The next item on auction were personnel belonging to the Church cult.
Regardless of their affiliation, this was the Underworld Merchant Guild.
It didn’t matter which group the enslaved goods belonged to.
There was no special treatment for priests. Just like other slaves, their hands and feet were bound with iron chains.
That was how it should have normally been.
But then, an anomaly occurred.
The iron chains that bound them were broken with surprising ease.
Suddenly freed, what choices did they have?
Naturally, they kicked off their spots and ran.
“…?”
The problem was that such actions were not an attempt to escape.
As if by agreement, they all began to rush towards me.
Each held Holy Power in their hands, a clear intent to attack.
Why this happened, and why they were attacking me, were questions for later.
I immediately activated my skills to counter their attacks.
“Divine Shield!”
A shield of light materialized in my hand.
The shining barrier of Holy Power blocked the priest’s attack.
*Clang*
“Wh-why, you possess the Goddess’s power…!”
The priest was astonished as her attack was blocked.
She even stammered, so flustered was she.
No, she seemed more shocked that I was using a skill of the Church than by her attack being blocked.
‘Does she recognize the Church’s power?’
After all, the ‘Divine Shield’ I just used is a Church skill.
It was actually an ability gained from a Paladin belonging to the Church who was offered as a sacrifice.
It wasn’t strange for a priest, a member of the same Church as a Paladin, to recognize it.
However, another question arose here.
For one thing, I am not a follower of the Church.
When I was first summoned to the El Dorado Continent, I received basic training from the White Church, but that was all.
There was bound to be a difference compared to those who had committed themselves to the Church from the start.
In the first place, I was an outsider to them.
Furthermore, as an Earthling, I had no faith in the Goddess here.
Moreover, without a Status Window, I couldn’t even possess Holy Power, let alone Church skills or traits.
So what about my current strength?
It was simply using the abilities gained from the sacrificed targets as they were.
‘Even if the caster of the skill is different, is the source of power the same?’
Otherwise, the other party wouldn’t have called it the Goddess’s power upon seeing my skill.
‘Then Maru’s case also makes sense.’
Maru became a Skeleton Paladin by combining it with the ‘Faith of the Goddess’ trait.
A Skeleton is an Undead Monster.
Despite being an Undead Monster with an attribute opposite to Holy Power, it possessed Holy Power, a special case.
In addition, the Paladins who had been hostile to Maru began to follow him.
Then another question arises here.
Maru, being Undead, accepted Holy Power, a conflicting attribute.
Then, does the opposite also hold true?
‘What happens if a member of the Church gains the power of Darkness?’
It doesn’t have to be the power of Darkness.
What if they gain the power of beings that the Church denies?
In fact, the El Dorado Continent has various religions, much like Earth.
Besides the White Church, there are various gods that people believe in.
However, on the continent, the power of the White Church was absolute.
The White Church denied the very existence of gods other than the Goddess they served.
That was the first thing I learned from the Church.
However, the continent is vast.
There were many organizations somewhere that worshipped their own gods.
Of course, the Church designated them as heretics and was the first to suppress them.
Warlocks were an example.
Warlocks worshipped a Demon God, not the Goddess, and as a result, their influence has greatly dwindled.
“Hmm…”
Is the Warlock story too extreme?
In any case, what would happen if Church members, unlike Maru and me, gained other powers?
Would conflicting powers like Maru’s and mine coexist?
Or would they lose their original power for worshipping a god other than the Goddess?
‘I am curious.’
It can be said that the Hunters currently on Earth are assisted by a system called the Status Window.
I am the same.
Similarly, members of the White Church believe they receive power from the Goddess.
Let’s assume it’s true that they receive power from the Goddess.
What happens then if they betray the Goddess?
‘It would be worth investigating.’
After all, where is the true source of my current power?
Perhaps I could get closer to the answer to that question.
However, perhaps by my silent contemplation, the priest who attacked me spoke again.
“As expected, you cannot give any answer. You apostate who abandoned the Church…”
“?”
What is this nonsense? An apostate?
“No, I-”
Just as I was about to speak.
“Ugh!”
A groan came from behind.
The Guild’s guards, who had appeared out of nowhere, had ended the situation.
All the Paladin trainees had their heads severed.
A clean death, by all appearances.
Now, only two members of the cult remained.
One female priest in front of me, and one priest collapsed on the floor.
The one who collapsed on the floor was never in good physical condition to begin with.
They might have been lucky until now, but it was only a matter of time.
The Guild’s guards were gradually advancing towards the priest.
However, I felt something strange about their actions.
‘Heh, look at these bastards?’
This is an incident that happened during an auction.
How could the slaves be managed in such a way that this chaos occurred?
Moreover, this was a place where other people besides me were present.
Even if it was insufficient to investigate why such an incident occurred, they seemed to be trying to eliminate the evidence themselves.
The sudden rush of the cult members towards us was strange, but the Guild’s response was even stranger.
“Arch Lich, bring the priest who has collapsed on the floor.”
At my command, the Arch Lich immediately grabbed another Skeleton next to him.
Putting the gripped Skeleton forward, he sent it towards the guards.
The guards, who had just witnessed the Skeleton’s explosion, stopped in their tracks as the Arch Lich stepped forward.
The fear of being caught in the explosion stopped their advance.
In this standoff, the Arch Lich, holding the trembling Skeleton, grabbed the priest collapsed on the floor.
‘Indeed, she seems to be in bad shape.’
She was already wrapped in bandages when she climbed onto the stage.
It seems she overexerted herself and collapsed on the floor while in poor condition.
Fortunately, she didn’t meet her death immediately like the others.
Anyway, while the Arch Lich bought time, I also pulled the hand of the priest in front of me.
Then, I whispered to her.
“Stay still if you don’t want to die here.”
Saying that, I used a skill on the other priest brought by the Arch Lich.
‘Goddess’s Heal.’
Due to my Holy Power rank, although it was an E-rank skill, the effect of ‘Goddess’s Heal’ was tremendous.
This time, light spread from my hand.
However, it was different from the ‘Divine Shield’ skill from before.
An incredibly radiant light illuminated this place.
It felt full of vitality.
Most importantly, the face of the priest, who was covered in bandages, relaxed.
The abrasions on his face and arms slowly disappeared, and the wounds on his body began to heal slightly.
Of course, complete healing was impossible due to the low rank, but it was much better than before.
As I healed the priest with the skill, she who had attacked me looked at me with surprised eyes.
“Um… who in the world are you…?”
Perhaps realizing that I was not a dangerous being, she seemed to have something she wanted to say.
“They attacked first-”
But now was not the time to listen to her.
I covered her mouth.
Staying still right now was helping me.
As I calmly managed her, I glanced around, and one being revealed itself.
“Haha, I am Serinu, who is managing this banquet.”
Has the person in charge finally appeared?
“All that happened was my oversight. I promise a thorough investigation and compensation in the name of the Guild.”
I simply stared at her expressionlessly.
‘How brazen.’
It was something everyone could deduce without her saying it.
So compensation was natural.
After all, thanks to whom did this situation not escalate further?
Even if the manager introducing herself as Serinu offered compensation, demanding too much would have the opposite effect.
As the saying goes, even a cornered rat will bite a cat.
‘Let’s just demand moderately. Moderately.’
At least, for now, I intended to probe moderately.
From another perspective, we and my subordinates were practically trapped here.
Once we got out of here, it would be a matter of formally raising an objection through Celia.
‘I’m going to get busier.’
Thinking that far, I opened my mouth towards Serinu.
***
Serinu, who had been watching the situation from above, moved quickly.
The situation was unfolding completely differently from what I had envisioned.
“……”
Where did it go wrong?
Initially, I just intended to strike back at them.
I had envisioned a scenario where the slaves would attack them, and the Guild would immediately intervene.
Under normal circumstances, all the slaves should have died and disappeared.
Then, the evidence would disappear, I would show the Guild’s power, and I would be able to take the initiative.
But reality was different.
The black mask blocked the priest’s attack too easily.
Even though those slaves had taken potions that significantly boosted their Holy Power.
At least I expected the opponent to be somewhat flustered…
As a result, there was a problem with the Guild guards’ response as well.
They were supposed to kill the slaves quickly, but they were flustered by the black mask’s power.
Ultimately, such variables accumulated and led to the current outcome.
“Huh, I didn’t know there was a type of power I didn’t know about…”
The Guild possesses diverse information.
Even Serinu, who belonged to such a Guild, had never seen a type of power like the black mask’s before.
‘It’s like the White Church’s power, yet different…’
On the surface, it seemed like the holiness of the Church.
But I didn’t feel it was completely the same.
For some reason, I felt that way.
The more frightening fact was that I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what that power was.
It felt like facing an unknown entity.
How could they possess such power?
Where did such a powerful being appear from?
At least, I could ascertain one fact from the recent incident.
‘The Arch Lich obeys the command of the black mask.’
Is the owner of the dungeon actually the black mask, not the Arch Lich?
Or perhaps the Arch Lich was included in the black mask’s forces.
But either way, the Guild was bound to change after this incident.
Through this banquet, I confirmed that there was a serious loophole in the Guild’s information network.
Serinu pondered and headed downwards.
In any case, it was necessary for her to step forward and sort out the current situation.
“Haha, I am Serinu, who is managing this banquet.”
Serinu, with a forced smile, stood before the black mask.
“All that happened was my oversight. I promise a thorough investigation and compensation in the name of the Guild.”
Serinu bowed her head, eyeing the opponent.
After all, since the opponent wore a black mask, her expression couldn’t be read.
She would normally have been assertive, but the opponent’s aura was too ominous.
Even now, the momentum she exuded was not trivial.
Moreover, hadn’t she just witnessed it herself?
The power of that black mask.
Her identity, her power, everything was unknowable.
In such situations, it was right to be deferential until the opponent was understood.
However, it was important to gather information at the same time.
“I sincerely apologize with a contrite heart. How would you like your compensation to be delivered later?”
Compensation for this incident.
Depending on where the compensation was delivered, she hoped to gain insight into the relationship between the Arch Lich and the black mask.
Serinu waited for the opponent’s reply with her head bowed.
A moment of silence passed, and finally, the black mask’s mouth opened.
“Make the compensation these.”
The black mask pointed to the items for compensation with her hand.
Of course, Serinu immediately focused on the opponent’s hand, but since she was wearing black gloves, her race couldn’t be identified.
‘Thorough.’
A truly thorough existence.
At best, she had to be satisfied with the voice she heard for the first time.
The black mask’s voice was close to that of a young man.
However, a voice alone could not confirm the opponent’s existence.
In fact, considering the Vampire Baalcherit, she had a youthful voice but was an ancient being.
Having no choice, Serinu checked the targets indicated by the black mask’s hand.
“……”
The beings indicated by the black mask were the priests who had just appeared as goods.
At the same time.
“…An Elf, you say.”
The Elf bound on stage was also included in the black mask’s targets.
Serinu’s expression darkened.
It was understandable that she wanted the priest who attacked her.
However, for Serinu, she couldn’t hand over the priests that the black mask wanted.
In the first place, she had orchestrated the current situation using the priests.
‘I should have killed the priests unconditionally earlier…’
Even if it meant handing over the Elf willingly, killing the priests would have been the right thing to do.
What if, unnecessarily, the priests’ mouths opened, and the details of this incident became known?
That would never be a good outcome.
“Haha… I…”
Serinu continued with a obsequious smile.
“Of course, it is our fault, so we will give you the Elf. However, the priests-”
However, Serinu’s words did not finish.
“I know everything. It’s just child’s play.”
The black mask said dismissively.
“Haha… Is that so.”
Serinu sweated profusely, maintaining the brightest smile possible.
The black mask’s ‘I know everything.’ What could this mean?
It was equivalent to saying that they knew that the Guild was behind this incident.
And the confidence to dismiss it as mere child’s play, no matter what the Guild did.
It was not baseless confidence.
Serinu had seen it clearly, so she knew that the black mask’s words were not empty.
It was humiliating, but it was an obvious fault, so she couldn’t help but remain silent.
Nor could she continue to ignore the opponent’s demands.
Now that everything was revealed, it didn’t seem to matter if she handed over the priests.
For now, it was the right course of action to comply with the opponent’s words.
“Understood. I will hand over two priests and the Elf.”
After all, they were priests who were going to be killed anyway.
And even if Elves were rare, they were not a race that the Guild couldn’t obtain if they set their minds to it.
viewed from this perspective, it wouldn’t be a significant loss for the Guild.
“No.”
Huh?
Serinu looked at the black mask with a puzzled expression.
However, an unexpected answer came from the black mask’s mouth.
“Even the items that will be auctioned this time.”
The gesture of the black mask pointing was just the beginning.
“I want everything.”
