Chapter 69: The Queen Became An Obsessed Servant – (4)

The storm of the North Sea, Mirien, stood tall atop the highest floor of the Tower of the Reversed Heaven, gazing at the sky. 

Above her head, a swirling rift spat out hundreds of calamities. 

Though she longed to summon lightning and strike them down, she held back, remembering Actor’s order to avoid drawing attention.

Instead of attacking, Mirien used tracking magic to probe the rift. 

The previous day, a pale barrier within the rift had obstructed her view, but now, with the rift wide open and spewing calamities, she could see inside clearly.

Before long, her tracking magic locked onto the figure of a woman floating within the swirling void.

“Hmph, a filthy vixen.”

Indeed, the woman was a vixen—her long, pointed ears, six pink tails, and beast-like pupils left no doubt. 

The Queen Who Swallowed the Stars, Asteria, was a beastkin.

“That fox dares to attack Actor?”

Mirien scowled as she glared at Asteria. 

She sensed it—this abnormal rift eruption was all that despicable woman’s doing.

But Asteria was no ordinary mage. 

She had already detected Mirien’s tracking magic.

Their eyes met.

“Tch.”

Mirien clicked her tongue.

The killing intent radiating from Asteria sent a chill down her spine. 

The woman’s sharp gaze, as if looking down on an insignificant creature, filled Mirien with irritation. 

Then, Asteria’s lips moved. 

Though no sound reached her, Mirien read the words from the shape of her mouth.

“An… noy… ance…?”

Mirien repeated the words silently, her face twisting in anger.

“That bitch, how dare she—”

But in the next moment, Asteria raised a hand.

A warning blared in Mirien’s mind.

[5★ North Sea’s Storm Mirien activates skill: “Spatial Leap”.]

“Kuh!”

Mirien teleported away just as a cascade of rainbow light poured from the rift. 

The colors swallowed the Tower of the Reversed Heaven in an instant.

[Dungeon “Tower of the Reversed Heaven” has been annihilated.]

Nothing remained.

“…Ah.”

Mirien’s expression turned hollow.

With just one attack, the tower she had painstakingly built was reduced to nothing.

*

I had always believed that the calamities loyal to me were all exceptions to the norm.

I wasn’t entirely wrong. 

Selene, Mirien, and Karne were all individuals powerful enough to overthrow nations single-handedly.

But the Queen Who Swallowed the Stars, Asteria, surpassed them all.

I knew it—Asteria was the foremost among the Disasters, the pinnacle of power inflation, a monster born from updates. 

Yet, the Asteria that appeared in reality displayed even greater power than I had anticipated.

[Dungeon “Tower of the Reversed Heaven” has been annihilated.]

The tower, which had served as Seoul’s new landmark for months, vanished without a trace. 

All because of the colors Asteria had unleashed.

I hurriedly opened the status window to check the state of our base.

‘Mirien… is she safe?’

Seeing her SD portrait still intact in the base, I sighed in relief. 

She must have escaped in time. 

Then, my thoughts turned to Inspector Jeon Dongwook, whom I had imprisoned in the tower.

“Tch.”

I clicked my tongue. 

Though I hadn’t seen him much since locking him up, there was no way he could have survived that explosion.

A pang of guilt surfaced, but I suppressed it.

Instead, I focused on assessing the situation.

Asteria’s attack confirmed it—she was hostile toward me, manipulating the rift to unleash calamities far stronger than they should have been.

No one I knew of could control the rift at will. 

It dawned on me that Asteria had been hiding her true power in the game.

Nearby, Yoo Junseo, who had also witnessed the tower’s destruction, turned to me.

“Guild Master.”

“Y-yes?”

“We don’t have time for this. Let’s move.”

It was ironic—Junseo was the Guild Master, yet I was the one giving orders.

“For now, evacuating civilians is the priority. Spread out the Awakened to rescue those who couldn’t escape.”

“…Where are you going, Nam Joo-yeon?”

“I have to do something.”

Right.

I had to do something.

I turned the corner, leaving Junseo behind.

“Selene.”

“Yes.”

“Let’s regroup with Mirien first. If this continues, the city is finished.”

Calamities were still pouring out—more than all previous eruptions combined. 

Even with Seoul’s Awakened forces, stopping them all was impossible.

First, we had to close the rift spewing endless monsters.

How?

I’d figure that out soon.

“Can you take me to Mirien?”

“Of course. Pardon me.”

The Charred Saint, Selene, stepped forward and lifted me into her arms—a princess carry.

My face burned, but there was no better option.

“Uh, Selene… isn’t this a bit too close?”

For some reason, Selene had lifted me chest-high, pressing me against her. 

Yet she answered calmly.

“My Lord, do not misunderstand. This is purely for protection.”

“R-really?”

“Yes. Really.”

Her tone was indifferent, but the corner of her lips curled slightly.

Before I could question her further, the world spun as Selene kicked off the ground.

A dizzying sensation—and then we were in the ruins of Yeouido.

“Actor, that bitch attacked me!”

Mirien was waiting there, stomping her feet with an indignant expression. 

Childish as she was, losing her beloved tower had enraged her.

“Mirien, calm down. Are you sure it was Asteria?”

“Yes! She saw me inside the rift! And she’s completely insane! She called me an annoyance!”

“An annoyance?”

“Yeah!”

Mirien’s whining made me frown.

Asteria was clearly intent on destroying Seoul. 

If not for our efforts, this city would have suffered the same fate as the Chinese metropolis Karne had razed. 

This was no longer a simple matter.

“My Lord, it is right to strike down Asteria. That vile woman threatens your safety.”

“Exactly!”

Mirien chimed in.

Their agreement aside, I still couldn’t comprehend Asteria’s actions.

The power she had just displayed was staggering—destroying Mirien’s dungeon with a single skill. 

If she possessed such strength, why manipulate the rift to target me? 

She could have just come and killed me directly.

Yet Asteria remained within the rift, calling Mirien an obstruction.

That could only mean one thing.

“Does Asteria still see me as her subordinate?”

My muttering made Selene frown.

Given the circumstances, it seemed Asteria wanted me dead.

But I thought differently.

Even the Mother of Calamities, Karne—who had orchestrated that horrific massacre—had only kidnapped me when she had the chance to kill me. 

She had even relented at being called “Mother.”

Asteria had also lived alongside me in the base. 

It was more plausible that she didn’t intend to kill me. 

If she did, she would have erased the entire city with her colors.

Just then, Karne met my gaze and nodded, as if reading my thoughts.

“Mother, Asteria shattered the crown I gifted her and threw the fragments out of the rift—right toward me.”

“Indeed. It was deliberate. Then, Actor, you must consider what the crown means to Asteria.”

“…”

I pondered Karne’s advice.

The crown symbolized the kingdom Asteria once ruled.

It was also proof of the bond between us.

Why would she destroy something so precious?

I retrieved the crown fragments from my inventory. 

The star-imbued gems were scattered, the golden adornments shattered. 

Four pieces of the crown that once rested on Asteria’s head now lay in my palm.

They hadn’t been gathered intentionally. 

Through various means, they had naturally found their way to me.

At first, I assumed Asteria had broken the crown to sever our ties out of resentment. 

But her strange behavior and the fragments’ presence suggested otherwise.

“It seems Asteria still considers me her subordinate. Even more so than when I bore divinity.”

I recalled Asteria’s backstory.

A queen of a fallen kingdom.

Meeting me had reignited her dream of rebuilding her realm. 

Even now, abandoned in the base, she clung to me—just like the other calamities.

Instead of raging after being cast aside, Asteria had made a decision. 

She remained a queen determined to restore her kingdom, and she wanted me—her subordinate—by her side.

Perhaps this was her way of setting the stage.

“She wants me to gather these fragments and offer them back to her.”

It was just a theory, but Karne smiled warmly, as if approving.

That smile confirmed it.

Selene, however, frowned.

“My Lord, what does that mean?”

“Asteria wants to take me—now human—as her subordinate.”

Just as the Charred Saint Selene had scarred herself after being abandoned, Asteria had shattered the crown to sever our past.

Now, she intended to forge a new crown—one of her own.

“Selene, your concerns were right.”

“What do you mean?”

“Asteria wants to possess me. The human me.”

The Queen Who Swallowed the Stars intended to wear a new crown.

A crown named “Actor the Sovereign.”