The Celestial Returned From Hell

Leslie Reese of the Deep Rising clan from the US rushed out in a frenzy.

[The ‘River of Mercy’ tells you to remain calm.]

-How can I stay calm?!

Leslie Reese was angry. To some extent, the River of Mercy was responsible for this mess.

[The ‘River of Mercy’ advises you not falter in the face of these trials.]

‘I was stupid to trust a constellation!’

The constellations of the Abyss were currently ordering their household members to attack in order to increase their influence in this land with no ruler.

However, the monsters of the Second Realm were formidable.

A deep metallic sound reverberated as the magic shield was baptized in a rain of metal. The hunters had confidently entered through the gate, assuring themselves that magic was superior to modern technology. However, their mentality was flawed.

It didn’t matter which one was more glamorous, but which one was stronger!

-Target spotted.Target spotted.

A red light flashed on a nearby steel spider, signaling that it detected a threat. The hunters realized that they had been detected through their stealth magic and scrambled.

-Electric Spear!

A hunter summoned an electric spear, trying to defend themselves against the steel spider that was chasing him…

“!!”

The hunter managed to hit the monster with the 4th-circle magic, but it didn’t budge.

-Target Spotted.Eliminate the attacker.

Bang!

The monster’s blast shook the ground and blew the hunters away. They would’ve been done for without their armor artifacts.

“Agh! Retreat! Retreat!”

“What the hell is that thing?”

The hunters ran away in shock.

That electric spear hadn’t been the first attack. The hunters specializing in melee damage had been the first to rush in and attack, but the steel spider had withstood their attacks with no issues.

Its defense was unimaginable!

“Wasn’t this a C-grade monster? Its measurement for magic power was definitely C-grade...”

“Let’s get out of here for now!”

The device the hunters used for measuring magic power had clearly rated this monster at C-grade, but its defense was definitely higher than that. Of course, the true strength of some monsters didn’t have anything to do with magic power, but this one…

[The ‘River of Mercy’ gives you a river of healing.]

-Can’t you give me the power to attack or at least immobilize it?

[The ‘River of Mercy’ says that you aren’t that great a household member.]

‘Damn it!’

Leslie continued to run with the hunters until the monsters gave up on pursuing them.

Grrrung!

“!”

As the hunters were desperately running for their lives, a ferocious hound exuding magic power leapt in front of them

‘There are monsters here as well?!’

But to their surprise, the hound ignored them and instead roared ferociously at the steel spider.

“Are you okay?”

“!!!”

The hunters were so happy to hear that voice that they were on the verge of crying.

“That looks like a C-grade monster. How come you can’t kill it?” asked Choi Yeonseung incredulously.

One of the Mount Hua Sect hunters next to him whispered, “Chairman, maybe it’s because they’re not skilled enough.”

“Don’t be so mean. Not everyone is as talented as you.”

“Maybe it’s because they didn’t learn martial arts.”

“...”

Leslie was dumbfounded. As a B-grade hunter, she had never been dismissed as being incompetent.

“That monster is weird! Be careful! Its defense is way above C-grade!”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Heh, that’s what we used to say after failing a raid.”

The Mount Hua Sect hunters nodded in understanding. It was common practice for hunters to make an excuse that the monster they failed to defeat was actually A-grade.

Iris had been listening to this whole exchange, and she said carefully, “Hey… Don’t say that. You might upset them…”

“Aish, relax, Iris. He probably knows it as well.”

Leslie put up with the humiliation. After all, these hunters had saved her life.

“Stop messing around. You guys should go there and check it for yourselves. Be wary of any threats.”

“Roger.”

At Choi Yeonseung’s order, the Mount Hua Sect hunters drew their weapons and got in formation. Martial artists approached raids a bit differently than magic users.

Basically, everyone in the Mount Hua Sect was a tanker or a damage dealer, and they all amplified their overall strength by using the technique Choi Yeonseung had taught them. They were confident that they were using the most sophisticated technique among all martial artists.

[Your believers are using the ‘Clear Jade Sword Formation.’]

[Thanks to the realm of martial arts, the ‘Clear Jade Sword Formation’ has become stronger.]

[...]

As Choi Yeonseung was watching the hunters get ready, the goddess of sloth pointed something out to him.

-By the way, shouldn’t you increase the number of people in your household?

-Ah, the household…

Choi Yeonseung had also thought about that. He had to get more trustworthy household members!

‘...The fact that I have so few trustworthy household members is kind of an issue...’

In fact, most of his household members were individuals he had known for a long time. These days, hunters had a hard time completely trusting someone.

[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ says that this young generation has trust issues.]

‘...That makes me reflect on myself.’

Come to think of it, it wasn’t necessarily that there was a lack of trustworthy young hunters; it was just that Choi Yeonseung wasn’t really making an effort to find them.

Thump—

Choi Yeonseung’s moment of self-reflection was interrupted by a loud noise. He looked up and saw that the Mount Hua Sect Hunters had severed the steel spider’s legs and slammed it on the ground.

“Chairman, it wasn’t a big deal!”

“We’ve defeated it!”

“Wha…?”

Leslie stared at the steel spider in bewilderment. The monster had withstood every attack a few minutes ago, and yet these hunters had chopped it to pieces?

“Uhm...”

Choi Yeonseung looked at the Mount Hua Sect hunters and then at Leslie, casting him a strange look.

Leslie saw the look in his eyes and realized the misunderstanding.

“W-wait! I belong to the Deep Rising clan, and I’m B-grade… It’s just that this time...”

Han Seha, who was next to them, looked at her as though she found her pathetic and said, “The fact that she’s introducing her clan and rating before her skills says it all…”

“Certainly...”

Leslie was indignant, but she was in no position to argue. It was true that her performance in this raid had been poor so far!

***

“The monsters’ defenses are extraordinary?”

“Yes. We’ve received such reports from multiple sources.”

Surprisingly, it wasn’t just the Deep Rising hunters having trouble with the monsters; countless other hunters were struggling as well.

“...I see. Maybe these monsters are wearing equipment created by those robots.”

Choi Yeonseung realized what was going on.

Monsters that the hunters would normally be able to kill without much effort were now very resilient and tough to kill because various mechanical weapons had been fused into them. Because of that, the hunters who attacked the monsters confidently ended up biting the dust.

“Look on the bright side,” said a Mount Hua Sect hunter.

“Huh?”

Choi Yeonseung was puzzled. Was there anything positive about this situation?

“Martial arts are quite effective at breaking through one’s defense and dealing damage, so the martial artists can shine in this raid!”

“...Uh, yes… You’re right.”

Choi Yeonseung wanted to say something else but gave up on it.

‘If it takes us this long to deal with C-grade monsters, this whole raid will drag on for too long. That’s a problem.’

“The moment we finish the new armor, let’s distribute it to the clans. We need more armor to match the defense of those monsters.”

[The ‘Cat of Lava and Magma’ asks if you would like to use the factory in the realm as well.]

‘It’s not a bad idea, but I’m not sure how efficient it would be.’

“Are you going to give it to other clans?”

“We could use the armor as a bargaining chip.”

“No way. Don’t mess around when people’s lives are at stake.”

Choi Yeonseung flat out rejected their idea.

It was generally more advantageous to be a buyer than to be a seller, but sometimes the reverse applied. That was exactly the case with Dragon Industry’s new armor. Since they had developed this new product after a fierce corporate fight, several clans were lining up to get their hands on it.

The hunters involved in this Second Realm raid were trying to get the armor ahead of everyone else.

However, just because the materials were there didn’t mean that the armor would magically be crafted overnight. The process took time, especially if the product was new.

Thus, Choi Yeonseung could easily say things like “If you want the armor, you’ll have to listen to me,” but he didn’t want to do that.

‘The clans have a lot of scoundrels, so they might not give in to our threats and just make due without the armor.’

Choi Yeonseung felt that several clans involved in this raid were blinded by greed. Several countries were also directly involved in this, weren’t they?

If he proposed that everyone get the armor and cooperate, it was likely that the clans would just refuse and say that they would rather let their hunters die than cooperate with Choi Yeonseung.

-It’s a bit frustrating when you think about it.

-The sane one will inevitably suffer when surrounded by insane people...

“Chairman.”

“?”

“The hunters from the Deep Rising clan want to join us,” said one of the Mount Hua Sect hunters who had just returned.

“Huh? The ones who couldn’t kill that C-grade monster?!”

Wouldn’t those guys be useless…?

“...Deep Rising is a pretty decent clan,” a Dragon Industry employee said reluctantly. They thought it was absurd to disregard the Deep Rising clan like that, given that they had a better track record than the Mount Hua Sect.

However, the Mount Hua Sect hunters tilted their heads.

Were those hunters actually decent? It certainly didn’t seem that way…

“Well, we have no reason not to let them join. Let them do whatever they want.”

“Yes!”

Adaquaniel said, “It’s nice that sincere actions are valued.”

“That clan is sketchy. They don’t really do much good.”

Choi Yeonseung didn’t really have expectations for the Deep Rising clan. If all the clans had pure intentions and worked together with Choi Yeonseung to save lives, the world would know peace and everyone would be united.

However, Choi Yeonseung’s prediction was wrong this time.

“Chairman, the New York Fires have offered to join us.”

“...!”

“Three other clans are also…” said Adaquaniel with a happy expression as though she had been the one who convinced them. “It’s thanks to your pure heart, Choi Yeonseung!”

“No, that’s not it. There must be something wrong somewhere else.”

“...”

Adaquaniel was a bit sullen.

***

Illaphael, a household member of the Six-Winged Angel Who Hunts Dragons, firmly reported on the situation.

-Master,I don’t think it would be wise to cooperate with Isabella Meyer.That human being is kind of crazy.

[The ‘Six-Winged Angel Who Hunts Dragons’ accepts Illaphael’s words.]

-Thank you, Master.

Illaphael had initially tried to cooperate with the humans, but he had quickly changed his mind. He had heard that Meyer’s faction was the best offensive unit on the US side, so he had wanted to cooperate with them, but the crazy atmosphere had ultimately dissuaded him from that.

Illaphael didn’t feel the need to cooperate with such a shady individual.

-I don’t think it’s a bad idea to move with Hunter Choi Yeonseung, but...

[The ‘Six-Winged Angel Who Hunts Dragons’ doesn’t have a bad opinion of the hunter, but he also has no intention of conceding this matter to the household member of another constellation.]

-I understand.Then I will handle it myself.

Illaphael stood tall on a cliff made of various metals and mechanical parts. He could see a majestic aurora created by a powerful magnetic force, embellishing the sky.

The mechanical dragon was sleeping underneath that.

Illaphael was the first one in this raid to find the mechanical dragon. He concentrated magic power and power of existence into his hand, creating a murderous javelin that could penetrate any defense and kill the opponent instantly!

The household members of the angel constellation were especially powerful against dragons.

-Detection system operating.

-Determining danger level.Automatic reaction initiated.

Along with the sound of devices, the ground below Illaphael suddenly changed. He was startled to find out that what he had thought to be a cliff was actually one of the mechanical dragon’s limbs.

-!!

Illaphael was taken aback, and the mechanical dragon reacted much faster than him. Before he could use his power, waves of metals engulfed him. He couldn’t react as the mechanical dragon was dragging him towards it.

In less than a second, the angel disappeared.

-Checking intruder danger level. Above standard. Initiate combat.

The mechanical dragon got up from the ground, its body massive. The entire terrain around it shifted and clung to its body.

***

[The ‘Six-Winged Angel Who Hunts Dragons’ will give you an item.]

“??”

Choi Yeonseung was taken aback by the unexpected gift. What was going on?

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