-Seal of Deceleration.
Irkooel set up trap magic on the ground. He wasn’t as experienced as Adaquaniel, but Irkooel was also a seasoned combatant. Choi Yeonseung was just such a ridiculous opponent that the human brought him down. Even then, he still couldn’t figure out his opponent’s style.
‘He is an absolute master of melee combat, which is rare even in the Abyss.’
He had seen Choi Yeonseung fight a few times on Earth, but he didn’t expect him to fare this well. Even in the Abyss, which housed all types of races and households, it was rare to find people who had only practiced melee combat. Naturally, some excelled in close-quarters combat. However, those people had developed their magic power to master melee magic. They didn’t polish their fine control.
Compared to the power of overturning the ground and tearing up the sky, reducing and returning the power of the enemy’s attack felt too insignificant. It was much better to learn magic using the time it took to practice those movements.
… Or so he thought, but now that he had actually met someone who had honed such ineffective skills to the absolute limit, he found it very difficult to deal with. Moreover, their powers were sealed in this household competition.
‘I will get beaten up if I end up in a melee fight again.’
Irkooel quickly prepared a strategy. The most important thing when dealing with Choi Yeonseung was to prevent him from approaching. Hell would break out the moment Choi Yeonseung managed to reach him. Although they both launched attacks, only Choi Yeonseung’s blows hit.
The Seal of Deceleration was a powerful magic that bound the opponent’s feet as soon as they stepped on it. He brought it with him because he thought it would be useful magic in the household competition, but he didn’t expect to use it like this.
“Ah. You’re back.”-......
Irkooel sent him a cautious look. Choi Yeonseung was still a long distance away, but watching him ignorantly rush forward made it hard for Irkooel to feel relieved.
‘He’s coming!’
Irkooel was amazed. This human had too much guts. He wouldn’t actually die when killed, but he could still feel all the pain. In fact, some hunters on Earth even retired due to the trauma it caused. Nevertheless, Choi Yeonseung rushed with the intention of defeating the opponent in front of him, regardless of whether he was hurt or not.
‘He will step on it!’
The angel was relieved to see Choi Yeonseung about to step on the magic circle. The moment he did, he could never get out of it no matter how hard he tried...
Snap—
-?
Choi Yeonseung stopped, snapped his fingers, and started firing Origin of the Celestial Finger. A bullet-like sharp wind shot out and pierced the surroundings.
Bam!
The wind struck down a passing ghoul.
-Why did you stop?
“As expected, you’re up to something.”
-......
Irkooel was at a loss for words.
Did he notice?
Choi Yeonseung didn’t really know the true identity of the magic circle. The Abyss had all types of magic swirling all over it, so even a magic circle on the ground was hard to notice. However, Choi Yeonseung still sensed with his keen feelings and instincts that the angel was waiting for something.
Choi Yeonseung had been hit by magic many times while wandering the Abyss. Martial arts were more limited in what they could do than magic, so he had to be creative when using it.
-Hurry up and come here, human!
“Umm. No. That just makes things even more suspicious.”
Choi Yeonseung decided to just focus on killing ghouls and regaining his internal energy. Fortunately, he had the Origin of the Celestial Finger. Among his martial arts skills, the Origin of the Celestial Finger required little internal energy, making it a good skill for killing monsters from a distance. He had to hit his targets’ vital points, but this wasn’t a problem for Choi Yeonseung.
He had been using it for over ten thousand years. At this point, he could hit his opponent with his eyes closed. Watching the ghouls fall dumbfounded Irkooel and rendered him speechless.
‘Is this really his first time participating in a household competition...?!’
***
-How is everything going, Irkooel? Are you doing well?
-... This is messed up. Just focus on yourself.
-... What? What are you saying? Should I go help?
The other angels seemed bewildered. In this situation where Adaquaniel was doing everything in her power to stop the angels from giving instructions, they couldn’t help but feel really flustered when Irkooel said something outrageous out of the blue. In addition to ghouls, various other monsters also appeared in the household competition. They gave multiple rewards when killed.
One of the often-used strategies was to prevent others from killing those monsters and making sure to get to them first. As such, trying to help Irkooel could result in losses. If they were missing one person, they would have a numerical disadvantage against their opponents. However, if Choi Yeonseung kept pushing his way forward, they would be forced to help and just take such losses into account…
-You don’t have to come help...
-???
The talking angel raised his head. Choi Yeonseung was coming down from the top lane.
-Why is he coming down?
The angel was surprised, but he still went into action. He didn’t know why the human fighting on the top lane decided to change lanes, but he prepared for combat anyway.
-Sacred Fire’s Protection!
Having roamed around the fields outside the lanes and killed the monsters in his path, he had already restored quite a bit of his magic power. The flames enveloping him attacked the incoming enemy as if they were alive. Angels under the goddess of balance used this magic exclusively for close combat!
Choi Yeonseung had a simple response to the tricky magic.
-Star Absorption Method!
Using footwork, he moved forward and slammed into the opponent. He then immediately used the Star Absorption Method. Enduring the hot flames with his internal energy, Choi Yeonseung immediately sucked up his opponent’s magic power.
[Sacred Fire’s Protection has been canceled!]
[Your magic power has been absorbed!]
“W-what?!”
The angel was startled, but not by his opponent’s skills. He was well aware that magic that absorbed other people’s power existed. What surprised him was Choi Yeonseung’s strength. It had grown so fast! How could he become stronger so quickly...?
-Irkooel, what did you do in the top lane?
-......
Embarrassed, Irkooel couldn’t answer, and his silence made his ally realize that something had gone wrong. A major accident had probably occurred in the top lane!
Thump!
After struggling against the angel Choi Yeonseung had caught and patiently enduring the offensive magic, Choi Yeonseung ended the fight with the Star Absorption Method. Killing Irkooel and the surrounding monsters alone had already hastened Choi Yeonseung’s growth.
Hence, killing another angel further explosively increased his internal energy. He had already reached the first-class stage again and was now close to the peak-class stage. His current Origin of the Celestial Finger was different from before since his internal energy now embodied sword energy and pierced magic shields as if they were bullets.
-Run! Run!
-We can’t deal with him right now!
Frightened, the other angels started to flee. What did he do to reach this point?
***
“Did I go too far?”
Choi Yeonseung asked the other angels after the game. The angels nodded indifferently.
-But you fought well.
-That’s right. You seem to have a talent for household competitions.
-Considering you made Irkooel curse, you are definitely talented.
“... N-No. It was just a practice match, so there was nothing to swear about, was there?”
Choi Yeonseung was a bit embarrassed. What was with the swearing? The angels were composed, though.
-I think he just had no choice but to swear.
-It’s understandable...
“......”
The angels were much prouder than he expected.
-Still, you did a really good job with the rest. I didn’t expect much, but you were amazing.
-I think I understand why Adaquaniel just let you go.
The angels seemed sincere. Although he was certainly a good fighter, this was the first time they had seen someone adapt so skillfully in their first household competition. He handled the top lane by himself, and when he couldn’t see any enemy anymore, he came down and attacked other angels. Such fierceness was rare even for the angels!
Adaquaniel was so satisfied that she told him to just keep going.
“... Can I really keep doing this?”
-The other angels and I will handle the rest. Just fight and act as you like on the top lane.
“No...”
Choi Yeonseung momentarily thought Adaquaniel was angry due to her expressionless face, but this wasn’t the case. The other angels talked from next to him.
-Adaquaniel seems to be in a good mood today.
-Maybe it’s because she won?
‘... It’s so hard to read the angels’ faces.’
No matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn’t help but feel that they should do something together tactically. However, Adaquaniel told him to just do whatever he wanted until the end. Choi Yeonseung didn’t really know what to say to that.
Hence, he just acted as he pleased!
***
After the training, the angels under the goddess became very confident. Adaquaniel had returned, and the new human household member was very capable. They judged that they could win this constellation battle.
-Let the miscreants of the Abyss learn of the goddess’ name once more!
[The ’One Who Understands and Penetrates Through Indeterminate Forms’ has surrendered.]
[The constellation battle has been won!]
[The ’One Who Understands and Penetrates Through Indeterminate Forms’ is asking for a meeting.]
-......
“......”
The angels were speechless.
… What??
‘What is going on?’
Choi Yeonseung was also puzzled. They could surrender during a constellation battle?
“Does this happen often?”
-It’s a rare occurrence, but... the goddess must’ve used some type of trick.
Adaquaniel remained expressionless as she replied. Her tone was so serious that Choi Yeonseung nodded in pure belief.
‘Yes, there are variables when directly entering a constellation battle, so she probably made a move in advance. The goddess is pretty good.’
All the constellations around Choi Yeonseung looked down on her, but the goddess of balance was quite famous in the Abyss. It was clear that she had taken advantage of the opponent’s unfavorable situation to force it to surrender. This was one of the Abyss’ strategies.
However, the goddess soon spoke to them.
-... W-why surrender? Adaquaniel. Is this your doing?
“......”
-......
Choi Yeonseung stared at Adaquaniel. She averted her gaze and pretended she didn’t see it.
-I’m sorry, Master. I don’t know what the opponent is doing.
[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ says it understands the reasons behind the constellation of understanding’s actions.]
[The constellation of understanding is clearly very aware of its current situation. Since it’s being threatened, it’s now trying to request a meeting from the constellations concerned to resolve this situation.]
[The incarnation constellation just recently appeared, so it seems there is a lot it wants to learn.]
“!”
Choi Yeonseung was surprised.
He thought it was just a thoughtless, fearless constellation who was going to disappear soon...
But it had a much better grasp of the current situation than expected.
‘Is it asking for cooperation instead of surrendering?’
The unexpected proposal boggled Choi Yeonseung’s mind. The goddess of sloth gave him advice.
-Isn’t it better to go there first? In any case, the opponent knelt down first. Our side has nothing to lose. Even if you refuse, it has already surrendered.
The goddess of sloth was still composed. As a constellation who had lived in the Abyss for a long time, she didn’t show mercy even though the opponent had knelt down.
‘But she is right.’
It had surrendered before they could speak, so there was no reason to care about it. The Abyss’ rules were cold.
-By the way, cat constellation. How did you know what the opponent was trying to do?
[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ says that it just went and asked what the opponent was thinking.]
-... Ah. I see.
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