1004 Episode 61 Prisoner of the Golden Headband (4)

Snowfield felt a complex mix of emotions as he watched his brother.

His original body had not granted him some of his core memories. Consequently, Snowfield’s feelings of love and hate toward the brother before him were somewhat faint. He had a sense that he liked his story, but he did not know exactly how much he liked it, or for what purpose his original body had been watching over him.

If he had been the complete 'Snowfield Kim Dokja'.

Would he have been happy that his brother had become a full-fledged 'Kim Dokja', or would he have been sad that he, too, had come to walk the same path as him?

He could not know. All Snowfield could know was his immediate emotions. An inexplicable hostility surging deep within his heart.

That he was the one who would become the 'sole Kim Dokja' during the 'Kim Dokja Dismissal'—that only he was qualified to complete the story here. Perhaps he had unwittingly believed that all along.

"Yes, you have become Kim Dokja."

Now, clearly standing before his eyes was a 'different Kim Dokja'. Along with him, 'The Undoubted Kim Dokja', who was qualified to imagine the end of this world:

"But it's too late."

As Snowfield beckoned, the 'White Flame Dragon of Lamentation' and the 'Drinking Demon' rushed in upon receiving the signal.

Most of the constellations, including Zeus and Poseidon, were already incapacitated. There was no one to stop the White Flame Dragon and the Demon.

"Dodge!"

With Poseidon's shout, the long sword drawn by the White Flame Dragon flew toward his brother. The brother's cold eyes stared at the White Dragon. For a moment, the White Flame Dragon's pupils widened, but the sword pierced straight through the brother's chest.

Thud.

Kim Dokja was not a being specialized in 'physical ability' to begin with. No matter how much the total amount of fragments increased from absorbing Lee Dansu, there was no way he could withstand the White Flame Dragon's attack.

"Ah— No!"

Demeter collapsed with a scream, and the constellations knelt with faces of despair.

The 'White Flame Dragon of Lamentation' who actually stabbed him as expected wore a somewhat bewildered expression.

Snowfield did not take his eyes off the collapsing incarnation of his brother. They were clearly wounds that would lead to death. Yet, why did he sense no fear in his brother's face?

The reason became clear immediately.

With a dazzling beam of light, the dead brother's body split open, and a new body was being born.

His brother, having inherited that trait intact, was rising from the dead again.

"Kill him again."

Snowfield commanded once more in an indifferent voice. This time, the 'Drinking Demon' lunged forward. However, the moment the brother's gaze fixed on the demon, its steps came to a halt. The demon wore an expression as if it had witnessed something it could not handle.

"White Flame Dragon."

The White Flame Dragon was just as disobedient. Witnessing the resurrection unfolding before his eyes in real time, his entire body trembled like an aspen tree.

His brother spoke.

"Get out of the way. This is not a place for you to interfere."

'Resurrection' in this world was a miracle on a completely different level from 'Resurrection' in the <Star Stream>.

Snowfield, clenching his fist stealthily, gave the command once again.

"Strike. What are you doing?"

Even at Snowfield's command, the 'Drinking Demon' and the 'Sighing White Flame Dragon' did not move. It was because his brother had also given them orders.

"Watch from there."

At the [Incite] embedded in the voice, the stars froze like statues. It was proof that the power possessed by his brother had now become just as strong.

Nevertheless, Snowfield did not panic. He had already been chosen by Shin Yoosoung. The record is progressing, and the stage is opening. Therefore…

"…Ahjussi?"

Since when did his embrace feel so empty? And since when did the girl let go of his hand and start walking away?

Eyes slowly widening, Shin Yoosoung spoke again in a trembling voice.

"Ahjussi… Right?"

His brother looked down at Shin Yoosoung with silent, sad eyes. Shin Yoosoung's gaze was filled with confusion. She staggered, glancing alternately at the two Kim Dokjas.

"Why, ahjussi—"

Snowfield remained silent. According to his plan, Shin Yoosoung should have been intoxicated by his story right now. However, Shin Yoosoung had come to her senses and realized that 'two Kim Dokjas' existed in this world.

The implications of that fact were clear.

As if seeing right through Snowfield's heart, his brother spoke with sad eyes.

"That's enough."

Snowfield shook his head.

Thunder struck beyond the brightened sky. Giant shadows rippled beyond the swirling portal.

"It's too late. The heavens have already opened."

Possessions of awe comparable to mythical beings were descending, exuding a presence that threatened to shatter this world at any moment.

<Kim Dokja Company>, they were finally about to reveal themselves on the stage.

"Ahjussi."

It was then that Shin Yoosoung spoke, her voice trembling.

"Something is wrong."

The striking lightning bolt landed directly on Snowfield's head. Snowfield hurriedly bowed his head, and 'Drinking Demon' moved to protect him. The thunder incinerated the demon while delivering a fatal blow to Snowfield's entire body.

With one arm and one leg burned black, Snowfield looked down at his incarnation body with eyes full of distrust before snapping his head up.

"I."

Rage filled Snowfield's face as he gazed up at the sky.

"I never summoned you."

As the gates of the heavens opened, dazzling stars illuminating the entire sky simultaneously appeared.

The scales of probability swayed precariously. Beings capable of leading this world to destruction merely by their appearance.

Two massive eyes stood out in the sky. The main body of a myth-grade constellation, larger than a mere planet, was looking down upon this world. Even the 'White Flame Dragon of Lamentation' and the 'Drinking Demon', who aspired to rival the myth-grade, were overwhelmed by its presence and knelt.

Only Snowfield and his brother were able to gaze directly at that myth.

Another eye was visible in outer space a short distance away. Although it had only one eye, it was a being possessing a story even more powerful than the two-eyed Poseidon.

The myth-grade constellation of <Asgard>—Odin. As if conscious of his own power, he was watching over us from a distance somewhat further away than Poseidon.

Then, two burning eyes appeared on the opposite side of the sky where Poseidon had descended.

He was one of the myth-grade constellations of the <Emperor>, who had never revealed himself before.

As Shennong, reminiscent of a giant of fire, moved his massive hand, the entire planet began to seethe as if it had entered a furnace.

The Round Table. The myth-grade constellations, who play dice with this world on a table, had finally intervened in this world.

A dozen pairs of eyes belonging to the 'myth-grade constellations' rose simultaneously across the vast expanse of the sky.

Snowfield faced them and asked.

"How did you get here? This is not a place you would have dared to come to."

The cowardly constellations, who had been forced to infiltrate this place as 'fragments', appeared leading their true forms. This meant that there was someone who had personally opened the 'Record' for those cowards.

As Snowfield glanced away, the Recorder, who had been concealing their presence behind the night sky, revealed themselves.

Snowfield glared in that direction with narrowed eyes, then spoke to the constellations of the sky again.

"Didn't we agree not to interfere with my event?"

However, the myth-grade constellations looked around with their massive eyes as if they couldn't hear a word Snowfield said, launching into all sorts of critiques.

As if in response to those words, the constellation fragments sprawled on the ground trembled. The fragment of Odin knelt in despondency, and the fragments of Poseidon and Demeter clasped each other's hands with grim expressions. The fragment of Zeus glared at the sky with a hateful gaze.

The mythical constellations spoke, seemingly greatly satisfied with the sight of the fragments.

With screams, the fragments scattered into fables and soon began to be collected toward the mythical constellations.

The mythical constellations, having acquired new fables, let out screams of ecstasy.

Snowfield looked at them with a cold expression and said,

"Leave now. All you can have is the trash you scattered here."

Then, Poseidon, having finished devouring the fables, spoke.

"Troublesome? Are you planning to break your promise?"

Poseidon spoke with a somewhat complex expression, chewing as if he had chewed on a strange tale from the recovered fragment.

At Poseidon's words, Snowfield's gaze grew cold.

"I am still the 'largest fragment'."

Poseidon's sinister eyes turned toward Snowfield and his brother. Following this, deep greed flickered in the eyes of the myth-grade constellations.

With each incantation from the myth-grade constellations, the rift in the world deepened.

Snowfield muttered with a bitter smile.

"It was a mistake to expect anything from you in the first place. Have you given up on seeing a proper ■■?"

Shennong burst into loud laughter.

"..."

As if shattering a world like this were nothing, Shennong's burning hand began to engulf the world.

Snowfield's expression hardened. The purpose of the powerful myth-grade constellations here, defying even probability, was clear.

The reason the 'myth-grade constellations' of the Round Table had held their breath, neglecting even the 'Ragnarok' scenario of mass destruction.

The city was engulfed in flames, and the snow-capped stars, unable to withstand the heat, shattered. Even Snowfield could not stop this catastrophe this time. Nevertheless, Snowfield remained calm.

"Have you forgotten, you foolish stars?"

There was a reason why the Outer Gods, despite noticing the existence of this worldline, could not interfere.

"'What kind of star' exists here."

That was the reason this worldline was called a 'prison', and the reason why no one who entered this worldline could ever escape.

The moment the myth-grade constellations held their breath simultaneously at that ominous sound.

Shennong, who had been burning the world, screamed and clutched one of his eyes. His single eye, floating in the sky, turned red and poured out stories. Upon closer inspection, a massive staff was embedded in the center of the eye.

Across the sky, which was filled with the starlight of the constellations, a massive pair of eyes appeared.

As Hwain Geumjeong—the golden eyes that had not burned even in the Eight Trigram Furnace of Taesang Nogun—glared at the stars, the entire universe was enveloped in a moment of silence.

He was a being who had long since gathered all his fragments to reach the 'Great Myth'.

A star who rejected the Round Table of his own accord and abandoned even the universe of the <Star Stream>.

Once a prisoner in the world's smallest prison, now a being possessing terrifying power capable of scorning even other myth-grade constellations.

Sensing the danger, the myth-grade constellations simultaneously unleashed their true powers.

The next moment, the far side of the sky flashed, and the entire universe was engulfed in bright light. A clash of myths. Amidst the flooding stories, countless stars were swept away, and a miracle unfolded in which an entire galaxy was erased.

The shape of a gigantic 'Golden Shackle' rose into the sky.

The reason this world, which was swaying precariously, was barely holding on was entirely because the Golden Shackle of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven enveloped its outer boundaries.

Watching this scene, Snowfield slowly looked at his brother and spoke.

"You know it, don't you? The Great Sage Equal to Heaven alone cannot stop them."

No matter how great the Great Sage Equal to Heaven was, his opponents were the myth-grade constellations of the 'Round Table'. While it was unclear for now, it was only natural that he alone could not protect this world and face them all.

In fact, the top-tier myth-grade constellations, including Odin, had not even joined this battle yet.

"Now that myth-grade constellations have appeared, this world is bound to be destroyed by the aftermath anyway. If the Great Sage Equal to Heaven is left as he is, he will die."

From afar, the lion's roar of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven could be heard. He was protecting this world, staking every story on it.

Amidst the bright, exploding halo of golden stories, Snowfield spoke.

"If you want to save him, dream the same dream as I do."

As Snowfield looked at his brother, his brother looked back at him. The gazes of the two Kim Dokjas clashed in the air, and a single dream flickered.

The 'dream' Snowfield spoke of was clear.

"We must summon <Kim Dokja Company> here."