------------------
[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
------------------
Chapter 228
The Celestial Demon God was struck with shock as he witnessed the Starfall of Kaylen.
‘Something like that… Is that truly possible for a human?’
He had known that Kaylen wielded a sword capable of cutting down Infinity.
But this was the first time he had seen it clearly before his very eyes.
‘That sword… Wasn’t its name Starfall?’
Starfall.
The sword that destroys stars.
When he first heard that name, the Celestial Demon God thought it was nothing more than human arrogance.
And rightly so.
How absurd, for a mere human—who barely understands the stars—to dare name a sword as one that could annihilate them.
Was it not laughable?
‘……And yet. It fits.’
Yet that seemingly ordinary iron sword matched the name Starfall all too well.
Whoosh.
As the tip of Kaylen’s iron sword pointed toward the flame, the Dragon God’s fire unraveled.
Unlike during the Eastern Front, where the flames would retreat on their own, here they disintegrated—shattering on the spot.
And that wasn’t all.
Even the darkness of the Celestial Demon God, which lay behind Kaylen, could not dare approach the sword that had achieved Starfall.
The space where Kaylen stood—
Only there, a gentle blue light swirled, faintly illuminating the area.
[This… This can’t be…!]
From within the collapsing flames came the bewildered voice of the Dragon God.
[Then I’ll shatter that sword head-on!]
With that—
The scattered flames gathered, forming a massive hexagonal star.
A golden star.
The image of Infinity, the infinite mana, set ablaze.
Up until now, that fire had burned the entire land.
But now, to counter Kaylen’s Starfall, the Dragon God gathered all of his power into one.
Watching this, the Celestial Demon God thought:
‘Formidable… That is a fire that would be difficult to suppress even with the dark magic power of the Demon Realm.’
Even if he gathered all the dark forces that had invaded the Southern Region—
It still would not be enough to extinguish that massive star of fire.
But Kaylen leapt into the fiery star without hesitation.
Fwoooosh……!
The hand gripping the sword burst into flames in an instant.
The fire spread across his entire body.
With that intensity, it wouldn’t be strange if he turned to ash in a matter of moments.
Even if Kaylen had transformed into one of the Moon Clan, far stronger than a human body—
The heat contained within the Dragon God’s star was beyond imagination.
“Grrk…!”
Yet—
Kaylen merely let out a single groan through gritted teeth.
It had not fully ignited under his authority.
Even as his skin burned and his flesh was laid bare—
Sssk......
He silently thrust the iron sword into the heart of the flaming star.
Then, at the core of the star of fire—
A small hole appeared.
‘That is…’
At a glance, it was a simple black dot.
A tiny point, just the size of the sword’s tip.
But upon seeing it, the Celestial Demon God trembled.
‘Is that even possible…?’
A black space carved into the center of the star.
It was a space where all things were extinguished.
Even the flames that lit the star of fire—
Even Infinity, the embodiment of boundless mana—
Were collapsing and being sucked into that black dot.
‘Within that… all laws collapse.’
Not only Infinity, which the Dragon God had refined through countless deaths—
But every fundamental law of this planet did not hold within that black dot.
It only absorbed, disassembled, and extinguished all things.
That was the true form of Starfall.
‘If that black spot were to expand its scale even slightly…’
For now, it was only the size of a bean.
But if it were to grow larger, fueled by even greater magical power—
True to the name Starfall—
It might even unravel an actual star.
The Celestial Demon God, seeing Kaylen’s sword—
Felt more elation than ever before.
And—
In contrast to his joy—
[Ugh… Uhh……]
The Dragon God let out a groan, his voice drained of strength.
The Dragon God, whose presence had vanished from this region, consumed by the black dot formed by Kaylen’s Starfall.
The Celestial Demon God watched in astonishment as the Dragon God vanished—retreating from the southern coast.
‘……Truly. Even seeing it with my own eyes, it’s hard to believe.’
The black dot brought forth by Starfall—
The star of fire the Dragon God had created shattered completely.
And the overwhelming influence the Dragon God had held along the southern coast—stronger than even the Celestial Demon God himself—
Vanished in an instant.
In comparison to the long standoff in which the Celestial Demon God had only barely dealt damage—
Kaylen’s single strike—
Dealt the Dragon God far more devastating damage.
“Haa… haa……”
But no matter how effortless it had seemed—
Perhaps the burden on his body was not small after all.
From Kaylen’s completely scorched body, smoke began to rise—
Thud.
Kaylen collapsed to the ground with a thud.
The iron sword had long since vanished from his hand.
Though it was a brief clash—
Between the Dragon God and Kaylen—
The damage both had taken was immense.
‘At this rate, he’ll die.’
The Celestial Demon God looked down at the fallen Kaylen.
Considering how close he had approached the Dragon God’s star, it was remarkable that his body hadn’t turned to ash and still retained its form.
Even so, if left like this, it looked like he could stop breathing at any moment.
That’s how absurdly powerful the Dragon God’s star was.
‘……That must not happen.’
Until now, the Celestial Demon God had held doubts about Kaylen.
But the moment he witnessed the sword that could annihilate a star—
He realized just how useful Kaylen could be.
This one had to be kept alive at all costs, to continue being used as his underling.
[Arashiel. Take him and heal him.]
[Y-Yes……!]
The Celestial Demon God opened a black portal.
To heal a member of the Moon Clan in such critical condition, it wasn’t enough to remain on this planet—he had to be imbued with dense black demonic energy from the moon.
[As for me, I will finish the Dragon God.]
Until now, he had been overwhelmed by the Dragon God.
But with the power the Dragon God had lost due to Kaylen’s Starfall—
He would no longer be a threat.
The Celestial Demon God was convinced of his victory.
‘Truly… it’s not enough.’
The Dragon God muttered in a gloomy voice.
The clash with Kaylen—
Though it had been a coordinated act between them—
–The Celestial Demon God is beginning to monitor us seriously. I’ll use 10% of my power. Match me around that level.
–10%…? Fine. Let’s show him that real combat is different.
Kaylen and the Dragon God—
Both had fought with full effort, within the limits of 10% of their strength.
Transcendental Starfall.
He had thought, perhaps in actual combat—
It might produce less power than Kaylen had shown before…
‘No. It’s even more powerful than I expected.’
Seeing the power imbued in Starfall, his fighting spirit was stirred, and he tried to overcome it.
Pouring in more than 10%—
Around 20% of his power—
But the black dot that Starfall revealed erased all of it.
He had no choice now but to admit that sword was his natural enemy.
[Dragon God. The flame you planted within my body—where is it?]
[…As you said. It’s on the moon.]
And—
As Arashiel, in her sunstone form, crossed through the black portal—
The Dragon God, who had planted the flame that burned Kaylen’s body, was already tracking its location.
‘So the Celestial Demon God really was on the moon.’
The place where the Dragon God's flame had crossed to was an unfathomably far distance from this world.
If it weren’t for a being of the Dragon God's level—and if what had been planted in Kaylen’s body wasn’t the Dragon God's flame—
It would have been impossible to realize he had gone to the moon.
[The exact location?]
[That, I don’t know. Just knowing it’s on the moon… that’s my limit.]
[Tch. I need to know where it is.]
Kaylen’s half-dead body, which had crossed over to the moon, was already out of control.
No matter how much power was contained in the seal of the Six Swords, there were still limits to distance.
To counterattack, they needed to pinpoint the exact location.
It was frustrating that the Dragon God's power didn’t reach that far.
[……No. Even so, knowing it’s on the moon is enough.]
[What do you mean by that?]
[Let’s just destroy the moon.]
The Water God spoke with a voice more enraged than ever before.
[How dare a mere satellite’s minor god pretend to be the God of Light and mock me. I cannot forgive this.]
Until now, the Water God had mistaken the Celestial God as a solar-type deity.
Light, even in this universe, was the most fundamental—
The power that supplied energy.
Every time she faced the Celestial God—
She always faltered in her heart.
‘Even when I thought I had defeated the Celestial God, he kept recovering and coming back, making me despair...’
Even before the Water God became the Dragon God, when she fought against the Celestial God—
She had the advantage in the early stages.
But even when she thought she had overpowered him several times—
When the sun rose, and the magic power of light grew stronger—
She ultimately fell into despair before the Celestial God, who regained his power completely.
‘To defeat the Sun God, I gave up a significant portion of my planetary authority and became the Dragon God...’
The Celestial God, whom she thought had limitless vitality like the sun—
Turned out to be—
Just a petty moon god who wielded the power of light.
[Is there a way to attack?]
At Kaylen’s question, the Water God was silent for a moment before speaking.
[……If I cooperate with you, it might be possible. Especially if we have that sword.]
[You sounded confident before. Now you're saying you need my help?]
[W-Well, I’ve used up so much of my power… Destroying the moon on my own is impossible.]
She really was thinking of destroying the actual moon.
Kaylen was dumbfounded.
[It’s impossible for me too. Starfall is a sword optimized for this planet. The moon isn’t part of this world, right? The best choice is to identify the enemy’s base and wipe it out.]
[……That’s unfortunate. But understood.]
Still, there was one thing he had gained.
‘Her idea may be ridiculous, but at least now she’ll be cooperative.’
Going forward, when dealing with the Celestial Demon God on the moon—
He could likely maintain a cooperative relationship with the Water God.
Deciding to wrap up this issue for now, Kaylen posed a question to the Dragon God.
[Dragon God. With the power you have left, can you effectively face the Celestial Demon God? It didn’t look like you used only 10% of your strength.]
[......I used a bit more.]
[How much more?]
[I’m not obligated to tell you that……]
[Haa. Dragon God. He used 10% more. I tried to stop him, but that damn pride of his... even though he couldn’t win.]
Though the Dragon God didn’t want to answer,
The Water God, who shared a body with him, quickly confessed everything to Kaylen.
The Dragon God felt his dignity crumble.
But the truth was, even after using 10% more power, he had still been soundly defeated—
He had nothing to say.
[Then, as planned, can you face the Celestial Demon God?]
[……It’s possible.]
[What do you mean, possible?! Wasting all that power for pride—! And the Celestial Demon God’s base is on the moon anyway… Even if you use all your power here, it’s meaningless!]
[……Silence. Have you no pride as a god?]
[None! Survival comes first!]
Her voice was filled with genuine frustration.
As Kaylen listened to the Water God’s outburst,
Suddenly, a certain sword came to mind.
[Dragon God. Can you still perform the Six Sword Path?]
[That thing…… it’s been buried away for a long time, but if you want me to, I can.]
Although it had been transformed into the Six Demon Path,
It seemed the sword form itself could still be used.
[Good. Then—]
Kaylen began explaining the Six Sword Divine Slayer.
That he had learned from Ernstine, who had been sleeping beneath the sea.
[This is……]
[A fragment of the human Ernstine created this sword. He spent a thousand years refining it in unconscious thought. It was made to take revenge on the Celestial God who turned him into an undead.]
[……I see.]
Before being defeated by Kaylen,
The Dragon God would’ve scoffed at learning something like the Six Sword Path.
But perhaps because the situation had changed—
He listened quietly to the Divine Slayer technique.
And then—
[……Not bad.]
With a short comment, He added with conviction:
[Now I can answer you clearly.]
Power returned to his voice.
[The Celestial Demon God of this planet— I will erase him.]
------------------
[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
------------------
