Ch.149Starlight Scales

A brilliant starlight that captivates the eye. It was so dazzling that anyone would believe if told that a star had been plucked from the night sky and placed there. If the light flowing through the box was this magnificent, what could be inside?

Woong—

‘The swords…’

The Ice Dragon Sword and Fire Dragon Sword responded to the starlight. Like someone reuniting with an old friend after a long separation, Se-arin felt a faint emotion seeping from the two swords.

Whatever it was, it was certainly no ordinary object. Moreover, it was something the reincarnator was after, so she couldn’t easily give it up.

Se-arin immediately kicked off the ground. As a violent gust swept around her, her small figure skimmed across the surface.

Swoosh—!

Just as Se-arin’s hand was about to touch the box, Elder appeared between them. Had she used some strange magic? There had been no warning signs when she moved.

Se-arin drew her sword and swung it in that position.

Woong—!

Just as the extended Ice Dragon Sword was about to reach Elder, Se-arin felt space twisting around her and suddenly found herself in a completely different place. The moment she realized the scenery had changed, she turned around.

It was an incredibly quick change of direction, but it had given Elder enough time to get her hands on the box.

“Take it from her!”

Sephiroth shouted as if having a seizure. He had a feeling that the sparkling starlight absolutely must not fall into Elder’s hands. The Cheongik members, who had been scattered in all directions without any pattern, all charged toward Elder at once.

The first to arrive was Theo, the Blue Lightning. Using his Lightning God Body, he approached Elder with his lightning-infused form and struck her arm. Though his attack was blocked by something transparent, the impact wasn’t completely nullified.

Kwarrung—!

With a delayed boom, Elder’s figure staggered heavily to the right.

It was around then that Star Forge’s forces arrived. Dozens of knights poured down from the sky, each drawing their weapons as they entered the battlefield.

“The enemy is that large human woman! The others are knights from our ally, the Karma Empire!”

Landrock shouted to his late-arriving comrades. Thanks to his timely information, there was no clash between the Star Forge knights and the Cheongik members.

Elder frowned as she looked around. Perhaps because it had been a while since she’d been out, she had been too relaxed. If it were just the Cheongik members, that would be one thing, but she wasn’t confident she could shake off so many knights and leisurely escape the city.

The main reason for her lack of confidence was the Star Dragon’s scale in her hand. From the moment she grasped the scale, her spatial magic, Blink, had stopped working. The strange starlight emanating from the box was affecting her magic.

‘What kind of object is this…’

Dragon.

A god-like being that now only appears occasionally in forgotten ancient myths. These monsters, born breathing mana, were said to wield various mysteries according to their whims.

She held just one scale from such a creature in her hand. Yet even that was enough to restrict her magic use. It was hard to imagine what would happen if the actual dragon were to descend upon this land.

‘Still…’

Elder shifted her gaze to scan behind her back. Invisible to others, transparent tentacles writhed, asserting their presence. This was the weapon Elder was using.

She was summoning part of an ancient being sleeping in subspace and using it like her own limbs. Fortunately, the Star Dragon’s scale didn’t affect magic that was already activated.

At that moment, the tentacles writhing behind Elder moved dramatically. Even without their master’s response, they had detected an external threat and moved to defend.

Kwang—!

Elder frowned as she belatedly noticed the attack. The girl she had taken a liking to, Se-arin, and the young man wrapped in blue lightning had approached right up to her face.

Kwajik—!

Se-arin and Theo didn’t need to exchange signals to understand each other’s intentions. It was possible because they had been working together for a long time.

Behind the swift sword technique, blue lightning followed. Se-arin took the first attack, and Theo followed protectively. As the blue lightning spread in the storm, black petals descended. Flora had joined the battle.

The continuous attacks, interlocking like gears, struck Elder’s body in succession. Unlike before, Elder didn’t dare to attempt a counterattack. As soon as the three finished their combined attack, dwarf knights rushed in to exploit the opening.

“This one has the scale!”

“Don’t give her any room! Keep pushing!”

“Fight as if your life depends on it!”

Elder spat out a small curse. To fight properly, she needed to put down the Star Dragon’s scale somewhere. Finally, unable to bear it any longer, she threw the box high into the sky.

Wheeek—!

The box, thrown with tremendous force, soared through the blue sky and pierced the clouds. The brilliant starlight emanating from the box was clearly visible despite the bright daylight.

“What…!”

“She threw the scale!”

“Ignore it! Focus on her first…!”

In the moment when everyone’s attention was briefly stolen by the Star Dragon’s scale soaring high into the sky, Elder’s magic activated quickly. Unlike before, a properly functioning large-scale Blink sent the surrounding dwarf knights flying in all directions.

Taking advantage of the broken encirclement, Elder manipulated her tentacles. The extended invisible mass pressed down on the remaining dwarf knights.

Kwang—!

“Kugh…!”

As time passed, anxiety appeared on Elder’s face. The ancient being, the owner of the tentacles she was borrowing through subspace, was gradually awakening as time went on.

Eventually, Elder had to make a choice.

‘I was told not to reveal my presence too much…’

It was advice from the one called the Union Leader. He had said that whenever the world recognizes the presence of a reincarnator, the power to suppress it grows stronger.

But there was no other way. At this rate, she was destined to die here. Elder wanted to live longer.

After creating distance with Blink, Elder formed hand seals on the spot. She was breaking the arbitrarily formed contract, transferring all the penalties to the ancient being, and forcibly widening the connected subspace entrance.

All of this happened in an instant.

Tzzrreok—!

Something invisible from beyond subspace began to cross over. It was simultaneous with the appearance of an ancient being that had disappeared long ago. Se-arin could see golden threads appearing and disappearing beyond the blue sky.

Like a confined space expanding, everything around Elder began to distort. With such an overwhelming presence turning everything upside down, no one approached Elder.

Only Se-arin, equipped with long-range attack means, summoned swords from subspace and shot them toward that place.

Shweeek—!

Dozens of swords flew toward Elder, but again they were blocked by something invisible. However, it didn’t feel as solid as before. The swords Se-arin shot were stuck in something transparent, unable to advance further.

“I see something strange!”

“Pound that transparent thing!”

“Hit the swords to drive them in deeper!”

Something invisible was collapsing the streets of Star Forge. Dozens of dwarf knights who had been blown away by Blink rushed forward, swinging their battle hammers at the swords stuck in the transparent entity, pounding it.

Jjeong—!

While dozens of dwarf knights and Cheongik were fighting the invisible entity, Elder, who had been looking up at the sky, suddenly flew into the air.

But there was someone who soared above her even faster. It was Se-arin, wrapped in a violent wind. With the wind under her control, there was no place in the sky she couldn’t reach. Just as the rapidly ascending Se-arin grabbed the large box—

Koong—

With a massive resonance, Se-arin realized her consciousness had arrived in a strange place.

It was a pitch-black space. Beyond the endless dark expanse, countless stars flowed like a river. Amidst those stars, Se-arin was shining rather insignificantly.

At that moment, a massive being appeared above the river of stars. Its elongated body was so enormous that its shape was beyond comprehension, and its pair of wings spread to the left and right carried countless stars.

It felt less like a living being and more like a space beyond cognition that had come alive.

‘That is…’

The moment she recognized the entity, in the next instant—

Se-arin had returned to the original world.

Se-arin wrapped herself in the gently flowing starlight. As if making a coat from a curtain of starlight.

As the gently fluttering starlight settled on her shoulders, a small ring formed over Se-arin’s heart.