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chapter 78




I once again carved the first phrase in my mind. It was the first time everyone here had heard the name, including me and Prometheus. I thought that perhaps this place was a lot more different than what I knew. Kim Sujeong opened her mouth from next to me, “The name of this village seems to be Diya. It is a pretty name.”
She looked around while she talked. Tantra, no, Diya, still looked the same as it did 500 years ago. The crew were marveling at the place they were exploring for the first time. By the way, there were ‘gatekeepers’ guarding the entrance…
“Strangers haven’t come here for hundreds of years.”
Everyone’s head turned back at the voice. It was the same for me.
“W-What? A white bear?”
“It is walking on both feet!”
“How is it talking?”
…There it was.
The Coca species. Standing there was a white bear clad in armor and holding a large two-handed axe. Originally, this was a village in the North Pole where the water beast tribes lived. The Coca species looked large and ferocious but they were favorable to other races.
The unnamed white bear opened his mouth, “Humans, it would’ve been difficult for you to come here but it is good to see you. My name is Taibeus. I am the defending champion here in Diya and in charge of keeping the gates. Who is your representative?”
I stepped forward. “It is me.”
“Huh? You look older than I thought. It is unexpected.”
“I often hear that.”
“By the way, what brings you here? Humans have to adapt to the cold here…” Then Taibeus’ eyes turned to Solar. “This…?”
Did he know Solar? Then I saw a message appear in front of me.
[A strong cold is coming.]
[If you don’t warm up in an hour, you’ll freeze into a statue and die.]
[Solar’s power has blocked the cold within a 10 meter radius.]
In fact, Solar’s level had reached 60 when it came here. The duration of the summoning had increased to one hour and the cooldown time was also equal to one hour. Now Solar could be summoned indefinitely unless it disappeared early.
Taibeus opened his mouth, “Ohh! This is the ‘living sun’ that I’ve only heard about in legends! Are you the truthseeker who came to keep the promise from 500 years ago?!”
A promise from 500 years ago…
Needless to say, it must be Gaia’s ‘brilliant promise.’ I nodded without hesitation. “Yes. I don’t know if I’m a truthseeker but I came to keep the promise.”
“Ohhh. You must’ve come to see December’s Invader!”
I hadn’t seen him before but I smiled subconsciously due to the clear memories of this nickname. December’s Invader—it was the nickname of another ‘apostle’ that I should meet one day. He lived in the northernmost part of this area and it would be nice to meet him, but now wasn’t the time. It was because I didn’t have the cloud elemental at this time and there was no point.
I shook my head straight away. “This time, I came on another business. It is to meet the Twin Rulers.”
“Um…”
Taibeus’ expression was unusually stiff. He declared, “The Twin Rulers… I guess you don’t know the situation here.”
“What does that mean?”
[The first apostle, ‘Prometheus,’ is making a puzzled expression.]
“It is a long story. Would you like to go to my house first? It will soon be time to change shifts.”
I nodded at his words. Thus, we were invited to Taibeus’ house. The sailors exclaimed with wonder as they toured the village where many North Pole water beast species were wandering. Cer, wearing a fur sweater and earmuffs, ran around excitedly and caught a cold when she left Solar’s side.
We arrived in front of a huge igloo. Sujeong exclaimed, “Wow, this is the first time I’m seeing such a big igloo! I have only seen it on TV. Was it so big?”
Gyeonso Dragon muttered, “We have huge structures in China that won’t lose out but this is a real castle.”
“Wow, I’m inspired when looking at the curve of this fantasutik igloo.”
“Kwal.”
[The first apostle, ‘Prometheus,’ complains that he wants to live in a house like this.]
[The fist star, ‘Raitra,’ is saying that the ‘Star Coffee House’ is really narrow.]
I turned away from the indirect messages and looked at the entrance. A huge steel door could be seen opening. Taibeus told us, “Go in. It is an automatic door.”
“Wow, it is a completely new style. Right, Cer?”
“Kwal!”
“Beautipul door!”
“It is strange.”
The people who came with me spoke a few words. I inwardly muttered as I stepped inside with them, ‘What if a thief comes in? Tsk.’
However, this was only for a moment. I stepped inside and saw another door. Taibeus raised a hand to the wall and the door started to open. This time, it was fingerprint recognition. We entered and were startled that the interior of the igloo was larger than expected.
“Wow, it is just like I saw on TV?”
“Now there is no need to travel to the Arctic.”
“Beri goot job!”
The sailors and my group decided to look around the maze of igloos. They asked permission from Taibeus. He said there was nothing to see but he allowed it. Meanwhile, I sipped tea with him at a small table. Taibeus wondered, “Do you want ‘gula’ that is the specialty of this place?”
“That sounds good.”
Gula was the traditional tea drank by the water beast species here in the North Pole. I didn’t feel anything special when I drank it. It was because it tasted like boiled Coke. It was better than I expected. I thought I should try boiling Coke next time. Then I decided to get straight to the point.
“Yes. What is the situation here? Is there a problem with the Twin Rulers?”
Taibeus swallowed his saliva.
“In fact, they split up 100 years ago.”
[The first apostle, ‘Prometheus,’ is frowning.]
[The fist star, ‘Raitra,’ is curious.]
“Split up? Weren’t they a couple?”
I was a bit surprised. The Twin Rulers I was speaking of now were the Midnight Sun Wanderer and Black Night Wanderer. They were the the first couple to share the power of a constellation. Of course, they weren’t human. I once again thought about the phrase I saw when I entered the village.
“Is it related to the sun not setting here?”
“You know. Yes, that’s right. 100 years ago, this was originally a village called Tantra. Then the two of them quarreled and this place became a ‘daytime village’ where the sun never sets.”
It was a quarrel between a husband and a wife. This was why the peace at home was important. The real damage was to the third parties affected. “So only Midnight Sun Wanderer is here?”
“Yes. If you go east of here, you will find the nighttime village of ‘Nutscher.’ Black Night Wanderer is there…” Taibeus frowned slightly as he spoke. This was somewhat sinister..
“What is it?”
“The location of the Black Night Wanderer is unknown. He hasn’t been seen for a long time.”
[The first apostle, ‘Prometheus,’ is sighing.]
Damn, things had become twisted…
My original plan was to receive a Star Piece from the two of them. I thought that since they were Aldebaran’s enemy, the two of them would definitely lend their help. The problem was that they had split up and their power divided into two. It was clear that it would be a bit difficult to face Minotaur, who had a Pandora piece.
Taibeus read my face and asked, “Do you have to meet Black Night Wanderer?”
“No, I have to meet both. I need them to lend me their strength.”
“Then you should meet Midnight Sun Wanderer first. Maybe she knows where Black Night Wanderer is.”
[The first apostle, ‘Prometheus,’ says this is the only method.]
“…It can’t be helped. Where is Midnight Sun Wanderer?”
“It isn’t far. There is a small snowy mountain in the northwest. She is living in the basin over there with the kids.”
“Um.”
At this time, the group finished their tour and came over. Kim Sujeong asked, “Father, are you sure you don’t need to look around? It is really cool here.”
“It’s okay. I have a place I have to go to for a while.”
“Where are you going? We will freeze and die without Solar…”
“You can rest assured here.”
“Ah, come to think of it, I didn’t see any messages related to the cold once I came inside. By the way, do you have to go alone? Can I go with you?”
I was troubled by her question for a moment. Well, it should be fine…
The constellations here were largely friendly to humans. Midnight Sun Wanderer was one of them. There was also Ice Tag Fairy here. He was guarding December’s Invader.
“Yes, come along. I think it should be okay.”
“I will go as well, Brother.”
Gyeonso Dragon approached and I nodded. It would be safer if he came so it was great. Thus, the three of us decided to move to the snowy mountain in the northwest. The rest decided to wait here at the igloo. We left and started heading northwest. The sound that was made when we stepped on the snow was quite good. The snow came up to my ankles and was quite cold but it was bearable. Originally, I would’ve received frostbite but I was fine thanks to Solar.
Kim Sujeong looked at the flying snow and asked, “What are you going to do?”
“I have to meet someone.”
“Who is it?”
“A constellation.”
“Huh…?”
She seemed a bit flustered. It was the same with Gyeonso Dragon. It was the first time for the two of them so it was natural to look like this. I wouldn’t have been so calm if it wasn’t for Prometheus. I continued calmly, “There are many constellations here. We’re going to see one of them.”
“How do you have this information?”
“…I studied it.”
Kim Sujeong laughed at the ridiculous words while Gyeonso Dragon smiled with an expression of interest. She asked, “What constellation?”
“They are second-grade stars but they have a lot of strength. The teeth and claws are sharp and cold.”
“Are they the wolves that will help with Minotaur…?”
I smiled and nodded. “Yes, the welsh wolves.”
At the same time, shadows passed over the snow.
“Bark! Bark bark!”
It looked like they were all here. The two people next to me were in a state of combat readiness. I shook my head and restrained them. Gyeonso Dragon’s blue lightning died down while Kim Sujeong’s divine power disappeared from her hands. Soon, a group of wolves arrived in front of us. They were welsh wolves over level 200.
[The first apostle, ‘Prometheus,’ is laughing at the cute wolves.]
[The fist star, ‘Raitra,’ is smiling at the wolves he is seeing after a long time.]
“Father, is it really okay?”
“Don’t worry, they won’t hurt us if we don’t attack first.”
“By the way, aren’t the wolves cute? Their legs are short like the Welsh corgi… eh? What is this?”
She bit her lip to hold back her laugh. The eyes that looked up at her seemed cute. However, we couldn’t look down on them. Their teeth and claws contained a tremendous amount of cold. Then the blue-eyed Solar stepped forward.
[The first apostle, ‘Prometheus,’ has possessed Solar’s body.]
“Midnight Sun Wanderer, it’s me, Prometheus.”
At this moment, a message appeared in the sky. It was a message that everyone could see.
[The second-grade star, ‘Midnight Sun Wanderer,’ is surprised.]
[The second-grade star, ‘Midnight Sun Wanderer,’ is guiding you.]
[The nearby ‘spiritual barrier’ is temporarily loosened.]
Then the scenery around us changed. It was a temporary appearance due to the loosening of the barrier.
“Wow! Is there really a constellation?”
“…Amazing.”
Originally, constellations were usually hidden in the human world. Some did enchantments like this while some hid using the human method. The reason for doing so was obvious. It was because many troublesome people would come and find them. I was told that people would often come to visit all constellations except for the constellations who lived in the heavenly palace. Those who visited might not be constellations but they had accumulated great power.
Then the welsh wolves surrounding us bowed.
“Is this indicating for us to mount?”
“I-Is this okay?”
Their legs were short but they were big enough for humans to ride. I naturally climbed onto their backs. “What? Aren’t you riding?”
“Ah. Yes!”
Everyone got up and the welsh wolves started running. I thought they would be slow because of their short legs but this wasn’t the case. They were faster than I thought. We quickly reached the snow-covered basin. The surroundings were filled with sparkling white crystals made from the cold of the North Pole. It was a transparent and beautiful place that was like a world of mirrors.
I smiled as I saw a white figure approaching in the distance. “She’s here.”
A huge white wolf stood in front of me. It was like the legends. The legs were short but she was still beautiful.
[The second-grade star, ‘Midnight Sun Wanderer,’ is revealing her true name.]
[The wolf star, ‘Romelana,’ welcomes you.]
In the cold blizzard, the noble wolf opened her mouth, [It has been a long time, Prometheus.]