Chapter 439: Chapter 439

“...I’m not being deceived. I worship another constellation.”

-Oh, is that so?!

There was a mixture of relief and disappointment in Barigos’ reply. It was fortunate that Choi Yeonseung wasn’t serving the strange and seemingly deceitful constellation, but it was disappointing that a mortal of his caliber was serving a constellation instead of challenging one.

Still, it wasn’t the worst situation. At the very least, he wasn’t serving that shady constellation.

-It’s enough for both of us to be walking down the path of glory. I’m glad to see that you are well.

“Barigos, what are you doing here? After that fight...”

-Yes, the Ruler of Blood and Brawls abandoned me.

Violent constellations wouldn’t even tolerate one defeat. But despite being abandoned, Barigos seemed to have no hard feelings toward the ruler constellation.

“What a piece of shit!”

-No, it’s merely the price I had to pay for my defeat. Winners rise up and losers get thrown away. That’s how it works.

Demons embraced the law of the jungle more than any other creature in the Abyss.

After abandoning Barigos, the Ruler of Blood and Brawls eventually fell at the feet of another constellation.

That was the Abyss.

-But you can’t stay on your knees forever just because you’ve been defeated. I got back up and started fighting again. That’s how I got here.

“I see... Well, that’s a good attitude.”

[The ‘Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead’ asks if you can help clear up the misunderstanding.]

[The ‘Manipulator of Dreams and Desires’ says it is probably hard to clarify the misunderstanding.]

“I shouldn’t say this since I received your help, but didn’t you sign a contract with the Beast of Swords and Spears? Is it okay for you to betray it like this?”

-It doesn’t matter. In the Abyss, the one who is beaten is the stupid one. I haven’t been paid yet, so I am entitled to betray. The Beast of Swords and Spears probably knows that too.

‘I’m not sure about that...’

Choi Yeonseung was skeptical, but Barigos didn’t show the slightest bit of remorse. After all, he was a demon.

“Can we leave this demon alone?”

Illaphael looked at Barigos nervously. She knew that the demon had betrayed the beast constellation for Choi Yeonseung, but there was no guarantee he wouldn’t betray him as well.

Besides, the fight was over. Even if they didn’t kill him, it was better to get this demon out of their sight, perhaps by making him return to the Abyss.

“No, Barigos isn’t the type to easily betray someone.”

-Oh, consider me flattered.

“All that fighting must’ve taken up a lot of your magic power, right? You wanna eat anything?”

-I don’t know if the food of humans will suit me, but I won’t turn down your offer if you insist.

“Great.”

Choi Yeonseung walked with Barigos toward the base.

Illaphael blinked with a blank expression. The situation had wrapped up before she managed to intervene.

“U-uh... Huh...?”

Illaphael was so flustered that she stammered as she pointed to Barigos and Choi Yeonseung.

Illeya looked at the angel as he acted all strange and reticently asked, “What... is it?”

“T-that demon... Even though he’s just shown up, Choi Yeonseung is treating him better than the comrades who’ve fought alongside him from the beginning... It doesn’t make any sense...”

“...”

Illeya looked at Illaphael with a slightly weary expression. She couldn’t tell if all angels were weird like this or if it was just this one in particular...Illaphael 's personality was definitely a bit irritating.

***

“Scanning for magic power... Yup, there’s no response.”

“Then that concludes the monster check! The raid is complete!”

“We’ve blocked it!”

The hunters started cheering one after the other, and some of them tossed artifacts to the side and lay on the ground.

It had been an incredibly fierce battle. There had been monsters everywhere, and they could’ve bumped into one just by taking a few steps, so one could only imagine the sheer number of enemies these hunters had been forced to fight.

There had been some chaotic moments, and despite the fact that the humans had properly prepared this time, the monsters had still managed to occupy and destroy the roads near the mountain.

The hunters had managed to fight with the support of other clans and hunters from the military who had arrived late, but they still felt a chill in their hearts.

Kwon Yeongseung, the A-grade hunter at the scene, asked with a nervous expression, “What about Busan?”

“I got a call from the Iron-Blooded Ice Emperor. He’s also done.”

“He did it...!”

Kwon Yeongseung clenched his fists. No one disregarded the abilities of the Iron-Blooded Ice Emperor, but quite a few people had voiced their concerns about him because he had been retired for quite some time.

However, the Iron-Blooded Ice Emperor had confidently stepped forward and put their worries to rest with his own skills.

“As expected of the Iron-Blooded Ice Emperor!”

“Don’t celebrate just yet. The invasion has just begun,” added Kwon Yeonghyeong, Kwon Yeongseung’s father and the leader of the Six-Eyed Turtle clan, as he walked over.

He also seemed like a mess, all covered in dust and dirt. His weary appearance proved just how fierce the battle had been.

An executive from the first generation of hunters who had come with Kwon Yeonghyeong also nodded. “That’s right. The first major invasion didn’t end after one battle.”

“...”

Kwon Yeongseung’s expression darkened at those words. Even with thorough preparations, they had been exposed to various dangers, and it still wasn’t over yet.

“Don’t look so glum. I’m just talking about the worst-case scenario. During the first invasion, not every place was attacked with equal force.”

“You mean...?”

“Yeah, vulnerable areas will be attacked more often.”

There was a reason some countries were occupied and others weren’t during the first invasion. If one area was defended while another was breached, the evil god constellations didn’t have to cling to the former.

The Six-Eyed Turtle clan hunters, including Kwon Yeonghyeong, were now convinced.

‘It’s great that we managed to defend this area.’

They almost couldn’t believe it that they had managed to surround the army of monsters at the base of the mountain and fend them off.

At this point, they expected to see hundreds of videos on the internet with titles like ‘Shocking! The reason the Korean hunters were able to repel the great invasion!’ Even the most developed countries wouldn’t have done such a great job at defending against the invasion.

“Oh please... I hope there won’t be much damage...”

“I’m worried about the US stock market. They have to stop it.”

“The US has countless hunters, so they’ll certainly be able to defend themselves. The problem is that there will be repercussions if other countries are ravaged by the monsters.”

Civilization had become so advanced that countries couldn’t be separated from each other. Even if a butterfly merely flapped its wings once on one side, the other would feel the effects. It had been the same during the first invasion.

If many countries that exported large amounts of food were devastated, the whole world would quickly fall into chaos. Naturally, a food shortage would also have a great impact on South Korea.

But that wasn’t all. If this invasion somehow got worse, the repercussions would extend to medicine, finance, and pretty much everything else.

Kwon Yeonghyeong sighed as he looked in the distance. The scenery bore the ugly scars of the previous battle, devastated by all kinds of powerful skills.

The bleak sight seemed to foreshadow a difficult future.

“...Still, I’m glad it wasn’t any worse.”

“That’s right.”

Kwon Yeonghyeong turned to Kwon Yeongseung.

“Ah, right. Get ready when you go back.”

“Huh? Ready for what?”

“To get on air and criticize those politicians, of course. We’ll take this opportunity to obtain some budget.”

“!”

***

[The great invasion of the constellations... The whole world is under attack.]

[The US government declares a state of emergency.]

[The invasion of the evil god constellations... Does it threaten the future of humanity?]

[The world is under attack!]

Shocking articles poured out from all over the world.

Like South Korea, some countries had managed to block the first wave of the invasion despite all the fuss about whether an invasion would actually occur.

After averting the crisis, the Korean people immediately moved onto the next step, which was mocking those who had insisted that this invasion was fake.

@skehlfsha

-Punish the incompetent politicians who held the hunters back! I almost died because of those crazy people!

@qkdfkdrltk

-We should throw them in front of the monsters! I almost died because some outsiders who don’t know anything about raids kept running their mouths!

@ckrlwkrwnsqlwnd

-What would we have done if it wasn’t for Hunter Choi Yeonseung? Politicians are ruining the country!

It would’ve been strange if the public hadn’t reacted like that after watching the battle in real time. If this were the United States, the mansions of the politicians would’ve already been burnt down and bullets would’ve been fired.

However, this was Korea, so eggs were being thrown at the politicians.

-Let’s ask the politicians responsible for this mess to fix it!

-How are we supposed to fix it?

-We have to think about releasing articles and blocking public opinion.

-The house is on fire right now. Will you pour a drop of water on it? It’s better to cut them off!

-Do you think those politicians will stand by if they’re cut off? Let’s be honest, didn’t you all agree with them at first?

Normally, the politicians would’ve asked the media outlets in their pockets to fix the public opinion so they could avoid responsibility, but the current situation was so tense that even the prominent media companies were being careful.

All the journalists were extremely scared that they would be beaten out in the street if they published the wrong article during such tumultuous times.

-Let’s recruit clan leaders and A-grade hunters. As long as they get involved, we can take responsibility for the rest. Public opinion...

-Assemblyman! The hunters are now on a live stream! They’ve called all the reporters!

-?!?!

“My fellow citizens. First of all, I apologize.”

Kwon Yeongseung stood with Jeong Wonuk and Han Seha, his expression somber.

“I’m sorry! There was more damage than it should’ve been because we weren’t good enough.”

Buzz buzz.

The reporters looked at each other with stunned expressions. Other countries had yet to repel the first wave of monsters, and if they heard this public apology, they would think that Korea was trying to mock the rest of the world.

Why would they apologize?

“But we did the best we could under the circumstances! If there had been a bit more support and better preparations, we could’ve done a better job stopping the invasion... Sob

!”

Having made many appearances in dramas and movies, Kwon Yeongseung managed to move the reporters with his heartfelt tears.

“Hunter Choi Yeonseung has been working hard for all of us. In addition, the others who stepped up... Don’t blame those people! It’s all our fault!”

Jeong Wonuk, who was keeping his head down, tapped Han Seha in a way that the others couldn’t see. It was the signal to start crying together.

“Sob sob sob.”

“...”

Jeong Wonuk found it absurd. Could that even be considered crying? Even if she was a bad actor, her performance was just terrible.

Clap clap clap clap clap!

However, the reception was intense. The reporters completely forgot about manners and stood up as they applauded fiercely. One of them shouted, “No! My family and I are safe thanks to you! You’re heroes!”

“That’s right, Hunter Han Seha! In fact, I should be the one to apologize! I only believed the bad rumors and misunderstood you. However, I won’t ever believe any bad rumors about you, Hunter Han Seha! I will write a rebuttal myself!”

"Waaaahh!”

The public was so animated and reverent that it almost seemed like a cult meeting. The reporters shouted and screamed the names of the A-grade hunters over and over again.

***

-Is it a cult event?

Barigos asked Choi Yeonseung about the conference as they were looking at the screen. Regular humans were shouting and worshiping the hunters.

Choi Yeonseung covered the screen. Honestly, he was a bit embarrassed.

-Wait. I think they mentioned your name.

“You must’ve misheard it.”

-No. They definitely called you by your name and praised you. Oh, as expected, you’re respected among humans as well.

Choi Yeonseung quickly changed the channel, only to see experts analyzing how and when he had predicted the invasion...

-Oh, as expected.

Bam!

Choi Yeonseung turned off the TV, and Barigos was confused by his reaction.

-Isn’t it natural for humans to worship kings? As I’ve said before, even though I’m a king, I still feel like I’m lacking something. I won’t say much since you’re serving a constellation, but ever since you beat me, I’ve wanted you to become a constellation...

[Your power of existence has increased greatly!]

[Your power of existence...]

[...]

[...]

Barigos wrapped up his explanation without knowing that the human in front of him was actually a constellation.

-Is it because you were deceived by a constellation and wasted a lot of time that you still haven’t become a constellation?

“...Uh, I don’t think that’s it,” said Choi Yeonseung while looking at the goddess.

-Otherwise, I don’t see any other reason.

“That’s not it...”

-Um... On second thoughts, I think I’m right.

“I told you that’s not the case!”

-?!

Barigos was flustered as he saw Choi Yeonseung’s expression become stern. Why did he react like that?!