Chapter 26. D-Rank Constellation (1)
“The first group we’ll be dealing with is an organization of around thirty people called the Iron Blood Squad.”
Ma Taesu began explaining the situation to Kang Yujin and Seok Taejun, who had agreed to cooperate with the Black Dragon Society and take care of the small and medium-sized organizations around the highway.
“They’re stationed at a major transportation hub where the highway connects with several other roads. They charge anyone who wants to pass through a toll. Since the whole area is surrounded by mountains, a lot of people have no choice but to pay them.”
“They sound like bandits.”
“That’s not exactly wrong. They’re basically just a bunch of thugs.”
After the world merged with the Fantasy Grand Realm, the terrain of the central-western region that had once been called Chungcheongnam-do had changed into a rugged mountainous area.
Because of that, according to Ma Taesu, any intact road that allowed people to safely cross those mountains had tremendous value.
“Then why have you left guys like that alone until now?”
“Even though they’re just a gang of thugs, they’re quite powerful. They aren’t an organization we can simply crush whenever we feel like it.”
“They must be pretty skilled.”
“The individual members aren’t as strong as the elite members of our Black Dragon Society, but… their leader is no pushover.”
“The leader…?”
“Quite a few organizations have attacked the Iron Blood Squad because they wanted control of that transportation hub. But every single one of them was driven back by their leader.”
“What’s his name?”
“Lee Jukheon.”
Kang Yujin gave him a look, silently telling him to continue.
Ma Taesu slowly explained.
“To be honest, we don’t have much information about Lee Jukheon. What we do know is that he has incredible swordsmanship. They say he can cut down almost anyone in an instant.”
“Swordsmanship…”
“And…”
Ma Taesu shook his head as if even he found it hard to understand.
“Despite being that strong, he’s contracted with a D-Rank Constellation.”
They decided to attack the Iron Blood Squad from two directions.
Team A, which included Kang Yujin, would attack the area where the Iron Blood Squad normally collected tolls.
Meanwhile, Team B, led by Ma Taesu, would raid the Iron Blood Squad’s main hideout.
Lee Jukheon, the leader of the Iron Blood Squad, would most likely be at one of those two places.
Ma Taesu’s plan was to capture Lee Jukheon as well and completely wipe out the Iron Blood Squad in one move.
“That man named Lee Jukheon… Do you really think he’s contracted with a D-Rank Constellation?”
“What difference does it make if his Constellation is D-Rank?”
“A huge difference. I used to be contracted with a D-Rank Constellation too, remember?”
While they were on the move, Seok Taejun brought up the subject of Lee Jukheon’s Constellation.
“When we made enhancement engravings with the Enhancement Crystal Furnace last time, we got an S-Rank enhancement engraving, right? But when I was contracted with a D-Rank Constellation, almost everything I got was D-Rank.”
“Ah, right.”
“And normally, low-ranked Constellations don’t give very powerful blessings. Even if you get into a dangerous situation, you can’t expect much help from them.”
Kang Yujin had received exceptionally powerful blessings several times already.
It seemed that was only possible because the ‘Nameless One’ was an S-Rank Constellation.
“And there’s another problem. You don’t gain much even when your Affinity increases.”
“Affinity?”
“If you keep fighting and accumulating achievements while contracted with a Constellation, your Affinity with that Constellation increases. Simply put, you become closer to them.”
“Hmm…”
“When your Affinity increases, you receive various benefits. For example, you might get bonus stats separate from your enhancement engravings.”
“So if your Affinity rises with a higher-ranked Constellation, you get better benefits?”
“Exactly.”
“We don’t seem to have anything like that.”
“That’s probably because we haven’t been contracted for very long.”
As he spoke, Seok Taejun opened his status window and showed it to Kang Yujin.
Sure enough, it displayed:
[Affinity: F-Rank]
“Oh, and once your Affinity increases, you can use Constellation Armaments. Those are better when your Constellation has a higher rank too.”
“Constellation Armaments… Like the Pegasus Cheon Muhyeok used last time?”
Back then, Cheon Muhyeok had said that he was using ‘Maximum Manifestation,’ allowing him to freely use the true Pegasus itself.
“A Constellation Armament is usually a weapon or item that the Constellation used during its lifetime. Once your Affinity reaches a certain level, you can borrow its power. And if your Affinity reaches the highest level, you can use it freely as if it were your own weapon.”
“Why can’t I use something like that? Has the Nameless One still not acknowledged me?”
“I-I just told you! It’s because you haven’t been contracted for very long!”
Kang Yujin’s shoulders drooped dejectedly, making Seok Taejun hurriedly continue.
“You can’t use a Constellation Armament that quickly. If you keep fighting hard, Kang Yujin, you’ll eventually be able to use one too.”
“I don’t even know what kind of Constellation Armament the Nameless One has…”
“Well… we don’t even know their true name, let alone their Constellation name…”
While talking, the group finally arrived at their destination.
Around a dozen men were hanging around an area where several roads intersected.
Barricades and tents that seemed to have been set up by them surrounded the area.
Kang Yujin and Seok Taejun exchanged glances with the members of the Black Dragon Society who had accompanied them.
Then they immediately moved.
“What the hell?!”
The sudden attack instantly threw the Iron Blood Squad’s contracted fighters into confusion.
“Damn it! Is it the Black Dragon Society?!”
“Aaagh! What the hell is that lion-like monster?!”
“Fight back! Kill them all!”
Just as Ma Taesu had said, their skills were inferior to those of the Black Dragon Society’s contractors.
They fought back using firearms and the surrounding terrain, but it wasn’t enough to stop Kang Yujin’s group.
Then, while the battle was in full swing…
A man poked his head out from a tent in the corner.
“Why is it so damn noisy?”
He looked to be in his early or mid-twenties and had messy hair.
Apparently, he had been sleeping. He frowned while letting out a long yawn.
“Tch. You guys should be able to handle things yourselves. What’s with all this noise?”
“B-Boss!”
It seemed that man was Lee Jukheon, leader of the Iron Blood Squad.
“Can’t even take a proper nap…”
Still yawning, Lee Jukheon placed a hand near his waist.
And in the very next instant—
“GAAAH!”
A Black Dragon Society contractor who had tried to sneak up on Lee Jukheon screamed as one of his arms flew off.
Lee Jukheon had drawn his sword and attacked with lightning speed.
Fast.
Kang Yujin was slightly impressed.
Even to Kang Yujin, whose body had undergone physical modification, Lee Jukheon’s movements were clearly fast.
“All right. Who’s next?”
Lee Jukheon slowly walked forward, speaking in a lazy, careless voice.
Seeing him approach, the other contractors from the Black Dragon Society began backing away.
“Seok Taejun, I’ll leave the small fry to you.”
“Kang Yujin, are you going to be okay?”
“Ma Taesu and I already agreed that if Lee Jukheon showed up on this side, I’d deal with him.”
After saying that to Seok Taejun, Kang Yujin slowly stepped forward.
When their eyes met, Lee Jukheon gave a small smile.
“You’re a face I’ve never seen before. Are you the Black Dragon Society’s new guy?”
“I’m not part of the Black Dragon Society.”
“Then what are you? Some kind of mercenary?”
“You could say that.”
“Hmm…”
Lee Jukheon looked Kang Yujin up and down.
Then he saw the iron mace Kang Yujin was holding in one hand and snorted.
“First time I’ve ever seen someone walking around carrying a chunk of iron that huge.”
“Take a good look today.”
Kang Yujin raised the handle of his mace.
As Kang Yujin began spinning the mace, a faint tension appeared on Lee Jukheon’s face.
“Because you might never be able to see anything again.”
“You bastard…!”
Lee Jukheon charged at him with an enraged shout.
—Hey, that guy’s pretty damn good.
—Yeah. His swordsmanship is no joke.
—He doesn’t have a particularly big build, so he looks tiny compared to Kang Yujin… but he’s actually holding his ground pretty well.
