Dungeon Hunter - Chapter 103

Chapter 103: Episode 28. Devorong’s Request (4)

What is he going to do now?

I became quite curious.

There is a large difference between learning a lesson and taking action. Would Adonis be able to apologize to make up for his mistake? Will he otherwise get even angrier at the fact that I spoke back to him?

Few seconds passed before Adonis began to speak.

“Hmm. I apologize for what has just happened. I guess I was in a rush.”

Adonis calmed himself down very quickly and relaxed his posture as though nothing had happened. He no longer looked arrogant… and I was surprised.

He was so quick to change his attitude.

Those who were in positions as high as that of Adonis’ usually would not want to admit their mistakes. At least from my experience, that was how the others were.

Archdukes were good examples. In particular, Ufa never admitted his mistakes.

Indeed, the Spirit King of Darkness was different. I felt bad about my response while I was comparing the Spirit King to Ufa.

I sat down again. Adonis, the Spirit King of Darkness, gave in and apologized, and I needed to change my aggressive attitude, too.

“Spirit King, although you said you have helped me, we have never met each other in person before. I have had enough with rude demons, and I no longer wish to confront anyone rudely any more.”

“… You are right. Being polite, while trivial, is in fact, very important. Randalf Bruciel, you are different from the other demons, who are full of themselves. And that was the reason that I had you in my mind.”

Sighing quietly, Adonis nodded slightly and looked very satisfied. He seemed to have confirmed that he made a sound decision.

Then the Spirit King continued.

“Let us start from the beginning… My name is Adonis. I am the Spirit King of Darkness, and I rule the Spirits of Darkness.”

I grabbed the Spirit King’s hands and responded.

“Randalf Bruciel, thank you for the Tree of World that you gave me the other day.”

“I have lived a long period of time, but I have never thought that I would exchange gifts with demons like this.”

Adonis kept on smiling.

I let go of his hands and also smiled.

“What goes around comes around. Adonis, just like how you showed hospitality, I do not wish to go against you.”

“Yes, indeed, you are correct. I feel that we will get along well. It is my fault that I suddenly brought up a contract to you.”

Soon, the room was filled with hospitality.

Both of us cleared the air with each other.

Adonis then continued while smiling.

“However, Randalf, the contract that I suggested to you is not too bad. The Contract of Spirits is imposed even on me, the Spirit King. Furthermore, no one in the World of Spirits will dare look down on you, because no spirit can challenge my authority.”

“I do not wish to rely on someone else’s authority.”

“I thought so too. However, there is a big difference between having and not having the contract. There is more to the contract. You will be allowed to enter the World of Spirits as you wish. You may also take the treasures of the World of Spirits and special spirits, which no one would have gotten before.”

I thought about the free entrance to the World of Spirits.

It kind of changed my mind.

If I could get a free pass to the World of Spirits, I did not have to rely on illegal portals every time I wanted to get here. Of course, it would be challenging for a demon, by the nature of demons, to sign a contract with the spirits. However, this contract would be another “path” that no one had taken before.

However…

“Contracts should be beneficial to both parties, shouldn’t they? Right now, the contract sounds only useful to you.”

“Randalf Bruciel, I am also looking forward to your growth. The contract will make us equal. If you become the demon god, and if I take over the World of Spirits, we will be an invincible duo. No one will dare to challenge us!”

Adonis roughly snorted.

He did not reveal his true intentions.

The Spirit King tried to sway me with the bright side of the contract.

Until the end, he did not tell me how much he had learned about me.

In addition, this contract was not fair to both parties. Eventually, one party would rely on the other… And the reliant party would be me. If I let go of my status as a “customer” and try to do everything equally with Adonis, he would have more cards to play.

I would end up wanting more, but Adonis had nothing to lose from the beginning.

It was his job to sell items in the Auction of Devildom. It did not matter who purchased the items. As long as the items were sold, his job was done. It just turned out that the customer was me. He could give pieces of trivial information, and make a big deal out of it.

On the other hand, the only reason that I could keep the hegemony was that I was a “customer.” If I signed the contract, I was no longer a customer and had to let go of the privilege of being one…

In the end, the Spirit King and I would only be equal on paper.

If I wanted to ignore the consequences, I could do so for now. However, contracts must be agreed on by both parties; therefore, both parties needed to contribute something that would satisfy each other.

“I cannot make the final decision right now.”

I started to speak.

There were some gains from this contract, but at this moment, there were more losses than gains.

I needed to hold off this contract until I get something besides points, which would help me get the upper hand. As of now, I had less cards than Adonis.

“Then, why don’t we discuss this again during the next Auction of Devildom?”

Adonis spoke.

A little more than six months left until the next auction.

Would I be able to make a decision by then?

“I need more time.'”

Six months were not long enough.

“Adonis, why are you in such a hurry?”

“I told you. Everything is changing so quickly. I need to adapt to the changes.”

“Is it because of other Spirit Kings’ moves?”

“Yes. And the Celestial World, too… Demons are also another concern. That is why I want to push and sign this contract so that we can unite and be prepared early.”

Adonis stopped talking after this last sentence.

I thought about the other Spirit Kings and the changes in the Celestial World.

Adonis was doing “illegal” businesses, so he would definitely want to act fast. It had been only three years, and he was not prepared to be caught. If his enemies caught his wrongdoings and attacked him, he would not be able to defend himself from them.

He must have wanted a backup plan.

The Spirit King must have wanted to use me to his advantage since I was gaining points very quickly. Perhaps he wanted to even use me as a shield.

It might be too early to come to a conclusion at this stage, but it was always helpful to think about possible outcomes in advance. If the Spirit King decided to use me a shield, such a scenario would be the worst one possible.

When I thought about this issue, I realized that I could be perhaps the best accomplice that anyone could use; I was neutral and did not belong to any faction. Moreover, I was pretty powerful.

“Adonis, that is the reason that each of us should be even more cautious. To be honest, I cannot handle all of the four archdukes by myself. Your support will indeed be very helpful to me. However, we need time to build trust. If one day we could unite and fight our enemies side by side… if we could really do that, then no one will be our match.”

I stared into Adonis’ eyes.

I wanted to become the Dark Lord, and I could not fight all of the four archdukes by myself. However, if I could return to another life, the situation could be different.

However, Adonis did not know about my trump card. The Spirit King must have thought that he was the only one who could help me and that I would end up asking for help from him.

“Huh… Randalf Bruciel, you are not like other demons. You are also very confident, and it is hard to tell if you are arrogant or being truthful. You must know that I have very high expectations of my allies, with whom I can fight my enemies side by side.”

“Ten million.”

“Ten million?”

“That is the number of points I have.”

“… It has not been long since the Auction of Devildom ended. Are you serious?”

I even spent millions of points during the second Auction of Devildom.

While looking at Adonis, I realized that he had not fully analyzed me yet.

The Spirit King’s analysis was very superficial. And he wanted me based on that. I told him more about myself, exceeding the expectations that he had; now he would be desperate to poach me.

I snickered.

“If I am lying, you can find out in the next Auction of Devildom, can’t you? I am not that dumb.”

“And does that mean that you are going to spend more than ten million points in the next Auction of Devildom?”

“Well, you may have to prepare items that are worth ten million points.”

Adonis slightly frowned.

He looked like he was thinking hard.

However, he soon made a conclusion.

“Fine. If you have that many points, you do not need my help immediately. Let us take some time and build our relationship. When it matures, let’s come back to the contract. That will be the day when we can fight side by side.”

Adonis backed off.

“I thank you for your understanding.”

“No need to thank me. Your words make sense. Anyways… let us stop talking about this issue. We cannot forget about drinks and girls in this kind of meeting.”

“I accept my friend’s hospitality.”

“Friend! Haha! Yes, sure, one must accept a friend’s hospitality.”

Friend!

For the first time, Adonis used the word friend.

The word itself did not have much meaning but his use of the word implied that our relationship was a friendly one.

Boom!

Adonis banged the table and cried out loud.

“Deboron! Bring the drinks and the girls that you have prepared!”

A small banquet started.

There were many kinds of booze and fruits on the table, and beautiful women entered the room.

“Take it. A box of treasure cannot buy a cup of this booze!”

Adonis was totally drunk. The lavish king threw off all of his clothes, and he got wasted with the drinks and the women.

However… he scrutinized me once in a while. The scrutinizing eyes were still bright despite the booze. The king was looking at me carefully and even more quickly to dig into me.

I drained the cup and spat out interjections.

“This is a great drink.”

“Haha! I told you! I only give out this kind of drink on special occasions like today. Don’t take it for granted!”

“I do not enjoy drinking but I think I can drink this every day.”

“There is more than just alcohol here! Why are you not responding to the pretty girls next to you? Do you not like them?”

“I eat the most delicious part in the end. That makes the taste even sweeter.”

I embraced one of the succubi around. I would not die for drinks and girls, but I also did not mind them. If someone provided me both, I would take the offer.

And I needed to get a little bit wasted here.

I tilted the bottle of booze and slowly poured the drink through the succubus’ cleavage.

And I bit her ears.

**

When the banquet was over, I wore the clothes that the succubus gave me, and I went outside.

In front of me was Deboron, who was waiting for me.

“Did you have fun at the banquet?”

“It was great.”

“I am glad to hear that. It seems that you did a favor for me.”

“You and I are collaborators in the first place. There is no reason to refuse.”

I told Deboron somewhat sincerely.

Smiling, Deboron started to guide me out.

We entered the place where I was first brought to. There were still residues of the portal, faintly rippling.

As I entered the portal, Deboron bowed deeply.

“Then, Mr. Randalf Bruciel, I will meet you in the next Auction of Devildom.”