Chapter 370
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 370
Chapter Title: The Constellation of the Black Star (6)
“What, what is this now?!”
Ha-eun screamed, standing on the mudflats that were churning like waves.
Her body swayed back and forth like one of those inflatable tube men at a grand opening.
Even with a superhuman body, it was difficult to maintain balance while sunk knee-deep in mud that was churning like the sea.
“Tsk.”
Oh-jin clicked his tongue, barely managing to keep his balance on the heaving mud.
Was he careless?
No, he had to admit this was simply shortsighted.
‘The reason they didn’t erase their footprints.’
If they had so boldly left their tracks yet remained hidden, there could only be one reason.
‘Were the footprints themselves the bait?’
They must have known that he would make a move if the Constellation of the Black Star appeared.
He had fallen for the bait beautifully.
“Hee-hee-hee-heeigh!”
A horde of fiends with the heads of horses emerged from the churning mudflats.
With wide, flipper-like webbing on the soles of their feet, they moved by sliding across the undulating mud as if riding surfboards.
After arriving on Earth through the black rift three days ago, they hadn’t gone anywhere, instead hiding themselves beneath these mudflats.
‘So that’s why we couldn’t find them.’
What was that saying about it being darkest under the lamppost?
He never imagined they would be waiting for him right where they first arrived, without moving a single step.
‘Still, though.’
Oh-jin looked at the horse-headed fiends, which were now even making horse-like whinnies.
A horse’s head, a body covered in hard scales, and hands and feet with webbing and sharp claws.
He had already seen them in the video, but still.
“Don’t tell me they look like that because they’re ‘Seahorse’ fiends?”
Good grief.
What a lazy design.
It was as if they were fiends created from a crude idea like, ‘They're seahorses, so they're sea horses, right? Then let's just take a merman-like body and slap a horse head on it!’
“Hee-hee-hee-heeigh!”
Whether they knew what Oh-jin was thinking or not.
The Seahorse fiends surrounded Oh-jin’s party, who were flailing in the mud, and let out bizarre, mocking cries.
One Seahorse fiend at the front raised its scale-covered arm.
*Crack.*
Its forearm split open, and a sharp, awl-like spine shot out.
A foul, fishy stench emanated from the violet liquid beaded on the tip of the spine.
‘Poison.’
Oh-jin narrowed his eyes, staring at the purple liquid.
He couldn't tell if it was the same type of Hippocampus poison that had afflicted Yoko before, but getting poisoned would undoubtedly be a major hassle.
*Swoooosh!*
The Seahorse fiend slid across the surging mud as if riding a wave.
The sharp spine lunged for Oh-jin’s throat.
It was a tricky attack to dodge while sunk knee-deep in mud, unable to move properly, but…
“Your attacks are as lazy as your design.”
Oh-jin used Lightning Step to leap into the air, effortlessly dodging the spine.
“Hmph.”
He drew Dantalian from his waist, transformed it into a spear, and, holding it in a reverse grip, plunged it straight down.
The spear pierced the Seahorse fiend’s brow, ran through its body, and embedded itself in the ground.
An instant kill, with no time to even scream.
Landing back on the mud, Oh-jin reached out toward the spear stuck in the fiend’s head.
*Cruuunch!*
Shattering its skull, the spear lodged in the fiend’s head slid out as if alive and returned to Oh-jin’s hand.
‘It’s inconvenient to move, but…’
He hadn’t lived a life so soft that a little inconvenience would leave him helpless.
Of course.
The same was true for his companions, gathered here to fight the ‘Constellation of the Black Star’.
“Haaaaaaaaaah!”
With a roar that was nearly a sonic boom, Sakaki grabbed the shoulder of a charging Seahorse fiend.
He held it tight so it couldn’t escape, then slammed his forehead down like a hammer.
“Uraaaaaaah!”
*CRACK!*
The Seahorse fiend’s head caved in.
Sakaki grabbed the fiend by its crushed head and hurled it at the approaching horde.
The fiend's body, weighing hundreds of kilograms, shot forward like a cannonball.
“Are you watching, Koshiroooo! A real man overcomes a disadvantage like this with pure fighting spirit!”
“Yes, Oyabun!”
Koshiro replied with a powerful voice, spreading his arms wide.
The Stigma of Scutum glowed, creating dozens of translucent shields around his body.
“Guard!”
The dozens of shields, spread out like a curtain in the air, shot toward the horde of Seahorse fiends.
*Hee-hee-heeigh!*
Pushed back by the translucent shields flying in from all sides, the Seahorse fiends were knocked back, rolling on the sticky mud.
The attack itself had almost no offensive power, only managing to push back the tide of fiends for a moment, but…
That was more than enough to create an opening for a counterattack.
“I’ll borrow your shields for a moment!”
Lee Woo-hyeok drew the sword from his waist and jumped onto one of the translucent shields hovering in the air.
Landing on the shield with the agility of a cat, Lee Woo-hyeok raised his drawn sword high.
“Rage forth!”
The Stigma of Leo shone with intense light as a savage gale began to blow.
A gale composed entirely of sharp sword ki.
The ferocious storm gathered around Lee Woo-hyeok’s upraised sword.
“Hup!”
Lee Woo-hyeok sprinted, jumping from shield to shield as if crossing stepping stones.
He fiercely swung the gale-infused sword at the Seahorse fiends that had been knocked down and blocked by the shields.
*Kwa-dudududuk!*
The fiends’ bodies were torn apart as if mauled by a lion’s fangs.
Red blood splattered onto the mud.
“Hoo.”
Having wiped out dozens of Seahorse fiends in a single blow, Lee Woo-hyeok let out a short breath and landed back on the mud.
“Out of the way, out of the way, out of the way!”
“Hm?”
Just then, he heard an urgent voice.
Following his instincts, Lee Woo-hyeok quickly moved aside.
And then.
*Fwoooooosh!*
A massive wave of fire swept over the Seahorse fiends crawling up from the mud.
An intense heat storm blasted the area, so powerful that the soggy mud instantly dried up like a barren desert.
“Keuk!”
A low groan escaped Lee Woo-hyeok’s lips.
Even from a considerable distance, enough heat washed over him to scorch his skin.
For the skin of a high-ranking Awakened to be seared meant that a lesser Awakened would have been cooked to a crisp just from the ambient heat.
‘Just what kind of power is…!’
Lee Woo-hyeok turned, his eyes wide with shock, to where the flames had erupted.
There stood Ha-eun, her eyepatch removed, scratching her head with an awkward smile.
“Ehehe. Sorry, I still have trouble controlling my firepower~”
“…”
She created that inferno with such a carefree expression?
Lee Woo-hyeok shook his head, a look of disbelief on his face.
“Ugh. Damn, it’s so hard to move in this.”
Ha-eun frowned, looking down at the mud that now came up to her thighs.
She looked at the dried mud where the intense flames had evaporated all the moisture and shouted.
“Oh-jin! Should I just scorch this whole place and dry it all up?”
“Wait a moment.”
With Ha-eun’s power, she could engulf the area in flames and dry the mud, but doing so would sweep up everyone else as well.
‘And.’
Oh-jin narrowed his eyes, examining the spot where Ha-eun had unleashed her fire.
The mud, which had dried out from the incredible heat, was instantly becoming damp again, turning back into sticky sludge.
‘Evaporating the moisture is useless.’
This place was connected to the sea.
If it evaporated, it would simply be replenished.
“Keuk! M-Mr. Oh-jin! The mud is getting deeper!”
Lee Woo-hyeok, who had been savagely slaughtering the Seahorse fiends, shouted with a frown.
Just as he said.
Their legs, which had been sunk to their knees, were now submerged to their thighs.
It was as if they were being sucked into a swamp.
‘Wait.’
Getting deeper?
“…”
Oh-jin narrowed his eyes and scanned his surroundings.
One thing.
Something that should be here was missing.
“…Where is it?”
[What are you looking for?]
“I’m talking about that bastard, the Constellation of Hippocampus.”
Right now, with the Seahorse fiends swarming them from the mudflats like a hive of bees.
This would be the perfect time to pick off the party members one by one.
So where was the Constellation of Hippocampus, Anseladus?
[Is he not just watching from the sidelines? A Constellation might be inclined to underestimate you for being a mere human.]
“Would someone like that set a trap like this?”
If Anseladus was truly underestimating them.
There would have been no reason to set such a troublesome trap in the first place.
For him not to appear despite not underestimating them meant…
“Ha.”
As his thoughts connected, a low, dry laugh escaped Oh-jin’s lips, and he wiped his face with his hand.
“…I was thinking about this all wrong.”
He bit his lip, staring at the horde of Seahorse fiends crawling out of the mud.
‘This wasn't an ambush to take advantage of the terrain.’
He had been mistaken.
He had jumped to the wrong conclusion.
Because it was connected to the sea, because it was made of sticky mud.
He had naturally assumed this was a mudflat.
“This isn’t a mudflat.”
This is.
A ‘swamp’.
“Those Seahorse fiends were just bait to keep us trapped here from the start.”
It wasn’t an ambush using the terrain’s advantage.
The terrain itself was the most dangerous attack.
*Ruuuumble!*
Their bodies, which had been sunk to their thighs, were now submerged to their waists in an instant.
“Wh-what is this?”
Ha-eun tried to pull herself out of the mud in a panic, but her body wouldn’t budge, as if a giant beast were pulling her down.
“Mr. Oh-jin, this is…”
Lee Woo-hyeok looked at Oh-jin, his expression hardened.
No matter how hard it was to escape mud, that was for ordinary people.
Everyone gathered here was a high-ranking Awakened, at 9-Star or above.
They were superhumans who could easily escape even if buried up to their necks in dirt.
However.
“Keuk! O-Oyabun, my body…!”
“Koshiro! It’s all about spirit! Endure it with spirit!”
The mud… no, the swamp swallowing them held them fast, preventing even their superhuman bodies from escaping as it pulled them down violently.
It was a supernatural phenomenon, as if the entire land, stretching for kilometers, were alive.
There could only be one being capable of causing such a phenomenon.
And that being was now hiding below, in the swamp, pulling them down.
“Vega.”
[M-My child! We must escape this place at once!]
“I know.”
Oh-jin took off the wire shooter on his wrist and handed it to Vega.
[What is this…?]
“Use the wire to tie up the others and pass it to Mr. Sakaki.”
To escape the swamp, they needed the monstrous strength of an Awakened of Taurus.
[I-I understand!]
Vega swiftly zipped through the air, tying the wire around Ha-eun, Lee Woo-hyeok, and Koshiro, then delivered the wire shooter to Sakaki.
Sakaki took the shooter with the attached wire and turned his head toward Oh-jin.
“What am I supposed to do with this, Brother Oh-jin!”
“Use Koshiro’s shields as footholds and pull everyone out of the swamp!”
“But even if I do that…”
Sakaki looked around with a troubled expression.
The swamp engulfing the coastline spanned several kilometers.
Even if he pulled them out, they would just fall back into the swamp unless they could fly.
“Ten seconds is all I need.”
“Grr. Alright.”
Sakaki nodded and shouted toward Koshiro.
“Koshiroooooo! Send your shields over here!”
“Yes, Oyabun!”
Translucent shields flew toward Sakaki.
“Huuuuuuuup!”
The Stigma of Taurus blazed brightly as Sakaki’s legs broke free from the mud.
Standing on the shield Koshiro had created, Sakaki stomped down hard.
“Uraaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
*BOOOOOOM!*
Sakaki shot dozens of meters into the air.
“Kyaaaaaaah! I’m flying! Flying!”
“Ugh…!”
Ha-eun, Lee Woo-hyeok, and Koshiro, all connected by the wire, were also lifted into the air with Sakaki.
They couldn't fly, so they would soon fall back into the swamp, but…
“Alright, then.”
That much time was enough.
*Bzzzzzzzzzt!*
A fierce blue lightning erupted.
Oh-jin’s right arm exploded, and from within, an arm made of pure lightning emerged.
Plunging the Arm of the Thunder God deep into the swamp, Oh-jin’s lips twisted into a smirk.
“Stop hiding and come out, you horse-headed bastard.”
*KRA-ZA-ZA-ZA-ZAK!*
A torrent of lightning imbued with formidable power spread throughout the entire swamp.