Chapter 481: Chapter 481

“Go on.”

“In order to do so, we need to proceed with the Abyss raid with everything we’ve got.”

‘Huh... What she’s saying is actually quite plausible.’

Choi Yeonseung was surprised.

Even though Meyer had a screw loose, she was making a lot of sense.

Indeed, the most difficult raid humanity had ever dealt with was the Abyss raid. However, looking at the track record, humanity had rarely joined forces in the Abyss raids.

Normally, they would argue and check who would be allowed to attack first and who would get certain rights if the raid was a success.

Choi Yeonseung was also sick and tired of that, so he had no choice but to agree with Isabella Meyer.

“You’re right.”

“I knew you’d agree. What do you think we need to do for this raid?”

“I don’t know. What?”

“We need to enact legislation to force all hunters to be mobilized.”

“Oh...”

‘Yep, she’s totally nuts.’

Choi Yeonseung looked at her with a slightly weary expression, but Isabella didn’t seem to notice and kept talking.

“Look at the United States right now. Clans and hunters only care about themselves and don’t come forward to help. The future of humanity will be bleak as long as there are clans who stand on the sidelines to make more money despite having enough power to fight. Hunter Choi Yeonseung, you’re from South Korea, so you should know this better than anyone.”

“South Korea is definitely a bit...”

“Korean clans and hunters put their citizens above money. That’s why they were the first to stop this invasion.”

“...”

Choi Yeonseung was perplexed for a moment.

‘Do these crazy foreigners not bother to look into the countries they’re idolizing?’

How hard had it been for Choi Yeonseung to get those disobedient hunters and obtuse politicians to listen to him... Just thinking about it made his blood boil. If the same thing happened again, Choi Yeonseung would likely just resort to violence to persuade people.

Mobilizing this complicated modern society was exhausting even for a constellation.

“This is how the United States should be. If they don’t listen, beat them with a giant club!” Isabella declared firmly.

“Uhm... I’m curious. How do you plan to mobilize hunters from other countries?” Choi Yeonseung asked unwittingly. Even though Meyer sounded completely crazy, he couldn’t help his curiosity.

‘Even if a law like that is made in the United States, it’s now like it would affect other countries, right?’

Then, as if she took it for granted, Meyer replied, “We’ll have to force them to participate.”

“What if they refuse?”

“I think you misunderstand the meaning of force. Force means that if they don’t listen, I will do whatever it takes to make them listen.”

“...”

Choi Yeonseung didn’t need to ask anything else.

“Hunter Choi Yeonseung, you are worthy enough to be my colleague. You’re a hunter who acts for humanity without caring about your own interests. Now, join forces with me! Together, we will drive out the constellations and shape the future of humanity.”

“I’ll... think about it.”

“I look forward to it.”

It seemed that Isabella Meyer didn’t pick up on the euphemistic refusal, as she seemed very satisfied. Choi Yeonseung was such a heroic hunter that people wanted him to be the president of the United States, so she naturally thought that he would be on board with her plan.

***

“I think there are too many crazy people in the world.”

“?”

Illaphael listened carefully.

“Have I made a mistake?”

“No, I wasn’t talking about you... It’s about humans.”

Choi Yeonseung tried to empower his energy detection and sense any magic power reactions around him.

The ability to find monsters was one of the most important things when wandering alone in the Abyss. That was because the one who struck would often win—ambush or be ambushed.

Therefore, Choi Yeonseung had never neglected his detection ability, not even here on Earth.

But everything was silent...

‘Did they really mistake another monster for the metal cat?’

It would be incredibly amusing if those two clans had actually fought each other and put themselves in danger for a monster that wasn’t even the metal cat.

Lamart had also come with Choi Yeonseung to search for the metal cat. She was thinking about how to blend in well with these household members.

It would be very helpful if she found the metal cat, but Lamart thought it was rather unlikely.

-What do you think, Master?

[The ‘Goddess of Pleasure and Lust’ agrees.]

Humans were bound to be irrational when acting on their greed. Stumbling upon a monster that was considered exceptionally rare even in the Abyss in this place?

It was utterly ridiculous.

-Lamart... Lamart.

‘!’

Someone spoke to Lamart through telepathic magic, and she replied warily.

-Who is it? Identify yourself.

-It’s me, Jaldaran, the household member of the Explorer of the Stars.

Jaldaran was an elf who served the Explorer of the Stars, an evil god constellation. He was also a famous magician in the Abyss, so famous in fact that even Lamart knew about him.

Lamart found it hard to believe that someone like that was speaking to her in secrecy. It was certainly strange, especially since at this time, the household members of the evil god constellations kept descending on Earth to cause mayhem.

-What’s going on?

-I would like to cooperate with you. Break away from the household members around you now and come to my location.

-Um...

Lamart was troubled. What was she supposed to do with this?

In any case, regardless of her concerns, her answer was already decided, since her master, the Goddess of Pleasure and Lust, had already made an oath.

She had to help these good god constellations, regardless of whether she liked it or not, until this whole matter was over.

“Excuse me! There’s an evil god constellation over there!!”

“!”

“!”

“?!?”

Jaldaran was stunned. Had this nightmare demon just stabbed him in the back?

***

The Explorer of the Stars was pretty quiet for an evil god constellation.

Not all evil god constellations liked to act violently. The explorer constellation was the type to go about his business. He hadn’t sent Jaldaran to invade Earth like the other evil god constellations.

[The ‘Explorer of the Stars’ orders you to retrieve the following treasures.]

In the midst of the turmoil on Earth, he sent his household member to fetch the treasures he had always been interested in.

Humans considered that the artifacts found in the Abyss were outstanding, superior to the ones they used. However, from a constellation’s point of view, Earth’s artifacts were surprisingly interesting.

Treasures with a long history possessed a beauty distinct from their power.

-Understood, Great Explorer.

The Explorer of the Stars liked things like old books, and Jaldaran planned to collect the treasures accordingly.

[The ‘Explorer of the Stars’ says to take this beast with you.]

[He says this beast will help you with your work.]

-Thank you. Great explorer.

Surprisingly, the beast that the constellation gave Jaldaran was the metal cat, the extremely rare monster that had the power to change metals.

-■■■■.

However, the explorer constellation didn’t give this monster to his subordinate for that power. Amazingly, this metal cat also had the ability to locate and identify treasures.

It was one of the few intelligent monsters of the Abyss.

[The ‘Explorer of the Stars’ says to take good care of it, since it is a precious animal.]

[This is so obvious that he doesn’t think he needs to tell you more.]

-Yes. I’ll protect it as I would protect my life.

Jaldaran confidently reassured his master. There was no way that a great elf magician like Jaldaran couldn’t manage a monster.

...But the metal cat was smarter than he thought.

In the blink of an eye, it slipped away from Jaldaran and darted away in a frenzy.

-No! No! You crazy cat! Can’t you just stay here?

-Why are you doing this? If you don’t stop, I’ll burn you!

-Stop it now! Stop now!!

With the metal cat gone, Jaldaran was in a lot of trouble. It wasn’t easy for a household member from the Abyss to roam in the realm of humans. Even those who were quite active in the human realm made mistakes, so an elf like Jaldaran, who wasn’t interested in Earth at all, wouldn’t be able to get by.

-What’s with that guy? Is he a drug addict?

-He seems like a hunter?

-Isn’t his outfit weird as hell?

-That’s why he must be a hunter.

Through the murmurs of a crowd of people, Jaldaran gave chase, and he eventually ended up in a remote mining area.

-It’s a real metal cat! n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

-Don’t talk nonsense. What metal cat? You must’ve mistaken a rolling rock for it.

-It’s like mistaking a black plastic bag for a cat.

-That’s right. That happened to me too.

-No way!

-Shut up. What’s important right now isn’t the metal cat, but how to dispose of you after you abandoned us for a monster that’s not even here.

-Spa... Spare us, please! It was really for the clan!

Fortunately, it seemed that these humans didn’t believe there was a metal cat roaming around. However, their conversation convinced Jaldaran that the cat had snuck into this area. Besides, given that this cat loved ores, it couldn’t have overlooked such a large mining area.

“Watch out! There’s an elf magician called Jaldaran here. He’s highly skilled in magic, so be careful!”

“Jaldaran! Be careful, Choi Yeonseung! He’s an elf who uses all types of magic! He’s especially good at spatial magic!”

‘These bastards are worse than tree roots...’

The elf magician, Jaldaran, was dumbfounded.

He understood why Illaphael reacted like that. After all, she was the household member of a constellation. Of course, it was a bit absurd to see her flap her wings and shout like that, but it was understandable.

However, wasn’t Lamart the household member of an evil god constellation? Even if she was following her constellation’s orders, why was warning the humans about his presence so urgently?

“You better not follow me, Undefeated Incarnation of Training! I’m not here to oppose you. There’s no point in making more enemies!”

“Oh, is that so?”

“That’s right! If your master lets me go, I swear I will hold no grudges!”

“Oh, but I insist. Hold a grudge!”

Woosh! Bang!

With that, Choi Yeonseung fired bullets of internal energy, which flew from his fingers as though he were shooting with a machine gun, cutting through the air with a sharp sound.

He hadn’t put much power into these bullets, but one or two hits would be enough to cripple the elf and stop him from running.

[The power of the ‘Explorer of the Stars’ has been used.]

[Magic is activated!]

Jaldaran used one of the powers of the explorer constellation. After borrowing the power of the stars, he could instantly cast spells without any chanting!

It seemed like a tame power compared to the unusual powers displayed by other constellations, but it was devastating in the hands of a great magician.

‘!’

Choi Yeonseung was surprised to see dozens of spells suddenly appearing in the air. Even in the Abyss, it was rare for an opponent to be able to use such magic in an instant.

‘I guess that’s why he’s considered a great magician.’

Jaldaran used a few spells to protect himself, a few more to deflect the bullets and distort his figure so that the opponent couldn’t aim at him, and a few to slow down Choi Yeonseung’s movements. Finally, he unleashed a barrage of attacks.

It was such a perfect and neat combination of spells that he was thinking of writing it down in a textbook for magicians.

‘How is he going to respond?’ Lamart was curious.

Jaldaran’s way of fighting was to suppress the opponent’s movements and attack as if drowning them in a swamp. It was a labyrinthine combat style composed of elaborate puzzles!

Escaping from his barrage of spells was bound to be difficult.

[The ‘Undefeated Incarnation of Training’ has used a power.]

[His realm is declared!]

The Undefeated Incarnation's Realm Declaration—a unique ability that forced the opponent into a duel. Other than that, it seemed like it didn’t offer any advantages.

However, it was very effective against an opponent like Jaldaran. Choi Yeonseung would just use his mobility and deal with his opponent before he complicated things with his magic.

“Hey. Come here.”

“...!”

Despite being a great magician who had lived in the Abyss for a long time, Jaldaran was overwhelmed by the aura of the human in front of him.