You Have Been Invited to the Auction House of the Gods - Chapter 174

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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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174

As I passed through the Stone Door, I squinted slightly at the sunlight streaming in.

It would be foolish to question how sunlight could reach underground at this point.

Once my eyes adjusted to the light, what I saw was a Hexagonal Empty Room.

It was a room where mysterious light filtered through stained glass positioned at the center.

Looking closer, it wasn’t sunlight but Sacred Power that was shining.

In the center stood the Saint.

Holding the Holy Grail in one hand,

And in the other hand, holding a holy spear.

‘Smaller than I thought.’

but its actual size was about that of a brass beer mug.

‘Has the selection already ended?’

The stigmata on the Saint’s back was already activated, emanating Sacred Power.

And that was definitive proof that she had pulled some tricks.

The Holy Grail’s selection was supposed to proceed under The Pope’s guidance after all candidates had arrived.

‘To be chosen without even a moderator present…’

Honestly, I couldn’t understand her purpose.

From the moment she became a saint,

From the moment she became a saint,

Because legitimacy had already essentially collapsed.

Yet Elena remained calm.

Then suddenly, another possibility occurred to me.

‘What if becoming a saint wasn’t the goal from the beginning?’

but to prevent him from coming to the Holy Grail Chamber?

What if Elena had a way to forcibly draw out the Holy Grail’s selection,

Elena had a way to forcibly extract the Holy Grail’s choice,

What if the condition was to reach the chamber of the Holy Grail alone?

That would explain why she abandoned the Pope even on the day of the selection.

And the same was true for breaking the seal to prevent Park Si-on from entering.

Then there was only one question left.

What is her real purpose?

A series of assumptions came together, and the conclusion became clear.

I gazed at the holy grail in her hands.

“So the Holy Grail was your goal from the beginning.”

At my words, she smiled.

“I heard you were smart, but don’t you think you caught on a bit too late?”

I gave a bitter smile.

‘The assumption that the cult leader was targeting the Vatican was flawed from the start.’

If he were the cult leader, there would be no reason for him to bother getting involved in such a troublesome procedure as the saint selection tournament.

If he really wants the Vatican, all he has to do is fill the Vatican’s key positions with people from his religious order.

Pope or saint? What do I know.

They are merely representatives, not dictators.

If most of the Vatican’s personnel were people from the religious order, then they would be nothing more than puppets.

Then why did the cult leader target the Holy Grail?

‘It’s because of divine power.’

I could see the divine power contained within the holy grail.

The power of the fundamental source of force called divine power.

“It seems like you’ve got a rough grasp of the situation… I suppose you’re not planning to just let me go, are you?”

The Holy Grail thief is stating the obvious.

Setting aside the cult leader’s objectives, there’s no way they would let someone steal the Vatican’s core sacred relic when they’re about to enter into a cooperative relationship with Asin.

From The Pope’s life fee to request processing costs, among various things.

There were outstanding receivables remaining at the Vatican.

Starting with the price on the Pope’s head, plus the cost of handling the commission, among other things.

“I have no choice.”

Elena slowly walked out.

In an instant, Sacred Power condensed and heavy armor formed over her body.

Simultaneously, two swords rose around her stigmata.

One was emanating Sacred Power,

while the other was emanating ghostly energy.

“A Saint who uses a Demonic Sword…”

But the surprises didn’t end there.

The two swords began rotating around her as she held Longinus.

‘In all my life, I never thought I’d see someone use sword techniques with Sacred Power.’

But so what?

It was impressive, sure, but what did that matter.

I let out a sigh of disbelief.

“Kids these days take S-rank Hunters too lightly.”

Just because she had a few sacred artifacts didn’t mean she could become my equal.

‘I’ll have to bring her back to reality.’

I kicked off the ground and charged at Elena.

Park Si-on followed close behind me.

And we simultaneously thrust our sword and spear at Elena.

Light exploded.

The entire room shook from the impact of the collision.

‘Tch, she blocked it.’

The sword and spear that had struck from both sides were stopped by her two swords.

My sword strike infused with ghostly energy was caught by the holy sword,

while Park Si-on’s attack infused with Sacred Power was blocked by the Demonic Sword.

Two sword techniques with perfectly opposing attributes were countering each other.

At the same time, Longinus shot straight toward my neck.

I spun my body and created distance.

‘She came well prepared.’

You need something to rely on to act so boldly.

Two of the Vatican’s core sacred artifacts.

A holy sword and a Demonic Sword.

And even an activated stigmata.

Her confidence was understandable given such preparation.

But that didn’t mean I thought I would lose.

I covered the Heavenly Demon Sword with Sacred Fire and charged at Elena once more.

***

‘Sturdier than I thought.’

I scattered Sacred Fire as I retreated.

Breaking through Elena’s sword techniques with Sacred Fire, which possessed both yin and yang energies, wasn’t particularly difficult.

But as if she had prepared for even such contingencies, her defense was designed in stages.

Attacks wreathed in Sacred Fire were caught by both the Demonic Sword and holy sword simultaneously.

If I broke through the two swords, then the holy spear Longinus waited next.

Moreover, since the sword techniques themselves were powered by Sacred Power, Sacred Power-based skills linked together to fill the gaps.

But what was most troublesome was Elena herself.

‘Hard to believe she’s 15 years old.’

No, is she actually 15?

No matter how good her weapons were, she needed the instincts to use them so effectively.

Either her recorded age was false, or

‘She must have awakened abilities related to martial arts.’

Since even her stigmata was related to swordsmanship, it was entirely possible.

‘How should I break through.’

I wasn’t being pushed back in the exchange.

No, I was actually holding a slight advantage.

But that was all there was to it.

I had techniques that could forcibly collapse her defenses.

One Point, or something like Hyeonmu-wol’s Void.

But the problem was what would happen after using those techniques.

Vatican headquarters would completely collapse,

and there was also the risk that Vatican citizens who had evacuated to the underground shelter would be buried alive.

The problem wasn’t just the citizens.

Given the current situation, one of the world’s largest festivals, the Festival of the Saints, was being held in Vatican right now.

If things went wrong, crowds from all over the world who had gathered to see the next Saint could end up buried alive along with Vatican’s historic buildings.

Even if I defeated Elena, that would be an ending difficult to call victory.

‘If I could just sever the stigmata, I think I could somehow handle it…’

Elena’s thickest defensive barrier – the two swords.

If I could just neutralize those, I could subdue her without sinking Vatican.

Then suddenly, a question occurred to me.

‘How did Elena activate her stigmata?’

Surely the Holy Grail chooses candidates designated by divine oracle as Saints.

And the chosen Saint proves that selection through activating their stigmata.

Of course, right now beside me was a strange kid who had activated his stigmata all on his own.

Holding a long spear in one hand and a war hammer in the other.

That was Park Si-on being an exceptional case.

I didn’t think Elena had received the Holy Grail’s selection through proper methods.

‘She definitely seems to have pulled some trick…’

Then suddenly I noticed something strange about her outfit.

‘Do you normally expose a necklace over full plate mail?’

The armor she wore was full plate mail that didn’t expose the neck or chest.

Yet very unnaturally, only a necklace was protruding through gaps in the armor.

Blatantly going against the maker’s intention to eliminate such gaps.

‘I should check it out.’

I quickly alternated between Karmic Fire and ghostly energy, sending two types of slashing strikes.

Elena’s spirit swords flew rapidly, easily deflecting the incoming sword strikes.

“Attacks of merely this level cannot break through my sword formation.”

I hadn’t sent those sword strikes intending to break through in the first place.

At the same time, I was able to confirm it.

The moment the spirit swords activated, I could see minute divine power flowing from her necklace into the Holy Grail.

‘She’s issuing divine oracles in real time.’

But I also had that function.

I sent sword strikes with two different energies once more.

And simultaneously sent a sound transmission toward the Holy Grail.

– Elena is not a Saint.

I know. It’s crazy.

Though it was in the form of sound transmission, when you really think about it, it was no different from putting my mouth right up to a copper cup and doing ASMR.

But the moment my sound transmission reached the Holy Grail.

Instantly, Elena’s spirit swords lost their power and fell downward.

Panicked, she immediately swung Longinus.

‘This actually works…’

The spirit swords rose again, but her panicked expression was clearly visible.

And at the same time, a message window output from Golden Fragrance appeared before my eyes.

[Would you like to issue a paid divine oracle?]

[GOLD will be charged according to length.]

***

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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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