Chapter 147 – Hongye Seven Star Group

Woo-woo-woong!

The moment the rainbow burrowed into Lee Hanseong’s inner self, seven alien stars rose within him.

The seven stars of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.

As if they had been Lee Hanseong’s stars from the beginning, they settled within his inner self and began to stir his emotions.

Happiness, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hatred, and desire.

The seven emotions—joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hatred, and desire—each agitated by the seven stars, stirred a storm of emotions within Lee Hanseong.

“……!”

Thud.

Lee Hanseong’s consciousness, forcibly plummeting inward and adrift in the swirling storm of emotions.

Emotions moving arbitrarily beyond his will prevented him from even properly unleashing the abilities he possessed.

Woong.

At the very least, the Golden Divine Realm automatically unfolded, attempting to stabilize his mind as much as possible, but the seven stars originating from Hongye were no different from a part of Lee Hanseong himself, making them impossible to easily expel.

The best he could do was to erect a support just enough to maintain a thread of thought.

‘Tongcheon Hongye…. Right. This was Hongye’s ability.’

Hongye’s rainbow possessed the function of reaching anywhere, as it connected with the heavens.

No matter how many mental barriers he erected, Hongye’s rainbow could ignore them.

Wasn’t it precisely because of this characteristic of Hongye that it could ignore the barrier between the two dimensions of the Origin World and Earth and act as the source of erosion?

=Have you come to deal with me, the source of erosion? If you can, try it.

At that moment, as if reading Lee Hanseong’s mind, Hongye’s voice echoed within him.

=If you, who have reached the brink of life and death merely by passing the second gate, can become a true Asura.

Hongye’s voice was unfamiliar yet somehow familiar.

=Please, carry your will through to the end.

Swoosh,

No sooner had Hongye finished speaking than the seven stars of Hongye residing within his inner self began to take form.

Each becoming one with the seven emotions harbored by Lee Hanseong, transforming into his own Inner Demons.

―I am truly proud of you, Steward.

Lee Hanseong’s joy appeared in the form of a cat, patting his consciousness.

It was the appearance of the cat that had been Mirinae’s projection.

Each time the cat’s paw touched him, a supreme sense of happiness, as if he had reached paradise, seeped in.

‘I shouldn’t be like this….’

He just wanted to stay still like this.

Even though he rationally knew these were Inner Demons that must be severed.

Barely gathering his intact consciousness, he activated Parallel Consciousness.

Fwoosh.

Separating the consciousness intoxicated with joy, he immediately devised a countermeasure against the Inner Demons.

Since there were six more Inner Demons besides joy, time was short, but.

Thanks to Skill Tree View, he could find the answer within the time limit.

Click.

[<Parallel Consciousness (Unique)> + <Mask: Persona (Unique)> = <Avatar (Legendary)>]

A Legendary Skill that divides consciousness and overlays a mask to create a separate clone distinct from the main body.

Through it, he treated the consciousness intoxicated with joy as a mask, creating a new Avatar.

Swoosh.

‘Hehehe.’

The Avatar of Joy, wearing a melting smile, fully enjoying the cat’s paw.

While it would be impossible to sever the Inner Demon like that, conversely, as long as the Avatar existed, joy could no longer affect Lee Hanseong.

Because Lee Hanseong and the Avatar were identical yet separate existences, thanks to this paradox, it was possible to block each other’s influence with All Things Are Impermanent.

―It’s because you were so weak that Mirinae fell.

Meanwhile, anger appeared in the form of Lee Hanseong.

The object of his greatest anger was not the enemies he had faced thus far, but himself.

To be precise, it was his pre-Regression self.

‘Yes, that’s right.’

Swoosh.

Feeling anger boiling up as if his reason would snap, Lee Hanseong peeled off that anger and created a second Avatar.

An Avatar that self-harmed.

‘But this time, I’ve changed like this.’

A past event; Mirinae, who had fallen, would also regain her Constellation Grade soon enough.

Since Lee Hanseong had become incomparably stronger compared to before his Regression, separating the anger stemming from the past was easy.

It wasn’t enough to completely eliminate it, but that was actually good.

‘Just wait a little. I will definitely restore Mirinae to her rightful place.’

Anger is motivation, after all.

It will spur him to grow stronger without rest.

As if to prove this, the self-harming Avatar grew stronger the more it was wounded.

Leaving the Avatar of Anger behind, he faced the next Inner Demon.

―I’m sorry. If I had trusted you just a little more, we could have remained friends.

Sorrow, in the form of Kim Jinho, apologized.

He thought he had no feelings left for that guy, but seeing that appearance made his heart churn.

He didn’t regret killing him.

But the time they spent as friends didn’t disappear either.

The space where the lost friendship of the past resided was filling with sorrow.

What if Kim Jinho hadn’t betrayed him and remained his friend?

‘That wouldn’t have been bad either.’

Swoosh.

Creating an Avatar of Sorrow in the form of his school days when he was inseparable with Kim Jinho, he also expelled sorrow from his consciousness.

The next Inner Demon, fear, came in the form of Mirinae.

―Now, you are too lacking to contain this body.

Her hair completely dyed with Starlight signified that she had fully recovered as a complete Constellation.

Being unable to maintain Constellation Descent and drifting apart from Mirinae was precisely Lee Hanseong’s fear.

The fact that Duren’s promotion to Ten-Star left the 7th and 9th Star Ranks vacant, destabilizing the Vessel, was also one of the factors amplifying that fear.

‘It’s okay. As long as I promote Duren to 11th Star, I can buy time.’

Swoosh.

Consoling himself, he even created an Avatar of Fear, but he couldn’t block the anxiety caused by fear.

He merely pushed the fear inward and faced the next Inner Demon.

―I love you.

Love, in the form of Mirinae, whispered love to him.

Unlike fear, which mimicked the form of a complete Constellation, the Mirinae mimicked by love had completely black hair.

Moreover, somewhere in Mirinae’s face, Yu Sehee’s face was faintly visible.

‘What is this?’

Does it mean that the Mirinae he loves is only the incomplete Constellation Mirinae who can stay with him forever?

And does Mirinae’s face mixed with Yu Sehee’s mean he also feels love for her?

Even though it was his own heart, Lee Hanseong couldn’t precisely define his feelings.

He was only certain that his pounding heart was drawn to the other.

‘Ah, I don’t know.’

Lee Hanseong didn’t reach an answer immediately.

Swoosh.

This time too, he created an Avatar of Love, transferred the emotion of love, and moved on to the next Inner Demon.

Hatred appeared in the form of Prometheus killing the Sun Star King.

―From now on, the war begins.

Prometheus was merely a representative form.

What Lee Hanseong hated were the Constellations of the Heavenly Palace who sought to use Earth as a sacrifice for their Ascension.

Moreover, according to Möbius, they were also the ones who betrayed Mirinae, so there was ample reason to hate them.

Spot!

The Inner Demon of Hatred didn’t just instill hatred in Lee Hanseong; it began attacking in the form of Prometheus.

―Die, Earthling.

Shoo-shoo-shoo-shoosh!

Spears made of blood poured down like rain.

Chwa-chwa-chwa-chwak!

Lee Hanseong erased all the blood spears with All Things Are Impermanent.

Fortunately, the opponent wasn’t a full Apostle Rank.

It was merely a fake that reproduced the Fragment of Prometheus known to Lee Hanseong.

Fighting here would only bury him deeper in hatred.

‘No need for me to fight personally.’

Swoosh.

Forming an Avatar of Hatred to deal with the fake Prometheus, he headed toward the final Inner Demon.

―Watch and learn well. The me of the past.

Desire appeared in the form of his ideal self that Lee Hanseong desired.

Lee Hanseong who had become an Apostle, reaching the future he would attain.

―Spirit Overlay, Constellation Descent.

All twelve Spirits he contracted had been promoted to Apostle Rank.

Mirinae, having regained her complete Constellation Grade, descended upon him.

A massive Vessel that felt no burden even when Mirinae, who should be called 13-Star, descended.

That was the future Lee Hanseong desired.

‘Certainly, it is alluring.’

A future where he becomes the master of the Heavenly Palace and reigns as a god alongside Mirinae in both Earth and the Origin World.

If he let his guard down even a little, he felt he would be captivated by that desire.

‘But. I can achieve all that myself.’

However, Lee Hanseong’s Vessel was too large to be satisfied with the illusion created by an Inner Demon.

His confidence was certain that he could realize such a future even in reality.

Swoosh.

Creating even an Avatar of Desire, he entrusted all seven Inner Demons of the seven emotions to the seven Avatars.

It was an awkward state where he neither severed nor accepted the Inner Demons, but for now, this was enough.

Because Lee Hanseong’s consciousness, having regained inner peace, ascended back to reality.

* * *

Blink.

Opening his eyes, the scenery of the Hongye Chilseongdan, again stained with rainbows, came into view.

“As expected, merely binding the Inner Demons isn’t enough to pass the trial.”

Still, he could roughly guess what he needed to do to pass this place.

Having experienced all three gates, he could see what the Asura Three Thousand Gates desired from each gate.

In the Kirin Ascension Gate, the challenger defied the Kirin’s order.

In the Bonghwang Oeumgye, he created a new order to replace the existing order.

And in the Hongye Chilseongdan, the goal was probably to carry through his own unshakable order amidst the rainbow that disrupted order.

“Ultimately, establishing an independent order to realize the Asura’s [Asura Lawless Path] is the core of the Asura Three Thousand Gates, I see.”

=That is so. Therefore, properly deal with the seven stars within you. As long as the seven stars remain within you, your own unshakable order cannot manifest.

Hongye advised in response to Lee Hanseong’s muttering.

“But what can I do? I have no intention of obtaining the Asura Lawless Path as you wish.”

He had no obligation to follow rules or the like.

Just sever Hongye and absorb that Divinity.

That was his only thought.

=If you judge that you can defeat me in direct combat, that is a grave miscalculation.

Kugugugugugugu!

Hongye, having pierced through Lee Hanseong’s thoughts, revealed its body made of rainbow, a dragon, and prepared for a full-fledged battle.

Ziiiiiiing!

The beginning was Dragon’s Breath.

Breath enhanced by Hongye’s characteristic of reaching anywhere was an attack that was unavoidable and undefendable.

“The miscalculation is on your side.”

However, it did not reach Lee Hanseong.

<Absolute Fate Asura>.

Since Duren already had a Skill containing the characteristics of an Asura.

He could sever the fate of Hongye’s breath reaching Lee Hanseong and ignore Hongye’s Law itself.

<Supreme Under Heaven>.

And conversely, the natural sword that even subdued Hongye’s Law dominated the rainbow in reverse, severing and cleaving Hongye.

Sschk!

Decapitating Hongye’s neck took but an Instant.

=As you said, I miscalculated.

Yet, even with its neck severed, Hongye did not die.

=But remember, this is not the end. As long as the rainbow remains, I will not die.

“By telling me how to kill you, are you asking to be killed?”

In response to Hongye’s words, Lee Hanseong scattered all the rainbows dominated by Supreme Under Heaven.

Pssssss—

Thus, the rainbows inside the Hongye Chilseongdan completely disappeared, leaving only a white void, but.

“You’re still not dead?”

Hongye’s Divinity was not absorbed.

Meaning Hongye was still not dead.

The seven emotional Inner Demons originating from the seven stars that had burrowed into Lee Hanseong’s inner self were judged as part of Hongye, sustaining its life.

It seemed Hongye would not die unless he completely assimilated the Inner Demons as his own or eliminated them.

“Tsk.”

This was why Hongye had deliberately told him how to kill it.

If he dealt with the Inner Demons, that would mean following Hongye’s trial.

In any case, to kill Hongye, he had to pass its trial.

“…I won’t go back into my inner self.”

Without a physical body in the inner self, he couldn’t exert his full strength.

He planned to materialize the Mental Image with the Golden Divine Realm and confront the Inner Demons directly in reality.

However, judging that this alone wouldn’t completely deal with the Inner Demons.

Swoosh.

Lee Hanseong turned his consciousness toward the fight between the external Qliphoth and Park Seongcheol.

He judged that there would be a Clue to dealing with the Inner Demons there.