Chapter 286. Celestial Time Realm (2)
“This really does look like outer space... but we can breathe normally?”
“We can.”
“We passed through a place similar to this on the way back from Hell.”
Listening to Lee Jukheon and Kang Yujin, I looked around.
So this is the Celestial Time Realm.
The instant the sky tore open and connected to the Celestial Time Realm, I decided we had to cross over immediately.
If we let this opportunity slip away...
we might never get another chance to catch Taigong Wang.
“I followed along without thinking, but... am I really supposed to be here?”
“You can at least act as a meat shield! Use your body!”
“Stop talking nonsense and keep watch.”
Jason, Lee Gyu, and Princess Longji were talking among themselves nearby.
Of course...
they weren’t the only ones who had come.
“I never imagined we’d come somewhere like this.”
“Still, I couldn’t just sit around!”
“I’ll prove here that I’m an even greater hero than Heracles!”
Arjuna and Achilles were talking.
Among all Constellations, one held the greatest long-range firepower...
and the other possessed the greatest defensive ability.
They were both extremely important assets.
And then...
“This reminds me of when I rebelled against Heaven!”
The Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Sun Wukong, muttered while tapping the Ruyi Jingu Bang against his shoulder.
Sun Wukong had originally arrived late in the Material Realm because he had been handling matters in the Spirit Realm.
When he saw Nezha rampaging in his Three Heads and Eight Arms form, he tried to jump straight into the fight.
But I convinced him to come to the Celestial Time Realm instead.
Now that Heracles is gone... Sun Wukong is probably the strongest close-range Constellation.
And he can support us with Taoist arts too.
While I was thinking that...
Daji approached me.
“Nameless King.”
“I can feel Taigong Wang’s presence throughout this entire space.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“It truly feels like a world where Taigong Wang alone exists.”
Lucifer and I had concluded before that Taigong Wang was probably the only human being inside the Celestial Time Realm.
That was why we had come with a small elite group.
Me, Kang Yujin, Lee Jukheon, Jason, Lee Gyu, Princess Longji, Arjuna, Achilles, Sun Wukong, Daji...
This should be enough.
Bringing more people would only create confusion.
And if Lucifer’s prediction was correct...
only Kang Yujin and I would be capable of delivering a decisive blow against Taigong Wang anyway.
“For now, let’s head inside.”
We were standing in front of the lone structure floating in the Celestial Time Realm.
There was something resembling a door and entrance...
so we decided to go inside.
“What a mysterious space.”
“The structure is different, but it feels somewhat similar to the Investiture Platform.”
“The Investiture Platform...”
“The place where the souls of the immortals who died in the war three thousand years ago were sealed.”
Arjuna muttered.
Princess Longji nodded.
“Yes.”
“I went there after I died too.”
“When that Constellation disappeared earlier, it looked like something flew into this place...”
“Could it have been his soul being sucked inside?”
“That is... possible.”
The interior resembled an Eastern pavilion-style tower with multiple floors.
But there were no decorations...
or furniture...
or anything else.
And for some reason...
the entire place lacked a sense of reality.
“There doesn’t seem to be anything on the first floor.”
“We should probably take those stairs up.”
Achilles strode forward with his shield raised.
“What is this?”
“Fog?”
The second floor was filled with something resembling fog.
Visibility was poor.
Yet somehow...
the space seemed larger than the first floor.
“From outside, it looked like the building got narrower the higher you went...”
Jason looked around cautiously.
“What do we do?”
“Keep moving forward?”
“We can’t see anything.”
“Isn’t that too dangerous?”
“Tch. Just wait!”
Sun Wukong stepped forward.
He moved his hands through a complex sequence...
then shouted.
“HAAH!”
A powerful wind erupted.
The fog blocking our path was blown far away.
“Whoa...”
Lee Jukheon’s mouth fell open at the display of Taoist arts.
“Haha!”
“How was that?”
“Impressive.”
When I praised him...
Sun Wukong puffed out his chest proudly.
“The monkey cleared the way for us.”
“Let’s move.”
“You bastard! Don’t call me a monkey!”
Ignoring Sun Wukong’s shout...
Achilles moved forward.
But he stopped almost immediately.
“There’s something ahead.”
“Taigong Wang?”
“No.”
“Something else...”
Four shadows were approaching from where the fog had cleared.
“Those are...!”
“W-Wait, I’ve seen those things before!”
Lee Jukheon shouted in alarm.
“They’re the Four Perils!”
Hundun.
A beast resembling a dog or wolf, with legs like a bear.
Taotie.
A hairy creature with a horned human head.
Qiongqi.
A flying tiger with wings.
Taowu.
A tiger with a human face and the mouth of a boar.
Monsters from the era of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, four thousand years ago...
had appeared before us.
“Hundun, Taotie, Qiongqi, Taowu.”
“The ones you fought before were Taotie and Qiongqi, right?”
“Yeah.”
Kang Yujin nodded in response to Jason.
“Joo Minha gave us that mission before.”
"..."
At the mention of Joo Minha...
Lee Jukheon bit his lip.
“But these look stronger than the ones we fought back then.”
“Yeah.”
“I can feel it too.”
Just as Lee Jukheon and Kang Yujin said...
the ominous aura coming from the Four Perils was incomparable to what those monsters had possessed when they rampaged through Korea.
Could these be the ‘originals’?
“How dare you set foot in this place?”
A voice spoke.
Hundun...
one of the Four Perils...
had opened its mouth and spoken.
“Those things can talk now?”
“Insolent.”
“Show respect.”
Hundun glared fiercely at Jason.
“We are gods and sovereigns.”
“Beings worthy of your reverence.”
“What an amusing thing to say.”
Daji smiled.
“You’re acting awfully proud.”
“But aren’t you just Taigong Wang’s pets?”
“What did you say?”
“I said you’re Taigong Wang’s pets.”
