Chapter 121
Chapter 121
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 121
Chapter Title: Contractor of the Divine Beast
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Dagon let out a deep inward sigh.
The special paints and brushes weren't worth all that much.
But his opponent was the Dragon God Sepiro.
A cosmic monster cloaked in human skin.
The slayer of the great lord, known to shatter worlds with a mere breath!
"And one more."
"Yes, speak."
He had secured the paints and brushes.
Now he was after paper for drawing, too, no doubt.
Sepiro's whims were impossible to predict, so Dagon gave up trying to figure them out.
Park Chan-woo nodded slightly as he spoke.
"Can you get me a 'Red Soul Jar' as well?"
At that moment...
"A R-Red Soul... Jar?"
Dagon's eyes bulged wide.
His gaze filled with shock and excitement.
It wasn't some common item.
On the contrary, it was so incredibly rare that its name alone set the price.
Still, he couldn't help but wonder why Sepiro wanted it.
"Can you get it?"
"...I'll make an effort. But the reason you need a 'Red Soul Jar'... Y-you know it's a tool for demons, right?"
"You're talkative."
"Eep...! S-sorry! Please wait just a moment!"
Pung!
Dagon vanished in a flash.
About a dozen seconds later, he reappeared amid a puff of smoke.
In his hand was a blood-red jar.
"Luckily, the manager pulled some strings and got it expedited. This jar's worth 16 million. Including my 15% margin as per contract, you'll need to pay a total value of 18.4 million."
"I'll pay."
Payments didn't discriminate by item.
Gear, tools, even body parts or coins all worked.
Park Chan-woo opened his 'Inventory' and pulled out items matching the value.
Seeing them, Dagon felt chills race down his spine.
"P-Paying with coins?"
Coins were what demons loved most.
Even at equal value, they outranked most items unless it was something exceptional.
For merchants, the number of coins earned was key to advancing ranks.
"Five should be enough."
"Y-yes! Exactly. A single coin's currently worth 4 million. It's actually a bit more than what you owe. I'll procure any remaining items you want with the surplus. And if you'd like, I have some important info on the 'Abyss' that's about to appear..."
Dagon spoke honestly.
Other demon merchants might try to gouge him, but that depended on the mark.
Lies were pointless against this all-seeing being.
It was wiser to deal straight and stick to the contracted margin.
Besides, this 'Abyss' intel was worth more than the leftover value.
Call it a service.
"Tell me."
At Park Chan-woo's crisp reply, Dagon drew a deep breath before speaking.
"It's something only a tiny fraction of merchants know. A massive 'Sniper Abyss' is set to open soon."
Park Chan-woo lightly stroked his chin.
This was new. Nothing like it in his past life.
Being 'sniped' meant drawing the creators' ire to begin with.
It implied you were valuable enough for them to spend their own coins on a direct hit.
But a 'large-scale snipe'? Almost unheard of, even in the future.
Not that it had never happened.
"Sniping one person, not a group?"
"Yes."
"Target?"
"A human named 'Han Min-oh'."
Han Min-oh?
The name rang a bell.
'Han Shin's brother had the same name.'
Was it Hanyeon Group's second son, Han Shin's own brother?
Hanyeon Group, shining at number six in Korea's corporate rankings.
Yet reduced to a flashy ornament in Han Shin's shadow.
From what Park Chan-woo recalled, Han Shin's brother had died ages ago.
Early in the Abyss, he'd met his end.
"Th-that human you bought from me when we first met. You personally regenerated him with a high-grade elixir in the Fire Dungeon."
Dagon said cautiously.
Only then did Park Chan-woo remember, nodding.
"That was Han Min-oh?"
During the massive dungeon Abyss outbreak, when 'Fever Time' kicked off and demon merchants appeared...
Park had saved a man Dagon had nearly killed via forced contract.
It was all a ploy to corner Dagon.
And it worked, securing their exclusive contract smoothly.
Turned out that man's name was Han Min-oh.
"Yes. He said the Hanyeon Group chairman was his father. I looked into it—seems like a pretty famous outfit here in Korea. You know them?"
"...Who wouldn't."
As he'd half-suspected.
The real second son of Hanyeon Group.
Little was known about Han Min-oh.
He'd died far too early.
'...Fate's cruel joke, huh.'
He'd saved someone fated to die.
And now that man was facing a 'large-scale snipe'.
He had to know more.
"Why the large-scale snipe from the creators?"
"They say he broke a taboo in the 'Second Night'."
"What taboo?"
"Not entirely sure. But according to top-tier merchants, Han Min-oh contracted with a 'Divine Beast'."
"A human contracted with a Divine Beast?"
"Yes. Can't confirm it. But when the 'Intruder' briefly tore the 'Second Night' veil, actual Divine Beasts did appear. Not one, but two."
His mind reeled for a moment.
It all clicked into place.
The Black Dragon Ataraxia had ripped through the 'Second Night' veil and forced its way in.
A hole in the Creation Abyss, meaning cracks had formed.
Divine Beasts were monsters dwelling in those cracks.
Disasters that crushed any Creation Abyss they emerged into.
Existences the creators utterly despised.
And two of them had burst through.
"Hold on. You mean he contracted with those two Divine Beasts?"
"Since it's unconfirmed, they're prepping the 'large-scale snipe'."
A human contracting with Divine Beasts.
Two of them, no less?
Unprecedented. Never before, never again.
Park Chan-woo closed his eyes briefly.
He weighed it carefully, but the conclusion was clear.
'I have to save him.'
If Dagon's words were true, Han Min-oh would skyrocket into a great hero pivotal for the Racial War.
Divine Beasts were the creators' antithesis. Contracting one meant he could never be an 'Avatar'.
Avatars were wild cards in the Racial War.
They might help or hinder.
Followers of the creators' whims, after all.
Better assume they wouldn't help.
Han Shin at least pretended to play savior...
'Lee Hyuk-soo alone won't cut it.'
Four months until the Racial War.
Including himself, they needed at least three wins.
Or it'd be last place.
If Han Min-oh was truly a 'Divine Beast Contractor', he'd secure at least one victory.
Two weren't enough.
They desperately needed a sure bet.
One reason he hadn't killed Han Shin yet.
Avoiding last in the Racial War took priority.
Get the first button right, and the future follows.
Fail here and end up last? No point in his regression.
"When's it happening?"
"Judging by merchant shipments, probably within a week. They're stocking up on specialized traps—might be planning to capture the Divine Beasts themselves."
Not immediate.
Then he could save him.
Park Chan-woo regained his composure.
Rushing only ruined things.
Tuk.
He moved leisurely.
'Valhalla.'
And opened a warp to Valhalla's territory.
Ziing!
"Wait, that land..."
The hazy view beyond the warp.
Recognizing it as the 'Second Night' territory where the Fame Shop operated, Dagon's eyes filled with shock.
"D-did you become its lord?"
"That's right."
"...!!!"
Snatched from Moon Lord Aheta.
A rumor even whispered in the Abyss.
And now confirmed before his eyes.
"Come on over. You still have work to do."
With that, Park Chan-woo crossed without hesitation.
Dagon stared blankly at his back for a while before scrambling through just before the warp closed.
In Valhalla's territory, Park Chan-woo headed to the Creation Abyss 'Colosseum'.
There were no entrants in the Colosseum.
Aftermath from before, and it had been temporarily closed.
Dagon glanced warily between Park Chan-woo and Adora at the arena's center.
'Now you've gone and become a creator yourself. Truly insane.'
His contractor had turned a witch into an Abyss lord, and now a creator.
Seized Valhalla's land and built a Creation Abyss—what next? Unimaginable.
'But what's their deal anyway?'
A strange tension hung in the air.
Heavy. Solemn.
Dagon shook his head quickly and asked.
"S-so, what do you plan to do here?"
"A ritual."
"...A ritual?"
"Dagon. Perform the soul ritual."
"...Did a demon die here?"
The Red Soul Jar.
It was an item used in rituals to honor a demon's soul.
A high-value sacrifice, typically for the death of exceptional lords.
"A human died. Overwritten by a lord."
"Half-human, half-demon..."
Dagon understood instantly from Park Chan-woo's words.
Demons, upon death, had their souls devoured by the Abyss's waves, doomed to eternal torment.
Only through ritual could their souls be consoled and ascended, breaking the cycle.
A half-demon? Even worse torment.
Even without demonization, all Avatar contractors suffered the same fate.
Not truly dying, but drifting the Abyss in immortal agony, screaming forever.
The unspoken true price of Avatar contracts. The fine print.
Still.
Why would Sepiro invest such value for a mere half-demon?
Entrusting it to a demon like him, no less.
'Does he trust me that much to hand over the ritual?'
Soul rituals were commonsense to entrust to one's most trusted ally.
He couldn't comprehend it. No logic.
Dagon asked.
"Do you know the name of the demon who died here?"
"Balzac."
"Understood. Then we'll begin the soul ritual for Balzac."
He set the Red Soul Jar on the ground.
Tuk. Tuk-tuk-tuk!
Dagon emptied all his gold jewelry into the jar.
Sacrifices to ensure the soul's safe ascension.
Dagon grinned.
"Don't worry about payment. This one's on the house."