Chapter 186 - Episode 25. Deus Ex Machina (1)
Chapter 186: Episode 25. Deus Ex Machina (1)
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“The greatest stake a life can wager is life itself. Then how many lives does it take to change a world? Can it truly be changed at all?”
- The God of Mortality ‘Thanatos’.
* * *
Chronos’s arrival threw the auction house into an uproar.
The opening bid was a staggering two billion trust.
The gods gaped at the unimaginable sum.
“What kind of price is that...?”
“Is he serious?”
The gods who had been watching the room began checking their own pockets.
In truth, most of the gods attending the Grand Auction still doubted whether the ‘Three Divine Artifacts’ were real.
But this was not just anyone. Dark Heaven had put up two billion trust.
“So it really is ‘Deus Ex Machina.’”
“Come to think of it, Dark Heaven used to be Chronos’s left arm.”
The gods glanced toward Chronos.
Rather than heading to his table, Chronos stood guard at the entrance like a gatekeeper.
[Are there no additional bidders?]
The gods’ hesitation was palpable in the tense atmosphere.
The price was one issue, but the first bidder was none other than Dark Heaven, Chronos’s left arm.
In other words, joining this auction was practically a declaration that they intended to stand directly against the Seven Divine Thrones.
Forty seconds remained until the item was sold.
Dark Heaven already wore the expression of someone certain he had won. He had likely even saved the money he would have spent on ancient books for this single bid.
That was when Ignis intervened.
[Fifth Seat. You cannot participate in this auction. You have not forgotten the Seven Seats Agreement, have you?]
Chronos, who had been calmly surveying the room, answered without concern.
[Dark Heaven made the bid, not me.]
[That is the same thing, you bastard. Are you saying it does not count because your left arm did it instead of you?]
[Dark Heaven is no longer my left arm. Dark Heaven became independent recently.]
Karavan glared at Chronos after that shameless answer.
[Ah, so a severed arm is no longer your arm?]
Dark Heaven, receiving Karavan’s gaze from afar, shrugged as if to say it was true.
Maiad muttered with a faint smile.
“This has become troublesome for Ignis. Whether Chronos is telling the truth or not, the other Seven Divine Thrones cannot simply watch this happen.”
Jaehwan understood the situation as well.
Even if Dark Heaven had truly left Chronos’s faction, Dark Heaven was still one of the Eight Heavens of the 《Abyss》. If someone of the Eight Heavens obtained the Three Divine Artifacts, they might gain power equal to the current Seven Divine Thrones.
Whether he was Chronos’s left arm or former left arm, Dark Heaven was a god tied to Chronos.
The other Seven Divine Thrones could never welcome this situation.
[Ten seconds remain!]
Maiad spoke.
“Jaehwan.”
Jaehwan nodded. It was about time to join the fight.
“Two billion fifty million.”
[Two billion fifty million. Is that correct?]
The auctioneer’s eyes widened when Jaehwan raised the price by fifty million in a single bid.
“Two billion fifty million?”
“Who was that?”
“Heaven’s End.”
“Does Heaven’s End have that much trust?”
“That cannot be. Even the Seven Divine Thrones would find that amount burdensome.”
Dark Heaven furrowed his brow as if asking whether Jaehwan intended to interfere again. After a moment of thought, he made another bid.
“Two billion one hundred million.”
“Two billion two hundred million.”
“Two billion three hundred million.”
The bidding war rose in units of one hundred million.
With one hundred million trust, there were almost no Parts in the 《Abyss》 that could not be obtained. Yet that same hundred million was now being used as a mere bidding increment.
Even Maiad looked slightly tense this time.
It was understandable. This was a price war on a completely different scale from competing in the tens of millions.
Feeling a strange sense of satisfaction, Jaehwan began calling out prices without restraint.
“Two billion nine hundred million.”
“Three billion.”
“Three billion one hundred million.”
Once the price surpassed three billion, Dark Heaven slowed down as well. The cost was becoming a burden even to him.
For a brief moment, Dark Heaven exchanged looks with Chronos.
Chronos, who no longer looked as relaxed as before, began glaring at Jaehwan with his usual terrifying gaze.
Jaehwan, of course, kept calling out prices regardless.
Maiad muttered as though exhausted.
“Jaehwan is remarkable.”
“You are the one who told me to bid as I pleased.”
“Whether in the 《Great Realm》 or the 《Abyss》, there is no one who is not conditioned by numbers. Yet you remain calm while calling out sums like that. Even though it is someone else’s money.”
“I will take that as praise. Three billion three hundred million.”
The highest bid was immediately surpassed.
Dark Heaven raised his bid in response.
“Three billion three hundred fifty million.”
Dark Heaven’s face had grown darker than before.
Realizing his chance had come, Jaehwan was about to call out another bid.
“Four billion.”
The price had suddenly risen by six hundred fifty million.
Yet neither Jaehwan nor Dark Heaven had called it.
It came from someone who had watched the situation unfold all this time.
“What? Who was that?”
“Who are they with?”
“They are sitting near Pest. Are they with the God of Pestilence?”
“But they are at a different table.”
Jaehwan calmly examined the bidder’s appearance.
They wore a shabby cape much like the one he had often worn in 《Chaos》.
Since when had someone like that been there?
They did not possess the distinctive overwhelming presence of the Seven Divine Thrones.
Even when Jaehwan drove 「Doubt」 and 「Understanding」 to their limits, all he could sense was an extremely refined, inorganic World Force.
Only then did Jaehwan understand why his attention had never gone to them.
That being barely felt alive.
+
<Top Bidder Rankings>
1) X - Four billion
2) Derek Milt - Three billion three hundred fifty million
3) Jaehwan - Three billion three hundred million
+
“X...?”
The gods stirred at a name they had never seen before.
“Four billion? Can they really pay that much?”
“Hey, auctioneer. Has that person’s identity been verified?”
“I have never even heard that name before!”
Signs of unrest appeared among the audience as well.
It was only natural. A god no one had heard of or seen before had appeared and made an absurd bid.
Not everyone reacted that way.
Maiad’s gaze had deepened at some point.
It was an extremely subtle change, but Jaehwan did not miss it.
“So they are your target.”
Maiad’s shoulders twitched at the casual remark.
“I do not know what you mean.”
“Did you not use me to draw them out?”
The pieces were falling into place one by one in Jaehwan’s mind.
Maiad had suddenly appeared and asked to accompany him. The goodwill that had been uncomfortably excessive. The offers that had been far too favorable to Jaehwan.
And...
That strange feeling he had sensed from ‘Deus Ex Machina.’
“If you are going to deny it until the end, there is nothing I can do.”
“Deny it? That hurts.”
Jaehwan opened his mouth as Maiad shrugged.
“Five billion.”
The auction house, which had been in an uproar, fell silent again as the price abruptly jumped by one billion.
The gods looked at Jaehwan as though they had misheard him.
“Jaehwan?”
Maiad visibly panicked this time, perhaps not expecting him to call such a huge amount.
Five billion was also the maximum sum Maiad had mentioned.
[Five billion has been bid!]
The auctioneer’s voice was slightly excited.
X immediately responded.
“Six billion.”
Jaehwan answered without backing down.
“Seven billion.”
“Wait, Jaehwan, any more than that...”
But poor Maiad’s voice was swallowed by the heat of the auction house.
X spoke again.
“Seven billion five...”
“Eight billion.”
Jaehwan called eight billion before X had even finished saying seven billion five hundred million.
Even X seemed to hesitate now.
After deliberating for a long time, they called out another price.
“Eight billion five hundred million!”
The record price in Hachenold Grand Auction history had already been broken long ago.
Those demanding to know X’s identity had shut their mouths and were watching the auction.
Even the auctioneer, seemingly impressed, added a comment.
[Eight billion five hundred million trust. That is a figure I have never seen before.]
A few gods’ Vicegerents were no longer staring at ‘Deus Ex Machina,’ but at Jaehwan and X.
Before the unfathomable sum of eight billion five hundred million, the direction of their greed wavered.
For gods who lacked the courage to bid on the Three Divine Artifacts against the Seven Divine Thrones, eight billion five hundred million trust was worth more than Deus Ex Machina.
「Heaven’s End, huh.」
「They say he destroyed the Metaverse, but not all those rumors can be true.」
「The Leader was only the King of the Metaverse, not a god of truly proven strength.」
「I heard his innate World Force is not that great.」
「That X is the same. If they do not have a proper backing...」
Ominous 「Push」 messages were already spreading.
Jaehwan had expected it to some extent, so he was not particularly flustered.
It was his turn to bid.
In a calm, quiet voice, he declared,
“Twenty billion.”
Every doubtful voice from the audience vanished.
A few gods looked as though they could not comprehend the number.
The Vicegerents who had been relentlessly glaring at Jaehwan, and the powerhouses who had watched the situation with interest, all held their breath.
Even Raynald, who had been running the auction with an excited expression, stood with his mouth hanging open.
[Twenty billion. Are you serious?]
It was twenty billion.
Not a single transaction involving twenty billion trust had ever taken place in auction history.
Put simply, if even one of the highest-grade gods possessed twenty billion trust, that god could, if only for a moment, wield World Pressure greater than that of the Seven Divine Thrones.
It was enough trust to become a bridge toward the Seven Divine Thrones.
The gazes of the gods watching Jaehwan gradually filled with greed.
[Are there no further bidders?]
Neither X nor Dark Heaven showed any sign of answering this time.
They too lacked the means to pay twenty billion.
Twenty seconds, ten seconds...
Then,
[Congratulations! ‘Deus Ex Machina’ has been sold to Jaehwan-nim for twenty billion trust.]
At last, the owner of the Three Divine Artifacts was decided amid suffocating tension.
Unlike the other auction items, no applause followed Jaehwan’s winning bid.
The auctioneer awkwardly clapped alone, then spoke to Jaehwan.
[As the amount for this item is substantial, please make payment here immediately.]
Jaehwan rose from his seat and approached the stage.
Guided by the attendants, he took out the blank check Maiad had given him.
How was he supposed to write this? Did he simply fill in the number?
He had never written a check before, so it was only natural that he did not know.
Just as Jaehwan hesitated, someone shouted from the entrance.
[Foolish auctioneers. Do you truly believe someone like him can pay twenty billion trust?]
It was Chronos, the God of Time.
That became the signal for the other gods to begin protesting.
“That is right! This is a conspiracy!”
“This auction cannot be accepted.”
“Auctioneer, cancel the sale!”
Jaehwan could not understand why the gods were already rising up when he had not even paid the amount yet.
In the distance, Maiad shook their head.
「I told you, up to five billion.」
Only then did Jaehwan understand what Maiad had meant.
Five billion was not Maiad’s limit.
More precisely, it was the limit of what the gods’ reason could accept.
[The auction ends here.]
Chronos’s immense World Pressure seized the hall, and the auction house entrance was firmly blocked.
It was a declaration that no one would leave the auction house without Chronos’s permission.
Karavan sprang to their feet, and Ignis’s warning rang out.
[Chronos!]
Chronos did not withdraw his World Force.
The Seven Seats Agreement was a promise that could exist only while the Seven Divine Thrones’ power remained equal.
If one of the Seven Divine Thrones obtained the Three Divine Artifacts, the agreement could not continue in the first place.
From that day on, the 《Abyss》 would belong not to the Seven Divine Thrones, but to a single god.
Jaehwan watched the gods approaching the stage and gave a bitter smile.
So it had come to this after all.
It was the moment the 〈Hachenold Catastrophe〉, later recorded as one of the five great incidents involving Jaehwan, began.
Footnotes:
Chapter discussion