Chapter 136: Chapter 136

‘Strong!’?Choi Yeonseung inwardly exclaimed, but he wasn’t thinking about Christopher. He was referring to the sword of light that Christopher was holding. The power it contained couild overwhelm even the?sword light?created by the power of existence that it was giving off. Regardless of how weak, the power of one’s existence could still be so powerful.

‘I can handle it, though.’

He didn’t know about constellations, who were born strong from birth, but Choi Yeonseung had lived a long time as an underdog. If he had only ever known how to fight as a powerful being, he wouldn’t have survived the Abyss. With a loud roar, Christopher swung his sword of light, but Choi Yeonseung narrowly dodged it and swerved into the gap. Christopher tried to retract his weapon, but Choi Yeonseung hit him hard on the arm, breaking the trajectory.

If Choi Yeonseung couldn’t touch the sword of light, then he would just stop its wielder instead! He performed close-quarters combat as close as possible! Choi Yeonseung was so close he could feel Christopher breathing, panicking, and trying to distance himself.

‘Grab and hit him!’

Choi Yeonseung grabbed Christopher and pulled him, causing the latter to lose balance and falter. It was easy for him to break his opponent’s balance using their own strength. After all, he had the Covert Attack Reversal skill.

Bam!

Choi Yeonseung’s elbow hit Christopher’s torso. Fists and swords weren’t his only weapons. He delivered fierce, internal-energy-imbued closer-ranged attacks than those, such as elbows, shoulders, and knees. Every hit shattered his opponent’s bones, its impact piercing all the way through.

Christopher quickly tried to regenerate using the power of light, but Choi Yeonseung’s attacks were faster.

The sword of light he was so proud of got completely blocked.

“This is amazing. I never thought you would be able to win like this. Beautiful!”

“Thank you!”

Choi Yeonseung hit even harder.

Christopher, no, the power of the constellation within Christopher spoke, bewildered.

“You may stop! I have already acknowledged you. You are beautiful!”

Instead of answering, Choi Yeonseung continued to strike until his opponent could no longer fight back. After all, that proclamation could be a trap. What he had learned from the Abyss was that he should always be wary. He couldn’t lower his guard until he had confirmed that his opponent was dead.

Christopher had to be beaten until his power of existence was exhausted.

“Stop—kuack—I said—kuk—it’s over—kuek!”

***

The commentator, Brian, stared at the match in silence. He was at a loss for words. It was almost taboo for a commentator to stop talking, but he couldn’t help it. This match was too shocking.

-In any case, I Hunter Choi Yeonseung will probably have the upper hand in this match.

-Haha. Hunter Christopher did say that he wants to learn. Isn’t that fairly rare in interviews?

-Hunter Choi Yeonseung clearly proved himself in his last match, so this match is an opportunity for Hunter Christopher to prove himself.

-Wasn’t Hunter Christopher criticized a lot? He’s just a newcomer, after all, yet he suddenly requested a match with a hunter with a high ranking. Many people claimed he was just doing this to gain popularity.

The host sugarcoated everything. In truth, Christopher received far harsher insults, such as, ‘The British have no conscience,’ ‘This is why their country got conquered,’ ‘Go back to England,’ and so on.

-That certainly seems to be the case, but I think Hunter Choi Yeonseung accepted it anyway because they’re friends. Of course, he has to prove it with his skills.

-I’m really looking forward to it. Hunter Christopher has raid experience, but not much has been revealed about him apart from the fact that he is the household member of a constellation. He isn’t that famous, is he?

The host was joking, but it was a question that struck the main point. It was rare for a skilled hunter to not be famous. Even if they tried to hide it from the country or from their clan, they would have to eventually reveal their skills.

Despite their conversation, however, the actual match was so fierce even top-rankers found it hard to follow the combatants’ movements. Fights like this only ever happened when the B-grade champion or 1st-ranked hunter was involved.

Christopher’s ability to turn the field upside down with a baptism of light shocked everyone.

“W-What?is that? Mr. Brian! What is that?” the host asked Brian excitedly. No matter how he thought about it, this was too powerful.

“He seems to have borrowed the power of a constellation.”

“Ahh...!”

The host finally understood everything now. Matches like this were rare. After all, one of the combatants was borrowing the power of a constellation to push back their opponent! It might seem unfair from their opponent’s perspective, but this was also a skill.

‘It isn’t easy to borrow power from a constellation. How did he do it? Is it really for revenge?’ Brian wondered. If it was revenge for Maximilian, then it was certainly possible to accomplish that. However, if so, why did he help Choi Yeonseung with the video?

‘Whoops. What am I doing?’

Brian snapped back to reality and resumed commentating.

“Right now, he’s using his skills as much as he can with almost no cooldown. This has to be the power of a constellation.”

“Was he given some type of fraudulent skill that immediately replenishes his magic power?

“That’s highly likely. A constellation’s power is truly endless.”

Despite his opponent having the power to overturn the ground and tear the sky apart, Choi Yeonseung succeeded in dodging the attacks. Hence, Choi Yeonseung seemed even more impressive than Christopher, who was unleashing barrages of blows. He displayed extremely narrow movements that deflected all incoming assaults, seemingly showing what martial arts were like to everyone watching! In truth, he could’ve just easily dodged all the attacks, though.

“Hunter Christopher gave up on ranged attacks and drew his sword. Hunter Choi Yeonseung is also closing in!”

“It seems they want to finish each other off now instead of letting their battle prolong!”

“Isn’t that too reckless? He borrowed the power of a constellation, but he shouldn’t just go in for a melee...”

Before he could finish speaking, Choi Yeonseung had completely gotten into Christopher’s zone, delivering powerful short-ranged attacks with minimal movements! From the audience’s perspective, they couldn’t understand Christopher’s actions.

-Christopher’s a good combatant, so why is he doing this?

-Has the constellation taken his power away?

-Swing your sword! Shake him off!

-He’s being beaten one-sidedly. Isn’t this going to kill him?

However, they soon realized Christopher was being beaten up.

Choi Yeonseung was delivering heavy blows in ultra-close proximity, leaving not even the slightest room for his opponent to recover.

-Is he just going to lose like this after all that rampage he’s done?

-This is nonsense...

Christopher had been pushing back perfectly at the beginning. Even those who weren’t expecting much were like, ‘Uh, Choi Yeonseung? Don’t tell me…?’ and ‘Was Christopher really this strong?’

However, the flow of the battle suddenly changed.

Thump!

Christopher finally fell down. Since he kept healing himself, he was hit by dozens more attacks than necessary.

***

“... Why does my body feel hurt all over?” Christopher muttered as he came out of the Otherworld. The elf constellation’s power was controlling him, so he couldn’t remember anything, but his body was aching.

They fought in the Otherworld, so why was he still feeling pain?

“Ah. Choi Yeonseung. My master acknowledges you. You should be happy,” Christopher said while looking at Choi Yeonseung. At that moment, intense power filled Choi Yeonseung.

[You have passed the trial of the Arrogant Light Elf!]

[The power of your existence has increased!]

[Those watching the match admire your martial arts!]

[The power of your existence has increased!]

Choi Yeonseung inwardly smiled. The elf constellation’s recognition and the faith of those who bore witness to Choi Yeonseung’s martial arts all increased his power of existence, causing it to overflow. To be honest, he didn’t feel much value in the elf constellation’s recognition. He was more pleased with the increase in this power of existence. Of course, the elf constellation had no idea that Choi Yeonseung was having such impure thoughts.

[The ‘Arrogant Light Elf’ pays tribute to your beauty.]

-How can he compliment you like that? That’s surprising.

The goddess of sloth was surprised. Although he did pass the test, the reaction was much more intense than she expected.

Did he like her successor’s looks?

-You don’t normally do that?

-Forget compliments like that. It’s rare for us to even think of talking to anyone. Aren’t I really tolerant?

-Then talk to me directly and teach me.

-... You win.

[The ‘Arrogant Light Elf’ presents ‘Dignity of Light.’]

[Dignity of Light]

[Rank: A

The more you maintain beauty and dignity, the stronger the power of your light.]

“......!”

Choi Yeonseung was worried because the elf constellation was acting strange, but the skill he gave him was very powerful. He got great rewards out of this! The fact that it was ranked A evidenced the skill’s value. Moreover, he liked that it wasn’t magic. Choi Yeonseung wouldn’t have been able to use it yet if the constellation had given him magic. He wasn’t sure what its description meant, though...

-What does he mean by beauty and dignity?

-That’s based on the elf constellation’s standards, so I wouldn’t know even if you ask me.

[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ guesses it means to live in a cool way.]

[The ‘Manipulator of Dreams and Desires’ speculates that the virtue of restraining one’s desires is beauty.]

‘... None of those really help.’ n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

-Successor. It isn’t good to scold the constellations who are just trying to help you.

-Shh. I am listening.

Choi Yeonseung walked out into the stadium to an outpouring of cheers. The praises and shouts from the excited audience were enough to make people excited, but it was even more special to the constellation Choi Yeonseung. He could feel himself getting stronger with every cheer.

“Hunter Choi Yeonseung has once again proven his worth today! He is the hottest recent newcomer! The higher-ranked hunters will find it hard to escape his grasp!”

‘Being called a newcomer feels weird since I’m over 10,000 years old.’

[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ says that experienced rookies are trending on Earth.]

-Do you really only watch TV in your spare time?

***

“You came.” Hwang Gyeongryong sat down with a worried expression on his face. He thought it would come soon, but now that it had, he had mixed feelings about it.

“Why did you call for me?”

“I wanted to praise you for doing so well these days.”

“Do it by text. Don’t call me for something so useless. It’s a waste of time.”

Hwang Gyeongryong cried at Aine’s cold words. He couldn’t say anything, though, because he was the one who taught her everything...

“I got a call from South Korea.”

“What was it about? Did the South Korean government send you a request to return Choi Yeonseung?”

“No, that isn’t it.”

Asking to return a hunter who had been missing for the last thirty years was useless at this point. Moreover, they wouldn’t demand the return of a hunter who had gone elsewhere unless they were desperate.

“We have received the application for the exchange exhibition.”

The exchange exhibition. They were in the era of globalization, and it was the same for hunters. Rather than constantly competing and keeping each other in check, it was more efficient to work hand in hand in some areas. The US and South Korea were close to each other, so they had frequent exchanges among the clans.

Hwang Gyeongryong had more than a dozen clans under his command. Hence, he naturally got many similar requests. There was no reason for Hwang Gyeongryong to bother with it, but...

“Did they ask for Hunter Choi Yeonseung?”

“Yes.”