You Have Been Invited to the Auction House of the Gods - Chapter 79

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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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79

 

 

I immediately moved to the rendezvous point where I was supposed to meet Yamyeong.

 

It was the underground chapel where the regular service would soon be held.

 

In front of the chapel, Yamyeong was waiting, having returned to his original form.

 

“Yamyeong.”

 

I called his name in a low voice.

 

“My King, all preparations have been completed.”

 

This meant the straw fires to be lit inside were ready.

 

Now all we had to do was capture those who would come out to escape the flames.

 

“The exterior is also ready. You need only give the order to begin.”

 

Truly a capable subordinate.

 

I immediately sent a radio transmission to the Association President.

 

“Begin the operation.”

 

My voice echoed through the radio.

 

With that signal, the entire building shook.

 

I kicked the chapel door hard.

 

Now the cleanup begins.

 

***

 

Didn’t I say this before?

 

What would happen if you dropped 41 A-grade Hunters right into the heart of enemy territory?

 

Where could you find a more perfect and powerful surprise attack than this?

 

The eerie ghostly energy spreading from beneath my feet instantly devoured the chapel floor.

 

Along with it, goblins emerged from the darkness.

 

Surprisingly, none of the cult members seemed panicked.

 

No, rather they were each gripping polearms they had obtained from somewhere.

 

What was peculiar was the aura emanating from those weapons.

 

‘Gemstone weapons.’

 

Since the implantation technique was still in the experimental stage and couldn’t be directly implanted into the believers,

it seemed they had distributed it in weapon form instead.

 

How Sister An Hyeon-su had obtained so many ghost stones, which were hard even for her to acquire,

made me suspect she had discovered a ghost stone mine.

 

Perhaps because of this, the believers didn’t fall back against the goblins’ attacks.

 

There was more than a 10-to-1 difference in numbers, but the quality of the gemstone weapons was quite decent.

No, it was good.

 

‘Most A-grade artifacts wouldn’t even be able to present their business cards.’

 

Of course, this wasn’t by Golden Fragrance standards.

 

I had never even seen an A-grade weapon by Golden Fragrance standards.

 

As I watched this back-and-forth battle continue, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

 

Since when had ghostly energy belonged to humans?

 

I looked at the believers with an incredulous expression.

 

At those who wore human forms while trying to don goblin masks.

 

And that thought soon became my will and spread.

 

It was the moment I set foot on the chapel floor filled with ghostly energy.

 

‘Dominating Pressure’

 

A powerful storm of ghostly energy spread outward from me in ripples.

 

And those ripples shook the entire surface of the lake.

 

“The King has arrived.”

 

Those words that Dolsoe uttered.

 

They proved the caliber of the ghostly energy I possessed.

 

Was it because of the difference in the caliber of ghostly energy?

 

The single step I took instantly blew away the ghostly energy dwelling in the gemstone weapons.

 

And at the same time.

 

The goblins’ energy began to surge violently.

 

It felt like casting both buffs and debuffs simultaneously.

 

‘So it works… this way too.’

 

Honestly, I didn’t expect this kind of result.

 

I was just thinking of quickly wrapping things up here and going after Liu Chen.

 

That was because Liu Chen hadn’t shown himself even after the regular worship service began,

and even when I summoned the goblins,

he remained out of sight.

 

The intelligence that Liu Chen had entered was certain.

I had confirmed it from the Doctor’s memories,

and reconfirmed it from the cult members’ mouths when I toured the cult.

 

Then…

 

‘I was too hasty.’

 

It seemed I had lit the haystack before the boss rat appeared.

 

“Yamyeong.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“You lead the Sadangpae and focus on information gathering.”

 

“Understood.”

 

“And…”

 

My gaze turned toward Kim Jin-woo, who was getting beaten up in the vanguard.

 

Even wrapped in Golden Fragrance items, he was being knocked around by gemstone weapons.

 

Of course, after blowing away the ghostly energy with dominating pressure, he was holding up somewhat.

 

Still, Jin-woo is Asin’s guild leader, so what if he gets seriously injured and hospitalized for weeks?

 

Tokyo’s reconstruction isn’t finished yet, and porter reservations are fully booked.

 

And we need someone to oversee the troublesome… no, official guild business that lies ahead.

 

So…

 

“If he looks like he’s going to die, help him out a bit.”

 

“I shall obey your command.”

 

After giving the order, I immediately left the chapel.

 

The tide of battle had already turned.

 

So I just need to catch Liu Chen.

 

As much as Liu Chen wanted to meet me,

I wanted to meet Liu Chen too.

Enough to want to kill him.

 

***

 

Based on the information I had checked beforehand, I ran toward the central area where the executive office was located.

 

I felt the presence of people approaching from the end of the corridor.

 

A man in the lead, with two aides behind him.

 

‘But I sensed two presences?’

 

I had felt the energy of two people, but actually encountered three.

 

I wondered if I had made some mistake, but that wasn’t what was important right now.

 

“Oh my… I was planning to visit you first, but I’ve made you take the first step.”

 

A thin man with a neat bald head and gentle features.

 

He wore a white robe like Nokcheong’s raid leader, with the cult symbol embroidered on his chest.

 

Crossed hammer and chisel.

 

Below that was carved a Chinese character different from Yatagarasu.

 

“Thanks to Carmen, that beast-reeking woman causing trouble, our meeting has been delayed.”

 

I could be certain that he was Liu Chen.

 

“Are you Liu Chen?”

 

Aside from mentioning Carmen,

an unpleasantly thick ghostly energy was emanating from him.

 

“Today I’ll just greet you briefly. Next time we meet, I’ll bring a gift—”

 

Before Liu Chen could finish speaking, I unleashed sword energy.

 

That gift was the limbs of my relatives.

 

“You’re quite impatient. I said I only came to see your face today.”

 

A transparent barrier had already formed in front of Liu Chen.

 

‘Is he a magic user?’

 

Creating a defensive barrier this reflexively was the skill of a fairly high-level mage.

 

As the battle began, Liu Chen whispered something to the two cult members behind him.

 

Soon, they showed surprised expressions for a moment, then seemed to make a decision and left their positions.

 

I didn’t try to catch those two.

 

My ultimate target was Liu Chen, and besides, easily escaping through the entrance blocked by the furious Association President wouldn’t be easy.

 

I closed the distance while unleashing sword energy.

 

Each time, Liu Chen cast defensive magic precisely in the direction the sword energy was flying.

 

Attacks came flying intermittently.

 

Small arrow-like things shot from his fingertips.

 

The arrows made of black ghostly energy posed no threat to me.

 

My ghostly energy was of much higher caliber.

 

Those arrows dissipated before even touching my body.

 

“You’re truly a talent worth coveting.”

 

Liu Chen licked his lips while looking at me.

 

The more he did that, the more force I put into my attacks.

 

“I thought you only handled flames, but you can even wield divine power. I’m truly surprised.”

 

Oh, right. I’m half a deity.

 

Thinking that to myself, I continued launching attacks infused with ghostly energy.

 

With only probing exchanges, no fatal blows emerged.

 

That was fine for me, but Liu Chen also didn’t go beyond probing level.

 

As if buying time.

 

“How long will you keep probing? If you continue like this, shall I attack first?”

 

Liu Chen took a stance as he said this.

 

Different ghostly energy from before gathered at his fingertips.

 

“Who said I was probing?”

 

I unleashed a continuous barrage of sword energy infused with ghostly energy.

 

“My, my, you have a fiery temper? But this level can’t even touch a hair on my head.”

 

Liu Chen’s words were wrong.

 

Initially, it was indeed probing to assess Liu Chen’s abilities.

 

But the fruitless war of attrition that followed was merely preparation to accumulate ghostly energy.

 

“Frost Fire.”

 

Karmic Fire turned to frost rapidly encroached upon the corridor space.

 

When the Frost Fire that instantly froze the entire corridor was about to engulf Liu Chen,

 

“If this is all, I might be disappointed?”

 

The palm mark on Liu Chen’s hand glowed blue and absorbed the Frost Fire.

 

Well, if there’s an artifact that absorbs flames, why wouldn’t there be one for cold energy?

 

But that wasn’t what I was aiming for.

 

The method I used to trap goblins when I first gained mana – mana dust.

 

I simply applied that to ghostly energy.

 

Moreover, there was something I discovered while playing around with Karmic Fire and ghostly energy…

 

Using ghostly energy as a catalyst creates stronger fire.

 

Like the relationship between oil and fire.

 

The corridor walls turned ice-like.

 

They became vessels containing the ghostly energy I had scattered.

 

Explosives that could detonate at any moment filled the corridor.

 

And I lit a small spark at the tip of Galmu to ignite it.

 

Karmic Fire.

 

A single small spark that flew from the tip of Galmu as I swung it quickly touched the ghostly energy that had accumulated like explosives.

 

“Oh, this is going to hurt quite a bit.”

 

Kwaaaaang—!

 

The Karmic Fire that exploded while burning the ghostly energy struck Liu Chen directly.

 

I had frozen the corridor partly to prevent the building from collapsing,

but I had sent the Frost Fire first to make the explosive firepower concentrate only on Liu Chen.

 

The place swept by the explosion.

 

Liu Chen staggered to his feet through the dust.

 

At the same time, seeing Liu Chen’s body that was revealed, my questions up until now were resolved.

 

Why gemstone weapon implant surgeries were rampant in Korea where Liu Chen served as Branch Manager.

 

And why I had sensed two presences earlier.

 

His body, revealed as his burning upper garment burned away, was entirely made of gemstone weapons except for his right upper torso.

 

“Oh dear… If you’ve seen this form, I’ll have no choice but to force you to join the sect.”

 

***

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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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