Chapter 546: Chapter 546

‘This is very, very suspicious...’

Of course, even among the hunters on Earth, there were powerhouses who had never been seen by the public. Those people were rare, but they were essentially secret weapons cultivated by their clans for a long time.

Strictly speaking, they weren’t actually unknown. In the case of such talented hunters, rumors would still circulate among those in the know, no matter how obscure the hunters were. They would inevitably be noticed by someone, given how obsessed clans were with talent those days.

Of course, such secret powerhouses could also be household members sent by constellations from the Abyss. Mortals from the Abyss were always obscure and unfamiliar to humans on Earth.

However, that was only the case for those who weren’t serving constellations. A hunter who had signed a contract with a constellation and worked as a household member was bound to be familiar with household members in the Abyss.

Illeya couldn’t recognize most of the mortals in front of her. They were all stronger than her, and they had appeared out of nowhere. At the moment, she could only think of one explanation.

They were incarnations of constellations.

‘Ah really...’

Illeya was bewildered. It was hard to believe that beings as great as constellations were standing like this and shyly pretending to be mortals. No matter what, this was...

In any case, she wasn’t the only one who was flustered; Illaphael also stood there in a bewildered manner.

‘What’s going on?’

Illaphael had flapped her wings with joy when Choi Yeonseung contacted her to challenge the Fifth Kingdom. No matter how many household members there were, such as Uranta and Barbagi, she was eager to show off her abilities.

However, other beings had joined Choi Yeonseung, and they didn’t seem to be ordinary mortals.

-This finite, mortal body is so awkward.

The incarnation of the Chef of Endless Gluttony complained in a booming voice. He had created the clone by splitting his own power of existence, but it was awkward and difficult for him to adjust to this.

Adaquaniel advised, “Use your vocal cords rather than your power of existence to speak.”

“Ah, you’re right. Thank you.”

“...”

Illaphael flapped her wings in embarrassment as she approached Choi Yeonseung.

“I... Should I also call the Six-Winged Angel Who Hunts Dragons?”

“No, there’s no need,” Choi Yeonseung reassured her. Honestly, with this many constellations, adding one more wouldn’t make a difference. Besides, asking the Six-Winged Angel Who Hunts Dragons to sacrifice his power of existence for an incarnation was a bit too much...

[The ‘Six-Winged Angel Who Hunts Dragons’ says that since we are fighting together, just ask if you need it.]

“See? If he’s saying that, shouldn’t we have him join us?” asked the chef constellation. His expression was weirdly distorted, probably because he still wasn’t used to controlling his facial muscles.

“If we fail, the defeat will be tremendous. It would be too much for him.”

“I see...” The chef constellation nodded before suddenly pausing. ‘Wait, but he asked me to make an incarnation...?’

***

Ilpalat, the household member of the Goddess of Pleasure and Lust, was a violent and rough nightmare demon.

Not all nightmare demons were seemingly charming and gentle. Some of them used temptation and persuasion as their main weapons, but there were also some nightmare demons who suppressed their victims with force and extorted their desires.

Ilpalat was typical of the latter.

“I feel like my stomach is going to explode because the insignificant mortals of Earth are coming so slowly!”

Ilpalat had quickly swept up the Abyssal delicacies and devoured them in one go. And as if that hadn’t satisfied her, she had also chugged some strong liquor made by the household members of the Snake of Alcohol and Dancing.

Out of all mortal desires, Ilpalat loved appetite the most. However, compared to the appetite found in the Abyss, the appetite of the humans on Earth was meager and of small quality. Humans couldn’t even handle starvation for a few weeks, so their hunger couldn’t be compared to that of monsters who had been hungry for hundreds of years.

“Calm down, Ilpalat. Didn’t you hear what Lamart said?”

The low-ranking nightmare demons serving Ilpalat tried to calm her down. Everyone in the realm already knew that Lamart and other nightmare demons were carrying out various orders for their master on Earth.

However, no one envied Lamart. Humans had plenty of desires, but on a closer look, the quality of their individual desires was poor, and only low-ranking nightmare demons could be satisfied with those.

Those kinds of desires weren’t enough for nightmare demons like Ilpalat. Strong individuals like her craved both quality and quantity in order to satisfy their hunger. It was just that such desires were awfully rare in the Abyss, which was why multiple nightmare demons would cling to a mortal with a potent desire.

...Then one day, Lamart suddenly came back from Earth and started spewing nonsense.

-The most dazzling and brilliant desire I have ever seen...

-What’s wrong with you, Lamart? Have you gone mad?

-Aren’t you making excuses for failing the mission?

-Lamart wouldn’t do that, right?

Other well-known nightmare demons were bewildered by what Lamart was saying. She made a big fuss about encountering the greatest desires she had ever seen in her life, but that made no sense, no matter how one looked at it.

Generally speaking, the maximum lifespan of a human being was around one hundred years. Of course, some of them had started learning magic, but even so, they couldn’t possibly live more than two hundred years.

So how could such exquisite desires come from the human race?

-I get it... Lamart, you schemer... She’s trying to lure other nightmare demons to Earth. She must really hate that place.

-Indeed, it is possible.

The well-known nightmare demons nodded and felt sorry for Lamart. Why would she lie like that when everyone knew how pitiful human desires were?

However, the lower-ranking nightmare demons who followed Lamart said the same thing when they returned.

-I saw the ideal form of desire...

-I think I have witnessed the true essence of desire, which I have been dreaming of my entire life...

-I want to be there for the rest of my life.

The famous nightmare demons were taken aback.

-Did Lamart do this?

-Why are you trying to drag us to Earth like this?

The story threw them into turmoil. It would’ve been one thing if only Lamart had said it, but since all the other low-ranking nightmare demons corroborated her story, the influential nightmare demons were flustered.

And now—

Ilpalat, who was guarding the path to the Fifth Kingdom of the Goddess of Pleasure and Lust, snorted. “Lamart deceived you! Despite her appearance, she’s more twisted than any snake in the Abyss. If such desires really existed on Earth, would she really tell us about it?”

“B-but...”

“Could it be that some humans really have such desires...?

The nightmare demons hesitantly voiced their doubts. It wasn’t because they trusted Lamart; it was more that they wanted it to be true. The desires of others were vital for nightmare demons. Even a low-ranking nightmare demon could quickly increase their strength by consuming the right desires.

To the low-ranking nightmare demons, who were constantly hungry, Lamart’s story felt like a legend—a mythical desire that appeared one day and quenched all hunger and thirst!

Ilpalat gazed at them with a look of pity. “Stop talking nonsense and fill your bellies. It might not be as much as you want, but it will pass the time.”

The nightmare demons shook their heads firmly at the food offered by Ilpalat.

“We will wait and eat desires.”

“I don’t want to fill my stomach with something like that.”

Ilpalat shrugged. It wasn’t that she didn’t understand the nightmare demons, but truly potent desires only came once in a blue moon. There was a reason she had learned to satisfy her hunger with this kind of food.

Real desires were very hard to come by...

“Mortals are coming!”

As soon as they spotted a human approaching on the distant path, the nightmare demons rose to their feet in unison. Their task here was simple—show the mortals that walked along the path their desires and then extort them.

Even though humans could generally handle nightmare demons in dungeons, they would be no match for them in the kingdom of the goddess of pleasure. That was how much the realm empowered them.

“Go.”

“Yes!”

The low-ranking nightmare demons started changing their appearance and flew away. Perhaps the approaching mortals would see their own desires in the low-ranking nightmare demons.

However...

“How dare you come here!”

“Appearing before me so brazenly!”

Before they managed to fully take a new form, the low-ranking demons suddenly collapsed on the side of the path and rolled over. It seemed that the difference in power between them and these challengers was so great that they hadn’t even been able to use their skills.

Ilpalat was puzzled.

‘They might be low-ranking, but...?’

She realized that those humans were among the strong ones, but they were slightly inferior to her, or at the very best, equal to her. There was no human out there stronger than her!

Ilpalat hadn’t expected the nightmare demons to fall like this. She stood up to take matters into her own hands.

“This wouldn’t have happened if you had just played along!” she shouted. “You mortals have brought destruction upon yourselves! Feel the power of the goddess!”

Ilpalat released all her energy as she approached.

[The realm of the ‘Goddess of Pleasure and Lust’ is giving you strength.]

[The power is testing the outsiders.]

[Power...]

[...]

Her enemies were engulfed by a mighty power.

The mortals, as well as the constellations in the form of incarnations, frowned at the unique discomfort. However, their reactions were much less intense than Ilpalat had expected.

‘What?’

Flustered, Ilpalat amplified the power as if squeezing every last ounce of strength out of her body.

[The power of the ‘Goddess of Pleasure and Lust’ strengthens you!]

[The strength of the power...!]

In the meantime, Ilpalat saw a human among the outsiders. She was utterly shocked, as if she had witnessed the sun descending on her.

“...!!!!!!”

***

“I don’t know if it’s because of the mortal body, but I can’t help thinking about it...” the chef constellation grumbled as he pushed the low-ranking nightmare demons aside.

“What desire did you see?”

“I saw a vision in which I cut off the head of the Master of Slowness and Silence and cooked it.”

“...”

“Of course, I know it’s a fantasy, so you don’t have to worry. It was a bit unrealistic anyway. If I manage to cut off his head, I’ll do more than just cook it!”

As the chef constellation kept making a ruckus, the others felt a powerful aura. There seemed to be a strong household member among the nightmare demons.

“She must be the goddess’ household member.”

“I’ll go and deal with her...” said the Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead, taking the lead.

“No.”

“Let me go.”

Choi Yeonseung and Adaquaniel stopped the goddess at the same time. The chef constellation stared at them as if wondering what they were doing.

“Can’t you just leave it to us?”

“Goddess, why would you use your strength already? Who knows when we’ll need your power to see into the future?”

“The household member moves first, not the master.”

They both tried to persuade her, but the goddess of balance was unusually stubborn. This was the side effect of leaving all the work to Adaquaniel.

She wanted to show something this time!

Illaphael could somewhat relate to her. Even though the goddess was a constellation, they weren’t so different from one another.

Thump!

“???”

“??”

The constellations turned their heads.

A nightmare demon had fallen to the ground, trembling as she pointed at Choi Yeonseung.

“It... It re-re-really... exists...!”

“Do you have fans in the Abyss like humans on Earth?” the chef constellation asked curiously.