Chapter 23
Chapter 23
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Chapter 23
-----------------------------------------------------------------
```html
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Constellation Gallery EP.22
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Kyaaak!”
Screams erupted.
From the women who had been holding their breath, just watching even when a bullet lodged into a person's skull moments ago.
Their gazes turned to that place.
There, familiar monsters had already revealed themselves. Ghouls, and Deadmask Archers.
However.
‘...Something’s different.’
I furrowed my brows.
Among them, there was one that was clearly different from what I’d seen before.
A ghoul with crimson teeth that I was seeing for the first time.
‘Probably a High-grade Ghoul.’
I instantly opened the Constellation Gallery.
Sure enough, related posts were already up.
‘Bleeding that won't stop, that's annoying.’
At that moment, an arrow flew.
I took the arrow while shouting to the women behind me.
“I'll handle it, so don't be too scared!”
“I know who looks the most dangerous right now, right?”
I understood why Tulip said that.
Being able to speak so leisurely now must mean she doesn't feel greatly threatened.
‘Tulip's already gotten quite used to this.’
But I know it's not just a simple joke.
Combined with my attire, I killed a person without any hesitation, without qualms.
In their eyes, I might seem scarier than the monsters.
‘That's why I said it like that.’
This was all intentional on my part.
I deliberately lured these monsters by firing gunshots outside.
To let them know who the real protector is, and who's more threatening to the thugs.
‘I did it thinking there were many thugs inside...’
Anyway, I planned to grab food and leave without bloodshed, but overreacted using the padlip as an excuse.
What's done is done.
“Tulip, you support... ah, you might not know that term, so cover me.”
“Cover?”
“Support fire. No, just ignore me and hunt the monsters together. Got it?”
Tulip, pondering briefly, soon summoned her bow as if understanding.
Then me too.
Shuuuk!
Space warped like twisting, and Grave of Ten Thousand Demons appeared in my hand.
At that time, the man who had guided me looked at me and said lowly.
“...As expected. I didn't see wrong earlier.”
“Is that important right now?”
He shut his mouth briefly.
Then, in a voice like swallowing bitterness,
“This time only, temporary alliance.”
“Fuck off, third-rate villain.”
I spat that and started running, deflecting the incoming arrow with my sword.
Tulip reacted immediately.
Puk!
Her shot arrow precisely pierced the archer's head again.
“Good, Tulip! Faster, don't mind me, just shoot wildly!”
“Graaaak!”
A monstrous roar echoed.
My body reacted instinctively.
I kicked off the ground and leaped back.
Chok!
The spot I had been in moments ago.
Sharp ghoul claws shredded it.
It opened its mouth, revealing red teeth.
Its eyes were dyed in manic bloodlust, and blackish saliva dripped from its torn mouth corners.
“...Tch.”
I briefly readjusted my grip on the sword.
Definitely different from Mid-grade Ghouls.
Behind me, the Constellation Gallery was in an uproar.
I calmly lowered my stance.
“Tulip!”
“Yes!”
“You take the people and fall back as much as possible!”
She froze momentarily.
But soon nodded, as if trusting me.
“Yes, be careful!”
“Careful my ass.”
I gripped Grave of Ten Thousand Demons tightly.
“This guy's gonna catch it.”
At that instant, the High-grade Ghoul lunged at me.
“Graaaak!”
Fast speed.
Need to fight at range.
I twisted my body and threw the sword.
Shuuuk! Puk!
The flying blade pierced the ghoul's head.
But.
“Grulk...!”
It looked at me unfazed even with a hole in its head.
Instantly, a post went up in the Constellation Gallery.
So that's how it was.
Would be nice if they told vital spot locations.
‘...Tougher than I thought.’
I recalled the sword to my hand.
I felt its heavy weight in my palm.
At that moment, the High-grade Ghoul vanished.
“...”
No, it hadn't vanished.
I instinctively ducked my body.
Kwaaang!!!
Display shelves behind exploded like a blast.
When I turned, it had vanished again somewhere.
“Hiding presence... completely.”
One of its features.
Hides presence more skillfully than Mid-grade Ghouls.
So I momentarily lost its position.
‘But it's not turning invisible, right?’
I held my position.
‘Come on.’
I held my breath and slowly raised the sword.
Soon, the reappeared High-grade Ghoul charged at me with tremendous speed.
But my sword was faster.
Seogeok!
The head was severed.
The ghoul lay pretending to be dead.
“Sorry, but pretending to be dead won't work.”
No kill alert had popped.
While dicing up the body like chopped vegetables, it was when I touched near the heart.
Ding!
“Found it. Weak point.”
Simultaneously, the pattern on the blade flickered blood-red briefly before fading.
‘Why blood-red this time?’
Fuck if I know.
I smirked slightly and turned my gaze.
“Alright, Tulip! Time to collect the loot~”
*
First, the woman who had been in the mart swallowed hard.
The scene before her eyes didn't look real at all.
Until now, it had been a series of unreal events, but this was on another level.
Puk! Puk! Puk!
Arrows flew nimbly and quietly one after another.
The arrows shot by the young girl never once missed a monster.
Her aim was always on the enemy's heart or head.
Every one was a precise fatal blow.
“...Impossible.”
The woman murmured unconsciously.
Just surviving here was a miracle.
Yet this girl wielded an inexplicable bow and kept hunting monsters.
And so casually, at that.
But there was an even more overwhelming presence.
Gulp.
A human closer to a monster than even the girl.
The woman looked again at the man she had seen earlier that day.
“...!”
He was no longer the man she had seen during the day.
Even at first sight, he hadn't been an ordinary person.
He was the madman smashing a monster's head with a frying pan.
But now, he was different.
‘That's not just a madman.’
...That's utterly insane.
He reappeared in bizarre garb, pushing through the narrow aisles, mercilessly slashing the monsters.
The sword in the man's hand gleamed.
The long corridor inside the mart sparkled like shattered crystal.
The man was a merciless storm passing through its center.
His sword swung like fate itself, tracing black arcs in the air.
The monsters crumbled slowly before his power, his movements harmonious like a precise performance.
The ceaseless flashes blooming from his sword tip devoured the enemies' lives like meteors streaking across the night sky.
After he passed, only black shadows remained.
‘I've never seen a devil before, but...’
That was devilish.
No, perhaps a demon king.
That was the feeling.
Before long, the battle ended.
The man passed nonchalantly through the strewn monster corpses and walked toward her.
Then, he stopped quietly in front of her and opened his mouth.
“Any contracts come?”
“...Yes?”
```