950 Episode 56 Myth (2)

With a terrible thunderclap, Apollo felt his soul shatter. At the last moment, he reached out once more.

Strangely, however, Apollo couldn't tell who the man was. Was he the 'being' who had fed him flesh and blood, or the 'child' who had interfered with his plans for the World Tree? Or was it a 'different being' that was neither here nor there?

Apollo howled as he opened his eyes, as if waking from a trance.

Yoo Joonghyuk, running across the battlefield of the annihilated scenario, swung his sword.

"I am not your father."

The sharp blade grazed Apollo's shoulder. Apollo let out a pained scream as fragments of the myth flew.

It was the throne he had longed for.

A mythical throne. The epic of the eternal stars.

That story vanished right before his eyes, forever beyond his reach.

All of Apollo's stories began to run wild. From the first life to the fourteenth life. All his stories were screaming with pain.

Appolo's eyes, lost in his rage, darkened, as if he hadn't even heard his sister's warning.

Yoo Joonghyuk frowned.

The constellation's corruption was on the verge of reaching mythical proportions. The implications of this phenomenon were clear.

Demon King. Demon Kings had appeared in the <Star Stream> countless times before.

But has there ever been a case where a constellation belonging to the twelve gods of <Olympus> became a Demon King through 'Corruption'?

Since when, the Demon Kings themselves have been observing the scenario through their own retinue.

Apollo burst into maniacal laughter.

Bearing the gaze of the demon kings, who would have normally despised him endlessly, Apollo accelerated his decline. In the mind of the 'Almighty Sun', his long-held stories lamented.

Yoo Joonghyuk had heard the story too. Yoo Joonghyuk gazed at Apollo with his blazing eyes, and said,

"They say you can only reach certain realms by abandoning all the stories you've accumulated."

Apollo frowned, as if deeply offended by Yoo Joonghyuk's words. How could a mere scribe understand the sorrow of a constellation? How could a mere mortal comprehend the despair of having to throw away all his stories in the blazing heat?

"But that's how you will reach the realm you desire."

The moment Apollo saw the story embedded in Yoo Joonghyuk's swordsmanship, his mouth fell open involuntarily.

"Do you think the ending you desire will be there?"

The story embedded in the swordsmanship was wailing.

The sorrow of losing someone. The regret for a past unchangeable.

The moment he heard the voice of a distant story, unbelievable to have been built by a single human, a realization struck Apollo.

The human before him was one who defied the time of Chronos. A being who alone, rewinding the time of this world, lived his life.

Sometimes, a constellation finds great comfort in the mere fact that a story similar to its own exists in this universe. Apollo felt the same way at that moment. The moment he was understood by the mortal he had despised and ignored, he felt both profound joy and despair.

To end his life in a contest with the only living being in this world who could understand him.

He had lost track of the profound story. Apollo declared.

The artificial sun began to burn with pitch-black flames. One by one, the constellations began to cast their gazes upon the fallen incarnation.

The constellations of Olympus watched Apollo's end.

The flames of the artificial sun consumed everything in the forest. The incarnation, the stage, the constellations. Waves of light overflowed from Apollo's entire body, as if he himself would be consumed by the blazing flames.

Seemingly ignoring the other constellations, Apollo continued to spew flames.

It was clear that if this continued, the entire forest would be engulfed in flames. Yoo Joonghyuk focused his magical power on his sword.

With each sword thrust, the sound of divine history shattering could be heard. A fierce flame, powerful enough to incinerate even the constellations of the stories of the Gods, engulfed his entire body.

"This level of flame."

But even Apollo's flame, which could burn even the constellations, could not consume the regressor's soul.

"I've experienced it countless times."

The indomitable spirit, unfazed by anything, sundered the flames and reached the artificial sun.

Yoo Joonghyuk plunged his broken sword into the artificial sun without hesitation. With a roar, the mirror shattered, and the artificial sun, too.

As the sun, imbued with the stories of the Blood Demon and the Heavenly Demon, shattered, the stage effect ended.

Apollo, having lost the sun, gazed at him.

Despite losing the sun, Apollo's dignity remained intact. As if he could recreate that mere sun over and over again, a new 'artificial sun' was forming behind him.

Yoo Joonghyuk replied without any change in expression.

"I will destroy it as many times as you want."

At that moment, Apollo's eyes became clouded. With eyes that once loved 'prophecy', Apollo was reading the story of the regressor.

"That is not for you to decide."

The completed artificial sun gradually inflated and once again spewed black flames.

Apollo, gracefully stepping back, threw himself into the sun and said,

The ocean, guiding the black flames, soon swallowed Apollo's incarnation body and rose into the sky.

Apollo, who had become the black sun itself, spoke,

Black flames blanketed the sky in black. In the black flames, where even breathing was difficult, constellations, unable to withstand the scorching heat, began to fall.

Yoo Joonghyuk glared at the black sun with a grave expression.

Now, even the effects of 'Staging' were gone.

Jaehwan's warning rang in Yoo Joonghyuk's ears.

Even if you used the ultimate power of [Breaking the Sky Swordsmanship], it seemed difficult to bring down that sun.

That meant only with a 'sword'.

Yoo Joonghyuk took a deep breath, and the shape of a long spear appeared in his right hand.

He remembered his promise. But even if he had to break his promise to Jaehwan, he had a duty to avenge his master here.

Perhaps because the technique hadn't yet been perfected. His right hand, condensed with stories, began to tremble precariously.

It wasn't a technique he could show them anymore.

But just once...

Kugugugugu!

The black sun spewed out a corona. The rippling wave of flames instantly covered the sky and surged down to the ground. It was faster than expected, and Yoo Joonghyuk’s face hardened.

Yoo Joonghyuk bit his lip, aiming his unfinished spear at the sun. A cool shadow fell before his eyes, and he suddenly felt a sense of relief.

A vast forest loomed before his eyes.

No, perhaps it would be more accurate to call it a forest?

He could see fears rising within the pitch-black shadows.

The fears that slumbered beneath the forest's surface. The shark, at the center of those fears, was approaching him, boasting its streamlined body.

The constellations in the sky emitted light as if in shock. The man's blond hair sparkled in the starlight filtering through the forest's shadows.

Yoo Joonghyuk chewed on the bright hair, looking at it. He muttered.

"You're late."

The man replied with a smile.

"You're the one who's late, aren't you? If you'd rushed over when I contacted you, this wouldn't have happened, right?"

The two men stared at each other for a moment, then simultaneously looked up at the burning forest sky.

The eight-year reunion was brief.

A brightly shining story began to envelop the two.

The sound of writing on the wall could be heard.

"How much stronger have you become? Can you kill a mythical constellation now?"

"If I use a spear."

"Is that so?"

Of course, he reacted as if he expected that level of power from Yoo Joonghyuk.

Seemingly displeased with that response, Yoo Joonghyuk quirked his thick eyebrows and asked,

"How much stronger have you become?"

"Me."

The man looked up at the sky in silence. Yoo Joonghyuk joined him in looking up. Strangely, at that moment, Yoo Joonghyuk felt he couldn't quite grasp what the man was looking at.

"Still not enough."

Perhaps that's why, Yoo Joonghyuk instinctively called the man's name.

"Kim Dokja."

The black sun's flames began to encroach through the shadows of the show.

Yoo Joonghyuk continued.

"Once we defeat that bastard, that's when the real war will begin."

He knew it without even asking.

Probably by now, the constellations of each giant nebula outside the World Tree would have swarmed to capture them.

"If we fail this time—"

"The world will end."

Kim Dokja spoke calmly, and Yoo Joonghyuk glared at him. Kim Dokja shrugged and smiled.

"Aren't we people who are used to destruction anyway?"

"No matter how many times you experience it, you never get used to it."

"I know."

Finally, as if the time had come, the shadows of the forest began to open again. The fears of those who cried out in unison. Kim Dokja spoke in harmony.

"It's time to go see the conclusion of the final round."

Yoo Joonghyuk nodded.