The Phoenix Doesn't Die, It Just Nirvana! (Seeking Follow-ups!)

The next day.

Since it was Saturday, Hawk headed out early in the morning to the apartment across from Queens Bridge Park.

His new apartment was right there.

Finding it didn't take much time.

After all, good and cheap apartments were hard to come by, but cheap ones were still a dime a dozen.

Even so, with a cheap apartment, the landlord wouldn't rent to a minor—especially one who couldn't provide any guarantor.

But...

When Hawk quickly explained that he had already filed for emancipation with the court, the landlord finally relented.

And so.

Hawk showed up bright and early.

After confirming that Hawk had been legally declared independent by the court, the landlord didn't waste any words. He signed the lease with Hawk directly, and once Hawk paid half a year's rent upfront, handed over the apartment keys. That wrapped up the handover.

Once the landlord left, Hawk closed the door and looked around his new apartment.

The new place wasn't big either.

To put it dramatically, it was like a box crushed flat by life.

Worn-out carpet, peeling walls.

The living room was so tiny that after squeezing in a secondhand sofa and a folding dining table, you had to move carefully just to turn around.

The bedroom was the same—once the bed was in, there was barely any space left.

But...

Small as it was, it had everything needed.

Most importantly.

This new apartment, like his old one, had a fire escape outside the window leading straight up to the rooftop.

That was exactly why Hawk had asked the landlord to give him time to handle the emancipation paperwork.

Besides.

For an apartment at seven hundred bucks a month, you couldn't ask for much more.

Hawk spent two days cleaning and setting up his new place.

When he said "setting up," he really just bought a new mattress and swapped out the old, grimy, slightly yellowed showerhead in the bathroom.

He also left the windows open for two days to air out the curry smell that had been lingering in the rooms.

Of course.

Hawk didn't forget to sneak over to his stash spot at night and haul back his loot—the five Chitauri weapons—wrapped up in the old bedsheet from the bedroom and shoved under the bed.

When evening came.

Just like at his old apartment, Hawk bought a burger and a Coke downstairs, then climbed the fire escape to the rooftop of his new place. He looked around, found a relatively clean spot, and sat down on the ground.

He ate his burger while gazing up at the stars hanging overhead.

As a few stars flickered in the night sky, the stars within Hawk's Cosmo flickered in response.

Hawk had already decided which Bronze Saint constellation he would light up first.

Not Pegasus.

Not Cygnus.

Not Draco.

But—

Phoenix!

A constellation wasn't just a vessel for a Saint's power—it was the imprint of a legacy.

A Saint who awakened their Cosmo, once they claimed a constellation, could inherit its attributes.

And in Hawk's eyes, among the forty-eight Bronze constellations, none had attributes that could compare to Phoenix's.

Because Phoenix possessed something even the twelve Zodiac constellations didn't have.

The Phoenix doesn't die—it only undergoes nirvana.

If Draco's core was "the dragon's ferocity" and "the dragon's protection," then Phoenix's core was "immortality" and "nirvana."

The bad news.

Because of Phoenix's broken core, the conditions to become a Phoenix Saint were far too harsh.

From what he remembered, since the first Holy War, Athena's roster of eighty-eight constellations had never included Phoenix—it only appeared for the first time in the SS arc.

The good news.

This isn't the Saint Seiya universe, so the Phoenix here isn't as aloof as the Phoenix in the Saint Seiya universe.

The moment he lights up the Phoenix Star Chart in his Cosmo, the next second he gains the Phoenix's core.

The Phoenix never dies; it only undergoes nirvana.

His life force will reach a terrifying level. Even if someone truly kills him, he won't actually die. As long as the Phoenix remains, he will still be reborn through nirvana and return from the flames.

So...

Hawk would have to be insane to leave the Phoenix Star Chart unlit and go light up some other constellation instead.

After all, his original intention has never changed.

Survive. If possible, live comfortably, live longer.

So, having decided on the first constellation to light up, Hawk no longer hesitated. He mobilized the twelve stars in his Cosmo, lit by killing Chitauri, and began constructing his Phoenix Star Chart within his Cosmo, following its pattern.

The Phoenix is built from one second-magnitude star, two third-magnitude stars, and six fourth-magnitude stars.

The stars Hawk had lit in his Cosmo by killing Chitauri soldiers were the smallest, fourth-magnitude stars.

Two fourth-magnitude stars combine into one third-magnitude star; two third-magnitude stars combine into one second-magnitude star.

So...

"Two more to go."

"Not bad."

"Perfect."

Hawk sipped his drink, smiling as he watched the Phoenix Star Chart in his Cosmo, already mostly lit, with only two stars left to complete it.

Just then.

The phantom images of the remaining forty-seven Bronze Constellations flickered in his Cosmo.

For some reason.

Hawk suddenly felt a resentful accusation from the other forty-seven Bronze Constellations.

But amid those forty-seven voices of accusation, he also heard a phoenix cry. After that cry, the flickering accusations of the forty-seven Bronze Constellations vanished.

Uh...

Hawk blinked, looking at the Phoenix Star Chart above his Cosmo.

The mostly lit Phoenix hung high above, like a truly proud phoenix, looking down on the other forty-seven Bronze Constellations.

Clearly.

As Hawk's first-choice constellation, the proud Phoenix was now even prouder in the face of the other forty-seven Bronze Constellations.

See?

The Phoenix is the best!

Hawk's mouth twitched. He thought for a moment, didn't linger, and directly left his Cosmo, taking the emergency stairs back to his new apartment.

A while later.

Lying in bed, Hawk, before falling asleep, closed his eyes and once again pondered the matter of the Cloth.

Lighting up the Phoenix grants him the Phoenix's undying core.

Forging the Phoenix Cloth and wearing it allows him to gain the Phoenix's constellation-exclusive powers and skills.

For example...

The Phoenix Genma Ken, which crushes the enemy's spirit rather than their flesh.

The Mental Strike, which directly invades the enemy's mental world and uses one's own powerful mental energy to tear the enemy's spirit apart.

And one more.

The ultimate move that transforms the user into a phoenix, unleashing a scorching airflow like a phoenix spreading its wings, possessing the power to destroy everything—the exclusive ultimate technique of the Phoenix.

Phoenix Wings Soaring!