Dungeon Hunter - Chapter 160

Chapter 160: Episode 49. The Fifth Auction of Devildom (9)

The auction for individual items ended. The Spirits of Fire and the Spirits of Water were not allowed to participate in the main auction, and they now had to return to their bases.

“I heard that the purchased items are sent to dungeons. I will return to my base and inform my Spirit King about the items, first. Randalf Bruciel, I owe you so much! I will definitely tell my lord about you. The contract between you and me is still effective. If you need me, just simply call out my name, and I will be there for you.”

Jeeves told me excitedly.

This auction was the first auction that he had ever participated in. Not only was the auction a fruitful experience for Jeeves, but it was a good opportunity to check on the Spirits of Darkness.

Most importantly, Jeeves and the Spirits of Fire were about to get their valuable treasure back, which they had lost twenty thousand years ago.

“I don’t know what the Spirit King would do…,” I thought.

Jeeves would inform him that spirits could increase or decrease their levels through points and the Auction of Devildom. Once the Spirit King found this out, he would try to make the best out of this option. However, I could not predict what kind of moves he would make. After all, the Auction of Devildom was a great opportunity for other types of spirits besides the Spirits of Darkness. Precious items were presented in the auctions, and many demons were also involved in them.

I thought about possible scenarios. The Spirit King of Fire could try to use the Spirits of Darkness or he could turn into their enemy. The latter scenario seemed to be more likely to happen.

The Spirits of Darkness were clever. They must have also anticipated that the Spirit King of Fire would make moves about the Auction of Devildom. The Spirits of Darkness had wanted to use the Auction of Devildom, before it was known to the Spirit King of Fire, to lower the levels of the Spirits of Fire. However, the plan failed.

“It will be a rough way back home.”

I did not beat around the bush and directly told Jeeves what I thought.

Then the spirit laughed quietly.

“We had considered all kinds of possible scenarios before the auction, and we have brought the finest of us here. As soon as anyone attacks one of us, they will go on a full-fledged war with all of the Spirits of Fire. I don’t think anyone can easily launch an attack on us.”

“You’re one confident spirit.”

Jeeves shrugged his shoulder.

The spirit was right; all of the Spirits of Fire in the auction hall had very high levels. They would be able to leave the auction hall safely.

When I nodded, Jeeves continued to speak.

“I shall now call you my contractor. Contractor! If you hand us the Great Quintessence of Fire, our contract becomes more complete. The Spirit King will be happy, too. He will remember your name forever. Please consider this as one of your options.”

The Spirit King of Fire would remember my name if I handed back their treasure. In other words, he would help me if I needed it. Such an offer was not part of the contract, and it was what I really wanted to get from the deal with Jeeves.

I wanted to use the Spirits of Fire to get even stronger.

“Perhaps… it might work,” I thought.

I snickered. Getting stronger physically or as an individual was not what I wanted.

I wanted to be powerful to the extent that I could influence the entire Earth. Once I was powerful enough, I would be able to realize some of my plans.

One of the plans that I had was making the Spirits of Fire and Water create contracts with humans.

“I want to get more Elementalors,” I thought.

Spirits were strong, but no human could control them in my previous life. Now that I was very close to some of the spirits, I could connect them with the humans that I knew. I wanted to get closer to the Spirit King and open up that route.

“If I can realize my plan…”

If my plan worked, it would empower the humans, which would help me get stronger than the other demons. Then I thought about my connections with humans. I held several positions in their society, and I could also get some help from Kirin.

Soon, Jeeves and his Spirits of Fire bowed shortly and turned around. Had they accompanied the Spirits of Water, their trip back home would be even safer. However, the two were each other’s greatest enemy. Knowing such animosity, I could not suggest that option.

As soon as the Spirits of Fire disappeared, the Spirits of Water, including Kerpy, approached me.

“Mr. Randalf, we would like to once again congratulate you on your promotion to an archduke.”

Fluttering her hair, Kerpy gave me a sweet smile.

“The contract between you and me will soon become more complete. It has been five hundred years since I had my last contract… I will be looking forward to the next time that we meet again.”

“We will meet again if you survive.”

What I said might have sounded cruel, but I really believed that her life was at stake. Adonis’ secret plan was revealed, and I could not predict what the Spirits of Darkness would do.

During the auction, the Spirits of Darkness, including Deboron and Adonis, must have figured out that their secrets were revealed. If they thought that the relationship between them and I would break down, the spirits would not mind attacking other spirits, who were now my allies, and reduce their numbers.

Based on this analysis, I thought that the Spirits of Water might get attacked on their way home. I warned the Spirits of Fire about the possible chance of ambush, but they seemed to be confident about themselves.

Smiling, Kerpy understood my implications and replied.

“Dear contractor, the Spirits of Water can be both the calm lake and a tsunami of the rough sea.”

“If you die, I will take the bow.”

“…Then I must return alive.”

Kerpy’s face hardened when I mentioned Hyacinth’s Bow.

I warned the spirits because if they died, I would lose the points that I had invested on purchasing the items for them, which was thirty million points. I wanted to be cautious and hold on to the items, in case all of my allies died.

“I must say farewell now. The longer we talk, the more people here would suspect us.”

When I nodded, Kerpy covered her lips and smiled gently, exiting the auction hall.

“My Dungeon Master, I heard that they are going to open the reception area. Do you want to visit it?”

Krithli, who was standing next to me, spoke.

I wondered what was the objective of opening the reception area. Allowing customers to enter that area implied that the hosts of the auction, the Spirits of Darkness, would like to show the items that would be on the main auction in advance.

“Didn’t they say that they would not open that area to the public?”

“I just heard this news…”

Krithli did not seem to know the details.

“Are they trying to divert our attention?” I thought.

In order to get rid of both Spirits of Water and the Spirits of Fire, the Spirits of Darkness would need many soldiers.

If Adonis decided to attack the two other spirits, he would have to deploy most of his forces, emptying the castle. It was possible that one of the attendees of the auction could find out that the castle was empty. The witness would then ask for an explanation, and Adonis’ secret attempt would fail once again.

In short, getting caught by demons was the worst scenario possible.

“From this point on, I have to trust the spirits,” I thought.

I needed to know when to stop. If I tried to go even further, I might end up losing everything, which was the apparent alliance with Adonis and the secret contracts with other spirits.

The main auction was as important as the relationship with the Spirits of Water and the Spirits of Fire. I had been gone for a year, and I needed to make up for the time that I had been absent.

I decided to focus on the upcoming main event.

“Let’s go to the reception area and take a look at the items.”

On the way, I wondered if the quality of the auction items had improved while I had been away.

I already saw Titan, one of the highest monsters with level two, so I would not be surprised if I found something more spectacular.

“There aren’t that many items here.”

I murmured silently.

There were hardly a hundred items in the reception area.

To be precise, there were only about fifty items.

There was not much to see, and I felt that this exhibition was focused on grabbing attention instead of informing the participants about the items.

“Beginning last year, they only showed half of the items.”

Ariel Diablo, who showed up out of nowhere, talked to me.

“Is there a reason why?”

“I don’t know. Maybe they are trying to be mysterious. I don’t think there is any particular reason behind it.”

In the previous years, the hosts, who were the Spirits of Darkness, used to show everything. Perhaps they decided to show only half of the items to intrigue the attendees of the auction.

“Is this some sort of trying out session?” I thought.

I wondered if showing only half of the auction items was possibly a strategy. After all, whatever they decided, I could not complain; the Spirits of Darkness provided the items and set up the auction.

“Randalf Bruciel, I am actually quite excited about what you are going to show me this time.”

Ariel said in passing.

I replied shortly.

“The more you excited are, the more disappointed you will be in the end.”

“Is there such a saying? Hmm… let me digest that. However, my predictions have been mostly correct, and I cannot agree with you on that.”

Ariel pondered for a moment and shook her head.

The archduke was known for her discerning eyes and her nose for hottest issues. I could see how most of her predictions had been correct in the past.

“There are a lot of monsters,” I thought.

I turned away from Ariel and looked around the reception area.

Although there weren’t many monsters present in the area, all of them had quite high levels.

The demons became more interested in improving their dungeons. The quality of monsters in a dungeon determined how good that dungeon was. As a result, the demons started to get interested in getting better monsters.

The Spirits of Darkness were quick to realize such a change, and they collected these quality monsters to attract their customers.

At a glance, I could see two of the highest monsters.

“Goolfin, and Titan.”

The two monsters that I saw had levels of two. They were not bad, but I was expecting even stronger monsters, which had levels of three. Perhaps I was way too excited.

A second later, I started doubting if the Spirits of Darkness did not show stronger monsters on purpose.

“Randalf Bruciel, are you disappointed? Based on last year’s auction, the Spirits of Darkness could be hiding stronger monsters. Don’t’ be disappointed yet.”

“…”

Ariel was behind me again, and she did not go away. Krithli, who was standing on the other side of me, looked uncomfortable, but the archduke ignored her. Even her demons came to her and tried to talk to her, but she ignored them all.

“I don’t know what she is trying to do,” I thought.

I sighed deeply.

Ariel Diablo was the hardest archduke to deal with.

Two hours flew by after the auction for individual items ended, and the main event started. The castle was unusually quiet, and I suspected that a large number of Spirits of Darkness had left the castle to chase after the Spirits of Water and Fire.

“Jeeves and Kerpy, do not disappoint me,” I thought.

If the spirits died before they escaped the Forest of Darkness, which was a forest next to the castle, that would prove that I was too dumb to bet thirty million points on the contracts with them. I believed in the spirits, and I hoped that they would return to their homes safely.

“My Dungeon Master, please take a seat here.”

Krithli guided me to a seat, which she had prepared. She had wiped out the dust on the seat for me.

Ariel also went away and left for the second floor to get prepared for the main auction.

“Krithli, what did you see in the reception area?”

“I saw many demons and remembered their faces. Some of them could be your potential enemies.”

“How do you feel about them?”

“I know one thing for sure…”

Krithli turned around and took a glance at the halls on the second floor.

“I know that I am stronger than most of the demons in this auction hall.”

The Dark Elf was correct. She could see herself objectively.

Krithli did not say it quietly, but she said it out loud to provoke other demons.

“That Dark Elf bitch is nonsense.”

“Hmm…”

Everyone in the auction hall knew that Krithli was the same Dark Elf during the first year, who used to be much weaker and skinnier. Back then, she was sold as one of the items of the auction with her brother, Krathra.

However, none of them tried to pick up a fight with her.

There could be many reasons that they dared not pick a fight with Krithli. It could be the spirits, Ariel Diablo, or myself. Although everyone remained quiet, I could sense that they were all watching Krithli and me.

Krithli was not just provoking others with her words. She was emitting a lot of her mana. When she found out that I did not stop her on purpose, she started to emit mana more carelessly.

Such a scene looked very funny to me. Krithli was nothing but a feeble Dark Elf a few years ago. During these few years, she had grown so much that the others could not say anything now, even though she was provoking them in their faces.

Out of all the demons out there, Ufa was the most annoyed. The archduke tried to purchase Krathra and Krithli when they came out as items in the auction a few years ago. However, I hijacked the two Dark Elves. The archduke was frowning.

I sniffed at him and looked forward. Soon, the curtains lifted and Deboron appeared.

“Hello everyone. My name is Deboron, and I will be your host for the main auction. It feels less humid in the room since the Spirits of Water and the Spirits of Fire are now gone.”

Deboron made a joke and looked at me.

I stared back at him indifferently.

Then Deboron continued to talk as though nothing happened.

“I don’t want to make you wait! Let us start with the first item of the auction. This is quite an item! It is a monster that is above all! The monster is a Hydra, the king of snakes with nine heads!”

I could not help but focus intensively on the item.

I was very surprised that the Spirits of Darkness caught a Hydra. It had been only five years since everything started, and if the spirits really caught a Hydra, it was a tremendous progress.

Hydra would definitely grab other demons’ attention, and it would make the rest of the auction more interesting.