Chapter 159: To Paradise (2)

Chapter 159: To Paradise (2)

"Heavenly... Demon?"

"That's what they called them."

Cheon Sanggil furrowed his brow and continued.

"We haven't been able to obtain any information regarding the Heavenly Demon yet... but this old man speculates that they aren't human but more akin to a transcendent like 'celestials'."

"......"

Ohjin's expression stiffened without making any sort of response to Cheon Sanggil's words.

The insides of his head felt like they were getting twisted apart.

He started to get an intense headache from the sudden appearance of a 'Heavenly Demon'.

'What's going on?'

Needless to say, there was no way the 'Heavenly Demon' the Queen of Snakes followed was the owner of the Black Heaven mentioned in Polaris's prophecy.

In the first place, the title of Heavenly Demon was nothing but a lie made up on the spot to fool Vega.

'So... you're telling me there's actually a person with the 'Heavenly Demon' title in the Black Star Organization?'

It was an insane coincidence.

Would it feel the same way if a scammer tried to scam somebody by claiming they knew the lottery results but actually got the numbers correct and won first place?

It wasn't on the level of a blind squirrel finding a nut once a while; it was a blind squirrel finding a whole nut factory.

'Huh? Isn't this really good for me?'

Ohjin was planning to create and kill a 'Heavenly Demon' in the Black Star Organization one day in order to forever conceal his identity.

—It was the same method opted by Sosuke.

The best way for a culprit to stay out of sight was to make people believe that they were dead, but there wasn't even a need to put in that much effort for that anymore.

All he had to do was make people think that Heavenly Demon was the 'Owner of the Black Heaven'.

"Then are you saying that Heavenly Demon is the true master of the Black Star Organization?"

"That's what the clues point to, but there isn't enough information known to call him the 'master' yet. There are also no others except the Queen of Snakes that follow the Heavenly Demon."

In other words, it was possible that they were a figurehead.

'They... might actually not be a human, but a celestial.'

There wasn't enough information to jump to conclusions regarding the Heavenly Demon's identity.

[...Heavenly Demon.]

Vega mumbled that name with a serious expression.

For a moment, her eyes headed to Ohjin.

'Hm? Why is she looking at me?'

Ohjin frowned as he looked at the complicated feelings reflecting on Vega's eyes.

Why did she look at him the moment she heard the words 'Heavenly Demon'?

'There shouldn't be any reason for her to suspect me here.'

Instead, it would've been more normal for her to have trust in her eyes, as a Heavenly Demon appeared just as Ohjin mentioned before.

'Ah, now that I think about it...'

There was one point that was different from what he'd told her.

Ohjin had told Vega that the Heavenly Demon would appear in three years, but they had appeared in just one year.

'I should go over this.'

Ohjin took a final sip of the remaining tea and opened his mouth.

"Then is there no information about the Queen of Snakes other than the fact that she frantically follows the Heavenly Demon and that she's trying to unite the Black Star Organization?"

"Yes. That is all we have for now."

There was certainly a lot less information than what he expected.

"So we'll need to do something before the factions of the Black Star Organization get consumed by the Snakes."

"That's correct."

One of the Black Star Organization's biggest weaknesses was that each faction had their own goals and acted individually.

Not much thought was required to realize how troublesome it'd be to face them if the remaining five factions combined their strength.

"We just happened to be forming a special team to face the Black Star Organization."

"A team?"

"It is a team, but there are only three people in it so far. Ah, there's also one person you know amongst them."

"Who is it?"

"The Black Lion, Lee Woohyuk."

"Ah."

Lee Woohyuk was certainly a talented individual that was the most appropriate for Cheon Sanggil's 'Team'.

Not only was the 9-Star rank right in front of his eyes, he also had an intense desire for revenge due to the kidnapping and death of his only brother.

"I heard that you two have met before."

"Yes. We've fought together a couple of times due to matters regarding the Black Star Organization."

"Haha! Then that'll make this quick!"

Cheon Sanggil smiled broadly as he looked at Ohjin.

"Do you have any thoughts of joining 'Guardian'...? The team this old man is forming."

Guardian...

A team formed specifically to deal with the Black Star Organization.

As a team personally formed by the Star of Celestial Pivot, who was one of the Seven Stars, it would be possible to receive a lot of resources in several ways.

Although it was an offer he had no reason to refuse...

"Could you give me some time to think about it?"

"Of course."

Cheon Sanggil got up from his seat.

"I'll bring some more tea, so you can take your time thinking about it slowly," he spoke as he collected the empty teacups.

Cheon Sanggil left and closed the door behind him.

[My child...]

Vega's low voice could be heard.

She awkwardly sat next to him and looked at Ha-eun like she couldn't speak because of her.

"It's okay. I already told her."

[The fact that you're a Regressor?]

"Yeah."

Vega looked at Ha-eun with surprise in her eyes.

"Uh... yeah. I-I also heard about it."

Ahahaha—

She laughed awkwardly and scratched her head.

Ohjin quickly changed the subject out of fear that she might make some kind of mistake.

"It appears that I misunderstood."

[Misunderstood?]

"About the Heavenly Demon appearing in three years."

The Heavenly Demon was already ruling the Black Star Organization.

"It wasn't that the Heavenly Demon appeared in three years. They were always there but hid their existence until then."

[...So that's what happened.]

Vega nodded her head and looked at Ohjin with somewhat complicated feelings.

She bit her lips with a nervous expression and then suddenly shook her head left and right.

"What's wrong?"

[No. It's nothing.]

'Hm? She's been acting a bit strange since yesterday.'

Ohjin narrowed his eyes and looked at her.

Vega avoided Ohjin's gaze and answered in a gradually receding voice.

[It's just because this lady is worried about you.]

"Worried?"

[Hasn't the Heavenly Demon appeared faster than you predicted? I'm afraid that you'll become their target.]

"......"

The thing contained in her eyes wasn't simply 'Worry', but Ohjin decided to overlook it for the moment.

"Don't worry. Didn't he say that the only person in the Black Star Organization who follows the Heavenly Demon right now is the Queen of Snakes?"

In other words, it was correct to assume that the existence called the 'Heavenly Demon' was unable to move due to unknown circumstances.

If that wasn't the case, there would be no need to use the Queen of Snakes to govern over the Black Star Organization.

[Then we must increase our force as much as possible before that being starts to mobilize in earnest.]

"That's right."

"Ohjin, are you planning to join Guardian?"

"For now."

His strength alone was not enough to take down the Black Star Organization. There was no reason to turn down the offer when it was an opportunity to gain assistance.

"Well, I'm thinking of giving some conditions."

Ohjin had no intentions of joining if the team operated like an army where commands were handed down, as it would place a heavy restriction on his action.

"Then I want to join, too."

"You too?"

"Yeah. Aren't we going to destroy those Black Star Organization bastards either way?"

"Well, I guess."

* * *

Translator - Maccas

Proofreader - ilafy

* * *

Around the time when they finished talking about the conditions, Cheon Sanggil walked in with new cups of tea.

"So, have you decided?"

"Yes. We would also like to join Guardian."

"Hohoho! Indeed! I believed that you would listen to this old man's request!"

"However, there are a few conditions."

"Conditions?"

Ohjin explained the conditions he'd thought of.

—Having no intention of following orders at all costs, even if it is a team.

—A mutual relationship with the goal of cooperating and sharing information.

"I understand. We'll try to respect your condition as much as we can."

"Other than Mr. Woohyuk, who are the other two people?"

"I'll inform you once we finish gathering all of our team members."

Ohjin nodded his head.

As he finished hearing all the information he needed to know, it was about time to leave.

"Before you leave, there's one thing I'd like to request..."

"Yes?"

"Ah, let me rephrase it. It isn't a request to you..."

Cheon Sanggil's gaze headed to Ha-eun.

"...but something I would like to request of Ms. Ha-eun."

"Huh? Me?"

Ha-eun pointed at herself with a surprised expression.

Cheon Sanggil put on a benign smile and nodded his head.

"I've kept hearing a 'sound' ever since I met you."

"What sound...?"

"The sound of a crying dragon."

Cheon Sanggil looked at Ha-eun's covered left eye.

"Aren't you still inexperienced in handling your power?"

"......"

Ha-eun couldn't say anything to his spot-on remark.

"Fufu. This old man has grown to worry quite a bit. Whenever I see Awakeners like you and Sakaki, who I can hear a 'sound' from, I start wanting to teach them something."

"Sound...?"

"It's a sound I can hear from Awakeners who possess immense power but aren't able to utilize it properly. Well, it's one of this old man's few talents."

Thinking about it then, Ohjin had heard something similar before from Sakaki... Something about how Cheon Sanggil could use his power to give Awakeners 'enlightenment'.

"This old man wishes to teach Ms. Ha-eun personally."

—A sudden proposal.

Vega and Ohjin both directed their gazes at Ha-eun.

"Possess immense power but aren't able to utilize it properly..."

Ha-eun mumbled in a low voice and fumbled around her left eye.

It didn't take long for her to come to a decision.

"I want to learn."

Strong determination shone in her right eye that wasn't covered by an eyepatch.

Cheon Sanggil smiled faintly after seeing the determination in her eyes.

"The process won't be easy. Is that okay with you?"

"It doesn't matter."

Ha-eun clenched her fists tight.

It was an opportunity to receive the teachings of a Seven Star.

There was no better opportunity for Ha-eun, who couldn't handle her strength properly after consuming the 'Dragon's Heart' and becoming a 9-Star Awakener.

"Ah."

Naturally, teachings wouldn't finish in a single day—she would have to be apart from Ohjin in order to receive Cheon Sanggil's teachings.

That fact made Ha-eun hesitate.

"Uhm... can't Ohjin join us while you're teaching me?"

"There is no teaching this old man can give him," Cheon Sanggil answered in a firm voice while he shook his head.

Cheon Sanggil looked at Ohjin.

"There... is not even the faintest sound I can hear from him."

Like a starless night, the sound emitted from Ohjin couldn't be any more silent.

'It's my first time seeing an Awakener who I can't hear any sound from.'

No matter how exceptional the Awakener, they were bound to leak a little sound, but as if it was covered by a curtain in a hidden chamber, absolutely no sound came from Ohjin.

"I understand. Then I'll come back after going home and packing up just the necessities."

"Will it be okay?"

"It can't be helped. It's not like we won't be able to see each other."

Ganghwa Island wasn't that far away from Seoul, either.

Ha-eun, who was sullen due to having to be apart from Ohjin, suddenly smiled and poked Ohjin.

"Don't go crying because you aren't able to sleep with me."

"As if."

Ha-eun took a big step forward and lightly kissed Ohjin's cheek.

"I'll return even stronger, so just you wait!"

Hadn't she always been on the receiving side? Ha-eun wanted to become strong enough to at least repay a bit of what she received.

'If I don't, Ohjin will only stray further away.'

Considering Ohjin's unfathomable growth speed, she didn't have much time left remaining to be able to provide assistance.

After Ha-eun decided to receive Cheon Sanggil's teachings...

"So... what should I call you? Sir Cheon Sanggil? Mr. Star of Celestial Pivot?"

"Hoho. There's no need to be so formal to this old man. You can act comfortably as you wish."

"Alright, gramps!! Please take good care of me!!!"

"G-Gramps?"

Ha-eun held Cheon Sanggil's hand and intensely shook it up and down.

"...Ha-eun."

Ohjin furrowed his brow as if he had a headache.