Chapter 477: Chapter 477

“So what kind of monsters are in there?” Huntsman asked while looking at the hunters.

The hunters flinched slightly at the question. When it came to raids, there were all kinds of unpredictable variables even if they knew what monsters they would encounter.

But this time, they were going into this raid blind, now knowing exactly what kind of monsters were out there.

To make matters worse, they were even bringing in a group of civilians!

“Why aren’t you answering?”

At Huntsman’s insistence, one of the clan leaders in the rear poked someone in the back as if urging him to speak.

The clans at the scene had gathered to support Huntsman after seeing his popularity soar. They had been promised that they would share all the benefits once Huntsman became president!

As such, they were desperate to please Huntsman. If they said something stupid and were fired...

“Haha, we’ll soon find out. How many hunters are here? If we send a scout, we’ll find out right away what kind of monsters are there.”

“Really? Then get on with it, quickly. Until then, I need to get some rest.”

Huntsman quickly lost interest, so he sat down and started chatting with his aides.

At this, the hunters hurriedly prepared for scouting.

“Did you take out all the equipment? The drones? What about the robots?”

“Why don’t drones work?”

“Why didn’t you update it in advance? You bastards are crazy...”

“Forget it. We don’t need drones. We just need someone with summoning magic. There’s no time. You’re done, right? Let’s go!”

The hunters quickly finished everything and set off, but their level of preparation would’ve shocked any safety-conscious hunter.

***

“Why did they rush into a raid like that? Is there a reason to go this far?”

“Crazy... people.”

Illeya’s words convinced Choi Yeonseung.

Indeed, Huntsman was a madman!

Of course, it wasn’t like Choi Yeonseung didn’t understand why those people were acting like that. Hunters rushed into raids for all sorts of reasons, and Huntsman was in a hurry because he wanted to achieve as much as possible as fast as possible for the sake of his campaign.

‘But still, does he have to do it like this? Don’t tell me he’s realized I’m trying to interfere?’

“Human mines are too messy.”

“Yes, I feel the same.”

For Abyssal races, mines were just secluded and deserted places where dwarf miners dug for their own resources. On the other hand, human mines were very complex; there were open-air mines that had huge mechanical equipment installed in them and various facilities attached.

The personnel had been evacuated because of the danger, but that didn’t change the fact that this mine facility was almost as big as a village.

“It’s nice to feel the desires of humans!”

“...”

“...”

Everyone went quiet at Lamart’s interjection, and Illaphael and Illeya looked at her with suspicious eyes.

“I complimented them. Why are you acting like this? I can’t even eat properly...”

“?”

Choi Yeonseung was puzzled by Lamart’s words, whereas Illaphael ignored her and spoke up.

“There are many monsters that don’t come out of the mines and continue to live there, so they aren’t that threatening.”

“That’s true.”

Generally speaking, the threatening and violent monsters were the ones that actively roamed outside mines. In comparison, monsters that continued to dwell in mines weren’t that dangerous.

But of course, those monsters weren’t that dangerous by the standards of a strong hunter like Choi Yeonseung. If he told the workers here something like “It’s not even that dangerous. You can work without worry,” they would punch him in the face.

“...Wait.”

Choi Yeonseung was the first person to notice the unexpected incident. He heard the faint sound of fighting in the distance .

“I think that side was discovered first. Let’s go! Do you know how to use stealth magic?”

"Of course.”

“I know how to use it.”

“It’s a bit...” Lamart trailed off as if she wasn’t sure.

Everyone had a particular type of skills they were confident in, but Lamart wasn’t very confident in her stealth skills.

“Grab it.”

Choi Yeonseung extended his hand.

His stealth skill was a peak application of martial arts—he filled himself with the internal energy of nature to blend into the surrounding nature.

As long as he maintained physical contact, he could share his skill with a few other people and have them concealed just as well as him.

“Ah. Can I?”

Lamart tried to hold his hand. Of course, she couldn’t drain his energy in this situation, but she was happy just to feel that desire indirectly...

“Hey. I’ll take you.”

Tak.

Illaphael knocked Lamart’s hand away and used her power of existence to cast a stealth skill that quickly concealed Lamart’s existence.

“Is it okay now? Go."

“How amazing, Illaphael.”

“It’s not a big deal.”

Lamart was speechless at the sight of Illaphael blushing.

Was this angel real...?

***

Choi Yeonseung was the one who saved hunters when they were about to be killed by monsters. He would save everyone indiscriminately, even if they had wronged him in the past. Of course, if they wronged him again after he saved them, he would destroy them.

In any case, that was why Choi Yeonseung was in such a hurry to save those hunters. Even though they worked for Huntsman, he couldn’t let them die.

...But the situation turned out to be quite unexpected.

“???”

“Get lost, you bastard!”

Bang! Bang! Bang! To Choi Yeonseung’s surprise, gunshots rang out among the high-ranking hunters that were conducting the raid.

Unlike artifacts such as swords, spears, and bows, firearms were difficult to find unless they were artificial artifacts.

Thus, hunters generally used guns against other hunters, not against monsters with a strong defense. Unlike monsters, hunters were weak creatures who could be knocked down by bullets if their defenses were breached.

‘What?’

Choi Yeonseung was puzzled by the way the hunters in front of him fired magic bullets at each other while taking cover. It was so absurd that he initially thought that a household member of an evil god constellation had played some sort of trick.

But no matter how he looked at it, that didn’t seem to be the case.

‘I can’t feel the energy of an evil god constellation.’

-Why are they doing this among themselves?

-I’m also curious about that.

“You bastard! How dare you attack me?! You think you’ll get away with this?!”

“I’d say the same to you, you madman! Are you really trying to kill us for that metal cat?!”

“!”

The metal cat was a B-grade monster, and similarly to the golden pig, this monster was mostly known for its special ability rather than its raw strength.

It could eat regular minerals and spit them out as Abyssal minerals!

Considering the astronomical value of a handful of rare Abyssal minerals, it was no surprise that people called this monster the walking lottery.

[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ says it is nice to see it again after so long.]

Given that this monster was rare in the Abyss, it was naturally even rarer on Earth. If Choi Yeonseung remembered correctly...

‘It’s been discovered twice in a dungeon, and it got away both times...’

Given that the monster was incredibly rare and possessed evasive skills, it had never been caught, which made it all the more valuable.

In fact, it was so valuable that if a hunter sold the monster to a company, they could retire comfortably without even aiming for the A-grade.

-So they were fighting over a monster? What...? Aren’t there more important things to do?

-Why are you surprised?

Choi Yeonseung was unfazed. Even if civilians were dying in the background, the hunters would chase the rare monsters before helping anyone.

Thus, this sight wasn’t surprising at all.

“Aren’t they completely blinded by their desires? Should I go and catch them?”

Lamart could see at a glance what was going on with the human hunters. It wasn’t just the nightmare demons who ran wild because of their desires. Humans were also consumed by their desires.

“It’d be better to control them.”

Choi Yeonseung made a decision right away.

If the hunters fought among themselves, regardless of unnecessary sacrifices, they could meaninglessly provoke other monsters. After all, that metal cat wasn’t the only monster in this area.

However, he was too late. An intense wave of magic power erupted from the mining area behind them. It was clear that a monster had been woken up by the intense fighting.

‘At least A-grade!’

Choi Yeonseung didn’t need a measuring instrument to estimate the level of the monster; he could do that just based on the magic power he felt.

Only an A-grade monster could unleash such intense magic power.

“Everyone, stop fighting and contact the other hunters! An A-grade monster has awakened!”

“!”

“Hh-Hunter Choi Yeonseung!”

“Get lost!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“...”

Choi Yeonseung went up to the hunters, but they didn’t stop fighting. On the contrary, one took advantage of the opponent letting down his guard to fire a bullet.

Choi Yeonseung was dumbfounded.

‘Do these crazy people think I’ll just keep my mouth shut and stay still if they fight among themselves and die?’

“What are you going to do?”

“What else can I do?”

Bam!

Choi Yeonseung vanished and quickly reappeared in front of a hunter taking cover on the left side. The hunter was surprised and tried to fight back, but his jaw snapped back before he could throw a punch.

“Say that again!”

Choi Yeonseung unleashed his power and punched everyone so fast that they couldn’t even follow the movements of his hands.

“Listen to me!”

“Agh!’ ”Ghah!” ”Kuaack!”

“Other hunters must’ve come with you, right? Contact them.”

“...”

Choi Yeonseung couldn’t believe that the hunters still weren’t cooperating even after beating them up.

“I guess I didn’t hit you guys enough. Yes, perhaps I didn’t use enough force.”

“Th-that isn’t it!”

“So?”

“The means of contact... were destroyed in the fight...”

It wasn’t unusual for radio waves to be disrupted in raid locations because of the magic and skills used by hunters. In order to deal with that, hunters prepared several communication devices and even communication artifacts. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“You were out on a reconnaissance mission, right? Are all the devices broken?”

“We brought one, but... We were in a rush, and...”

It seemed that the hunters realized how dumbfounded Choi Yeonseung was, but they kept talking.

“I have to contact them directly. Direction?”

“North.”

“Damn, tough luck.”

Choi Yeonseung shook his head when he heard that the group behind this raid had their base where the A-grade monster had woken up. The hunters over there would be ambushed without any warning.

“Ah. Still, there’s an A-grade hunter over there. That’s good.”

“Yes!”

The hunters, who had been crawling away under Choi Yeonseung’s watchful eyes, nodded happily.

“Come to think of it, you must’ve come with Huntsman. Where’s Huntsman waiting? I think we should evacuate him just in case.”

“He’s with the others.”

“...Are you guys really hunters?”

Choi Yeonseung’s question hit the hunters hard, causing them to blush with shame.

***

The wendigo, named after the legendary creature from Native American folklore, was known for its giant size and its remarkable destructive prowess.

Besides being incredibly strong, this giant monster could cause a tremendous amount of destruction to his surroundings, worse than a natural disaster...

As such, the clan leaders were horrified when they received the report that the wendigo had woken up and was heading their way.

“Why did those madmen report it so late?!?”

“Who are the lunatics trying to kill?!?”

The people at the base had lost contact with the hunters, so they couldn’t receive more details. After vowing to strangle the scouts when they returned, the clan leaders gathered around Isabella Meyer.

“Me-Meyer, what should we do?”

“You have nothing to worry about. Aren’t I here?”

The clan leaders were somewhat relieved to see that Isabella Meyer wasn’t fazed. Was that how powerful A-grade hunters were?

“Uhm... What about Huntsman and the filming crew? Should we evacuate them now?”

“If we do that, the power of the group will be diminished.”

“Even if we wanted to evacuate them, it’s not like we can just get them out of here! We’d have to send many hunters ranking B-grade and above with them... It’s even more dangerous now. If we’re being tracked...”

“It’s okay. Leave them here.”

Isabella Meyer’s words once again brought relief to the clan leaders. Indeed, there had to be a way!

They never imagined what Isabella Meyer truly meant by “leave them here.”