Chapter 187: Chapter 187
There was no one who could stop the Plague Monarch, the Queen of Insects: Queresha, whose protection she had given to Suho.
[Quay uses 'Debuff: Paralysis Poison'.]
[Quay uses 'Debuff: Sleep Poison'.]
[Quay... ... .]
When Suho made up his mind and started manipulating the match, the match in the underground arena started to flow very biasedly.
"Wait, what!"
"Why is that human suddenly limping?!"
"Hmm. He must have sprained his ankle somewhere. After all, humans are weak."
"?Ah! Why did that human suddenly lose his eye? He was fighting so well!"
"Hmm. He must have had a hard time sleeping last night. After all, humans are weak."
"...?"
"...?"
"Huh. Is this my victory again?"
Swoop.
Suho pulled all the stakes gathered on the table to himself with a really shameless, no, solemn expression. Looking at the Stardust pouches gradually piling up in front of Suho... "Oh, it can't be." The demons who lost the bet had no choice but to look devastated. In this atmosphere, Suho calmly looked at the situation and had a conversation with Esil.
[...Surprisingly, they don't make them fight to the death unlike in the Colosseum. Even a healer is prepared.]
'Of course. If people die here, rumors will spread that hunters keep disappearing in Yangpyeong. Even the black market wouldn't want that.'
[Then what is the real purpose of these guys? Unless they are using the corpses of hunters who died here as ingredients for Stardust...]
'Isn't that what we are trying to find out?'
All the demons here were low-level demons who were much weaker than Suho. Still, there was a reason why Suho didn't kill them right away and took such a cumbersome method. 'Even if I kill a demon, I can't extract their soul.' Against the demons, he couldn't try to talk to their shadow after killing them like in the case of Quay or Harmakhan. So, he had to create an atmosphere where they could freely share information by their own will while keeping them alive as much as possible.
And one more thing here. While the attention of the demons in the black market was increasingly focused on the gambling hall, Beru had been diligently looking around for Sung Il-Hwan.
Although he would sometimes...
"Uh? Where did the magic stone that was here go?"
"Ah, there's a thief!" – By avoiding people's eyes, he would sometimes steal and eat the magic stones that were on the stalls one by one.
'Oh, am I gonna get a reaction?' Just as Suho said, Lotto, who was watching the situation, chewed his lips with a complicated expression.
*'How could this happen...'*He couldn't help but be perplexed. Originally, all the hunters who participated in the underground arena fought each other without equipment, and with similar grades and physiques. That's why this game was more fierce than usual, and the game was overturned even by a moment's carelessness or poor physical condition.
But for all the competitors to have such weakened conditions... Isn't this more than coincidental?
'How is it that each of the guys who Lord Vulcan betted against were in such bad shape?' Could this be the keen eye of a real demonic aristocrat? 'No.' This was more than a little–no– this was very suspicious.
"How about you choose a hunter first?"
"..."
"..."
Yes. Vulcan had never chosen his opponent first. Unconditionally, only after all the demons had staked their bets on both sides, did he make the last bet. That's only a reverse bet with a high dividend because the bet is small. It was very shameless, as if he already knew the outcome of this game.
As a result, in front of Suho, there were more than three times as many bags of Stardust piled up than when he first entered this place.
Lotto gnashed his teeth. 'It's clear that you're cheating here... So what is your intention?' From a while ago, Vulcan had been playing tricks very proudly. Honestly, If you rather cheat at least have some losses too so you can keep up the facade! But the problem is...
There was no evidence to incriminate his cheating. In fact, his side was also the one who was cheating as well. However, even though the organizers were determined and kept fixing the match while using the rabid-blood poison, the winner was always the human chosen by Vulcan.
'In addition, people who were poisoned with the rabid-blood poison are already detoxified. I haven't heard any rumors that Vulcan has this ability.'
At this point, he had no choice but to admit it. In the first place, Vulcan had no reason for him to play around with them like this, he could tear them apart and eat them whenever he wanted. Which is what made his intentions even more suspicious.
'No way... Did you come here after already knowing everything?' Lotto's eyes that were set on Vulcan gradually narrowed.
It was a widely known rumor in the demon world that Vulcan was originally an insignificant creature who could not speak. Then, after accidentally picking up a branch from the World Tree and eating it, he suddenly became the ruler of a region and became a demon noble.
That was Vulcan.
However, a half-demon noble who was thought to have died in that war suddenly appeared with the ability to make Bloodstone, and he could even speak?
'...It's not just about having language skills. His intelligence has also improved.'
This demon with such complex thoughts came to this place without hesitation and in an instant led the atmosphere of the gambling hall to his own will.
'Could it be that Vulcan is still evolving?'
'Did he barely survive the war because of the protection of the World Tree?'
'The World Tree that gave birth to the rulers would do it...'
A lot of thoughts were floating around in Lotto's head. At the end of it, Lotto eventually decided to step back.
"Hah. I understand, Lord Vulcan."
"... Hmm?" When Roto suddenly spoke to him, Suho, who was excitedly sweeping up the Stardust, turned to him.
"If you want Bloodstone, you're saying that we should start sharing all the cards we have."
"..." At that, Suho stared at him without a word.
Lotto smiled bitterly as he looked at the Stardust piled up like a mountain in front of Suho. "If you had that thought, you could have told me from the beginning, before trying to play such mischievous pranks on me."
"..."
"A Star Piece. Did you come here because you wanted that from the beginning?"
'?A Star Piece?'
[Star Piece?]
For a moment, a question mark appeared in Suho's mind, but he never showed it. Then Lotto suddenly tore off his jacket and showed Suho the blue jewel implanted in the middle of his chest.
"That's right. As Vulcan predicted, our real trade is these Star Pieces. It is on a different level than the unfinished Stardust."
[So what is a Star Piece?]
'I don't think they'll show it off so arrogantly if it was made by simply hardening the Stardust.'
Answering Esil, Suho kept his expression as nonchalant as possible. Finally, useful information began to emerge. Well, from now on the real deal appeared. Suho opened his mouth in a low voice.
"The Star Piece... Could it be a substitute for a Bloodstone."
"Hoho. Could it be now? I guess you must be curious about the performance of the Star Piece if you said such a thing." Lotto stroked the star fragment transplanted to his chest with an infinitely proud expression. "If you thought our Stardust necklaces spread among humans was the real deal then you are very mistaken. Things like that are just by-products thrown away in the process of refining Star Pieces. Although they are useful in their own way."
'They are useful? Are you saying there are other functions besides them being a black market pass?' Although he was sticking to his laid-back attitude, Suho's head was spinning with many thoughts.
"Of course, we first started researching ways to simply imitate Bloodstone. But then we demons began to grow curious as to what kind of synergy will occur when the god of the outer universe dwells in the blood of a demon."
The magic of a deity from an outer universe. That was the Blue Mist flowing from the gate. The Blue Mist is magic sent from outer space to melt the dimensional walls. In other words, it was the power of the Itarim.
"Well, that sounds interesting." Suho leaned back leisurely again and pointed at the Stardust piled up in front of him with his chin. "Then I'll trade all of these in exchange for a Star Piece."
Hhaha. That seems a bit difficult. No matter how much Stardust you trade, it cannot be compared to the value of a Star Piece. In the first place, the trading units are different."
[Eh, Does he want a transaction?]
Hearing those words, Esil's angry voice came to Suho. Considering this was the attitude of a nobleman, Suho decided to follow Esil's heart.
"... You want a deal. That's quite a funny word." The moment Suho smiled–
[Use 'Skill: Bloodlust.]
Fwoom!
"...Agh, how can it be so powerful?!" Lotto had no choice but to step back with a pale complexion due to the tremendous amount of bloodlust emanating from Suho's entire body. The other demons were also frightened and hurriedly lowered their stance. Another demon had also accidentally fallen flat on the floor and bowed to Suho.
"...Even in this world, there are some things that will never change." Suho slowly got up. Then, with the most nonchalant expression on his face, he slowly approached Lotto. "Nobles don't make any deals. We just give orders."
"..."
*Rub, rub*
Even as Suho touched the Star Piece implanted in Lotto's chest with his hand, he was oppressed by the bloodlust and could not move. It seemed as if he would tear off the Star Piece from his body with his violent hands and chew it up.
But Suho didn't.
If this guy dies, there will be no way for him to find more information.
Suho raised his hand and said. "The reason I am responding to the play you made is just for entertainment. If I was truly hungry..."
Growl~
Just in time, all the demons in the gambling hall were startled by the sound that echoed from Suho's stomach.
'This is a big deal!'
'Vulcan is hungry!'
'I'm going to get eaten... ... !'
The greedy demon Vulcan's eating habits were a tremendous fear to the lower level demons. However, Suho...
'Hmm, come to think of it, I was so busy today that I might have skipped a meal. This wasn't what I intended.' In the midst of Vulcan's method acting, Suho felt a bit embarrassed. But that's how it happened.
*Lick*
It was Suho who licked his mouth.
"...!!" At that moment, Lotto had to fight the survival instinct of wanting to run away from here right away since he was still the manager of the gambling house.
'?No! If Lord Vulcan wanted to eat me, I'd be dead by now! I'm sure he came here because he wanted something...'
Gulp.
'There has to be...' Another mouth-watering Vulcan. 'Does he want to... eat it?' Vulcan, the demon of greed, is a guy who immediately tries to put everything in his mouth as soon as he sees it, no?
"Ah, I see!"
Lotto finally closed his eyes and shouted. As if the Star Piece planted in his chest was his lifeline, he eagerly grabbed it. "Then, how about a duel between the great warriors that have a Star Piece? It will surely be good entertainment!"
"A great warrior duel?"
At those words, Suho's bloodlust instantly disappeared.
"Yes. There are hunters who have been implanted with Star Pieces for experiments! Choose one of them, Lord Vol—."
"Did you mean that even where humans experimented for the usage of Star Pieces?!"
"!!!" At that moment, Suho's angry hand grabbed Lotto's neck. Lotto screamed in surprise as if he had been struck by lightning.
"Ah, most of them are just a waste, but we still gave them one for the study of the Star Pieces! Even the Foreign Religion missionaries agreed!"
Suho rose.
'I found it, these bastards.' At that moment, Suho's eyes flashed.
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