‘Can still fight’.
Jeong Hui-Won declared as thus and stepped forward while emitting calm, still Status.
Meanwhile, [Nebula Chat] messages entered my ear.
– Dok-Ja hyung is still alive.
Yi Gil-Yeong said that.
– He may not be here, but he’s still looking at us from somewhere.
Shin Yu-Seung nodded her head.
On the other hand, a warning message was resounding in my head.
[Outer God transformation rate: 96.1%]
….
…….
……..
[Outer God transformation rate: 96.3%]
The rate was suddenly climbing up rapidly.
[The Wenny King is doubting the agreement you two have made.]
The reason why I didn’t immediately transform into an ‘Outer God’ was because, even though my companions knew that the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ was alive somewhere, they didn’t know that the person playing Sun Wukong, me, was their real ‘Demon King of Salvation’.
My deal with the Wenny King stated that I should not reveal myself to the <Kim Dok-Ja Company>, after all.
[Outer God transformation rate: 97.1%]
Perhaps something was in his mind, because Yu Jung-Hyeok was silently staring up at the sky. Jeong Hui-Won placed her hand on his shoulder and walked forward.
He spoke in a weighty voice. “….You alone will not be sufficient.”
“No, I’m more than enough.”
Her refreshing grin imparted the feeling of her being utterly dependable right now.
[Exclusive skill, ‘Hour of Judgement’, has received <Kim Dok-Ja Company>’s blessing.]
Her [Hour of Judgement] was no longer influenced by <Eden> or those sitting on the ‘Absolute Good’ spectrum. Her blade now only needed to borrow from <Kim Dok-Ja Company>’s Probability, and it was currently pointing at the targets of her judgement.
[Nebula, <Emperor>, is unhappy at the unannounced participation of the applicable role!]
The members from <Emperor> seemed to be taken aback by Jeong Hui-Won’s sudden intrusion.
Fei Hu tilted his head and stared at her. “And who you might be?”
“Was it you?”
“…..?”
“The one who was looking for Korea’s best Incarnation.”
Right at the end of those words, Jeong Hui-Won’s figure dashed forward like an arrow.
Fei Hu panicked and quickly raised his Ruyi Bang, blocking her sword strike just in time. The friction sound of “Kwa-du-duk!” resounding out was unusually heavy.
He frowned deeply as his body slid back quite some ways. “That is a pretty heavy sword. However, that isn’t the ‘Bull Demon King’s’ weapon, is it?”
“Correct.”
Jeong Hui-Won’s hands were gripping a Steelsword that no one had seen before. It was not the Bull Demon King’s weapon, or for that matter, Jeong Hui-Won’s own [Sword of Judgement], either.
[Player 10-nim is participating in ⸢I’ve become the retired SSSSS-grade Sun Wukong⸥ as an ‘Extra’!]
…..Ng?
[Player 10-nim’s role is ‘Ruyi Jingu Bang’.]
Just as I began thinking that such a role shouldn’t even be possible, her sword suddenly extended in an abnormal fashion. It was like watching the actual Ruyi Jingu Bang that weighed thirteen thousand and five hundred ‘geun’.
“What is this….?!”
Her sword continued to extend. Ten metres, twenty, thirty, forty…. Her hands tightly grasped the sword that grew to a truly nonsensical length.
[Exclusive skill, ‘God Slaying Lv.3’, is activating!]
The ‘God Slaying’, the higher-ranked skill derived from ‘Demon Slaying’ after she evolved into the ‘Judge of Apocalypse’.
The violent power of Chaos flowed viciously within the Steelsword, now hundreds of metres long. The world seemed to vibrate slowly, and her hands moved from left to right.
Fei Hu sensed something deeply ominous at that moment and loudly shouted out towards the other Constellations. “Evacuate, now!!”
Some managed to reflexively escape, but the majority didn’t even know what befell them.
A single silvery line drew along the impressively-vast river’s surface, and every single battleship in the vicinity exploded into bits and pieces in a loud screech.
[Nebula, <Emperor>, is astonished by the strength of ‘Bull Demon King’!]
The truly gob-smacking firepower that could set the surface of water ablaze, turning it into a sea of flames with just one attack.
That wasn’t Jeong Hui-Won’s power alone.
The Steelsword vibrated within her hands. I recognised that weapon right away.
Although it was impossible to talk to the guy since he had entered weapon mode via [Steel Transformation], he was without a doubt, Yi Hyeon-Seong.
Jeong Hui-Won ran on the burning surface of the river and shouted back at us.
“Go! Leave this place to me!”
She not only stopped Fei Hu’s advance, but also that of Erlang Shen and Prince Nezha. Having sensed the enormous fighting spirit flooding out from her entire figure, I looked back at my companions and spoke up. “Let’s get going.”
For sure, I’d be able to leave this battle to the current Jeong Hui-Won.
“Do your best, noona!”
“You should escape if things look bad!”
Yi Ji-Hye’s phantom ship quickly disembarked.
Behind us, Fei Hu was roaring out in anger after being blocked by Jeong Hui-Won. We didn’t care and continued to scythe past the Tongtian’s dense fog. We then spotted Fei Hu’s Tang Sanzang hurriedly escaping up ahead of us.
[Location of the sacred texts is close by.]
We could sense the gazes of the audience and the judges on top of us.
[Many in the audience are focusing on your Fable.]
[Judge, ‘Prisoner of the Golden Headband’, is telling you to work a little bit harder.]
[Judge, ‘Cleanser of Altars’, is cheering on as his belly fat jiggles around.]
[100 additional points have been awarded.]
Thanks to Yi Ji-Hye and Jeong Hui-Won’s hard work, the point gap between Fei Hu’s chamber and ours had pretty much disappeared.
If we manage to scoop up the ‘sacred texts’ first, then we should become the winner of ⸢Journey to the West Remake⸥.
It was right then that the skies of all four cardinal directions distorted.
[Nebula, <Emperor>’s 28 Mansions, are making their descent!]
From all directions of the blackened sky, 28 stars shot down to where we were.
“Evade it!”
Yu Jung-Hyeok and I each grabbed Yi Gil-Yeong and Shin Yu-Seung, and flung ourselves into the river. Along with the explosive noise of the Tongtian itself blowing up, our phantom ship shattered and sunk beneath the water.
We found debris floating on the river’s surface and managed to barely grab hold of it.
“Woo-ehck! Hey, I can survive by myself, so let me go!”
Yi Gil-Yeong kicked around and shouted out.
We stepped on to our own floating debris. And in the meantime, 28 stars were blocking our way forward.
[What an incomprehensible bunch of people.]
[Why do you stain this noble story with the blood of Yogoes?]
[You’re not qualified to complete this ‘Great Fable’.]
They were openly declaring their intentions to hinder us.
I expected this to happen, but now that <Emperor> had come out like this, I couldn’t help but feel dismayed somewhat.
[A portion of the audience members are complaining about the unfairness to the Constellations of <Emperor>!]
Lodging complaints wouldn’t change anything. Whatever the case might have been, the ‘Journey to the West’ was <Emperor>’s Great Fable, and they wouldn’t want to lose it to other Nebulas.
From the get-go, this event was created for the Incarnation of <Emperor>, Fei Hu.
The only reason why other Incarnations and Constellations were allowed to participate was simply to enhance the status of the entire Fable itself and turn this event into a proper scenario.
This was a game where Fei Hu had been decided as its final winner beforehand.
As for the ensuing dissatisfaction of Constellations and their Nebulas, simply supplying them with Coins and adequate-enough Fables as compensations would calm them down pretty quickly. That was the truth behind this <Emperor>-planned ⸢Journey to the West Remake⸥, and other Constellations already had some idea without being explicitly told about it.
Even if you participate, you can’t win. But we will compensate you accordingly.
[Why do you insist on disrupting the order of the scenario? You have already climbed up to second place, yet are you still not satisfied by the number of votes?]
In that regard, it was the same thing as us already crossing that unspoken line that <Emperor> had drawn.
[It’s not too late to back down. If you do, we will not confiscate the Fable you have compiled up to this point.]
One of the directions of the 28 Mansions, ‘Seven Mansions of the Azure Dragon of the East’ – Horn Mansion, Neck Mansion, Root Mansion, Room Mansion, Heart Mansion, Tail Mansion, Winnowing Basket Mansion – stepped forward and unleashed their Status.
The strengths of the individual Constellations hovered between bottom-tiered Fable-grade or Historical-grade, but the real problem was when they were together like this.
Azure Dragon of the East, 7 Mansions.
Black Tortoise of the North, 7 Mansions.
White Tiger of the West, 7 Mansions.
Vermilion Bird of the South, 7 Mansions.
These were the guardian Constellations tasked with defending <Emperor>, as well as the enforcer of the Jade Emperor himself.
Even back in the ‘Journey to the West’, they got into conflict with the Great Sage Heaven’s Equal.
[‘Constellations of 28 Mansions’ are unleashing their Status!]
When 28 stars all released their light simultaneously, the waves of truly blinding Status smashed into us in full. Even if they were individually nothing more than Historical-grade, with that much aura….
Shu-ru-rung.
Yu Jung-Hyeok unsheathed his sword and stepped forward. He glanced at me as he did so. “Take the kids away and acquire the sacred texts.”
That prompted Yi Gil-Yeong to shout out as if he was having a breakdown. “Who’s taking who here?! I….!”
The boy’s lips snapped shut after he sensed Yu Jung-Hyeok emitting his Status.
His jet-black coat danced in the air. It was as if he had suddenly transformed into a black hole; his back faced us as he stood there against the lights shining from 28 stars. That was the back of a man who had been silently protecting certain people.
Yi Gil-Yeong faltered a little after being overwhelmed by that and muttered out softly. “….Let’s go.”
Even if it was Yu Jung-Hyeok, there was no guarantee of victory against the entirety of the Constellations of the 28 Mansions. However, we had no choice but to believe him. The current him was strong enough to fight against <Lokapala>’s best, Indra.
I nodded my head and replied. “Do your best.”
“Get going!”
Yu Jung-Hyeok’s [Dark Heavenly Demon Sword] carved out a path on the border where the river and the sky met.
Breaking the Sky Swordsmanship.
Inner Mysteries.
Split the Dark Ocean.
One sword strike that cut the ocean of the night. Like the miracle of Moses, the river’s water dispersed and the pathway to the front split apart.
Several stars failed to dodge the strike in time, and they were sunk under the water as a consequence.
[How can such a nonsensical Status be….!]
[You bastard!]
The astonished 28 Mansions roared out and quickly scattered. Yu Jung-Hyeok didn’t wait and continued to swing his sword about during that space of time.
Breaking the Sky Thunder Sword.
A make-shift raft made out of floating debris was dashing forward on the road created by Yu Jung-Hyeok’s lightning.
“Chimera Dragon!”
The Dragon Horse powerfully flapped its wings. A powerful gust of wind caused the raft containing me, Yi Gil-Yeong and Shin Yu-Seung to shoot forward. Even though the number of passengers had decreased, the speed of the voyage was so great that it actually consumed Chimera Dragon’s Status. The distance to Fei Hu’s Tang Sanzang decreased in an instant.
They discovered us overtaking them and began shouting in our direction. Yi Gil-Yeong flipped them a middle finger, instead. “Why don’t you munch on this!”
[Nebula, <Emperor>’s Lords of the Nine Stars, are descending to the scenario!]
“Dang it! More’s coming? What a cheat!”
<Emperor> wasn’t a great Nebula for nothing.
Simply from the number of ‘Constellations’ alone, <Emperor> could easily be called the <Star Stream>’s strongest Nebula.
The heavens before our eyes split open along with descending rays of light, and nine indistinct humanoid figures appeared. They could be distinguished only through their different individual colours.
The Lords of Nine Stars.
They were automated combat weapons of <Emperor>, created by condensed Fables. Each one was a weapon possessing as much combat capability as a ‘Fable-grade’ Constellation, where seven heavenly bodies – the Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn – plus the Solar and Lunar Eclipses, had become anthropomorphised.
Kwa-kwakwakwakwakwa!
Particle cannons fired from the mouths of the weapons burned one half of Tongtian, while the other half was frozen solid.
The moment I went, “Dammit!”, a single streak of light flew out from the thick wall of rising steam.
“Shin Yu-Seung!”
She was focused on controlling the Dragon Horse and couldn’t dodge in time; her figure was flung up into the air. Yi Gil-Yeong and I reached out at the same time to reel her back in and place her on the back of the Horse. Perhaps the attack has struck her vital point, because she was knocked unconscious.
“Those sons of bitches….!”
Yi Gil-Yeong took over the control of the Dragon Horse and unleashed his own Status. However, the Lords of the Nine Stars were still perfectly fine, and to make matters worse, they weren’t our only problems.
[Nebula, <Emperor>’s Twelve Star Lords, are preparing to descend!]
[Nebula, <Emperor>’s Dragon Kings of the Four Seas, are preparing to descend!]
I finally realised the truth by then. <Emperor> was dead serious about this ‘Great Fable’.
[Outer God transformation rate: 98.1%]
The enemy’s battleship overtook us and shot forward again.
[Many audience members are looking at you with great anticipation!]
[Currently, the difference in voting score between you and the first ranked chamber is negligible!]
If we lose here, the Great Fable would become Fei Hu’s.
I turned to look at Yi Gil-Yeong and spoke to him. “Xuan High Priest-nim.”
“I’m busy, so don’t talk to me!”
“Please protect Zang High Priest-nim here. I shall break past them and retrieve the sacred texts.”
“What? What are you….”
He failed to comprehend the situation and was about to shout out, but before he could, I placed my hand on top of his head first.
“You understand? Gil-Yeong-ah.”
<Episode 82. Outer God (6)> Fin.
