There was once a girl.

“The Stigma of Ophiuchus?”

She was pure and innocent.

“D-Does this mean... I’ve become an Awakener?!”

A girl as beautiful as a gemstone.

“I-It’s an honor to meet you, Celestial! M-My name is Eve!”

She lived in a remote countryside of the Star-Forsaken Land, a place without a single gate connecting to the Sanctum.

The first time she saw me, she bowed at a perfect ninety degrees and trembled all over. She looked so adorable. At that moment, I finally understood why the other Celestials called the humans who inherited their Stigmas children.

“Lord Mobius! Lord Mobius! I packed you lunch today!”

Unlike other Awakeners, she didn’t focus on hunting demonic beasts or increasing her star rank.

After moving from her rural village to a place where a gate to the Sanctum existed, she began visiting my temple every single day as if it were her own home.

“My mom and dad? Hehe... They passed away in an accident when I was little. I’ve been living with my grandpa since then!”

She was bright and cheerful like starlight that illuminated the night sky.

“Wow! Lord Mobius! L-Look! I finally summoned a serpent on my own!”

Whenever she smiled in excitement, I smiled too.

“Sniff... Lord Mobius, another Awakener said the serpent I made was scary and ran away, but it’s so cute. Why...?”

Whenever she was sad, my heart ached with her.

“Why do I always come to the temple? Hehe... That’s obviously because I like you, Lord Mobius! You’re kind, cool, gentle, and... it feels like you’re my dad.”

Oh, how my heart fluttered when she called me Dad.

The memory of her laughing and clutching her stomach at how flustered I became remained vividly in my mind.

“‘My child?’ Oh, come on. Don’t call me something stiff like that. Just call me Eve!”

I vowed to the Milky Way flowing across the night sky and to the stars that shone upon it.

“I like Lord Mobius the most!”

I swore I would protect this girl, my child, no matter what it took. Even if I had to break the Law’s chains and divine restriction binding me, I would make sure she lived a happy life. I believed that to be my duty as a Celestial.

That was what I believed, but...

“Lord Mobius... I’m cold...”

That girl, the child I loved so dearly—

“Please... hold me tight... so I don’t feel cold.”

Took her last breaths in my arms.

***

Vega frowned and glared at Mobius. “What do you mean, ‘Why didn’t I do the same back then?’”

“Haha... Ah, forgive me. I got a little carried away. Of course, you wouldn’t know, Lady Vega. In fact, you don’t need to.” Mobius bitterly smiled as he looked at the sky covered in smoke. “It’s all over now, anyway.”

He had learned through endless years of regret and anguish that there was no use in crying over spilled milk. Only someone who had come back in time like a Regressor could undo such things. Even Mobius, with power rivaling Polaris, could not defy the flow of time.

Regret always came too late, and failure could never be undone. Now, he could only do one thing.

“Well then... Shall we begin?”

The final War of the Stars.

Mobius’s shadow spread wide and instantly swallowed the entire plaza.

Shhhhh!

Five figures began to emerge from within the vast darkness. An immense amount of mana filled the plaza and rippled across the city.

Vega’s eyes trembled. “T-This is...”

The five beings taking form within the shadows radiated an overwhelming amount of mana. Something no ordinary demonic beast could possess. It didn’t take long to guess their identities.

Vega mumbled, “No... it can’t be...”

The five silhouettes fully emerged from the shadows. Kwon Oh-Jin immediately recognized two of them. One was Noctua, the Celestial of Owl Nebula, and the other was Felis, the Celestial of Felis.

They had dull and lifeless eyes as if their very souls had been stolen.

Vega asked, “You turned the Black Star Celestials... into your puppets?”

“You can’t wage war alone. Just as you have reliable allies, I need comrades too, don’t I?”

Mobius shrugged and glanced at the Celestials who had emerged from the shadows: Mus the Celestial of Musca, Hirudo the Celestial of Leech, Butenin the Celestial of Bufo, Felis the Celestial of Felis, and Noctua the Celestial of Owl Nebula.

All of them were false stars once exiled from the Sanctum and newly born as Black Star Celestials imbued with the Heavenly Demon’s power.

Mobius shrugged again and looked at Kwon Oh-Jin. “It’s a pity Enceladus isn’t here... Someone just had to kill him before I could even go after him.”

Kwon Oh-Jin clicked his tongue as he looked at the Black Star Celestials that had appeared from the shadows.

So this is why there were no traces of the Black Star Celestials.

Those who had crossed over to Earth like Enceladus had run straight into Mobius before even getting a chance to leave any evidence of their presence.

And he defeated them and turned them into his puppets.

The Black Star Celestials had remained hidden all this time because of Mobius. This unforeseen variable explained everything.

Kwon Oh-Jin said, “You made a foolish move.”

“Hm? A foolish move?”

“Why not control them another way instead of making them your puppets?”

As with the demonic beasts, those under Mobius’s control lost almost all intelligence and became mindless dolls. Unless they were already non-intelligent beings like most demonic beasts, turning powerful Celestials into puppets that couldn’t use their innate powers was a clear loss of combat potential.

It’s a good thing from my perspective.

He eventually had to deal with the Black Star Celestials anyway. How could he not be pleased now that they appeared as mindless puppets?

“Interesting point.” Mobius nodded with his arms crossed. “So, what method would you have used to control them instead?”

“Perhaps deception?”

“Hahaha! Unfortunately, I don’t have that kind of skill.”

“Aren’t serpents supposed to represent deception and lies?”

“I see. You’re talking about the serpents from human mythology.”

Since ancient times, serpents had been considered cunning creatures adept at deception.

Mobius said, “Myths are myths, after all.”

“For a myth, it seems like you’re pretty good at playing tricks yourself.”

“That’s all thanks to the Heavenly Demon’s teachings.”

As expected...

The Heavenly Demon was pulling Mobius’s strings.

“My true self wouldn’t fit the description of cunning.”

“Really? Then what were you like originally?”

“Well... kind, admirable, and gentle would suit me better.”

“That’s some confidence you have.”

Mobius smiled faintly as if reminiscing. “Haha. That’s how that child described me.”

In fact, his expression hardly matched the term cunning.

Kwon Oh-Jin deeply sighed and gripped his spear. “Haaa. I can tell you’ve got a story.”

They didn’t need to have a conversation about his past for Kwon Oh-Jin to know that. Even without talking, the look in Mobius’s eyes showed that he wasn’t waging this war without reason or purpose.

Mobius asked, “What does that matter now?”

“You’re right.”

War was always fueled by personal motives, wasn't it? Once ignited, the flames could not be extinguished. Not unless all the motives on either side had burned away entirely.

Kwon Oh-Jin stepped forward with his spear. “I’ll take Mobius.”

With a chilling sound, white serpents slithered out from Mobius’s shadow.

Shhhh!

Thousands of them fired toward Kwon Oh-Jin like bullets. When they first faced each other, these serpents had moved too fast to follow with the naked eye.

“I wasn’t lying around doing nothing while you spent the past three months making friends.”

The Stigma of Lyra glowed as a silver sphere enveloped Kwon Oh-Jin.

Woong!

He formed a Sacred Ground just like Vega’s. Within this silver area, his lightning strikes held absolute power.

Crackle!

Violent lightning swirled around Kwon Oh-Jin.

The thousands of snakes rushing toward him instantly turned to ashes and scattered into the air.

Mobius chuckled in disbelief. “Ha. Has it somehow been three years and not three months without my knowledge?”

Kwon Oh-Jin had changed so much that he was unrecognizable compared to a few months ago. Mobius felt as if he was no longer facing a human but a fellow Celestial.

No, that’s not it.

Kwon Oh-Jin couldn’t be called a Celestial. Facing him felt like facing a black sky that greedily devoured the stars.

Mobius felt like he was standing in front of the Heavenly Demon himself.

He faintly smiled as he slowly raised his arm. “It’s just as he said.”

Three white serpents crawled out from his shadow, coiling around his arm and transforming into a sword.

Mobius raised his sword. “Alright, that’s enough with the pleasantries... Shall we begin?”

The Black Star Celestials, standing still and staring blankly into the void, began to move. Although their eyes were void of any emotion like dolls, the immense mana radiating from them vividly proved that they were transcendent Celestials.

Allen said, “I never imagined I’d have to point my sword at a Celestial.”

Song Ha-Eun said, “Those aren’t just regular Celestials. They’re more like fallen Celestials, aren’t they?”

Baek Mu-Kang shouted, “I’ll teach those bad guys a lesson!”

White frost emanated from Allen and Baek Mu-Kang’s swords.

Rebecca said, “I’ll evacuate the children to a safe place.”

“Please, thank you.”

Leaving Rebecca to shepherd the children, Isabella stepped forward with her scythe formed from blood.

Song Ha-Eun removed her eye patch and created a massive fireball. “I once took down that Enceladus guy or whatever. Based on that, if you want to leave even a scratch on those guys, you’ll need to pour all your mana into your strikes. Don’t even bother throwing out weak attacks.”

“Oh my, wasn’t it Lord Oh-Jin who actually struck down Enceladus?”

“W-Well, I did scorch him a few times too!”

“Haha, just kidding. As Miss Ha-Eun said, half-hearted attacks won’t penetrate a Celestial’s Sacred Ground. Isn’t that right?” Cassia smiled at Vega.

“Do not worry. If blessings are needed, I will use them at the proper moment.”

“That’s a relief. Unfortunately... the Celestial I should be receiving blessings from happens to be the enemy.”

With her eyes glinting sharply, Cassia created a sword from her shadows.

Boom!

A deafening roar shook the entire plaza. The war between Celestials and humans had begun.