Chapter 542: Chapter 542

Choi Yeonseung gradually slowed down. It was just like what had been happening since the start of the battle. However, Choi Yeonseung didn’t forcibly widen the distance to recover like before. Rather, went along with the slowness and tried to attack again in spite of it.

The Master of Slowness and Silence flapped his fins in confusion when he saw Choi Yeonseung extending his fist in slow motion. Was this human really not getting impatient with this never-ending battle?

In any case, the household member silently welcomed Choi Yeonseung’s attack. No matter how fast and loud this mortal’s attack was, it meant nothing in the face of true power. Eventually, Choi Yeonseung would become quiet and sluggish, soon to be nailed in place.

The whale-like household member of the Master of Slowness and Silence continued to heal himself as he was attacked. The more he did so, the slower Choi Yeonseung became.

...

How much time had passed?

The household member of the Master of Slowness and Silence eventually realized that something was wrong. Even though he kept slowing Choi Yeonseung down, he didn’t stop and kept pouring out attacks.

And that wasn’t all. Choi Yeonseung’s hits were getting more and more powerful, which was unbelievable, given that he was essentially moving in slow motion.

For the first time, the household member of the Master of Slowness and Silence attempted to fight back. Normally, he never should’ve been forced to launch a counterattack against a mere mortal.

His huge tail slowly cut through the air and approached Choi Yeonseung. From the outside, it seemed like an attack that even ordinary people could dodge. However, to the mortals within this realm, it seemed like a death sentence. It was a wicked attack that one could see but not avoid.

However, Choi Yeonseung moved just as slowly as before and pushed away the flying tail with his hand. Both he and the household member were so slow that the onlookers were confused as to what was happening.

The household member felt his tail being forcefully twisted to one side. With that, his tail shook, the tremor gradually spreading throughout his whole body.

How could the household member of another constellation make better use of the slowness than the household member of the Master of Slowness and Silence? It was absurd.

Startled, the household member slightly quickened his movements, although this kind of haste was detrimental to himself in this realm. His next attack was faster, but Choi Yeonseung blocked it once again.

There was no mistake about it. Choi Yeonseung was actually gaining strength in this realm of slowness. The household member’s eyes widened as he tried to understand how this was possible.

Some mortal masters of magic reached enlightenment and created new realms of magic, and martial artists could do the same. But this was on a completely different level.

Choi Yeonseung wasn’t using a martial art that was effective even against slowness. Rather, he was gaining strength from the slowness itself. It was as if slowness had been added to the realm of the constellation this mortal served.

How was this possible? The realm of a constellation was their identity and pride. They couldn’t change it at will just because they wanted to. No constellation could do this.

How could this happen all of a sudden...?

As his opponent was baffled, Choi Yeonseung increased the intensity of his attack, which was even slower than before, as if he were fighting in a heavy, sticky liquid. But that didn’t matter, as he was confident that he could hit his opponent. His fist, although it almost seemed like it wasn’t moving at all, slowly and surely closed in on his target.

The household member had become faster due to his panic, which sealed his fate.

Choi Yeonseung’s attack landed, and he instantly knew that he had fatally wounded his enemy.

***

“...!”

Choi Yeonseung’s blow stunned all the hunters who were watching. It wasn’t loud or flashy; rather, it was a suffocatingly slow attack. However, the enemy was unable to withstand the impact, so his body started to crumble.

It was unbelievable.

“How... How can this be?” a hunter murmured to himself, only to be startled by the fact that he could hear his voice again.

As the household member crumbled, the suppressed sounds were starting to come back.

Meng Qianhao, who had been thrown away by Choi Yeonseung earlier, finally managed to crawl out from underneath the pile of rubble. Since he had been thrown into a slowed-down area, the shock had to have been especially painful.

The Chinese hunters held their breath at his disheveled appearance.

‘He... He’s...’

‘Shouldn’t we stop him?’

A-grade hunter Meng Qianhao’s temper was famous among the Chinese hunters. Having been used as an object and being such a mess, it wouldn’t be strange if he exploded right away.

In comparison, Hunter Choi Yeonseung had to be exhausted from his fight against the household member of the Master of Slowness and Silence...

Meng Qianhao strode away with a fierce expression, looking as if he would kill anyone he bumped into. Then, Choi Yeonseung slowly turned his head away from the fallen household member of the Master of Slowness and Silence. Their eyes met, and Meng Qianhao paused.

“What’s going on?” asked Choi Yeonseung.

“...”

“I asked you, what’s going on? Can’t you hear me? Have you gone deaf?”

“Well... I was wondering if there is anything I can do to help...”

“...”

“...”

The other Chinese hunters were perplexed. It was hard to believe that the guy radiating such a murderous aura had suddenly turned so docile. It was ridiculous, but they wondered if he was acting like that because he was scared of Choi Yeonseung.

They hadn’t thought Meng Qianhao was like that!

“He has fallen,” Choi Yeonseung replied. “There’s nothing you can do to help.”

“O-oh... I see...”

“Thank you for earlier. You made for a good projectile.”

“Y-yes...? I guess I helped...”

‘Isn’t he crazy?’

The other hunters, who had arrived late, had no choice but to keep their mouths shut at Meng Qianhao’s peculiar display of pride in being thrown at the enemy.

***

As Meng Qianhao was groveling and fawning, the hunters and officials who arrived late were thinking about something else.

“What do you think Choi Yeonseung would want?”

“...”

“Answer me! Quickly!”

The situation was so serious that a member of the party’s Central Hunter Committee, who possessed great power, rushed to the scene.

Half of their territory had been lost to the Master of Slowness and Silence, and a similar disaster had almost occurred again.

There had already been calls within the party to shut down and punish the companies involved in the smuggling of those cores, including Weixin Energy. Even those who had received bribes were well aware that they would be destroyed if caught red-handed, so they didn’t dare defend the parties involved.

In a way, dealing with the aftermath would’ve been easy. Although there were many perpetrators, it was a domestic problem. However, it became an international problem after an S-grade hunter captured the world’s attention and knocked down the household member on behalf of the Chinese hunters.

The party officials couldn’t even imagine how they would fix this mess.

“What don’t you just do what you usually do?” asked one of the hunters, who worked as the committee member’s escort. He was favored because he was peculiarly loyal, quick-witted, and good at flattering people.

Slap!

But the committee member slapped the hunter out of nowhere.

“Are you crazy?! Can’t you see the current situation? Do you know what you’re saying?”

Doing the usual thing meant refusing to acknowledge what had happened! He generally gave no money to overseas hunters, no matter what they had done for China. Moreover, he would throw the blame on someone else and wait for the scandal to fizzle out.

The overseas hunters who were attacked usually gritted their teeth and vowed to never associate themselves with China ever again. Of course, the party couldn’t care less about their reactions.

That was how things usually went. There wasn’t much to complain about since China had an overwhelming number of hunters. Even if the government did nothing, people would still come to China with the aim of targeting the world’s largest market.

Just because a few overseas hunters were treated poorly didn’t mean that companies from their countries would withdraw from China.

However, the committee member had to take into account the circumstances and the place when dealing with hunters like that. In the current situation, if he refused to acknowledge Choi Yeonseung’s efforts, he could really die!

But the issue was that Choi Yeonseung didn’t want anything from China! After all his factories were crippled during the invasion, he just moved them somewhere else. And even if his group could no longer sell artifacts to China, there still were many countries that did business with them. He essentially had nothing to lose.

If he really stopped doing business with China, the backlash from the Chinese clans would be immense.

-You want us to risk our lives to fight for such cheap rewards?

-This is too much!

“You want me to defy an S-grade hunter in a situation where we don’t have enough hunters to use? The other A-grade hunters are looking at him. If things go wrong, you think the only price to be paid is your life?”

“I-I’m sorry!”

The committee member was grabbing the hunter’s collar in anger when a secretary rushed over.

“Hunter Choi Yeonseung is asking what the other A-grade hunters in China are doing and why they came late. What should I tell him?”

“How many A-grade hunters have failed to show up?”

“Meng Qianhao...”

“Eh, he’s a disloyal, selfish scumbag.”

“...Except for him, no one else came.”

“...”

The committee member was astonished. He knew that the atmosphere among hunters had been unstable those days, so they were looking after the A-grade hunters as much as possible. But wasn’t it outright ridiculous for just one hunter to come and help with this crisis?

“Call them right now, those damn bastards! Drag them here and crack their heads or break their legs to explain it to the S-grade hunter!”

“But... we were told to do our best not to provoke the A-grade hunters...”

The jaw of the executive who was giving advice suddenly snapped to one side. It was because the committee member threw a punch this time, not a palm.

“If any of those bastards refrained from participating in the raid because of their pride and not because their lives were in danger, I will break their skulls with my own hands! If they don’t come right now, I will personally denounce them as traitors! Tell them to get here right now!”

Choi Yeonseung’s casual question of what the A-grade hunters were doing, uttered without much thought, had caused a huge storm for the A-grade hunters who still were nowhere to be seen.

***

-How is it that a foreigner protects the city, but our own A-grade hunters are nowhere to be seen?

-Except for Meng Qianhao, everyone else should have their rank revoked!

-Meng Qianhao didn’t even fight much, did he?

-I looked closely and I just couldn’t see Meng Qianhao after he was first thrown...

-Stupid bastards. That’s a martial arts skill. The two of them joined forces. This is what the linkage between top hunters is like.

Other A-grade hunters sensed the tense atmosphere. Normally, they would’ve asked party executives, companies or clans they had connections with to resolve the scandal, but everyone shook their heads firmly this time.

If they interfered and made even a slight mistake, they could also be blown away and ruined.

“Bring Ma Xiaohui with you.”

“...Are you looking at me?” Yuan Xun was astonished; Ma Xiaohui was an A-grade hunter like him, but still, he didn’t understand why he had to go fetch another A-grade hunter who hadn’t shown up.

Despite Yuan Xun’s astonishment, the person in charge reiterated firmly, “I’m just conveying the order.’

“...I understand.”

Yuan Xun held back his insults and decided to comply. Given how volatile the situation was, going on a rampage or even acting arrogantly was very dangerous. Even if it was humiliating, it was better to bow his head in front of Choi Yeonseung...

“Ma Xiaohui! Come out! You idiot! You think hiding in your mansion at this point will make a difference? Stop hiding and come out...”

Annoyed that his call was unanswered, Yuan Xun kicked the front door of the mansion open. Being an A-grade hunter, he completely obliterated the door with almost no effort.

As soon as he stepped foot inside, Yuan Xun was surprised by what he saw.

“...Ma Xiaohui, what are you doing?”

The A-grade hunter was lying down in the middle of the mansion. He looked awful; he seemed almost desiccated, his bones visible through the dried-up skin. Worse, he was barely breathing.

Yuan Xun felt like he was staring at a mummy.

“Who... Who did this...?” He looked around nervously.

Soon, Ma Xiaohui came to his senses and replied in a hoarse voice, “The Goddess... of Pleasure and Lust... did this... to me...”

“...!”

Astonished, Yuan Xun realized something else.

...Would Choi Yeonseung believe this or would he think it was an excuse?

‘Fuck... Why on earth did I agree to do this...?’