Chapter 178
Chapter 178
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 178
Chapter Title: Fate Won't Let Him Be
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One, was it that fate wouldn't leave him alone?
In the midst of utterly peaceful daily life shuttling between the frontline city and Iron Fortress, an unwanted guest arrived.
It was Tritonias, the S-class Hunter from the Olympus Guild stationed in Korea—an guest who couldn't simply be ignored.
Yoo Seongwon had no choice but to go out and greet him.
"Oh? What brings you here from Olympus, Tritonias? Is it about the incident in Japan?"
"No. That's already settled, so there's no need to mention it further. More than that, you're truly impressive. To survive a fight to the end against Perseia, who wore the throne of the Underworld Queen... It's the talk of the entire guild."
"Are you here to taunt me?"
"Ah, no! It's just that the battle between such heavyweights generated a lot of buzz."
As an apostle of the constellation Hades and having obtained a special divine blessing that surpassed a mere hero's grace, Perseia's clash with Korea's rising new powerhouse, the SS-class Hunter, wasn't just a matter between two organizations—it was the interest of all Awakeners and Hunters.
Of course, opinions leaned toward Yoo Seongwon, who withdrew after mediation, being judged the loser, but his tenacity in enduring and fighting on was still receiving praise.
"It was an opponent way beyond expectations. What was that about the underworld or realm of death? It was terrifying."
"That's something even we can't help. Rather, she praised you in return."
"...Lip service, probably. Anyway, enough of that. Get to the point. Why are you here? You're not just here for post-battle commentary..."
"It's about the constellation 66 Heavenly Demons. Korea handled it swiftly and cleanly without expanding the frontlines, but the places the Japanese spread them to have suffered massive damage."
Constellation 66 Heavenly Demons.
The command units of the constellation '66 Heavenly Demons,' known for endless war, had succeeded in a deal with the Japanese government to move their grand generals to Korea and other continents, resulting in the monsters of the 66 Heavenly Demons, originally confined to Japan, appearing worldwide.
"They spread them to a total of four places. America, Korea, Australia, and one that was originally heading to Russia but turned around to China because the Japanese noticed we caught on! Unlike here, where it was cleanly blocked, the others are vast lands where control doesn't reach everywhere, many areas lack portal monitoring devices, so they've suffered more damage than expected, and the commanders are occupying wide territories while building up their forces."
"How unfortunate."
"America took a hit too, but China and Australia are especially severe... As you know, the problem is their land is too vast for control to cover everywhere, so no matter how many commander armies they smash, the numbers keep coming."
"Th... Can't they catch the grand generals? They're S-class monsters, but not at an uncatchable level..."
"Unlike regular wild monsters, those grand generals are strategists and soldiers each and every one. They know how to avoid danger, and they hold infinite troops that need no supplies, so it's not easy no matter how hard they try to catch them."
As he listened to the explanation, Yoo Seongwon recalled his previous encounter with the Azure Army Grand General.
Indeed, the Dark Army Grand General had staked his fate on a fair duel due to a fateful grudge with Gaulph by chance, but the Azure Army Grand General had coldly judged the situation and withdrawn his army like a true commander.
"Here are some records, but it's a real headache. Mobile warfare, night raids, plundering, destruction and murder, opponents with infinite troops... More appear than the dungeons we clear, and supply lines get cut all the time. Why the hell do they even use cavalry?"
"Ah~ The commander warriors? There were some riding horses. So, what's the conclusion? Are you asking me to go provide support somewhere?"
"No. It's different. Hunter Yoo Seongwon, our Olympus Guild... wants to request that you tackle the core dungeon of the 66 Heavenly Demons."
"What?"
Yoo Seongwon looked at him with a dumbfounded expression at Tritonias's words.
Core dungeon of a constellation.
It was the central hub and core that maintained the existence of the constellations invading this world—a place that could be seen as such.
And inside it were naturally places guarded by the 'constellation's avatar' and all the apostles of the constellations, with different laws from other dungeons, possibly powerful enemies, a dungeon where even multiple S-class Hunters couldn't guarantee conquest.
"...Are you sane? Asking me to tackle it? No, what are your Olympus Hunters, stronger than me, doing?"
"Don't you know what we're fighting? If we had excess strong forces, we'd have entered Korea long ago to start operations. But across the world, there are existences more terrifying than the 66 Heavenly Demons or the constellation Slaughter King. For example, the constellation 'Eternal Wrath.' This constellation in the middle of the Pacific... is devouring this world right now."
"...Devouring the world? What do you mean?"
"Physically devouring it. It descends as an avatar in the form of a massive whale-like creature and eats the seawater and underground land! Then it excretes the digested matter back to the dimension and stars it rules, transforming them into new worlds."
"...Ah! I know. That one... the one that takes about 2,000 years to eat everything, so we just left it alone."
"It says 2,000 years to eat everything, but in two or three hundred years, the natural ecosystem will start collapsing. And that's not all. The constellation Frozen Ruler coming down from the Arctic and Russia, the constellation Qin Emperor in China, then Kilimanjaro! India! Europe! South America!"
Tritonias vented passionately about the Olympus Guild's hardships operating on a global scale.
There were apostles and subordinates of the 12 constellations, numerous sky islands, but covering the great evils descended on this Earth used all their power and still fell short—that was reality.
"To put it bluntly, without our Olympus Guild, the world would be as good as doomed."
"For a group like that, you seemed to be living well here as one of the top three guilds..."
"This place was at least manageable. The Seoul Guild was shit, but the Blue Dragon Guild was doing decently under the constellation of 'Struggle.' So we didn't compete and just recruited personnel..."
"Alright, I get that you have no spare capacity. But telling us to tackle the core dungeon alone? Isn't that going too far?"
"Going too far? If anything, you're the strange one! Do you know how many SS-class and S-class Hunters are in this small city? You can even 'summon' knights with S-class Hunter capabilities, right? It's weirder to have that potential and do nothing. Do you know how hard it is to find even one S-class?"
Even considering the existing number of S-class Hunters, Japan had 16, Korea 10—that included elderly and children, making S-class Hunters extremely precious.
There were cases of treating such precious manpower lightly, but they were so hard to obtain that from B-class up, they weren't just gathered and managed for no reason.
On the other hand, what about Yoo Seongwon? Not only with knights each able to rival S-class monsters, but his existing S-class numbers were growing by picking up or recruiting from elsewhere.
"Just the S-class forces under this Iron Fortress! You and the knights make 8! Plus regular S-class Hunters: three brought from Japan and three from Korea, totaling 6. Combined, 14! That's equivalent to possessing S-class on a national scale."
"Having many S-class doesn't obligate me to go to the core dungeon. How I live until the world ends is my choice."
"Are you really going to do this? Don't you have any thoughts about the power given to you?"
Finally, angered by Yoo Seongwon's attitude, Tritonias spat out what he'd been holding back, but there was no reaction.
No matter what resentment he heard, he had no intention of going to the core dungeon.
It was a place you couldn't go without heroic sentiments. Even if you succeeded and returned, people would quickly forget the favor or just fight over the items obtained there.
"Nah, I won't listen. Everyone makes mistakes, maybe the gods did too. And aren't you Olympus the arrogant ones? Thinking you're protecting the world but actually causing harm?"
"A string of rude remarks."
"Well... You have the power to crush Japan in one go but left the world to rot, and you haven't tackled the core dungeon either. If you planned to, you could've asked us to cover your frontlines and sent your Hunters... Why single me out? Weird, right?"
"Haaa~ I'll explain why that's not possible too. As you know, Olympus Guild is structured under the 12 constellations ruling together, with various mythological 'blessings' bestowed on the apostles below. You know? I have the 'Blessing of Triton.'"
"Yeah, I know."
"So many imagined: gather the Greek mythology all-star heroes and clear the core dungeon, right?"
It must have been heart-pounding just to imagine for the masses.
The thought that heroes with mythological 'blessings' gathered in this era would wield tremendous power. Like Heracles with Achilles covering his back?
Advancing with soldiers trained under Chiron.
But imagination is just imagination; reality was harsh.
"They all have strong individual prides, and unless under the same 'constellation,' there's chaos and poor cooperation. Also, the 'blessings' tend to include flaws from the motivating myths or legends..."
"And?"
"We've failed several times already. The invading evil constellations aren't fools. Because those with 'myth, legend blessings' are so famous, their weaknesses are clear. Once in their domain, they exploit them without fail."
"...Ah!"
It could be seen as a weakness of the Olympus Guild itself.
Bestowing a 'blessing' on a suitable person immediately produces a reliable, powerful Hunter, but it comes with weaknesses tied to what that 'blessing' is.
"For example, one with 'Achilles' Blessing'... Everyone targets the heel blatantly. In external battles, it's easy to protect with other Hunters, soldiers, equipment, and support, but the core dungeon is the enemy 'constellation's' domain. Very hard to guard."
"That's a problem."
"On the other hand, Hunter Yoo Seongwon's forces are all united in loyalty under one individual, composed of diverse races and people, no aversion to advanced tech, high resolve under the single purpose of chivalry. Plus, no clear weaknesses. Perfect team for conquest."
"Hmm..."
Hearing Olympus Guild's weaknesses, Tritonias's words were quite persuasive.
He understood they were asking him because their traits favored external defense but were disadvantageous for core dungeons. Still, it wasn't easy to accept.
"My life is at stake too, but the problem is the people I'm protecting. As you know, including me, the 8 are knights who vanish if I die. Losing command would be trouble."
"We can solve that part for you."
"Yeah, seeing what you did in Japan, probably. But still, I need to discuss it. You'll give me that much leeway, right?"
"Yes. Of course. Then I'll see you next time."
After sending Tritonias off, Yoo Seongwon spent a moment alone, excluding others, lost in thought.
Gazing at the status window full of ??? that appeared before his eyes again, various thoughts came to him.
It had been suspicious from the start.
There was no way they'd awaken someone like him and leave it at that—from the armor he wore to the knight summon skill. It started with overly exceptional perks making him grow strong easily and quickly, with the only trait restriction being 'chivalry.'
[???]
[1/???]
"Yeah, I've lived well with this, so now do some work, huh?"
When he toppled the Blue Dragon Guild and made the constellation Blue Dragon vanish from Earth, he'd vaguely guessed.
His mission, what he had to do.
After closing his eyes briefly in anguish over what to do, Yoo Seongwon decided to gather the people.