You Have Been Invited to the Auction House of the Gods - Chapter 173

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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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173

Crack.

As I stepped onto the broken debris, a wooden piece quietly crumbled.

Around me, only the faint breathing of fallen paladins could be heard.

It was a remote warehouse at the pier, filled with the mixed scents of blood and fishy water.

I moved forward and stood before a middle-aged man wearing stained ceremonial robes.

He lay collapsed, letting out pained groans.

I silently pressed my foot against his shoulder.

“Urgh—!”

His face contorted.

As if in pain, cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

“Stay still just like that. Move carelessly and your heart will burst.”

Dry words flowed from my mouth.

I raised my hand like a blade.

Above my raised hand, golden Sacred Fire quietly blazed.

And just like that, without hesitation, I thrust my hand into The Pope’s heart.

“Kek—!”

The Pope coughed up blood.

The heart’s pulsation traveled through my hand.

I pushed my hand deeper inside.

I felt something wriggling at my fingertips.

I grasped it with my hand and pulled it out.

The Pope’s eyes lost their light.

As if his breath had stopped, he dropped his head.

The blocked blood burst out belatedly.

I spread Sacred Fire to block the blood.

I didn’t want to dirty the t-shirt I received as a gift from Park Si-on.

As soon as I pulled out my hand, Yamyeong rushed over and poured the potion he was holding onto The Pope’s chest.

The transparent liquid soaked The Pope’s body.

Pouring a potion when the heart has been ripped out won’t bring a dead person back to life,

but what I had pulled out wasn’t The Pope’s heart.

I briefly looked at the wriggling insect in my palm, then lit it with Sacred Fire.

The insect let out a high-pitched scream as it burned.

Soon it was completely annihilated, leaving not even ashes behind.

“There’s actually a group using sorcery in this era.”

Sorcery.

It was an inhuman form of magic I had only seen in Heavenly Demon’s World.

A contract that holds a target’s life hostage using two insects.

From the perspective of an exemplary CEO who advocates for fair employment contracts, it was incomprehensible behavior.

Meanwhile, as his heartbeat returned to life, The Pope exhaled the breath he had been holding.

“Puha!”

Then he breathed roughly and looked up at me.

“I’m grateful you saved me, but… it’s not your guild’s property. Aren’t you wasting too much holy water?”

Around The Pope, a puddle had formed from the holy water Yamyeong had poured.

A chuckle escaped at The Pope’s words, worrying about Vatican finances immediately after being revived.

“Maybe I should have waited three days to resurrect you.”

The Pope burst into silly laughter.

That’s when it happened.

My smartphone vibrated.

It was an emergency text sent from the Italian Hunter Association.

“Tsk.”

I checked the contents and clicked my tongue lightly.

No wonder it had been too quiet until now.

[Hunter Association] An S-Rank Dungeon Break has occurred near Vatican Cathedral.

This is not a drill but an actual emergency situation.

Residents in the vicinity are requested to follow guidance and move to the nearest shelter.

I had saved The Pope and freed the hostages the Saint had taken, so all my business here was finished.

Now it was time to wrap things up.

I turned my head to look at Yamyeong.

“Tell Park Ju-yong to take Raphael and return directly to the Vatican Catacombs.”

Then I looked down at The Pope who was still sitting and added.

“If you’re done being healed, get up already. It seems there’s trouble at the Vatican anyway.”

Actually, The Pope’s answer didn’t matter.

To complete the picture of Park Si-on’s ultimate victory, the Vatican’s leader was necessary material.

Before The Pope could even answer, I grabbed the back of his neck.

“You don’t get motion sickness, do you?”

***

Above Vatican Cathedral.

I was moving at high speed while gripping The Pope by the scruff of his neck.

The city visible below was already completely empty.

It seemed the citizen evacuation had been completed long ago.

Well, with an S-Rank Dungeon Break, swift response was directly linked to survival.

“Hehe… It’s been quite a while since I’ve been treated like this.”

The Pope, dangling helplessly, burst into laughter.

His guild building was about to be blown away, yet he was such a good-natured person.

He seemed to have the complete opposite personality from Raphael, who was supposedly his brother.

“Probably Pobeglia, who was sealed underground, has been released.”

He spoke as if it was no big deal, but just from the aura I could feel from afar, I could tell it wasn’t an ordinary creature.

“Aren’t you curious why such a thing was sealed beneath the Vatican?”

When I didn’t respond, The Pope casually threw the question back at me.

“It’s a place with all sorts of rumors about time machines and holy relics, so it wouldn’t be strange for an S-Rank demon or two to be sealed there.”

“I suppose…”

I couldn’t understand, nor did I want to understand, why he answered so dejectedly.

If the man dangling from my hand wasn’t The Pope, I would have dropped him long ago.

At that moment, a powerful aura erupted so clearly that it could be felt even from the surface.

I looked down at The Pope once.

“Enough small talk. Just guide me through the basement.”

I assigned the useless Pope the role of navigator and picked up speed.

***

Following the shortcut The Pope mentioned, we quickly reached the end of the labyrinth.

Contrary to the fact that such a large space existed at the end of the labyrinth,

the labyrinth seemed to have already lost its function, with collapsed sections everywhere.

Broken passages and tangled undead debris were scattered about.

I saw familiar faces in the distance.

Dolsoe and Galmu.

They were faithfully performing the role I had assigned them, sweeping away the monster wave.

“Dolsoe. Where’s Park Si-on?”

“Oh, Mister Kim, you’re here. If you’re asking about Young Master Si-on—”

Before Dolsoe could finish his answer, a massive light exploded in the distance.

It was a powerful wave of Sacred Power.

“Over there.”

I tossed The Pope to Dolsoe.

“Dolsoe, when you meet up with the others later, bring him along.”

As I spoke, I extended my hand.

Along with the trumpeting sound of an elephant, Galmu transformed into the Heavenly Demon Sword and flew over, wrapping around me snugly.

I wrapped myself in sacred flames once more and flew at full speed toward where the Sacred Power was spreading.

And when I arrived in front of the Holy Grail Chamber, I was momentarily speechless.

“Is that… right?”

A giant that appeared to be Pobeglia lay sprawled out with its head cracked open.

And in front of it stood Park Si-on holding a sledgehammer.

As if he too couldn’t understand the situation, he looked at me and spoke.

“…Vice Guild Master, you’ve arrived?”

And I quickly accepted the situation.

It seemed that, as I had expected, Park Si-on’s Sacred Power had awakened another aspect of the Angel of the Lamp.

And that sledgehammer in his hands,

but no matter how I looked at it, that was clearly a sledgehammer that had been rolling around the construction site for quite a while.

In any case, that would be another form of the Angel of the Lamp, the Angel of the Hammer.

‘Still, it was worth winning the bid for that expensive price at Golden Township.’

In a way, the appearance of that sledgehammer wasn’t such a strange form.

According to records, Sister, who was called the Angel in White and the Angel of the Lamp, was quite the troublemaker.

It was recorded that she would take a sledgehammer and smash open ammunition depot and supply warehouse doors to obtain scarce medical supplies and materials.

I decided not to think about it further and just accept it.

As long as a weapon performs well, that’s all that matters, right?

I quickly pulled myself together and asked Park Si-on a question.

“Where is the Saint?”

“She entered the Holy Grail Chamber.”

“We’re moving immediately too.”

Just as I quickened my pace and turned toward the stone door.

Someone walked out from behind the stone door.

It was Yun Seo-won.

“I never thought you’d even defeat Pobeglia…”

He too seemed flustered, as if the current situation was unexpected.

“In any case, I have no choice but to step forward myself in the end.”

As soon as those words ended, Hunters walked out from behind Yun Seo-won.

They were faction members aligned with the Saint, including Holy Guild members and failed Candidates for Sainthood.

I sighed at the sight.

I didn’t feel any particular emotion.

There weren’t any other particular feelings.

It was just bothersome.

“Process quickly and move on.”

I adjusted my grip on the Heavenly Demon Sword and took my stance.

I sensed a presence approaching from behind me as well.

“We’re late.”

It was Park Ju-yong.

The Pope and Raphael, and behind them an army radiating Sacred Power was marching forward.

It was the Vatican’s Holy Knights.

“We’re a bit late because Raphael insisted on bringing the Holy Knights.”

“This is a battle that could destroy the Vatican, so how could the Holy Knights be left out!”

Raphael laughed heartily and raised his spear high.

I don’t know about hearty, but I wish he’d tuck in that protruding belly.

“Now the numbers are even.”

I’m not sure if “numbers” is a word that should come from the Pope’s mouth.

“Since we don’t have time, let’s start right away.”

The Pope drove his staff into the ground as he spoke.

Centered on his staff, Sacred Power expanded like a storm.

Divine power expanded like a storm around his staff.

It was Sanctuary, a technique only the Pope could use.

And that became the signal.

With Raphael in the lead, the Vatican’s knights charged forward.

I briefly watched the battlefield swirling rapidly around us.

With a quiet chuckle, I grabbed the back of Park Si-on’s neck.

“You don’t get motion sickness either, right?”

I didn’t wait for an answer.

Even if he did get motion sickness, there was nothing I could do about it.

I unleashed sacred flames and flew straight past the Saint Faction toward the entrance of the Holy Grail Chamber.

***

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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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