Chapter 300

Chapter 300. Decades Later

─ The Atlantis Raid was pretty fun.

─ Yeah. I never thought we’d be able to watch a battle at sea that vividly from so many different angles.

─ It’s already been decades since the sea became the Contractors’ main battlefield. Filming techniques had to change eventually.

─ Thanks to that, the status of Apostles has risen a lot too.

─ Right. Without them, you can’t get interesting footage.

─ Hard to treat them like errand boys the way people used to.

─ I got chills when dozens of New Nautilus-class ships charged in at once.

─ I heard President Lee Hyeonje in India paid for all of them.

─ Seriously?

─ That’s the richest man in Asia for you.

─ Right? Back in the old days, he was just some Contractor who used lightning.

─ Then he settled in India, founded an electronics company, and became insanely successful.

─ I heard he studied engineering in college when he was young.

─ Speaking of which, I heard Ma Taesu successfully staged another coup in Africa during the Atlantis Raid.

─ Doesn’t that guy ever get tired? Is he still hungry for power?

─ He can only do it because he has the ability.

─ That man’s golden age was when he ruled all of China. It’s been downhill ever since.

─ He was incredibly unlucky back then. War broke out with Korea, so it was hard for a Korean-born man like Ma Taesu to hold onto power in China.

─ After that, he kept moving through Russia, India, America, and all sorts of places while chasing power.

─ Someone once said half of the modern history of the Material Realm is basically the history of Ma Taesu.

─ He could become a Constellation from sheer lust for power alone.

─ If Ma Taesu ever comes to the Spirit Realm, that’ll be something to see.

─ We’ll have to keep him in check the second he gets here. Otherwise, he’ll turn the Spirit Realm upside down too.

─ Come to think of it, what happened to Jason?

─ He already retired. He’s probably living leisurely somewhere in Greece.

─ Jason never returned to the Spirit Realm in the end.

─ Yeah. He had chances to come back, but he chose to remain on the surface.

─ I never imagined Jason would become a celebrity in the Material Realm...

─ He already had experience uploading videos to Constellation Tube.

─ Once TV broadcasting and internet streaming resumed in the Material Realm, Jason’s era began.

─ And he kept uploading videos to Constellation Tube too.

─ A broadcaster active in both the Spirit Realm and Material Realm. There’s never been anyone like him.

─ If he’d wanted to, he probably could’ve gained enormous political power on the surface too. I can’t believe he just lived as an entertainer until retirement.

─ I heard him say once that he’d already experienced the greatest victory of his life, so he didn’t want to fight anymore.

─ What kind of reason is that?

─ Princess Longji was another Constellation who got stranded in the Material Realm with Jason, wasn’t she?

─ Unlike Jason, Princess Longji returned to the Spirit Realm.

─ But even after that, she went down to the surface pretty often.

─ Really? The Gates still don’t work, right?

─ Princess Longji has [Avatar Descent], so she can descend again.

─ Oh, right.

─ What does she do when she goes down?

─ What do you think? She’s been traveling around with that man for decades.

─ Ah, that man.

─ Wait, are Princess Longji and that man in some kind of relationship?

─ What kind?

─ A romantic one.

─ Don’t be ridiculous.

─ I heard that man is deeply involved with Daji.

─ With that three-thousand-year-old nine-tailed fox? Well, I guess someone like him could handle Daji.

─ Wrong. That man is close with Cheon Sangwoon. Those two are the real deal.

─ You’re Princess Longji, aren’t you? We all know.

─ Huh? I thought that man was dating Jason. Didn’t someone see the two of them together at a villa on a Greek island?

─ Why are there so many Princess Longjis here?

─ Are you people that bored? You’re inventing every possible pairing now.

─ Why are we even talking about romance?

─ Huh? What’s that?

─ What happened?

─ Everyone, take a look at Antarctica.

─ Antarctica?

─ There’s nothing there.

─ What is that?

─ Huh?

─ What’s that now?

─ A dimensional... rift?

─ Something’s coming out.

─ Is that a spaceship?

─ An alien invasion?

“Kang Yujin? What are you doing?”

Hearing Number49’s voice from behind, Kang Yujin shut the laptop-shaped Observer.

“You were looking through old chat logs again?”

“So what?”

“What year were you looking at this time? Ten years ago? Twenty?”

“I was looking at the logs from around the Atlantis Raid.”

“Ah, that period. That was when the incident in Antarctica happened.”

Number49 nodded as they spoke.

Kang Yujin stared at them in silence.

“Why are you staring at me like a creep?”

“No... you’ve grown a lot compared to the old days.”

It had been a little over twenty years since Kang Yujin realized that Apostles aged too.

They just aged extremely slowly.

Number49, who had once looked like a boy or girl in their mid-to-late teens, now appeared to be in their early or mid-twenties after several decades.

Their appearance was still androgynous, though.

“Kang Yujin, you look exactly the same as you did decades ago.”

“Of course I do.”

Constellations did not age.

They continued to maintain the appearance they considered their prime.

“Let’s get going.”

“Yes.”

Hearing Number49’s answer, Kang Yujin raised his head.

Long ago, the Spirit Realm had been filled with glittering stars.

Now, it was engulfed entirely in flames.

Many years had already passed since the armies of the Evil Gods first appeared.

They were monsters from an ‘Outer Universe’ completely different from either the Material Realm or the Spirit Realm.

They served malevolent gods who ruled over that Outer Universe, and communication with humans was completely impossible.

After first emerging from a Gate that appeared in Antarctica in the Material Realm, they began their invasion.

Dozens of Gates appeared all across the world, pouring out enormous armies that ravaged the peaceful Material Realm.

But the Material Realm did not simply stand by and suffer.

The Contractors united and fought back against the monsters.

Various demi-human races and even the demons of the Pandemonium Autonomous Region cooperated with them.

And naturally...

the Constellations of the Spirit Realm, who protected the Material Realm, provided their full support.

After several years of war, the armies of the Evil Gods were completely driven out of the Material Realm.

Measures were taken with science and technology to prevent the Gates from ever opening again.

At last, true peace came to the Material Realm.

However...

the armies of the Evil Gods appeared again.

This time, not in the Material Realm.

But in the Spirit Realm.

“Successor of the Nameless!”

When Kang Yujin arrived at the stone palace that had once served as the headquarters of the Order of the Spirit Realm, the heavily armed ‘Wise Returner’ Odysseus hurried toward him.

“Are you all right? Your rest period was too short!”

“I’m fine. What’s the situation?”

“Bad!”

Odysseus turned his head.

In the center of the stone palace, an indescribably horrific monster was roaring loudly.

Many Constellations surrounded it and attacked, but it did not seem to be taking any damage.

“If that thing starts laying eggs, the damage will be enormous!”

“We can’t let that happen. We’ve only just managed to maintain the advantage. We can’t let the situation reverse again here.”

They had been on the defensive for a long time.

Only recently had the Constellations finally managed to gain the upper hand.

They could not retreat now.

“You’ve done well, Odysseus. I’ll take it from here.”

“I’m counting on you...!”

Hearing Odysseus’s desperate voice, Kang Yujin stepped forward.

Many Constellations saw him and erupted into cheers.

“It’s the Successor of the Nameless!”

“Kang Yujin! Kang Yujin is here!”

“We’ve been waiting!”

“We’re saved now!”

There was no time to greet every one of them.

Kang Yujin clenched his fist and continued walking forward.

“Kyre-re-re-re-re!”

The monster let out a chilling cry and glared at Kang Yujin.

It had realized that the strongest enemy had appeared.

Here I go.

Kang Yujin activated his Constellation Skill, [Absolute Martial Prowess].

Every tissue in his body awakened, and his combat power surged in an instant.

“Hah!”

He kicked off the ground and leaped high.

Then he drove a full-power punch into the head of the monster as it opened its enormous mouth toward him.

“Kere-re-re-rek!”

The creature screamed in pain.

But from Kang Yujin’s perspective, the attack had failed.

He had intended to destroy its head in one strike, yet its defenses were better than expected.

Are these things evolving too?!

Kang Yujin bit his lip and swung his fist again.

If I can’t smash the head, then the neck...!

He concentrated his attacks on its neck.

The monster tried to retaliate through its agony, but Kang Yujin skillfully avoided every attack.

“Hah...!”

At last, Kang Yujin’s fist pierced through the monster’s neck.

It began convulsing without even being able to scream.

But then...

“Kang Yujin! Watch out!”

“...!”

Number49 urgently shouted a warning, but it was already too late.

Tentacles had silently stretched out from his blind spot and wrapped around his arms and legs.

“Ugh...!”

Even with all his strength, he couldn’t break free.

The monster began dragging him closer.

“Kyaaaaaah!”

With a grotesque roar, the creature’s abdomen split open.

A huge mouth filled with irregular teeth appeared.

I’ve never seen this type before!

Kang Yujin was shocked, but immediately drew out all his power.

He tried to tear apart the tentacles and escape, but countless new ones sprouted and wrapped around him.

“Ugh!”

Even so, Kang Yujin refused to give up.

It was a principle he had maintained for decades.

“Haaaaah!”

And yet, he could not escape the tentacles.

He was being pulled toward the monster’s mouth, filled with revolting slime...

Fwaaaash!

A familiar sound rang out.

“...!”

Every tentacle binding Kang Yujin’s limbs was cut apart.

Before he understood what had happened, someone supported him and landed a short distance away.

“This is...”

Kang Yujin hurriedly raised his head.

He wanted to see the face of the person who had saved him.

“...!”

His breath caught.

“Sorry I’m late, Kang Yujin.”

It was a face from an old memory.

Not the aged face he had seen over the past few years.

A plain-looking face that seemed to belong to a man in his twenties.

But a face he could never forget.

“It took me far too long to get here.”

“You... You are...!”

Looking at the man who spoke in that calm voice, Kang Yujin felt his chest swell.

“I’m not the only one.”

“...!”

Kang Yujin followed his gesture.

And there they were.

Familiar faces.

The people Kang Yujin had once fought alongside in life...

had crossed the distance of decades and arrived here.

“I could’ve come earlier if I’d died sooner... but killing myself just to reach the Spirit Realm would’ve been a bit much, don’t you think? There was no guarantee I’d become a Constellation either.”

“I believed in you.”

Kang Yujin spoke in a trembling voice.

“I knew you would definitely become a Constellation.”

“Really?”

“Yeah... I’ve believed it for decades.”

That was why he had kept waiting.

For decades in the Spirit Realm.

Believing in this reunion.

“How about it, Kang Yujin?”

The man’s voice reached him.

“It’s been decades. Think we can still fight in sync?”

“Of course.”

Kang Yujin swallowed his tears and stood beside him.

“By the way, what rank did you get?”

“S-rank, obviously.”

“I figured.”

“I’m the kind of man who becomes an S-rank Constellation when he reincarnates.”

“What kind of line is that?”

Exchanging such casual words, Kang Yujin and the man turned their attention to the monster before them.

“Let’s go.”

“Yeah.”

No more words were necessary.

Two S-rank Constellations, finally standing side by side after crossing decades of time.

Together, they began moving forward to open a new era.

(The End)