"Celestial Spirit?!"
Rhodes and Lucy exclaimed in unison.
Carla tilted her head. "What Celestial Spirit? Don't tell me there's one called Hellhound?"
"Yes," Rhodes replied, frowning as he thought it through. "I remember there's a constellation by that name, but on the star chart, its image isn't a Hellhound."
Lucy nodded. "Right, it's drawn as a three-headed snake wrapped around an apple tree. But that constellation was abandoned long ago. It's not one of the current eighty-eight."
Carla blinked. "Wait, constellations can be abandoned?"
"Yes," Lucy explained. "According to astronomy texts, some ancient constellations were removed because they didn't match modern observational standards, or because of mapping errors in early star charts."
Rhodes added, "Basically, the constellations we know now might one day be reclassified too. Nothing's eternal, not even the stars."
Lucy gave him a curious look. "Why does Mr. Rhodes know so much about astronomy?"
Rhodes smiled faintly. "When I studied magic, I looked into Celestial Spirit lore. Star Spirit Magic is fascinating, so I read quite a bit on it. But those abandoned constellations, I only came across them as old myths. I never thought they might still be connected to the Spirit Realm… or that Spirits from those constellations might still exist somewhere."
He turned toward Lucy, clearly hoping she'd know more.
Lucy frowned, thinking hard. "I remember my mother mentioning it once. When a constellation is abolished, the corresponding key disappears too. The Spirit linked to that constellation can no longer be summoned."
She added softly, "Compared to the chaotic ancient divisions, the modern eighty-eight constellations brought balance, not just for astronomy, but also for distributing the Celestial Spirits' powers fairly."
"But what happens to those Spirits after their constellations are erased… or how the Spirit Realm's star maps stay synchronized with ours," She shook her head. "Even Mom never said."
For a moment, Seemes looked utterly lost. His thoughts screamed:
'Weren't we just talking about monsters?! How did this turn into a masterclass on cosmic metaphysics?'
'Do Ten Wizard Saints and S-Class mages discuss universe-level lore every time they sneeze?'
Unfazed by the existential whiplash, Rhodes raised a hand to cast another Ocean Healing on Rocker, stabilizing him further."How about we ask a Celestial Spirit directly?" he suggested.
Lucy's face brightened. "Good idea!" She reached into her pouch and pulled out a rarely used silver key.
"Open, Gate of the Southern Cross—Crux!"
A faint burst of light shimmered, and an elderly man materialized, sitting cross-legged in midair. His entire head was shaped like a massive cross, and even his beard (or perhaps his nose hair?) seemed to split into cross patterns.
Carla and Wendy both recognized him instantly. "Ah, it's that sleepy old man from the Spirit Library!"
Rhodes blinked. 'He looks like a tombstone with limbs.'
Lucy clasped her hands together. "Old Man Crux is an expert on Celestial Spiritology! He knows almost everything about the Star Spirit Realm."
After giving a polite introduction, she explained their discovery and asked for his insight.
"Well…" Crux murmured, floating quietly in midair with his eyes closed.
A few seconds passed. Then a soft snore.
Rhodes raised an eyebrow. "The old man's sleep quality is impressive."
Lucy quickly waved her hands. "No, no, he's searching for information!"
"Ah...ah...AHHH!!!" Crux suddenly shouted, startling everyone. His eyes popped open like a lightning strike.
Lucy leaned forward anxiously. "Did you find something?!"
Crux's voice came out slow and clear, yet resonant with authority."The birth of new constellations… and the abandonment of old ones in your Human World… indeed correspond to historical events within the Star Spirit Realm."
His cross-shaped eyes glowed faintly as he spoke.
"A very, very long time ago, the Spirit Realm was not the peaceful world you know. It was an era of endless wars among Celestial Spirits themselves. Battles between them disrupted the order of the stars, and those distortions appeared in the Human World's sky."
"In short," Crux continued, "many of the 'errors' that ancient astronomers blamed on faulty observation were actually caused by the Spirits' conflicts. The stars themselves were shifting under the strain of their battles."
He folded his arms, lowering his head slightly.
"It wasn't until the current Celestial Spirit King unified the realm, ending the wars and redistributing the power of the stars, that the heavens stabilized. That era marked the creation of the eighty-eight constellations."
"And from then on," he finished softly, "the Spirits became one family… linked through Celestial Spirit Mages, forming the bridge of cooperation between the Star Spirit Realm and the Human World."
"And the Hellhound you encountered today," said Crux gravely, "should be the ancient Hellhound Zodiac Celestial Spirit."
His tone grew solemn. "According to old records, it was a vicious and bloodthirsty being. After its defeat in a legendary battle, it was stripped of the power granted by the stars and exiled to the desolate fringes of the Star Spirit Realm. No one should have been able to summon it again."
Lucy frowned. "If that's true, then why did it appear here in the Human World?"
She herself had a few Celestial Spirits, like Plue or Loke, who could sometimes cross over freely, but even so, she knew that was a rare exception. Proper Celestial Spirits needed to be summoned.
Crux shook his cross-shaped head. "That, I cannot explain. It is an anomaly even I do not understand. This must be reported to His Majesty the Star Spirit King at once."
He said "at once," but instead of leaving, the old man simply floated there, legs still crossed, making no effort to move.
Rhodes, seeing that, coughed lightly and asked, "Then… what about the bees? Don't tell me that swarm we fought belongs to the Bee Zodiac?"
Crux emitted a short "hoo~" half snore, half sigh, before answering."A long, long time ago, Apis of the Bee Zodiac was a troublesome adversary to all. Its constellation contained thirty-three main celestial bodies and countless dark stars invisible to the human eye."
"Thus it always appeared in swarms, an endless legion of itself. No army, not even divine, could match its numbers."
He folded his arms. "However, Apis was later expelled from the heavens. In its place rose the gentler and harmless Fly Zodiac."
Carla frowned. "Flies… and you call that harmless?"
Crux nodded matter-of-factly. "Yes. Musca of the Fly Zodiac may also reproduce in vast numbers, but it lacks venomous stingers and is far more docile, virtually harmless."
Lucy tilted her head. "Then why could those bees turn into daylilies?"
Crux paused, stroking his cross-shaped beard. "More than eight hundred years ago, the Human World called daylilies Forget-Me-Not Flowers."
"Ah!" Lucy's eyes lit up. "That's it! The Bee Zodiac used to be called the Forget-Me-Not Flower Zodiac!"
Rhode's eyes narrowed with realization. No wonder his Void sight hadn't pierced their disguise.
So it hadn't been concealment magic at all, nor transformation, it was their true form. Those daylilies, those forget-me-nots, were the Bees themselves.
And if that was the case, then the apple trees and the three-headed snakes that Hellhound had turned into were likely not illusions either, but manifestations of its original stellar nature.
Carla crossed her arms and looked at Crux. "Since you know all this ancient stuff, you must know their weakness too, right? Tell us, how do we beat them?"
...
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