You Have Been Invited to the Auction House of the Gods - Chapter 25

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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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25

 

 

After passing through the dungeon entrance, what appeared was an ordinary-looking forest.

 

Deeper inside, broken branches and bushes showed the path the raid team had taken.

 

I quickly moved following those traces.

 

I did encounter a small group of orcs along the way, but I simply swept them away by swinging Galmu.

 

The place where I stopped after moving like that was a large empty lot.

 

In the empty lot, traces of a temporary camp left by the raid team were scattered about.

 

Installation marks from a portable table, torn potion boxes, and scattered plastic fragments were strewn across the floor.

 

There seemed to be an orc village nearby, as bizarre singing echoed through the air.

 

“It doesn’t seem like an ordinary orc village.”

 

For orcs that were B-rank entities, the energy emanating from within that basin was far from ordinary.

 

Well, that’s probably why a dungeon break occurred.

 

Just then, someone burst out from the bushes.

 

At the sudden presence, I raised Galmu high, but soon confirmed they were survivors and lowered the sword’s tip.

 

“A-are you the rescue team?”

 

One of them asked while staggering.

 

“…Something like that.”

 

I’m not exactly a rescue team, but since I’ll be rescuing them anyway, wouldn’t that be close enough?

 

Though it was a somewhat strange answer, he seemed to have no leisure to worry about such things right now as he looked around.

 

“Why are you alone? Where are the other rescue team members…!”

 

His question couldn’t continue to the end.

The eerie singing that had been heard from afar suddenly stopped.

A strange silence settled over the empty lot where the singing had stopped.

One survivor muttered with a stunned expression.

“We have to run. He’s coming, he’s coming…!”

The fleeing survivors panicked.

Unlike them who were urgent, I dealt with it calmly.

‘Did they say to knock out anyone who panics during a rescue?’

When I was retested, I think there was something written about that in the booklet they gave me, but I couldn’t quite remember whether it was underwater or on land.

Just as he was debating whether to knock him out with a knife-hand strike, the ground vibrated with a low rumble.

Immediately, the energy fluctuated and something with a massive presence was detected approaching through the forest.

It was an orc that emerged from the bushes into the clearing.

No, it did look like the ordinary orcs we know,

No, it does look like an ordinary orc as we know them,

Something red was painted on his face and body.

The armor he wore was also different.

He was wearing neat leather armor with unique patterns engraved on it.

The pattern, which resembled runic letters, emitted a gentle light and bestowed protection upon the armor.

And they looked like well-equipped warriors heading to war.

 

At the center of that group was one orc that clearly stood out.

 

A giant orc covered in thick leather heavy armor that could barely be called armor.

A massive orc clad in thick leather armor that could hardly be called armor.

A sinister magical energy seeped from his bloodshot red eyes.

‘So it was that bastard. The one who’s been radiating that aura since earlier.’

“Hmm…”

I looked over the orc with an intrigued expression.

“An Orc Lord…”

No wonder a B-rank strategy doesn’t stand a chance.

Lord’s birth is not a simple mutation.

Because it was the birth of a monarch who could lead that entire race.

‘We can’t let that guy go outside.’

This was certain.

With the Association and Hunter personnel currently outside, there’s no way they can stop that thing.

 

Even if a top-tier guild came, they’d have to put up quite a fight.

 

So…

 

“I have no choice but to handle it myself.”

 

The raid members behind me trembled.

 

“H-how can you do it alone…”

 

Instead of answering, I gripped Galmu at an angle.

Galmu hummed softly in my hand.

My fingertips grew hot.

 

Soon, blue Karmic Fire bloomed over Galmu.

 

“Fall back. I’ll handle the defense myself.”

 

I swung Galmu across the floor.

A wall of flames rose along the sword strike, separating me from the raid members.

 

Looking to the other side, the Orc Lord was walking out slowly by himself, the corners of his mouth turned up.

 

“Mak’gora? Ha, an orc who knows romance.”

 

I took a short breath, then slowly walked toward the Orc Lord.

 

***

 

Blue Karmic Fire flowed along Galmu’s blade.

 

Heat shimmers rose in the surrounding air from the intense heat.

 

The Orc Lord was already holding his axe high.

Low breathing sounds flowed between his tightly clenched teeth.

 

Crack—

 

The ground burst and caved in deeply under the Lord’s feet.

 

That massive body shot up like an arrow, instantly penetrating the blind spot of my vision.

 

“Kroooh!”

 

With a beast-like roar, the giant axe blade swept horizontally.

 

The metallic sound tore through the wind.

 

I immediately twisted Galmu to deflect the axe upward.

 

The momentary impact resonated from my wrist all the way to my shoulder.

 

“Whew…”

 

Exhaling a short breath, I turned my body half a rotation and swept Galmu downward.

 

Flames rose along Galmu’s trajectory, grazing right in front of the Orc Lord’s eyes.

 

If the Lord’s reaction had been just a bit slower, a long line would have been drawn across his face.

 

Even so, the Lord didn’t retreat.

 

He immediately swung his axe.

 

Bang! Crash!

 

One step, two steps.

 

The empty lot bent under the Lord’s momentum.

 

I too raised my Karmic Fire as if responding to that momentum.

 

The Lord’s axe came down once more.

 

This time I didn’t parry it, but twisted my body to dodge.

 

Then I swung Galmu at the Orc Lord’s exposed flank.

 

‘Too shallow.’

 

That leather armor was quite tough despite just being leather.

 

Blood spurted, but it evaporated with a sizzling sound from the heat of the Karmic Fire.

 

The creature couldn’t even feel pain and wore a ferocious smile.

 

A life-or-death battle.

I don’t know if it’s right to describe this feeling as enjoyable.

 

But the corners of my mouth kept turning up.

 

“Nice.”

 

For the first time, I felt like I was facing a worthy opponent.

 

It was a different feeling from hitting training dummies all day or just swinging a sword infused with Karmic Fire.

 

Even while dodging the Lord’s heavy consecutive attacks, my breathing remained calm.

 

‘S-rank would be sufficient. But….’

 

Galmu glowed red as blue Karmic Fire seeped into the blade.

 

The moment the Lord’s axe was about to fall from above my head again,

I lowered my body and dove beneath its feet.

 

“Galmu.”

 

At my call, Karmic Fire exploded from the sword’s tip.

 

Kwang!

 

The explosive Sword Strike pushed the Lord’s entire body back.

 

This time there was quite a bit of damage.

 

Well, I exploded Karmic Fire directly in its face, so if it remained unharmed after taking that hit, it wouldn’t be human.

 

The Lord was pushed back several steps but didn’t fall to its knees.

 

Its Heavy Armor was burning away and burn marks spread across its body.

 

Still, both feet remained firmly planted on the ground.

 

– Kraaaaaaak!

 

It was the spirit of a ‘lord’ who rallied his legion with a single roar.

 

I readjusted my grip on Galmu.

 

Karmic Fire rose to my fingertips.

 

“I’ll play along with the lord’s romance appropriately.”

 

The Karmic Fire took the shape of a sword.

 

It was the most powerful finishing move I could perform.

 

The Orc Lord was never my match to begin with.

 

I don’t know the technical details, but even if we’re both S-rank, half of my power belongs to a deity.

 

The Lord also seemed to sense the end, squeezing out all its strength.

 

It hunched its shoulders and lowered its body while gripping the axe.

 

Red energy surged and bloomed above the Lord’s body.

 

Unexpectedly, it was the Orc Lord who charged first.

 

To think it would leap into a sword made of several meters of surging Karmic Fire.

 

But when I saw the look in its eyes as it leaped before me, I realized my thinking was wrong.

 

This bastard hadn’t given up.

 

It wasn’t charging like a moth to flame after sensing the end, but charging with the intention of defeating me.

 

That sight made me chuckle.

 

It wasn’t mockery.

 

“Yes, if you’re a king, that’s how you should be.”

 

I brought down the Karmic Fire as it was.

 

Kwaaaaang!

 

The Forest that had been shrouded in Darkness was instantly swallowed by pure white light.

 

The Orc Lord that took the direct hit was being consumed by Karmic Fire, turning to ash.

 

The light faded and scorching heat swept over the Forest.

 

I quietly watched as the collapsing king’s corpse turned to ash and scattered into the air.

 

“Even in the midst of all that, it glared at me until the very end.”

 

I gazed for a moment at the spot where the Orc Lord had stood, then turned around.

 

The orc legion on the other side had been caught up in my final Sword Strike and was in a state close to annihilation.

 

When I withdrew the wall of blue Karmic Fire, the Raid Members who had been crouched beyond it were revealed.

 

Their expressions were ones of disbelief.

 

“What was… that…”

 

One of them staggered to their feet and spoke.

 

“Th-thanks to you, we survived…”

 

“Are there any remaining Survivors?”

 

“There were two Porters who escaped earlier…. We saw them flee from the Village toward the Forest.”

 

“I see. Could you tell me their approximate location?”

 

While I was listening to the raid member’s explanation, I heard another raid member’s voice from behind.

 

“Hah… If we had just listened to that porter from the start, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

 

I turned my head.

 

“What do you mean by that?”

 

He smiled awkwardly and said.

 

“Ah, well… before entering the village, that porter warned us it was dangerous. Something about having a skill called Danger Detection or something…”

 

Danger Detection.

 

The moment I heard those words, my heart sank with a thud.

 

“…”

 

I didn’t have time to hear the rest of his answer.

 

In an instant, blue Karmic Fire engulfed my body.

 

As fast as my ominous thoughts, I began sprinting toward the direction the raid member had indicated.

 

I pushed my Sixth Sense to its maximum.

 

Countless pieces of information that my Sixth Sense picked up flowed into my head – forest animals, even small insects.

 

My head throbbed, but I extended my Sixth Sense even further.

 

And I detected the presence of an orc pack and a human far away near the cliff.

 

‘Just one person…?’

 

What I heard from the raid member was that there were two people.

 

With an ominous feeling, I ignited even more Karmic Fire.

 

Before long, the edge of a cliff spread out before my eyes.

 

There I saw Seo-rin, half-collapsed and slumped over, and an orc pursuit team approaching her.

 

I didn’t even think to draw Galmu again.

 

I simply followed my instincts and swung the massive Karmic Fire surrounding my body toward the orc pursuit team.

 

The Karmic Fire that spread from my fingertips cut through the air, becoming a giant Fire Demon that devoured the orc pack.

 

“Huff, huff…”

 

Having arrived in front of Seo-rin, I gasped for breath.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

Seo-rin looked up at me with surprised eyes, then as her tension released, she fainted on the spot.

 

“Uh, hey, hey!”

 

I barely managed to catch her.

 

“Haah…”

 

I let out a short sigh.

 

As I was about to stand up with her on my back, something caught under my foot.

 

It was a torn Porter Bag.

 

I stared at it for a moment, then picked up the bag and left the dungeon.

 

***

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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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