## Chapter 153 – 153. Waybell (5)
#153. Waybell (5)
Even though the auction house was directly managed by the lord, the guards’ level wasn’t that high.
In fact, among the guards I faced upstairs, most were only Aura Users, except for one Aura Expert at the intermediate level.
‘They said it was guarded by a force equivalent to a knight order.’
It seems Elmar’s information was wrong.
Of course, if a monster group equivalent to a knight order had really been guarding the auction house, I wouldn’t have been able to save the elves with my current skills.
I once read an article that even ordinary members of European knight orders are at least B-rank.
‘…If there were only one or two A-ranks, I might be able to manage somehow.’
I didn’t want to gamble with my life, so I organized my thoughts and hurried my steps.
After capturing and interrogating a guard, I was able to find the stairs leading down to the auction house’s basement.
The stairs leading to the basement were like a crude cave, hardly resembling the upper floors of the building.
Only the torches installed here and there and the artificial stone steps proved that people had been here.
The basement wasn’t deep.
It felt like after going down about two floors, a corridor appeared. It was like a maze, intertwined with several doors and forks in the road.
Of course, I had no problem finding my way.
All I had to do was follow the traces of magic to where the video was being transmitted.
“There he is! Catch him quickly!”
“What about the upper floors?!”
“Judging by the lack of contact, they must have all been taken down!”
Having heard the commotion upstairs, armed guards popped out from the end of the corridor.
They were all small fry who hadn’t even reached the highest level of Aura User.
If I used magic, I could wipe them out in an instant, but if I used magic in this narrow corridor, the corridor might collapse.
For now, the best option was to cut them down one by one with my sword.
I kicked off the ground and ran forward.
Musang Geumganggyeol (無相金剛訣) Musangbo (無相步).
Easily dodging the spear tips that were simultaneously reaching towards me, I steadily cut off their heads one by one.
Musangbo (無相步), the footwork of Musang Geumganggyeol, is said to allow one to avoid all attacks directed at them upon reaching mastery, and to transcend the world’s interference upon reaching the ultimate level.
At my current level of 2-star, even imagining it is overwhelming, but dodging the multiple spear tips pouring towards me was simple.
It was a strange sensation.
Not only was I dodging the enemy’s attacks with minimal movement, but I was also steadily advancing forward.
“Ugh! Just take a hit!”
“Assassin! He’s an assassin!”
“What kind of assassin attacks head-on like that?!”
Witnessing their comrades’ heads being severed in real-time, the guards were panic-stricken, throwing their spears and trying to escape.
Of course, there were a few guards who remained to check me, but they were a minority.
As the corridor became stained with blood, there was nothing blocking my path.
‘Magic Detection, Detection.’
I used Magic Detection to sense the life reactions of the surrounding creatures, and Detection to grasp the structure of the corridor and beyond the doors.
Most of them were rooms where slaves were imprisoned or where something of unknown origin was stored.
‘It doesn’t seem like the elves are here.’
Well, I didn’t think they would have kept the elves, who were today’s highlight, in a place like this. They probably kept them near the chairman, as I saw in the video.
Since my goal today wasn’t something grand like freeing all the slaves here, I ignored those trapped in the rooms and moved forward.
After all, even if I saved them in a situation where there was no solution, there was no guarantee that a better future awaited them.
I’m not a hero who saves everyone out of goodwill in the first place.
If Iris and the World Tree hadn’t made the offer, I wouldn’t have tried to save Pelledia, and I wouldn’t be infiltrating the auction house to save the elves now.
‘Is it there?’
After quickly traversing the corridor and chasing the traces of magic for about 3 minutes, a spacious area, quite different from what I had seen so far, was detected.
Thump, I kicked off the floor and increased my speed.
With bright lights, the corridor ended and a wide space appeared.
A neatly dressed gentleman, whom I had seen on the screen, was standing on the stage.
The auction was temporarily suspended, and the stage was filled with armed guards.
I wondered why no one was visible except when I first came down to the basement, but it seemed they had gathered all the remaining forces here.
There were about 50 of them, but none of them were skilled enough to reach the intermediate level of Aura User.
Rather, most of them were ordinary people who hadn’t even reached the realm of Aura User.
“Guest.”
The gentleman who seemed to be the representative spoke to me.
“This is a message from the lord. If there is anything you desire, we will fulfill it as much as possible. So, let’s end this here.”
“Does your fancy monocle still see me as a guest?”
“…This is troublesome.”
As the sword tip pointed towards him, the gentleman sighed and took off his top hat.
“The damage caused by this incident is enormous. So, for the sake of at least venting our anger and the lord’s honor, you must die here.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the guards rushed towards me.
There were many of them, but there was no need to avoid the spears and swords wielded by ordinary people.
But since my clothes would be torn anyway, I lightly dodged and cut off their heads one by one.
‘…What is this?’
While wielding my sword and continuing the one-sided massacre, I felt a strange sense of incongruity.
Clearly, most of them were ordinary people, and even those who occasionally wielded magic were only D-rank or below.
Of course, martial prowess and mental strength are separate matters, but the fact that none of them felt fear in the face of their comrades’ heads being helplessly severed was a clear anomaly.
Rather, they were busy burning with fighting spirit and rushing at me.
Focusing my mind on that abnormal sight, I drew up my magic power. Then, something I hadn’t seen before began to appear.
A thin line was connected to the crown of the guards’ heads.
It didn’t take long to realize that it was magic power.
“…Black magic?”
“You’re knowledgeable.”
A smile appeared on the gentleman’s lips.
Black magic, magic that uses black magic power as a medium, is one of the Magic Tower’s top-secret arts that employs a completely different mechanism from existing magic.
“I never thought I’d meet a black magician in a place like this.”
“I also never thought I’d have to use the black magic power I’ve been gathering.”
Unlike magic power that is recovered through meditation, the source of black magic power is human negative emotions and human sacrifice.
‘I don’t know if black magic is a forbidden art in this world either.’
At least, I knew why the Magic Tower hated and ostracized black magicians.
The black magic power I felt on my skin made me feel sick. Something inside me was rejecting the existence of the black magician.
“That sticky murderous intent, you’re a magician after all.”
“Why do you think so?”
“Only a magician or a priest would react like that to a black magician.”
As the gentleman gestured, the guards surrounding me rushed at me all at once. But their movements were quite different from before.
They had formed a proper formation and were covering each other’s weaknesses.
But it wasn’t something to worry about.
It would only take 1 minute to break through the formation and cut off all the guards’ heads.
No, it took 1 minute.
It was because even those who were ordinary people until just now had begun to wield magic power, even if faintly.
“Marionette, my great and beautiful magic that allows me to control others and draw out even some of their potential. By the way, you’re really amazing. For a magician to show such movements in close combat.”
Focusing magic power on my eyes, I could see the thin lines connected to his fingertips.
They were lines connected to the crown of the guards’ heads.
“Magic that controls others… how black magic-like.”
There’s a reason why black magic is designated as a forbidden art.
From the process of obtaining black magic power to black magic itself, it’s extremely unethical.
“Black magic-like… rather, I think it’s really foolish to distinguish between good and evil in magic?”
While the gentleman was rambling leisurely, someone walked out from behind the stage.
It was a muscular man with bronze skin and a slender man.
Both of them were equipped with weapons and were staring at me. The bronze-skinned man had a greatsword, and the slender one had daggers in both hands.
Both of them seemed to have reached a considerable level even among Aura Experts. To be precise, they were a little weaker than the A-rank I fought at the villa last time.
“These were originally products to be sold at this auction. They were also top-notch among the high-quality ones. But in order to stop you, we had no choice but to bear the loss and attribute the slave seals to the lord, forcing them to participate in the battle. Of course, if we can capture you alive, it will more than make up for the loss.”
I gave the smirking gentleman the middle finger and drew up my magic power.
“Try it if you can.”
“…Deal with him. It would be good if you could capture him alive, but you can kill him if you see an opportunity.”
As soon as the gentleman’s order fell, the man with the greatsword kicked off the ground and rushed towards me.
His speed was agile enough to not match his size.
The energy of magic power concentrated around the greatsword was quite fierce.
Blocking that head-on wasn’t a wise choice. I stepped on Musangbo and dodged the attack.
Bang! The greatsword, which had been slammed down with a terrifying speed, created a small crater in the floor.
At this level, he was a top-tier B-rank.
“Hey, isn’t it humiliating to live as a slave? If you want, I’ll kill you, so tell me your weakness.”
“Heh heh, are you telling a warrior of the plains to deliberately lose? Being captured by those despicable empire bastards and sold as a slave was already humiliating enough, but I’ll bet my remaining honor and cut off your snake-like tongue.”
“Tsk.”
My fate is always like this, there’s no easy way.
Bang, bang, kuung! The greatsword’s heavy continuous attacks poured down without a break. The guy was approaching me with heavy steps that shook the ground.
It wasn’t an ordinary gait. His strong body, filled with magic power, shook the surroundings. Because of that, the footwork of Musangbo kept getting twisted.
In order to avoid the greatsword that was splitting the air, I had no choice but to fly my body to the side.
But it didn’t take long to realize that it was a bad move. The assassin, who had been aiming for that gap, flew in at a tremendous speed from outside the detection range.
The sword energy gleamed from the daggers in both hands.
Having shown a gap to a skilled assassin, it was impossible to get away without injury.
“…Musang Geumganggyeol.”
But it was possible to turn the defensive into an offensive.
Musang Geomgyeol (無相劍訣) Mugung (無窮).
As the Geumganggi that spread in all directions controlled the space, the greatswordsman and the assassin temporarily stopped.
“A cunning sorcerer playing tricks!”
“Kuh?!”
I gave the middle finger to the guys who were trying to cooperate against me and turned my head towards the gentleman.
“You shouldn’t have made this place so wide.”
“What do you mean…”
[Thought Acceleration]
Everything except me slows down.
As the mana circle pulsed violently and spewed out magic power, the activated magic circuit deployed the magic in response.
As the space fluctuated due to the enormous flow of magic power, the magic circle created on the ceiling of the wide hall began to glow red.
[Flare Rain]
Rain began to fall in the hall.
It was a rain of arrows made of crimson flames that would burn everything.
