Heavenly Insight
"Your subordinates certainly have... unique personalities, Darling," Rosesha murmured, subtly slipping a few steps away from Balutak. When even Rosesha, who breathed dirty jokes like oxygen, was visibly repulsed, that said everything.
Rosesha locked eyes with me for a brief moment before casting a sidelong glance. Feeling her gaze, Babayaga flinched. "Are you satisfied, Darling?" she asked.
Was she still angry even after plucking out his eyeball? I stared back at her in silence, then turned my body toward Babayaga. As I stepped right up to him, Babayaga bowed his head, trembling violently.
"I... I beg your forgiveness for my insolence."
"I have no need for empty apologies."
Snatch! I yanked the staff right out of Babayaga's grasp.
"I shall take this as your apology."
"Ah... Ahhh..."
This would appease Rosesha's anger while securing a tangible benefit for myself. A win-win situation—killing two birds with one stone. Although an A-grade item wasn't exceptionally rare, the fact that I had successfully enhanced it was huge. In the game, an A-grade item with a +1 enhancement was practically pseudo-S-grade.
Since both Charlotte and Estizel were mages, I planned to gift it to one of them. Preferably Estizel. Considering Charlotte's future potential to reach Level 90, she deserved nothing less than an S-grade item or higher.
When I walked back, Rosesha smiled with satisfaction. "My, aren't you a boss who looks out for his subordinates?"
She seemed to have vaguely caught on to my intentions. Then again, given that I was a Death Knight, it was a fairly obvious assumption.
"I'd love to stay here with you longer, Darling... but I should probably head to the Round Table soon. If I linger, it'll make everyone uncomfortable in more ways than one. It's also custom."
"We shall meet again at the Round Table."
"Yes, let's do that."
The moment the words left my mouth, Rosesha slipped right into my arms. She squeezed me in a deep, intimate embrace of her own accord before finally releasing her hold.
"See you in a bit!"
She waved playfully as she descended into the basement. Drabule and Karleon flanked her closely on either side.
I watched her retreating figure until she vanished, then let out a soft sigh. Thanks to Rosesha, a highly tangled situation had been resolved in an instant. The obnoxious Babayaga faction didn't even dare to look me in the eye anymore. Watching them lower their gazes and keep their distance of their own accord brought a deep sense of satisfaction.
"Ahem. Esteemed Lords?" The demon in the tuxedo, who had been warily watching from a distance, cleared his throat conspicuously. "Though there was a slight disturbance, the auction house is fully prepared as scheduled. Please follow me to the second floor."
We then headed up to the second floor under the demon's guidance. On the way up, Estizel was a pitiful sight. Her legs seemed to have turned to jelly, rendering her unable to climb even a single step.
Well, it makes sense.
She had been caught right in the epicenter of a confrontation between the Rank 8, 7, 6, and 5 Lords. It was a miracle her legs had only given out; it wouldn't have been surprising if she had fainted on the spot.
"Balutak. Assist her."
"Kirik. Understood-dak!"
"Th-thank you so much..."
The second-floor auction house had no assigned seating, allowing everyone to sit wherever they pleased. Not a single Lord approached the area where the four of us sat. Even the Lords of Rosesha's Red Moon Faction kept their distance, which was understandable. Far from fostering friendly relations, the recent clash had likely only widened the gulf between us.
"I am sorry."
Charlotte's voice came out of nowhere. Why was she suddenly apologizing? As I questioned her with my eyes, Charlotte hesitated before continuing.
"Once again, I was of no help to you."
I wondered what she meant, but she was referring to the incident on the first floor. It seemed she had been harboring this guilt, but from my perspective, it was entirely unnecessary.
There's really nothing to apologize for.
Even if she was the deputy of an Abyssal Palace, Babayaga was still a Rank 8 Lord. There wasn't much Charlotte could have done against him. At least in my eyes, her response back then had been the best possible choice. She hadn't backed down in fear and had handled him reasonably well.
"You did well enough. Had you pushed further, it would have only escalated the situation."
"...Your kind words are wasted on me, Lord."
In truth, I was the one who should have felt guilty. As their boss, I hadn't uttered a single word until Rosesha arrived. Strictly speaking, I had failed as a leader.
"However, I did not realize you were waiting for the Queen. I was flustered by your silence... but you were merely biding your time."
"..."
"I am always so slow to understand. It is a sign that I still have a long way to go. Nevertheless, this incident has served as a great motivation for me."
Since she was misunderstanding everything on her own, I kept my mouth shut. Regardless, this incident served as a major wake-up call. It was an undeniable fact that I had benefited immensely from my Enhancement skill so far. Unknowingly, I had grown dependent on it, which meant I was essentially relying on sheer luck to solve all my immediate problems.
The Holy Sword was merely a unique case of being bound. Originally, the Holy Sword was a "qualification-based" item, and "soul-bound" was the superior version of "qualification." In other words, soul-bound was an upgraded version of qualification. A qualification-based item was like Thor's Mjolnir. As long as the conditions were met, even a Red Skull could use it, meaning there was plenty of room for betrayal. But soul-bound items were different. Unless the owner died, the item would follow only them for life.
At first glance, an EX-grade soul-bound item might seem like the strongest item in the world, but that wasn't the case. A 5-star Relic. Known as a Holy Relic, only five of them existed in the lore. Holy Relics were the ultimate, end-game items of this world. However, only two had ever been revealed. One was held by the Rank 2 Lord, and the other was enshrined in the Imperial Vatican. The remaining three were shrouded in mystery, much like the Old One.
For someone like me, whose personal combat power was weak, possessing just one Holy Relic would be more than enough to compensate.
Could a Holy Relic actually appear in the auction like some hidden piece in a web novel? I wondered, but even after scanning everything with my Enhancement skill, I saw nothing above A-grade.
I glanced down at the elderwood staff in my hand. ...Thinking about Holy Relics made this thing look incredibly trivial. It was utterly useless to me. Since keeping it would be pointless, I passed it to the side.
"Estizel."
"Y-yes?"
"Take it."
Estizel turned her head, startled. Fearing she would start babbling incoherently, I forced it into her hands.
"Why... why are you giving this to me...?"
"It is a staff that suits you perfectly. Put it to good use."
She continued to stammer and sputter nonsense after that, but I ignored her.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Charlotte stealing a glance at me, pretending not to look. Did she want one too? I had been keeping an eye out in case something good appeared in the auction to give to Charlotte or Balutak, but there was nothing worth buying.
"I will gift you something better later."
"...Pardon?"
"You kept looking over here."
You want one too, don't you? When I implied this, Charlotte quickly shook her head.
"That is not it. Absolutely not."
"Then why were you staring?"
"..."
Hesitating in a way that was unlike her, she lowered her head deeply. Only then did I notice her level indicator flashing a bright hot pink. Ah. She was just looking at me out of affection. She seemed too embarrassed to lift her head.
The auction was short and sweet, lasting about an hour. Since the main purpose of the gathering was the banquet and the Round Table conference, the auction was merely a side event.
Once the auction concluded, a Chamber official guiding everyone downstairs spoke up. "I must inform you in advance. Currently, five Lords of the Abyss Palace are seated at the Round Table."
The moment the doors opened, the elite of the Mugan 7-gung would be waiting. Could there be a more bone-chilling announcement? But if there were five, one would be me, and the other was obvious.
"Is the Old One not coming?"
"In his stead, his deputy will attend as a proxy. Though he has not arrived yet."
As expected. For the record, I had never seen the Old One's deputy in the game, let alone the Old One himself. Dealing with him might be even harder than dealing with the bosses of the Mugan 7-gung. As the deputy of the Rank 1 Lord, his voice would carry immense weight just like the other Abyss Palace bosses, and since I knew nothing about him, I couldn't fathom how he would act during the conference.
"Originally, even the deputy did not attend. This is only his second appearance since the very first gathering. Does that not show how much interest there is in the newly appointed Lord of the Mugan 7-gung?"
It might not be the deputy, but the Old One himself who was interested. Whichever it was, it didn't feel welcoming. He was the strongest entity in the world, shrouded in endless lore, and the sheer pressure of it transcended mere burden—it filled me with dread.
"Seventh Seat of the Abyss, please wait a moment."
Just before we descended to the basement, a demon official standing in the distance blocked our path. He then whispered something to a beastman official beside me. Eventually, the beastman official bowed and escorted only the other Lords into the conference hall. The only ones held back were myself, Charlotte, and Balutak—three in total.
My already fragile courage felt like it was shrinking even further. Why were they doing this only to me? Sensing my inner turmoil, the demon official spoke up.
"You are scheduled to make your entrance last, Lord."
"...Why?"
"Queen Rosesha made a special request. She asked that the Rank 7 Lord be kept separate so you may enter at the very end."
I was dumbfounded. I knew the pretext for resuming the gathering, but she was going this far? Was this some 'the protagonist always arrives last' kind of nonsense? Entering alone meant I would inevitably monopolize everyone's attention. At this rate, this wasn't a stage set for me. They had to be plotting to ostracize me as a group.
"Please wait a moment."
"..."
I stood there, feeling as if my feet were nailed to the floor. Charlotte seemed to share my sentiment, frozen in place with her usual expressionless face. The only normal one among us was Balutak, who was casually scratching the back of his head.
Rumble—
With a majestic resonance, the stone doors opened in the distance. Once the 72 Lords filed inside, the stone doors rumbled shut again. Even then, permission to enter was not granted. They were likely accounting for the time it took for all the Lords to take their seats. While monopolizing everyone's attention was daunting, on the bright side, it gave me more time to prepare myself mentally.
Let's face the reality that was about to unfold. I would have to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Rank 2 to 6 Lords of the Abyss Palace. The sheer pressure was one thing, but the absolute priority was keeping the Abyss Palace's detection abilities in mind.
If they use those, my true nature might be completely exposed.
Aside from their individual strength, the Lords of the Mugan 7-gung each possessed a unique, absolute perception ability known as Heavenly Insight. This Heavenly Insight allowed them to see through the target's inner secrets. Rosesha could perceive the lust of humans and other living creatures. Calandas read the souls of living beings. The Rank 4 Lord could see through greed. The Rank 3 Lord could detect truth and falsehood. The Rank 2 Lord could pierce through a living creature's fear.
Among them, the only Insight that could affect me was the Rank 3 Lord's ability to detect truth and falsehood. The others were strictly limited to living creatures. They wouldn't work on me, an undead who was already dead. Although Calandas's Spirit Eye could see the quality of a soul, it didn't apply to the undead. In this world's lore, the souls of the undead were all identical. They were all dead souls. The 'soul rank' he could perceive only pierced through the souls of living beings. To put it bluntly, my soul would look exactly the same to Calandas as the soul of a Bone Dragon.
Wait, could I be different? A sudden doubt crossed my mind. My body was undead, but the possessed soul inside me might still be alive. If that were the case, Calandas would certainly find me suspicious. Huh? This bastard is dead, so why is his soul alive? But even if he noticed, that would be the extent of it; he wouldn't be able to glean any deeper emotions. He might interpret it in his own way, but it wasn't something I needed to worry about too much.
The real problem is the lie detector.
The Rank 3 Lord's Heavenly Insight. It could detect truth and falsehood up to three times on a target. What if they suddenly suspected me and asked, "Are you really the Rank 7 Lord of the Abyss Palace?"
What could I even do? I'd just have to shut up. The essential condition for lie detection was a question-and-answer format. As long as I didn't answer, the skill wouldn't trigger. Sometimes, silence was the best way to maintain an aura of gravity, and this time, it would serve as both gravity and a perfect setup. If they asked me a question and I completely ignored it after maintaining silence all this time, instead of raising suspicions, they might just think, Ah, he's always been like that.
Conveniently, the version of me that Calandas and Rosesha knew was a quiet, solemn Rank 7 Lord of the Abyss Palace. The groundwork had already been laid perfectly. The rest depended entirely on how I conducted myself.
"Thank you for waiting. You may enter now."
Right as my thoughts wound down, the Demon Merchant gestured to me. Following behind him, I calmed my turbulent mind. Thanks to the extra time bought for me, I had fully organized my thoughts and steeled my resolve. Soon, our steps halted, and we arrived before the stone doors. The two officials on either side bowed their heads and pushed the doors open.
Rumble—
The ground vibrated faintly with the resonance. A tremor traveled up from the soles of my feet, spreading through my entire body. From here on out, it was all up to me. So, let's just play my part well. Making one final mental check of the resolve I had forged hundreds of times, I stepped inside the conference hall.