“The ‘Vow of Preparation’ has been won by Grand Duke Okullos!”
“The creature ‘Golonggol’ has been won by Grand Duke Okullos!”
"The "Heart Shoes’ have...!”
The ensuing auction items.
Okullos’ dominance started. He won five more items and the sixth item he won was the 10th item to be auctioned. A huge five million points was spent.
I always focused on efficiency and didn’t bid for another item after Gaparam. I decided to move only when Mago came out.
However...Okullos always bid even before Mago came out.
I needed to make a successful bid in order to break the situation.
‘Only Okullos is partic.i.p.ating in this auction.’
It was another unusual point. All the demons in Okullos’ faction didn’t bid in the auction. Okullos was the only one who partic.i.p.ated.
‘Strange.’
The points of other demons could be acquired and used.
However, Death Bringer’s system wasn’t that simple. Even the savvy dark spirits took enormous risks when opening a crack.
Trading points was only allowed for legitimate transactions.
"A reasonable value for goods...’
Yes. It was theoretically possible.
A demon could sell everything in their dungeon. But they couldn’t do such a thing without unwavering faith. It only required one demon for betrayal. And it was ridiculous for demons in a faction to believe in each other. This was impossible.
‘Okullos. What magic is this?’
There was a change. I couldn’t read those changes.
12 people. If I combined the points of all the demons in Okullos’ faction, it should still be less than mine. However, I would have to take a loss.
“Now, the 11th auction item has finally emerged. I bet everyone paid attention to her before the auction. From the Celestial Maiden clan, the high cla.s.s creature ‘Mago.’ A legendary creature that can travel on the wind and is worth millions of gold. I will be introducing her now.”
The eyes of the demons shone. The item everyone had been waiting for finally appeared.
I was also filled with tension.
In particular, I wanted to keep Okullos in check before he got bigger. He might have read my status window but he didn’t know my total points.
Kw.a.n.g! Kw.a.n.g!
Soon a huge cage was brought in by the dark spirits. Mago was inside it. Mago kept turning her body around and cried out.
Dubolong bowed his head gracefully and extended a hand.
“It will start at 1.3 million points.”
"Five million."
“...Okullos-nim?”
"That isn’t enough?”
“Ah, no. O...kullos-nim has called five million points.”
Dubolong was jolted from his surprise. Five million points!
The boy and girl statues on the ceiling were still not laughing. They moaned as the points were shouted out. In other words, they were thrilled.
There were no other demons that could partic.i.p.ate.
In the case of Grand Duke Upa, his face turned red at the thought of losing Mago. However, no one cared about Upa. Okullos glanced at me with a smile.
He was only looking at me.
‘Okullos...!’
He was hostile towards me? He thought he knew my power from checking my status window?
Then he picked the wrong opponent.
Kwaduduk!
I gritted my teeth.
He could obtain other items, but Mago was mine. The only high cla.s.s 2Lv creature present. It wasn’t likely to come out the next year or the year after. At the very least, it would increase my lead for a year.
I needed to obtain her. I had to firmly maintain my position. I didn’t know what Okullos planned to do with my information. However, I wasn’t going to hide myself away like a good prey.
“Six million.”
“Randalph-nim, it can’t be! Unbelievable! I can’t believe it. This is a really different race.”
“Seven million.”
"Crazy, it is really crazy! Mago’s cries are acting like a celestial harmony. Where will this end?”
Thanks to this, it was announced that Okullos had at least 12 million points. I frowned as I thought about it. I thought I was the only one who had reached over 10 million.
“Eight million.”
"Ahh, it is a truly reasonable price for Mago but it has been a while since I felt such a thrill. Randalph-nim has called eight million points!”
Silence flowed. All the demons were looking between Okullos and I. Their eyes were filled with complex emotions like doubt, jealousy and annoyance.
It was inevitable.
An average of 1.3 million. I drove up the average from one million by 300,000 points.
For many individuals in this auction, one million was the limit at which they could partic.i.p.ate. It was common sense. They had seen the practical parts involved in managing a dungeon in the past two years. It was surprisingly difficult to collect points.
However, that common sense was completely broken. It was already half smashed.
How? The first emotion felt was doubt.
But there were no answers. I knew many things that would happen in the future. That’s how I was able to act solo for the past two years.
But...a new leader had showed up.
Okullos.
“Kuahahaha!”
He laughed out loud. An uncontrollable and wild laugh.
It was strange when thinking of Okullos’ personality. He was someone that almost never expressed his feelings. In particular, he acted like a stone in front of other demons.
However...there was no doubt. His body shook like he was greatly moved.
“Indeed! Randalph Brigsiel! You have crossed the ‘line.’ Your entire power wasn’t shown the other day! Kuhahahaha!”
"Stop talking nonsense.”
I didn’t know what he was talking about.
The line? It was the first time I heard about it.
I didn’t like the feeling of someone defining and judging me. Especially when that person was a grand duke.
However, Okullos continued to bark.
"I will tell this to all of you! This ‘game’ is not possible! It is ridiculous to think that you guys will ever grow beyond a puppy. It is because you haven’t crossed over the line!”
“Okullos. You are interrupting to talk alone to a wall. I can’t listen anymore.”
Dubolong said with a nod.
But Okullos showed no interest in Dubolong’s words and didn’t respond.
All the grand dukes, dukes and demons were concentrated on Okullos.
"I felt weak the moment I accepted Death Bringer’s offer. I thought it was simply a restriction. But no...I realized after gradually regaining my strength and crossing over the line. The weakness is preparation for a jump. I will become stronger and eventually evolve. I will become an existence beyond the devil!”
A pa.s.sionate rant. It wasn’t limited to me, but a message conveyed to all the demons.
That wasn’t the end.
"Aren’t you curious? It is possible to be reborn as any existence! Why are you focusing on humans? Destroying the planet Earth is simple so why can’t you figure this out?”
“Okullos...that guy, is he crazy?”
Ariel. She spoke coldly.
Becoming a devil. That was the goal the grand dukes were focused on. But it was dismissed as ‘simple.’
Okullos’ remarks had definitely gone too far.
"I didn’t originally plan to say this. It is never good to give benefits to the other side. But I feel too sad. It is impossible to become a species if I evolve alone. All of us have to transcend in order to become a species. So I will give a chance to you. Randalph Brigsiel has a head start, but you still have the opportunity. You might be weak right now, but become stronger. Strong pride, self-esteem...from my viewpoint, you are still beginners. Too young for such opportunities. If you are too weak...if the root itself is weak, evolution will be impossible even if you become stronger. However, the grand dukes that have ruled the Demon World for hundreds of years are a different story!”
Many phrases were conveyed, but the message was simple. Only the grand dukes and I weren’t lacking.
A true declaration of hostility. The frowns naturally increased.
“I can sense that you’ve a.s.similated with the souls of the demons under you. Okullos, have you really gone crazy?”
Pandemonium ventured out at this moment. He was old and well versed in creatures and spells. He frowned.
"The flow of your magic power has strangely changed. Ha! This isn’t natural for demons and you are going down the path of your own destruction."
The 12 demons under Okullos. Their souls were a.s.similated. So he could even use the points of the demons under him.
But such actions would eventually bring him to ruin. It was very dangerous to a.s.similate souls and there had been no successful cases. Such acts were forbidden in the Demon World.
However, Okullos seemed to have other ideas.
“No! This is the beginning of my evolution. Everyone can’t see it but I can feel it. The unstable souls are balanced by my Naturalization skill. Of course, this method isn’t correct. It is just one of several ways to make me more comfortable. In short, I have a way to break common sense.”
Pandemonium clicked his tongue. He realized that communication wouldn’t work. The generosity and kindness of a grand duke was limited.
The reaction of the other grand dukes was the same. Connecting the souls. a.s.similation. They knew too well the risks that it would bring. Yet the crazy Okullos was only talking about evolution.
It was great that he had a vast amount of points, but that was all.
“Yes. I hate to admit it. But you will soon know. All those who step over the line will be qualified! Please...realize it before the hunter starts hunting. I will welcome anyone who wants to follow me in the end.”
The hunter was referring to me. It was obvious that he saw my t.i.tle.
Okullos turned around. The 12 demons under him moved like they were one as they followed him.
Kkiiik!
Kung!
The cold atmosphere disappeared as the door closed.
Okullos abstained from buying anything else at the auction.
I quietly looked in the direction that he disappeared in.
"Originally I was going to get rid of Upa first...’
My plans were constantly changing.
Upa was placed as the top priority merely because he was annoying. Once Upa started moving, he would fight dirty. I had aimed to cut off the stem. Someone like that would become more annoying the longer I left him alone.
If I knew the situation would turn out like this, then I would have poured in everything when I had the Cruel Commander. Although I likely wouldn’t have been able to stay hidden after that, I would have flown higher.
I deeply reflected.
How could I have expected that Okullos would swallow up other demons to obtain power?
I could deal with Upa because he didn’t know me.
However, Okullos knew me. I also didn’t know the levels he had reached. There was no way he would only make a little bit of progress.
So...
‘Okullos. You should have remained in the background.’
First of all, I had to eliminate him.