Chapter 95 – Star Interception

The moment Prisoner 6666 was swallowed by the Twilight Orb, Lee Hanseong realized he had two choices.

One, annihilate the opponent by devouring their Starlight and records like the Void Lord.

Choosing this path would allow him to achieve spiritual annihilation, piercing through the opponent’s limited Immortality.

‘The problem is, if I do this, the other Contractors of the Spirit Prisoner 6666 contracted with will become Hollow Specters.’

Naturally, he dismissed the option of personally creating Mirinae’s nemesis, the Hounds of Void.

His mind naturally turned to the second choice.

Two, instead of devouring the opponent’s Starlight and records, corrupt them with Primordial Chaos and spit them back out.

This method wouldn’t steal power from the opponent, but it could seize a High-Rank Awakener, who was essentially no different from a Spirit of another Constellation, and bring them under Mirinae’s influence.

In other words, it was a forced affiliation change.

‘Originally, when a High-Rank Awakener dies, it’s not the end; they can continue their activities as a Spirit under their Constellation, right?’

When an Awakener who has chosen a Constellation reaches Seven Star, half of their soul containing their records is mortgaged to the Constellation.

Even if the High-Rank Awakener living in reality dies, the remaining half of the soul held by the Constellation becomes the main body, allowing them to continue life as a Spirit, much like the Einherjar of Valhalla.

And the Twilight Orb could affect not only the High-Rank Awakener in reality but also the remaining half held by the Constellation.

The first method was to devour the remaining half held by the Constellation through the half in reality.

The second method was to corrupt the remaining half held by the Constellation through the half in reality and transfer its ownership to Mirinae.

‘If a High-Rank Awakener joins her ranks, the time for Mirinae to awaken will also be faster, right?’

Lee Hanseong’s mind was already set on the second choice.

The problem was that if he chose the corruption path, he had to personally fight and kill the opponent once after the Twilight Orb spat them out.

If the High-Rank Awakener in reality remained alive, the corrupted portion could be overwritten again by the original Constellation’s influence.

‘It’s a bit bothersome, but for Mirinae’s sake…’

Ptooey!

Prisoner 6666, corrupted by Primordial Chaos Gang Qi, tumbled out into the air.

He wore a dazed expression, as if half his soul had been ripped out.

Soon, realizing he was still alive, he opened his mouth in shock.

“You… what did you do to me?”

“That’s none of your business. Just focus on the fight. Well, not that you can do anything anyway.”

“What do you…!”

He had already grasped all of Prisoner 6666’s abilities while corrupting him with Primordial Chaos Gang Qi.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

“……?!”

Whenever the opponent tried to activate any ability, he read it with his Insightful Eye and severed it all before activation, pushing forward relentlessly.

Of course, being able to perfectly seal abilities at the pre-activation stage like this was partly thanks to the Primordial Chaos Gang Qi lurking inside the opponent, but there was another reason too.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Thanks to Vein Domination and the Insightful Eye, his Absolute Sword Art was advancing to the next stage.

The softness of Flowing Sword Art naturally melted into the rigid Absolute Sword Art, allowing him to cut even more things.

[Conditions met. <Absolute Sword Art> and <Flowing Sword Art> are merging.]

[The Legendary Skill <Mind-Severing Heavenly Penetration> is forming.]

Swishswishswishswishswishswishswishswish!

After Mind-Severing Heavenly Penetration formed, Prisoner 6666 became utterly helpless.

True to its name, which means severing the connection between heaven and earth, Mind-Severing Heavenly Penetration completely severed all connections between the opponent’s inner microcosm, representing the earth, and the external macrocosm, representing heaven.

For one who had achieved Primal Spirit God, losing connection with the macrocosm was akin to losing any means to interfere with reality.

“@$@%@%!!”

It became even easier once Prisoner 6666’s very existence became estranged from reality to the point where even his words were barely audible.

“Divine Fall.”

Each time he deployed Mind-Severing Heavenly Penetration to seal the opponent’s abilities, the Starlight the opponent tried to use for activation was all devoured by the Devouring Heaven Demon Sword.

Before he knew it, enough Starlight had gathered to deploy Polarity Reversal, so he activated Divine Fall.

Clang—!

Killing an opponent who had fallen from a High-Rank Awakener to a Mid-Rank Awakener wasn’t particularly difficult.

Swish!

Silence fell among the prisoner unit at Prisoner 6666’s death.

Meanwhile, the time limit for Divine Fall ended.

From Prisoner 6666’s corpse, his soul, now a High-Rank Awakener again, ascended to the sky as a stream of light.

Whoosh—!

This is how a High-Rank Awakener returns to their Constellation’s embrace upon death.

But due to Lee Hanseong’s scheme, Prisoner 6666’s soul headed not for his original Constellation but for Mirinae.

Hum.

[The presence of the Nameless Constellation becomes slightly clearer.]

He felt his connection with the Constellation become a bit clearer.

Feeling that his reunion with Mirinae was a step closer, the remaining prisoner unit seemed welcoming.

‘If I send all of them under Mirinae, she’ll be able to wake up soon too!’

Filled with renewed vigor, Lee Hanseong shouted loudly.

“Next!”

And a week passed.

* * *

The Life-and-Death Duels with the remaining prisoner unit weren’t much different from the fight with Prisoner 6666.

Swallow with the Twilight Orb, analyze the opponent’s abilities while corrupting them.

Spit them out, then seal their abilities with Mind-Severing Heavenly Penetration, and finish with Divine Fall when enough Starlight gathered to deploy Polarity Reversal.

He even worried that the prisoner unit might avoid fighting due to his overwhelming ease of victory.

It was a needless worry.

“Do you think you have a chance of winning, so you’re stepping up?”

“Well, winning is fine, losing is fine too. At our level, death isn’t the end anyway.”

It seemed they thought it was better to die and become a Spirit rather than remain as a prisoner.

Thanks to that, Lee Hanseong smoothly filled both his victory count for Hundred-Man Slaughter and Mirinae’s new Spirits.

What he gained from Life-and-Death Duels with High-Rank Awakeners wasn’t limited to that.

Hum.

While corrupting opponents with Primordial Chaos Gang Qi, he occasionally felt a resonance from within.

It meant that some of the Skills the opponent possessed were suitable materials for promoting his Spirits.

Whenever he spotted such suitable abilities, he added the task of replicating part of the Skill along with the corruption process.

[Conditions met. 2-Star Spirit ‘Rian Shin’ is promoted to 3-Star (★★☆).]

[New Rare Skills <Memory Art>, <???> are added.]

[The North Star Constellation emphasizes that the preservation of knowledge begins with memory.]

Hum.

[Conditions met. 2-Star Spirit ‘Utangka’ is promoted to 3-Star (★★☆).]

[New Rare Skills <Spirit Art>, <???> are added.]

[The Epicenter Throne blesses the promotion, anticipating the first Spirit Master.]

Hum.

[Conditions met. 2-Star Spirit ‘Rough’ is promoted to 3-Star (★★☆).]

[New Rare Skills <Divination>, <???> are added.]

[The Wind Constellation anticipates divination that toys with fate.]

Hum.

[Conditions met. 2-Star Spirit ‘Alter Goulds’ is promoted to 3-Star (★★☆).]

[New Rare Skills <Pedagogy>, <???> are added.]

[The Wheel Constellation advocates ‘Education is the Great Plan of a Hundred Years’.]

Hum.

[Conditions met. 2-Star Spirit ‘Non Smith’ is promoted to 3-Star (★★☆).]

[New Rare Skills <Granting Magic: Enchant>, <???> are added.]

[The Steel Throne blesses the promotion with an indifferent gaze.]

Hum.

[Conditions met. 2-Star Spirit ‘Hans’ is promoted to 3-Star (★★☆).]

[New Rare Skills <Necromancy>, <???> are added.]

[The Heavenly Slaughter Constellation glimpses the possibility of a new king from the fate of the ‘Kingslayer’ and laughs wildly.]

Hum.

[Conditions met. 2-Star Spirit ‘Blundell Violet’ is promoted to 3-Star (★★☆).]

[New Rare Skills <Poison Application Art>, <???> are added.]

[The Darkness Constellation evokes new despair.]

Hum.

[Conditions met. 3-Star Spirit ‘Henrietta’ is promoted to 4-Star (★★★☆).]

[New Rare Skills <Genetics>, <???> are added.]

[The Clay Constellation sings of the advent of the ‘Mother of Monsters’.]

Hum.

[Conditions met. 4-Star Spirit ‘Hyoo Guild’ is promoted to 5-Star (★★★★☆).]

[New Unique Skills <Mask: Persona>, <???> are added.]

[The Lunar Constellation spreads a faint curtain of moonlight and blesses the promotion.]

Except for the three Spirits of Ardenia promoted during the fourth Historical Alteration, the remaining nine Spirits each completed a one-step promotion.

Thus, 48 stars filled his inner world.

But even with the Half-Step Promotions, new choices for Historical Alteration still hadn’t appeared.

‘It seems the next Historical Alteration will only be possible after Mirinae awakens.’

Anyway, after a week of defeating sixty-eight prisoners, including Prisoner 6666, and corrupting them to belong to Mirinae…

—Hmmnyaah.

From beyond the connection with the Constellation, a familiar presence began to stir.

Mirinae, yawning with a cat-like meow.

[The Nameless Constellation tosses and turns in bed with half-closed eyes.]

‘Finally!’

Mirinae was trying to wake up.

His heart swelled at the thought of summoning her again.

He fully opened the connection with the Constellation and aligned the 48 stars of the twelve Spirits residing within him.

So that he could become the Vessel to summon Mirinae again at any time.

“Huh…?”

But no matter how long he waited, there was no further reaction from Mirinae.

As if not fully awake, she tossed and turned briefly before falling back asleep.

‘Is it still not enough?’

Even if he tried to corrupt the next opponent to increase her influence, there was no next opponent.

Perhaps Jang Wei never intended to let him complete the Hundred-Man Slaughter with the prisoner unit, as he had brought exactly 68 challengers.

At that moment, only the final hundredth Life-and-Death Duel remained.

He felt several of the Connection Points he usually perceived shaking violently.

Flash!

Coincidentally, it seemed Yu Sehee and Park Seongcheol, who had left for the dungeon [Steel Ant Nest], achieved 3-Star Awakening with the Feats gained from clearing the dungeon.

Plip… plop…

Like water droplets falling one by one on Mirinae’s sleeping face, tiny stimuli touched her in sequence.

Twitch… twitch…

[The Nameless Constellation frowns as if about to wake up.]

‘Please, wake up! Mirinae!’

He called to Mirinae with a desperate heart.

Thump!

Perhaps his feelings reached her.

Mirinae’s presence began to pulsate greatly.

Thumpthumpthumpthump—

At the reaction suggesting she might wake up any moment, a smile formed on Lee Hanseong’s lips.

And then, a response also came from Lycan and Baek Hyeonwoo, whom he had sent to the Hunting Ground.

Flash!

With Lycan’s help, Baek Hyeonwoo, who had been moving between 1-Star and 2-Star Hunting Grounds, finally achieved 2-Star Awakening.

Plop…!

That became the final drop that overflowed the full teacup.

[The Nameless Constellation awakens from sleep and opens its eyes.]

Rumble—!

Starlight carrying Mirinae’s consciousness flooded through the connection with the Constellation like a deluge.

Amidst the shaking constellation formed by forty-eight stars.

Mirinae’s presence, familiar and missed, filled Lee Hanseong’s inner world.

Whoosh—!

[The Nameless Constellation descends.]

[The Stigma 《All Streams Return to Origin》 blooms.]

Perhaps thanks to his efforts to awaken Mirinae all this time.

Unlike the previous ones he had forcibly unlocked, her fourth Stigma was fully unlocked.

Along with the Constellation Descent, the fourth Stigma was also engraved upon Lee Hanseong.

Sizzle.

Thanks to <Spirit Particle Manipulation>, he could feel the process.

Stigmas were ultimately Mythic-grade Skills possessed by the Constellation.

The seven myths that constitute Authority.

Among them, except for <Reversal> and <Synthesis of Opposites> obtained at Ten-Star, the remaining five seemed to remain in the form of Stigmas even after becoming Authority.

“Welcome back, Lord of the Throne.”

—I have returned.

Mirinae’s voice resonating from within was sweet.

A voice like the warmth of spring rising like a flower blooming at the end of a desolate winter.

—Did you wait long for me?

“No, ah… Yes. It was short, but for me, it was too long.”

He wanted to say it was okay, but he couldn’t lie.

In real-world time, only two weeks had passed since Mirinae fell asleep.

But adding the time spent during Historical Alteration, even calculating only the perceived time added at least two more months.

Each day without Mirinae had been too long.

—For me too… it was long. Still, you woke me up faster than expected. Well done.

“It was only what I had to do.”

He was busy sharing the emotions of reunion with Mirinae when…

Thud.

Before Lee Hanseong, where no one had stepped up after the prisoner unit ended, the awaited opponent ascended.

Growl—!

“What are you muttering to yourself? Have you realized your time to die has come and are trying to leave a last will?”

As Kim Jinsu had foretold, the moment the Fourth Week began and the participation restriction for Highest-Rank Awakeners lifted, Choi Sangguk, who should have been on the run, appeared.

As the final opponent for Hundred-Man Slaughter.

“Choi Sangguk!”

“How dare a wanted criminal show up here!”

James Lee and Yoo Mirae, whom he had summoned in advance, revealed themselves and were about to attack Choi Sangguk, who had suddenly appeared, when…

Jang Wei intervened.

“What are you doing now? Do you intend to interfere with the sacred Hundred-Man Slaughter?”

It seemed he intended to help Choi Sangguk under the pretext of Hundred-Man Slaughter.

It was the worst-case scenario he had anticipated since Jang Wei proclaimed himself judge.

Zzzt! Zzzt!

Just before the four Highest-Rank Awakeners clashed, Lee Hanseong stepped forward.

With two Highest-Rank Awakeners on each side, Choi Sangguk and Jang Wei, blessed by the Heaven-Slaying Star, had the higher chance of winning.

“I am the one who accepted the challenge. I will handle Choi Sangguk.”

Since the opponent was a Highest-Rank Awakener, he couldn’t win as easily as with the previous prisoner unit.

But as long as Mirinae was with him again, his chances were sufficient.