Chapter 58 – Burnout

The moment Jin Yuseong secured his advancement to the Heavenly Palace Tournament main event, Lee Hanseong, who had been watching from the Reverse World, felt his legs go completely weak.

Truthfully, it had been like this since he defeated the Void Lord.

A sense of utter exhaustion that left him staring blankly into empty space.

Even though the same ‘Void Lord Subjugation’ Feat that Jin Yuseong had obtained floated before his eyes, he felt no particular emotion.

Perhaps because he hadn’t formally received a Constellation’s mission and had only played a supporting role, the actual Achievement contained within the Feat was less than half of what Jin Yuseong had gained.

“…Still a long way from Four-Star Awakening.”

Until he defeated the Void Lord, he could focus solely on that and momentarily forget that Mirinae had fallen asleep.

But once the urgent matters were settled, Mirinae’s absence began to be felt more and more acutely.

Normally, Mirinae would have been right there beside him, sharing his joy whenever an event concluded like this… but now she wasn’t.

‘No, it’s not that she isn’t here, she’s just asleep.’

If he wanted to wake Mirinae quickly, he didn’t have time to be like this.

He needed to restore the Constellation’s Grade, whether by achieving more Feats to Awaken to 4-Star or by creating new Historical Alterations.

The moment Jin Yuseong Awakened to 3-Star, the faintly closer sense of Mirinae’s presence was proof of that.

‘But why! Won’t my body move!’

He clearly knew it in his head, but his heart, his body wouldn’t accept it.

It was as if his body had gone on strike, refusing to obey properly.

Shiver…!

Even trying to lift his arm, it just trembled.

It wasn’t a lack of stamina.

The overflowing Starlight from Eightfold Annihilation, which was still active, always kept his body in peak condition.

The problem was his mind.

Having stayed awake for over a week without rest, mental fatigue had accumulated knowingly or unknowingly. On top of that, the Constellation had fallen asleep, and the shock of the Void Worms invading his inner self was added.

It wasn’t strange for his mind to have problems.

<Immovable Heart> was already full of cracks.

‘At this rate, the Formation hiding Baekto outside will soon unravel too.’

After activating <Concentration> to its maximum, he barely managed to complete one modification to the Formation.

He altered the Formation’s structure so it could maintain itself even if his connection to it was severed.

Once that task was done, it became impossible to even monitor inside or near the Formation anymore.

Whoosh…!

Eightfold Annihilation is severed.

Dark Hole and Black curtain in the dark are also released, and Lee Hanseong’s Grade drops back to 3-Star.

Thanks to the Spatial Connection linking the Reverse World and the outside being severed as the Black curtain in the dark lifted, his presence likely wasn’t observed by others.

“Haaa.”

In his current state, deploying multiple Awakening Skills again and maintaining a stable balance was impossible.

Whether it was the backlash from Eightfold Annihilation being released or because the Constellation Descent had ended, the Starlight within him was significantly reduced compared to its usual state.

‘Mirinae….’

He wondered if calling her name would make the Constellation awaken immediately, but the Taboo bound to the name prevented calling her True Name, so he could only repeat ‘Mirinae’ in his heart.

The void left by the Constellation was too vast.

It seemed he had been relying on Mirinae more than he thought.

Lee Hanseong realized that on his own, he could do nothing.

‘Haha, with this, forget stopping the Great War, I can’t even protect the Heavenly Demon Medallion right in front of me.’

Self-deprecating thoughts continued, and only negative emotions overflowed.

Just before he completely sank into his own solitary world.

Tap.

Warmth touched Lee Hanseong’s fingertips.

Yu Sehee, who had been sleeping nearby, shifted in her sleep, and her hand brushed against his.

Like grabbing at a straw when drowning, Lee Hanseong instinctively tightly grasped Yu Sehee’s hand that had made contact.

As if trying to sense traces of the Constellation emanating from her, Mirinae’s Devotee.

“…Huh?!”

As if awakened by the force of Lee Hanseong’s tight grip, Yu Sehee let out a groan.

“That hurts…! You…?”

Yu Sehee, about to get annoyed, closed her mouth upon seeing Lee Hanseong’s desperate expression.

“…Is something wrong?”

“……”

As if lacking even the strength to explain, Lee Hanseong silently nodded.

Yu Sehee was about to press further but noticed Lee Hanseong wasn’t in a state to answer, and quietly wrapped her hand around his hand that was holding hers.

Thump thump.

A silent time passed where only the sound of each other’s heartbeat was felt loudly through their touching hands.

After a while, when Lee Hanseong’s expression seemed somewhat better, Yu Sehee spoke.

“I don’t know what it is, but for now, just rest.”

“…Yeah.”

Thud.

Lee Hanseong, who tried to get up, slumped back down.

“Should I give you some space for a bit?”

Yu Sehee was about to move aside so Lee Hanseong could rest alone, but Lee Hanseong shook his head and didn’t let go of her hand, like someone suffering from separation anxiety.

“Okay. I won’t go. I won’t go, so lie down here.”

Yu Sehee soothed Lee Hanseong and laid his head on her lap.

It was the commonly called lap pillow position.

Lee Hanseong, now looking up at Yu Sehee, made a bewildered expression.

“Last time, you helped me sleep comfortably, so this time, I’ll help you sleep.”

Yu Sehee said with a slight smile, covering his eyes with her palm.

He was already at his mental limit anyway. Feeling Yu Sehee’s warmth with his eyes closed, he soon fell asleep.

* * *

Screech— Swish! Screech— Slash!

On the swirling vortex of stars twinkling in the dark night sky, someone was cutting down monsters.

Hounds of Void, beings that had become Void Gods through Hollow Specters and Void Lords.

The one cutting them down was a Demon Knight clad in Jet-Black Armor.

The exact same appearance depicted on the Apostle Stone Statue of the Darkness Constellation at the Crossroads of the Scales.

‘This… is an Apostle’s dream.’

The dream of a Parallel World stemming from the Fragment of ■■ Series he heard about from Yu Sehee.

The Apostle’s dream, mediated by the Dark Heart, had also come to Lee Hanseong.

Perhaps due to his experience of Deep Synchronization with various Spirits, he didn’t particularly feel the sensation of being devoured by the other’s consciousness as Yu Sehee had experienced.

Screech— Slash!

His task was to block the endless stream of those beings pouring out from the Boundary Layer touching the Void located at the center of the Galaxy, like the Eye of the Typhoon.

A pitch-black Sword Flux, similar to the Dark Hole equipment skill of the Dark Heart, was slaughtering them while offsetting the Void God’s Starlight Absorption.

‘Authority, [Formless Sword].”

He naturally comes to know the Authority of the Apostle, called the Demon Knight, or Dalri Sword Demon.

The Formless Sword, capable of changing into any form, was in a state mimicking the Authorities of other Apostles.

An absorption power that could even offset the absorption of a Void God-level being.

‘Similar to Devouring Heaven, but slightly different.’

If Devouring Heaven simply repeated biting in a Crescent Moon shape, the other Authority contained within the Formless Sword somehow evoked the momentum reminiscent of a Wolf’s Maw.

A momentum that seemed like it could chew up and swallow even a god!

But the forms of the Formless Sword weren’t limited to that.

At times, it transformed into an Ashen Sword resembling the power of Primordial Chaos that Mirinae had shown, cutting down Void Gods.

Other times, it became Pure White Starlight that even Starlight Absorption couldn’t absorb, piercing through Void Gods.

And other times, it transformed into pure destructive power that shattered stars, blowing up Void Gods.

‘Ahh…!’

Techniques for wielding Authorities far surpassing Lee Hanseong’s level flowed into his mind.

It wasn’t just that the Authority itself was amazing.

The movement of the sword containing such Authority had also reached the level of a Divine Artifact.

‘This is a Miraculous Encounter!’

Breathing, gaze, steps, posture, and even the manipulation of Starlight.

Not a single thing to miss.

Every movement the Sword Demon showed was a feast of enlightenment.

Shocks that forcibly awakened his spirit, which had been frustrated by being distanced from Mirinae.

Immersed in the Sword Demon’s swordsmanship, he momentarily forgot Mirinae’s absence.

But then.

“Did you see well?”

The Sword Demon suddenly spoke.

‘Is he… talking to me?’

“Yes. I am speaking to thou.”

Words that precisely pinpoint the existence of Lee Hanseong, who is dreaming.

Lee Hanseong’s wariness surged.

“Thou need not be so wary. Thou, chosen by Her, art our hope.”

The Sword Demon continued as if he and Lee Hanseong were on the same side.

‘Her?’

“The master of ■■. Since She left the Axis vacant, the offensive of the Void beings has been intensifying. I and the other Apostles are blocking them as much as possible, but without Her Authority, it is impossible to block all the Gates of the Multiverse.”

The master of ■■ likely referred to Mirinae.

As expected, it seemed the forces of the Void had risen because Mirinae lost her Constellation Grade.

‘Then, the appearance of Hollow Specters in our world is also…?’

“Yes, for now they are merely Hollow Specters, but with time, even Void Gods will cross over to your world. Fortunately, the Gate of Primordial Origin opened briefly recently, so it should be fine for a while, but with the Axis vacant, even that won’t last long.”

So there was still some time.

‘How long is ‘for a while’?’

“Shortly, half a year. At most, two years.”

So, to block the invasion of the Void forces, Mirinae needed to be restored to her original position within two years at most.

For Lee Hanseong, who had been looking ahead and preparing for the Great War ten years later, the time limit had drastically shortened.

‘Two years… No, to prepare for the worst, I should assume half a year.’

When Lee Hanseong calculated, to restore Mirinae to a complete Constellation, he needed to reach 11th Star.

He had risen to 3-Star in just over a month since his Regression, but even utilizing Historical Alterations that stopped time, reaching 11th Star in half a year was impossible….

“No! Impossible, that is not a fact but merely an opinion!”

The Sword Demon cut off Lee Hanseong’s thoughts, which were turning negative.

“Do not limit thy own possibilities. Thou art a far more remarkable existence than thou thinkest thyself.”

The confident declaration of a being who had become an Apostle affirmed Lee Hanseong.

“Being chosen by Her means thy inner self is most deeply connected to the Axis. If thou awaken to the Essence of Starlight, Star Rank will become not a wall blocking thee, but a staircase.”

Moreover, it wasn’t baseless affirmation.

‘The Essence of Starlight?’

Lee Hanseong, who intuited that the Sword Demon’s advice would be key to his future growth, asked again. But the Sword Demon didn’t give a proper answer.

“Enlightenment is not something others teach, but something one must realize for oneself. Unfortunately, the time granted to us ends here.”

Moreover, as if the dream was ending, the sense of distance from the Sword Demon was gradually increasing.

Whoosh— Pop!

It was time to wake from the dream.

* * *

The next moment, Lee Hanseong realized he was lying on Yu Sehee’s lap.

“Did you sleep well?”

Noticing he had woken, Yu Sehee spoke.

Somehow feeling embarrassed, Lee Hanseong sat up.

Fortunately, perhaps strength had returned to his body compared to before falling asleep, he had no problem getting up.

“You seem a bit better.”

“Yeah. I had a dream.”

“You too?”

“Thanks to it, I know the direction to go now.”

Lee Hanseong sat in the Lotus Position and reviewed everything about the Sword Demon he had seen in the dream.

What he focused on most was the movement of Starlight.

To realize the Essence of Starlight the Sword Demon mentioned last.

‘The Essence of Starlight….’

Imitating the flow of Starlight the Sword Demon wielded, he delved into the Starlight within.

Recalling the words that his inner self was deeply connected to the Axis that Mirinae had lost.

.

.

.

An immersing mind.

He feels the stars residing within.

The stars of the Spirits contracted to him.

The Depth of his inner self he usually descended to ended here.

This was sufficient for Synchronizing with Spirits.

But he had a premonition that to realize the Essence of Starlight, he needed to go deeper than this.

Slip.

So, he did.

To a place deeper than where the Spirits’ stars resided.

Deep, deeper he went.

And at some moment.

Thud.

He reached the bottom.

No, it wasn’t the bottom, but a dense darkness blocking his immersion.

‘It’s beyond here.’

But Lee Hanseong didn’t stop there, forcibly shoving his consciousness below the ‘bottom’.

Whoosh!

And he saw it.

A vortex of stars similar to where the Sword Demon was.

No, the center of the universe where Galaxies swirled.

‘That is the Axis!’

The Starting Point where the universe began at the Primordial Beginning.

Pure Starlight spreading from there filled the entire universe.

The moment he realized that, he understood that even without Spirits or Constellations, as long as one was within the universe, Starlight could be received from anywhere.

Immediately after, as his immersed mind surged back to reality.

[Conditions met. Rare Skill <Power of Starlight> is Blooming!]

His second Rare Skill at 3-Star Bloomed.

Following that, aiming for the Sword Demon’s Starlight manipulation, he activated Synergy.

[Conditions met. <Mana Circulation> and <Power of Starlight> are integrated.]

[Unique Skill <Starlight Gang Qi> is formed.]

Hummm!

From Lee Hanseong’s fingertips, Pure White Gang Qi imbued with Starlight blooms.

He had obtained through enlightenment the most basic Gang Qi that could only be deployed upon reaching 5-Star.

[Feat, ‘Early Adopter’ achieved.]

This alone was no small gain, but Lee Hanseong didn’t stop.

‘Gang Qi is a Vessel of Will. A Medium for projecting the inner Mental Image outward.’

The current Starlight Gang Qi was practically empty.

Meaning, something new could be contained within it.

Lee Hanseong recalled the process where Mirinae materialized Primordial Chaos through Synergy and contained Synergy within the Starlight Gang Qi.

Goooooo!

[Conditions met. <Synergy> and <Starlight Gang Qi> are integrated.]

[Legendary Skill <Primordial Chaos Gang Qi> is formed.]

The materialization of Gang Qi containing Primordial Chaos.

[Feat, ‘Legendary Skill Creation’ achieved.]

The aura of Primordial Chaos felt within the Gang Qi resembled Mirinae’s presence.

With this, it seemed he could somewhat endure the sense of Void that arose since Mirinae fell asleep.