[Ding! Collect Soul of a Dying Nascent Star?]
"YES!"
Of course, he'd accept!
This had to be super high-level loot!
That's when it appeared: a translucent star-shaped soul. As soon as Gray grabbed it, the thing's information immediately appeared.
[Soul of a Nascent Dying Star!]
[This Star Soul contains lots of energy and the thoughts of the beings who have ever prayed to it. It can be used as a Special Currency!]
Oh? Special currency? That sure sounded promising! But just as he was rejoicing, he couldn't help but notice something strange. Ever since he had grabbed the soul…
"W-What the hell is that?!"
He could now see a rectangle-like screen aimed right where the "Sun God" had been. That's when he froze. Was that the magical equivalent of…. a camera?! Gray suddenly felt bad.
Didn't that mean that his shameful kill had been recorded? What if there was a powerful being on the other side? Actually, never mind… this spell felt somewhat familiar, but why?
Ah?! It was the same energy the Star had possessed earlier? H-Had it been streaming its ascension to its follower this whole fucking time?! So smart! Gray approached it.
"Hello? Is this thing on? Sorry for killing your star or whatever. It was an accident, I swear! Anyway, no hard feelings, k? If you want revenge, my name's Johny Sins, later!"
"…"
"…"
"…."
In a place that wasn't Hellrand…
Billions of followers, thousands of Sun Guards, and an all-mighty high priest stared at the gigantic screen, shellshocked. Killing a star? Accident? No hard feelings? Johny Sins?!
Minutes ago? It had been endless cheers!
"Let the Sun God Ascend!"
"Let us praise his eternal glory!"
"Let his fire cleanse us from our sins!"
But now… there wasn't a single peep, everyone attending was utterly traumatized. Could a god really be killed?!
At this moment, they were too shocked to feel anything.
It wasn't just their hopes and dreams that had been lost, but eons of sacrifices from their ancestors. This was too much to take in, far too much. But that's when it all changed…
"F-Fuck, the Sun God's really dead?!"
"We're screwed, we're so goddamn screwed!"
"Wait, I know, everyone on the ground now! Oh, mighty Teacher Gale, please answer this little one's prayer. May you grant us strength in this arduous—"
Sadly for those "smart" guys, that's when eons of brainwashing kicked in. The Sun Guards? They didn't take this lying down.
"DIE HERETICS!"
"Glory to the Sun God!"
"Cleanse those vile heathens!"
Without waiting, they rained deadly fireballs on the crowd, the smell of calcinated flesh soon spreading. Except… they seemed far weaker than normal.
Usually → 100 Dead per spell
Right now → 10 Dead per spell
That's when the "followers", those weaklings who had lived under the Sun God's Cult all this time, turned their gazes toward their rulers.
If a prophet could have given his input, it would have been:
"That day, millions died. That year, blood flowed non-stop. Then, during the next decade, countless would perish for the Glory of Teacher Gale." In a deep narrator voice.
As for what would create this whole mess? Probably what was happening on that magical streaming screen at that very moment!
Gray had barely delivered his "Sorry for killing your god" speech when it happened all of a sudden!
— CRUSH! CRUSH! —
The space around him? It suddenly started breaking?!
It was as if reality was a mirror getting shattered into a million pieces… while he was inside it! Was it the space-shattering? NOPE, it was the Star Gazer artifact!
W-what would happen if it broke with his mind inside?! Would he be condemned to an eternity of wandering?!
'Time to fucking go!' Gray escaped as if he had the IRS after him!
Only once he had opened his eyes back in the real world did he heave a sigh of relief. Only to pause an instant later. Lizzy was looking at him as if a monster.
"R-R-Red?!"
"You okay, Lizzy?"
But before she could answer… CRASH! A hysterical Old Eagle forced his way inside, demolishing the door.
"T-Teacher Gale, what the hell happened?!"
His empty gaze surveyed the scene madly. The wrecked Star Gazer, Lizzy on the side repeating Red over and over as she trembled— wait, red?! What was she talking about?!
He rushed to the Star Gazer, observing it with his Mana…
"R-R-Red?! Holy fucking—?!" The Mana signature really was red. This meant that Gray had made perfect contact with a star that tended to grant LOTS of power.
Those kinds of stars weren't necessarily the strongest, but they could easily sustain entire civilizations alone, needless to say, an actual Astral Mage!
STRONG!
INCREDIBLY STRONG!
But that's when he found something else. Oh fuck. Why?! The star that Teacher Gale had made contact with? It was already a dead Star. This meant that it had no future.
T-This… what horrendous twist of fate was this?! The ONLY star the youngster could make contact with was already dead. Had it been alive… Old Eagle gasped sorrowfully.
He had been so close to being a one-in-a-billion Astral genius. Old Eagle would bring this secret to his grave lest it destroy the poor youngster with the what-ifs.
But just as he was endlessly sighing, Teacher Gale came forward, bowing…
"I-I'm so sorry, Old Eagle, I was just trying to—"
"It's alright, I understand. We all have our burden to carry."
At this moment, Gray felt terrible. If he knew following that goddamn Star would have caused Old Eagle so much trouble, he wouldn't have done it!
He had freaking destroyed the man's seclusion sanctuary! Wouldn't he miss the perfect chance to study that once-in-a-lifetime Magister's Star blossom?!
Yet, even then, the man didn't seem to blame him at all. Sure, he was the one who had proposed that he use the device in the first place, but still! How could anyone be so kind?
Except, that was merely the start…
As they left the seclusion room, Gray had the shock of his life. The once magical and glowing Astral Tower? It was utterly dark.
Stars? Gone
Portal Elevators? Gone
Any Magic at all? Gone!
That's when Old Eagle explained:
"The Star Gazer was linked to the Tower itself. First, it used all of the Tower's energy, and when there wasn't any left, it broke entirely…."
"T-This is bad, isn't it?"
"Hmmm. Could have been worse. Should be repaired before next year."
Before next year?! Wouldn't this just give the Astral Mages yet another reason to hate him?! But that's when Old Eagle continued.
"Still, Teacher Gale, you better leave before more Enforcers appear. Also, the fools earlier were just a couple of Low-Ranking Enforcers. Just avoid them."
Nodding furiously, Gray hurriedly departed, vowing in his heart that he'd remember the man's help. Still, he couldn't help but glance at a certain Soul Pen in his Soul.
[Soul of a Nascent Dying Star!]
"I sure as hell hope you were worth it!"
In barely any time, he returned home, crumbling on his bed and instantly falling asleep. Who knew chasing Stars was so exhausting?!
Meanwhile, in the garden…
"So this is Teacher's residence, eh? It's so peace— uh?!"
A certain Disciple was about to learn the meaning of Demonic, Ravenous, and Bloody. A shame Gray had forgotten to warn her. As for her senior brothers? They, too, were busy.
They were dealing with a Library on fire…