Chapter 502  

Nikilen, a centaur who served the Monk Pursuing Glory, was flustered when he saw Choi Yeonseung. The human was leading a group of mortals who had nothing to do with him, and no one seemed to be complaining.

What was this?

“Suparat! Do you know anything about that human being?”

“Huh? I mean, he...”

Nadeet Suparat, a B+ grade hunter from the Philippines who also served the Monk Pursuing Glory, was taken back by the centaur’s question. Of course, he knew that Choi Yeonseung was famous on Earth, but...

He didn’t know what to say in this situation. What should he say?

“He’s a great man, but...”

“Why is he commanding the mortals? How is he doing that?”

“Well... Uh...”

How could Suparat explain that as a fellow human being? He was at a loss.

“I-I know he has a lot of money...”

“He bought the mortals in such a short period of time? He offered a price that satisfied everyone? That’s amazing! Not even the Greedy Owner of the Treasure House can do something like that!”

***

‘He’s a strange guy.’

Choi Yeonseung immediately felt something unusual about the King of Brambles.

His opponent was one and yet no one. With each blow, Choi Yeonseung could feel dozens of souls stirring inside this body. It was as if countless souls had been forcibly combined.

Even in the Abyss, monsters like this were rare, and being rare was a strength in itself.

[The power ‘Crown of Brambles’ of the ‘Noble Crown Collector’ has been activated!]

[A new soul has been revealed in the flames!]

It was ridiculous to see this monster regenerate after being struck by a bullet of concentrated energy that tore through the hard shell on his body and through his muscles.

This wasn’t a regeneration skill; rather, every time the monster would’ve died, the constellation infused another soul in him. Because of that, the traits and skills of the King of Brambles kept changing, making him a fearsome opponent.

[The ‘Explorer of the Stars’ advises you not to give up.]

[It definitely has a weakness. Don’t rush into it but wait patiently and see where it goes...]

‘...Why is a constellation advising me?’

Choi Yeonseung was a bit embarrassed. Of course, giving advice wasn’t a bad thing, but the explorer constellation wasn’t particularly close to Choi Yeonseung.

It was a bit ridiculous...

‘The best thing is to raise my power of existence and blow him up with sheer force, but I can’t do that.’

In his heart, Choi Yeonseung wanted to use his newly acquired strength as a constellation and obliterate his opponent in an instant. With his power of existence, he could annihilate a monster with one stroke.

It didn’t matter if the Noble Crown Collector kept replacing the monster’s soul. The stronger power of existence would always erase the weaker one.

But using his power of existence in this situation would mean self-destruction for Choi Yeonseung...

‘Yeah, I shouldn’t rush it. I’ll just get rid of them one by one.

Choi Yeonseung looked at the flaming King of Brambles and changed the nature of his internal energy. The air around him became cold; it was a cold air that seeped into one very existence. This wasn’t just about changing the nature of his internal energy to extreme yin.

Choi Yeonseung had fused the powers received from various constellations into his martial arts. Thus, even though he wasn’t intentionally trying to use his power of existence, his martial arts contained power of existence.

The cold air emitted by Choi Yeonseung was similar in nature to the cold air used by the Observer Who Returned From a Cold Place.

“Those who can use frost skills, come forward!”

Choi Yeonseung unleashed a storm of cold energy, and in an instant, frost engulfed the entire area, making it extremely difficult for the King of Brambles to move.

The other morals rushed over and launched their own skills as if they didn’t want to be outdone by Choi Yeonseung. All sorts of frost skills surged forward, striking and shaking the King of Brambles to his core.

[The power ‘Crown of Brambles’ of the ‘Noble Crown Collector’ has been activated!]

[A new soul has been revealed in the poison!]

“Now it’s poison. Those who don’t have poison-related skills, get out of the way!”

***

The most anxious constellation at the moment wasn’t the Undefeated Incarnation of Training or the Explorer of the Stars. It wasn’t even the Monk Pursuing Glory, whose realm had transformed into a battleground.

It was the Noble Crown Collector that was the most worried. He had paid a great price to summon the King of Brambles, but he wasn’t performing as well as he had expected.

Of course, the mortals still couldn’t defeat the King of Brambles, given that his soul kept changing, but the battle itself was by no means a great achievement.

The Noble Crown Collector had intended for the King of Brambles to swiftly absorb all the mortals at the temple. However, the mortals kept adapting, and they weren’t fazed by the fact that the monster’s soul kept being replaced. They were getting more and more aggressive with their attacks.

[The ‘Noble Crown Collector’ pours out hatred toward mortals!]

The usual arrogant and noble attitude of the collector constellation was gone. His hatred toward Choi Yeonseung was about to erupt. It was utterly shameful for a constellation to be enraged because they couldn’t deal with a mere mortal.

However, the situation was too dire for the collector constellation to worry about his image.

-W-we apologize, Master. We will sort it out soon!

-I will put my life on the line and take him down!

The constellation’s household members were frightened by their master’s anger, but fear wouldn’t miraculously give them new abilities.

The Noble Crown Collector shifted his gaze in another direction. There was no mistake about it; the household member of the Undefeated Incarnation of Training was in charge of this raid. The collector constellation just needed to cut off this household member for his plan to work.

Explorer of the Stars, let’s compromise. What do you want?

!

The explorer constellation was surprised by the sudden request. He hadn’t expected the collector constellation to desperately request negotiations.

That arrogant constellation...

The household member you summoned attacked my followers. How dare you ask for a compromise? If you were willing to compromise, you would’ve told me about your plans in advance!

There was a reason the evil god constellations were on bad terms with each other.

Of course, they ought to have some sort of mutual understanding when executing their plans and avoid collateral damage.

However, most evil god constellations were like, “Oh, the minions of that constellation got hurt? Haha, nice! It’s their problem if they can’t stay out of the way!” They all had the same mindset.

There was considerably more internal conflict and self-destruction among the evil god constellation than among the good god constellations.

...I apologize for that.

‘Hah.’

The explorer constellation was even more surprised by the collector constellation’s reaction. Besides asking for negotiations, he was even apologizing. Seeing him like this was quite satisfying.

However, as an evil god constellation, the Explorer of the Stars couldn’t just accept it without any conditions. After all, he had the upper hand.

What can you offer me?

The explorer constellation was excited. Given that the collector constellation had once been very powerful, he still possessed many treasures and a lot of valuable knowledge. It was only natural that the explorer constellation wanted such things for himself.

Wait!

?

??

Suddenly, someone interrupted the negotiation between the two constellations.

It was the Chef of Endless Gluttony.

[The ‘Chef of Endless Gluttony’ declares that the negotiations will stop!]

Explorer of the Stars, stop it right now. Negotiations with the collector constellation will be poisonous to you.

I am aware that the Noble Crown Collector is a venomous snake, but what is so bad about negotiating for the right price?

It simply is bad.

?

For a moment, the explorer constellation thought that the chef constellation would offer something instead of blocking the negotiations, which wouldn’t be too bad either. The skills possessed by the chef constellation had a long history in the Abyss...

If you negotiate with the collector constellation, I will obliterate you.

...

The explorer constellation was speechless. What kind of hooligan...?

What did you just say to me? Do you think I will give in to this kind of threat? Chef of Endless Gluttony, it is you, not me, who has many enemies!

What do you know? Just keep one thing in mind. If you negotiate, you will die. Don’t think I won’t be able to break you. I will crush you the moment you negotiate. ...

The explorer constellation was overwhelmed by the sheer madness of the chef constellation, which was different from the madness exhibited by constellations like the Warrior Stained with Madness and Blood.

The explorer constellation was convinced that the chef constellation would blindly attack him even if he was at a disadvantage and would suffer damage himself.

Ignore him, Explorer of the Stars! That chef has many enemies, and he’s already in hiding! Don’t buy into his bluff!

If you negotiate, you will die. I will smash you!

...

As the explorer constellation was agonizing over what to do, the situation suddenly took a sharp turn.

The King of Brambles was falling down.

[The ‘Explorer of the Stars’ says to pretend this never happened.]

[The ‘Noble Crown Collector’ shouts angrily!]

***

“Hunter Choi Yeonseung, thank you for your help so far. We’ll take care of it!” shouted the household members of the Monk Pursuing Glory after arriving at the temple.

Choi Yeonseung nodded. ‘Great, then I can take it easy.’

In the Abyss, it was generally more advantageous for one to fight in their own area. Those mortals were fighting in their master’s temple, so they were bound to be strong.

[The ‘Steel Meditation’ power of the ‘Monk Pursuing Glory’ is activated.]

[His image is laid over his household members.]

Iron armor forged with power of existence enveloped the household members. With that, they charged furiously...

...But quickly bounced back.

“...”

Choi Yeonseung was speechless. Fortunately, they weren’t hurt thanks to the power of their constellation. Still, Choi Yeonseung found it ridiculous.

‘Because of their advantage, they didn’t even bother to figure out the enemy before attacking.’

“Wh-what...?”

“What just happened?”

The absurd attacks of the household members baffled the other mortals gathered at the scene. For a moment, their attack was disrupted.

[The ‘Monk Pursuing Glory’ apologizes.]

[The ‘Monk Pursuing Glory’ gives you the ‘Power of Meditation’.]

The monk constellation couldn’t bear to see this happen and used his power of existence directly on Choi Yeonseung.

This power felt totally different to Choi Yeonseung from the one he normally used. If he could use this power with martial arts...

‘This is quite useful!’

The monk constellation wasn’t aware that his power would eventually be copied by this mortal.

[The ‘Monk Pursuing Glory’ expresses gratitude for your dedication.]

“I just did what I had to do.”

Choi Yeonseung meant that. The power he had just received made this fight worth it.

[The ‘Monk Pursuing Glory’ gives you ‘Piercing Meditation’.]

“...”

Choi Yeonseung stopped as he was about to charge forward.

...Perhaps he would receive more things if he dragged out the fight!

[The ‘Chef of Endless Gluttony’ shouts that if the fight drags out any longer, other constellations might interfere. You should finish it quickly!]

-Alright, alright. Stop nagging me...

Choi Yeonseung attacked the staggering King of Brambles.

The King of Brambles had already consumed so many souls that his strength was drained, and he could no longer keep fighting. To make matters worse, Choi Yeonseung was currently being enhanced by various constellation powers.

The collector constellation tried to use other powers. They were too good to be used on an abomination like the King of Brambles, but...

[The ‘Crown of the Arrogant’ power of the ‘Noble Crown Collector’...]

[The ‘Chef of Endless Gluttony’ steals the ‘Crown of the Arrogant’ and puts it on Choi Yeonseung!]

Choi Yeonseung could vividly sense the collector constellation hurling insults from across the Abyss.