Celestial.
They are lofty beings seated like the stars of the universe, bestowing strength and resources upon humble challengers.
All of them possess remarkable power, and merely receiving the patronage of the Celestials can elevate one to incredible heights.
“…but in reality, it’s not that special. They’re just half-gods stuck in a tower.”
15th floor of the Tower, Shrine of Stars.
This is where challengers who have worked hard prepare to formally contract with the ‘Celestials.’ Just after completing the Celestial contract, the raccoon replied calmly, surrounded by the now much stronger yellow lightning.
The Celestial the raccoon contracted is a god known as the Thunder Dragon, always choosing the same Celestial every time it reincarnates.
The reason is to maximize the ‘power’ received from that great being and to obtain a superficial reason.
After all, if one wishes to use abilities without hesitation, a plausible reason is essential.
I observed the aura of the gods clustered around the raccoon and Leo.
“They’re on a similar level as the gods of Ertarn.”
Excluding the celestial being known as Ertarn, the lion-shaped god and the wolf are of a similar level.
Though they are beings too high to even be touched by mere creatures, one might wonder if they are really that impressive; it turns out they’re not that extraordinary.
Apparently, since the New Continent and Altar appeared at the same time, their levels seem almost equal.
[Nothing special]
[Those guys that Lily crushed?]
[Still powerful though, haha]
[Lily should contract too]
[Isn’t it Lily who has to provide the power?]
[Saintess Lily;;]
[What happens if we kill all the gods?]
“What god did you contract with, Lord Leo?”
“Hmm, I contracted with the Valkyrie, the Frozen King, the Earth God, and the Thunder God…”
Leo recited the gods with whom he had contracted.
To the raccoon, there were indeed many high-ranking gods, but also many that weren’t as powerful.
Roughly about ten in total.
Their common trait is…
“Same attributes as spirits.”
“Yep. It makes things easier.”
The wind, lightning, ice, earth, and light that Leo contracted matched exactly with those five attributes.
After all, handling the powers of so many gods would require being familiar with their forms.
“Aren’t you going to contract? No matter how strong your abilities are, it wouldn’t hurt to do so.”
“I’m still pondering.”
Seeing that both Leo and the raccoon, who planned to contract with the Thunder Dragon and add more upon climbing to higher floors, it didn’t seem like a bad idea.
Even Leo, who initially exclaimed, “If I contract with the Celestials, I can’t achieve the true ending!” ended up contracting with a whopping ten Celestials after visiting the underworld.
Since both reincarnators are okay with it, there shouldn’t be any problem—now the difficult part is choosing…
[The Master of Non-Swordsmanship requests a contract with you.]
[One Who Chooses Fate requests a contract with you.]
[Light’s Successor requests a contract with you.]
[Guardian of the Underworld requests a contract with you.]
[One Wearing a Carapace is proposing a contract…]
‘Gotta know what’s what.’
The ‘True Name’ of the Celestials is undisclosed, and they obscure themselves behind these titles.
Done.
So to make a contract, I need to sift through the modifiers and pick what’s good.
[Non-Swordsmanship?]
[All these names sound plausible.]
[How about the Guardian of the Underworld?]
[Light’s Successor, let’s go!]
[Why does everything seem lacking?]
[If I don’t make a contract, isn’t Lily going to become a Celestial? Haha!]
[Let’s have a go after the contract!]
[Feels like something pulled from mythology, why don’t I know it?]
[Haha!]
“Hmm.”
The chat window is buzzing with mixed reactions.
Even if this is a familiar tutorial-type thing, the names are always a bit different.
To know the modifiers, I should either ask the Celestials directly or consult those who have “met” them.
“What should we do?”
“Who expressed their likes and dislikes? I don’t know all the modifiers of the gods, but I can tell you a bit.”
“I’ll share too!”
“First, the Master of Non-Swordsmanship and the One Who Chooses Fate…”
I immediately summoned the two regressors who likely know the modifiers best, the contract-requesting Celestials.
The number of gods who made proposals to me is around twenty.
While this is quite a lot among challengers, it’s still few compared to the almost one hundred contract requests received by Raccoon and Leo.
These two have accomplished bizarre feats, like confronting the rabbit or regressing in a hidden world, while I’ve just managed to scrape by decently.
I can’t help but feel overshadowed.
[The Master of Non-Swordsmanship promises you splendid swordsmanship!]
[The One Who Chooses Fate will reveal your fate to you.]
[The Light’s Successor will bestow upon you light that’s perfect for you.]
[The Guardian of the Underworld opens the path to the Underworld for you.]
[The One Wearing a Carapace has something super, super amazing for you…]
[Hahaha!]
[This is a good feel-good piece! Haha!]
[Come on, write more!]
[Can’t we contract like Leo and go for multiple?]
[Let’s just contract with everyone and get it all, Lily!]
‘The chat window has doubled in size.’
If an ordinary person saw this, they’d lose their mind.
“Hmm… First, what kind of Celestial do you want? A high-ranking Celestial? Or one that suits you well?”
“Let’s start with the high-ranking ones.”
“High-ranking ones would be the ‘Light’s Successor’ and the ‘Guardian of the Underworld’.”
“That angel with three heads and a barking dog?”
“Nymph? Have you met her?”
“Yup. I even had a face-to-face negotiation with her.”
Leo recalled his encounters with the two Celestials he had met.
The Light’s Successor is a male angel with two wings, and he’s apparently not a ‘real’ angel like the one in the Angel Guild named ‘Gabriel’, but rather a copy or imitation.
A being with enhanced holiness.
“True Name is ‘Uriel’. He has a decent rank and power, and once contracted, there’ll be no one to match you in the early stages.”
“Does that seem necessary for me?”
“Hmm…”
Raccoon stared at me for a long time and then shook his head.
“It doesn’t seem strictly necessary. After all, you already possess that power.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. Unless you want to avoid showing off like I do…”
“I don’t really care.”
“Right.”
It doesn’t matter since it’ll be over quickly anyway, even if it shows!
“I’ll finish the blood quickly, so it’s okay if it shows.”
“It doesn’t seem like there’s a reason to choose.”
“What about the Guardian of the Underworld?”
“It’s famous! Cerberus! Its rank is a bit lower than Uriel, but its might is impressive.”
“Oh.”
“I’ve heard of it.”
“The guardian of the dead lands, the Underworld, and a monster with three heads.”
“It looks strong enough, but…”
“I wouldn’t really recommend it. The Guardian of the Underworld is strong, but there are many superior Celestials. Changing later will require a lot of effort.”
“Bark bark…”
“But it’s kind of cute. Hehe.”
“Let’s hold off for now. What about other options?”
“Well, the Master of Non-Swordsmanship is next, but it doesn’t use a sword, and I don’t think the One Who Chooses Fate can read ‘you.'”
“Hmm…”
“First, what suits you is space…”
The raccoon and Leo recommended as many useful Celestials as possible, but they didn’t spark much interest.
Most were inferior to the gods I’d seen in Ertarn.
If there were beings like the ‘Lion’ or ‘Wolf’ from before, it would be worth making a contract, but unfortunately, such beings showed no interest in me.
[Just anyone ㄱㄱㄱ]
[No, Lily doesn’t have anything on the level of a Supreme God.]
[Is there no one at the Divine level?]
[Isn’t there something like Zeus or Thor?]
[Aww, tsk.]
[Just wipe out the Celestials ㄱㄱ.]
[That’s a shame.]
[If I had known it would be like this, I would have caused a ruckus.]
“If choosing is too hard, aim for the 40th floor. There’s a Shrine of Stars there, and if you perform well here and there, you can request a mid-tier contract even if it incurs some losses.”
“…….”
“Or you can contract with anyone now and seek out the ‘God of Contracts’ for a multi-Celestial contract…”
“I’ll go with this.”
[You have contracted with the One Wearing a Carapace!]
[You gain part of the powers of the One Wearing a Carapace.]
[You can enhance your powers through growth or interaction with the Celestial.]
[You have acquired the power – Carapaceification (甲殼化) LV.1.]
[You have acquired the power – Carapace Mythical Artifact (甲殼武球) LV.1.]
[You have acquired the power – Low-level God’s Rank (格).]
[The One Wearing a Carapace glares.]
“Oh, it gives me rank?”
“Eh.”
“Why though…”
Leo and the raccoon look at me with suspicion.
And rightly so, the one I just chose was the lowest-ranked god among the ones that made proposals, the One Wearing a Carapace.
It’s a form of a deity born from the sea, which achieved Celestial status after countless years, but its rank and power are extremely low.
It’s a rather unexpected choice for me, who had been avoiding low ranks and power until now.
In fact, my existing chat window is chaotic, not to mention the ‘Celestial’ chat windows as well.
[The Master of Non-Swordsmanship criticizes the foolish choice.]
[The One Who Chooses Fate feels the fate is twisted.]
[Light’s Successor leaves in disappointment over the unsatisfactory choice.]
[The Guardian of the Underworld warns of death.]
The message warns of death.]
[The one pressing on the space exits…]
[One wearing a carapace is moved!]
[One wearing a carapace declares they will do their best!!!]
The majority reacts with confusion.
The only one responding differently was the ‘One Wearing a Carapace’ who applied with a hint of hope and actually ended up making a contract.
[Hahahahaha]
[It’s adorable that they’re touched alone]
[But seriously, why them?]
[20 to 1 competition rate got through, congrats!]
[Congrats!]
[Isn’t it sponsored by the celestial? Why are they doing their best, haha]
[Truly a newcomer beat out experienced ones, haha]
[Get rid of the experienced!]
[Whoa]
[But why did they choose when Lady Lily only hires experienced?]
Whoosh…!
Most of the gods drift away from me.
The viewers still liked me, so they remained in my broadcast, but the celestials had no reason to keep watching me who made a ‘foolish’ choice.
Before I knew it, the number of celestials watching, including the one who hadn’t made a proposal, dropped from around 50 to five.
“I’ve become a has-been.”
[Hahahahahaha]
[Lady Lily became a has-been]
[Lily’s first broadcast had ten thousand viewers, but now only 5? Haha]
[Lily has fallen apart…]
[Has-been Lily]
[But really, why them?]
“So why did you pick me? It’s totally… I mean, it’s not great.”
“Then our friend will be shocked.”
I stopped Leo from saying anything bad.
But still, being a god, calling them trash is just too much.
[One wearing a carapace says it’s okay!]
[One wearing a carapace is very happy that their first contractor has been born!]
[One wearing a carapace consumes world power to enhance the contractor’s powers!]
[Power – Carapace Level 2 has been achieved.]
[Power – Mythical Artifact Level 2 has been achieved.]
“Thank you. Then I guess I’d better use my abilities.”
Whoosh.
I bring my hand to the empty air.
And then I use my power.
‘Karabus.’
Boom!!
[Casting power – Mythical Artifact Level 2…]
[Skill collision. The skill’s level will be readjusted for error correction.]
Ding!
[Casting power – Mythical Artifact Level 2 (+29).]
[One wearing a carapace thinks this isn’t too bad…]
[?]
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