Chapter 536

Chapter 536

Odaigon had called Choi Yeonseung for one reason only.

“Everything is a mess because of Parker Group.”

The secretaries sighed with relief when Choi Yeonseung appeared. The more chaotic things were, the more significant an S-grade hunter’s presence was.

That was especially the case in unique situations like the current one.

[The Fifth Kingdom of the ‘Goddess of Pleasure and Lust’ shows its grandeur!]

“I anticipated that they wouldn’t let go because of what happened in the Abyss raid, but it seems that things are more serious than I thought. What’s going on?”

“There have been a few armed clashes, and there still is ongoing fighting in some places...”

[The ‘Goddess of Pleasure and Lust’ reveals the palace hidden on Earth.]

[Challengers are welcome...]

The Goddess of Pleasure and Lust kept declaring something to the constellations of the Abyss, but Choi Yeonseung ignored her with an irritated expression. He had more urgent things to take care of.

“They’re fighting?”

“Yes.”

As the raid era had progressed, hunter clans and companies supporting them had become incredibly powerful. In fact, they were almost like a paramilitary organization.

Naturally, these clans and companies had become rather dangerous, as the police and military found it very difficult to stop hunters from causing trouble. The only people that could keep hunters in check were other hunters or the government.

In fact, the rampages and terror attacks caused by hunters in the first generation had been far more devastating than what modern-day hunters had done. Those first hunter-made disasters had caused governments to be very careful when dealing with clans or large companies that owned clans.

That was the case with this Abyss raid. After word got out that Parker Group was in cahoots with the Master of Slowness and Silence, the US government gave them a chance to get out of this and cooperate.

Parker Group owned a few clans. The US government was sure to enforce a hard-line policy on them, but if there were civilian casualties, the punishment would be even more severe.

-If you find someone to take responsibility and cut off the tail, we will turn a blind eye to it.

That message was enough, or at least many people thought so. However, Parker Group attacked and chased away the agents from the Hunter Bureau who came to see what had happened, as well as all the investigators watching them.

Naturally, the investigators called for backup, but Parker Group didn’t back down and instead mobilized their own clans to fight back.

Things escalated, which led to ongoing fighting in the urban area of the city where Parker Group’s headquarters were located.

“Are they going to start some kind of rebellion?”

Before, it would’ve sounded crazy to say that an individual would rebel and build a new country, but it didn’t sound that crazy in the raid era. The transcendent abilities of someone who had awakened allowed that ridiculous scenario to be a real possibility.

In fact, some countries had been founded by hunters or clans taking advantage of the chaos.

“I don’t think Chairman Parker is that reckless... He has a lot to lose if he does that in the United States.”

“You can never know what’s going on inside people’s heads. Parker is ambitious by nature. He’s been failing a lot lately, so it’s plausible that he came up with a desperate plan.”

The opinions of the secretaries were also divided. Some of them thought that Chairman Parker had too much to lose to do such a reckless thing. At the same time, given his character, there was no way he would sit idly by in the current situation.

“Stop,” Choi Yeonseung eventually cut in. “There’s no point in trying to guess the true intentions of someone who’s not even here. Let’s just take care of the urgent matters.”

“We are constantly getting requests for support. Apparently, they want you, Hunter Choi Yeonseung, to participate...” The secretaries exchanged looks as they spoke. FOlloow newest stories at no(v)el/bi/n(.)com

In this situation, as an S-grade hunter and a formidable duelist, Choi Yeonseung was bound to be incredibly valuable.

But apart from that, hunters generally avoided getting involved in such situations. There were strategies and concrete plans for dealing with monsters, but fighting fellow hunters during such chaotic times would be very dangerous and unpredictable.

If things went wrong, even high-ranking hunters could perish.

“Alright, I’ll go there.”

“...!”

“!!!”

The secretaries were stunned. They had thought that maybe Choi Yeonseung would do something to help, given his track record, but they hadn’t expected him to readily agree like that.

“Is that really okay?”

“Why are you acting like this again?” Choi Yeonseung asked. After all, he was a constellation in human disguise, so subduing hunters wasn’t something to brag about.

Famine and pestilence would consume Earth. If it came to that, joining forces with an evil god constellation and reigning alongside them might not be the worst option.

-Nonsense! I won’t be deceived by the words of a constellation who has yet to properly occupy Earth!

Chairman Parker firmly declined, but Tardus could already tell what was really going through his head. No matter how capable or ingenious a mortal was, their existence itself was different.

-Your... heart... says something... else...

-You’re threatening me, so I have no choice but to follow you!

-Think... whatever you want...

Chairman Parker snapped back to reality and looked at Tardus, who was right in front of him.

“The awakened humans have withdrawn...”

“Things will slow down.”

Now that all the hunters who had tried to subdue them had retreated, it would take a while until the other side managed to make another move.

Chairman Parker was very familiar with how these things worked. Holding each other accountable, making a public declaration, searching for clans that could be mobilized... If they stayed still in the meantime, the other side wouldn’t be in a hurry either.

“No... There are more coming...”

“??”

“Among the human awakeners... the household members of a constellation... such loyal ones... will come...”

Chairman Parker said nothing, for he knew who Tardus was talking about.

‘That son of a bitch!’

“You can deal with him, right?”

“Let’s see...”

At the sight of the troubled Tardus, Chairman Parker tried not to show any emotions.

Bang!

The loud noise from underneath signaled that there was an intruder. Tardus and Alex Parker went there together to see Choi Yeonseung in person.

“Isabella Meyer! Hunter Isabella Meyer is here with hunters!”

“An A-grade hunter! It’s an emergency!”

“...”

“...”

Chairman Parker cast Tardus a look of disbelief, but the snail-like creature ignored him.

***

Anyone could tell that there had been a fight.

The hunters following Choi Yeonseung said embarrassingly, “Hunter Isabella Meyer got here before us.”

“That’s a weird way to handle things. If you already made a request to someone else, shouldn’t you at least let me in on it?” Choi Yeonseung asked as he turned to the deputy minister of Homeland Security.

He was more or less reproaching the deputy minister, which caused him to start trembling. The deputy minister was a stern man with a frosty attitude, intimidating each and every one of his subordinates. However, that meant nothing in front of Choi Yeonseung.

“N-no...”

“What do you mean, no?”

“The request... We made no request to her!”

“You didn’t...? Then is she acting on her own, even bringing hunters with her?” Choi Yeonseung asked incredulously. If someone committed a crime, the police or licensed clans would intervene. However, if Isabella Meyer just stepped in and attacked without saying anything, that wasn’t enforcing the law...

‘She’s just crazy.’

“Yes...”

“...I really can’t understand Americans.”

The deputy minister wanted to explain that not all Americans were like that, but the tense atmosphere prevented him from doing so.