Chapter 36

Chapter 36. The Secret Auction

I couldn't tell him the truth.

Heimdal's treasured Divine Armament.

If I told him I'd chewed up and swallowed every last drop of Divinity and Authority within it, there was no telling how he'd react.

No matter how much he liked me, would he forgive someone who'd used his prized possession as a snack?

He might genuinely start thinking of me as a Mad God.

"Why do you ask?"

I asked with feigned composure.

Heimdal held out his hand and said casually.

"I need to borrow it for a moment."

He wanted it back on loan.

It wasn't even a case of giving and then taking away.

But I couldn't return it.

It was physically impossible.

Digestion was already complete.

I shook my head.

"I would rather not."

Firm.

Heimdal's eyebrow twitched.

"......Come again?"

"It came into my possession. I cannot return it."

I doubled down on the audacity.

"Even if it is only for a short while. The Divine Armament has already chosen me as its master. I cannot send my master's weapon away."

A brazen standoff.

Heimdal stared at me as though he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

......Had he caught on?

Or would he strike me down with lightning for the insolence?

But.

"Bwahahahahaha!"

Heimdal erupted into laughter.

A roar that could have shaken the temple apart.

He clutched his stomach and shook his head, laughing.

"Yes, yes! That is the spirit! You truly are an amusing one."

He wiped a tear and looked at me.

There was no anger.

If anything, his expression was closer to satisfaction.

"The audacity to refuse to give back something I gave you. That greed—I like it very much."

Heimdal turned to leave.

"Nothing to be done about it, then. I shall use a different weapon."

He walked away without a trace of reluctance.

"Focus on your war preparations. I have high expectations."

WHOOOOSH!

He vanished with the wind.

I collapsed where I stood.

"......Ha."

I was drained.

Had he really just come to check in?

Or had he been testing me?

Either way, it didn't matter.

The crisis was averted for now.

But my mind was tangled.

The word Abdulla had thrown at me.

'Mad God.'

An insane god that devours its own kind.

A public enemy of the gods.

The word had lodged in my brain and refused to leave.

I looked down at my right hand.

The golden rune.

A power that consumed Disasters, devoured Divinity, and swallowed Authorities.

'......It's similar.'

I couldn't deny it.

The characteristics of a Mad God that Abdulla had described were far too similar to my abilities.

Perhaps the source of this power really was a Mad God.

If so, I was carrying a ticking time bomb.

The moment I was exposed, even Heimdal would abandon me.

No—judging by his temperament, he'd be the first to try to kill me.

'I need to be careful.'

Abdulla wouldn't give up.

Securing the Lesser gods' Avatar roster was a declaration that he was closing the net in earnest.

I might need to scale back my activities on Earth for a while.

But I couldn't stop.

'Cryos.'

War was imminent.

Roughly twenty days remained.

Within that time, I had to complete the power needed to defeat the master of Floor 50.

I opened my Inventory.

'Let me take stock first.'

Episode 3.

The spoils from hunting during the Prologue of the Great Calamity.

There were four Authorities I'd gained from devouring the Lesser gods.

[Lesser Earthquake], [Lesser Tsunami], [Lesser Wildfire], [Lesser Collapse].

'Middling.'

Individually, they weren't bad.

But compared to my main weapons—Living Primordial Fire (Origin) and Gale of Annihilation (Ancient)—they were pitiful.

A difference in caliber.

I'd tried combining them with my higher Authorities, but the System refused.

[Warning: Grade disparity is too large. Combination impossible.]

The ingredients were too weak to blend into the main dish.

But it'd be a waste to throw them away.

Every little bit adds up.

I activated the Authority Combiner.

'Put them together and they should become serviceable.'

I tossed all four lesser Authorities into the cauldron.

Earthquake, tsunami, fire, collapse.

Disasters of different attributes tangled together.

[Combine 4 Lesser Authorities?]

'Combine.'

HUMMMM!

The cauldron shook violently.

The ground split, water surged, and flames erupted.

A stew.

But it was going to be a tasty stew.

Ding!

[Combination complete!]
[A new Authority has been born!]
[Authority grade is being recalibrated.]
[Reaching 'Legendary' grade.]
[Authority name: Calamity from All Sides]

Legendary grade.

Lower than Mythic or Ancient, but leagues above Lesser.

Above all, the versatility was excellent.

Earth, water, fire, physical collapse.

An area-of-effect ability that could deploy four different Disasters in combination or selectively.

'Perfect for clearing mobs.'

I clenched and unclenched my fist, getting a feel for the new power.

Preparations were coming together.

Living Primordial Fire as my finisher.

Aegis of the Ancient God as my absolute defense.

Calamity from All Sides as my area-of-effect attack.

And a healthy supply of Nectar to back it all up.

This was workable.

I had to win no matter what.

Once I was formally recognized as Heimdal's Apostle, they wouldn't be able to doubt me so easily.

***

I began moving immediately for the sake of victory.

'Money is king.'

A cliched saying, but no truth was more certain.

Especially here in Asgard, the world of gods.

I opened my Inventory.

The twenty Fragments of the Broken Golden Rule I'd received as Episode 3 rewards.

I took out two.

No hesitation.

Hoarding them would only let them go to waste.

War was at the doorstep, and my territory needed to be fortified.

Ding!

[Exchanging 2 Fragments of the Broken Golden Rule for 2,000,000 Nectar.]

Two million Nectar.

A fortune that an ordinary Lesser god couldn't touch even after saving for centuries.

I poured this massive capital into my floor.

HUMMMM!

All of Floor 7 pulsed with golden light.

It wasn't merely cosmetic embellishment.

The ley lines of the earth twisted and mana concentration surged explosively.

The golden temple's pillars thickened, and layers of powerful defensive wards were inscribed across the outer walls.

The hot spring water was no longer mere Sacred Water—it was approaching the 'Water of Life,' said to bring back even the dying.

Two days.

A full two days it took.

The result.

Ding!

[Congratulations!]
[Tower Floor 7's Crystal grade has been upgraded.]
[Grade: A → S]
[An unprecedented record!]
['Rag' has been recorded in the 'Hall of the Gods.']

The system message rang across all of Asgard.

I curled the corner of my mouth upward.

'Look at that.'

No need to hide this.

NONAME on Earth had to stay concealed, but Rag in the Tower had to be visible.

The greater I became, the higher Heimdal's standing rose for having picked me.

And conversely, the tighter the noose around Cryos's neck before our war.

'He must be sweating.'

Even as the master of Floor 50, he'd never faced an enemy with an S-grade territory.

The overwhelming difference in capital.

The dread it inspired was every bit as potent as raw force.

That was when it happened.

Ding!

A new message window appeared before me.

Not the usual blue or gold.

A darker, purple-black window.

[Invitation]
[Recipient: The Great Magnate, Lord Rag.]
[You have met the requirements.]
[A place open only to owners of S-grade floors or above.]
[You are cordially invited to the 'Secret Auction.']

'......A secret auction?'

I raised an eyebrow.

'Secret' meant it didn't officially exist.

The Tower's underside.

A place where goods unavailable in any shop or exchange changed hands.

[Date: Tonight, midnight.]
[Venue: The Dimensional Crevice, Colosseum.]
[Perk: Strict anonymity guaranteed. The identities of all participants are concealed by the System.]

My interest was piqued.

Guaranteed anonymity.

The condition I liked most.

A place where I could compete on capital alone, without worrying about my identity being exposed.

'I should go.'

I still had Fragments of the Golden Rule to spare.

With war on the horizon, this was a golden opportunity to reinforce my fighting power.

'I accept.'

I pressed the button.

In that instant.

WHOOOOSH!

Purple-black mist enveloped me.

My vision warped.

Spatial transfer.

A moment later, my feet touched solid ground.

"......Oh."

The exclamation escaped on its own the moment I opened my eyes.

It was massive.

A ceiling so high the sky was invisible.

A colossal circular arena that could seat tens of thousands.

A Colosseum.

But the spectator seats were empty.

Instead, hundreds of 'private rooms' floated in the air.

VIP boxes embedded in the void like a honeycomb.

I was standing inside one of them.

Through the glass, I could see below.

Every participant was isolated in a room like mine.

A structure where faces were invisible and voices inaudible.

Ironclad anonymity.

—The auction will begin shortly.

An announcement echoed.

I sank deep into the sofa.

Lights came on over the stage below.

A masked auctioneer appeared.

"Welcome, esteemed bidders."

The auctioneer's voice filled the Colosseum.

"Once again, we have prepared items to satisfy your every desire!"

Light banter.

But the atmosphere was heavy.

An invisible tension of mutual wariness permeated from every unseen corner.

Everyone gathered here had to be gods of considerable standing.

A hundred.

At a rough estimate, that was the count.

The number of private rooms floating in the air.

Every occupant was a power player who owned an S-grade floor or above.

'Quite the crowd.'

I clicked my tongue.

A palpable stillness hung in the air.

They couldn't see each other, but the greedy energy seeping through the walls was unmistakable.

"Now then, the wait is over."

The auctioneer raised a hand high.

The lights focused.

"Let us begin with tonight's first lot. Something very special."

The floor split open.

A lift rose from below.

A glass tube, as tall as a person, draped in black cloth.

I narrowed my eyes.

'What could it be?'

A secret auction.

Guaranteed anonymity.

Security so thorough that even the gods' identities were sealed.

If it were merely rare items or skill books, there'd be no need for all this.

Which meant something unsavory was involved.

The auctioneer pulled the cloth away.

WHOOSH!

A faint blue light seeped from within the glass tube.

The moment I identified what it was.

"......!"

I stopped breathing.

It wasn't an item.

It was a person.

No—more precisely, 'something' in the shape of a person.

A translucent spiritual body.

A man bound in chains from head to toe, mouth open in an expression of agony.

No sound could be heard.

But the anguish, the resentment—it came through whole and unfiltered.

Ding!

An information window appeared.

[Lot No. 1]
[Item: The Sword Saint of the ruined world 'Garsia']
[Type: Soul]
[Description: World No. 394, destroyed by the gods' Game. The last hero who resisted to the very end. His soul contains an unbreakable fighting spirit and noble swordsmanship.]
[Uses: Vassal creation, artifact enhancement, soul absorption, collectible, etc.]

It was the soul of the Sword Saint who had defended Garsia—a world that had been destroyed by the gods even earlier than Earth.