Chapter 130
Chapter 130
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: Behemoth (2)
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Miju, the host of the Gehenna Auction House, was pacing anxiously around the area.
Darius had said it would be quick, but he still hadn't returned. With his skills, he should have caught the thieves long ago.
"Why isn't he back yet!"
It hadn't even been a few hours, but his eyes were bloodshot red, and his dry, flaky skin made him look years older.
If he couldn't recover the auction items, he was as good as dead. And it wouldn't be a clean death—he might endure horrific torture first.
Considering the brutality of the Gehenna Auction House's owner, Gehenna Bernstein, it was entirely possible.
Why did it feel so cold around his neck?
"Mr. Miju!"
One of the attendants called out to him then.
Miju, biting his nails, turned to look at the man.
"What is it?"
"M-Mr. Darius has returned."
"Oh! Really?!"
The Dark Fist King, who had held the championship in the underground arena for over ten years, was back.
He must have returned with his hands full of the lost auction items. For someone of his caliber, it wouldn't be difficult.
There had been no need to worry in the first place.
Darius was one of the strongest in the world, not just the underworld. With him on the case, the items had no choice but to return here.
He had just been overly anxious, leading to needless suspicion.
But the attendant's next words left Miju unable to do anything but laugh and ask again.
"......He said he lost them."
"Pardon? Haha. What did you just say? I must be too excited; I didn't hear right."
"He lost them...... Said they were too quick."
Miju scratched his brow with a smiling face.
The attendant's words didn't make sense. Darius lost them? This was a joke even a child wouldn't buy.
How many in the world were faster than him that he could lose them?
Not even a teleport-spamming mage could easily escape his grasp.
The attendant was clearly making a bad joke.
"Look at this guy. You thought I'd laugh it off with a haha? I'm not that easy to amuse. Hurry and bring Mr. Darius."
"Well......"
The attendant glanced at him nervously and swallowed dryly.
Miju dropped his smile. Veins bulged on his forehead as he bellowed.
"Bring him here now!!!!"
"No need to shout. I'm already here."
Miju turned around excitedly as a shadow fell over him.
There stood the blind giant of a man, Darius, arms crossed.
Normally, that massive presence would intimidate him, but right now, Miju saw nothing but red.
"Y-You! Is what this bastard said true?"
"Sorry about that. They were too fast. Lost them by a hair."
"You...... You...... What the hell are you saying, you worm!!"
"I'll return the advance payment. Cover the penalty fee if needed. It was my mistake this time."
"You think...... You think that's enough......?"
Miju's neck stiffened. Blood pressure surged to his head, blurring his vision. He felt a mad urge to stab Darius in the heart right then.
"You think saying 'I lost them' just...... fixes everything?"
Miju's eyes lost focus.
His ragged breathing and stammering made him look half-mad.
Though blind, Darius sensed Miju's state through spatial awareness.
"Do you have any idea how much damage you've caused right now? Why do you think we hired you in the first place!!"
"That's why I'm apologizing. I'll return the advance and pay the penalty several times over."
"You think words are enough......?"
"What will you do if words aren't?"
Miju flinched at Darius's indifferent tone. Despite his rage, the implication was clear.
"Aren't you afraid of Gehenna?"
"Hm. I do feel bad for the boss."
"S-Sorry? You think saying sorry will make the boss go 'Oh, I see'?"
Gehenna Bernstein was ruthless, repaying grudges manyfold even if he ignored favors.
Countless rival forces had crumbled under him, and the dead were beyond counting.
This held true even for master-class powerhouses.
Yet Darius just chuckled.
"Why, why are you laughing!"
"My apologies. How could I not?"
"What?"
"I want to ask the same."
Darius wiped tears from laughing too hard and spoke.
"Should I be afraid?"
Miju blinked at the words.
Gehenna Bernstein was a underworld titan, known as the "Hand of Darkness," dominating the northern continent's shadows.
No matter how strong Darius was, he was just one man. If Gehenna decided to pressure him, few things would be impossible.
"You're right; Boss Gehenna is impressive. He lives by the creed of repaying grudges many times over. But before that."
Darius brought his unseeing eyes right up to Miju's nose.
"He's a businessman. He hates losing money above all. To get me, let's see......"
He pondered briefly, then grinned.
"It'd cost dozens of times today's auction haul. Would he really?"
Miju was speechless.
Darius patted his shoulder reassuringly and left the auction house without another word.
Miju, legs giving way, stared blankly into space and gingerly touched his neck.
His end was near.
Jamie didn't know how to process this.
It was small. Not just small—compared to his eight-year-old palm, it was only slightly larger.
Its voice was cute, and its two little horns even cuter.
Its three round eyes were so sparkling that Sara would have gone wild calling it adorable.
Even Jamie, uninterested in cute things, thought so—what would others think?
"What're you staring at?!"
Behemoth whined loudly.
The disconnect was jarring.
This was the fire-breathing behemoth Diablo Volpir had painstakingly created.
Not this tiny bull in front of him.
"......It's small."
Han spoke amid the silence.
Behemoth flicked its tail up and bellowed.
"What did you just say about me?!"
"Uh......"
Could this tiny creature really be the one who turned the Kelton Mountains into a fiery hell?
Han couldn't believe it.
Izaya and Siegfried felt the same. Braha and Alex, absent, would too.
Behemoth snorted, puffing a small flame.
"Hmph! This body was originally very, very huge!"
"Then why are you so small now?"
"There's a story behind it. Don't pry. But who the heck are you guys?"
Behemoth had been in deep slumber.
Suddenly, its sealed chamber shook violently, cracks forming slowly.
When it came to, the great volcano's seal was nearly broken, and these people stood before it.
Humans it had never seen.
"How many years since I slept?"
Its last memory was a contract with an elf.
Behemoth recalled their brief exchange before sleep.
-Someday, ones to awaken you will appear. Probably.
-What's 'probably'?
-Because they might not. Personally, I hope you stay asleep.
-Elf, such blatant honesty isn't good.
-Hehe. But your awakening means the world has grown that bad.
-Hmph. Whatever. I'm tired of waiting. If I can't wait longer, better not to wake.
-66,666 years. On the Day of Prophecy, may your will not come to pass.
-Blatant honesty still doesn't sit well.
That was their last talk, and it was sealed deep here.
"Are you the ones that elf mentioned?"
"You remember the elf, so you must recall that day's promise."
Han smiled, sensing things might go smoothly.
Izaya stepped forward and addressed Behemoth.
"First, you fell asleep a thousand years ago."
"A thousand years. Not short."
"Anyway, we've come to fulfill the promise left by the great elf archmage Shiora."
"Shiora. Right, that was the name."
Behemoth nodded its small head in recognition.
Then it said to Izaya,
"But promises have conditions, no?"
"Conditions?"
Izaya glanced at Han, who shrugged—he knew nothing.
Behemoth narrowed its three eyes.
"You don't know the Day of Prophecy?"
"Day of Prophecy?"
"Prophecy...... Day?"
Han and Izaya looked puzzled.
Jamie and Siegfried even more so.
"The promise we heard didn't mention any Day of Prophecy."
"Right. We were told only that you'd awaken and help achieve our Frontier's goal."
"So you idiots crossed 66,666 years without knowing the prophecy of His return to the world!!"
Jamie's eyes wavered at those words.
He hadn't expected Behemoth to mention that time.
66,666 years.
The time from Diablo Volpir's eons-long seal to his reincarnation as Jamie Welton.
Someone had pinpointed it. The Day of Prophecy hinted at Diablo Volpir's return.
"......Never heard of it."
"66,666 years? What kind of nonsense is that? Did the world even exist then?"
Han spoke disbelievingly, and Siegfried chimed in.
"If civilization started 60,000 years ago, humanity would've left this world for the stars by now."
"Exactly. Hahaha! It's so absurd it's hilarious. Who prophesied such a ridiculous number?"
"Shiora did."
Han stopped laughing at Behemoth's words.
Laughing more would tarnish the founder's honor—and insult Braha's grandmother.
Han was truly grateful Braha wasn't here.
"Tsk tsk. Pathetic lot. I thought descendants of that elf would be decent, but you're worthless! Why did I even wake?! I wanted to sleep forever since waiting was too hard!"
Behemoth scanned them displeased, then fixed its gaze on one spot.
Jamie Welton stood there.
"Eh......?"
It tilted its head 90 degrees in question.
Jamie swallowed dryly at Behemoth's sudden action.
'Did it recognize me?'
Unlike Black, Behemoth wasn't a soul-linked familiar. Otherwise, it would've checked its familiars' status first.
Meaning it hadn't realized Jamie was Diablo Volpir.
Unless he used black mana.
Yet Behemoth flew toward Jamie, drawn by instinct.
"Hey, little bull. What's up?"
Han asked at the odd behavior, but no answer came.
Behemoth stopped right before Jamie's face. They stared intensely, and Behemoth's eyes began to tremble.
"N-Nostalg......"
At first, it hadn't noticed.
Just woken, confused by these sudden intruders.
Then anger at their ignorance of the Day of Prophecy left no room to look properly.
Scanning overall, this child caught its eye. A strange feeling at first.
Familiar yet foreign.
Behemoth approached to confirm, and now.
Shh.
Jamie's lip shape nearly overflowed it with millennia of pent-up emotion.
'Long time no see, Behemoth. This body has......'
Jamie's mouth, subtly obscured by Behemoth, moved.
'Returned.'