The Celestial Returned From Hell

Before the match started, Choi Yeonseung made up his mind.

‘There are many rules, but can’t they all be easily summarized?’

Complicated things should be simplified as much as possible. His long experience in the Abyss hadn’t gone anywhere. Choi Yeonseung decided to keep it as simple as possible. Kill as many monsters as quickly as he could and win against any opponents he would come across. Wasn’t that all he had to do?

‘The skills... it would be crazy to bring Advanced Abyss Cooking.’

He certainly couldn’t bring that with him. Choi Yeonseung had gained various skills while training in the Abyss and fighting other constellations. Hence, picking was a bit of a struggle!

‘I need the Origin of the Celestial Step. Should I bring Concentrated Energy Arts as well?’

If asked to choose between various linked martial arts movements and footwork, Choi Yeonseung would always choose footwork. Its versatility was too good. The linked martial arts movements’ utility depended on the situation, while the footwork technique was always useful.

On another note, Concentrated Energy Arts were the flower of martial arts. Even if he couldn’t immediately use it due to his lack of internal energy, he could use it once he had killed enough monsters and grown stronger. Bringing it was the right choice.

‘I should also pick the Star Absorption Method.’

Choi Yeonseung was quite fond of the Star Absorption Method, which he had obtained from the nightmare demons. Thanks to his extreme mastery of martial arts, he could create any type of martial arts he required if he set his mind to it. Didn’t he just make some martial arts that dealt with cold energy the other day?

The Star Absorption Method was difficult to recreate for Choi Yeonseung, however, since he wasn’t a nightmare demon. Unique to nightmare demons, it was completely different from existing martial arts. It was particularly powerful as well, and it was hard to deal with using martial arts.

‘Eternal Regeneration, Origin of the Celestial Step, Origin of the Celestial Finger, Star Absorption Method and Concentrated Energy Arts.’

Choi Yeonseung had finalized his choices. The Origin of the Celestial Divine Arts that Choi Yeonseung had been honing for a long time was a perfectly balanced and complete martial art. It wasn’t crazy fast or breathtakingly heavy, but it could be used freely depending on the user.

‘If I need it later, I can just make a new martial art and bring it with me.’

He didn’t know it but if speed was important in this household competition, he was going to create a new martial art centered on speed.

[Your internal energy is greatly reduced.]

[Due to insufficient experience, the effectiveness of the skill ‘Eternal Regeneration’ is greatly reduced!]

[The skill ‘Star Absorption Method’ can’t be used due to insufficient internal energy.]

[......]

[......]

‘... This is really unexpected.’

Choi Yeonseung clicked his tongue. While fighting one-on-one battles in the C and B-grade leagues on Earth, he had wondered, ‘Do I have to limit my strength this much?’ Now it was many times worse than that. He felt as if he was an E-grade hunter who was just starting to learn martial arts again.

A sense of emptiness enveloped him when all his usual internal energy disappeared. Choi Yeonseung found it easy to adapt because he had spent a long time being this weak, unlike the angels of the Abyss, who were born strong. He wondered how they could adapt to this sense of weakness.

‘Is this the strength of angels?’

-Ughhhh.

-Groan.

“......”

Contrary to Choi Yeonseung’s expectations, the angels trudged along while making very disgusted noises. For Abyss races who were born strong, the sensation of being weakened was extremely unbearable. They had to participate due to the order of their constellation, so they endured it. However, given the choice, they never would have done this!

‘I was mistaken.’

***

-Household member Choi Yeonseung, I think you can go to the top lane.

-Copy.

Listening to Adaquaniel’s instructions, Choi Yeonseung headed up. Along the way, a tower symbolizing the goddess of balance lit up.

‘Oh.’

As it shone, one of the ghouls approaching it burned up.

‘So that’s how it helps me.’

Choi Yeonseung raised his fist. The loss of his internal energy and his skills didn’t mean that the experience imprinted in his body disappeared. He stepped forward.

Bam!

With a dull sound, the ghoul’s head fell off. It was a simple technique, but it was destructive enough.

‘Save as much internal energy as possible...’

Choi Yeonseung didn’t even use any footwork. He just waited for his opponent to strike first.

-■■■...

Once the ghoul came charging at him, releasing poisonous spittle, he countered it lightly with very minimal movements!

[You have restored your internal energy.]

[......]

Choi Yeonseung moved onward as he killed the ghouls swarming toward him. The terrain of the Abyss was filled with darkness and chaos, making it difficult to see more than an inch ahead of him. A constellation’s building in the distance shone brightly.

“!”

The angel on the enemy side, who was in charge of being his practice partner, gestured with his hand. He had a relaxed yet provocative expression.

“???”

Choi Yeonseung was dumbfounded.

What?

‘Isn’t he fighting?’

There was quite a bit of distance between them. Moreover, he didn’t know what was waiting for him in the darkness between the other tower and this one. Monsters could even appear and surround him at any given time. Even so, that attitude seemed too relaxed.

‘I’ll approach from the side, then.’

It didn’t matter what his opponent was doing. This was just practice anyway. Choi Yeonseung wanted to gather experience firsthand.

-!

Killing the ghouls around the tower, the angel on the other side couldn’t help but be surprised when he saw Choi Yeonseung approaching him.

-Are you sure you want to attack me now?

“......”

Choi Yeonseung didn’t answer. There was no need to fall for the opponent’s tricks when he would be in a position to fight soon. Taken aback, the angel asked his companion.

-Is that human really coming at me? Why?

-Is he crazy?

-He’s probably doing that because he doesn’t know much about how things work here yet...?

At the start of a six-on-six battle, few people were willing to fight their opponents. After all, they had all been weakened. Constellations would erect towers for their respective camps to protect their household members with powerful magic. That gave the combatants an advantage when fighting in their own camp. Nevertheless, Choi Yeonseung was charging toward the enemy with glinting eyes and a group of ghouls following after him.

‘Is he crazy?’

The angel was flustered, but he was prepared to fight. Although this was just a practice match, he couldn’t let this go. The angel gathered magic power at his fingertip and turned it into a sphere.

Boom!

The magic bullets were only slightly faster than bullets, but the combatants were currently weak. Seeing and avoiding the bullets should still be impossible, so it should be enough to hurt the angel’s target.

-?!

However, Choi Yeonseung still managed to avoid it, flustering the angel further. Did Choi Yeonseung kill more ghouls and level up without him knowing it?

Boom, boom, boom—

The angel continued to fire magic power, but Choi Yeonseung skillfully avoided them. Even Choi Yeonseung could see how flustered the angel was at this point.

‘It isn’t hard.’

Choi Yeonseung could dodge his opponent’s attacks despite losing most of his internal energy and being unable to use his skills properly because he was reading his opponent’s movements. The angel’s finger was the medium used to fire the magic bullets. Looking at the angel’s finger instead of trying to track the bullet allowed him to predict the moment of launch and its trajectory.

Boom!

‘Avoid it.’

The angel didn’t know this, however, so he thought Choi Yeonseung could see the bullet and dodge it accordingly.

‘What is going on?!’

Flash!

As Choi Yeonseung drew closer, lights started to flash from the constellation’s tower, and powerful magic flew out from it.

‘Three, two, one.’

Choi Yeonseung used the internal energy he had been saving for Origin of the Celestial Step. It lacked variation and speed, but he made up for it by waiting until he was as close as possible to use it.

The ground was smashed, causing loud noises, but Choi Yeonseung succeeded. His opponent was now within attacking distance.

-Do you really want to fight now? Isn’t this cra—

Before he could even finish his sentence, Choi Yeonseung had already reached him. Most of Choi Yeonseung’s internal energy and martial arts were sealed, but the angel was also weakened.

Bam!

The angel staggered.

‘If I lack strength, then I’ll make up for it in precision.’

Choi Yeonseung quickly attacked and pushed the angel back. Aiming for his opponent’s vital points, he delivered each blow with immense precision. The angel was no match for Choi Yeonseung when it came to controlling melee combat. He was quite good at magic combat, but he didn’t have all his magic power right now.

The angel had no experience in hand-to-hand combat that relied purely on control and without magic power. Choi Yeonseung pushed at him like crazy, giving him no chance to unleash magic!

Bam bam bam bam!

[You have defeated an angel!]

[Your internal energy has increased!]

[You can now use the skill ‘Origin of the Celestial Finger.’]

‘Ohh.’

Choi Yeonseung was delighted. The constellation tower attacked Choi Yeonseung again. He wanted to destroy it, but it seemed it would be too much right now, so he just jumped back. He had become faster thanks to the rise in his internal energy.

‘Isn’t it dangerous if I don’t kill the monsters?’

He only felt it now, but defeating the opponent’s household member in such a way didn’t seem normal. Choi Yeonseung had jumped in with extreme movements and forced a melee battle, but…

‘I don’t think magicians can do what I did.’

Considering they used magic, it was unlikely that they would use the same trick as Choi Yeonseung, who had fought with nothing but himself for over ten thousand years. All they could do was kill monsters and become stronger first. Even if they couldn’t defeat their opponent, they would still become stronger if they quickly killed a lot of monsters.

-Household member Choi Yeonseung. I’m just contacting you to see how you’re doing. Are you okay?

-Ah. Yes. I have defeated one of the enemy angels. I’m killing the ghouls right now.

-... Huh?

Adaquaniel was shocked, which was a first.

What?

-I’m killing the ghouls right now. Aren’t we supposed to be killing ghouls? There are a lot of them, so I think I should kill them.

-That’s not what I meant. You have defeated an enemy angel?

-Yes.

-...????

Adaquaniel was at a loss for words. Adaquaniel sent Choi Yeonseung to the top lane because he thought it would suit Choi Yeonseung the best. The top lane was the furthest place from the camp. Hence, those deployed to it had a tendency to fight alone instead of relying on the help of their other colleagues. The middle and bottom lanes were complicatedly intertwined with each other due to the terrain, which meant they had to respond to multiple situations and factors. Meanwhile, the upper lane just had to focus on their own thing.

This was why she sent Choi Yeonseung, who was the best in single combat...

‘Still, he can defeat an enemy without recovering his strength first?’

The other angels were dumbfounded. He hadn’t restored his internal energy yet, and there was no way he could use many skills, yet he jumped in and took down the enemy anyway. It was impossible without him doing something crazy.

-Can I just keep killing the ghouls? I’m recovering my internal energy.

-Yes, keep doing that.

-Can I fight the other angel again if he resurrects and returns?

-Of course, you can’t...!

Listening in, another angel panicked and tried to stop him. Defeating the enemy angel was good and all, but trying to do it over and over again would be crazy. The angel didn’t think the opponent could be taken down twice.

However, Adaquaniel agreed.

-Go for it. Do whatever you want.

-Understood.

The angels next to her looked very frustrated. Even if this was practice, this was a bit...!

***

-Irkooel, what do you think you’re doing? Aren’t you an angel?

-What is wrong with you? What are you doing?

-You underestimated the opponent because he is a human, leading to your defeat. Is that it?

-No...!

Even if he had ten mouths, the angel Choi Yeonseung defeated still would’ve had nothing to say. The angel shut his mouth and headed up the road again.

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