Before the auction began.
In contrast to the banquet hall’s scorching fervor, the atmosphere in the underground prison was dark and dismal.
The underground prison—a space where slaves to be sold at auction were temporarily confined.
All manner of races had gathered there.
From the moment they had been brought here, it was as good as having been stripped of the right to be respected as living beings.
They were nothing more than goods waiting to be sold.
That was also the reason they were housed separately by race.
It was the result of measures taken by the Demon Realm Trading Company, lest the goods be damaged in some unforeseen situation.
The stories of those captured in the prison were exceedingly varied.
Adventurers who had challenged a dungeon raid and failed.
Defeated soldiers sold to slave traders, or mercenaries who had been abducted.
Among them, though only a few, were even illegitimate children of noble houses.
Of course, monsters were no exception.
They, too, had all sorts of stories.
There were monsters dragged here while living as wanderers, and even dungeon masters who had fallen into slavery after incurring enormous debts to the trading company.
There had even been cases where a dungeon master sold his own subordinates in order to repay a debt.
Or there were those who had been imprisoned after their dungeon collapsed; such diverse stories coexisted in one place.
At the same time, those confined there also knew the fate that awaited them—that they would be sold somewhere.
They did not know what end their fate would reach.
Until they confirmed that end, the shadow of despair would not leave their faces.
Even amid all this, there were those who sang of hope.
In one section of the prison in particular, rather than being buried in despair, they clasped their hands in prayer and spread a song of hope.
They knew that hope was the power that illuminated the darkness.
“Ah, Goddess. Please take pity on us and grant us the strength to overcome this difficult trial.”
Repina, a priestess of the White Order, prayed quietly.
Ever since she had been imprisoned, Repina had filled every moment of every day with prayer.
Perhaps someday the Goddess would extend a helping hand to them.
Hoping that her faith and earnest expectations would reach the Goddess, she prayed for the ember of hope to burn on.
After finishing a brief prayer, Repina looked around beside her.
There was another priest at her side, a man named Tallin.
“Tallin…”
Tallin’s physical condition was not good.
Even now, his body was wrapped in bandages, and he lay on the cold floor.
It was a wound he had received during the dungeon subjugation, and because he had not received proper treatment, it had festered.
If he did not receive proper treatment, his life might be in danger.
The reason they had come here was simple.
As priests of the Order, they had set out on a dungeon subjugation and failed.
On top of failing, they had ended up captured by the monsters guarding the dungeon.
And now, they had been sold here. That was their story.
“Tallin, hold on just a little longer. The Goddess will surely hear our prayers.”
Repina comforted the suffering Tallin.
Fortunately, Tallin too was a deeply devout priest.
Even in the worst situation, he never let go of the thread of hope.
Repina gently stroked his shoulder once, then turned her head to look behind her.
Behind them were seven paladins.
However, all of them were trainees, not formal paladins.
Even if they had experienced paladins with them, it was uncertain whether they could escape from here, yet all they had were trainees.
‘Haa…’
In truth, escaping from this place was virtually impossible.
The situation was that dire, but Repina did not despair.
Perhaps all of this was a trial bestowed upon them by the Goddess.
If they overcame this trial, they would surely be rewarded with even greater growth.
“Let us all pray.”
Repina spoke quietly.
At her words, Tallin too forced his aching body upright.
Together with the two priests, those who had not yet formally been ordained as paladins also clasped their hands.
So that their earnest hearts might resound in the heavens, hoping they would reach the Goddess, their prayers continued in that difficult, hellish place.
‘I pray that someday we may be delivered from this hell.’
How much time had passed?
Footsteps echoed through the quiet underground prison.
Before long, those footsteps stopped somewhere.
“……”
It was right in front of the prison where Repina and her companions were confined.
Sensing a presence, Repina opened her eyes.
“…Who are you?”
When she turned her head, a small demon was standing outside the iron bars.
This small demon, characterized by a red face and tiny wings, had a small frame that only reached Repina’s waist.
The small demon did not answer Repina’s question and simply stared at them.
An awkward silence flowed.
After a brief moment, the small demon opened its mouth.
“I am a servant attending Lady Serinu. I have no name permitted to me, so please call me whatever you find convenient.”
Repina grasped the atmosphere of the moment.
‘Serinu…’
She did not know who that was.
But it was certain that this being was connected to the ones who had locked them up here.
And such a being had sent one of their subordinates.
If she spoke with the small demon before her, she would likely learn what was going on.
“Then what business do you have with us?”
Repina replied in as polite a voice as possible.
There was no reason to ruin the other party’s mood by acting needlessly overbearing.
And was the small demon not treating them gently as well?
Her prediction proved correct.
The small demon before her took something from its bosom and handed it through the iron bars.
It was a small glass bottle.
Liquid was contained inside the bottle, and even at a glance, she could feel divine power from it.
“……”
Why could she feel divine power from an item handed over by a demon?
Repina was puzzled.
Moreover, there were nine glass bottles in total.
At the same time, Repina noted that the number of her party, including herself, was nine.
“That is a potion that temporarily raises divine power by a large margin.”
What the small demon had handed over were potions.
But the potion’s characteristic bothered her.
A potion that supposedly raised divine power, no less.
“…Why would a demon like you possess such a potion?”
Naturally, nothing pleasant came from Repina’s mouth.
“Ah, please do not misunderstand. I did not come here to argue with you, Priestess.”
At the demon’s words, Repina too calmed her excitement.
“I merely came to deliver my master Lady Serinu’s words to Priestess Repina.”
At the small demon’s words, Repina wore an incredulous expression.
After all, she had no memory of telling the other party her name.
‘Well…’
It was not entirely incomprehensible.
They were a group daring to traffic priests belonging to the Order, so they would have at least this much information.
“That potion I just gave you temporarily increases divine power. Ah, of course, you need not worry about side effects. High-ranking priests also participated in the creation of that potion, after all.”
At the small demon’s words, Repina bit her lip.
An unidentified potion that raised divine power.
The claim that such a potion had been made with the participation of priests belonging to the Order was far too strange.
As if being involved in its production was not enough, the finished product was now in a demon’s hands.
Repina was not so foolish that she could not understand what that meant.
“To think there are those who have joined hands with demons…”
Repina muttered hollowly, but the small demon simply continued with its story.
“What you must do is simple. Before you go up onto the stage later, please drink those potions. And—”
The small demon’s request was simple.
They only had to drink the potions and attack the target the demon designated.
If they did just that, it promised to release everyone here safely.
At the small demon’s demand, Repina pondered for a moment.
‘Surely it isn’t a trap…?’
If the small demon’s words were true, and if the effects of that potion were real, then it meant a slight possibility of escaping from here had appeared.
With their current numbers, escape was impossible anyway.
That was why they were doing nothing but praying.
At the small demon’s words, hope also entered the eyes of the others.
‘To think we must use the power bestowed by the Goddess for the sake of a demon…’
Even if it did not sit well with her, there was nothing she could do.
“Haa… haa…”
More than anything, Tallin’s condition continued to worsen.
‘Perhaps…’
Perhaps this situation itself was a path of survival opened by the Goddess.
Repina consoled herself that way as she looked at Tallin.
When Repina glanced at Tallin, the small demon handed over something additional.
“It is a high-grade potion. If you are to carry out our request, it would be better for even one more of you to maintain a good condition. If you wish, we can also write up a contract.”
At the contradictory sight of a demon trying to heal a priest, Repina was flustered, yet at the same time relieved.
The thought that they might truly get out of here if they only did as requested filled her mind.
The high-grade potion handed over by the demon would not be enough to completely heal Tallin’s wound.
But it would be possible to buy time.
“But… who is the target?”
At this point, she was curious.
Why were they asking this of her, going so far as to provide such help?
In this prison, not only they but various monsters were also confined.
Such a massive group was issuing orders just to attack someone?
“If it is someone belonging to the same Order, we will not do it.”
Repina was firm.
If the target they had to attack belonged to the Order, she absolutely would not do it.
“Ah, it is not another human, so rest assured.”
While the small demon and Repina were talking, another being approached.
This time it was a different monster—a skeleton wearing a tailcoat.
“Clack, clack—”
(It is time.)
Naturally, Repina could not understand the skeleton’s words.
“Clack, clack, clack.”
(Lady Serinu has added one more condition.)
The skeleton conveyed everything Serinu had ordered without omission.
The small demon listened to the skeleton’s words and nodded.
Then it spoke to Repina as if it were no great matter.
“Your turn has now come. Please keep just one thing in mind. You will drink all the potions I gave you and go upstairs, and there will be a being wearing a black mask. Please attack that being.”
What the skeleton had conveyed was that they were to attack the black mask beside the Arch Lich as well as the Arch Lich.
However, from the small demon’s perspective, if it told Repina’s side to attack two opponents at once, the burden on them would be far too great.
The small demon had lived for a long time serving Serinu.
And it realized that Serinu was currently more focused on the black mask than on the Arch Lich.
That was why it said only that.
“I will give you five minutes to prepare.”
The small demon said so and handed over a key.
It was the key to the chains restraining Repina and her companions’ hands and feet.
* * *
Coming to this auction had truly been an excellent choice.
‘To think I could sweep up monsters with this number of gems…’
Drawing ten monsters through gacha required a whopping five thousand gems.
They called it gacha.
But in reality, most of them were one-star monsters.
Buying ten one-star monsters for five thousand gems?
It was truly the worst cost-effectiveness.
But this auction house was different.
For only a few hundred gems at most, several monsters had fallen into my hands.
‘I should take the gargoyle I picked up this time back to Earth.’
When I first saw the gargoyle, I had not intended to bid, but I changed my mind after hearing the host’s words.
‘To think gargoyles had such a trait.’
The gargoyles discovered on Earth were all F-rank monsters.
But apparently, the more powerful mana was infused into them, the stronger gargoyles became.
It was a fact unknown even among hunters.
The moment I heard that, I quietly gave the Arch Lich an order.
—We bid this time too.
The Arch Lich handled the proxy bidding well according to my command.
Thanks to that, all the monsters that appeared in the slave auction ended up in my hands.
‘I hope auctions open often from now on.’
I meant that sincerely.
Among all the content I had experienced so far, this was my favorite.
What slave would appear next?
I waited with a pounding heart, but then—
“Now, esteemed participants of the auction! The next goods are a group of humans!”
At the host’s words, the mood went cold at once.
“Let’s not bid on that one.”
When I whispered to the Arch Lich, it nodded as well.
The group of humans belonged to the Church: two priests and seven paladin trainees.
There was no need to bid on guys who weren’t even full-fledged paladins, and the priests didn’t look particularly useful either.
‘Right, monopolizing everything too much isn’t good.’
As it was, I was already sweeping through the auction house.
Thanks to that, the other monsters were watching me and the Arch Lich with displeased expressions.
This time, intending to yield the merchandise to others, I quietly looked at the stage.
A moment later, members of the Church appeared on the stage.
There were exactly nine of them, and at a glance, it was easy to tell who was a priest and who was a paladin trainee.
One female priest and one male priest, huh.
“Tch.”
The moment I saw the priests, I clicked my tongue without realizing it.
There were only two priests, and one of them didn’t look to be in very good condition.
Their body was wrapped in bandages.
“Now then! Who will be taking all of them home?! Wouldn’t it feel refreshing to vent the anger you’ve harbored toward the Church on them? Haha!”
As the host spoke, he turned his head toward me.
It felt as if he was looking right at me.
‘What?’
And then it happened all at once.
““Huh?””
The monsters around us began to scream.
The priests and paladin trainees on the stage had suddenly kicked off from their spots and charged out.
The problem was—
“!”
They were coming straight at me.
They had no weapons, but a faint light shimmered around their clenched fists.
I knew what that power was without even thinking.
‘Divine power…!’
Why were they suddenly attacking me?
And why had the chains the slaves were wearing come undone so easily?
“Fuck!”
There was no time to think.
I had to stop the ones charging at me right now.
If there was one fortunate thing, it was that some of the paladin trainees were blocked by the monsters nearby.
But more pressing than that was the female priest, who was still rushing toward me with fierce momentum.
I immediately raised my hand and activated a skill.
It was the skill I had obtained last time, Holy Shield.
Though it was only a C-rank skill, it was said to be a shield made based on the goddess’s blessing and holy power.
But this was my first time using it.
I needed a brief moment.
“Cover me!”
At my words, the Arch Lich immediately snapped his fingers.
Then one of the skeletons beside the Arch Lich exploded on the spot.
“?!”
Startled by the sudden explosion, they flinched where they stood.
‘Now.’
In the moment my attackers hesitated—
“Holy Shield!”
Divine power gathered in my hand, and a shield-shaped barrier spread out.
The vast Holy Shield flashed like light, brightly illuminating the surroundings.
At the same time, it collided with the fist of the female priest, who had somehow already reached me.
Boom—
Her attack and the Holy Shield I had deployed clashed with a thunderous roar.
The collision sent out a wave like thunder and lightning meeting, releasing a massive burst of light.
Unlike the aftermath spreading around us, I was completely fine.
The same was true for my opponent.
‘Is it because the same attribute collided with itself?’
Normally, even when the same attributes collided, it would be natural for there to be some kind of effect.
But the source of power right now was divine power.
Perhaps this current situation was also due to the special nature of divine power.
I simply accepted it calmly.
But the female priest seemed quite shocked.
Looking at me with a horrified expression, she even stammered as she spoke.
“W-why do y-you have the goddess’s power…!”