abcnovels
Chapter 431
Chapter 431
Chapter 431
Even though martial arts had become more important and valuable thanks to Choi Yeonseung, who had been very active recently, this skill had always been widespread.
Even at auction houses, there were piles of martial arts books that nobody bought.
As many constellations had acknowledged, the speed of human research was unimaginable. It was ridiculous to think that a race that had only been practicing magic for a few decades at most was on par with some Abyssal races that had been practicing magic for thousands or even tens of thousands of years.
Humanity had managed to make such advancements because billions of people shared information with each other and systematically analyzed and developed it.
Thus, the rise in the popularity of martial arts wasn’t surprising. In fact, more and more B-grade hunters were learning martial arts.
‘I’ve taught a lot about martial arts. There were also some first-generation hunters who knew martial arts, so it’s not surprising to see practitioners nowadays...’
However, that story applied to the learning of normal martial arts.
The aura of the hunters who had just passed felt bizarre and ominous. Evil magic was forbidden in most countries, and some variations of martial arts were just like that.
Choi Yeonseung had never thought he would witness what was called demonic martial arts here.
-Is there any prohibition against such demon martial arts among humans?
-No, there’s no such thing. Just...
Just like evil magic, there also should’ve been a ban on demonic martial arts. However, martial arts had only recently surged in popularity, so cracking down on demonic martial arts was bound to be far more lax than cracking down on evil magic.
-This won’t work.
Choi Yeonseung made up his mind. He would take this opportunity to pull these hunters off the wrong path of martial arts and lead them on the right one!
‘I don’t think they’ll like it very much,’ the goddess of sloth thought to herself. In her eyes, humans liked the easy and quick way to gain power. Of course, that wasn’t necessarily wrong, given that she also preferred that method...
In any case, it was likely that those hunters wouldn’t agree with Choi Yeonseung’s methods.
“Wait,” Choi Yeonseung.
“!”
“You’ve learned martial arts, haven’t you? Can I ask what type you’ve learned?”
“...”
The hunters looked perplexed when they saw Choi Yeonseung. They clearly hadn’t expected an A-grade hunter to approach them out of nowhere.
-I think they’re nervous...
However, before the goddess of sloth could even finish speaking, one of the opposing hunters suddenly swung his sword at Choi Yeonseung.
-...?!
The goddess of sloth was stunned. Even if they didn’t agree, this was too sudden.
***
[The ‘Beast of Swords and Spears’ reveals that the preparations are almost complete.]
[The ‘Expert of Twisted Hallucinations’ cheers on the constellations gathered here.]
[The ‘Rider of Thirst and Famine’ also reveals that the preparations are almost complete.]
[...]
[...]
If other constellations had seen it, they would’ve been astonished by this gathering.
Starting with the Expert of Twisted Hallucinations, who was considered to be among the top ten evil god constellations on Earth, quite a few prominent evil god constellations had gathered here.
Such a meeting couldn’t bode well.
[The ‘Expert of Twisted Hallucinations’ reveals that once the second great invasion is over, the era of the evil god constellations will come again.]
The hallucination constellation spoke to the evil god constellations in a sweet, gentle voice.
[The ‘Beast of Swords and Spears’ agrees.]
[The ‘Rider of Thirst and Famine’ agrees.]
[...]
These constellations didn’t really trust each other, but they still couldn’t help feeling tempted by the words of the hallucination constellation.
For all the constellations who wanted a piece of Earth, the great invasion had been of great significance. The Expert of Twisted Hallucinations had initially been a weak constellation, but he had grown into a top constellation thanks to that one great invasion.
Another great invasion was a priceless opportunity for all the evil god constellations who had been building up their power of existence and were looking for an opportunity to move up the ranks.
-How wonderful, Master.
-I think so as well, Octahedron.
The Expert of Twisted Hallucinations spoke to his household member, the Shining Hallucinatory Octahedron.
As various constellations had risen and fallen, the hallucination constellation had been steadily making preparations for the second invasion of Earth.
The first major invasion had been successful in many ways.
Many evil god constellations had been able to spread fear among the humans of Earth and increase their power of existence tremendously in a short period of time... But on the other hand, they lamented the fact that their evil actions had inadvertently united humans and given power to the good god constellations.
They hadn’t thought that a race that had just learned about magic would fight back so well.
As a result, the various evil god constellations had been forced to sign an agreement with the good god constellations. However, every contract had a loophole.
‘I just have to not do it myself.’
The Expert of Twisted Hallucinations lured in the evil god constellations who hadn’t participated in the first great invasion. He had invited the ones who had recently grown more powerful, the ones who had just emerged on Earth, the ones who were terribly hungry for power...
Powerful good god constellations like the Six-Winged Angel Who Hunts Dragons, the Iron-Blooded General Who Shakes the Battlefield, and the Monk Pursuing Glory ignored such evil god constellations, thinking they could easily defeat them. However, they were mistaken.
The moment these evil god constellations joined forces, the wave of destruction would be so great that no constellation would be able to stop it immediately.
-The humans of Earth won’t be able to stop your plan.
Yes. It is as I expected.
The humans on Earth had clearly changed.
At first, when the gate opened and dungeons emerged everywhere, humans were united. Even the countries that weren’t on good terms with each other cooperated and united their people to fight off the enemies of humanity.
That was why the humans had managed to avert the first great invasion despite the fact that their magic had been much weaker.
However, as decades passed, humans became lazy.
Instead of fighting dungeons or monsters, hunters tried to raise their value through cheap gladiatorial games. In addition, many people tried to borrow the powers of evil god constellations, forgetting how dangerous they were.
As far as the great powers on Earth, they were all overconfident in their own strength, and instead of cooperating with each other, they constantly tried to keep each other in check and engaged in conflict.
The Expert of Twisted Hallucinations had seen this many times in the Abyss.
A declining kingdom that was doomed to fall—even though Earth was much larger and had more beings than any other kingdom in the Abyss, the outcome would be the same.
If a second invasion occurred, the world would be in even more turmoil. Starvation and suffering would infiltrate every aspect of life, which would cause the power of the evil god constellations to grow stronger and stronger...
Eventually, humans would be used as hounds to bite down the good god constellations.
-Yes. It shall go your way, Master.
The household members agreed with the hallucination constellation’s prophecy-like speech. If Earth turned from a land of civilization and order into one of pain and destruction, the Expert of Twisted Hallucinations would crush the remaining evil god constellations one by one.
[The ‘Expert of Twisted Hallucinations’ emphasizes once again to the gathered constellations to keep it confidential.]
[No other constellations should become aware of this plan.]
[The ‘Beast of Swords and Spears’ says not to worry.]
[The ‘Rider of Thirst and Famine’ says not to worry.]
[...]
[...]
At the assurance of the evil god constellations, the Expert of Twisted Hallucinations was satisfied and nodded.
However, he was still greatly mistaken about humans... They were much more unruly as a race than any constellation thought.
***
Kakakak!
“?”
When one of the hunters swung a sword at him, Choi Yeonseung wondered if there was a misunderstanding. He was confused because this kind of attack didn’t pose much of a threat to him.
If these hunters had in fact learned demonic martial arts, their martial arts realm would be second to first-class. They could be considered C or B-grade if they fought well.
However, Choi Yeonseung had reached peak-class in the Abyss a long time ago and had become a constellation after transcending human limits with martial arts. Thus, attacking him with martial arts instead of magic was madness.
But despite that, this hunter was in fact swinging with the intent to kill. Choi Yeonseung immediately realized that something was strange.
This guy had to be insane.
‘What’s wrong with this bastard? Did he commit a crime?’
If this guy had stolen a martial arts book or learned forbidden martial arts, he would get life in prison in the worst-case scenario. But even so, the law was very lenient for hunters, so if the hunter managed to come up with a halfway decent excuse, he could stay out of prison.
So why was he trying to kill Choi Yeonseung?
“What are you doing? Attack him together! Are you going to leave this bastard alone??”
“Yeah, I’m going now!”
The other hunters of the Ghost Tree clan also revealed their killing intent and jumped at Choi Yeonseung.
There wasn’t anyone else in the clan’s practice hall, but if Choi Yeonseung just opened the door and walked out, there would be countless witnesses. Thus, he found the actions of these hunters more absurd than embarrassing.
However, it wasn’t just him that felt that way.
[The ‘Beast of Swords and Spears’ is angry and wondering what you are doing!]
The beast constellation was taken aback after finally noticing the fight caused by its subordinates and angrily issued orders.
They had to act prudently until the plan was fully in motion, so why had they caused such a mess? Of course, that human wouldn’t pick up on the plan just from a fight like this, but that didn’t mean they didn’t have to be careful.
-Don’t worry, Master. We can win!
-With Master’s power, we can defeat this hunter! Uha... Uhaha! Uhahahaha!
[The ‘Beast of Swords and Spears’ is shocked!]
Seeing how his subordinates responded, the beast constellation finally realized that their condition was worse than expected.
They were intoxicated by the demon martial arts.
The beast constellation thought the martial arts used by humans were quite useful, so it had found a good skill and given it to its subordinates. However, the result was unexpected.
Aggression was good, but this was too much. The beast constellation no longer had any use for these crazed idiotic hunters!
The Beast of Swords and Spears frowned in frustration and gave up.
The Ghost Tree clan was supposed to attack the major business figures in South Korea during the upcoming invasion, but... Unfortunately, it couldn’t be helped.
The beast constellation was forced to find new pawns.
[Sharp Sword, the power bestowed by the ‘Beast of Swords and Spears’ is activated!]
The beast constellation suddenly imbued the swords of the hunters with its power of existence, making them impossibly sharp. With this, the hunters could break through Choi Yeonseung’s defenses at once and wound him.
However, Choi Yeonseung would’ve died in the Abyss a long time ago if he could be beaten with such an attack.
Bam!
‘These guys... Do I look like a pushover to them?’ Choi Yeonseung thought to himself before he deflected the opponent’s sword, snapped his wrist, and punched him in the face.
He wouldn’t kill any of these hunters because he had a lot of questions for them.
[The ‘Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead’ screams in pain from the intense vision.]
“!”
At that moment, both the goddess of balance and Choi Yeonseung saw the same future. They both shared the same power, so they could both gather intelligence at the same time.
They both saw the vision of a huge disaster, and it wasn’t just a glimpse of one location.
“...?!”
Choi Yeonseung and the goddess felt overwhelmed by the magnitude of the vision.
[The ‘Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead’ is afraid!]
-There’s nothing to worry about, goddess.
Choi Yeonseung calmly reassured the goddess of balance. Even if this premonition was accurate, this would be the second time the goddess, Choi Yeonseung, and the rest of humanity would have to go through it.
They had managed to stop the invasion the first time, and they were infinitely more prepared to stop it a second time.
[The ‘Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead’ is discouraged because she didn’t do much in the first invasion.]
‘...’
The goddess of balance caught Choi Yeonseung off-guard with that comment, rendering him speechless.
That... was true...
-Hurry up and say no!
-Goddess, that wasn’t a mistake. You merely prepared for this moment!
-You spoke too quickly...
The goddess of sloth felt bad for both of them.