You Have Been Invited to the Auction House of the Gods - Chapter 45
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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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45
The inside of the Dungeon was unfamiliar.
Was it because this was an S-Rank Dungeon?
As far as I knew, there had never been a Dungeon with this kind of structure.
Upon entering the Dungeon, all that filled my vision was thick fog.
Dense fog that rose from my toes up to my waist.
I couldn’t see anything beyond a few meters ahead.
The air within the fog was heavy and sticky.
Even the air seeping into my lungs felt stuffy, like breathing in coal dust.
“….”
I quietly closed my eyes and expanded my Ki Sense.
There was nothing detectable around me.
It was a desolate Plains without even a single stone or blade of grass.
However, I could feel the enormous energy that filled this space.
‘This is no ordinary Dungeon.’
I drew Galmu.
Blue Karmic Fire spread across the blade, pushing back the fog.
I narrowed the range of my Ki Sense and slowly walked inward while staying alert.
One step, then another.
The Blue Karmic Fire flickered like a lantern illuminating the Darkness.
That’s when it happened.
Thud—.
Following a presence that brushed against my toes,
from the front, left side, and even behind.
Presences were detected one after another from the Wasteland that had been empty.
In an instant, more than twenty, no, over thirty unidentifiable enemies surrounded me.
I stopped walking and readjusted my grip on Galmu.
But still, all I could see was fog.
The terrain was disadvantageous.
If these were monsters that lived here, they would surely be able to attack even within the fog.
‘First, let me escape from being surrounded.’
The moment I thought this, I quickly kicked off the ground.
While I couldn’t do anything about the fog, I had to gain whatever advantage I could.
To break out of the Formation, I actually ran toward where I felt the presences.
Then I swung Galmu toward the enemies I sensed ahead.
Swoosh!
Blue Flames swept through, tearing apart both the fog and the enemy.
Something screamed and collapsed.
They hadn’t expected me to attack first, and their encirclement crumbled.
‘A path has opened.’
I quickly ran toward the opening.
The moment I completely escaped the encirclement, I turned my body again and swung Galmu.
Using that as a signal, they all charged at me simultaneously from the front.
From above, below, left and right.
I swung Galmu in response to each presence pouring in from all directions.
Swish—
There was no sensation of cutting flesh.
It didn’t feel like I was cutting through something.
Though the blade made contact, only an emptiness like cutting through smoke remained at my fingertips.
‘This won’t end at this rate.’
I was definitely reducing the number of enemies.
But no matter where they kept coming from, more presences were appearing than the number I had reduced.
‘If only I could at least confirm what kind of monsters they are…’
Seeing them wouldn’t solve everything.
It’s not like I have knowledge about every monster.
But if I could at least see how they looked when cut, I felt I could get an answer to this unsettling sensation I was feeling.
But even that wasn’t easy.
They absolutely never entered my line of sight.
They were hiding in the fog, attacking with long spear-like tools.
‘I can’t afford to waste more energy here.’
I hadn’t even encountered the boss yet, so I couldn’t continue this war of attrition here.
If they kept hiding in the fog to attack, wouldn’t it work to eliminate their hiding place?
I forcefully raised Galmu upward and deflected the attacks coming from the front all at once.
Then I gripped Galmu in reverse and spun my body.
Blue Karmic Fire spread along the blade, expanding as if cutting through the fog.
Swoooosh—!
The flame-laden blade traced a circular trajectory, pushing away the fog.
That’s when it happened.
Beyond the Karmic Fire that spread like wind, I saw a single form.
It looked… like a person.
But it wasn’t human.
A silhouette that seemed to be made of black fog.
Without a face or eyes, just a black form rushed toward me.
I slashed straight across its chest.
Thud—
The shadow-like being split apart and scattered like smoke.
‘A shadow?’
At that moment, all the presences around me disappeared at once, and the fog rolled back in.
As if to obscure my vision, my sight filled with fog again.
But after this, there were no more ambushes or monsters attacking me.
I couldn’t sense any presences around me either.
For now, I decided to continue exploring.
How many minutes had I walked deeper?
Suddenly the air grew heavy.
Something massive revealed itself beyond the fog.
It was comparable in size to the boss Buffalock I had seen in the previous dungeon.
But the aura it emanated was completely different from that Buffalock.
Just looking at it made my skin tingle.
Its presence and intimidating aura were on a different level from simple monsters.
‘S-rank really is different.’
But this creature was also strange.
It didn’t reveal itself, only staying behind the fog.
All I could see was a blurry silhouette visible through the fog.
Before I could feel puzzled, it hurled a massive Lightning Bolt.
Crack—!
I threw my body to the side, rolling to dodge.
The Lightning Bolt traveled along the ground toward me.
I quickly struck downward with Galmu infused with Karmic Fire, as if erecting a wall in front.
The lightning crackled and flashed along the wall of flames for a while before finally dissipating.
Meanwhile, I gripped Galmu and raised it again.
I increased the size of the Karma Fire Sword to match the creature’s size.
Then I swung it quickly.
A crescent-shaped Karmic Fire flew rapidly toward the creature like Sword Energy.
The creature swung the lightning stem remaining in one hand like a sword.
With a bang! lightning and flames exploded in midair.
I immediately ran toward the creature.
As if it had been waiting, the creature raised its hand again to bring down lightning.
But I, wrapped in Karmic Fire, was faster.
I pulled Galmu back, then thrust it forward with all my strength.
Swish—!
Blue Flames split long and cut through the front, and I took advantage of that gap to leap toward the creature’s chest.
In that instant— the creature also extended its arm to counterattack.
A sharp flash immediately struck my body.
“Kuk…!”
My body began to tingle, and my senses gradually dulled.
I planted my feet on the ground and drove Galmu into it.
While the electric current scattered into the ground,
the creature began gathering a Lightning Bundle again.
I could only stand and glare at the creature until the paralysis wore off.
The moment the creature’s Lightning Bundle was completed and it was about to swing it at me,
the Ghostly Energy inside my body moved.
Like a superior entity sending power to a subordinate entity, the creature flinched momentarily at the shot of Ghostly Energy, and the Lightning Bundle that was gathering scattered.
Then the creature began to shrink little by little.
In the meantime, having shaken off all the electric current, I covered Galmu with Karmic Fire and charged at the creature.
I gripped Galmu with both hands and slashed at the creature’s head with full force.
Kwaang!
With the sensation of cutting, the boss’s body split in half.
Blue Flames wrapped around the wounded form and blazed—
black mist began to evaporate as if burning.
As the giant shadow disappeared, the mist that had enveloped the entire Dungeon began to clear as well.
The revealed landscape was exactly as I had thought.
An Empty Plain with nothing.
But what was peculiar was that it was a state of nothingness with nothing except the ground.
And in the center of it.
In the place where that enormously giant form had been—
a small creature the size of a fist, covered in blood, lay collapsed.
It was a rat.
More precisely, something that resembled a rat.
It was a monster called Gnugn.
But it was strange.
Gnugn was definitely not an S-rank monster.
It’s a monster that gains stronger power the more its opponent is gripped by fear.
For such a Gnugn to gain S-rank power, it would need the fear of at least tens of millions of people.
As I approached closer, feeling something was odd, the Gnugn was tightly holding a Stone as large as its own body,
and the intimidating presence and energy I had felt were flowing out from that Stone.
‘What is this…?’
I carefully picked up the Stone that the Gnugn was holding.
It was a material I had never seen before.
No, it seemed like I might have seen it somewhere before.
Mana Lines were creating a unique pattern.
But one thing was certain.
This was something someone had intentionally created.
It was evidence that someone had intervened in the S-Rank Dungeon.
The dungeon, the monsters, and even this strange disguise.
Everything felt orchestrated, giving me a sense of unease.
Then suddenly, an ominous thought crossed my mind.
“Oh no…”
I immediately turned around.
And began running at full speed toward the dungeon’s exit.
***
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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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