Dungeon Hunter - Chapter 117
Chapter 117: Episode 33. Auction of Devildom (4)
The Valley of Souls.
It was one of the forbidden places in Devildom. It was said that once you entered, you could not return, and it was no different from becoming Spirits. In fact, the closer you were to the astral body, the greater the damage you were supposed to get.
It looked like they made a great sacrifice and succeeded in the expedition. It was proof that a lot of effort was put into this auction.
“It looks like Adonis is really in a hurry.”
Adonis was the King of the Spirits of the Darkness. This drastic action had to be caused by his discovery of spies from other spirits. He took the risk to raise his class as soon as possible. He had to have thought that he would subdue the World of Spirits if he did so.
“Hmm… Soul Butterfly?”
Something dark in the shape of a butterfly was flying inside the small crystal case. It was the only thing that could wander the Valley of Souls without any effect.
“Can you see? Look at this beautiful creature! The Soul Butterfly detects and defends against harmful mana from the outside. That is why it is free to wander the Valley of Souls. Just keeping it will raise your anti-mana power. Also, it will protect you when somebody tries to cast a spell of abnormal effect on you. If you have low intelligence, you need to purchase it.”
The spell of abnormal effect could cause great damage. So, if I could protect myself from it, it would be worth 10 million points. However, when I checked with the Mind’s Eye, it seemed to be effective, but not perfect.
Name – Soul Butterfly
Description: A rare butterfly flying through the Valley of Souls. It was born in the interdimensional crack.
<ul>
It has a 10% correction effect from the spell of abnormal effects.
</ul>
** It can be combined with weapons.
However, the hidden options caught my eye.
“It looks like the effect can be inherited when combined with weapons.”
It was not bad.
It was not bad, but it was a bit insignificant for all the trouble they took to get it from the forbidden place. At that moment, Deboron’s smile became bigger.
“And that’s not all. Do you think we stepped into the Valley of Souls for just one butterfly? Surprisingly, we found 30 masterless Death Knight at the lowest point of the valley.”
Death Knight was a high monster of 3Lv. It cost 150,000 points to purchase through the shop.
Thirty Death Knights came out riding horses. Ominous mana spread around them.
Death Knight, by its nature, became stronger when there were more of them. And since there were 30 of them, their power was something special. It would increase my power as soon as I purchase it.
“But I am not sure.”
I swept my chin. The problem was the Soul Butterfly. Death Knight was certainly prized, but I had no idea how much the Soul Butterfly would cost. If only the Death Knights had come out, it would have been between 1 and 1.5 million. However, the price was likely to increase due to the Soul Butterfly. In a way, they were playing tricks to sell things more expensively.
“The starting bid is 500,000 points. Don’t worry. If you have 30 Death Knights, there is nothing you cannot achieve. Probably, some of you already experienced dealing with many Death Knights when you were in Devildom, right? How reliable were they? The enemies must have been so terrified!”
“500,000.”
“Duke Bizart called 500,000!”
“700,000.”
“Duke Drikal!”
“800,000.”
“Oh! Archduke Ufa participates!”
The competition was heated. The number of Death Knights among the nobles was a symbol of their power. There were no other knights as royal and powerful as they were, and of course, there would be demons who led armies and destroyed their enemies with them before.
Deboron struck well. He was hard-selling the destructive power of collective Death Knights. I wondered for a moment.
“If it is below 1.5 million, it will be good to buy them.”
It the price went over that, I would rather give up on this one. I wanted to get the Soul Butterfly, but it didn’t seem worthy of too many points.
If I became too greedy, I might make a big loss. I would certainly try, but if things went wrong, I decided to just let it be.
There were still many auction items left. And I didn’t have an infinite number of points either.
“1 million.”
“Oh my god. Count Randalf. You have already participated three times in a row. I am very excited to see if you can get this one as well.”
The buzz was killed. Similar to the first and second year, I was far ahead of the game this year. At the same time, they all realized there was “something” in me.
Oculus knew me to some extent, and Pandemonium was roughly guessing. Ariel and Ufa’s camps got alert.
“Anyone else? It’s too good a chance to lose it.”
They debated. They could not just bid more points because they had seen the highest monster named Mago. 30 Death Knights were strong, but they were not comparable to Mago. Since they had no idea when it would come out, they had to save some points.
“1.1 million.”
“Heew! Archduke Oculus! Good to hear your voice! I hope you can be the owner of these powerful Death Knights.”
Deboron exaggeratedly rubbed his chest. But I frowned as I heard the voice of Oculus.
“Doesn’t Oculus hate Death Knights?”
I was not sure, but I never saw Oculus use Death Knights before. He was the demon that assimilated with nature, so he tried to avoid Death Knights which brought death.
“Is he trying to make up for the loss from the fight with the Army of Malicious Commander?”
I felt like he was not aiming for the Soul Butterfly. I was pretty sure that his Wise Eyesight skill would not be better than my Mind’s Eye.
“What is his intention?”
If he just tried to fill his troops, he would not be too greedy.
“1.2 million.”
“Count Randalf! I can hardly know your end!”
“1.3 million.”
“Archduke Oculus!”
“1.4 million.”
“Count Randalf takes the lead again!”
“1.5 million.”
“The statues of the girls and boys of the ceiling are not laughing. That means you have that amount of points! After all, he is the Archduke!”
I turned my gaze to Oculus. He was looking at me. He was not trying to reinforce his troops. He was just showing off to me.
“Showing off?”
1.5 million points already exceeded the average. Yet, he was showing off by using so many points! It looked like he was provoking me. At that moment, I had a strange feeling as if something was stabbing my chest.
I opened my Mind’s Eye. He was holding me in check, so I wanted to see if anything had changed in him.
[‘The Mind’s Eye (Ex U)’ was read by ‘the Eye of the World (Epic).’ The defensive rating is at 20%!]
[Intelligent correction (93)! However, the opponent’s mana is too high. The effect is incomplete. The defensive rating is at 23%!]
[Defense failed.]
[Caution! ‘The Eye of the World (Epic)’ reflects ‘the Mind’s Eye (Ex U)’. The details of ‘Randalf Bruciel’ will be revealed to ‘Oculus.’]
I felt dizzy. Numerous numbers popped up in front of my eyes. Also, some numbers popped out of my body. The other demons were not reacting. It looked like only I could see this phenomenon. But, I was embarrassed.
The message said my information was revealed. Oculus grinned, revealing his teeth. It was as if he was telling me “I know all about you.” At the same time, he uttered an exclamation.
“I was induced.”
The reason why he kept participating even calling 1.5 million; the attitude he had been showing to me; everything was because he wanted me to use my Mind’s Eye skill on him.
I never imagined this would happen. I should have expected this to happen, as everything had changed because of me! I frowned.
“The Eye of the World must be the evolutionary version of the Wise Eyesight skill. I never saw this in my past life. And how the hell did he make Epic Grade skill in such a short time?”
Sweat broke out from my clenched fists. I was intensely anxious. Oculus did not have the Eye of the World skill in my past life.
There must have been a big change after he fought against me. Even so, it was very unusual. Was it possible to bring Unique skills to Epic grade in just a few months? It only happened to me with many coincidences.
I felt anxious. If he saw my status window, he would have known many things about me. Moreover, he could deduce more things based on that.
“The Soul Butterfly and Death Knights have been awarded to Archduke Oculus! Congratulations! You will never regret it.”
I could not even hear what Deboron was saying. I only stared at Oculus.
“I took things too easily.”
It seemed like the Eye of the World skill could read the details of the opponent and reflect it. Anyway, it was like a shot arrow and spilled water. I had to admit, I could not remain calm. How should I fix this? My mind was overloaded.
“‘The Pledge of the Prepared Ones’ was awarded to Archduke Oculus!”
“Archduke Oculus takes the monster ‘Goronggol!'”
“‘Jazbal’s Shoes’—”
The auction continued. Oculus was getting way ahead. He got five more items. By the time the tenth item came out, six of them had been won by him. He had spent 5 million points.
I always valued efficiency, so I didn’t call over the limit unless I recognized the value as in the case of Gaparam. Even when acting as a decoy, the Maginot Line was set. But Oculus always called the price just above my Maginot Line. If I wanted to win a bid, I had no choice but to break the limit I had set.
“Only Oculus is participating in the auction.”
That was another weird point. All other demons in Oculus’ camp did not join the auction. Only Oculus was calling the bid.
“That is strange.”
It almost seemed like he took the other demons’ points. But the system created by the Demon God was not lax. Even the Spirits of Darkness, who were the most familiar with the system, had to take huge risks and damages to open the crack. Point transactions were permitted only with items of reasonable value.
“A reasonable value…”
Well. It was possible theoretically. If he had sold everything in the dungeon to his demons. However, it was impossible to do so without a firm belief. If one of his demons decided to betray him, things would be hard to control.
And it was too absurd to say that every demon in the camp would believe each other. That would be impossible.
“Oculus. What have you done?”
There was a change, but I could not tell what it was.
There were 12 demons under Oculus. Even if they added all their points, it should still be less than my points. However, if I wanted to get what I had my eyes on, it seemed like I had to take risks somewhat.
“Now, finally, I will show you the eleventh article. I am sure you all paid attention before. This is the highest monster that is called Angelic Lady or Mago. It rides the wind, and its eye is worth billions! I will introduce her now!”
The demons were beady-eyed. The thing they had all been waiting for finally came out. Even I, who knew the order, became nervous. I also really wanted to hold Oculus in check. Even though he had read my status window, he would have no idea about my total points.
Boom! Boom!
Soon a huge cage was brought in by the Spirits. Mago was in it. It turned its body and cried. Deboron, who confirmed the figure, reached out one hand and bowed gracefully.
“The starting bid is 1.3 million points.”
“5 million.”
“Sir?”
“Is it not enough?”
“N-no. Archduke Oculus called 5 million points.”
Deboron was amazed. 5 million! The boy and girl statues on the ceiling did not laugh. He owned that many points, and he called it out. In a word, he was saying dregs should get out of his way.
No demons could participate. Ufa, who had his eyes on Mago, became red with anger. But Oculus did not give a shit about Ufa. He only stared at me, grinning. It was as if he called my bluff.
“Oculus…! You really are getting hostile with me? Even after you read my status and checked my power?”
Then, he picked the wrong demon.
Gnashing!
I gritted my teeth.
“More than anything, Mago is mine!”
