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Chapter 481: Outer Celestial, Ubbo-Sathla (1)
J?rmungandr wasn’t sure how to answer Chang-Sun’s shocking remark. After all, his response could be interpreted as <Niflheim>’s. Since the term between Chang-Sun and <Niflheim> was equivocal right now, J?rmungandr had to be careful.
At that moment, Bel-Marduk showed up.
“The strategist of <Niflheim> sure is cautious,” he said.
J?rmungandr slightly frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“Do you seriously think we wouldn’t ask for Loki’s consent before moving on with this kind of plan?”
“...!”
“We have already finished most of the negotiations in the meeting room. Those who failed to realize that will be nothing more than sidekicks.”
It took J?rmungandr a moment to finally understand what Bel-Marduk meant.
“... You’re trying to reorganize <Heaven> using this opportunity.”
“Of course. A new king is in town. It’s only proper that we shift the balance of power, isn’t it?” Bel-Marduk smiled coldly. “<Nammu>, <Muspelheim>, <Niflheim>, and <Horoscope> are going to be in control of new <Heaven>.”
* * *
J?rmungandr, his thoughts jumbled up, expressed his wish to get some air and left the room.
After watching him leave, Bel-Marduk clicked his tongue. “The only problem with the strategist of <Niflheim> is that, although he acts cold, he’s way too soft. There is nothing more dangerous than that in this jungle.”
With <Maleakhe> and <L'Infernal> acting as decoys, the four <Societies> would attack Ubbo-Sathla and split up the trophies among them. The plan’s cold-blooded nature was one of the reasons J?rmungandr was shocked. The other was the fact that his father had agreed to it without consulting him first.
However, Bel-Marduk understood Loki’s decision. Although J?rmungandr was the perfect leader in times of peace, a man like Loki, whose specialties were deception and scheming, was needed during troubled times like this. How would J?rmungandr react if he discovered that Loki was the one who suggested this plan?
“I still think this plan has a very small chance of working.” Bel-Marduk crossed his arms as he coldly gazed at Chang-Sun. “You probably have your own schemes behind all this, but like I said—”
“<Horoscope> will retreat to the Imaginary Plane if things don’t work out,” Chang-Sun leisurely interjected.
Bel-Marduk frowned, disliking Chang-Sun’s know-it-all attitude. “You’re annoying.”
He wasn’t genuinely offended, though. Although Chang-Sun could just be bluffing, it at least meant that there was an answer to all this.
With a sigh, he said, “Unless you want me to change my mind again, you better do your job properly.”
“Don’t worry. I already—”
Stopping mid-sentence, Chang-Sun quickly looked up.
Woosh―!
The air current in the sky of 'Nastrond' was converging.
“It’s starting.”
Looking at the sky as well, Bel-Marduk scoffed. “Using the moment of her ascension to drive everyone into a corner and stop them from having any more funny ideas.... It does sound like something Tiamat would come up with.”
Tiamat’s biggest concern was that if they announced their invasion plan early enough to give the others time to think about it, people could end up withdrawing from the United Army. During times of war, leaders had to act like wildfire to stop both their enemies and allies from having second thoughts and make them focus on the war.
“Or...” Bel-Marduk looked back at Chang-Sun. “... is it your idea?”
His eyes still glued to the sky, Chang-Sun smiled enigmatically. “Well...”
[The <Nihil> gap has been reopened!]
Paah!
A dark hole opened up in the sky, revealing an enormous eye.
Tiring. Vermin. Kill. You. All. This. Time.
[<Extinction> has arrived!]
* * *
[The Society <Maleakhe> has received a Sudden Quest!]
[<Extinction> has arrived in the Central Divine Ground 'Nastrond.’]
[Stop <Extinction> and protect the Worldline as its Absolute Good balance weight.]
[The Society <Nammu> has promised the Society <Maleakhe> a Quest Reward.]
[Reward: Release of the Celestial ‘Sky-Resemble.’]
“Lady Gabriel! Sir Raphael! You should look outside—! ”
Gabriel bitterly smiled at the messenger. “Yes, I can see them. Tiamat didn’t even give us time to come up with a plan or use my foresight.”
No one could have expected Tiamat to reopen the <Nihil> gap—which led to the Outer Universe—in the sky of 'Nastrond.’ Considering <Maleakhe>’s plan was to pretend to negotiate while rescuing Michael in secret, Tiamat’s unexpected move gave them a big problem. It even made them consider abandoning Michael.
Raphael gritted his teeth as he brushed back his hair. “If only losing a seraph wouldn’t result in a power gap.... This is giving me a headache.”
Michael, the symbol of <Maleakhe> who had once increased their influence, now served as nothing but a shackle that weighed them down.
“Even if it wouldn’t cause a power gap, considering we exist to protect our Worldline, we’ll lose the grounds for forcing our justice if we choose to sit this fight out. We have no choice but to participate.”
“In other words, we’re doomed either way,” Raphael grumbled, to which Gabriel could only smile bitterly. With a sigh, he asked, “You haven’t received any more prophecies, have you?”
“... No.”
“That leaves us no choice.”
Raphael walked onward as he spread his three sets of wings open.
The archangels who followed him looked noticeably tense, but none broke away from the formation.
Whirl!
A tentacle fell to the ground.
“Metatron, please look after your servants,” Raphael prayed to their former leader, who was still missing despite the crisis of their <Society>.
Wooosh!
A halo rose from him as he opened his eyes.
“Let’s go.”
Paaaah!
Raphael and the other <Maleakhe> warriors turned into rays of light and flew at the tentacle.
A similar sight unfolded elsewhere too.
[The Society <L'Infernal> has received a Sudden Quest.]
...
[The Society <Nammu> has promised a Quest Reward.]
[Reward: The ‘Ira’ Stone.]
“My demon kings, we have just received a report that all angels have flown to the <Nihil> gap. Would you... like to join them?”
“Of course. We aren't backing out from this.”
“Mwhahahaha! If the angels can do it, so can we!”
Lucifer, Mammon, Slyt, Asmodeus, Beelzebub, and Belphegor—the demon kings who ruled <L'Infernal> with Satan—stood up from their seats and checked on their weapons.
“What is it? Are you surprised that we’re going to fight, not run away?” Mammon asked.
One of the captains cautiously nodded.
“Well, it’s certainly odd for us demons to fight for our colleagues or the world,” Mammon admitted with a shrug. “but what choice do we have? We have to obey the king, don’t we? We don’t want to die yet.”
Knowing Tiamat’s wickedness and Chang-Sun’s tenacity better than anyone else had put the demon kings of <L'Infernal> on the same page. Considering <L’Infernal> would only suffer more if those two pointed their swords at them after the invasion, they had to at least pretend to be loyal soldiers. Being the Worldline’s Absolute Evil balance weight only gave them more reason to be unable to run away.
“...It might be a great chance to have a lot of tasty food too.”
The bigger the war was, the more casualties there were. Ultimately, that meant a lot of food for <L’Infernal>. Maybe they would even get to taste Ubbo-Sathla.
Mammon’s mouth watered. ‘You’re not the only one who can come up with a plan, Tiamat. I have a great one of my own.’
He spread his wings as he licked his lips.
“Now! Come on then! Let’s go!”
All the demon kings nodded. Rays of black light soon flew toward the <Nihil> gap.
Swooosh―!
* * *
[A great war to stop <Extinction> has broken out!]
...
[The Celestial ‘West Angel of the Prophecy’ observes beyond the <Nihil> gap to find out in which direction the <Extinction> will arrive!]
[The Celestial ‘Medicine-Granting Air’ lost his arm to an explosion!]
...
[The Celestial ‘Sun-Hostile Venus’ has died, absorbed into <Extinction>!]
[The Celestial ‘Wealth-Wanting Deception’ has committed Celestial Cannibalism on his colleague’s mutilated corpse, quickly increasing his Divine Class!]
[The Celestial ‘Chaos-Ocean-Stirring Mercury’ protests against the Celestial ‘Wealth-Wanting Deception’ for his action!]
[The Celestial ‘Lust Moon’ yells to be careful!]
[The Celestial ‘Chaos-Ocean-Stirring Mercury’ has died!]
[The Celestial ‘Wealth-Wanting Deception’ has absorbed another mutilated corpse!]
[The Celestial ‘Lust Moon’ is gravely shocked.]
[The Celestial ‘Hungry Fly King’ shouts at the Celestial ‘Wealth-Wanting Deception’ what in the world he is doing.]
[The Celestial ‘Goat-Horned Old Man’ nervously looks around.]
...
[The Celestial ‘Wealth-Wanting Deception’ smiles slyly and explains that, in a crisis like this, this is inevitable.]
[The Celestial ‘Wealth-Wanting Deception’ has exercised Celestial Cannibalism on another corpse.]
...
[The Societies <Maleakhe> and <L'Infernal> are fighting hard!]
[The Societies <Maleakhe> and <L'Infernal> are requesting reinforcements from the United Army!]
...
[Annoyed by the angels and demons who are coming after them like flies, an unknown being swings their tentacles harder!]
...
[The Societies <Maleakhe> and <L'Infernal> request reinforcements from the United Army once more!]
Watching the battle, Tiamat shook her head. “Although I expected as much, this has definitely turned into a mess.”
<Maleakhe>’s members fought quite fiercely to accomplish their goal of bringing Michael back. However, it was different for <L'Infernal>. As soon as Lucifer and Slyt died, Mammon ate their corpses. Wary of their colleague’s possible betrayal, the other demon kings lost focus and began to consider retreating.
“Fleeing isn’t really an option for them since they have watchers right behind them,” Chang-Sun said, standing beside Tiamat.
Tiamat quietly laughed. “I know how merciless you are to those you define as your enemies... but you’re more cold-blooded than I thought.”
From opening a <Nihil> gap in the sky of 'Nastrond' and using <Maleakhe> and <L'Infernal> as meatshields to assigning <Muspelheim> and <Jotunheim> to the rear to make sure the angels and demons would hold their positions... everything was going according to Chang-Sun’s plan.
Following his orders, the Giants focused on fending off Ubbo-Sathla’s attacks while also keeping themselves ready to spring into action as soon as the angels and demons tried to do anything suspicious. However, Mu-Gun had repeatedly told his subordinates to never get close to the <Nihil> gap. Although they had announced that the United Army would invade the Outer Celestial’s territory, Chang-Sun had no intention of sending in his Giants, <Nammu>, or <Niflheim>.
“Becoming cold-blooded is the only way to survive,” Chang-Sun replied.
“Will you act the same way toward me if I become your enemy?”
“I doubt that would ever happen.”
“Anything can happen in life,” Tiamat said with a shrug.
At that moment, Chang-Sun noticed something different in Tiamat’s voice. ‘Now that I think about it, she’s been like that ever since Ubbo-Sathla showed up.’
That feeling grew stronger after he had crushed Satan. It was as if Tiamat was drawing a line between them. Although she wasn’t being vigilant or hostile toward him, they didn’t seem to be close friends anymore. Hence, Chang-Sun only replied with a faint smile.
Tiamat chuckled. “What’s with that look? I’m joking.”
“Is that so?”
“Of course. There is no way I would eat you.”
“... I occasionally feel like I’m in danger of you eating me in a different way.,” Chang-Sun laughed quietly, pulling out his necklace.
Their announcement technically wasn’t a lie. While <Maleakhe> and <L'Infernal> diverted Ubbo-Sathla’s attention, the United Army’s main force would cross the <Nihil> gap and invade the Outer Celestial.
“Shall we go then?” Chang-Sun asked.
“Sure.”
Click!
Chang-Sun inserted his golden key in the air and deactivated a lock. Soon after, a dark hole opened up in front of them.
[A gate to an unknown being’s divine ground has opened!]