Chapter 496: Chapter 496

“Now is not the time to go in first! Wake up, you idiot elves!” Rained cried out indignantly.

Of course, the elves who followed Choi Yeonseung disagreed with him.

“How did such an arrogant statue become favored by a constellation...?”

“We couldn’t touch you when you were hiding on the fourth floor, but do you think that’s still the case now?”

The elves of the Abyss were by no means easygoing and gentle, quite the opposite. They would pull out their knives and bows the second they got angry!

Overall, very few Abyssal races were weak and docile, as that would usually lead to the extinction of a race.

[The ‘Sculptor of Art and Patronage’ asks you to calm down.]

[The monster that has just appeared isn’t normal.]

Perhaps the sculptor constellation thought it was impossible for Rained to persuade them alone, so they intervened directly.

In addition, there were the other rare races on the fourth floor.

“Its size is very...”

“Threatening...”

“Make bait...”

Rained and the other peculiar Abyssal creatures tried their hardest to explain, and they hoped the others would understand.

Choi Yeonseung listened silently before asking again, “Since you can’t deal with it, do you want to lighten the ship, throw bait, and run away?”

“That’s it!”

“And who will be the bait?”

“...Someone from the most numerous race on this ship?”

The hunters were furious at the words.

“That bastard...”

“Are these guys insane?”

“Why don’t we just kill them? I think we can use them as bait.”

Rained realized that humans made up the majority on the ship, so he quickly changed his words. Choi Yeonseung was a human being, so he naturally wouldn’t accept such a proposal.

“...Except for humans!”

“...”

The orcs and beast warriors looked at each other with cold eyes. It seemed like they would first kill Rained before the monster, so Choi Yeonseung intervened to de-escalate the situation.

The words of Rained and the other rare species on the fourth floor were ridiculous, but they were nonetheless members of this voyage. Besides, their constellations were directly supporting them, which meant that everyone could indirectly get help from the constellations.

“I don’t need bait. I don’t want to run away. We’ll fight!”

“Waaaaaah!”

“I’ve always believed in you!”

The hunters who had joined late were taken aback by the enthusiastic response from the other Abyssal races.

The moment Choi Yeonseung spoke, they stomped their feet and threw their weapons in the air. The enthralled Abyssal creatures made Choi Yeonseung seem like a cult leader.

How...??

***

“...”

The hunters who had first spotted Kiriathan were horrified.

Shah Rukh Bachchan, a B+ hunter from India, said cautiously, “Hunter Choi Yeonseung, you don’t just have to fight.” He spoke in a low voice out of fear that the other Abyssal mortals would hear him. He had seen a hunter being beaten up by Abyss fanatics for saying the wrong things.

“You can also retreat. Take a look. Even on Earth, hunters don’t deal with such monsters.”

Shah Rukh had a point.

Whenever raiding a dungeon, hunters had no choice but to deal with whatever monsters they came across with their own abilities. However, fighting dungeon monsters outside of dungeons was different.

Unlike the early days of the gate, when humans would use whatever they could to fight back, humanity had recently made significant strides in magic engineering, developing highly-advanced weapons.

Missiles equipped with various kinds of magic, often called monster busters, were so popular that they were the core of the military industry these days.

Normally, hunters would attack monsters like Kiriathan only after the military fired all their available arsenal on them. It was incredibly rare for hunters to start a fight against such a monster by themselves, especially in a disadvantageous situation.

“I know, but I have no intention of retreating.”

“...”

However, Choi Yeonseung curtly rejected Shah Rukh’s suggestion, causing him to be flustered.

‘Does he have something he’s confident in? Well, he’s an S-grade hunter. He might have something I don’t know about...’

“I understand. I will follow your orders.”

“?”

Choi Yeonseung was a bit surprised to see Shah Rukh just walk away. He had thought this hunter would ask more questions.

‘Strange... Ever since I was promoted to S-grade, hunters have been more cooperative with me.’

-It’s the same in the Abyss. There are many mortals who are easily fooled by dignity and fame.

‘But hunters usually don’t care about that...’

It was certainly amusing to see people who acted arrogantly with everyone suddenly lower their tail and tell him, “I suppose you have a plan,” just because he was S-grade.

-By the way, do you really intend to fight?

-Yes. I don’t think it’s a good idea to keep running away.

Unlike what the hunters thought, Choi Yeonseung hadn’t decided to fight on account of some ingenious plan. Rather, he just thought that he couldn’t let the chef constellation push him around if he wanted to complete his challenge.

‘He just keeps picking up fights...’

If the chef constellation wanted a fight, Choi Yeonseung would give him just that, and then some.

Indeed, Kiriathan was a powerful monster, but if he fell, the chef constellation wouldn’t have any other cards to play.

‘I’ll take a look.’

“Nightmare demons, are you ready?”

“Yes, Choi Yeonseung. But this one...”

The nightmare demons looked at the Manipulator of Dreams and Desires while whispering among themselves. They were wondering why there was an unknown nightmare joining them.

They were all serving the Goddess of Pleasure and Lust, who was so powerful that they always boasted about their strength in the Abyss. However, it was a bit upsetting to have a nightmare demon whom they had never seen before join them.

‘Just endure it... Just... endure it.’

The Manipulator of Dreams and Desires tried her best to not start up a fight. As a constellation, it would be a disgrace to argue with these mortals.

“I can attest to the strength of this nightmare demon. Absorb as much of this monster’s strength as possible.”

“Understood.”

Choi Yeonseung’s image of nightmare demons had been somewhat tainted by Lamart, who had gone berserk upon laying eyes on him. However, they had done a surprisingly good job so far. Besides, their unique skills would be even more effective in this situation.

“But Hunter Choi Yeonseung, it’s hard to use Energy Drain on an opponent that is resisting hard.”

“Don’t worry. There’s a way to bind him.”

“!”

Illeya, who was listening next to them, nodded as she recalled the martial arts Choi Yeonseung had shown her. If he used his extreme yin internal energy to freeze the sea, Choi Yeonseung could immobilize even a monster like Kiriathan.

“Illeya, please.”

“...”

Illeya looked at Choi Yeonseung in a bewildered manner. Was this why he had served her a lot of delicious food the previous day and kept saying things like “Eat more. If you only eat this much, you might collapse from exhaustion.”

Was this his ulterior motive...?

***

As the violently churning sea froze, it became even more bleak. One by one, mortals dropped on the sea’s frozen surface. They were the ones who were moving under Choi Yeonseung’s orders.

Regardless of whether a monster was weak or strong, the common strategy in the Abyss was to form an encirclement around the monster.

Right by the book, everyone surrounded Kiriathan in no time. Of course, no one thought this was the end of it, including the Chef of Endless Gluttony.

Are they really fighting???

-They seemed paralyzed with fear.

No, it might seem that way at first glance, but that human wouldn’t charge in without any confidence.

From the perspective of the Chef of Endless Gluttony, who didn’t know Choi Yeonseung was a constellation, his confidence was peculiar. Even if he wasn’t afraid at all, his behavior was very strange. He actually attacked straight away...

-They won’t be able to flee once Kiriathan uses his power.

The chef constellation wasn’t convinced by his household member’s prediction. Those mortals running on the frozen sea were surprisingly organized. It was truly amazing that mortals from different races and regions could cooperate so well.

It was as if Choi Yeonseung was holding a knife at their necks...

-You filthy nightmare demons!

The household member complained after seeing the nightmare demons pounce at Kiriathan and use Energy Drain. Other races were always cautious of their unique ability.

-■■■■■■■!

Kiriathan wriggled and shattered the ice around him, forming a wall of waves that seemed like it would suck in all the nightmare demons at once. However, the nightmare demons, including the Manipulator of Dreams and Desires, wouldn’t fall from something like that.

The Manipulator of Dreams and Desires wasn’t greedy and immediately escaped with the nightmare demons after casting an illusion on Kiriathan.

Who is that nightmare demon? It’s the first time I’m seeing her, but she’s very strong.

-Isn’t she a household member of the Goddess of Pleasure and Lust?

I didn’t expect her to have such household members. It’s impressive.

Just like a round-robin tournament, the Abyssal races took turns in attacking Kiriathan. The elves launched a vicious attack as the nightmare demons retreated. Then, the dwarves took over once the elves retreated.

Kiriathan’s gigantic size made for an awkward fight; he was being beaten up and only tried to defend himself sporadically.

-Why isn’t he moving?

This is just the beginning. You’ll know when you see it.

The Chef of Endless Gluttony was unfazed. Kiriathan wouldn’t engage in petty battles with a bunch of tiny mortals.

Regardless of the powers and skills the mortals used, Kiriathan concentrated his power, sucking in and swallowing everything around him. His defensive skill was violent and overwhelming; no attacks would stand a chance against such tremendous power.

That was especially the case for those like Choi Yeonseung, who had mastered special skills like martial arts.

[Kiriathan, Master of the Deep Sea, is roaring!]

It started.

The expressions of the mortals changed as Kiriathan suddenly rose up and unleashed an explosive amount of magic power. It looked like he was preparing a powerful skill.

Wait, where is the household member of the Undefeated Incarnation of Training?

The chef constellation suddenly realized that Choi Yeonseung, who should’ve been attacking ahead of anyone else, was nowhere to be seen.

However, he quickly found out where Choi Yeonseung was.

The large and beautiful cruise ship he had provided for this realm’s challenge... It was rushing at full speed toward Kiriathan!

-Wh-wh-what is that crazy human doing?!

The household member of the chef constellation screamed after belatedly realizing what was going on. Choi Yeonseung wasn’t just controlling the ship. He was actually pushing it with great force, steering it toward Kiriathan.

Is he crazy?

Of course, the ship of the Chef of Endless Gluttony could make for a great weapon. Besides being huge, it contained the power of existence of a constellation.

...But how would this human deal with the aftermath if the ship was destroyed? It seemed like everyone would fall into the sea...

Perhaps he realized it in hindsight, but Kiriathan also hesitated to use his skill. The ship of the Chef of Endless Gluttony was rushing toward him, and he wasn’t sure what to do.

[The ‘Chef of Endless Gluttony’ orders you to attack the ship without hesitation!]

But it was already too late, for the ship, pushed by Choi Yeonseung, collided with Kiriathan.

BANG!

The Chef of Endless Gluttony was forced to close his eyes.