A brilliant halo of light split through the sky covered in black clouds. Sacred Grounds bloomed like fully open petals, overlapping one another to form a garden of starlight.

Mobius ran a trembling hand down his face as he stared at the radiant, rising starlight. “Why...?”

A single question consumed his mind.

“You guys are... not supposed to be like that.”

He recalled that day, burned into his memory like a stain on a white shirt. The fallen, dying girl... Her eyes, once bright as starlight, had dimmed into a dull gray. Her thin, branch-like limbs had been twisted at impossible angles.

No one had stepped forward to help her. He had begged, yearned, and screamed until his voice broke.

“But no one... stepped up to help back then.”

They had all turned away, dropping their heads like sinners and turning their backs on the dying children. Now, they wanted to protect these children?

“That’s not right...”

It wasn’t fair or right. It just wasn’t.

Mobius screamed hoarsely, “If you act like this, then what about her!”

Deneb stepped toward Mobius. “Eve, wasn’t it? The name of the child you lost in the previous War of the Stars.”

“Don’t you dare say her name.”

“I’m sorry for what happened to your child...”

Deneb hadn’t been there that day, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t at fault. Every Celestial had to bear the weight of what happened back then as they were all responsible for staying silent.

Mobius’s shoulders shook as he covered his face, laughing bitterly. “Sorry...? You’re sorry?”

Vega had apologized to him too, but that had felt different. He could ignore her apology because he expected her to taste the same despair.

“Don’t apologize. Don’t repent. Don’t atone. Don’t regret. Just stay as you were back then... Filthy and rotten.”

He wanted them to remain as the same bastards who had turned their backs on their own children in obedience to the creator’s Law.

You have to stay that way because only then can I—

Deneb shook his head. “That’s not possible anymore. We may look the same to you, but things are different now.”

Deneb placed a hand over his chest and looked around. Celestials gently cradled the fallen Awakeners and guided them to safety.

“We’ve changed.”

Back when Celestials had first encountered humans, they had protected humans purely out of a sense of duty. It was never more than that. They would never have broken the Law for mere mortals. Honestly, only a few of them had truly cherished their children back then.

“But things are different now.”

After meeting them, growing closer, fighting and reconciling... Protecting humanity had become something far beyond a mere sense of duty.

Mobius glared at them, his eyes gleaming with fury. “No... You haven’t changed. Not then. Not now.”

Rumble!

The Black Heaven’s clouds churned violently.

“I’ll prove it myself.”

That nothing about you guys has changed.

A thunderous boom shook the entire city.

The raging black clouds slammed against their Sacred Grounds.

Deneb shouted, “Here he comes!”

The Celestials clashed against the Black Star Celestials. Their radiant Sacred Grounds of light collided with the black clouds that gnawed away like beasts.

Though the Celestials outnumbered their enemies, the Law’s restrictions weighing on them made every act of resistance excruciating. They fell one by one, overwhelmed by pain.

“If this drags on, we’ll be at a disadvantage!”

“I am well aware of that!”

Deneb and Vega soared into the sky.

Blizzards and silver tides intertwined, driving back the Black Star Celestials.

Spica warned, “Vega! The cat is heading your way!”

Vega turned and saw the Celestial of Felis sprinting through the air toward her.

She narrowed her eyes and recalled their encounter in the Demonic District.

“Hmm. Come to think of it, you once dared to covet my child.”

Though Felis was now under Mobius’s control and stripped of her former arrogance, Vega still clearly remembered how the cat had once called Kwon Oh-Jin her butler and tried to claim him for herself.

Vega’s lips curved into a gentle, almost maternal smile. “Though you committed a grave discourtesy against my child, I shouldn't hold grudges for every wrongdoing as a North Star Celestial. For daring to covet my child, I shall forgive your insolence and release you from the Serpent that binds your soul.”

Deneb turned to her in shock. “Wait, what? There’s a way to break Mobius’s control?”

“Of course.”

“Then why didn’t you use it earlier?”

“The method is somewhat troublesome, so I couldn’t.”

“Ugh, okay. How do you do it?”

If they could free the Black Star Celestials from Mobius’s control, internal conflict would most likely arise among them. After all, no one enjoyed being a puppet.

Vega smiled brightly as Felis charged toward her with a snarl. “It’s quite simple. They’ll be free if I completely erase them, leaving not even a trace of their Stigma.”

Deneb pressed his fingers to his temple in disbelief. “That’s your method...?”

The silver waves violently threw Felis to the ground and engulfed her. “Nyaaaa!”

A massive bolt of blue lightning struck from the sky, piercing Felis on the ground.

Vega clenched her fist as Felis burned in the lightning. “Divine Punishment!”

Deneb exhaled a long breath and shook his head. “Well... I suppose I’ve been wanting to deal with one bastard myself.”

His gaze turned toward a hideous being with legs made out of chitin. This grotesque Celestial looked more like a demonic beast.

With a cruel grin, Deneb extended an arm toward Mus, the Celestial of Musca. “You’re the one who did that to Allen’s arm, aren’t you?”

A raging blizzard ripped through the battlefield, shredding Mus.

Trapped within the storm that tore at his flesh, Mus groaned like a broken machine, “A-Agh.”

The Stigma of Musca had the ability to control disease. Normally, this virulent power could rot someone’s lungs if they inhaled even a single breath of it.

“Your power doesn’t match well with mine, does it?”

Within Deneb’s frozen Snowfield, even plagues that could wipe out millions lost all strength.

“C-Cold...”

Desperation flickered in Musca’s eyes as he looked around for help, but the other battlefronts were no better.

A colossal shockwave tore through the city, destroying everything in its path.

“Hraaaa!”

Boom!

The Celestial of Taurus, Aldebaran, was a massive muscle-covered giant. He roared and punched the Celestial of Bufo, Butenin.

Steam came out from between Aldebaran’s swollen muscles as Butenin went flying.

“Is that all you’ve got, Butenin!”

Aldebaran heartily laughed, grabbed Butenin by the leg, and hurled him like a hammer throw.

Crash! Thud!

Butenin smashed through dozens of buildings before rolling to a stop.

Regulus, the Celestial of Leo, warned, “Don’t overexert yourself, Aldebaran. At this rate, your Sacred Ground won’t hold for long.”

“Ha! I’ve finally got a chance to fight properly in front of the children, and you want me to—Gah! Kugh!” Aldebaran doubled over in pain from overextending his Sacred Ground.

Regulus clicked his tongue. “Didn’t I warn you?”

Then, something unexpected caught his eye.

“Woo-Hyuk...?”

The child who had inherited Regulus’s Stigma slowly and unsteadily rose to his feet. The black lion, already in tatters from the previous battle, strode toward the battlefield. He gripped his sword with all his remaining strength.

“I told you to rest!”

Lee Woo-Hyuk leveled his sword toward the Black Star Celestials. “How could I possibly rest in a situation like this? If we can still swing our swords even once more... then we’ll fight alongside you.”

Regulus turned his head in surprise. “We?”

In the distance, the Awakeners who had already retired from the battle were returning one by one.

“Ugh... After lying down for a bit, I feel a little better now!”

“We stopped the severely injured ones from coming, so there’s no need to worry.”

Most of them were in no condition to fight. For the Celestials, who desperately needed to end the battle even a minute sooner, the returning Awakeners were a welcoming sight.

Mobius bit his lip in frustration as he watched the tide of battle gradually turn against him. “Damn it.”

The Awakeners and Celestials joining forces gradually pushed back even the Black Star Celestials empowered by the Black Heaven.

Still, if I can just drag this on.

If Mobius could stall long enough, the Celestials bound by the Law’s restrictions would collapse on their own. However, even that seemed increasingly impossible.

He gnawed at his fingernails and desperately tried to think. “What... what should I do?”

A woman with platinum hair stepped out from a black shadow. “That’s enough, Lord Mobius.”

She looked slender like a young girl, yet carried an air of mature allure and had also inherited his Stigma.

“Cassia...”

Cassia, her eyes filled with sorrow, softly said, “You’ve done enough now. Miss Eve would have wanted you to stop too.”

Mobius’s face twisted. “I told you... Never speak that name.”

“Lord Mobius.”

“Enough? What do you mean enough? Because I’ve seen the Celestials sacrifice themselves for their children? Because I’ve seen them break the damn Law and step up? Because I’ve seen the heartwarming sight of Celestials and their children fighting side by side?”

So what? Now I’m supposed to be satisfied?

His scream tore through the air. “I lost everything! I lost my beloved child, a home to return to, and even the revenge I endured for years!”

He had lost everything without exception. Everything was gone now.

“So, what the hell... could possibly be enough?”

A tear slid down the Serpent’s cheek.