Chapter 30. A-Rank Constellation (2)
While Team Hecate’s long-range bombardment continued to rain down—
I Jukheon saw Kang Yujin and Seok Taejun climbing onto the Chimera and urgently shouted,
“W-Wait!”
The Chimera did have wings.
But flying straight into enemy territory on its back looked far too reckless.
“Are you seriously planning to charge in on that Chimera?! Do you want to die?!”
“We’ll die if we just stay here anyway.”
“Then run away!”
If they ran like mad in the opposite direction, they might survive.
But if they charged forward on the Chimera, they would definitely be shot down by concentrated fire.
“Run away? What a joke.”
“Mr. I Jukheon, stop saying useless things. Does this man look like someone who would run away from an enemy?”
“……”
I Jukheon was left speechless.
Kang Yujin spoke in a cold voice.
“Someone who cowardly runs away in a place like this isn’t worthy of being that person’s Contractor.”
“Seriously… this is driving me crazy.”
“If you want to run, then run. That’s your choice.”
As he spoke, Kang Yujin put on his gloves.
“But if you run away here… then from now on, you’ll be the man who ran away here.”
“W-What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Exactly what I said.”
That was all.
Kang Yujin and Seok Taejun flew away on the Chimera.
Fortunately, right after that, the magical attacks flying toward this area gradually decreased.
It seemed Team Hecate was concentrating its attacks on the Chimera instead.
If he ran now, he could probably escape from this place without much trouble.
However, I Jukheon couldn’t bring himself to move.
“My, my. It seems you’ve found yourself in quite the difficult situation.”
At that moment, an Apostle dressed like a clown suddenly stuck his face out.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. I Jukheon. I’m Arlecchino No. 49. You don’t look very happy.”
“What do you want?”
“Hmm. Shall I take a guess? Don’t you want to fight too, Mr. I Jukheon?”
Instead of answering I Jukheon’s question, the Apostle began talking however he pleased.
“From your perspective, running away from here would be incredibly humiliating. Besides, the people attacking you belonged to an organization that was originally allied with you. Instead of helping you, they betrayed you. Truly terrible people, aren’t they? You probably want to kill every last one of those disloyal bastards, don’t you?”
“……”
“Why not give it a try? If you join forces with Kang Yujin and Seok Taejun, don’t you think you might have a chance?”
“There’s no chance.”
I Jukheon sighed as he said that.
“My contract with my Constellation was just broken.”
“Oh? Is that really true?”
“Yeah. It’s ridiculous that the contract ended just because I lost to Kang Yujin once… but I guess my Constellation was disappointed in me too.”
“……”
“Anyway, I’m not in any condition to join the fight. I can’t even use the Qinggang Sword anymore… so there’s nothing I can do.”
He was no longer a Contractor.
And he couldn’t use the Qinggang Sword either.
Right now, I Jukheon was nothing more than a dirty-looking thug.
“Mr. I Jukheon.”
“What?”
“Then why aren’t you running away?”
“……”
“You want to fight, don’t you?”
“I…”
“Mr. I Jukheon, this moment is actually the most important one.”
Dust filled the air because of the repeated landslides.
No. 49 leaned toward him with a smile.
“If you intend to fight, I’ll support you as much as possible.”
“Support me?”
“If you don’t intend to fight, then do whatever you want.”
No. 49 stepped back again.
“In that case, from now on, you’ll simply be ‘the man who ran away here.’”
“……!”
The moment I Jukheon heard those words, something surged inside him.
“What the hell is with you?! You’re doing the same thing as Kang Yujin!”
“……”
“Do I really look that pathetic to you?! Huh?!”
At that moment—
The inferiority complex that had continued building up inside I Jukheon finally exploded.
“Yeah! I want to fight! I want to win! I want everything to go well for me too! Just like Kang Yujin!”
“……”
“But I’m trash! I contracted with a D-Rank Constellation, spent my life acting like some worthless thug, and now even my Constellation abandoned me! I’m complete bottom-of-the-barrel trash!”
No. 49 watched the shouting I Jukheon with a smile.
“I won’t deny it, Trash I Jukheon.”
“……!”
“But that isn’t what matters. What matters is whether Trash I Jukheon wants to remain trash forever… or whether he wants to crawl out of the garbage.”
“W-What did you say?”
“Now, we don’t have much time. I’ll give you two choices.”
No. 49 raised two fingers.
“Will you run away while remaining trash? Or will you fight and escape from being trash?”
“What the hell…”
“I believe I told you that we don’t have time.”
I Jukheon had absolutely no idea what was happening.
But because of No. 49’s forceful attitude…
He unconsciously spoke what was truly in his heart.
“Of course… I want to fight!”
I Jukheon shouted.
“I already told you! I want to fight! I want to win! Just like those bastards who ran out there!”
“Excellent answer!”
No. 49 shouted with a grin.
“Then let us proceed with the contract!”
“C-Contract?”
“That person is the guardian of everyone struggling at the very bottom of this world! From now on, that person will support you, Mr. I Jukheon!”
“T-That person?”
“You’ll sign the contract, right? Right?”
“Uh… well…”
“Understood! Contract established!”
“W-Wait! What I meant was—!”
[You have entered into a contract with the S-Rank Constellation ‘***’.]
[From now on, the S-Rank Constellation ‘***’ will protect you.]
[As a privilege for contracting with an S-Rank Constellation, you may select one of five blessings.]
[1. 1,000,000 G Coins]
[2. 10 Enhancement Crystals]
[3. 5 S-Rank Random Boxes]
[4. 1 Constellation Summoning Ticket]
[5. Completely remove all status abnormalities and fully restore Health and Mana]
“First, we need to heal your injuries, so choose number five immediately.”
“W-Wait. What the hell is all this…?”
“Number five!”
“O-Okay.”
“Every second matters, so let’s keep moving. You currently don’t have a weapon, Mr. I Jukheon. I’ll provide one.”
I Jukheon couldn’t understand what was happening at all.
With No. 49 speaking as fast as a machine gun, I Jukheon could only mutter confusedly and let himself get dragged along.
“You’ve been using the Qinggang Sword until now, correct? Honestly, I cannot prepare a weapon capable of replacing the Qinggang Sword. But I can recommend a fairly good sword instead.”
“Uh, well…”
“You don’t have 200 million Coins right now, do you? That’s fine. I’ll give you a loan at an extremely low interest rate. Come on, press your thumb here. There. Loan approved! Let’s make the payment immediately!”
Immediately afterward, a longsword appeared in midair.
Compared to the Qinggang Sword, it was several levels inferior.
However, compared to the ordinary swords that could normally be obtained around here, it was definitely a good weapon.
“That’s everything I can do for you! Now, let’s charge!”
“C-Charge?”
“Can’t you see what’s happening right now?”
No. 49 raised a finger.
“Because of the concentrated bombardment, this entire area is covered in dust! It’s practically the same as having a smoke bomb go off! On top of that, Seok Taejun is drawing the enemies’ attention in the sky with the Chimera! If you don’t charge now, when will you?!”
“……!”
“Now, stop overthinking things and go! If you keep wasting time, Kang Yujin and Seok Taejun will be in danger! Hurry!”
Saying that, No. 49 pushed I Jukheon on the back.
In truth, I Jukheon still had no idea what was happening.
But…
It felt like running forward was the right choice.
“Urgh…!”
All the injuries and fatigue that had built up inside his body were gone.
I Jukheon gritted his teeth and began running.
No. 49 had already vanished without a trace.
I Jukheon ran through the thick dust without caring how filthy his entire body became.
“Huff, huff…!”
But there was a limit to his speed.
Even if he continued running like this, it would take a long time to reach Team Hecate in the distance.
When he suddenly turned his head, he saw the Chimera being hit by concentrated fire.
It seemed to be holding on for now, but it was clearly in danger.
At this rate, the Chimera would be shot down.
Then Team Hecate would discover I Jukheon as well and kill him with magical attacks.
If that was the case, maybe he should just—
No…!
I Jukheon erased the thought that had once again appeared in his mind.
He had already decided to run forward.
If he hesitated now, it would be no different from running away.
So I Jukheon kept running.
With only a single sword in his hand, he ran like a madman.
And at that moment—
[An Extra-Large Blessing has been bestowed upon you by your contracted Constellation ‘***’!]
[All of your stats will greatly increase for 5 minutes!]
[Your contracted Constellation ‘***’ grants you a new power!]
[You have realized your own origin and awakened!]
[You have acquired the Awakening Skill ‘Shrinking the Earth into Inches’!]
Acceleration.
A speed that I Jukheon had never experienced before entered his body.
I Jukheon had already abandoned all unnecessary thoughts.
He didn’t think about why any of this was happening.
He simply ran with an empty mind.
Faster.
He had to reach them quickly.
He had to reach the enemy camp before Kang Yujin and Seok Taejun, who were drawing attention in the sky, reached their limits.
Faster!
He ran.
And ran.
And ran again.
And finally—
“Huh…?!”
He saw the face of one of Team Hecate’s members.
The instant that face entered his sight, I Jukheon swung the sword in his hand.
“Kugh…!”
Team Hecate was shocked by I Jukheon’s sudden appearance.
But I Jukheon didn’t speak to them.
He continued moving without slowing down even slightly.
There had never been many things I Jukheon could do.
He couldn’t defeat huge monsters.
He couldn’t attack enemies flying through the sky.
He couldn’t fight back against long-range magical attacks.
The only thing I Jukheon could really do was swing a sword and cut off a person’s head.
That was exactly why—
Slaughtering mages who had allowed him to ambush them was incredibly easy for I Jukheon.
“Aaargh!”
“My arm! My arm…!”
“P-Please! Spare me!”
Every time I Jukheon swung his sword, a mage’s arm flew through the air.
A leg flew off.
A head rolled away.
“I-I Jukheon! Wait, let’s talk about—Aaaagh!”
He had absolutely no intention of showing mercy.
These people had broken their alliance with the Iron Blood Squad and attacked them.
They were traitors.
There was no reason to show them mercy.
Right here and now—
He would use the swordsmanship he had trained all this time to its fullest and take every single one of them down.
—Whoa! His swordsmanship is good!
—Isn’t he moving way too fast?!
—Those mages can’t react at all!
—Kill them! Kill them!
—Now this is exciting!
[B-Rank Constellation ‘General Faster Than the Red Horse’ is satisfied by the unbelievable counterattack.]
[B-Rank Constellation ‘General Faster Than the Red Horse’ sponsors I Jukheon with 1,000,000 Coins.]
[B-Rank Constellation ‘Two-Axe Murderer’ is extremely excited by the blood-soaked development.]
[B-Rank Constellation ‘Two-Axe Murderer’ sponsors I Jukheon with 2,000,000 Coins.]
[A-Rank Constellation ‘Third Son of the God of War’ sponsors I Jukheon with 2,000,000 Coins.]
[A-Rank Constellation ‘Prodigy with Three Heads and Six Arms’ sponsors I Jukheon with 2,000,000 Coins.]
The Constellations were reacting to I Jukheon just as enthusiastically as they normally reacted to Kang Yujin.
Unlike Kang Yujin, who mainly fought with powerful strikes, I Jukheon specialized in precise swordsmanship delivered at incredible speed.
The watching Constellations were probably enjoying this new kind of entertainment as well.
I originally planned to leave him contracted with Ha Hu-eun for a while… but Ha Hu-eun died, so there was nothing I could do.
Using my Constellation Skill [Origin Insight], I had already confirmed that I Jukheon’s Awakening Skill was [Shrinking the Earth into Inches], which allowed him to move at extreme speed.
I had originally planned to use [Origin Inspiration] during a dangerous situation later on, awakening him at a dramatic moment.
But because of what happened, he had awakened much earlier than I intended.
I should have No. 49 edit together the footage of what happened inside the dust from the landslide and upload it separately to Constellation Tube later.
Thinking that it would make a good behind-the-scenes video, I continued observing the situation through the Observation Device.
—Damn it!!
At that moment, the Contractor who appeared to be Team Hecate’s leader raised his hand and began chanting something.
Was he trying to use another spell?
I watched him carefully while thinking that, if necessary, I would give I Jukheon another blessing.
—Come forth, Scylla…!
At that moment—
A monster appeared on the battlefield.
Its upper body belonged to a human woman.
But its lower body was covered in scales, making it impossible to tell whether it resembled a snake or a fish.
Even more bizarrely, six dog heads grew around its groin.
If that’s Scylla…
Scylla was the name of a monster from Greek mythology.
Originally, Scylla had been a beautiful nymph.
However, the sea god Glaucus fell in love with her.
Glaucus asked Circe, who possessed great knowledge of medicine and potions, to create a potion that would make Scylla fall in love with him.
But Circe herself fell in love with Glaucus.
Out of jealousy, Circe transformed Scylla into a hideous monster.
It was one of the most famous evil acts Circe committed in mythology.
Afterward, Scylla lived as a ferocious monster and harmed countless people.
That Contractor just summoned Scylla out of nowhere. If that’s the case… is Scylla Circe’s Constellation Armament?
Constellation Armaments weren’t necessarily limited to weapons like swords or spears.
Even Bellerophon had Pegasus as his Constellation Armament.
Since transforming Scylla was one of Circe’s most famous evil deeds, it seemed that summoning Scylla had become Circe’s Constellation Armament.
[B-Rank Constellation ‘Hunter Favored by the Moon Goddess’ frowns at the ugly last-ditch struggle.]
[B-Rank Constellation ‘Hunter Favored by the Moon Goddess’ warns that although this being cannot compare to the true Scylla, you should still be careful.]
The Hunter Favored by the Moon Goddess…
If my guess was correct, this Constellation was Atalanta, the heroic huntress who appeared in Greek mythology.
Judging by what Atalanta had said, the Scylla that had just appeared was similar to Echidna from before.
It was weaker than the original.
In that case, unlike Cheon Muhyeok’s Pegasus or I Jukheon’s Qinggang Sword, this wasn’t the Constellation Armament’s ‘Maximum Manifestation.’
It was probably only a ‘Limited Manifestation.’
Unlike Maximum Manifestation, Limited Manifestation has a time limit and cannot display its full power. Which means…
The true Scylla was an incredibly powerful monster.
Even Odysseus, one of the greatest heroes of Greek mythology, had struggled against her.
But if this Scylla couldn’t use its full power—
We can win.
I could already sense victory.
“Uoooooh!”
With a battle cry, I Jukheon swung his sword.
The monster called Scylla that had just appeared was following its summoner’s orders and attacking I Jukheon.
Normally, I Jukheon would have been completely helpless against a monster like this.
But after obtaining the [Shrinking the Earth into Inches] skill, he could move at incredible speed.
Thanks to that, I Jukheon continued dodging Scylla’s attacks while repeatedly swinging his sword.
Didn’t that Extra-Large Blessing last only five minutes? How much time has already passed?!
Thanks to the Extra-Large Blessing greatly increasing his physical abilities, his body currently felt unbelievably light.
But once its effect disappeared, he would be in danger.
I have to defeat it quickly! But can I really kill that monster with this sword?!
I Jukheon thought desperately.
However, he wasn’t wondering whether he should turn around and run away.
He was thinking about what he needed to do right now.
In that case…!
He increased his speed even further.
He had thought he had already reached his limit.
But now he pushed beyond even that limit.
Turning into a streak of wind, he avoided Scylla’s attacks and rushed forward.
He had only one target.
The leader of Team Hecate, who was hiding behind Scylla and controlling the monster.
“Huh?!”
“Die…!”
I Jukheon swung his sword at the man, whose mouth had fallen open in shock.
His head was severed with a single strike.
At that same instant, Scylla, which had been moving so violently just moments ago, suddenly stopped.
Its body began to convulse.
“Ooooh!”
Almost at the exact same moment—
Kang Yujin arrived on the Chimera.
He launched himself from its back and flew toward Scylla’s head.
“WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!”
Watching Scylla’s head explode, Circe screamed and kicked her Observation Device across the room.
