Chapter 161: The Celestial of Cygnus (2)
Deneb wore such an extremely extravagant outfit that it made him look bizarre.
He waved at Vega with a bright smile. “It's been a while, Vega! How have you been?”
Behind Deneb, a young man followed like a shadow. He also had the same blue-black hair. His long ponytail reached his waist, and a sword hung from his waist.
Kwon Oh-Jin was well aware of who that young man was.
That person is...
The Sixth Star, Allen Orca. He was one of Deneb's twelve apostles and a member of the Seven Stars. A British Awakener who was more widely known as the Sword Saint rather than the Sixth Star because of his astonishing swordsmanship.
Vega narrowed her eyes at Deneb. “What brings you here?”
Deneb brightly smiled and approached her. “What do you mean? I came to check on an old friend!”
“Friend, huh? I don’t recall forming a relationship close enough with you to call each other friends.”
“Haha! Is that so? Well, I guess that’s true because you never really talked to anyone else besides Spica.” Deneb shrugged nonchalantly.
His gaze shifted to Kwon Oh-Jin.
“So you're the famous Thunder Wolf. The first apostle of our great Weaver.”
He whistled as he looked at Kwon Oh-Jin, who was resting on Vega's lap. “You two look quite cozy. It's almost like watching a mother and child.”
Kwon Oh-Jin swallowed hard and slowly sat up. Deneb had to show up right when he was using Vega’s lap as a pillow. Even though he hadn't done anything wrong, he felt strangely embarrassed.
“I asked why are you here?” Vega said again in a chilling tone.
Deneb burst into playful laughter. “Come on, don't be so cold. I just came to see what kind of person your first apostle is.”
Vega bluntly dismissed him.
“Now that you've seen him, you can leave.”
“Don't be like that. I can stay a little longer, can't I? It's not like I'm here to cause trouble.”
Despite Vega's cold reception, Deneb shamelessly shrugged. A slight frown formed on Vega’s forehead.
Deneb crossed his arms and curiously looked at Kwon Oh-Jin.
“Hmm. I heard you've been her apostle for about a year now?”
After carefully examining him, Deneb mockingly grinned.
“You’ve grown pretty fast in just a year. Of course, you’re nothing compared to my child.”
Deneb wrapped his arm around Allen’s waist to show him off. He wasn’t emptily boasting since his twelve apostles were the strongest Awakeners in the world in terms of influence alone.
Especially since three of the Seven Stars are Deneb’s apostles.
The Seven Stars were widely recognized as the world's strongest Awakeners, and three of them possessed Deneb’s Stigma of Cygnus. Considering that the remaining four had Stigmas from different Celestials, Deneb's influence was beyond comprehension.
And I think the other nine apostles are at least seven stars.
On top of that, they didn’t just have ordinary Stigmas. They were Awakeners with the Stigma of the North Star like Kwon Oh-Jin. Just thinking about the Stigma of Lyra was enough to understand how absurdly powerful the Stigmas of the North Star were.
“Oh? So are you trying to say that your child is stronger than mine?” Vega said.
“I’m not trying to say that. It’s a fact, isn’t it?”
Vega and Deneb locked eyes.
Rumble!
A mere hint of their energy sent a tremor through the vast temple as if an earthquake had struck.
The clash between the two North Stars made it hard for Kwon Oh-Jin to even breathe, causing his expression to twist and turn.
“Ugh!”
This is insane.
The sheer pressure felt like it was crushing him. Just when it seemed unbearable, a voice as cold as a blizzard spoke up.
“Deneb.”
Allen’s blue-black hair swayed smoothly as he stepped forward. Unfazed by the overwhelming pressure from the two transcendent beings, he calmly approached and gently placed a hand on Deneb's shoulder.
“Calm down.”
Deneb grinned and nodded. “Hmm. Well, if my dear Allen says so.”
The suffocating pressure instantly vanished like melting snow.
“My apologies for being discourteous, Goddess of Lyra.” Allen bowed with flawless precision.
His waist-length hair cascaded down, partially obscuring his handsome face that rivaled Lee Woo-Hyuk’s.
“As long as you realize, it’s alright.”
He slowly lifted his head, casting a gaze as cold as frost upon her. “But still, I hope Lady Vega realizes that your attitude toward Deneb was also enough to be considered discourteous.”
Allen’s manner of speech acknowledged their faults while cutting straight to the other's mistakes like a blade. Combined with a voice devoid of emotional inflection, it made him seem even more mechanical.
Kwon Oh-Jin stepped forward. “Perhaps you don’t quite know what discourteous means?”
“My child?”
Kwon Oh-Jin couldn't just stand by and listen while someone openly verbally attacked Vega.
“What do you mean by that?” Allen asked.
“This is Lady Vega’s temple. If they had met outside, it might have been different. Isn't it only natural for the owner to have the right to expel unwanted guests?”
“That’s...”
Allen trailed off.
Deneb snickered and stuck out his tongue. “This is Vega’s temple, you say?”
He spun in a circle before continuing.
“But I wonder how much longer it’ll remain her temple?”
“What do you mean by that?” Kwon Oh-Jin asked with a frown.
How much longer could it remain her temple? It wasn’t like a lease was expiring. Was it possible for the owner of a temple to actually change?
He turned to look at Vega with a confused gaze.
Vega remained silent and only glared intently at Deneb.
“Vega, you know it too, don’t you?” Deneb said.
“Your mouth is as reckless as ever.”
Wait. Was it actually a lease?
“Vega. What exactly is going on here?”
Deneb hummed a tune as he spoke with apparent amusement.
“Vega was under the restrictions of the law this time, wasn’t she? A Celestial that has suffered the restrictions loses some of their divinity, especially if a Celestial only has one apostle. They have fewer means to maintain their divinity.”
Deneb smirked.
Kwon Oh-Jin furrowed his brow. He knew exactly what divinity meant among Celestials.
Not all Celestials hold the same rank.
The three Celestials with the highest divinity were the North Star Celestials. Beneath them were the Celestials of the twelve Zodiacs, and below them were lower ranked Celestials. Even among Sanctums, the positioning of a temple was determined by a Celestial’s divinity.
A temple situated lower meant its Celestial had a lower divinity, while a temple positioned higher indicated the Celestial’s greater divinity.
The way Celestials increase their divinity is...
By bestowing their Stigma on humans capable of accepting them, they could expand their influence and power. It was much like an orchard. They chose fertile land, humans in this case, and planted the seeds called Stigmas. Those seeds would grow into strong trees, and as they flourished, the Celestial’s divinity would rise.
Currently, Vega’s orchard only had one tree. While that tree was growing rapidly, she was outmatched by other Celestials in terms of the number of apostles.
Deneb chuckled as he arrogantly said, “The current hierarchy of the North Star and the twelve Zodiacs was all established before the emergence of Awakeners, wasn’t it? Times are changing. It’s about time the old-fashioned hierarchy changed as well.”
“What is it that you want to say?”
“Vega. Isn’t it time for you to step down from being a North Star? Haha! The perfect place for you—how about we make it the thirteen Zodiacs?”
Deneb laughed and clapped while Vega gave him a cold look.
Kwon Oh-Jin’s face twisted in disbelief.
What the hell is he talking about?
He wanted to demote Vega from the North Star Celestials to a mere member of the twelve Zodiacs?
“I still possess enough divinity to maintain my position as a North Star, so do not spout nonsense,” Vega said.
Deneb grinned slyly. “Really? From what I hear, you’re barely hanging on. How about this, Vega? Why don’t we make a bet?”
“A bet?”
“Yeah. If you win, I’ll give you a portion of my divinity to ensure you don’t lose your rank.”
Vega’s eyes narrowed slightly as she remained silent before speaking. “What kind of bet?”
“When it comes to bets between Celestials, there’s really only one kind, isn’t there?” Deneb chuckled as his gaze shifted toward Kwon Oh-Jin. “We let our Apostles fight it out.”
Vega shook her head without hesitation. “That’s impossible.”
Kwon Oh-Jin had displayed remarkable growth, but he was nowhere near ready to face Deneb’s twelve apostles.
“Come on, I wouldn’t pit him against Allen. I was thinking of matching him up against some of our younger ones.”
While Deneb referred to them as the young ones, even the weakest of them was seven stars like Kwon Oh-Jin.
“Or could it be that you’re afraid? The sole apostle of our esteemed Weaver might suffer a crushing defeat at the hands of my children?”
“Silence, you insolent wretch!”
“Wait a moment, Vega.” Kwon Oh-Jin stepped forward and stopped Vega before she could unleash her power again. “Could you explain in detail regarding this bet?”
“M-My child!”
“Ha, unlike your cowardly goddess, you seem at least a little interested,” Deneb said with a sneer. “The rules are simple. It’s a one-on-one match. If you defeat three of my apostles, you win.”
Facing three opponents, one at a time?
“How petty of you, Deneb!” Vega shouted.
“I’m not being petty. Vega, the reason you haven’t been able to create more apostles is because you simply haven’t found humans capable of accepting the Stigma of Lyra, isn’t it?”
Deneb shrugged with a sly grin.
“Skill matters, sure, but the number of apostles is also a crucial factor in maintaining divinity. I can’t just settle this with a single duel. Honestly, letting you win by defeating just three is already cutting you a lot of slack.”
He wasn’t wrong. If an army had ten times the soldiers of its enemy, that wouldn’t be considered being petty.
Kwon Oh-Jin’s gaze shifted to Vega.
If I win, Vega gets a portion of Deneb’s divinity.
She claimed she still had enough divinity to maintain her status as a North Star Celestial, but the fact that she couldn’t refute Deneb’s words meant she wasn’t in a comfortable position.
Her decrease in divinity was also a direct consequence of the battle against Cheon Do-Yoon, where she was forced to use her power.
That means I’m partly responsible.
In that case, it was only right that he take on the role of restoring what she had lost.
And also...
Kwon Oh-Jin’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the jewels hanging from Deneb. They weren’t mere decorative pieces like diamonds or sapphires. Each one of them was a top quality Starstone.
There’s probably no one who possesses more valuable Starstones and Astral Relics than Deneb.
Among his twelve apostles, three were members of the Seven Stars. Deneb had accumulated immeasurable wealth.
In that case...
The corners of Kwon Oh-Jin’s lips rose.
“Then, let’s do this. If I defeat three of your apostles, you will grant Vega a portion of your divinity as you promised.”
Deneb clapped in delight. “Hehe! That’s the spirit!”
“I said it’s impossible, didn’t I!”
“It’s okay, Vega.”
Butting aside Vega, whose face had turned pale from trying to stop him, Kwon Oh-Jin looked at Deneb.
“But in exchange, I ask that the duel be held one month from now.”
“Hm? And what exactly do you think will change in just a month?” Deneb scoffed but nodded. “Fine. I’ll allow that much.”
“Thank you.”
“But are you sure you want to accept the duel without even asking what I’ll demand from you if you lose? You have no idea what I might ask for,” Deneb said with a mischievous look.
“Oh, there’s no need for you to tell me.”
“Why not?”
Kwon Oh-Jin looked at the Celestial of Cygnus and grinned. “Because I’m going to win.”
The sly smile on Deneb’s face subtly twisted.