You Have Been Invited to the Auction House of the Gods - Chapter 114
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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114
The moment I stepped foot into the temple, my breath caught in my throat.
It was because of the enormous presence I felt inside the temple.
In front of the altar, the priest I had seen in the vision was bowing his head as if in meditation.
Between the white priest robes, tattoos carved on his skin were revealed.
They weren’t simple tattoos.
The geometric patterns arranged like lines resembled magic circuits.
Energy was flowing along the carved lines, but it wasn’t mana.
However, it wasn’t an unfamiliar energy.
Faint, but very faint, it seemed similar to the power Purple Finger had used.
I couldn’t identify its exact nature, but I could be certain of one thing.
‘He’s strong.’
If the US Military raid team had reached this place, they wouldn’t have been able to avoid another total annihilation.
From the energy I could sense at a glance, S-rank.
If he could use Divine Artifact power as well, the raid difficulty would increase exponentially.
The priest slowly raised his head.
‘Blind?’
The priest’s eyes were clouded white.
“So the Divine Oracle’s prophecy has finally reached its end.”
An androgynous voice flowed from the priest’s dry lips.
“You will never be able to obtain what you desire from this place.”
With those words, the priest lowered his stance and drew up his energy.
The light of the patterns flowing through the Priest’s body became even more intense.
I also drew out Galmu.
The Priest was the first to charge.
Kicking off the ground and closing the distance in an instant, the Priest threw a punch.
I quickly wrapped Karmic Fire around me and swung Galmu.
Thud―!
The sound of air being torn as fist and dagger collided shook the Temple.
After deflecting the Priest’s punch, I lowered my stance and rotated my body.
Galmu drew a horizontal circle as it was swung toward the Priest’s abdomen.
The Priest brought down his opposite arm to block Galmu.
With a clang, a dull vibration traveled all the way to my shoulder.
‘It’s like hitting a lump of metal.’
A sound that couldn’t come from flesh and dagger colliding rang out.
Before I could even retrieve Galmu, the Priest moved quickly.
Pulling away the blocking arm, he trapped Galmu’s blade between his armpit.
Then he raised his opposite hand like a blade and swung it toward me.
I quickly released Galmu and pulled my body back.
But that wasn’t the end.
From the Priest’s hand blade cutting diagonally downward, a crescent-shaped Sword Energy poured toward me.
I quickly crossed my hands and ignited Karmic Fire.
The Priest’s Sword Energy struck the shield made of Karmic Fire directly.
A fairly strong impact shook the air, but no direct blow reached me.
The first probing battle ended and a brief standoff followed.
‘Is he from a martial arts sect?’
But it was somewhat different from that.
Rather than pure martial arts, he seemed similar to Liu Chen’s style.
Combat that enhanced strength or activated sorcery through circuits carved into the body.
However, in Liu Chen’s case, those circuits ran on Ghostly Energy, making him rather easy to deal with, but the Priest was different.
‘Purple Finger was the same – dealing with those who use such power is troublesome.’
The probing battle wasn’t over yet.
Neither the Priest nor I had shown all our cards.
‘Should I probe a little more?’
This time, I was the one who moved first.
‘First, I need to retrieve Galmu.’
I kicked off the ground and charged toward the Priest.
At the same time, I activated the Magic Circuit I had carved into the Priest’s body through Ghostly Energy.
With a bang, an explosion erupted from the Priest’s shoulder.
The explosion caused the Priest to drop Galmu.
I created a giant arm with Karmic Fire and caught the flying Galmu.
At the same time, I leaped high into the sky.
‘Should I make the sword match the arm’s size?’
As soon as I thought it, a giant Karmic Fire sword bloomed above Galmu.
Judging by the arm’s size, calling it a flame Giant would be appropriate.
Together with the pulling gravity,
I swung Galmu down toward the Priest.
Boom―!
An explosion erupted and a storm of flames filled the temple.
‘Did that deal some damage?’
Contrary to my expectations, the priest slowly walked out from the flames, his whitened eyes glowing fiercely.
“Tch, not even a scorch mark.”
The priest hadn’t taken any damage whatsoever.
Even the priest robes he was wearing were the same.
No, to be precise, it would be more accurate to say they had recovered.
I had definitely seen burns appear on the priest’s skin when the attack hit.
The priest robes were the same.
I had clearly seen them burning from the heat, but somehow they had recovered to their original state.
‘It’s because of the divine artifact.’
What my Fire Eyes saw was the crystal orb placed on the altar.
An unknown power emanating from the crystal orb was regenerating everything about the priest.
‘Regeneration… though it seems a bit different?’
It seemed slightly different from the regeneration or recovery I knew.
‘Tch, it looks like ancient magic, but there are hardly any records left about that…’
The priest, having finished regenerating, charged at me again.
I swiftly swung Galmu, continuing my defense and attacks.
The exchange continued, but neither of us achieved any notable results.
The priest’s power couldn’t break through me to begin with,
and even when I broke through the priest’s defense and dealt meaningful damage, the power from the divine artifact restored him to his original state.
Even if I managed to break through the priest’s defenses and deal significant damage, the power from the divine artifact would restore him to his original state.
But the rough exploration was over.
At least I could deal meaningful damage to the Priest with my firepower.
Even if he defended through the circuits carved into his body.
However, the problem was that even if I dealt such damage, he would immediately regenerate using the Divine Artifact’s power.
The solution to that was also simple.
I just needed to cut off the path through which the Divine Artifact’s power was transmitted.
My Ghostly Energy could sever magic.
Moreover, I could clearly see that transmission path through my Fire Eyes.
‘I’ve figured out the strategy, but…’
The problem was that it was easier said than done – putting it into action would be quite tough.
I needed to activate Fire Eyes and deal enough damage with Karmic Fire to break through the Priest’s defense, while simultaneously
cutting off that path before the Divine Artifact could heal the Priest, then
surrounding him with Ghostly Energy to seal off the Divine Artifact’s influence.
‘It’s like asking for a hot iced americano.’
If that doesn’t work, I’ll have no choice but to deal with the Divine Artifact first.
Of course, I doubt the Priest would just let me do that.
While I was thinking this, I saw something moving insignificantly behind the Priest.
‘Ellie?’
I thought she’d be hiding somewhere, but what is she doing over there?
She was moving her lips, but her voice didn’t reach me due to the noise of battle.
When I continued to not understand, Ellie, looking frustrated, drew something in midair.
A small wooden door.
As soon as her drawing was completed, a small door appeared right next to my ear as well.
– Ah, can you hear me now?
‘Is it like a radio?’
It was an ability that seemed to have many potential uses, and apparently it could be used this way too.
“I can hear you.”
I answered while deflecting the Chairman’s fist.
– I’ll create a door, so please hit it with a powerful attack.
“An attack?”
– You can’t take him down immediately because of the Divine Artifact, right?
“…Right.”
– You can neutralize the Divine Artifact, can’t you?
“Yeah.”
– Then attack the door and immediately rush to the Divine Artifact. I’ll deliver the attack to the Priest at the right timing.
“You can do something like that?”
– I’m an A-rank Hunter, you know.
‘I thought she was just hiding in the corner.’
Her ability to read the battlefield was more excellent than I had thought.
It made me more suspicious, but since there was no other option right now, I decided to accept Ellie’s proposal.
“Got it.”
As soon as I finished answering, I kicked the Priest’s abdomen hard.
The Priest quickly crossed his hands to block, but my purpose wasn’t to inflict damage in the first place.
With the explosion that erupted from my foot, the Priest was pushed straight back.
At the same time, I aimed Galmu at the Priest.
‘I should feed Galmu a decent sniper rifle when I get the chance.’
It was the same technique I had used against Purple Finger.
At the tip of Galmu, aimed like a sniper rifle, Karmic Fire began to condense into a single point.
The Priest must have sensed this attack was unusual, as stronger light was bursting from the circuits carved into his body.
And in response, an iron door appeared in midair behind the Priest.
The moment Ellie frantically opened the door,
‘One Point’
The Karmic Fire was fired as a single laser.
The attack that flew through the air as if tearing it apart naturally missed the Priest.
When the tense Priest raised the corners of his mouth at the missed attack, a wooden door appeared above his head.
‘So that’s how it works.’
As soon as I confirmed the door, I ran toward the altar where the Divine Artifact was.
The moment I wrapped the Divine Artifact in ghostly energy and the door opened with a creaking sound,
Kwaaaaang―!
My One Point attack poured down toward the Priest.
After a massive shockwave swept through the temple once,
the Priest who appeared couldn’t even let out a scream and collapsed to the floor completely charred black.
The priest who had revealed himself collapsed to the floor, charred black, without even managing to let out a scream.
“I told you I’d be helpful, didn’t I?”
“I said I’d be helpful too, didn’t I?”
Ellie approached with a triumphant expression.
Eli approached with a triumphant expression on his face.
“Mr. Han. We won, so why do you look like that?”
“Mr. Han. You won, so why do you look like that?”
As she said, my expression was hardened.
As she said, my expression had hardened.
I couldn’t take my eyes off the charred corpse of the Priest either.
And couldn’t take his eyes off the priest’s charred black corpse either.
“I guess I underestimated God’s power too much.”
“I suppose I underestimated the power of God.”
“What?”
“What?”
My eyes with Fire Eyes activated could see it.
The irresistible, massive power enveloping the Priest.
At the same time, the Priest’s body was undergoing Restoration at rapid speed.
“Miss Ellie. You don’t need to help this time, so go hide somewhere or run away.”
Because this time, I really don’t think I can save you.
***
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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