After Enceladus’s defeat, the Kuroushi members on standby retrieved Kwon Oh-Jin’s battered group and transferred them to a nearby hospital.

Due to the aftereffects of receiving a Celestial’s blessing and the severity of their wounds, Lee Woo-Hyuk and Sakaki Ryo were placed in intensive care. Kwon Oh-Jin also suffered internal injuries that his Water Affinity couldn’t quite heal and was forced into a period of hospital recuperation.

Song Ha-Eun and Koshiro, on the other hand, had merely collapsed due to temporary exhaustion after wringing every last drop of power from their Stigmas. They didn’t technically need hospitalization, but stayed anyway to watch over Kwon Oh-Jin and Sakaki respectively.

As for Lee Woo-Hyuk, his caretaker was none other than Kim Seon-Young, the Valhalla Guild’s vice guildmaster, who had flown in from Korea as soon as she heard the news.

Three days passed just like that.

Thanks to Water Affinity, Kwon Oh-Jin recovered faster than the others. Leaving the intensive care unit ahead of them, he made his way back to the coastline where the fierce battle against Enceladus had taken place.

“What are you, Jesus or something? You think you can just stroll around three days after nearly dying?” Song Ha-Eun, full of worry, approached Kwon Oh-Jin.

Though she had followed him out, she clearly disapproved of him leaving the hospital so soon.

“I told you, I’m fine. Honestly, I feel even better than before.”

He wasn’t lying. After the Black Heaven’s eleventh enlightenment, he had only grown stronger.

“Yeah, sure. I tried touching it while you were asleep earlier, and your thing wouldn’t even get hard.”

“What wouldn’t?” Kwon Oh-Jin looked at her with a stiff expression.

She winked playfully and shrugged. “You know what, hehe.”

“Hell no...”

What kind of woman molests a guy in his sleep?

“Anyway, why did you come back here?” Song Ha-Eun asked.

“I was just curious how things turned out.” Kwon Oh-Jin sighed and scanned the shore where they had clashed against Enceladus. “It’s hard to even remember what this place looked like before.”

The beach looked nothing like its original state. As if meteorites had struck, dozens of deep craters dotted the landscape. While some areas had melted and fused, others had formed massive coastal caverns.

“Yeah, it does look kind of ridiculous.” Song Ha-Eun shook her head. “Celestials really are filthy strong, huh.”

“Well, they are Celestials for a reason.”

“Yeah, and you slurped one right up. Got a good taste of him, didn’t you?”

Such a refined choice of words, Ha-Eun.

“Haaa.” Song Ha-Eun deeply sighed and dropped her shoulders.

Was she blaming herself again for being unable to help?

“If it wasn’t for you and the others, Enceladus wouldn’t have even used his Sacred Ground in the first place.”

He wasn’t just saying this to comfort her. If Song Ha-Eun and the rest hadn’t pressed Enceladus so hard, Kwon Oh-Jin could’ve never beaten a Celestial so easily.

“Aw. Is my little Oh-Jin trying to cheer me up?”

“That’s not—”

“Hehe. You’re just too sweet for your own good.” With a wicked grin, Song Ha-Eun sidled up close as her hand boldly squeezed his firm butt. “My kindhearted Oh-Jin deserves lots of rewards from me, don’t you?”

Kwon Oh-Jin looked at her dumbfoundedly. “Where the hell did you pick up that garbage line?”

Still, the gloomy look on her face had brightened up.

“Anyway, you absorbed that Celestial, so the Black Heaven has grown stronger?” Song Ha-Eun asked.

“Yeah.”

“It’s not, like, going berserk on you, is it?”

“Not really. It is a bit trickier to handle than before, but it’s nothing unmanageable.”

The Stigma of Lyra would naturally help him master it as it grew stronger. After all, the Stigma of Lyra could control the Black Heaven.

But wait, to strengthen the Stigma of Lyra further...

Kwon Oh-Jin touched his forehead as if getting a headache.

“Why? Does your head hurt?”

“No...”

“See, dumbass? You should’ve stayed in the hospital like I told you.”

How could he even explain that to strengthen the Stigma of Lyra, he would have to perform a star’s union with Vega? For now, it was just better to make up an excuse about lingering aftereffects from his internal injuries.

“I’ll just test this new skill that I picked up before going back.”

“That Sacred Ground Deployment thing?”

“Yeah.”

The Sacred Ground Deployment was a new skill he had acquired with the Black Heaven’s eleventh enlightenment. He couldn’t study it properly at first because he immediately inherited Lee Shin-Hyuk’s memories afterward. Later, while in the intensive care unit, he carefully read the description.

I can deploy the Sacred Ground of the Stigmas that I’ve absorbed.

The overall description was simple, but the skill was far from it. The ability to create a Sacred Ground was a Celestial’s exclusive authority, one that basically formed the very foundation of their transcendence.

If Kwon Oh-Jin could deploy one himself...

It wouldn’t be wrong to say that I’ve become a Celestial myself.

Of course, that didn’t mean his physical body was made out of mana like a Celestial’s. Still, the fact that he could create a Sacred Ground was good news.

“If you can create a Sacred Ground now, does that mean you're basically a Celestial?” Song Ha-Eun asked. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

“Not exactly a Celestial, but at least something close to it.”

“Hmm, is that so?” Song Ha-Eun hooked her arm around his with a sly smile and pushed her chest against him. “Celestial Oh-Jin, my own Celestial is too busy sleeping all the fucking time to take care of me, so could you please look after me instead?”

He could only respond to the sudden, cute act in one way. “Blegh...”

“What, you little shit!?”

“Damn. Don’t ever do that again. It doesn't suit you at all.”

“Y-You bastard! If Bella did it, you’d be smiling like an idiot!”

“That’s because it’d be Isabella.”

Song Ha-Eun acting cute? That was as unfitting as mint chocolate.

“Ugh. Fine, I won’t do it.” With a sulky expression, Song Ha-Eun kicked a random pebble. She muttered something like, “Don’t ever expect me to try that again.”

Kwon Oh-Jin couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

“D-Don’t laugh, damn it!”

“Ah, what am I supposed to do with you? You’re too cute.”

Honestly, he just wanted to hold her hand and stroll along the beach like this, but still had things to do.

“Alright, let’s give it a try.” Kwon Oh-Jin focused and activated his Sacred Ground Deployment.

I’ll use the Stigma of Lyra.

Crackle! Bzzzt!

A faint silver radiance enveloped him, sparking with blue arcs. The moment he expanded the Sacred Ground around himself, he felt his mana drain away at a terrifying speed like water gushing from a broken dam.

Guess I can’t spread it widely like Vega.

For now, he could only deploy it five centimeters around him like the passive Sacred Ground that Celestials naturally kept around themselves.

“Calling this a Sacred Ground Deployment feels a bit embarrassing.”

Unlike Enceladus’s Dragon Palace, which transformed the surrounding terrain into a space optimized for his power, Kwon Oh-Jin’s attempt still seemed rudimentary.

Well, I’ll eventually be able to do that too.

He hadn’t fully grasped it before, but now he knew for sure just how abnormal his abilities were. If he kept refining this Sacred Ground Deployment, he would eventually spread it just as widely as Vega.

“Ha-Eun, shoot some fire at me.”

“Huh? Right now?”

“Yeah.” Kwon Oh-Jin stood completely still without taking a defensive stance.

The Sacred Ground wrapped around him like armor itself. Even high-ranking Awakeners like Lee Woo-Hyuk and Sakaki couldn’t scratch Enceladus before receiving a Celestial’s blessing.

“Alright.”

“Don’t hold back. Hit me with full force.”

“Are you serious...?”

“Do I sound like I’m joking?”

Song Ha-Eun’s attacks were strong enough to break through a Sacred Ground, but taking a hit without one would obviously be far worse.

“Tsk. Don’t regret this later.” Clicking her tongue, she pulled out a cigarette from her pocket.

Fwoosh!

The tip of the cigarette blazed with flames.

“Here I go!”

A massive Fire Dragon roared toward Kwon Oh-Jin.

“Argh!”

Heat seared through the Sacred Ground, and the pain of burning flesh spread across Kwon Oh-Jin’s entire body.

“H-Hey! Are you okay?!” Song Ha-Eun hastily withdrew the flames and dashed over, concerned that he had been roasted alive.

“Huh? What the?”

Kwon Oh-Jin had suffered some burns, but seemed perfectly fine otherwise.

“Phew... Yeah, this works.”

With a satisfied look, he dispelled the Sacred Ground. It couldn’t completely block Song Ha-Eun’s flames, but even Enceladus couldn’t do that either.

At least the defensive power is solid.

Although he hadn’t tested it yet, he felt confident that it would work offensively too.

If only Vega were here, I could’ve asked her to explain more about Sacred Grounds.

All the Celestials, including Vega, had been forcefully summoned back to the Sanctum for using their blessing. Since Japan didn’t have a gate connecting to the Sanctum, he could only see her again after returning to Korea.

“Alright, shall we head back?” Kwon Oh-Jin said.

“Hm? You’re done already?”

“Yeah, I only came here to test the Sacred Ground Deployment.”

Besides, his internal injuries hadn’t fully healed yet. He didn’t need to push himself.

“Hmmm, I see.” Song Ha-Eun walked closer with another sly grin.

“What now?”

“Well... It’s super quiet here, isn’t it? There’s no one around.”

“If it were you, would you want to come here?”

The entire area looked like a natural disaster had struck. No one in their right mind would come here. Not to mention, the Kuroushi members kept it locked down.

“Then, you know...” Song Ha-Eun trailed off as her hand slid slowly up Kwon Oh-Jin’s thigh, her eyes gleaming suggestively. “Didn’t I say earlier that I’d give you a reward?”

Wait a second... I thought you said it wouldn’t get hard.