Dungeon Hunter - Chapter 161

Chapter 161: Episode 49. The Fifth Auction of Devildom (10)

“Hydra?”

“I have never heard that name before.”

Despite my predictions, many demons did not know about Hydra, and they seemed uninterested. Had it not been the experience from my previous life, I would not have recognized the monster, too.

The Hydra was a legendary monster, which appeared in ancient texts or legends. The monster was originally sealed, but the Spirits of Darkness broke the seal and woke it up. Unfortunately, the spirits got Hydra too early in the game. It had been only five years since the competition started, and demons were not ready to handle such a powerful monster yet.

At the same time, I wondered how the Spirits of Darkness caught this monster. They were hesitant to make a contract with even one of the highest monsters. However, in order to catch Hydra, they would have made at least nine different contracts. Perhaps they found a way around and did not make any contracts at all.

“Did they proceed with incomplete contracts, just like how they did with Mago?”

The contract, which Mago was under, was unstable. As a result, the monster went crazy once in a while. If I did not play with it until it was exhausted, the monster would go mad and tried to break everything nearby.

If I could remember correctly, only the archdukes could handle the Hydra. If the owner was not qualified, they would eventually perish.

“Ah! I forgot to mention that we cannot bring the monster into the auction hall because of its large size. I am sorry for your inconvenience. Instead, we will show the monster through a crystal ball.”

Deboron acted as though he forgot to tell that he could not directly show the monster. Soon, workers appeared and brought a giant crystal ball.

The crystal ball showed a monster, which looked like the Hydra.

However, there was more.

It showed how the Hydra, which had nine different heads, was destroying an Orc town. The monster was emitting nine different kinds of breaths from each of its head, and it wiped out thousands of Orcs in the town.

The monster was overwhelmingly powerful, and it demolished whatever that was in its way. No one could stop it.

Grrrr!

The different breaths that the nine heads were emitting, such as fire, water, lightning, and poison, decimated thousands of Orcs at once.

The monster was also very gigantic. It was so large that when it moved, it felt like a mountain was moving. No monster was comparable to the Hydra in size. Even the Golems with high levels looked minuscule next to the Hydra.

The demons in the auction hall got interested in the Hydra immediately. The scene that the crystal ball showed was absolutely breathtaking, and all of the demons remained silent, watching the crystal ball.

Deboron smiled after he saw that the demons were fixated on the Hydra.

“The Orcs that you see in the crystal ball are the ‘Red Feather Orcs.’ Their town is located near one of the corners of the Devildom. A Red Feather Orc is much stronger than a regular Orc. One such Orc is equivalent to an intermediate monster. Moreover, the leader of this tribe, which is also known as the Orc Lord, is two levels higher than regular Orc Lords. However… let’s take a look.”

The crystal ball continued to show the battle between the Hydra and the Orcs.

In the scene, the Orc Lord appeared, at last, to save his tribe and town from the gigantic monster.

The Orc Lord, which was almost as twice as large as the other Orcs, started to lead in the front while swinging his large sword.

It avoided the Hydra’s nine different breaths. Even if it got attacked, the Orc Lord did not receive much damage.

“The Orc Lord is wielding a magic sword, which is called the ‘Ethereal Blade.’ Its options depend on the ability of the user, and sometimes it allows the user to strike back the breath attack. This item will come up later in the auction, so please stay tuned.”

Deboron finished his quick explanation about the Hydra and the scene.

The crystal ball recorded the scene. In other words, the battle was over a long time ago.

Deboron also mentioned that the Ethereal Blade would come out later, which meant that the Hydra won the battle.

The crystal ball continued to show the battle. The Orc Lord, using his sword, struck back the breath attack multiple times, and it came close to the Hydra. However, the monster’s gigantic body itself was a very powerful weapon. When the Hydra jumped, an earthquake happened, and the Orc Lord became hesitant to attack.

Despite the threat, the Orc Lord bravely jumped and cut one of the nine heads of Hydra. The Orc Lord became elated with a momentary victory. Soon, another head of the Hydra struck it, and the Orc Lord fell to the ground.

A new head of Hydra grew from the wound in the brink of an eye. Then it started to emit its breath again like the other eight did.

It was a very weird scene, but at the same time, I became more interested in getting the Hydra.

“One can kill the Hydra only if he or she cut or burn all of its nine heads at once,” I thought.

If only one or few heads were cut, they would revive in no time. The Orc Lord did not know about this, and he could not kill the monster whatsoever.

The video soon ended.

“What do you think about the Hydra? Don’t you want it for your monster? We have provided you with the best monsters in the world, but no monster so far is comparable to the Hydra.”

Deboron was correct. At least in terms of power, none of the monsters, which had been presented in the auction, was as powerful as the Hydra.

Any demon would want to get the Hydra.

If one had enough points to afford two of the highest monsters, using those points to purchase one Hydra was a better deal.

Anyone who watched the video, which Deboron showed us, would do the same.

“There is a problem…” I thought.

I was hesitant to bid, because I doubted if the contract, which would allow the owner to control the Hydra, was complete.

The Spirits of Darkness would send the monster to me if I ended up buying it.

However, there was no guarantee that the contract was complete. And if the contract was not complete, I would have a hard time trying to control the Hydra.

Deboron put one hand on his belly and bowed like a gentleman.

“We just introduced one of the legendary monsters to you, and the starting bid for this monster will be five million points.”

The starting bid said everything. The Hydra was invincible, and it deserved such an expensive price. In addition, not everyone could just jump in because of the price.

However, a handful of demons collected many points through the auction for individual items. I did not know the exact amount that they had earned, but I anticipated that some of them could afford to participate in this round of auction. I highly doubted that I was the only demon who earned many points during the auction for individual items.

During the previous session, some items were sold at much more expensive prices than they actually were worth. The price gaps must have earned a lot of points for some of the demons.

“Ufa,” I thought.

I suspected that Ufa had the most points out of all the demons in the auction hall. Most of his demons and he himself sold items at much more expensive prices.

“If I did not have access to the Achievement Store, I would be fighting with a disadvantage,” I thought.

Out of all the demons, I had the most penalties, because I was alone while other factions worked as teams. The Spirits of Darkness were clever, and they must have anticipated such a scenario.

“I guess that they did not step in, because most of the items, which they wanted to sell, were too good to bring into the auction for individual items,” I thought.

The Spirits of Darkness, despite their anticipation, did not take any action but watched the entire session. Earning points through the auction was their top priority, and they wanted high starting bids for the items in the main auction, such as the Hydra. The spirits then needed to control the flow and the distribution of the points before the main event began. As a result, they did not intervene at all during the previous session.

Despite their manipulative actions, the system would still work, because it always remained neutral and promoted equality among everyone in this world. It would not let the Spirits of Darkness break the balance and take all the points by setting the bids very high for auction items.

“The system must have already given them penalties. Otherwise, the spirits will get them later,” I thought.

I could only make wild guesses as to how the situations evolved. Only Adonis, the Spirit King, would have a full understanding of what was going on. I shifted my attention and looked around.

No one bid. If anyone did, he or she would implicitly prove to others that he or she could afford such a large amount of points. Out of all the demons, only Ariel Diablo and I were officially known to be able to afford such points.

Perhaps some of the demons thought that only Ariel Diablo could afford the Hydra, because I had spent quite a bit of points during the auction for individual items.

“Five million.”

There was a moment of silence after this call.

Someone spoke while everyone else remained quiet.

“Archduke Ufa! You have such great eyes. We have five million points.”

Ufa intervened at last. I suspected that he had the most points remaining out of all the demons. Then Ariel joined the competition.

“Six million.”

“Archduke Ariel! You are one hot demon!”

“Seven million.”

“Ah, it is Archduke Ufa again! You have been quiet during the auction for individual items, but here you are, getting hot. We have seven million points!”

Ufa seemed to be determined to purchase the Hydra. The main auction had barely started, and there were chances that other good items or monsters would come out later in the auction. Whoever that ended up buying the Hydra would spend so much of their fortune, and they would not be able to afford other items later.

Perhaps Ufa believed that the Hydra was worth sacrificing the items later on in the auction. His decision made sense to a certain extent. The Hydra was an extraordinary item, and none of the remaining items in this auction would be comparable to it.

“What about Pandemonium?” I thought.

Ufa and Ariel started competing. It was very likely that Pandemonium would step in, too. However, for some reason, the archduke remained silent with his eyes closed.

Was he trying to bet on the later items?

“Eight million.”

“Ms. Ariel, it seems that you have made up your mind! She is not stopping!”

“Nine million.”

“You come in as strong as a meteor! You do have a lot of points. Archduke Ufa takes the lead again with nine million points!”

The bid was reaching ten million points.

Ariel was sighing out loud, and she looked disturbed. The archduke was being interrupted by one of her worst competitors, Ufa.

The two did not get along with each other very well.

If Ufa ended up getting the Hydra, his faction would get stronger dramatically. Such a rapid increase in power would then be a threat to Ariel, and she, too, was aware of this.

Deboron spoke again in the midst of the competition.

“Nine million. Do we have anyone else? The Hydra is worth more than nine million points.”

Pandemonium was not interested in the Hydra at all. Only archdukes could afford such an expensive price, and if Pandemonium did not step in, this round was almost over.

Deboron, who looked a little unsatisfied, continued to speak while nodding.

“Then we will count down from five…”

“Ten million.”

When Deboron was about to start a countdown, I joined the auction. My voice carried some weight, and it made the spirit flinch.

“Archduke… Randalf! We have ten million points!”

“Hmm.”

Ariel coughed when I stepped in. She started to slightly smile, and the archduke looked happier than she was before. In most of the auctions that I had participated in, I ended up taking the items. Ariel must have expected that the same would happen, since I joined the auction.

The relationship between her and Ufa was worse than that between her and me; the archduke would rather I take the Hydra than Ufa did, if she could not afford it.

Ufa frowned at once and looked at me.

The archduke was getting tired of competing with me. I had spent thirty million points, and I stepped in again, becoming his obstacle.

“Eleven million.”

“Archduke Ufa does not want any interruption, and he is going hard!”

“Twelve million.”

“We don’t know where the end is. It is like the spring water that never dries. Here comes Archduke Randalf!”

Ufa took a glance at the statues of a boy and a girl on the ceiling. However, the statues did not smile.

“Tsk!”

The archduke then clicked his tongue out loud. When Ufa frowned, Ariel started to smile bigger.

“He has earned quite a bit,” I thought.

It was now clear that Ufa made his demons send their points to him.

If the archduke wanted to continue competing, he could. However, Ufa took a moment to think.

I did not come to last year’s auction, but he had seen me in the auction for the previous three years before. And through those auctions, the archduke learned that competing with me was not the best option to consider. In the worst case, he might reveal the total points that he had to other demons.

“Anyone else? We have twelve million points. Then… I will count down from five.”

Deboron spoke as though it was a shame to close this round. However, I knew that this round was done as soon as Ufa started to consider different options. Through my previous experience, I knew the archduke quite well. He could go hard for a while, but he would eventually come to a pause. Then the archduke would take a while to look around until the situation settled.

The auction moved at such a fast pace, and Ufa did not have the time to ponder and choose the best option possible.

“Three, two, one! Congratulations. Archduke Randalf claims the Hydra!”

I got my first big gain in the auction.

Several useful items came up in the proceeding rounds of auction. I was actually quite surprised because the quality of auction items improved dramatically over the last two years.

However, none of them caught my attention. Instead, I focused on observing other demons and the items that they purchased.

I tried to guess the other demons’ financial situation based on their actions in the auction.

Krithli also remained attentive, trying to read the other demons’ intentions.

Ten items were auctioned off, and the eleventh round of auction began.

“Before I present the next time, I will give you some background information. We, the Spirits of Darkness, have been tracking the footsteps of the Jinma Dragon for the past dozens of years. On the way, we ran into some other items and monsters, and we sold them in this auction. Krithli and Krathra were some of such monsters. And after many years, we encountered something related to the Jinma Dragon Ahojin this year.”

Krithli’s eyes widened.

The Jinma Dragon Ahojin was the best Demonic Dragon, and it was also one of Krithli’s parents.

From what I saw, Ahojin was now in the Achievement Store, and it cost fifty thousand achievement points.

However, Deboron was about to present a related item to what anyone could barely afford. I got very interested in the next item.

Other demons got interested, too. Everyone knew who Jinma Dragon Ahojin was and heard stories about it.

Holding our attention, Deboron continued to speak.

“I now present the body of Sheila, who used to be Ahojin’s spouse.”