I had old memories. I identified the alignment of Adonis and the other demons. Adonis would respond to my deal so I started to move in order to prepare for him.

The remaining grand dukes. I prepared things that I knew Ariel, Upa and Pandemonium would covet. It didn’t matter if they were good or not. They were things the demons wanted but couldn’t obtain. There were no clues about the items. All of them were from the Achievements Store. To be precise, they were part of the ‘h.e.l.l Monarch’s treasure.’

I didn’t neglect to gather points from achievements. One month later, a message window popped into the air.

Prior to the full auction, individual auctions will be held.

Demons can partic.i.p.ate in the individual auctions. They can place up to 10 goods as auction items. The seller's anonymity is guaranteed.

Unlike the previous auctions, spirits can partic.i.p.ate as buyers of the individual auctions. Fire spirits and water spirits can also partic.i.p.ate in the individual auctions. They can get a certain amount of points through a ‘contract’ and these points can be used to partic.i.p.ate in the auction.

 Fire spirits and water spirits? Didn’t they oppose the dark spirits?

I remembered their actions in the previous Demon World Auction.

Perhaps...something had happened in the meantime.

However, there was a smile on my face.

It was surprising that the other spirits were officially recognized and allowed to partic.i.p.ate in the auction.

'Hooked.’

I was ready to overturn the plate.

The Demon World Auction.

I chose Chrisley to take with me.

She wanted revenge. The object of her revenge was Pandemonium but I selected her to show her off to the other demons.

In her first appearance, Chrisley was sold as an accessory to Krasla. The other demons didn’t care about her.

Now she was better than Krasla. She had phenomenal growth and was now recognized as a high cla.s.s creature.

I wanted to see how they would respond. My emergence together with Chrisley’s growth...my smile couldn’t be erased as I imagined their reactions.

‘Ariel, Upa and Pandemonium! I’m back.’

I was making my debut again at the Demon World Auction.

They were aware that Okullos had broken the taboo and was killed.

However, I became more complete in the Underground World. I had set my feet firmly in the realm of transcendence.

On the other hand, what about them? Was their growth comparable to mine?

I felt a strange antic.i.p.ation as I entered the crack and arrived at a familiar room.

A dark spirit in the form of a gnome was waiting for me.

“Kuhulhul! Randalph-nim. It has been a while.”

The dark spirit that I always saw when travelling to the auction greeted me. It was obvious that he had heard in advance.

It was good. This auction had changed in many ways.

There was a limit to figuring out things on my own. I would be able to get some information from my guide. He was perfect to fulfil my curiosity.

“Have you been well?”

"That's impossible. I felt very sorry when I didn’t see you last year. In fact, I obtained the position of Randalph-nim’s guide after much difficulty...I had a lot of fun.”

The dark spirit sighed. His expression was truly sad.

"I haven’t seen any changes.”

“Kuhulhul! I am telling you now, the compet.i.tion was intense. It is because it is possible for us to raise our ‘standings.’ It is a rule that the guides won’t change if the partic.i.p.ants in the auction don’t die. When the 3rd year pa.s.sed and Randalph-nim continued to show your true worth, a lot of people asked me to change...”

"Then I didn’t appear the next year.”

The dark spirit nodded.

“That’s right. Dubolong couldn’t find you in the ‘system.’ Usually, this only happens when the target is dead. I wa saddened. But then...surely, hyu~”

His face was like a girl who had fallen in love.

"I have no regrets about not swapping Randalph-nim. Kuhulhul! Would you like a succubus or elf?”

A s.e.xual joke. He laughed ‘kuhulhul!’ at approaching succubi and elves. Just imagining it was terrible.

"I don’t have an answer. Rather, I saw that the fire spirits and water spirits are partic.i.p.ating in the individual auctions. What happened?”

"Ah...that is...”

The dark spirit’s expression hardened. It wasn’t a good expression. I remained silent and the dark spirit continued.

"Do you know the story about the other spirits sending spies?”

"I know."

Due to the summoning of Cruel Commander Maxium, the other spirits sent spies to obtain information from the dark spirits. I remembered it.

"Among them, the water and fire spirits pressed our dark spirits most severely. This time last year, the secret of the Demon World Auction was finally revealed. The Dark Spirit King made a deal in exchange for secrecy.”

"Was it to partic.i.p.ate in the Demon World Auction?”

“No. They showed interest in the system created by the devil. However, we don't know anything about the system either. We just made a deal and the authority was given to us.”

The devil’s system...no one could figure it out. This path hadn’t been shown in my previous life.

No one had bothered to figure this out. The system itself was already complete. However, the other spirits looked at it from another perspective.

“Then?”

"Once the contract was made, we succeeded in buying some time. Then a few months ago, the other spirit kings decided to partic.i.p.ate in the auction. They are limited to the individual auctions but...”

That was all. I didn’t need to know anymore of the story.

‘Adonis. He accepted my offer but what else is he aiming for?’

It was a question that naturally came up. Adonis wouldn’t have made the decision suddenly. The risk was too big for that. He wasn’t dumb enough to risk his ‘destruction’ just for one Essence of Origin.

He responded to my request because of a separate idea.

“How many demons are partic.i.p.ating?”

"There are 54. Kuhulhul, it is tragic since only five years have pa.s.sed.”

In the first three years, I was the one who killed all the demons. That number had risen in just two years.

“The average number of points?”

"It was originally three million...suddenly, it rose by 700,000 in one day. Kuhuhul!”

The dark spirit sent me a sly glance. He had a sense of how many points I had. However, his gaze was filled with respect.

"And there are contracts for the individual auctions. It will be stamped with the devil’s seal but don’t feel burdened.”

The devil’s seal. There were large constraints on its use. Contracts stamped with the devil’s seal were absolute. I knew Adonis had it but I didn’t think he would use it.

I read through the parchments the dark spirit gave me.

Anonymity guaranteed. Item protection. Confidentiality, etc. were written. The fire spirits and water spirits must have been handed similar contracts.

It wasn’t strange since they were enemies. I looked at the seal and the place where Adonis’s name was written, before biting my finger and placing a b.l.o.o.d.y imprint on the contract.

Immediately afterwards, the parchment was rolled up and pa.s.sed to the dark spirits.

"The contract has been completed. Would you show us the items being sold at the individual auctions now? We need to see them before the auction starts.”

I untied my magic bag.

Exactly 10 items. I placed the things I would sell at the individual auctions on the floor.

The eyes of the dark spirit shook as he saw the items.

"Hah...!”

An exclamation escaped from his mouth.

After this was over, the dark spirit guiding me said.

“The involvement of the fire and water spirits means there are changes from the previous years. It was possible to see the items before the auction started, but not anymore. It is for security reasons, so please understand.”

"Then we are proceeding straight to the auction?”

“No. Don’t we have to give some time to adjust? You will be given half a day of free time.”

I frowned. Half a day of freedom seemed simple but it was actually a serious problem.

Demons and the spirits didn’t have a good relations.h.i.+p with each other. It was highly unlikely they would ignore each other if there were encounters. It wouldn’t be good.

As well as...there was enough time if they wanted to do something. So far, there had been no time to do anything. The auction proceeded immediately and once it was over, I would return to my dungeon.

'There was minimal time to adapt.’

From the beginning, the demons were feuding with each other. Unlike my previous life, everything was going much faster. There was a rule that only their creatures could fight but that didn’t apply to the spirits.

Furthermore, the act of using Pakan Griolli as a scapegoat for Upa was unprecedented.

If they could kill some core people of the opponent’s faction...it might be worth it.

‘There must be a lot of confusion.’

Tsk! I clicked my tongue. In many ways, it seemed like this Demon World Auction wouldn’t be able to progress as normal. Maybe this was what Adonis had been hoping for.

“Kuhulhul! Randalph-nim, I need to carry out the auction procedure. Then...I will see you after your free time.”

The dark spirit opened the door and left. There were some high cla.s.s spirits waiting on the other side.

“My Dungeon Master. What will we do now?"

Chrisley roughly grasped the situation. This might be her first time but she didn’t feel awkward.

"What would you like to do?”

There were no correct actions. If I didn't move carefully then there was a high chance of receiving damage.

So I asked Chrisley. It wasn’t bad to move according to Chrisley’s opinion.

Chrisley briefly thought for a moment before saying.

"This is the conclusion I came to with my current knowledge...first of all, we should get in touch with the spirits.”

"The spirits?”

Contacting the spirits first. It was surprising. I thought she would want to look at Ariel Diablo’s side first.

Chrisley cleared her throat and said.

"The demons are still unaware of Master’s survival. If they know...I’m sure there will be a lot of actions during the next half a day. Especially when it comes to Pandemonium.”

"Are you saying we should stay with the spirits so they can’t take action?”

I was strong. However, there were limits to what I could do alone. I couldn’t deal with all the factions alone.

Still, I was skeptical. Even if the spirits weren’t hostile, they were likely to ignore me if I approached.

At that moment, Chrisley confidently declared.

“My Dungeon Master. The blood flowing through my body is very compatible with them. Please leave this to me.”

The true demonic dragon Aojin and the dark elf s.h.i.+lla!

They had strong attributes of fire and water. There was a chance the spirits could feel an affinity with it.

Certainly...it was reasonable.

There was no need to refuse.

“Okay. I will follow you. But I will choose the side first.”

“My Dungeon Master. I will follow your words.”

Chrisley kneeled beside me.

Two feet lengths. In the past, she only walked three feet lengths behind me. However, I was satisfied after the training room. So I allowed her to narrow the distance.

"We will go to the fire spirits first.”

"I will follow.”

Fire spirits.

They were sent to an area filled with dark spirits, so they would have high standings.

Furthermore, fire spirits had a vigorous and valiant nature. It would be better to speak to them than the water spirits.