Chapter 557: Chapter 557

The hunters had actually forgotten that they had to run away. With the constellations fighting in front of them, fleeing from the camp seemed rather insignificant.

“Uh... Guys, I really think that’s a constellation.”

The hunters, who were arguing over what Gerrity had said, suddenly went silent.

“Is he really a constellation? I thought it was Hunter Choi Yeonseung...”

“What? He might be an S-grade hunter, but fighting a constellation directly? Don’t be ridiculous.”

“So two constellations have descended and are currently fighting?”

Then the hunters fell silent again.

While being imprisoned, they had thought about all sorts of things—hoping that the Undefeated Incarnation of Training would win, wondering what the situation was on Earth and how other people responded to it...

But as they witnessed the surreal spectacle of an all-out battle between two constellations, their minds went completely blank. The hunters were completely enthralled by the fight, just like when they were young and would watch the raids of A-grade hunters.

Every time the Master of Slowness and Silence shook his huge body, the surroundings trembled and shifted. The hunters could already see the aftermath around them. Cars on the road outside the camp were slowing down as though they were moving in slow motions. Before they knew it, everything had slowed down and gotten quiet.

Gerrity got goosebumps. This was the true strength of the Master of Slowness and Silence!

‘Holy... That damn constellation... Use more strength, Undefeated Incarnation of Training!’ Gerrity inwardly cried out.

At that moment, Gerrity and the other hunters finally ran away, ignoring the warning of the household member of the Master of Slowness and Silence. If the incarnation of training fell here, their lives would be in great danger.

And that wasn’t all.

‘Constellations fighting each other... Isn’t this... Isn’t this bad...?!’

Gerrity had keen eyes as an A-grade hunter.

Just as there had been a foreboding atmosphere and rumors circulating before the first invasion, a second invasion had recently broken out. And even after that was suppressed, the evil god constellations kept causing trouble all around the world.

Considering all those signs, it was possible that something just as terrible as the invasions, or even worse, had just occurred.

‘What is the Master of Slowness and Silence doing? Wasn’t there an agreement? Surely the other constellations won’t stay still? Is he so confident of winning?’

Sensing that something was wrong, Gerrity was racking his brains trying to find an explanation for this situation. Being an A-grade hunter, he was the first to notice that something was amiss.

He had thought it was a constellation because of the power of existence exuded, but looking more closely at the fast-moving figure...

‘Isn’t he Choi Yeonseung?’

He rubbed his eyes and looked again, thinking he was mistaken. However, no matter how many times he looked, that silhouette looked like Choi Yeonseung to him.

“???”

Gerrity didn’t understand. That was clearly the Undefeated Incarnation of Training. Given the way he was fighting, there was no doubt about it.

Yet he looked like Choi Yeonseung...?

‘Has a constellation stolen his body?!?’

Meanwhile, a hunter went on the road and snatched a random person’s phone. He fiddled with it to check the news.

-Hunter Choi Yeonseung, now identified as a constellation, is engaged in a fierce battle... It is getting more and more intense. As the power of the Master of Slowness and Silence keeps spreading, we need to be careful...

-How far will the invasion of the Master of Slowness and Silence go if Hunter Choi Yeonseung falls here?

-A great deal of panic is looming over the stock market, reminiscent of the Great Depression...

“???”

“What?”

The hunters, including Gerrity, couldn’t believe what they were hearing.

“Who is what?”

“Apparently... Hunter Choi Yeonseung is... a constellation? That’s what they’re saying?”

“What the hell are you saying?!”

In a fit of anger, Gerrity grabbed the phone from the hunter. The idea that a constellation had stayed on Earth for so long disguised as a human was outlandish. However...

No matter how many news outlets Gerrity checked, all of them were saying the same thing—that Choi Yeonseung was a constellation.

“...”

“Join the fight,” Isabella Meyer, the other A-grade hunter, said firmly.

The others looked at her in amazement. Joining the fight now, when the two constellations over there were striking each other with all their might?

“The household members are fighting each other. I’m going there to help,” Isabella continued.

“...”

Instead of dissuading her, the hunters merely nodded.

“...I respect you, Hunter Meyer.”

“Alright. Follow me.”

“??”

“Huh?”

The hunters paused.

Why did they have to follow?

“Aren’t you going to join the fight?”

“...”

The hunters flinched after belatedly understanding the situation. Of course, they understood that it would be terrible if the Undefeated Incarnation of Training didn’t win. The Master of Slowness and Silence seemed to be attempting something on an unprecedented scale. Nobody could tell what would happen to Earth if they failed to stop him.

But putting that aside, it was another thing to join the fight themselves and risk their lives... If they fled right away to the United States, wouldn’t they be able to survive regardless of who won?

Before they could even finish their thoughts, Isabella Meyer suddenly attacked Gerrity.

Besides being exhausted from several days of imprisonment, Gerrity was generally not great at close combat, so he naturally couldn’t dodge Meyer’s attack.

-Carbonized Greatsword!

“Cough...!”

Meyer stopped her greatsword right before slashing his neck, and Gerrity had no choice but to cancel the spell he had been preparing.

“Wh-what are you doing...? Are you siding with the evil god constellation?! You’re not that kind of hunter!”

“Of course I’m not siding with the enemy... But if someone were to betray humanity, you’re the most likely one,” Isabella Meyer said coldly.

Gerrity was dumbfounded. So she had attacked him first out of fear that he would betray them? She probably thought she could subdue the other hunters later...

“Now, move. If you don’t, I’ll cut you down.”

“...”

“...”

***

The Master of Slowness and Silence was incredibly strong. For the first time, Choi Yeonseung was facing an enemy he couldn’t defeat with just skill and experience.

With a thunderous roar, Choi Yeonseung crashed into the ground.

‘His power of existence... It’s absolutely ridiculous!’

This was different from when he had been hunting constellations on the outskirts of the Abyss.

Once a constellation’s power of existence exceeded a certain amount, it became an independent force that triggered automatically!

As Choi Yeonseung fired an Origin of the Celestial Fist infused with his power of existence, the power of existence of the Master of Slowness and Silence protected its master and reflected the attack back at Choi Yeonseung.

Hit with his own ability, Choi Yeonseung was sent flying once again.

Skill and experience meant nothing against such overwhelming power.

[The ‘Arrogant Light Elf’ to you...]

[The ‘Fighter of Sweat and Flesh’...]

[...]

[...]

[...]

Realizing how dire the situation was, the constellations gave Choi Yeonseung strength. His power of existence became a dozen times greater than before, and he felt his world expand.

At that moment, the Master of Slowness and Silence moved for the first time.

[The ‘Master of Slowness and Silence’ uses a power.]

[The ‘Domain of True Silence’ has unfolded.]

[Constellations who lack faith can no longer use their power of existence.]

The Master of Slowness and Silence expanded his powerful domain, which imposed a rule of existence upon this special kingdom called Earth—the powers of the constellations who lacked a certain amount of faith from humans would be nullified.

[The power of the ‘Arrogant Light Elf’ is fading.]

[The ‘Arrogant Light Elf’ apologizes in embarrassment.]

[...]

[...]

‘What...? Are you serious?’

Choi Yeonseung was dumbfounded. He couldn’t believe that the Arrogant Light Elf received less faith than him, given that he, Choi Yeonseung, had started accumulating faith much later than the elf constellation.

It was absurd. Had the elf constellation been messing around all this time?

Choi Yeonseung lost his confidence just as quickly as he had gained it.

As though he noticed his reaction, an enemy household member urged him to surrender.

-You still don’t get it, Undefeated Incarnation of Training! Your fight is over now. Look below! How long can your household members hold on?

Unlike the one who had been eaten earlier, this one spoke a bit more slowly, which made him even more annoying.

-Get on your knees and bow to Master. His mercy is as vast as his strength.

Instead of answering, Choi Yeonseung threw an Origin of the Celestial Fist. The concentrated energy filled with power of existence scorched the air.

The infuriating household member collapsed.

The Master of Slowness and Silence wriggled without responding, but the other household members became even more furious.

-How dare you refuse mercy?

-Such arrogance!

“You keep talking about surrender. Why don’t you take your own advice and kneel?”

-You seem to believe in humans, but do you really think they will side with you? They’re already yielding to our master!

‘I never believed in them. What is this bastard talking about?’

Once again, Choi Yeonseung didn’t respond. Instead, in the time it would’ve taken him to respond, he recovered a slight fraction of his strength and focused on his next attack.

-Take a look. Master keeps getting stronger and stronger. Humans around the world are watching your fight.

On a closer look, it did seem like the Master of Slowness and Silence was slowly growing in size. It was as though his growth directly reflected the increasing fear of humanity.

Choi Yeonseung clicked his tongue.

‘Did I turn on the stream for nothing...? No, people would be watching even if I hadn’t turned it on. Someone else would’ve streamed it.’

[Your power of existence is greatly increased due to the huge amount of faith.]

“...?”

[Your power of existence is greatly increased due to the huge amount of faith!]

It wasn’t just the Master of Slowness and Silence who was getting stronger.

Choi Yeonseung was surprised to feel his strength boiling over.

What was happening?

-...

The household member of the Master of Slowness and Silence seemed unusually flustered, as if he felt Choi Yeonseung’s growing power.

-What...?

If humans were indeed watching the fight, there was no way they believed in Choi Yeonseung without being afraid of the Master of Slowness and Silence.

The fight had been completely one-sided so far, and yet they had faith in that constellation?

“You look down on humans,” Choi Yeonseung said firmly.

-That’s ridiculous... Such nonsense...!

“Humans... They don’t trust other races as much as you think.”

The goddess of sloth was dumbfounded. It was a very emotional situation, but it was hard to believe he could say something so wicked.

‘Thank god humans don’t believe in other races.’

It didn’t matter how overwhelming the Master of Slowness and Silence was. Everyone watching this was hoping and praying for Choi Yeonseung’s victory.

All the reputation and trust Choi Yeonseung had built over the years had returned to him in the form of power of existence.

“Don’t you understand, Master of Slowness and Silence? You can try to rule with fear all you want, but humans will never trust other races. Earth belongs to humans alone!”

-Quit your nonsense...

BANG!!

The Origin of the Celestial Fist, which was several times stronger than before, exploded toward the Master of Slowness and Silence. The shockwave broke the silence and tore through the barrier of slowness.

The Master of Slowness and Silence had to have felt the shock as well. He stood still and prepared his counterattack. He started to draw Choi Yeonseung in to swallow him.

“...!”

An unstoppable force was dragging Choi Yeonseung toward the gaping jaws of the Master of Slowness and Silence.

Choi Yeonseung exerted his power of existence to hold on.

‘Ugh, is this hopeless?’

But despite his efforts, the distance between him and the huge whale continued to shrink little by little. The enemy’s power of existence was overwhelming, giving no room to fight back or evade it.

It was at that moment...

[The shape of ‘??’ is completed.]

[The ‘Domain of the Past’ is revealed.]

[It sends you back to the distant past of the Abyss.]