1049 Episode 64. Eternal Night (8)

I read the sentence written on Kyrgios's tombstone again and again. I kept reading it until the words almost lost their meaning.

When I blinked, the form of the record floating before my eyes shifted.

As if forcing me to accept that reality before I could move forward, the records continued to surface in front of me.

I left Kyrgios's monument and examined the other tombstones. Among the gravestones of the Transcendents were those I knew well—beings I had met in the 'Realm of Fear'.

The Commander of the 0th Division of the Transcendent Alliance. The master of both Kyrgios and the Saint of Breaking the Sky, Unrivaled One-Fist Yu Hoseong. He, too, had met his end on this battlefield.

Cha Yerin, who had been watching me from the side, spoke softly.

"Everyone is dead."

It felt as though the air in this world was rapidly thinning. The ceiling of the ossuary was wide open, like the colosseum from the preliminary battle. Looking up at the open sky, I felt acutely that stars were not the only things that had vanished from this world.

Perhaps it was at that very moment that I realized the role I was truly meant to play in this story. Looking endlessly up at the vast blank space stretching out before me, I listened to her voice.

"Everyone... they're all dead."

Turning my head, my remaining reader was looking at me.

"Writer-nim."

"Yes."

I knew what Cha Yerin's desperate expression meant. I knew what she expected of me. There are people who spend their lives reading a story, loving and cherishing its characters. And readers who have lost those characters usually wear the exact same expression.

"As you know, it's impossible for dead characters to come back to life."

"But this is the <Star Stream>."

That was true. Fortunately, this world was the <Star Stream>. A world where resurrection was possible. A world where, as long as the soul remained intact, one could somehow push through sheer impossibility. Running various possibilities through my mind, I asked calmly:

"Does the <Underworld> still exist in this world? I heard the God of Wine and Ecstasy became the new master of the <Underworld>."

At the mention of the <Underworld>, Cha Yerin's complexion darkened slightly.

"The <Underworld> has become so ruined that its very existence can no longer be sustained. <Olympus> drew probability through the <Underworld> for their final battle."

As expected, damn <Olympus> is never helpful.

"And the God of Wine and Ecstasy went missing in a battle a few weeks ago."

It was truly the worst possible situation. The <Underworld> was destroyed, and its master was missing. Yet, something about Cha Yerin's story left a lingering question in my mind. Could the <Underworld> really fall so easily? It had the Gigantes, and those formidable figures Hades and Persephone. In the first place, how had Dionysus inherited the <Underworld>? Where had Hades and Persephone disappeared to?

"It's probably not just <Olympus>—the underworlds belonging to other nebulae are likely in a similar state."

I nodded in agreement. If <Olympus>'s <Underworld> was destroyed, the netherworlds of other nebulae had surely met a similar fate. Even the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors of <Emperor> had fallen into such a state; no nebula could remain unscathed.

"I see."

Without an underworld, souls could not be retrieved. In other words, resurrection through the netherworld was impossible.

"Um—"

"It's alright, Yerin-ssi."

Even so, I answered composedly.

"I'll figure something out. Don't worry."

Cha Yerin's eyes trembled at my words. I offered her a faint smile and turned back to look at my masters' tombstones one last time. Then, together with Cha Yerin, I left the ossuary. As we stepped out and looked back at the entrance, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.

"Who built this ossuary?"

"I heard it was one of the Recorders of Fear."

I checked the small sign hanging at the entrance of the ossuary.

That was the name of this ossuary.

Night fell. That was merely a way of expressing the passage of time—in truth, the world had been in perpetual night all day. Because even the 'God of Supreme Light' Surya was too heavily injured, there was no star left to bring forth the day.

I sat alone inside the command tent. The command tent also had an open ceiling. Both here and the ossuary—most of the structures in this city had open roofs. Whether they were built that way from the beginning or deliberately opened later, I couldn't tell.

Perhaps someone had designed them like this to count the stars in the night sky. If so, it was a terrible, morbid taste. Because right now, the night sky of the <Star Stream> was nothing more than a death register. The stars recorded in that sky were bound to fall. That was the preordained end of this world.

Unable to sleep, Jung Heewon poked her head carefully through the tent flap.

"May I come in?"

"Of course."

Offering a faint smile, Jung Heewon pulled up a chair beside me. We sat quietly, staring at the table between us. On the table lay pieces carved by Odin. At first, they were hard to recognize, but looking closely, the pieces were miniature carvings representing the symbols of various constellations.

I picked up a carved piece shaped like a lightning hammer. This one clearly represented Thor. Thor's piece was broken. It didn't look like someone had smashed it—it seemed to have been carved broken from the start. Realizing that, the other pieces on the table looked completely different. Perhaps all these carvings were tombstones of constellations created by Odin.

Staring at the broken handle of Thor's hammer, Jung Heewon asked:

"Will Yerin-ssi be alright?"

When we entered the ossuary, Jung Heewon and the other Kings had stepped aside to give Cha Yerin and me some privacy.

"She won't be."

"I thought so..."

Jung Heewon's expression wasn't bright either. She too must have found names she recognized in the ossuary. After all, she was the disciple of the Saint of Breaking the Sky, one of the leaders of the Transcendent Alliance.

"The Transcendent commanders... are they really all dead?"

"As of now, yes."

Hearing my response, Jung Heewon blinked blankly before asking again:

"Pardon?"

"It means there might be a way."

There is no <Underworld> left in this world. But just because there is no <Underworld> doesn't mean resurrection is impossible. Above all, I had once stayed in a world under similar circumstances.

'Demon King of Salvation.'

The moment I summoned the eldest in my mind, a reply came back instantly.

- Yeah.

'Have you tried contacting the Lump-bearing King?'

Right after leaving the ossuary, I called upon my brothers inside the [Fourth Wall] and asked them for a few favors.

- I'm still trying. But there's no answer yet.

'Have you reviewed the method I mentioned?'

- Reviewed it? Can I be honest with you?

'Of course.'

- I think it's a completely insane method.

I let out a dry laugh and replied:

'Has Kim Dokja ever cleared a scenario using a normal method?'

I threw it out as a joke, but the Demon King of Salvation's response was dead serious.

- It's going to cost a truly monstrous amount of probability. You know that, right?

'Probability doesn't matter. But it's worth considering, right?'

- You're probably the only one who could ever think of a method like this.

'Let me know when you're ready.'

- Until then, don't die.

That was the end of the conversation. Letting out a light sigh, I checked the system messages I had put off reviewing. Although we were lucky to win the first defense battle without major losses, the real problem started now.

The commander of a fortress is automatically appointed as the 'highest-status existence' within the fortress. My becoming the commander meant there was currently no Myth-grade constellation with higher status than me inside this fortress.

It was then that a small noise came from the entrance of the command tent.

The worn tent entrance rustled as the 'Mass-Production Maker', the 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon', and 'Meihouwang' appeared. Judging by their expressions, the three hadn't exactly planned this visit together. Likely, they had all become lost in thought, just like Jung Heewon.

They each took a seat around the table. The Mass-Production Maker spoke first.

"Don't constellations usually not sleep?"

I let out a small chuckle. The Mass-Production Maker's reason for coming was clear. He was worried about the heavy responsibility I must be feeling alone. And the other constellations were likely here for similar reasons.

Meihouwang, who had been glaring at me with dissatisfied eyes, spoke up as if he had been waiting.

"Presumably."

I nodded. But Meihouwang, thinking I hadn't fully grasped the gravity of it, continued:

At the Mass-Production Maker's words, a deep silence fell over the table. It was clear who 'something even worse' referred to.

"The Aberration of the Emperor."

At my words, Meihouwang's lips twitched as he said:

"If it's the 'Master of the Erased Blank Space', I will handle him somehow."

"That's why I came all the way here, isn't it?"

Did they sense a certain conviction in my tone? For a moment, the three Kings wore peculiar expressions and looked at one another. The Mass-Production Maker smiled faintly and spoke:

Interstellar Devourers were Outer Gods equivalent to 'Natural Catastrophe Class' in the Recorder of Fear's classification. The enemy side had at least twenty such Outer Gods. Considering that each of them was a monster on par with a Myth-grade constellation, the power imbalance was utterly despairing.

I felt like I already knew what the Mass-Production Maker was going to say.

"<Kim Dokja Company>."

The Mass-Production Maker nodded heavily. Currently, <Kim Dokja Company> had been abducted by Snowfield Kim Dokja. While Snowfield Kim Dokja certainly possessed counter-Fables against <Kim Dokja Company>, if <Kim Dokja Company> had truly intended to resist, escaping that place would have been possible. Yet <Kim Dokja Company> had chosen to be bound by Snowfield Kim Dokja instead of escaping.

It was true. If <Kim Dokja Company> stood on Snowfield Kim Dokja's side, it would create a situation just as despairing as all 999th regression disasters siding with the 'Dokkaebi King' in the main novel.

"You don't need to worry too much about that part."

"It's about time they arrived."

"The constellations who don't want to die."

Along with my words, the sound of approaching footsteps echoed outside the tent. Meihouwang, who had his senses heightened, abruptly stood up from his seat.

Opening the tent, two Myth-grade constellations appeared. 'Poseidon', the Spear Drawing the Boundary of Seas from <Olympus>, and 'Odin', the One-Eyed Father from <Asgard>.

Poseidon spoke first.

He looked flushed, as though he had been drinking somewhere. Drunk out of his mind, he tipped another gulp of alcohol into his mouth and spoke mockingly:

Meihouwang released his status, his voice booming with true command, but Poseidon didn't pay him the slightest attention.

Slumping down before the table like a ruffian, Poseidon stared fixedly at me. Looking at his intoxicated face, the fragment of Poseidon I had met in the Third's world came to mind.

At Poseidon's shameless demeanor, Meihouwang was on the verge of exploding. Glancing at Meihouwang, Poseidon chuckled bitterly and replied:

His face showed neither the overbearing aura of one who carved out the boundaries of the ocean at will, nor the arrogance of refusing to allow any star above his horizon. All that could be felt from him was powerlessness—an intensely deep and heavy sense of helplessness.

Disliking Poseidon's attitude, Meihouwang frowned and spat out:

Instead of answering Meihouwang, Poseidon looked at me.

Instead of answering, I looked back at Poseidon.

Perhaps this star had come to witness the end of everything—including himself.

As if pronouncing the time of doom for this worldline, Poseidon's lips slowly parted.