The Celestial Returned From Hell - Chapter 420

Chapter 420

Antony looked at the fallen hunter in bewilderment.

A dungeon that was at least A-grade had exploded and there was an emergency, but this hunter was most concerned with eating something…

It was even more absurd because it was an A-grade hunter that was acting like this…

“What nonsense are you saying? Get up! Quickly!”

“Ugh… Please get me something to eat…”

Despite Antony’s rebuke, the hunter persisted with his request.

Seeing him continue to beg for food, completely disregarding his image and pride, Antony realized that this hunter was actually starving.

“Step aside,” urged Choi Yeonseung. “The nightmare demons have thrashed him. We should give him something. You have any food on you?”

“Ugh, I guess it can’t be helped…”

Antony took out the emergency dungeon rations from the bag on his back. He hastily peeled off the wrapper and put the chocolate bar into the hunter’s mouth, only for him to spit it out.

“…Hey, is this Japanese guy ignoring my gesture?!”

“Stop. Even if he wants to eat it, he can’t. He needs some water first.”

The hunters defeated by the nightmare demons were extremely weakened. They were so dehydrated that they looked like desiccated corpses, so there was no way they could eat hard food like a chocolate bar.

“Wait. Rather than just water…”

Choi Yeonseung rummaged through his space pocket.

He had once used this space pocket to store Abyssal monsters, but now he used it as a warehouse for his large farm. That was where the orcs, his household members, stored all the crops they worked hard to grow.

Thanks to this, Choi Yeonseung always had an abundance of fresh ingredients at his disposal wherever he went, unlike when he used to wander through the Abyss.

‘The orcs always offer me delicious things.’

Choi Yeonseung was taken aback when the orcs first gave him the ice-cold well water in a jar as an offering. He knew it would be good, but…

‘Oh, this is way better than I thought!’

Contrary to his initial skepticism, the well water offered by the orcs turned out to be amazingly great.

There was a special well in his realm called the Magic Power Well. The orcs carefully tended to it so that the magic power of the earth surrounding the well kept growing. Thus, it wasn’t just cold, refreshing water from a well. It was the water of life, rich in magic power!

[Well Water Bestowed by the Undefeated Incarnation of Training:

This water has a strong revitalizing effect thanks to its tremendous magic power. It heals and rejuvenates the drinker.]

Choi Yeonseung was a bit surprised to see that even his name was attached to the water.

–

It must be gratifying to see the subordinates in your kingdom work so hard to achieve great things for you.

The goddess of sloth spoke as though she could tell how Choi Yeonseung felt.

-Didn’t your subordinates also make things for you, Goddess?

–

My subordinates were lazy and didn’t do well.

–

Oh… That makes sense.

Choi Yeonseung stopped the conversation there and took out the water to give it to the hunters.

Antony looked at it skeptically and thought to himself, ‘Isn’t that just regular water?’ However, he was surprised a few seconds later.

The hunters were visibly better seconds after drinking Choi Yeonseung’s water. It was hard to believe that there could be such immediate effects.

Growl…

“…”

The hunters of the Japanese clan Namahage flushed in embarrassment.

Once they came to their senses, they realized how pitiful they must’ve looked while drinking the water. They couldn’t believe that they had begged for food in a situation like this…

“Uh… This is good. I’ve regained most of my energy.”

“There isn’t much magic power to be recovered.”

“!”

The hunters were surprised by Choi Yeonseung’s words. Normally, one couldn’t tell how much magic power other people had just by looking at them.

Even if a hunter used various tricks for detecting magic power, it would still be hard for them to tell with precision how much magic power another hunter had.

However, Choi Yeonseung had assessed the condition of these hunters with just a glance and no magic.

‘Is it because he’s the master of martial arts?’

‘Still, I never thought he could just see our magic at a glance like this.’

“Hey, eat this.”

Antony took out the chocolate bar he had offered earlier. The Japanese hunters weren’t exactly eager to eat it, but they reluctantly accepted it out of consideration for his kind gesture.

“No, there’s no point in giving them something that helps so little with recovery,” explained Choi Yeonseung. “They need to eat something warm.”

Choi Yeonseung snapped his fingers and summoned a blue flame with the power of his internal energy. He also released a small amount of energy to flatten the surrounding ground and carved the nearby rocks into bowls.

‘I’ll cook the pork the orcs have given me.’

There wouldn’t be any point in giving these weakened hunters a dish made of monster meat. That kind of food acted like a tonic that gave powerful buffs to the person who ate it, but these hunters currently needed to recover.

Choi Yeonseung took out the adamantium frying pan, sprinkled some oil into it, cut the pork into small pieces and started frying them.

However, some uninvited guests had just joined them.

[The rampaging nightmare demons draw on the power of the realm!]

-■■! ■■!

“The nightmare demons! The nightmare demons are coming!”

“I know. Antony, you deal with them.”

“…Y-yes.”

Antony was dumbfounded by Choi Yeonseung’s reaction. Of course, he didn’t think he couldn’t face the demons by himself. It was just that Choi Yeonseung was strangely indifferent to the fact that monsters were rushing at them.

Shouldn’t he stop cooking and take action against the monsters…?

“It’s… It’s too dangerous. Leave us and run away!” shouted one of the Japanese hunters.

“What the hell are you saying?! You know who I am? Say my name!”

At Antony’s shouting, the Japanese hunters looked at each other.

Indeed, Antony had recently become an A-grade hunter… But strangely enough, the Japanese hunters didn’t remember him…

“Cho… Choi Smallwood?”

“Choi Highmountain?”

“…What the hell are these names?!” bellowed Antony.

If they didn’t know him, they should’ve just said so. The way they took Choi Yeonseung’s surname and stitched it together with the names of other hunters from the Icarus clan was extremely insulting…

–

Colleodoro’s Annihilation!

The symbol of an A-grade hunter—6th circle magic.

When he was a B-grade hunter, Antony couldn’t use this kind of magic because he didn’t have enough magic power. But after rigorous training, he eventually succeeded in using 6th circle magic, thus securing the position of A-grade.

Colleodoro’s Annihilation was a wide area of effect spell that instantly erased the life force of all enemies caught in it!

Antony didn’t stop there. He cast magic with one hand while taking out a potion with the other.

Potions were unbelievably expensive for what they were, so hunters constantly complained about them, saying things like “You’ll be a slave of the clan forever if you waste it!”

However, Antony was from the Icarus clan, so he could use as many potions for magic power as he wanted.

One of the Japanese hunters was dumbfounded and thought to himself, ‘I know the situation is dire, but is it really okay to use a potion like this…?’

[The nightmare demons draw on the power of the realm!]

“It’s no use to fight back! Just die quietly! Low-grade Chains of Extermination, Mist of Ohodor!”

“Hey! Behind you! Behind!”

“!?”

Antony was casting a series of spells after restoring his magic power, but he looked back, startled by the shouting of the Japanese hunters.

Mist-like monsters rushed at him from behind.

‘But I didn’t feel any magic power around us…?’

Bam!

Choi Yeonseung, still holding the frying pan, sent a nightmare demon flying with a vicious kick.

“Don’t let your guard down when fighting in the realm of a constellation!” he firmly told Antony without looking at him.

“…”

Antony was lost for words, whereas the Japanese hunters were impressed.

“As expected of Hunter Choi Yeonseung…”

“He’s an A-grade hunter for a reason.”

“…Didn’t you see me sweeping away the monsters with 6th circle magic just now?”

Antony was furious at these hunters for completely disregarding his previous display of power.

***

Monsters kept swarming, but Choi Yeonseung finished cooking the dish without there being any casualties. If a monster rushed at him, he would blow it away with a punch, a kick, or the frying pan.

In the meantime, all the other hunters finally opened their eyes.

Japan’s A-grade hunter, Kohei Nakao, finally woke up as well. As he opened his eyes, he frantically looked around, startled by the unexpected situation.

Choi Yeonseung was giving each hunter a bowl of pork belly fried rice.

It looked like a soup kitchen!

“What the… What?!”

“Oh, you’re finally awake. Drink some water and eat.”

“T-that’s not… What is this…?”

Hunter Nakao was flustered, and Choi Yeonseung nodded in understanding.

“I know it can be embarrassing. Eating fatty foods while being starved could backfire pretty badly. However, you can eat it because it’s not a normal dish. You’ll know when you try it.”

“That’s not why I’m distraught…”

Nakao was feeling bewildered when a colleague next to him handed him water.

Gulp gulp!

Nakao drank the cold water without much thought, only to be surprised. Perhaps it was because his magic power had been almost completely depleted, but this water tasted like heaven!

In addition, he no longer felt dehydrated, and both his vitality and magic power were being rapidly replenished.

This wasn’t normal water!

‘Is it a potion? Or the water of life developed by the Icarus clan?! W-why did he give me something like this? Is this okay??’

“Kohei, hurry up and try it. This is really delicious.”

“…Don’t you care about your reputation? The other hunters over there are watching…”

“…”

The hunter who was ravenously eating his food averted his gaze at Nakao’s words. He felt embarrassed when he realized it.

Choi Yeonseung said, “You guys are famished, so eat however you like. Don’t worry about how you look. Just eat quickly. You need to recover.”

“T-thank you. This pork belly fried rice… I really like this Korean dish.”

Choi Yeonseung and Antony chuckled at that, and Nakao was a bit confused, not knowing why they reacted like that.

“Huh?”

“I don’t think this hunter has done many interviews in his life,” Antony told Choi Yeonseung.

“Yeah. There’s no need to say such things when there are no reporters around.”

“Rather, you’ll only seem pretentious if you say such things these days. You can no longer fool Koreans by saying that you love Korean cuisine after trying the kimchi and fried rice at the airport.”

“But some reporters want those kinds of reactions, so it can’t be helped. And also, didn’t you say in an interview a while ago that you like Korean food? People called you pretentious back then.”

“I said that because it

was

delicious! Those who haven’t tried it in a dungeon won’t know what it tastes like…”

After listening to the conversation between Antony and Choi Yeonseung, Nakao finally realized what this was about.

“E-excuse me. I said I like it because I’ve tried it before,” explained Nakao. “There’s a Korean craze in Japan these days…”

“Eh, I guess.”

“There’s no need to do this just because I saved you,” replied Choi Yeonseung as he waved his hand.

“…”

Nakao was dumbfounded, but he put up with it and resumed eating. Putting aside its recovery ability, the dish was actually delicious.

“Uhm, can I have another bowl?”

“Hey, you don’t have to force yourself to do this!”

“N-no… Really, I just…”

“Forget it. It was just a gesture of goodwill.”

***

The Russian hunters from Shilka, Gvozdika and Buratino, succeeded in completely sealing off the city. They hadn’t dealt with all the monsters that had come out of the dungeon, but it was still a great success just to prevent them from entering the city.

“Thank you so much!”

“It would’ve been a disaster if it weren’t for those overseas hunters.”

The hunters from each clan expressed their sincere gratitude to Han Seha and the other hunters. The staff members of the clans also felt the same way.

“Soon, the government will conduct a separate official audit. I say this is our chance to earn some medals.”

Everyone was chatting in a friendly manner, but there were a few people who stood on the side and were anxious.

They were the officials from Japan and China.

The situation here was Russia’s business, but the Japanese and Chinese officials wouldn’t be able to avoid punishment if their raid teams were wiped out.

Moreover, the Korean side had requested to cooperate, but both the Japanese and Chinese officials had declined.

“Wait,” said the anxious Japanese official.

“?”

“Why did the dungeon explode even though there was still time left?”

“Maybe the Russian hunters are blind?” Han Seha answered without thinking.

The Russian hunters cleared their throats with embarrassed expressions.

“Actually, isn’t the clan that entered the dungeon last that’s at fault?” proposed the Japanese official.

“Are you crazy?” a Russian clan leader replied as though it was absurd.

If someone could cause a dungeon to explode at will, they were a constellation, not a hunter. How could one hunter cause a dungeon explosion?

“That’s right. We won’t let this go. We will officially hold you accountable!”

With the herd instinct in full effect, the Chinese official instantly jumped to support the Japanese official.

The rest of the hunters were dumbfounded by these two officials.

‘These lunatics are trying to avoid all responsibility…?’

Of course, the governments of Russia, South Korea, and the US weren’t to blame for this, and they would vehemently deny these absurd accusations.

However, even if these accusations were baseless, they were enough for the Japanese and Chinese officials to avoid responsibility in their respective countries. That was all they wanted.

Regardless of international relations or whatever, they would protect their positions before anything else!

“Should I just kill this bastard? If everyone here keeps their mouths shut, no one will know.”

“That’s pretty tempting.”

As the Russian hunters whispered ominously among themselves, someone shouted from behind, “Enough with this nonsense!”

“…?!”

The Japanese official turned his head and was stunned to see the hunters whom he had presumed dead.

They were glaring at him fiercely.