novel
| ← Ch.084 | Ch.086 → |
~b~~u~Translator:Jen~/u~~/b~
~b~~u~Editor: ZerothDeuce~/u~~/b~
The history of Mammon's Arena was over1, 000 years old.
During that time, many owners hadchallenged the Arena and Gusion had watched all of them.
"Yeah, they didn't seem to have thatmuch trouble completing that floor..."
Gusion mumbled. He placed his hand onhis chin and rolled his tongue in his mouth.
Truthfully, there weren't a lot ofowners like Kaiwan that struggled on the first floor and then somehow managedto complete the first floor.
It took a really long time for theHouse of Mammon to fall.
During the King of Greed's reign, theHouse of Mammon was strong, so "fall" was the best way to describe it. Thehouse had failed when the previous two owners were ruling the House of Mamon.
Objectively speaking, the owners of theHouse of Mammon were pretty powerful figures.
In the demon world, when a house haspower, it meant that they had a powerful dungeon and owner.
That's why, excluding Kaiwan whochallenged recklessly, owners usually started feeling frustrated on the fifthor seventh floor.
'But even if I take that intoconsideration. '
Gusion was looking at Yong-Ho, who wasstanding in the center of the stadium by himself. He was consuming Mammon'smana with his eyes closed.
Yong-Ho beat the second floor FloorMaster with one blow. He must've had experience fighting it before because thefight ended a lot cleaner than when Yong-Ho was fighting the Steel Ox.
'Of course being able to control Aamonis cheating... '
There were a lot of owners thatsucceeded thanks to their equipment. In that sense, Yong-Ho wasn't anythingspecial since Aamon was helping him based on his skill level.
'He's good. He's courageous too. '
His fighting senses were good. He usedboth fire and coldness really well and when his opponent charged, he didn'tclose his eyes or flinch.
A warm smile appeared on Gusion's face. Yong-Ho was the first one after Mammon to have the ability to naturallycontrol the Power of Greed and this made Gusion quite happy.
While Gusion was judging Yong-Ho, Yong-Ho was slowly catching his breath. While he was consuming the mana, he hada similar, but different thought from Gusion.
'I was lucky. '
The Floor Master of the second floorwas the fiery figure.
He fought against the fiery figure whenthe distortion appeared, so Yong-Ho had used the same method and was thus ableto beat the Floor Master with ease.
The Floor Master was definitely strongerthan the figure that jumped out of the distortion. But Yong-Ho has grown a lotstronger since then.
'Is her strategy useless?'
Kaiwan was extremely detailed. In herjournal, she wrote all the Floor Masters that she encountered along with theirinformation and attack strategies. It wasn't for her. She made it for her youngerbrother, who will someday become a competitor after completely recovering fromthe sickness.
Unfortunately, things didn't work outlike she had written in the journal. He made that assumption when the FloorMaster of the first floor was different, but the Floor Master of the secondfloor was different as well. It seemed like spirits with similar levels wererandomly placed as the opponent.
Anyways, it was an easy win. Yong-Hogladly consumed Mammon's mana and looked at Gusion. Yong-Ho was urging him andafter Gusion smirked, he stood up and immediately approached Yong-Ho. He wavedhis finger while grumbling and three boxes of light appeared in front ofYong-Ho.
"Okay, choo..."
"This one."
Just like before, Yong-Ho picked a boxbefore Gusion finished his sentence.
Gusion grumbled again.
"Hey, owner. Why do you think there areseveral boxes?"
"I don't know. I'm not interested."
According to Kaiwan's journal, thequality of the rewards inside the boxes weren't equal. When she was lucky, shewould continuously get good gear, but when she was unlucky, she would eitherget a small amount of gold or useless items.
But that didn't apply to Yong-Ho. Greedhelped him choose the best one.
"You have a talent for picking."
When Gusion grumbled again, Yong-Hoimmediately felt quite satisfied.
He tapped the box of light with asatisfied smile and grabbed the item that was inside it.
"Glove?"
"It's a magical glove. It can alsogrow. It's only the second floor and you managed to pick the best one. If youpicked it just based on your instincts, then..."
"Is it like an armor?"
Yong-Ho naturally interrupted Gusion. Gusion explained with a frown on his face.
"Wear it. It can be used as an armorand as a weapon. I happen to have a similar item, so I'll show you ademonstration."
Gusion took off the white suit jacketand gave it to the male wearing the beast mask. The silver glove couldn'texactly be called a gauntlet, but Yong-Ho wore it on his left hand.
"When you pour your mana into it, it'llreact. The final form of a magical glove is different for each one, but... thisis what it generally looks like."
Gusion released his mana. It wasn't thesame as the time when he tried to oppress Yong-Ho. The mana remained on both ofGusion's fists.
The red metal covered both of Gusion'sarms and shoulders. Even though it was made out of metal, it was different fromordinary armour. His muscles looked like they were made out of metal. His handswere almost two times bigger and he spoke while clenching and unclenching hisfists.
"A growing magical glove. Horus, theDivine Punisher, was one of Mammon's spirits and he made it. The magical glovegrows when the owner grows, just like when the spirits grow when the ownergrows."
Yong-Ho understood what he meant whenhe said it could be used as an armor and a weapon. Yong-Ho poured his mana intothe glove.
The glove looked like it was made outof thin chains and on top of it, there were silver plates. The glove coveredhis wrist and since the metal covered his fingers and the back of his hand, itfelt firm and gave a combative-like feeling.
'It's light. '
He could barely feel the weight. Thesharp feeling that he got made it seem like the glove was part of his skin.
Yong-Ho looked at the glove with aserious expression and Gusion spoke while looking at Yong-Ho with a satisfiedexpression.
"You completed the second floor withoutany issues. How about it? Want to try the third floor? The punishmentis... looking at your most disgraceful memory. I think it's safe to say thatthis isn't really a punishment."
Yong-Ho imagined Mammon having a goodtime while watching his descendant's most disgraceful moment. He didn't knowwhy they even made a punishment like that, but his life wasn't on the line. Like Gusion had stated, this couldn't really be considered a punishment.
Yong-Ho looked at Catalina, who wasstanding within the crowd. Since she was an Elf, she had good hearing, so shemust've heard what they were talking about because her expression was tellinghim something.
'Sorry. '
He was greedy. Since it was differentfrom when he completed the first floor, Yong-Ho nodded his head.
"Sure. But, can I take a break?"
"Of course. Should I get you a waitingroom?"
Gusion gladly agreed. Yong-Ho noddedsince it would be best to get as much rest as possible. He waved his hand andsignaled Catalina to come.
And within that short moment.
Yong-Ho looked at the group that wassitting on one section of the seats and then looked back at Gusion. Hehesitated for a moment and then asked.
"Can I ask a question?"
"I'm only going to accept one question, like you have stated."
Gusion looked as if he wanted to getrevenge on Yong-Ho for being so blunt. Because they were constantly quarrelinglike this, the oppression and fear Yong-Ho felt disappeared.
Yong-Ho looked at the audience again. Gusion looked at Yong-Ho and recalled the information about Kaiwan.
How many level did Kaiwan complete?
Are those people in the audience formerowners of the House of Mammon?
Those were some of the questions he wasexpecting.
Which one was Yong-Ho going to ask?
Yong-Ho turned around again. Gusion, who was quick-tempered, prepared the answers and waited for Yong-Ho.
Yong-Ho opened his mouth. The answersin Gusion's head got erased immediately.
"Gusion, do you know a woman namedSitri?"
Gusion couldn't answer right away. Itwas totally different from what he had experienced before and after putting ona fierce smile, Gusion spoke.
He answered Yong-Ho's question.
***
The Free City can be divided into threebig powers.
Ophelia was the owner of the pub andalso the head of courtesans, gamblers and wanderers.
Run away spirits and mercenary soldierswere part of the outlaw group.
While the workers' guild was made up ofpeople that produced and worked in the manufacturing industry in the Free City.
The three groups wasn't hostile towardseach other and instead of creating unnecessary fights, the leaders would oftencome together and negotiate.
Of course it wasn't like that in thebeginning.
This was possible because the threegroups had an equal amount of power in the Free city. And this balance didn'tjust happen. This was the result after many struggles and protests.
The three leaders were gathered at thetop of the gate.
It's been about 10 years since thethree leaders gathered together in an open area.
Mad Oros, the leader of the workers'guild, had hands that were bigger than an Ogre's and had a big cigarette in hismouth while displaying a frown. He had blue skin and was wearing a white gownthat had energy marks all over it.
He was a doctor as well as a pharmacistand was the best alchemist in the city.
But that doesn't erase the fact that hewas a Troll. He cut more flesh with the scimitar that was on his waist than witha mes.
Next to Oros was Dargon, the leader ofthe outlaws. He was wearing a black, magical armor and was considered a veryrare type of Ogre since he was an Ogre Mage.
Since he was a magician, he was a lotsmarter than ordinary Ogres, but just like Oros, he didn't forget about hisrace. Instead of using spells to blow up the enemy, Dargon enjoyed beating theenemies with his mace.
The two males looked like they wouldreek of blood and between them, a slender, beautiful woman was standing crookedly.
It was Ophelia, the female owner of thepub.
"He's making us wait."
Dargon growled while looking below thegate. Ophelia frowned when she felt the hot wind blow through her hair and thenshe swung her tail violently as if to express her discomfort.
"He's the only one that answered ourcall. And it's not that he's making us wait... it's just that we're impatient."
Agares would soon attack.
Mad Oros and Dargon had a fixedfighting style, but they weren't used to attacks that came from outside of thecity.
Lack of experience was usually pairedup with fear. On top of that, Agares had already shown many times just howstrong and brutal he was.
Oros and Dargon were nervous. They werescared and they couldn't hide their impatient personality.
It's because they had gathered on topof the gate way earlier than they had originally planned.
Instead of expressing his nervousnesslike Dargon, Oros kept on smoking.
He didn't like this situation.
The owner of the House of Mammon wasunknown.
According to Ophelia's report, he didkill Foras and Jungceros.
They knew that the owner was a lotstronger than them.
But they didn't know how much stronger.
Foras and Jungceros? Oros and Dargon werestrong enough to fight against them.
If the city's leaders increased fromthree to four, it would be a very significant thing.
But that wasn't enough. Agares wasliterally eating the owners in the eastern region and in order to stop him, they needed more.
Oros thought a lot more than Dargon. The owner of the House of Mammon had to be strong, but if he was too strong, then that would be a problem. It was like calling for a tiger to chase away awolf.
He was done with his third cigarette. Oros took out his fourth one and Dargon had a bigger frown. Ophelia, whostanding between them, was slowly swinging her tail while having her armscrossed. While she was trying to hide her nervousness, she spoke.
"He's coming."
Ophelia pointed far away. Oros and Dargonquickly looked at the place that Ophelia's finger was pointing at.
Six large horses were running towardsthe Free City. In front of the horses, there was a black vehicle that wascovered in green smoke.
"Undead?"
While Oros tilted his head withoutknowing, the horses were still running and getting closer and closer to thecity.
A group of Skeletons were sitting ontop of the vehicle.
But their outer appearance weredifferent from ordinary Skeletons. They were wearing black armor and releasedan usual energy. They couldn't be compared to the few Skeletons that were inthe Free City.
Everyone had their eyes fixed onNightmare as it was now taking the lead.
The five horses that were followingbehind Nightmare could be considered evil spirits, but one could questionwhether Nightmare could be called a horse.
Nightmare's black hair absorbed thelight and the green smoke that was around its body suppressed the areas nearit.
And the one that was riding on top ofNightmare.
The figure was the same, yet differentfrom the five that were behind them. A red cloak was attached on the back ofthe black armor and was blowing in the wind. The figure was holding a warhammer and it released a blue lightning bolt.
"Skullllll!"
The Skeleton taking the lead roared. Noone would believe that the roar belonged to a Skeleton because the roar was soloud that it even shook the ground.
The Skeleton didn't stop there. TheSkeleton swung his war hammer and raised it towards the sky. The concentratedlighting bolt was released into the sky, causing sounds of thunder to fill thesky.
They naturally looked up. The threerulers as well as the people that were on top of the gate looked up as the skywas filled with light and the sound of lightning. And something a lot moreintense than lightning was in the sky.
A fiery sky tore the the originalsky apart. The demon world's sky was filled with different colors and this helpedconfirm the owner's existence.
"Fire Dragon?!"
No. It was too small. But the fire thatsplit the sky was strong enough to remind people of a Fire Dragon.
"Get down!"
Someone yelled. Within seconds, the redflames were right above the gate and it turned into green waves of fire. Thatblocked everyone's views. Oros and Dargon took a step back and quicklyprotected their heads.
The fire disappeared. The wave of firedidn't hurt anyone that was on top of the gate. Salami flew through the wavesof fire using its fiery wings and landed. On top of Salami was a man holding ared lance and a female Dark Elf with white hair.
"My name is Chun Yong-Ho and I'm theowner of the House of Mammon."
Yong-Ho got everyone's attention andOros and Dargon felt suppressed after what they saw, causing them to gulp withoutnoticing.
Ophelia looked at Yong-Ho and shescrunched up her face to hold in her laughter.
***
"First, I'll say that you... displayed asuccessful show."
Ophelia's bar was located at the topfloor of the pub.
Ophelia was behind the bar, just likethe first time they met, and she spoke with a slightly mischievous face. Yong-Ho sat between Catalina and Skull and shrugged his shoulders.
"You think so too, right?"
Making a good first impression wasimportant.
The reason why Oros and Dargon extendedtheir hands out to him was simple. They wanted to "use" Yong-Ho.
There was no reason to actunsophisticated in front of them. There was a need to leave a strong impressionthough.
It wasn't easy. They probably won'tfall that easily.
Ophelia knew Yong-Ho's intentions. That's why she answered seriously.
"Oros and Dargon aren't naive. They mayhave been surprised during that moment, but they're just trying to test thewaters."
Agares wasn't going to retreat afterseeing some fire show in the sky.
In order to kill the opponent, theyneeded to use an actual sharp knife and not a wedding knife that was used fordecorations.
It wasn't completely ineffective. Thefact that Yong-Ho left a strong impression on the two rulers as well as thosethat were part of the groups was important.
Yong-Ho and Ophelia knew even if no onementioned it, so after exchanging a few glances with each other, theyintentionally kept quiet about it.
Yong-Ho grabbed the glass cup thatOphelia handed and asked.
"Anyways... was it because of that thatthe meeting was pushed back?"
Yong-Ho assumed he would be in achaotic meeting with the rulers, but that wasn't the case. After Oros andDargon briefly introduced themselves, they returned to their house and pushed themeeting back.
Ophelia, who was officially in chargeof taking care of Yong-Ho, shrugged.
"That's not really the reason... theyneed to have an idea who you are as well. It's my job to help the new ownerslightly open up through banquets."
"Ban... quets?"
Yong-Ho looked around as he said it. There was nothing here that was related to that.
Well, of course Ophelia was beautiful, but if this was considered a banquet, then it was quite a bland one and Opheliaprobably wasn't referring to this as the banquet.
"Oh my, so you really want me toprepare one for you? Shall I call the girls?"
Ophelia asked with a smile on her faceand Yong-Ho just waved his hand.
"Well, it's good that it's just us. Wecan continue with the work that we've been pushing back."
Ophelia's eyes widened when she heardYong-Ho's answer.
Work that's been pushed back?
Skull laughed as usual and Catalinastepped back while pouting.
Ophelia blinked her eyes again and cameto a realization after tilting her head several times. She jumped over the barhappily and stood in front of Yong-Ho.
"Let's start the registration."
Yong-Ho spoke. Ophelia happily showedher respect.
~u~~/u~
| ← Ch. 084 | Ch. 086 → |