Chapter 35. Collaboration (4)
“No, what in the world…?”
It was the first time I had ever seen Jason this flustered.
“What was that? How did he destroy Taotie with a single blow? Is he really on the level of Heracles?”
It seemed Kang Yujin destroying Taotie with his Awakening Skill, [Total Destruction], had shocked Jason quite badly.
“Nameless, does Kang Yujin have some kind of special skill?”
“Who knows?”
“C-Couldn’t you tell me? I swear I won’t spread it around.”
“……”
“Come on, please…!”
Jason seemed to have investigated Kang Yujin quite thoroughly until now, but he probably had no information about this.
Even if he had obtained information about the time Kang Yujin defeated the dinosaur-type undead, there was no way he could have figured out that it had been caused by an Awakening Skill.
Unless the Count leaked that information, of course.
Ignoring Jason as he continued making a fuss, I focused on the Observation Device.
Defeating Taotie wasn’t the end of the battle.
“Ju Minha! Kang Yujin defeated Taotie!”
“I see.”
When Seok Taejun shouted, Ju Minha, who was riding behind him, answered in a calm voice.
“Destroying Taotie in a single strike… As expected of Kang Yujin.”
“You don’t sound very surprised.”
“No, I am surprised. More than ten Contractors from the Hoseo Faction attacked Taotie without being able to inflict even the slightest damage, yet he defeated it in one blow. How could I not be surprised?”
For someone who claimed to be surprised, she sounded far too calm.
Seok Taejun thought about it for a moment before deciding that it was simply her personality.
“But if he can produce that much destructive power, then he should be able to defeat this monster easily too.”
“……”
At the moment, Seok Taejun and Ju Minha were riding the Chimera while fighting another of the Four Fiends—Qiongqi.
Though calling it a fight was somewhat generous.
They were really just buying time.
Neither Seok Taejun nor Ju Minha’s attacks could injure Qiongqi.
Ju Minha was using magic to keep Qiongqi away while they fled, waiting for Kang Yujin and I Jukheon to finish defeating Taotie.
“Ju Minha, I probably shouldn’t be telling you this, but…”
Seok Taejun lowered his voice.
“The technique Kang Yujin used to defeat Taotie can only be used once a day.”
“……”
“So… we’ll have to defeat that winged tiger some other way.”
“I see.”
Ju Minha answered in the same calm voice as she cast another spell.
More than ten glowing projectiles spread through the air, keeping Qiongqi, which was approaching with its fangs exposed, from getting any closer.
Her magic skills are definitely pretty good…
Among the various schools of magic, Ju Minha specialized in light projectile-type magic.
This kind of magic was commonly called ‘Magic Missile.’
It fired glowing bullets created by compressing pure mana, making it highly efficient in terms of mana consumption.
In fact, Ju Minha repeatedly created more than ten light projectiles at once, successfully preventing Qiongqi from approaching the Chimera.
But it isn’t enough to deal a fatal wound to that winged tiger!
Then again, if Ju Minha had enough combat power to kill one of the Four Fiends herself, she wouldn’t have asked for their help in the first place.
“Then, Seok Taejun, let’s lure this monster down to the ground first.”
“What?”
“That way, Kang Yujin will be able to kill it.”
“Didn’t you hear what I just said? I told you Kang Yujin can’t use the technique that killed Taotie anymore.”
“Then Kang Yujin will defeat it using another method.”
“……”
Seok Taejun was left speechless.
Suddenly, he remembered what I Jukheon had said earlier.
Birds of a feather really do flock together.
They’re both completely unreasonable…
Still, it was true that they didn’t have any better options.
In the end, Seok Taejun ordered the Chimera to begin luring Qiongqi toward the ground.
Kang Yujin stared at Qiongqi as it chased after the Chimera and fell into thought.
If that monster possessed defensive power similar to the one he had just defeated, ordinary attacks would have a hard time damaging it.
“Hey! What are we going to do? Can you kill that thing in one blow like before?”
“I can’t use that anymore.”
The power granted to him by the Nameless One…
[Total Destruction] seemed to be usable only once per day.
So they would need another method.
“Damn it. I had a feeling that would be the case…”
I Jukheon gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on his sword.
“So do we just charge in and fight it with everything we’ve got?”
“I Jukheon.”
After organizing his thoughts, Kang Yujin spoke.
“Do exactly what I tell you.”
“What?”
Kang Yujin approached the confused I Jukheon and briefly explained the plan.
“Are you insane?”
“I’m not.”
“You crazy bastard…”
After hearing the plan, I Jukheon scratched his head roughly and frowned.
“Ah, screw it! I don’t care anymore! Do whatever you want!”
“I’m counting on you.”
After saying that briefly, Kang Yujin began moving.
By then, Seok Taejun had already started using the Chimera to lure Qiongqi down toward the ground.
“Clown, you’re here, right?”
“You called, Kang Yujin?”
As Kang Yujin ran across the field and called for No. 49, the Apostle immediately answered.
“I need a weapon.”
“With the amount of Coins you currently possess, you cannot purchase a weapon capable of piercing Qiongqi’s hide. Would you like to take out a loan?”
“I told you I’m never taking out a loan.”
“Then what do you plan to do?”
“I don’t need to pierce its hide.”
Kang Yujin watched Qiongqi as it gradually descended.
“I only need enough attack power to pierce its wing.”
“Understood. You currently possess around 150 million Coins, Kang Yujin. I’ll prepare something suitable for that amount.”
“You choose.”
Normally, No. 49 would waste time saying all kinds of unnecessary things.
But in urgent situations like this, he handled matters quickly.
A message appeared informing Kang Yujin that his Coins had been deducted.
At the same time, a spear appeared before him.
It was a simple spear without any special decorations.
However, when Kang Yujin grabbed it, its solid weight felt reassuring in his hand.
It’s coming.
Seok Taejun lowered the Chimera close to the ground.
Qiongqi followed it downward.
Kang Yujin took one deep breath and began running.
Then he drew out the full strength of his modified human body, strengthened by an S-Rank Engraving, and threw the spear toward Qiongqi’s right wing.
“Kaaaaaagh!”
The power of the thrown spear was on an entirely different level from an arrow.
The spear pierced straight through Qiongqi’s right wing.
Qiongqi screamed and rolled across the ground.
[A-Rank Constellation ‘Naval Commander Holding a Rake’ admires your excellent spear-throwing skills.]
[A-Rank Constellation ‘Naval Commander Holding a Rake’ sponsors you with 1,000,000 Coins.]
[A-Rank Constellation ‘Third Son of the God of War’ applauds your impressive martial prowess.]
[A-Rank Constellation ‘Third Son of the God of War’ sponsors you with 1,000,000 Coins.]
Praise from the Constellations continued.
But this wasn’t over yet.
“Grrrrrrrr!”
Qiongqi began forcing itself back to its feet.
Even if it could no longer use its wing, Qiongqi still possessed the body of a tiger.
They still had to face a terrifying tiger monster.
But Kang Yujin charged at it with his bare hands.
[C-Rank Constellation ‘Maid of the Chain Stratagem’ is startled.]
[B-Rank Constellation ‘Hunter Favored by the Moon Goddess’ shouts that it is dangerous.]
From a common-sense perspective, charging toward a monster like that without a weapon was practically suicide.
But Kang Yujin didn’t hesitate at all.
“Kaaaaaagh!”
He climbed onto Qiongqi’s back and wrapped his arms around its neck.
This wasn’t the first time he had fought a monster like this with his bare hands.
He had fought creatures such as Echidna without using any proper weapons either.
However, these creatures known as the Four Fiends possessed durability far beyond anything normal.
It would be difficult for Kang Yujin to kill Qiongqi simply by punching it.
Even though he knew that, Kang Yujin still chose to wrestle with the monster.
“Kugh…!”
Qiongqi’s thrashing claws tore into Kang Yujin’s body.
They weren’t shallow scratches.
Deep wounds opened, and blood sprayed from them.
But Kang Yujin ignored them completely.
He used all his strength to keep Qiongqi locked in place.
“Kaaaaaagh!”
“……!”
But Qiongqi’s strength was nothing to laugh at either.
It raised its head and tried to bite into Kang Yujin’s forearm.
At that moment, however, a glowing projectile fell from the sky and struck Qiongqi directly on the top of its head.
“Kang Yujin!”
Ju Minha, who was still riding the Chimera above, had supported him with her magic.
Thanks to her attack, Kang Yujin managed to secure his position and hold Qiongqi tightly.
“Seriously, you’re one crazy bastard.”
I Jukheon’s cold voice rang out.
“Still, I’ll do what you told me.”
I Jukheon was quite far away.
Because of that, Qiongqi probably wasn’t paying any attention to him at all.
But I Jukheon closed that distance in the blink of an eye.
“Besides, I just received another blessing.”
Using his Awakening Skill, I Jukheon moved at extreme speed.
He carried that momentum directly into his thrust.
His target—
Qiongqi’s right eye.
No matter how tough Qiongqi’s hide was, its eyeball couldn’t possibly be as hard as steel.
I Jukheon’s sword pierced directly through Qiongqi’s right eye.
—Nice!
—So Kang Yujin knew I Jukheon would be able to pierce its eye.
—I guess you could say Kang Yujin trusted I Jukheon’s skill.
—Among that group, I Jukheon really is the only one skilled enough to accurately stab the monster’s eye.
Qiongqi thrashed in pain after losing one of its eyes.
Taking advantage of the opening, Kang Yujin and the others attacked together.
Finally, Ju Minha fired more than ten light projectiles directly into Qiongqi’s open mouth.
Qiongqi couldn’t endure the impact from inside its own body.
It vomited blood and collapsed.
—That mage is surprisingly good too, isn’t she?
—Yeah. For a light projectile-type mage, she seems quite skilled.
—Why was a Contractor like her unknown until now?
—Apparently, she had been living quietly in the countryside.
—It would be nice if Kang Yujin’s Constellation contracted with that mage too.
The same opinion was appearing repeatedly in the Golden Horn chat.
Ju Minha seemed to worship Kang Yujin.
If she simply contracted with the same Constellation and started working alongside him as one unit, they would probably have excellent synergy.
—But that Contractor is already contracted with ‘Leader of the Expedition,’ isn’t she?
—What’s the problem? He’s only B-Rank, while Kang Yujin’s Constellation is S-Rank. Just steal her.
—Come on. From the way they cooperated during this broadcast, the two Constellations seem to be on friendly terms. There’s no way he’d do something like that.
—You never know. He might stab him in the back.
—I don’t think she’s valuable enough to go that far for.
A higher-ranked Constellation could steal away a Contractor who was contracted with a lower-ranked Constellation.
But just as the chat said, whether the Nameless Constellation would really go that far to take Ju Minha was another question.
Hold on.
The Observation Device continued showing praise for Kang Yujin’s group after they defeated both Taotie and Qiongqi.
But I was thinking about something completely different.
What should I do about this?
The person I was focusing on was none other than Ju Minha.
During the battle, a thought had suddenly occurred to me, so I used my Constellation Skill [Origin Insight] to check her Awakening Skill.
If she has an Awakening Skill like that… I really want to make her one of my Contractors.
That was right.
Ju Minha possessed an absurdly powerful Awakening Skill, one comparable to Seok Taejun’s.
Not only that, but Ju Minha was already quite skilled as a magic-attack-type Contractor.
If she contracted with me and received the benefits of an S-Rank Constellation, she would be able to grow much stronger.
But Jason has no reason to hand Ju Minha over to me.
Jason’s goal was to make his Contractor, Ju Minha, become Kang Yujin’s companion and raise his own Origin Power through her.
Unlike Ha Hu-eun before, he had absolutely no reason to give his Contractor to me.
“That was a very satisfying battle, Nameless Constellation.”
Unaware of what I was thinking, Jason spoke to me through the communication window in a relaxed voice.
“Especially at the end. My Contractor was the one who finished it off, wasn’t she? Ah, I feel a little bad about accidentally taking the final hit. Hahaha.”
“……”
“Still, your side can’t monopolize all the impressive moments. Everyone needs their chance to shine so the Constellations watching can enjoy themselves too, right? And from my perspective as well—”
“Leader of the Expedition.”
I cut Jason off and spoke calmly.
“I have a proposal.”
“Hmm? What is it?”
“I want you to give Ju Minha to me.”
“……”
Jason fell silent for a moment.
“I don’t think that’s appropriate, Nameless Constellation…”
“Have you forgotten that you once tried to take Kang Yujin away from me?”
“Back then, there was no connection between us. But isn’t it different now? We’ve already worked together like this. If you try to steal Ju Minha from me after all that… wouldn’t that be a pretty shameless thing to do?”
“Of course, I’m not asking you to give her to me for free.”
“What?”
“I can offer you more than enough compensation.”
Jason sounded confused.
I continued speaking calmly.
“How about I propose a new piece of content for us to create together?”
