abcnovels
Chapter 383
Chapter 383
Chapter 383
[Fallen Dragon’s Holy Spear:
Durability: 800/800 Attack Power: 400
The skill ‘Fallen Dragon’s Stigma’ can be used. The skill ‘Fallen Dragon’s Strike’ can be used.
Level Restriction: 400. The weapon has an additional effect against dragons.]
“!”
Choi Yeonseung was surprised. He hadn’t expected the angel constellation to give him such a gift.
‘Whoa, isn’t this a really good item?’
He thought that the constellation could’ve given him a normal weapon if he just wanted to greet him. This weapon was...
[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ is surprised!]
The Fallen Dragon’s Holy Spear was such an outstanding weapon that even the cat constellation was astounded. The weapon was incredibly powerful on its own, but what made it so incredible was its effectiveness against dragons.
Even the angel constellation had probably had a hard time obtaining such an exquisite item. Besides that, it was likely that the angel constellation had also infused his own power into it!
‘Maybe I can give it to Seha.’
Han Seha’s level was a bit low for this weapon, but it would certainly increase the more she used it in battle. In addition, she was a very active A-grade hunter, and she never avoided fights.
-...Shouldn’t you take care of your household members?
-But I don’t have many household members...
Besides Odaigon, Hwang Gyeongryong, and Lee Changsik, there were very few people in his household who were actually active. It also would be rather pointless for Choi Yeonseung to use the Fallen Dragon’s Holy Spear himself....
-More than that, I don’t know why the angel constellation is giving me this. What does it mean? Is he saying we should cooperate?
[The ‘Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead’ says not to trust the angel constellation.]
‘Indeed. Given the current situation, I can’t trust him.’
Even though the angel constellation was the closest to Choi Yeonseung among the good god constellations, there were no permanent alliances between these beings. All constellations, good and evil, were greedy when it came to this particular raid.
Therefore, Choi Yeonseung couldn’t fully trust the angel constellation, no matter how sweet his offer was.
‘He might betray me after we join forces...’
[The ‘Six-Winged Angel Who Hunts Dragons’ asks you to try to rescue Illaphael when you hunt down the mechanical dragon.]
“...???”
-???
[???]
All the constellations who were listening, including Choi Yeonseung, were baffled. It was a very unexpected request, but the angel constellation didn’t offer any additional details.
Given how stern and stubborn this constellation was, always valuing dignity and strict principles, this request was basically going against everything he stood for.
A member of his household was expected to either defeat the enemy with their own strength or die with dignity. The angel constellation wouldn’t have made this request for anyone else besides his beloved Illaphael.
-...What do you mean?
-It seems that the mechanical dragon has captured Illaphael...?
-What nonsense is that? Illaphael might’ve acted foolishly in the last raid, but he’s not stupid enough to get caught by the mechanical dragon.
Choi Yeonseung refused to accept it, and Adaquaniel backed him up.
“I think so as well.”
“Right? As expected of you, Adaquaniel.”
-......
[...]
The goddess of balance and the goddess of sloth were left speechless by these two. Nevertheless, the two goddesses gave up on persuading him.
Meanwhile, the mechanical dragon revealed itself and started moving.
***
“This is our chance! Gather all the hunters! We will unleash a coordinated attack and knock it down in one blow!”
Isabella Meyer, the A-grade hunter leading the US expedition, was stoked to hear that the mechanical dragon had finally appeared. She had expected that it would take at least half a year to make any significant advancements, given that they had to clear the surrounding areas one by one, but fortunately, the boss monster had spared them all the trouble of looking for it.
They were insanely lucky.
“Meyer, it’s dangerous. The Iron-Blooded General Who Shakes the Battlefield told me to retreat for now.”
“Ms. Meyer, think carefully about this.”
However, quite a few hunters spoke out against attacking the monster. After a few fights in this realm, they knew how things were. If even the low-grade monsters were incredibly strong because of the weapons created by those robots, then how obscenely strong would the boss monster be?
It wasn’t just the low-ranking hunters; most of the high-ranking hunters disagreed as well, especially those who were receiving information from the constellations they were serving.
[The ‘Iron-Blooded General Who Shakes the Battlefield’ warns of danger. He says that it’s too risky to engage with the monster with your current forces.]
[The ‘Humble One-Eyed Archer’ wants to gather more household members from other constellations before...]
[...]
“Joseph Grant, you’ve grown soft. I know you’ve had some failures lately, but I never thought you’d be so weak.”
Isabella cast Joseph a scornful look, and since it was very rare for Joseph to be treated like this, he was naturally furious.
“It’s just a strategic decision! We have no intel on how powerful this monster is. If the constellations are warning us that it’s too dangerous, we shouldn’t just go in blindly.”
“Weren’t you the one that said no sacrifice is too great for a great cause?”
“...”
The hunters beside Joseph looked at him with strained expressions. He had been hit with his own words.
“The raid must proceed,” someone intervened. This person had been sitting with his arms crossed this whole time, not saying a word, so all the other hunters had been ignoring him until this moment.
‘The deputy secretary of Homeland Security, Russell Landon...!’
Unlike South Korea, where there was a separate department for raid-related matters, the US had its raid-related departments under the existing Department of Homeland Security.
When it came to the security of the United States, the Department of Homeland Security had absolute authority, and the raid-related departments made them even more terrifyingly powerful.
Even the American clans and hunters who could spit in the president’s face were wary of the Department of Homeland Security...
“Deputy Secretary Landon, but...”
“When you joined us, you made a clear promise that you would cooperate. You’re not going back on your promise, are you?”
“...”
“...”
The clan leaders and high-ranking hunters in the room frowned.
Russell Landon was practically threatening them that they would be sanctioned if they didn’t cooperate. Regardless of anything, the US government could make the life of any clan or hunter a living hell if they put their minds to it.
‘It’s too much.’
‘They’re practically forcing us into doing this. How are we going to deal with it? If we fail...’
The hunters in the room were bewildered.
Of course, the government had the power to trample on any individual or group if they wanted to, but very rarely did they actually do that. The backlash would far outweigh the benefits.
Rather, it was almost always more advantageous to join forces and benefit from each other. Hunter clans had a lot of influence and money, so any government would have to tread carefully with them. Thus, it was hard to believe that the US government was being so aggressive in this raid.
“The politicians are heated up,” said Gilbert Gerrity, America’s A-grade Puppeteer, in a sarcastic tone. He was under Parker Group and currently part of this raid faction.
“What do you mean?”
“The president’s term will end soon, so every politician out there is trying to build up their reputation and achieve as much as they can before the next election.”
“Oh!”
With that, the other hunters immediately realized what was going on. All the major global powers were involved in this, which meant that any significant achievement would be witnessed by millions of people.
With the elections just around the corner, if another country succeeded by itself in this raid, it would look terrible for the president and the ruling party.
“Damn it! Things are getting really tricky!”
“Look on the bright side. If we succeed, we’ll get better rewards than usual, right?”
“That hunter Meyer has some loose screws. Can’t you see it in her eyes? I never thought I’d see someone shittier than Grant.”
“...”
Hearing that, Joseph Grant wanted to protest, but he realized that almost every clan here was from America, and he was just an outsider from the United Kingdom.
“I think we need to check if she has a contract with an evil god constellation.”
“I’ve checked eleven times. Safe to say she doesn’t.”
“I can’t believe those crazy eyes belong to someone who isn’t serving an evil god constellation...”
The high-ranking hunters and clan leaders eventually stopped complaining and went back to their seats. The situation was absurd and complicated, but these hunters had found themselves in unreasonable situations a few times in their careers. They wouldn’t have become clan leaders or reached high-grades without tons of practical experience.
‘There are dozens of clans gathered here. We’ll even receive support from the 99th infantry division.’
‘How many A-grade hunters are there? It shouldn’t be a problem to kill the monster.’
‘I think there will be a few casualties among the low-ranking hunters... We’ll lose some money because of the insurance. Those damn public officials! I have to secure the rewards no matter what.’
No one in the room seriously thought that the raid would fail. It had to succeed. The only question was how much damage there would be when everything was over.
[The ‘Iron-Blooded General Who Shakes the Battlefield’ criticizes you for not being able to firmly persuade them.]
-I’m sorry, Master. But I will definitely have some achievements in this raid. Please trust me and wait.
Joseph Grant humbly reassured his master, who had just scolded him.
‘By the way, I wonder how Hunter Choi Yeonseung is doing...’
Now that several major powers had decided to form an offensive formation, Choi Yeonseung had to be in an awkward position. Firstly, it was very unusual for a company to take the lead by itself, and as if that wasn’t enough, he was also making the questionable decision of gathering clans from various countries.
The best way to maximize profit was to join hands with the government and try to monopolize the realm...
‘He’s not with the Korean government or the US government. I don’t know what he’s up to, but I’m sure he won’t just attack without any sort of strategy.’
The South Korean government wasn’t overly ambitious in this raid. Rather, they wanted to pick up everything that would be considered junk, like the mines.
If the US government announced that another country had successfully raided the Second Realm of the Abyss, people would despair and think that the US would be ruined. Comparatively, the South Korean citizens wouldn’t be too distraught if another country took over the realm as they didn’t have high expectations for this raid anyway.
Taking that into consideration, it would've been mutually beneficial if South Korea had joined hands with the United States, which was why it was hard to understand why they were acting on their own.
Perhaps Choi Yeonseung had some kind of grand plan that Joseph Grant was unaware of?
‘I can’t predict it at all... Just what are you up to, Choi Yeonseung?’
***
‘The firepower is no joke.’
Choi Yeonseung was trying to use Future Sight to predict how much damage the mechanical dragon would inflict. Adaquaniel nodded from the side, having seen the same future.
“It looks like it’s going to completely obliterate this area. There’s no point in trying to deal with such devastating attacks.”
“I’m going to give the order to retreat.”
If the mechanical dragon intended to scorch this area, it was best for everyone to retreat momentarily. After all, wasn’t the basic strategy of a raid to attack when the opponent was at their weakest?
“Ugh, the base that we’ve put so much effort into will go to waste.”
“We can just make a new one.”
“...”
“...”
The passing hunters looked at Choi Yeonseung in dismay. Surely no hunter was rich enough to just demolish a super expensive base and build a new one...?
Such financial power was unimaginable!
Just then, Han Seha came back with a smile on her face and a spear in her hand. She seemed delighted with the gift she had received.
-Here, I have a gift for you.
-Oh! I’ll display it in my room and dust it every morning!
-...I’m giving you this weapon so you can use it. The Six-Winged Angel Who Hunts Dragons made this weapon.
-So what? The one who gives the gift is more important.
Han Seha conveniently forgot all about the angel constellation and decided to remember this as a gift from Choi Yeonseung.
What was the point of knowing what constellation created the spear?
[The ‘Hound of Instinct and Liberation’ compliments you!]
“Are the other hunters also retreating?” Choi Yeonseung asked curiously. He didn’t want to take care of them; he was just curious about their plans.
“The Chinese team actually retreated before us. I guess they weren’t prepared this time.”
“It’s not my place to say this, but to be honest... I think they need to focus on public security for a while, not on raids.”
The Chinese hunters weren’t very motivated in this raid. Recently there had been so many incidents in China that it was hard for them to invest in raids.
“It’s been confirmed that the Russians have also retreated. The EU as well..”
“Huh. It looks like they’ve all pulled out.”
“The US has stated that they will still attempt a raid.”
“Huh, of course the Chinese would do something crazy. They know that many hunters could die, and yet they still want to continue?”
“Uh, I said the US... The US forces are making an expedition.”
“Oh...” Choi Yeonseung was stunned.