Dungeon Hunter - Chapter 29
Chapter 29: Episode 8. Auction of Devildom – 1 – (3)
“I will buy it now.”
“Khehehe, I know it is difficult to…what?”
“Don’t make me repeat myself.”
The fairy of darkness looked at me for a while as if he was in disbelief. He seemed like he had many doubts, but I was dead serious.
“Wait here.” The fairy of darkness finally figured out that I wasn’t joking, and he left the warehouse right away.
After five minutes, the fairy of darkness came back with the auction manager.
The auction manager was sweating like a pig.
The last person he’d corrupted was a fat man, probably. He looked like a guy who was heavier than 150kg because of his huge belly. Although he didn’t have a physical existence, I was sure that it was tiring for him anyways.
“Huff huff, you want to purchase the Secret Potion of the Wise Man now?”
“…”
I frowned and looked at the fairy of darkness. It was getting a bit annoying that he was making me repeat the same thing over and over again.
“Khehehehe…that’s right. This customer said he wants to purchase the Secret Potion of the Wise Man right now.”
The fairy of darkness noticed that I was getting annoyed and answered on my behalf.
“Then sign here with your hand.” The fat auction manager handed me a contract written on parchment. There was magic on the parchment so that the magic could be activated as soon as I signed with my hand.
I didn’t waste any more time and put my right palm on the parchment.
[You purchased Secret Potion of the Wise Man. 520,000pt has spent.]
[You have 1,032,447pt left.]
Soon the parchment started to shine blue.
The blue light flowed to the Secret Potion of the Wise Man.
The protection around the Secret Potion of the Wise Man started to fade away.
Even the auction manager seemed to be in disbelief.
“The…transaction is completed. Congratulations.”
I ignored him and took the potion.
I opened the cork.
Glop! Glop!
I swallowed it up right away.
[You took the Secret Potion of the Wise Man. Choose your skill to upgrade.]
[1. Skill Combination(R) 2. Mind’s Eye(U)]
I only had two skills. I didn’t have much use of Skill Combination, so I reached my hand and touched number two.
[Mind’s Eye(U) has been upgraded to Mind’s Eye(Ex U).]
That was the end of the message, and the message window disappeared.
‘That’s it?’
It was my first time drinking the Secret Potion of the Wise Man, so I had to check my status window.
‘Done.’
I nodded.
I was able to see that Mind’s Eye had been upgraded.
What has changed?
Were there any changes?
When I tried to activate my Mind’s Eye to check the list of auction items, the fairy of darkness cut in.
“Hmm! Sir. It’s time for you to enter the auction hall. I think we are running a bit late.”
“Okay.”
I was not in a rush.
I would be able to check if there were any changes.
I followed the fairy of darkness and left the warehouse.
<hr />
The auction hall looked like a grand opera house.
In the middle of the hall, there were a few hundred seats, and there were two levels of side halls. The main hall was decorated with six chandeliers sparkling with diamonds, and lamps were shining with magic. There were a few refined statues of singing boys and dancing girls. All those decorations were creating an elegant ambiance.
This was the place for the auction.
It was right in front of the auction and it seemed like I was the last one to enter the hall.
When I passed the arched gate, I was able to feel a lot of eyes on me.
They were not coming from the central seats but from the two side halls.
There was an Archduke with his entourage around him in a side hall. They had a look at me and soon turned away.
Ariel was the only one who was looking at me with strange eyes.
I had to laugh.
I was the only one sitting on the central seats.
I was the only irregular devil who didn’t belong to any of those four Archdukes.
I even took my title, ‘Count’, with my own power.
The original devil with the name Bruciel was one of the servants of Archduke Pandemonium. I thought maybe the demon god wanted to invite the original Bruciel, not me.
It was strange but good timing to be invited to this auction.
Anyways.
‘This is getting interesting.’
It was the same in my former life.
One thing that was different from my former life was that I had much more confidence this time.
In my former life, I had to look at other devils getting all the items because I didn’t have many points.
There would be items that they would want to purchase.
There would be items they would compete to get.
‘I will take them all.’
I guessed that I was more confident because I had enough points. In my former life, the auction was always an uncomfortable occasion. Four Archdukes and other devils were looking at me with contempt.
They were laughing at me and made fun of me. They all called me a ‘cockroach’.
I was looking forward to being in the middle of the auction, wondering if they would be able to look down on me just like they did in my former life.
‘Archduke Ariel, Ufa, Pandemonium, Oculus…and all the other familiar faces!’
Since I was not able to walk in with my monster, I walked into the hall by myself and sat in the middle of the center hall.
I crossed my legs and put my chin up to show that I didn’t care about the other devils.
I was sorry for them, but this auction was for me.
It was just a play that would run around me.
They had no chance to get on the stage.
They would be surprised and start to learn that they were not the center of the stage.
They would wonder, ‘Who the hell is he?’
Of course, they wouldn’t get the answer.
I had no plan to let them know that I was in Korea. It was not my time to shine; I had to accumulate more power before shining.
As long as I keep it a secret, archdukes wouldn’t be able to guess where my dungeon was.
To get that information, all four archdukes had to work together and share the location of all their devils, but that was practically impossible.
‘Archdukes are competitors; they wouldn’t collaborate.’
The location of each devil was top-secret. There was no way archdukes would share that secret with each other.
I had that information. Not all of them, but I knew the position of the dungeons of the twelve dukes and four archdukes.
That could be one of the most powerful weapons if used right.
Information was the real power and a tool to neutralize them.
But neutralizing them was the next step. I had to concentrate on the auction for now.
Soon, the spotlight started to light up the stage.
A man in a clown costume walked onto the stage.
“Guests. Welcome to the auction! I’m Deboron, your auctioneer for today’s auction.”
It was a face that I would see once a year.
Deboron. He was one of the top fairies of darkness, and he was a close entourage of the fairy king. He dressed up funnily to put others’ guard down in order to attack them. He was a real go-getter. He was the hand and eyes of the fairy king of darkness.
Everything that happened here would be reported to the fairy king through him. If I could make the right moves, I would be able to build a good relationship with the fairy king. That would be the best thing I could wish for.
‘The Auction of Devildom happens once a year, and the fairy king is the key to my success.’
He was a fairy. If I could become his friend, we could communicate even though we didn’t live in the same world.
If I could demonstrate that I was important and find a way to communicate with the fairy king or Deboron, they would help me find out what would be in the auction next year.
That was the strategy that Archduke Ufa used after the 10th year.
Ufa was able to have a side deal with the fairy king to get the upper hand during the auction every year.
The side deal was simply using the most points during the auction.
That was because the auction was the only way to make a transaction with the fairies of darkness.
Nothing would stop me from replacing Ufa in this life.
To do so, I had to let them know who I was and what I had.
I was the best devil here!
Deboron checked out all the devils in the hall. When his eyes were on me, he stopped, and his eyes started to shine bright.
There was only one reason why he was interested in me.
I was the only devil who’d spent 520,000 points. I had brief eye contact with him and smiled.
Well…I was the only one sitting in the center with a few hundred empty seats, so maybe that was a bit of the reason as well.
As soon as he checked all the devils, Deboron started to explain, “I suppose that all of you heard why you were summoned here today, but let me announce it officially. This is an annual auction held by Death Bringer, where you can bid and purchase items with your points. I hope you are enjoying the annual festival. Let me present the first item of this auction.”
A dozen fairies of darkness came out from the right side of the stage. They were pushing a huge cage on wheels. In the cage, I was able to see something very familiar.
Deboron started to explain with full confidence, “We worked hard to find the best way to open our very first auction. We have 100 items lined up, but we wanted to present the best item to open this auction. So here I present to you the half-elf Krathra. The blood of the dragon of dragons and the legendary magic dragon, Ahozin!”
Krathra in the cage was in a rage as if he was a wounded monster.
He had Intelligence and walked with two feet, but devils would consider everything that was not a devil a monster. Humans were a species that was way too weak to be a monster, but even elves were monsters from devils’ eyes.
That was what I was thinking as well.
‘Nothing has changed.’
Krathra looked exactly like how he looked like in my former life.
I activated my Mind’s Eye with full expectation.
Name: Krathra
Occupation: Magic Spearman
Title:
<ul>
One with the dragon blood(R,+4)
</ul>
Abilities :
Power 74(+4), Intelligence 69, Speed 65, Strength 72, Mana 77. Potential(357+4/437)
Others: Marked as a slave.
Skills: Rage of Dragon(U), Speedy Magic Spear(R)
I nodded in my head.
He had a potential that was higher than Yoo Eunhye and a Unique skill called Rage of Dragon. His abilities were very balanced as well.
‘That is?’
There was something or someone behind Krathra.
I tried to check who that was, but I was not able to remember that face.
Deboron kept explaining, “This is his sister Krithli, who is running out of life. We felt bad, so we kept them together, but we will give her to you if you purchase Krathra. No strings attached. You could use Elixir of life to recover her… but we wouldn’t recommend it. All the paths for energy in her body are blocked, so even if she recovers, she can’t grow up. She is good-looking though, so you can use her for however you see fit,” Deboron explained very politely and smiled.
“Now, the starting price is 0 points! I can guarantee you that Krathra must be stronger or is equally strong as all the devils here. I’m not saying my guests are not strong, but he has the blood of the real magic dragon Ahozin, so he is extremely strong. If any of you want him, get him. If you call more points than you have, the status on the ceiling will start laughing at you.”
One of the archdukes on the side hall raised her hand. “10,000.”
“Archduke Ariel! 10,000 points.”
Another Archduke raised his hand as well. “20,000.”
“Archduke Ufa! Going up fast here!”
“50,000.”
“Archduke Pandemonium! 50,000 points. Anyone else?”
It was obvious everyone was hesitating.
Not many devils had 50,000 points.
Archdukes were not very rich with points because they had no idea this kind of auction existed.
There were a lot of items in the line. Although Krathra was a great one, they couldn’t invest all their points on him.
“100,000.”
“Oh! So that made all the Archdukes participating. Archduke Oculus called for 100,000 points.”
100,000.
It was a massive amount.
Oculus showed a hint of laugher toward the other archdukes.
His smile was telling them it was a reasonable investment to get the treasure.
Three Archdukes started to look uncomfortable.
The only person in the middle of the auction hall raised his hand. “200,000.”
Everyone became silent.
The status on the ceiling didn’t laugh.
That meant I had enough points to call.
“200,000! Count Randalf Bruciel called for 200,000 points!” Deboron called out my full name in surprise.
My shock treatment worked well.
That’s why I called for 200,000pt.
No, actually that was a bargain to get Krathra and his sister Krithli. It was a steal.
All the devils here didn’t know that and at the same time, they heard my full name clearly.
I smiled, enjoying this situation.
Yes, be curious.
Keep being curious and remember the name.
Randalf Bruciel.
This is the name you will hear so many times from now on!
