Chapter 341: Auction House of the Gods (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 341: Auction House of the Gods (2)
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The footsteps grew progressively louder.
A booming roar echoed, shaking the entire auction house.
Soon, a man standing five meters tall revealed himself.
He had a bursting, muscular physique and a half-naked body.
The sheer pressure radiating from his bushy beard weighed heavily on the entire room.
There was no way not to recognize him.
How could anyone fail to recognize him?
The great hero hailed as the strongest warrior in Greek mythology.
'I thought he would at most send his underlings to bid by proxy...'
It seemed the scale of this auction was far grander than expected.
For a giant of his stature to come here in person.
Thud!
The footsteps stopped.
"Bwahaha! We finally meet. When those one-eyed old hags told me you'd be here, I was half-skeptical, but coming to this stupid place was well worth the trip."
Heracles, finally standing before Jinhyuk, burst into a hearty laugh.
"Are you saying you came all this way just to meet me?"
"Indeed. I don't believe in prophecies, but I believe what I see with my own eyes."
Heracles raised a finger and pointed at Jinhyuk.
"Landing a blow on that bastard on the 50th Floor was quite a spectacle. To be honest, I never imagined you'd survive like that."
With the pleasantries out of the way, the real business came to light.
"I already know those toothless Norse bastards have approached you. I don't know what they offered, but they are a sinking ship."
Loki and Thor.
Word of his contact with those two deities had already reached the Greek side.
Well, it made sense, considering they had Hermes, who was second to none when it came to information.
"Are you saying aligning with them would only be a detriment?"
"Exactly. If you're going to climb the Tower anyway, wouldn't it be better for you to align with a strong faction?"
Ever since Odin, the supreme deity of Norse mythology, lost his crown, the influence of the Norse gods had plummeted.
In fact, the Greek deities were openly encroaching upon Odin's territory.
It was an open secret that several skirmishes, both big and small, had already broken out.
'To be fair, Greece is a fairly attractive faction. If I choose them, they'll serve as a solid, reliable backer.'
They would undoubtedly be highly effective when conquering the late 30s and early 40s floors of the Tower.
But for some reason, Jinhyuk did not readily accept the offer.
There was a critical reason why he could never get involved with Greece.
'Those bastards are even more insidious than the denizens of the Demon World.'
Discarding the hound once the hunt is over.
It was an ironclad rule of the Greek deities to dispose of their hunting dogs once they were no longer needed.
He had suffered immensely in the past because he hadn't known this, and he had no intention of repeating that mistake.
"Hmm. This is too important a matter to decide right now. I'll take some time to think it over slowly."
"Too bad, but I need an answer now. I'm the type who has to get what I want immediately to be satisfied."
"Then, unfortunately, I'll have to decline."
At Jinhyuk's refusal, Heracles's eyebrows furrowed into a sharp V.
"Are you... serious?"
"I came here today purely to enjoy the auction. I have no intention of choosing a faction to align with right now."
Jinhyuk politely clasped his hands together as if he genuinely regretted it.
Normally, this would be the cue for the other party to back off.
Of course, that was only in normal cases.
"That is... a real shame."
For a great hero who never bothered to weigh the consequences, rejection was not an option.
Whoosh!
Any variable that could become a troublesome enemy had to be nipped in the bud.
That was Heracles's criterion for distinguishing friend from foe.
His fist cut through the air at an incredible speed.
A blow packed with lethal intent.
Dangerous.
The moment that thought crossed his mind, Jinhyuk also conditioned his body to react to the opponent.
[Unique Ability 'Tombgrave's Right Arm' has been activated!]
His right arm transformed completely.
The fist flying toward his face and the arm he extended to block it collided head-on.
Boom!
A massive shockwave rippled through the air.
"Oh?"
Heracles's eyes widened in visible surprise.
He looked as though he had never imagined a mere human could block his attack.
But Jinhyuk was equally shocked.
'I really have grown a lot stronger.'
To withstand a blow from Heracles, even for a brief moment.
It was surprising even to himself.
Facing deities less than two years after the Tower of Trials appeared was something he could never have imagined back then.
[The 'Gap' stat has been activated to its maximum!]
Rumble!
The sight of a much smaller hand catching and holding a massive fist was nothing short of grotesque.
However, it was only temporary.
He was being pushed back.
At least, for now...
A head-on clash with a high-ranking deity was still out of the question.
The lingering fatigue from his battle with Shub-Niggurath also played a major role.
"..."
Jinhyuk gritted his teeth.
A few seconds at most.
That was the limit of how long he could hold out.
"Do you still refuse to serve under us?"
"Let me repeat myself: I don't align with obnoxious bastards. And above all, I have absolutely no interest in serving under anyone."
"Is that so? Quite a short last words."
Thick veins bulged on Heracles's arm.
But right at that moment,
Whoosh!
A faint green gas dispersed into the air.
"Aaargh!"
A scream of agony erupted from Heracles's mouth.
He hurriedly stumbled backward, a sight that did not suit his massive frame at all.
"You miserable bastard...! How dare you poison me?!"
A unique concoction mixing 'Thousand Poisons' and 'Black Tears'.
Poison was the only thing Heracles was traumatized by.
"Don't you know clingy men are unattractive? You kept pestering me, so I had no choice, did I?"
"I will tear you limb from limb!"
Heracles roared in pure fury.
Crack!
The marble floor cracked like a turtle's shell, and then...
Boom!
His body shot forward like a bullet.
Or rather, he tried to.
Before his feet could even leave the ground, someone grabbed Heracles by the wrist.
"Who dares block my path?!"
"To think one of Greece's greatest deities... not only got bested by a Player but has also completely lost his composure."
"You are...?!"
Heracles froze.
No matter how wild and reckless the great hero was, he had no choice but to back down this time.
The newcomer was also a supreme deity representing an entire mythology.
Jinhyuk, who had been bracing for a fight, was now staring intently at the newly arrived figure.
Another heavyweight has appeared.
'So a faction that possesses a Crown has also attended the auction.'
The Demon World had once possessed a Crown, but it had since been taken from them.
And the culprit...
Was the very being standing before him.
The word 'divine' was often thrown around, but he doubted there was anyone it suited better.
The agents who carried out and executed God's will.
One of those powerful deities, a force to be reckoned with in her own right, now stood before Jinhyuk.
"Hello, Player Kang Jinhyuk. I've wanted to meet you for a long time, and I'm glad we finally can."
A beautiful woman smiled warmly.
Her long blonde hair was tied to one side.
Though her frame was slender enough to look fragile, the mana radiating from her was of unfathomable depth.
Archangel Gabriel.
One of the four Archangels, and a member of 'Eden', the massive faction that ruled the 44th Floor of the Tower of Trials.
Naturally, she possessed the power to put down almost any boss monster with a single blow.
"I came by just in case someone didn't know today's main auction was canceled, and it's a relief I did. Thanks to that, I was able to prevent a terrible incident."
"Today's auction isn't being held? What do you mean by that? That fairy wench outside, Setilda or whatever her name is, didn't say anything about that!"
Heracles immediately demanded.
"The minor auctions, attended by proxies commissioned by the deities, will proceed as scheduled."
However,
"The main auction has been postponed by two days. One of the newly registered items is incredibly rare, you see."
"Don't tell me... that is up for auction?"
"Yes. So, Lord Heracles, please don't waste your energy here. Go back and gather enough funds. We wouldn't want the auction to end too anticlimactically, after all."
Gabriel smiled sweetly.
Then, she turned to Jinhyuk.
"I look forward to seeing you again in two days, Player Kang Jinhyuk. By then, you will likely meet many deities and factions, allowing you to choose one under excellent terms. Of course, I hope you keep in mind that we, 'Eden', are also very interested in you."
She maintained her polite demeanor with a pleasant smile, as always.
Perhaps this was a fundamental trait of angels.
Two days from now.
It seemed things were going to get quite interesting.
He had a rough idea of what would be put up for auction.
"Understood. I should head back for today, then."
Jinhyuk nodded.
* * *
[As a wave of mourning continues across the globe...]
[It has been reported that presidents and guilds from various nations have personally expressed their gratitude to Player Kang Jinhyuk, the primary contributor to resolving this incident.]
[Breaking news: 'Veteran Corporation', led by Player Kang Jinhyuk as its master, has officially been named one of the world's top eight guilds!]
A deluge of articles heated up the media and the internet day after day.
While there had been several terrible outbreaks in the past, they had never faced an enemy as utterly despair-inducing as this one.
"Oh. Quite impressive. But why is there no mention of Us?"
Alice asked, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.
"Well, there is, but most of it is just posts from some weird fan club. Want me to show you anyway?"
At a glance, it was filled with things that severely compromised the dignity of vampires.
Still, wasn't it better than being ignored?
"N-no, thank you! We shall indulge in a hobby befitting Our noble grace."
"A hobby? You actually have a hobby other than eating and sleeping?"
"Ahem. Prepare to be amazed. It is something humans do quite often as well."
"Hmm. Sounds highly suspicious..."
With a skeptical look, Jinhyuk entered Alice's room.
Fake cobwebs, skulls, and eerie candles lit the room.
Her taste was truly something else.
"We were watching something called a 'movie'."
Alice pointed to the video playing on her tablet.
Wait, this was...?
A movie he knew.
Twilight.
The quintessential fantasy romance featuring vampires and werewolves.
"Wow. You watch stuff like this too?"
"Indeed. However, the more We watch this movie, the more displeased We become."
"Huh?"
Normally, one would find it sweet or cool.
Why on earth did she find it displeasing?
The reason was soon revealed.
"How dare mere werewolves defy a noble race! Such a thing was utterly unthinkable when We ruled as the Head! What on earth are the Heads in that world doing, letting things deteriorate to this point?!"
Alice pounded her small fist on the table in frustration.
I was an idiot to expect a normal reaction from this dummy vampire.
"Stop ranting about things I can't relate to at all, and get ready to go out."
"Go out?"
"We finally got some free time. Are you just going to stay cooped up inside all day?"
There were two days left until the auction house reopened.
Heading to the 19th Floor would have to wait until after that.
So until then, he planned to fully relieve his accumulated fatigue.
"Ooh! Of course We'll go—! No, wait. Well, if Our contractor desperately begs Us to accompany him, We suppose We could grace him with Our presence. A noble race does not easily refuse an earnest request."
Alice almost leaped off the bed in excitement before quickly trying to compose her expression.