The Celestial Returned From Hell - Chapter 257
Chapter 257
“I would like to talk more, but the constellation battle is about to start.”
The moment the constellation battle began, neither the goddess of balance nor the collector constellation would be able to intervene. Knowing this, the goddess of balance didn’t leave at once. She remained in her spot and hesitated because she wanted to talk to Choi Yeonseung a bit more.
“It’s time to start the constellation battle. Why don’t you call Adaquaniel back?”
The goddess suggested, “Shouldn’t we talk some more?”
“No… I need to start the battle…”
***
Vampires were one of the Abyssal races. They weren’t very large in numbers, but they were feared due to their powerful and unique traits. Similarly to the undead, vampires had a near-infinite lifespan. Thus, there were several heroes among them who were so powerful that rumors spread about them in the Abyss.
Vampire King Garhansha was one of those heroes. The vampire king led one of the many vampire families in the Abyss. He was an old king who had participated in many battles and defeated many household members.
Given how amazing Garhansha’s abilities were, the Noble Crown Collector worked hard to recruit him and his vampire clan.
[The ‘Noble Crown Collector’ is furious and is giving you an order.]
[He is commanding his subordinates in London to prevent any enemies from entering.]
[He firmly orders the vampires to stop them, even if it means risking their lives!]
-I understand.
Garhansha nodded his assent.
The collector constellation was doing everything in his power to stop the angel constellation from crossing the sea into the United Kingdom. As long as the angel constellation was utilizing his power of existence to support his subordinates, the collector constellation had to concentrate on him.
Therefore, it was the vampires’ job to protect London.
-Garhansha, some crazy human bastards are causing trouble.
-It might be a trap, so be careful. Stay vigilant and slowly narrow the encirclement. In any case, this is an advantageous place for us.
No matter how much of a fuss the humans caused, the subordinates and monsters stationed throughout London were followers of the collector constellation. There was no way they would be shaken just because a bunch of humans had caused a commotion.
-Your Majesty, isn’t the constellation treating us too poorly?
-Shh. Be quiet.
At the words of the vampire warrior, who was at the relatively young age of one thousand two hundred years old, Garhansha gave a warning. The constellation couldn’t interfere during a constellation battle, but things could get dangerous if the word leaked out.
Despite that, he also understood the frustrations of the young vampires. The abilities that the Noble Crown Collector had recently displayed turned out to be quite disappointing.
‘Have I chosen the wrong constellation?’
Just as a constellation chose household members that would make them overall stronger, the household members also secretly evaluated the constellations. If there were household members who displayed unwavering loyalty like Adaquaniel, there were also those constantly thinking about who they should follow.
The reason why Garhansha had chosen to serve the collector constellation was because of his noble dignity and powerful abilities.
From Garhansha’s perspective, it had seemed that the collector constellation’s being among the top twenty strongest constellations on Earth would be enough of a reason to entrust the fate of the vampire clan to him. However…
With the few recent failures, the collector constellation was clearly showing his shortcomings. He adopted a noble and dignified attitude whenever he won, but he revealed his violent and arrogant side whenever he lost.
This was the case with Marcaidel, the household member of the collector constellation. Marcaidel suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of human hunters, but it was only due to the intervention of the angel constellation. It wasn’t Marcaidel’s fault.
However, the collector constellation rebuked Marcaidel and erased his name completely, which naturally caused a stir within the rest of the household members. Seeing Marcaidel getting treated like that, the other household members were bound to feel uneasy.
‘But… I must fulfill my oath.’
Garhansha shook his head and straightened his shaky heart. The collector constellation was currently in a precarious state, but he would undoubtedly get back on track soon. Since he had risked his honor and his vampire clan to become a member of the household, he wouldn’t betray the collector constellation even if he felt a bit doubtful.
-…?
Garhansha looked up as he suddenly felt someone’s presence. He could see in front of him an angel and a human approaching.
***
“Adaquaniel. I will take the vanguard.”
“I’ll leave it to you then.” Adaquaniel nodded, her eyes full of trust.
Choi Yeonseung’s melee combat ability had already been established. It was a mysterious ability that allowed him to toy with enemies several times stronger than him as long as he got close to them! This transcendent ability proved that Choi Yeonseung had honed his technique to the maximum potential.
Choi Yeonseung held his sword in one hand and spread his other hand wide open. Choi Yeonseung was currently considered an A-grade hunter on Earth. Because of his many accomplishments, even the other few A-grade hunters held him in high regard.
Even though both Kwon Yeongseung and Choi Yeonseung were A-grade hunters, their value was different in the eyes of more attentive constellations.
On one hand, Kwon Yeongseung lacked practical experience, and he had only relied on his talent and magic power to rise to A-grade.
On the other hand, Choi Yeonseung was a veteran who could engage in bloody fights with both monsters and humans.
‘After today’s fight, he might be considered S-grade.’
Those fighting for the collector constellation were currently facing many enemies, but Choi Yeonseung was the one enemy they absolutely couldn’t ignore. Even if his power as a constellation was sealed, his martial arts were unlocked to the transcendent-class stage.
It would’ve been great if they had been fooled into thinking that he had the power of a constellation, but otherwise, there was a possibility that they would give him an S-grade evaluation.
Choi Yeonseung thought, ‘They’re going to try even harder to keep me in check after this but…’
-It can’t be helped. You’ve already prepared for it.
‘That’s right.’
Choi Yeonseung and the incarnation of training had already received plenty of warnings from other constellations, as it was quite rare for constellations to evolve so quickly after only being on Earth for a short period of time.
He couldn’t stop here just because others were on guard. He would just keep moving forward!
-A human came with you. It looks like the goddess of balance is in a really difficult situation.
Garhansha clicked his tongue when he saw that Adaquaniel was accompanied by a human hunter.
The vampire king had lived for a long time and was well-informed about the rumors that circulated in the Abyss. He also knew that the goddess of balance was a constellation with only a few angels. However, now there was also a human hunter.
-I’m just here because we have an alliance.
-Alliance? That’s also quite the novelty.
Garhansha made that remark while looking straight at Choi Yeonseung. As the two powerful beings locked eyes, the air became tense and sparks flew.
Then Garhansha tilted his head.
-Wait… You look familiar…
“…I guess it’s because you’re a vampire. To vampires, all humans look alike. To me, all vampires look alike.
The vampires in the rear reacted with indignation to Choi Yeonseung’s words.
How dare he?!
However, Garhansha didn’t fall for it. Instead of losing his cool, he searched through his memories.
-You… You’re that crazy guy!
“…”
Adaquaniel looked with embarrassment at Choi Yeonseung. She hadn’t expected the vampire king to badmouth him like that.
What was their relationship?
-The human bastard who demolished the ‘Guardians of Poisonous Blood’, a group of the most outstanding swordsmen of our clan! I didn’t know you were from Earth. I thought you were going to evolve greatly. I didn’t expect to meet you here!
“…”
Choi Yeonseung also remembered those events after hearing these words.
He had spent more time acting like he wasn’t a constellation than he did wandering around the Abyss. During his time as a constellation, he had roamed the Abyss as a mortal while fighting enemies. During that time, he had randomly switched between the first-class stage, peak-class, and sometimes even the transcendent-class stage…
He had crossed paths with those vampires when he was between the peak-class and transcendent-class stage.
The vampire swordsmen, who called themselves Guardians of Poisonous Blood, had tried to ridicule Choi Yeonseung and use him as a slave to draw blood from.
***
-How can a human be in such a remote place? It’s truly amazing.
-It worked out well. Human, I will propose an honorable role for you. You will be our blood slave. If you dedicate yourself to us for a hundred years, we will release you. How about it? If you think this price to spare your life is worth it… Kuack!
Bam!
“You shouldn’t run your mouth if you’re just going to spew nonsense. Why do you talk incessantly?”
Choi Yeonseung, who was fighting in the midst of enemies at the time, couldn’t stand it. He immediately fired Origin of the Celestial Finger at the vampires, moved forward using Origin of the Celestial Step and blew up the surroundings with Origin of the Celestial Fist.
Ever since he had reached the peak-class stage, Choi Yeonseung had rarely experienced a disadvantage when fighting. Of course, simply looking at level and magic power, there were many entities in the Abyss that were stronger than Choi Yeonseung.
However, Choi Yeonseung was better at fighting than them.
If the opponent was strong at close range combat, he widened the distance and engaged in long range combat. If the opponent was proficient in long distance combat, he kept close to the enemy and went for melee hits. If the opponent had weak endurance, he dragged out the battle. If they had a lot of stamina, he made sure the battle was quick…
If there was a weakness, Choi Yeonseung aimed for that weakness while using his strength. The vampire swordsmen were masters of magic that were confident when it came to swordsmanship, but they fell down instantly because they had never fought an opponent like Choi Yeonseung.
“Hey. Tell me again to be a slave offering blood.”
-Kuek…
***
Unexpectedly, they met again here.
Adaquaniel knew that Choi Yeonseung had wandered the Abyss due to unavoidable bad luck, but in reality it was because of the mistake of the goddess.
She nodded. “I see… I didn’t expect the two of you to have a fiery grudge. Don’t worry, Hunter Choi Yeonseung. No matter what grudge they have toward you, I will fight by your side.”
“There’s not really any grudge though…”
“Of course, you didn’t hold a grudge because you won. But the other side…”
-We don’t have a grudge either?
Garhansha looked at Adaquaniel, wondering what she was talking about.
-Adaquaniel, I think you’ve got something wrong… He didn’t kill the vampires. He just asked for directions and let them go.
“To be precise, I took their luggage before going.”
-They lost a life-threatening battle, so there’s no need to mention that.
It had been a fortunate situation for the vampire swordsmen.
At that time, Choi Yeonseung was lost and wandering around. He spared the vampires in return for helping him find a way out of the remote area.
Garhansha bowed politely.
-Before fighting, I will thank you for your mercy.
“Can you get out of the way then?”
Choi Yeonseung was eager to get something out of this without doing anything.
Of course, the vampire king wasn’t going to just comply like that.
-I can’t do that. As long as my master has given me a command, I can’t allow any intruders in this city.
Red blood boiled in Garhansha’s hands and took the form of a weapon.
Choi Yeonseung quickly realized what it was. The red aura emanating potent magic power was an evil artifact that could take any form.
‘So it’s not going to be that easy, huh.’
-Today, I will avenge the defeat of the young vampires of my clan.
“Huh… You should say that after winning, you know.”
At Choi Yeonseung’s words, Garhansha laughed cheerfully. The bloodthirsty spirit of the young mortal made him feel good.
-After living in the Abyss for a long time, it’s nice to see a young race with hot blood like you. Let’s do it properly…
Before the vampire finished his words, there was a loud sound from the lake around Buckingham Palace and a water column rose to the skies.
“???”
-???
[The ‘One Who Understands and Penetrates Through Indeterminate Forms’ has opened the dimensional door and revealed itself!}
I… I have arrived!
‘Why has this bastard shown up…?’