, causing a loud clatter.

Ohjin in the Exceed state wasn't behind in terms of power and speed to Park Gunwoo was after receiving his celestial's blessing.

Clang! Cla-Clang!—

The sound of clashing metal rang out.

The shockwaves that spread out every time the spears collided caused the entire skyscraper to shake.

"Haa, haa!"

As the fight continued, Ohjin's breathing gradually became more ragged.

Ohjin frowned and created distance.

'I'm lacking mana.'

Though he was confident that his amount of mana was comparable to even high-rank Awakeners, what seemed to be bottomless started to run dry as Exceed and Lightning Flames devoured so much mana.

'It's almost like I'm trying to fill up a cracked jar.'

Both Exceed and Lightning Flames were skills that couldn't be used at his level of a mere 5-Star.

As much as the skills he was using were unfitting for his level, the same amount of enormous mana was consumed as a side-effect.

"Fuu."

"Are you tired already?"

Compared to Ohjin's gradually progressing ragged breathing, Park Gunwoo was still doing fine.

"Why the fuck are you taunting when you're holding on by using a blessing?"

Twe—

Ohjin spat out the collected saliva in his mouth.

Even if Park Junwoo was an 8-Star Awakener, it wasn't possible to avoid getting shortness of breath after all those fierce clashes.

The reason why he wasn't getting tired lay in the fact that he had received the blessing of 'Noctua'.

It couldn't be said to be his own strength.

"Kuhuhu! Then isn't there no problem if you also receive the star of the Weaver Girl's blessing?"

"I'm still doing fine, so there's no need to call my goddess yet."

"...You're doing fine?"

Park Gunwoo looked at Ohjin with confusion.

The way he gasped for air seemed to be rather far away from 'being fine'.

"You're bluffing."

"Are you sure? Whether I'm bluffing or not—"

Ohjin turned his body around.

"—confirm it yourself."

He ran towards the broken glass window with all his might.

"Wh-What!"

"Catch me if you can."

Raising his middle finger to Park Gunwoo, who urgently reached out his hand, he jumped off the 50th floor of the building without hesitation.

Fwooosh!!—

Fierce winds brushed past his cheeks.

As a thrilling sensation spread out from his spine, the entire view of the battle with thousands of demon beasts in Guro-dong could be seen with a glance.

"Hmpf!"

Bang! Bang!!—

He shot his wires at the building walls.

Like Tarzan swinging through the jungle on vines, he used the wires to fly from building to building while reducing his speed.

'It was impossible to get up there without Riak's help, but…'

It wasn't hard to get down using wire shooters.

Whoosh! Whoosh!!—

Moving around buildings at a quick speed, he found his destination.

'Over there.'

Ohjin, who found a mountain of demon beast corpses, recalled his wires and twisted his body in the air as if performing aerial acrobatics to land on the ground.

"Well, then."

Ohjin looked up at the skyscraper that became quite far away.

He didn't expect that Park Gunwoo would be unable to chase him.

'He'll chase me using whatever the means since he's gone as far as to use a blessing.'

It was highly improbable for him to give up when he had given up several decades of his lifespan.

'I should get prepared in advance.'

Ohjin climbed up the mountain of demon beast corpses after confirming that there wasn't anyone nearby.

It was time to use the 'hidden card' he had thought of.

'Will it really be possible?'

It was possible in theory.

Logic and reasoning also fit into place.

However…

'Will I… be able to do it?'

Was it right to hastily lay his hands on the unknown power that had caused the destruction of the world once before?

"Ha," he chuckled.

"Since when have I quibbled over stuff like that?"

Ohjin smirked and opened his hand.

Flutter!—

At that moment, Park Gunwoo appeared in front of him as black feathers scattered.

"You bluffed that you were doing fine, yet is running away all you can resort to in the end?"

Disappointed emotions were mixed in his low voice.

"I would have ran to where Lee Woohyuk is if I was planning to run away, you dumbfuck."

Ohjin cackled out and rubbed his fully opened palm with the sharp blade of the spear.

His flesh tore, causing blood to spill out.

Mana was contained within the blood of Awakeners.

And in his case—

'Black Heaven.'

—there was another kind of power that it also contained.

Drip, drip—

Black clouds started to spread out from the center of where the blood dripped down.

—To the extent where it covered the thousands of demon beast corpses scattered out in the area.

"Come to think of it… I forgot to tell you this."

"What…?"

"Thanks for setting up this unlimited buffet for me."

Cackle—

Ohjin's shoulders shook up and down as he laughed.

He had never used the Black Heaven so widely before, however…

'As expected, it works.'

There was never a need to have physical contact to absorb using the Black Heaven in the first place.

He started to think about the possibility of being able to absorb all the starstones hiding inside the black demon's corpses in one go by spreading the Black Heaven's clouds out wide.

—It was the hidden card that he prepared.

"Do you know the method of filling up a cracked jar?"

"...What are you scheming?"

Growl!!—

The black clouds that spread out started to dig into the corpses of the demon beasts.

Greedily and gluttonously…

The darkness of the Black Heaven devoured hundreds… thousands of starstones.

"You just need to chuck the entire jar into a pool."

The mana that was beginning to run dry started to rise up with explosive momentum.

-Ring!

[You have absorbed starstones containing the power of the 'Black Stars']

[An adjusted value will be applied to the quality of starstones.]

[Quest 'Star-devouring Devil of the Sky①' will progress.]

[Completion rate 76.7%]

[Completion rate 87.2%]

[Completion rate 94.8%]

[Completion rate 100%]

Rumbleeeeee!!!!—

Black clouds escaped out of the gap of his torn palm and explosively gushed out while spreading out like fog.

[You have completed the quest 'Star-devouring Devil of the Sky①'.]

[You will obtain a random 'Ancient Constellation' stored within the Black Heaven.]

[The constellation you have obtained is—]

A blue message that appeared in the darkness shone like a star.