I Have Contracted Too Many Constellations

Chapter 20 The Abandoned Dragon’s Nest (3)

In myths and folklore, there were not only benevolent beings.

Just as evil is essential for the narrative of rewarding good and punishing evil.

There were angels and demons.

Immortals and monsters.

Olympus and the primordial giants.

Most folktales contained ‘evil’.

And those beings also ascended to the position of Constellations.

In the world of Constellations, good and evil were not defined.

Their stories and powers also transcended human beings.

They became the dark constellations of the night sky.

And the Contractors who backed those evil beings.

Created their own constellations in the underworld.

“So, the successors of divinity and thunder have left the academy?”

Among them was the dark constellation that built a huge power base across China, Korea, and Japan.

.

A constellation led by four evil gods and monsters.

While their combat power might not be the highest, their cruelty ranked among the top in the dark constellations.

“Yes, it’s direct information.”

The head of the Korean branch of .

The Contractor of the legendary constellation, Dou Mu (檮杌).

Seo Ye-rin rubbed her eyes covered with an eyepatch and leaned back in her chair.

A recent urgent report.

The precious gem of and the prominent successor of had left the academy.

Their destination was a dungeon not far from the academy.

It seemed like they didn’t place much protection as it was within the academy’s territory…

That was a clear mistake by the academy.

In fact, that vicinity had already fallen under ’ control.

Right now, they could kill and cover up dozens of people if they wanted to.

“The raid party consists of four, including those two. One of them is the student who recently hunted a demon species, and there’s no information on the others.”

A man bowing his head and reporting to her.

Seo Ye-rin’s direct subordinate.

The Contractor of the narrative-level constellation Ji Yoon-sung.

Well, they weren’t particularly close despite him being her direct subordinate.

Seo Ye-rin didn’t keep him close because they were friendly.

It was just because he was backed by a narrative-level constellation.

Moreover, Ji Yoon-sung couldn’t even use that power properly.

A pearl necklace on a pig’s neck. That was exactly what it was.

“Hmm… There aren’t many opportunities like this.”

Seo Ye-rin murmured, propping her chin.

Such opportunities didn’t come easily.

Not when they were in the academy.

And outside, they would be accompanied by the constellations’ guards.

It was a golden opportunity to take out two major constellation successors.

While she was thinking about it for a moment.

[Constellation, ‘Tiger of Great Calamity’ anticipates slaughter and chaos.]

Dou Mu made the decision for her.

Slaughter and chaos. Calamity shaking the mortal world.

A nature that loved evil deeds and hated the good.

Dou Mu’s fundamental nature.

Dou Mu reaffirmed his nature to her.

And at that moment, Seo Ye-rin made up her mind.

“Ji Yoon-sung.”

“Yes, branch leader.”

“I’ll give you the Dark Spirit Unit. Sweep them all.”

The Dark Spirit Unit, regarded as elite troops within .

Although they were of fairy-tale level, all of them were Contractors.

Their skill proficiency was also excellent.

Even if the targets were promising students, they were just first-year students.

They would be enough.

To send a warning to the two constellations.

“Heh heh heh…”

Seo Ye-rin laughed.

Her heart raced, excitement surged.

Just imagining the massacre scene.

Her heart pounded violently.

Almost bursting.

“Ah… I’m getting excited.”

A den of lunatics.

A group of madmen stained with the madness of transcendental beings.

And it was fitting for the leader of those lunatics.

However, until then, they didn’t know.

That among their group.

There weren’t just students.

#

Saturday. The day of the dungeon raid.

We arrived at the dungeon in a car driven by Jacheongbi.

She drove better than I expected.

A bit, no, quite rough, but it was definitely fast.

“It’s closer than I thought.”

“Well, it’s not that far. Thanks to the professor’s driving.”

It only took about an hour and a half to get here.

Considering the distribution of dungeons, it was quite close.

Maybe also because of Jacheongbi’s reckless driving.

“Were you just thinking something weird?”

“Misunderstanding, misunderstanding.”

Anyway, after arriving and getting out of the car, we headed to the location of the dungeon.

Before long.

We could step into the entrance of the dungeon.

Normally, it wouldn’t be this easy to enter.

If someone tried to enter without an ‘exclusive right’ or a token of permission.

All sorts of traps would be triggered.

Now, nothing was happening because of the exclusive right I had.

“By the way, is this the entrance?”

Jin Juha pointed to a place.

A cave large enough for a truck to enter.

Of course, the mountain with the cave wasn’t that big.

But you shouldn’t apply common sense to dungeons.

The interior would be much larger than it looked.

“Are we going in right away?”

“Let’s go. We’ve already finished the preparations.”

We were ready.

Equipped with all our gear, and I even used some herbs from the smoking pipe to enhance our stats a bit after getting out of the car.

It would be nice to have some armor, but we hadn’t found anything useful yet.

Anyway, there was no reason to hesitate.

“I’ll stay at the back. I’ll only intervene when it’s really dangerous.”

“Yes, please take care of us.”

With those words, we entered .

At the front were me, a close-range dealer, and Lee Se-ah, a tank.

In the center was the supporter, Sung Harim.

At the rear was the main ranged dealer, Jin Juha.

The team composition was quite good.

It might be a bit unstable without Lee Shinwoo for rear support.

‘I should have brought Lee Shinwoo.’

I thought for a moment but then shook my head.

We weren’t that close yet.

With that thought, I stayed alert and moved forward.

There was nothing to block our way.

No monsters were seen at the entrance.

“They said this place has dragon species and phantoms, right?”

“Mainly dragon species, phantoms are fewer and lower level.”

The monsters in this dungeon were of two types.

Dragon species and phantoms.

If it was a dragon species, it would be of the lizard type…

Most of them would be fairy-tale or narrative-level, not too big.

And phantoms, one of the undead species.

They weren’t something to worry about.

They were only fairy-tale level, and there weren’t many of them.

Moreover, undead species were generally weak even among fairy-tale levels.

‘The higher the level of the undead species, the exponentially stronger they become.’

So, fairy-tale level phantoms weren’t something to be cautious about.

“We’re close. Turn the corner and they’ll appear.”

Then, Jin Juha raised her hand to stop us.

A detection skill, something any magic user would have.

Her skill, which she had been activating since entering the dungeon.

Seemed to have caught some monsters.

“Probably fairy-tale level. Not that strong.”

At Jin Juha’s words, Lee Se-ah and I raised our weapons.

Tap, tap, tap-

Footsteps could be heard from around the corner.

Light, not heavy.

The sounds were irregular and unpredictable.

At least more than two.

As we rounded the corner, we saw them from a distance.

Bodies the size of large dogs covered in blue scales.

But their faces were lizard-like.

Blue Lizards, a fairy-tale level dragon species.

Kieeek-!!

Kyaak-!

There were five of them.

Manageable.

Blue Lizards, among the ‘Lizard’ type dragon species, were focused on speed.

And my strongest suit was also speed.

“I’ll take three, you take two.”

“Okay.”

After a brief order, I moved forward first.

The plan was simple.

The vanguard would hold them off or kill them, and the rear would finish them off.

A simple and straightforward strategy.

First, the vanguard would block slightly ahead.

I had to draw their aggro initially.

With their speed, they could quickly move behind.

Hwaruk-!

[Skill, ‘Burning Holy Fire (Narrative)’ activated.]

[Skill, ‘Nine Heavens Sword (Narrative)’ activated.]

A yellow holy flame surrounded One Thousand Swords.

Although it wouldn’t trigger the power to purge evil.

The holy fire was a formidable attack by itself.

‘I’ll let two go.’

I deflected the first Blue Lizard rushing at me and sent it behind.

Facing all five at once was reckless.

There was no reason not to trust my companions.

So, I dealt with three.

[Skill, ‘Green Shade Divine Art (녹음綠陰神功)’ activated.]

Along with that, Green Shade Divine Art activated.

The cyan energy enveloped my body, leaving an afterimage.

Three skills activated simultaneously.

Maybe thanks to the upgraded energy from Green Shade Divine Art.

Using them like this wasn’t a burden.

“Energy absorption is the best.”

I shot long wooden needles at the three lizards.

It wouldn’t have been possible when I first got it, but now that my proficiency had improved, I could do it.

Kieeeek-!!

The wooden needles flew in an instant and pierced the lizards.

Not enough to kill them instantly.

Being Blue Lizards, they avoided the vital spots.

But it was enough to draw aggro and inflict some damage.

“Come on!”

Kyaaak!!

The anger of the injured.

The lizards screamed and charged at me on all fours.

I gripped One Thousand Swords.

And swung at the approaching lizards.

Hwaruk!!

The blue and yellow flames mixed and drew a semicircle.

There were many enemies, and there were many attacks coming my way, but as long as I knew the rhythm and speed.

There was no reason not to handle it.

I beheaded the first one rushing at me.

The lizard, engulfed by the holy fire, turned to ashes in the intense heat.

Riding on that momentum, One Thousand Swords aimed at the next lizard….

“…Huh?”

Huh, huh?

Why was that one burning and dying by itself?

Kieeeek….

Before my sword even touched its body.

It was burning and dying from the holy fire.

The holy fire burned brightly.

What the.

Why are you dying?