âBut Iâm Korean,â Choi Yeonseung said.
The American hunters next to him looked embarrassed.
âNationality doesnât matter.â
âThatâs right. Shouldnât the whole world join hands in a crisis?â
âYouâll help, then?â the official asked in response, looking hopeful.
âNo.â
â......â
The French officialsâ expressions distorted when the hunters answered without even thinking about it for a second. However, the huntersâ reaction was understandable.
âA constellation has kidnapped him, then you should call an A-gradeâno, an S-grade hunter. Why call us? Itâs not like we can do anything about it.â
âWe came here to kill monsters, not fight constellations.â
âThe constellation didnât appear in person! The household memberââ
âThat doesnât really change anything. Itâs still a constellationâs plan. To be honest, I donât want to be involved in anything like this.â
A lot of time had passed since the great incident thirty years ago, but the hunters still carried fear deeply within them. The household members who led the evil god constellationâs invasion on Earth were as powerful or even more powerful than S-grade monsters. The hunters were prideful, but even they didnât want to fight those beings.
âUh⦠I want to fight,â?Choi Yeonseung thought.
If he said that out loud, the others would have told him, âWake up, Choi Yeonseung! The French are deceiving you!â
That was why he didnât verbally express it, but from his standpoint, it was better to fight. It was rare for an evil god constellationâs household member to come to Earth. The more power of existence the constellation had invested in their household member, the stronger the latter becomes.
Choi Yeonseung would gain an enormous amount of power of existence in a single battle if he could defeat such a being. Moreover, he would also gather more faithful followers.
âI canât bring that up in this atmosphere, though.â
He knew how the minds of hunters worked. They came here to make money, not risk their lives for someone elseâs country. He was certain they would never step up...
âCome forward and fight, humans.â
â...... â
âWhat?â
The hunters turned their heads in surprise. Following the source of the voice, they found an angel behind them.
âAdaquaniel?â
Choi Yeonseung initially thought it was the goddess of balanceâs household member, but he soon realized the angel looked nothing like Adaquaniel. He was androgynous and beautiful, but his eyes were cold and aggressive. Sensing that they were in the presence of a powerful being, the hunters unknowingly shrank back.
âPerhaps... do you serve the Six-Winged Angel Who Hunts Dragons?â
âThatâs right. For a human, you have good eyes.â The angel responded positively, but the hunters looked agitated.
Choi Yeonseung was the strongest of all the hunters that had gathered here. Ignoring him meant ignoring them all. However, Choi Yeonseung wasnât really affected.
âThis personality is already above average in the Abyss.â
He had met all types of races in the Abyss, so he didnât find the angelâs words offensive at all.
âWhat brings the angel constellationâs household member to Earth? You want us to fight? Who gave you the right to order us around?â one of the hunters sharply pointed out.
Constellations were like heaven for those who believed in them. However, those who didnât werenât as compliant, especially not toward just one of their household members. It didnât matter how strong the angel was. They were on Earth.
â......â Instead of saying anything, the angel simply waved his hand.
Dozens of swords, shields, spears, bows, and other various weapons fell from the air.
âMy master has given these weapons to you?humans. If you join the fight, you will have the honor of having them.â
â......!â
The huntersâ expressions changed. They couldnât recognize the exact power of these weapons like Choi Yeonseung, but the hunters here were experienced in their own right. They could discern just how strong the weapons were.
.
âThis...!â
âExtraordinary magic power is coming from them. Where did these items come from?â
The hunters were astonished. The weapons before them had a different level of magic power from ordinary artifacts.
4th circle? 5th circle? These artifacts could contain 6th-circle magic, which would mean they could be as powerful as A-grade hunters...
Seemingly noticing the humansâ agitation, the angel drove in a wedge.
âI wonât entrust the battle to you weak humans alone either. I will be in the front, leading the charge. You just have to take care of the rest.â
â... Okay. Letâs give it a try!â
âWe can trust the angel constellation!â
The angelâs sudden appearance changed the atmosphere itself. Hunters from all over the world excitedly grabbed weapons.
âWait. Who gets to pick first?â
âLetâs do it by age.â
âYou want to pick in order of age? Where did you?get?that?â
âThe order should be based on hunter rating. All non-B+ grade people can get lost.â
âThen Choi Yeonseung will have to pick first.â
â......â
Everyone looked at Choi Yeonseung. The hunters respected the strong. When choosing something like this, they couldnât help paying attention to the A-grade hunters.
âI donât really need any of those, so you all can go ahead and take your pick.â
â!â
âA-are you sure?â
âAre you going to force me to choose?â
âThis jerk. Hunter Choi Yeonseung is giving way to us. Why are you talking nonsense?!â
The other hunters cursed at the hunter who expressed his worry. Meanwhile, the angel gave Choi Yeonseung a strange look.
âHe is a peculiar human.â
Choi Yeonseung also followed a constellation, so the angel couldnât accurately gauge his power. However, he was clearly powerful. Humans had several A-grade hunters, but most of them were young, talented, genius types. In comparison, Choi Yeonseung reminded him of a skilled veteran.
Humans had short lives, so his kind was very rare. What bothered him was that Choi Yeonseung just kept to himself while the other hunters were greedy.
âYou arenât choosing?â
âI donât really want anything.â
â......â
The angelâs eyebrows curved upward, expressing his dissatisfaction.
âWhat do you want? A sword?â
âNo... I already have one.â
It was the treasure stolen from China... No, Hwang Gyeongryong got the Chinese treasure called the Sword of Goujian through a legitimate process. He also had the Heaven Reliant Sword, which was quite useful. Above all else, unlike magicians, items werenât that important to martial artists.
Of course, having some would be great, but not having any wouldnât really weaken them that much. That was why the poor hunters in the past had started learning martial arts in the first place.
âTell me what you want. There is no way you donât want anything.â
âNo, I really donât want any.â
âWhat about a martial art? My master also has some martial art books.â
âI donât really want a book either...â
The Six-Winged Angel Who Hunts Dragons gave the angel a brief and simple order. He was to gather the hunters in France to stop and defeat the collector constellationâs household member. To help him, the angel constellation gave him items to lure the hunters with. However, Choi Yeonseung refused. This was quite annoying for the household member who had to obey his constellationâs order.
âI told you to take one!â
Now annoyed as well, Choi Yeonseung ignored him. The angel wouldnât attack him unless he was crazy anyway since they had to join hands against the collector constellation. As expected, the angel looked furious but didnât say anything else.
-Why arenât you taking any?
-Well⦠There has to be something useful for me to take. I donât see any that would be of use to me.
-Look for an item that contains the power of that constellation. There has to be some among those weapons.
-The way you are glaring at me now makes me think you will get mad if I talk to you again.
-Since when did you care about that?
***
The battle between hunters over items ended with Choi Yeonseungâs intervention. The consensus was that it would be better to pick by drawing lots than one by one.
âIsnât this entire situation already over, though? The opposing household member has already appeared and taken over their target location.â
âHousehold members from the Abyss has just as much trouble leaving Earth as we do descending,â the angel calmly answered.
Marcaidel currently occupied an area near the Elysee Palace. He had spread out a curtain of darkness and turned the land inside it into a different world. Under normal circumstances, he could just kidnap the president and other government officials of a country and bring them directly to his constellationâs realm. However, it wasnât that easy to go back and forth from Earth.
âHeâs buying time to cast a powerful magic. Once heâs done, magic power will gather.â
âI see.â
Some magic required time to cast due to how powerful they were. Marcaidel was trying to use one of them right now.
âDonât France have A-grade hunters? Where are they now?â
âOne of them was forced to withdraw after being injured during the fight with the enemyâs household member. The other two canât be contacted.â
âThose cowardly bastards.â
Choi Yeonseung immediately realized what happened. The moment they learned about their fellow A-grade hunter getting injured, the other two A-grade hunters lowered their tails and hid. A countryâs A-grade hunters had a lot of responsibility. In exchange for enjoying various privileges and preferential treatment, they had to be on the front lines during emergencies.
However, A-grade hunters were better than others when it came to judging situations. The household member of the opposing constellation had already kidnapped the president, set up a barrier, and taken down an A-grade hunter, it didnât come as a surprise that the other two didnât want to step up anymore. If they couldnât be contacted because they had gone into hiding, they would be cursed at for a while. However, they wouldnât lose their status as an A-grade hunter.
Insults were just momentary. Power was eternal.
âIsnât that too much? Go find themââ
âA-grade hunters determined to hide are hard to find. Let the French curse at them. We should focus on the raid.â
Choi Yeonseungâs reply decreased the huntersâ complaints. The angel looked at Choi Yeonseung, seemingly acknowledging his skills. After all, the latter easily dominated the hunters of various clans. A hunter who could skillfully control people in this way was rare.
âHunter Choi Yeonseung,â Lane meekly called.
â?â
âLetâs retreat as soon as we find a reason to. You shouldnât risk your life for the people in this place.â
âDidnât you take some of the items the angel offered?â
âItâs a waste, but we can tell him to just take them back. I refuse to risk our lives for this.â
Unlike the many hunters who put their lives at risk in dungeons just for one artifact, Lane remained reluctant. He didnât want to be reckless and foolish like the others.
âEven Franceâs A-grade hunters ran away. I hate that you have to take the lead because of their incompetence.â
âIncoming!â
Choi Yeonseung threw Lane back and fired energy forward. A huge, storm-like force smashed the monster approaching them from the darkness.
-â â â â â !
Witnessing monsters roar and appear from the darkness flustered the hunters.
âWe havenât even entered yet, so why are monsters coming after us already?!â a hunter asked.
âIt seems his subordinates have come out of the barrier. Just ignore them and focus on the path ahead,â the angel coldly replied, intending not to waste strength on small fries. He had to enter the barrier as soon as possible and fight the household member. Nothing would change even if people died here.
âI guess I have to deal with these monsters if I donât want to see people dying. Split into three teams and advance.â
âDidnât you hear me just now?â
âAlthough weâre raiding together, that doesnât mean Iâve given up my right to act however I want,â Choi Yeonseung replied while looking around.
âHunter Choi Yeonseung is right. You canât order us around.â
The hunters from the United States immediately sided with Choi Yeonseung. The angel clenched his fists and trembled, not expecting that the humans would argue against him and insist on doing things their way.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om