Chapter 233. Full-Scale Confrontation (1)
At some point, rain had begun pouring down.
Even though he needed to go support his allies, Kang Yujin couldn’t move.
The girl he had met on the outskirts of Kolkata before...
Christina Stauffenbeck...
was blocking his path.
“What the hell are you?”
He tried to force his way past her.
But she refused to let him through.
“I already introduced myself.”
“I’m asking what you are.”
“You still haven’t figured it out?”
"..."
Kang Yujin bit his lip as she played innocent.
Then, immediately afterward...
“Balmung, Maximum Manifestation.”
A broad greatsword appeared in her hand.
It looked far too heavy for a teenage girl to wield.
But Christina swung it one-handed without the slightest change in expression.
"...!"
An unimaginable impact slammed into Kang Yujin.
“Kang Yujin!”
Seeing the woman named Christina clash with Kang Yujin, Seok Taejun hurriedly tried to join him.
“Giant’s Sword, Maximum Manifestation.”
At that exact moment, an enormous blade swept past right in front of Seok Taejun’s face.
Had he taken even one more step forward...
his face would have been completely sliced apart.
"...!"
It was a huge woman.
She held a greatsword nearly two meters long and stared at him.
“Who are you?!”
“Sylvia Klaber.”
She chewed her gum noisily and answered in an indifferent voice.
“I’m that girl’s partner.”
“I’m contracted with the S-rank Constellation ‘Hero King of Monstrous Strength,’ Beowulf.”
“The Hero King of Monstrous Strength...!”
Seok Taejun still remembered.
Choi Cheolmin, one of the former Eight Guardians, had been contracted with Beowulf.
She said Maximum Manifestation just now.
Is she Beowulf’s most favored Contractor?
Seok Taejun cautiously retreated with his chimera.
Choi Cheolmin had possessed enough monstrous strength to compete directly with Kang Yujin.
If this Sylvia woman was the same type of Contractor...
she was probably even stronger.
If this turns into a contest of strength, I’m at a disadvantage.
I need to keep moving quickly with the chimera...
He tried to engage her together with the chimera.
But Sylvia’s wide-ranging attacks kept interfering with his movement.
Wait... I remember now!
Cheon Sangwoon had once mentioned something.
There was a two-woman Contractor team active throughout the Mediterranean region.
They were contracted with Siegfried and Beowulf respectively, and both were said to be absurdly powerful.
People even claimed they were among the top three Contractors on Earth.
And now...
those two women were standing right in front of him.
“Don’t worry. I’m not trying to kill you.”
Sylvia spoke coldly, treating Seok Taejun as though he were a child.
“My only goal is to stop you from interfering with Christina’s fight against Kang Yujin.”
─ Christina Stauffenbeck and Sylvia Klaber...!
─ You know them? I think I’ve heard those names before.
─ They’re famous among Constellations who watch the Mediterranean region a lot!
─ They’re both refugees, but their abilities are insane!
Reading the messages appearing in the chat, Geumgak bit his lip.
He didn’t watch Europe very often, but even he had heard the names Christina and Sylvia.
They were a highly skilled two-woman team who had cleared numerous Scenarios together.
There were even claims that their combined combat power rivaled all of Round.
─ But if those two suddenly appeared and blocked Kang Yujin’s group...
─ Don’t tell me... the Dragon-Slaying Immortal sent them?
─ Christina should be the Dragon-Slaying Immortal’s Contractor!
─ Sylvia is probably the Hero King of Monstrous Strength’s Contractor...
─ Does that mean the Hero King of Monstrous Strength is cooperating with the Dragon-Slaying Immortal too?
─ Looks like they sent their own Contractors to eliminate the Nameless King’s Contractors.
─ How strong is Christina? Can she really fight Kang Yujin?
─ Exactly. She looks way too slim.
─ Isn’t judging her by appearance a little naive?
─ Body size and muscle mass still matter in combat.
─ But Kang Yujin isn’t covered in bulging muscles either.
─ His muscles are just extremely dense and efficient. That girl is skinny.
─ You seriously don’t know anything.
─ Just watch.
And then...
on the Observer screen, Kang Yujin was sent flying backward by a single strike from Christina.
This power...!
Kang Yujin sucked in a breath as he was pushed backward.
He had blocked Christina’s sword with [Protective Aura].
But he still couldn’t completely withstand the impact.
Strength approaching Heracles...!
Aside from Heracles, whom he had fought recently, Kang Yujin had never encountered anyone with this much strength.
But Christina was a relatively slim teenage girl.
And it didn’t feel as though she was reinforcing her body with internal energy, magic, or any similar power.
Then...
“Are you a Vessel?”
“Took you long enough, Kang Yujin.”
Christina showed him her slender forearm.
“If I weren’t a Vessel, how could I possibly produce enough strength to surpass you with this little muscle?”
“I never expected there to be a female Vessel.”
Lucifer was male.
Kang Yujin had simply assumed all of his Vessels would be male too.
“Aren’t angels supposed to have no gender?”
“Fallen angels should be the same, so gender probably doesn’t matter.”
“I guess we can ask Ha Mina next time.”
Though Ha Mina was currently asleep in Seoul.
“So you came to settle things with me?”
“As a Vessel?”
Kang Yujin glared at Christina as he asked.
“Sorry, but can we do this later?”
“Demons are attacking this city right now.”
“I know.”
“What?”
“I know all about it.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You don’t care that demons are invading?”
Could this girl...
actually be trying to become Lucifer?
Considering why the Vessels had been created, it was entirely possible.
“I heard the Demon God-class demons here are extremely strong.”
“Seems that way.”
“Especially the one called Moloch...”
“I heard he’s powerful enough to lead an entire faction within Pandemonium.”
“So you’re saying you have to go stop him?”
“Yes.”
“Absolutely.”
Kang Yujin emphasized the words.
The message was clear.
If she interfered any further...
he wouldn’t tolerate it.
“How funny.”
But Christina merely smiled calmly.
“Wahaha! Flying through the sky in the rain is weirdly exciting!”
“Stop saying stupid things and focus on controlling the Hippogriff!”
Riding the Hippogriff, I was flying over Kolkata with Astolfo.
I had left the slum district where Cheon Sangwoon and Lee Hyeonje were fighting to Bradamante and Renaud.
Meanwhile, the road where Lee Jukheon and Joo Minha were located was being reinforced by the Knights of the Round Table under Mordred.
Three of the five Demon God-class demons are already dead.
Glasya-Labolas, Marchosias, and Dantalion had all been eliminated.
That left Barbatos and Moloch.
Barbatos seemed to be approaching through the road, so the Knights of the Round Table could handle him.
But we still hadn’t confirmed where Moloch was entering from.
And if my prediction is right...
Around the time our Constellations and Contractors had mostly dealt with the demons...
Merlin and the Constellations under him would appear.
They would probably deploy a barrier or something similar and create an environment where we had no choice but to fight.
Then they would try to eliminate us.
If that happens... both sides will be forced into a direct confrontation.
Whether they fought personally or used Contractors...
what was the biggest concern when Constellations fought other Constellations?
Being exposed to the eyes of other Constellations.
If the battle took place somewhere outside observation, such as Pandemonium territory or within the Count of Monte Cristo’s Constellation Skill [Fortress Prison], that was one thing.
But if Constellations fought in a normal human-populated region...
other Constellations would inevitably see it.
And Constellations didn’t judge only who won or lost.
They also judged whether the battle itself was justified.
Even if someone won, if it was the kind of victory that made others curse them, their reputation would fall and negatively affect their Origin Power.
If bad rumors spread, their Origin Power could continue decreasing and deal them a serious blow.
That was why fair fights were preferred.
Schemes were acceptable, but they couldn’t look filthy or cowardly.
And if someone fled simply because the situation turned unfavorable...
the penalty could be even worse.
Of course, surviving was more important.
But depending on the situation, the humiliation could become worse than death.
That’s why public opinion matters.
If a direct confrontation was unavoidable, securing legitimacy became even more important.
We are right, and they are wrong.
We needed to make that point as clearly as possible.
It would affect our allies’ morale.
And even if we lost, we could still retain support from other Constellations.
In the worst case...
we could be mocked for starting an unjustified fight and then losing anyway.
Which means Merlin...
Criticizing me through Siegfried alone wouldn’t be enough.
Separate from gathering enough strength to win the battle, he would also try to persuade the other Constellations that his side was justified.
If my prediction is correct...
As I thought that while looking down over the rain-soaked streets of Kolkata...
WHOOOOSH!
A massive spear flew through the air and pierced straight through the Hippogriff’s body.
“Moloch... you said you need to go defeat him, right?”
Christina swept her rain-soaked hair back.
“Is that really so important?”
“More important than staying here with me?”
“I don’t know why you keep phrasing it like that, but obviously fighting Moloch is more important.”
“Fine. I understand.”
Christina nodded.
“But there’s no need.”
“What?”
“I said there’s no need to fight Moloch.”
As she spoke, Christina raised one arm...
and reached into empty space.
“I already killed him.”
“What?”
Christina pulled something from her inventory.
A bull’s head.
It wasn’t an ordinary bull.
The horns were twisted grotesquely, and the face had something almost human about it.
“This is Moloch’s head.”
"...!"
Why was Moloch’s head here?
“He was trying to infiltrate by circling around from the south while hiding himself with concealment magic.”
“So I ambushed him and cut his head off immediately.”
“You... defeated Moloch?”
“Yeah.”
“And...”
Christina turned her head west.
“One of our other Contractors is probably taking care of another demon right now.”
“What?”
“Barbatos...!”
After Dantalion, who had acted as the vanguard, was defeated, the Knights of the Round Table had been holding back the demons pouring in along the road.
Mordred, Lancelot, Gawain, Galahad, and the others slaughtered the demons using their sacred equipment.
The only Demon God-class demon left there was Barbatos.
And then...
something strange happened to him.
“His neck... turned all the way around?”
Someone appeared behind Barbatos and twisted his neck.
Not merely snapping it.
They turned it a full three hundred and sixty degrees.
Then...
they didn’t stop there.
They ripped his head completely off.
"..."
Lancelot, Gawain, Galahad, and the other renowned Knights of the Round Table fell silent at the sight.
Someone had pulled the head off a Demon God-class demon with their bare hands.
It was almost impossible to believe.
If there was anyone capable of such a thing...
“Heracles...!”
Mordred raised his voice when a huge man walked out through the rain.
But Heracles hadn’t been the one who tore off Barbatos’s head.
“Who is that man...?!”
A human who looked almost like Heracles’s twin...
was walking behind him.
“My Contractor.”
“His name is Alexandros.”
“Alexandros?”
“Don’t tell me that’s Heracles’s successor, the strongest Contractor in Greece?!”
“One of the three strongest Contractors currently alive...!”
As the Constellations reacted in shock, Heracles spoke solemnly.
“Do not move from there, knights.”
"...!"
“If you attack, my Contractor and I will face you.”
“But I suggest you wait a little.”
Standing beside his Contractor in the rain, Heracles continued.
“Merlin is about to make a statement.”
Nameless...!
The moment Number 49 saw the Hippogriff falling, she forgot about her assigned role and flew toward it.
Nameless wasn’t directly hit, but this is dangerous!
That spear had almost certainly been Gáe Bolg...
the Constellation Armament of the S-rank Constellation ‘Hound Warrior,’ Cú Chulainn.
Which meant Cú Chulainn had attacked the Nameless King.
Astolfo... that loudmouthed knight isn’t strong enough to protect Nameless by himself!
Thinking that reinforcements were needed, Number 49 accelerated even more.
“Nameless...!”
At last, she reached the area near the crash site and hurriedly leaned forward to check what was happening.
But at that exact moment...
“You’re working very hard, Arlecchino Number 49.”
Someone placed a hand on her shoulder and whispered in a gentle voice.
"...!"
Number 49 hurriedly turned her head.
And saw a hooded man.
“You...!”
“I understand you’re the broadcasting specialist on the Nameless King’s side.”
“Is that correct?”
Keeping one hand on Number 49’s shoulder, the ‘Prophetic Magician,’ Merlin, whispered.
“Sorry, but I need to use your channel...”
“to make an official announcement to every Constellation.”
