SSS-Class Revival Hunter-Chapter 335: The Constellation Auction (2)
[The sixty-eighth floor is listed for sale.]
[The sixty-ninth floor is listed for sale.]
I heard these messages ringing repeatedly in my head. I was so stunned that I was sure I resembled a goldfish or a fish-shaped bun. Yes, the joke was lame, I know. I had a feeling that it was better to not intervene and just keep watching.
[The seventieth floor is listed for sale.]
Finally, the last floor became available for auction. The Primordial Staff, the Pillar of the Tower, swung her staff.
“That’ll be enough. Beyond that floor isn’t territory I control. If those of you beyond want to escape the Death King, find another Pillar. There may be Constellations who don’t know who I am or have never heard of the Pillars, but consider this a special case...”
The messages were cut off, and silence fell, but not for long.
“Now that the listings are up, shall we find someone to buy the floors? Let me explain the main point of the auction.” With a sharp tap, the Primordial Staff pointed the tip of her staff at the air. “As you know, the Death King is a Hunter, a challenger climbing the Tower toward the hundredth floor, the Absolute Heavenly Peak. Though not yet fully bloomed, he’s also a Constellation named the Scream-Gathering Sky.”
It seemed that within the Tower, a Hunter universally referred to someone climbing the Tower.
“So, from this point onward, it’s no longer a battle of wits between teacher and student, but rather, an equal duel between warriors.”
The Primordial Staff’s voice was quiet and cold, like the soft sound of an outdoor piano performance on a winter day. Countless Constellations atop the Tower became an audience, listening intently to her words. Her eyes, the color of an iron sword, were on me.
“I believe all warriors have the right to flee from a duel. A sword should only be used by those who wish to fight. So, who is willing to fight the Death King? Among the countless Constellations, which beast hasn’t forgotten the joy of victory? Which serpent, even after ascending to the heavens, cannot abandon the pleasure of their scales scraping the ground? What light does the Star Signs, even after being embraced by the Tower master, want to scatter now?” The Primordial Staff clicked her tongue. “I commence the auction for the sixty-fourth floor.”
As soon as she finished speaking, a message was sent.
[The Fire-Burning Bird has made a bid.]
[The Fire-Burning Bird warns everyone not to bid higher unless they have a death wish.]
The Primordial Staff tilted her head. “Hmm. Using that kind of language will only make others more eager to attack.”
[The Fire-Burning Bird advises everyone not to participate in the auction if they don’t want to perish.]
She nodded. “Alright. That’s much better.”
I couldn’t discern the difference between the two sentences, but the Primordial Staff seemed to have noticed a significant change. The Constellation, a complete stranger to me, sent a series of messages.
[The Fire-Burning Bird suggests a different auction method.]
[The Fire-Burning Bird says it’s better to put the next floor up for auction each time the Death King clears a floor, rather than deciding on the managers for up to the seventieth floor at once.]
[The Fire-Burning Bird puts up a logical argument that if the Death King loses on the sixty-fourth floor, the Constellation that bid on the sixty-fifth floor would get nothing.]
“Hm...” The Primordial Staff closed her left eye. “You have a point.”
[The Fire-Burning Bird reminds the Primordial Staff that they always speak the truth.]
“Let’s say you do for now, but the most important part is still left.” She looked up at the sky. “What’s your bidding price? How much are you willing to pay for the manager’s position?”
[The Fire-Burning Bird replies that they bid everything they have.]
“I have no reason to say no to that. I’ll change the sixty-fourth floor manager from the Fair and Square Nine-Tailed Fox to the Fire-Burning Bird.” She nodded. That was the end of it. She turned her head to look at me. “Death King, step onto the next floor.”
“Peep,” my fox god said softly, asking for my consent.
“Yes, I have no reason to refuse.” I slipped the tiny snake—Hishimit Kritz—into my pocket. Lightheartedly ignoring their shrieking, I added. “To be honest, this snake wasn’t very satisfying to cut down. My Constellation, please.”
“Peep.”
My fox god immediately gave out the declaration.
[The quest has been cleared!]
[The sixty-third floor has been cleared.]
[Your Exclusive Music Box has assigned you the same quest from the sixty-fourth to the sixty-ninth floors.]
[Following your request, you are going to be immediately teleported to the sixty-fourth floor.]
A sandstorm swirled around me.
***
As the scent of the desert filled my nostrils and spread within me, the Guardian broke his silence.
—Zombie, I’ve been to the ninety-ninth floor, but I didn’t know anything about the Pillars. Now that I think about it, I probably did encounter them before, but I just forgot. Those Pillar guys must have the power to erase memories related to them.
I was sure that the Guardian was right.
—Maybe when this is all over and you reach the seventieth floor, all your memories will disappear.
That was entirely possible.
—But the chances are low. You met the Tower master. No matter how powerful the Pillars are, they can’t erase the time the Tower master has granted meaning to.
His voice was calm yet tinged with regret.
—You and I have walked different paths. Keep following this path.
As his voice echoed, the sandstorm enveloped me.
—No one can call you weak now!
He laughed. I opened my eyes.
[You have entered the sixty-fourth floor.]
The world before me was gray. Only ash-colored land stretched endlessly to the horizon.
[The Fire-Burning Bird has appeared!]
In the center of the landscape, a burning phoenix was flapping their vast wings.
***
“It was tragic.”
A strong burning smell clung to my nose. The bird, engulfed in fire, was able to cover the world with their wings, sweeping through the space between heaven and earth and making it impossible to distinguish up from down. Wherever I looked, all I could see was ash.
“When the Sword Emperor marched his way up the Tower, I ignored and disregarded him. That is why I lost the opportunity to compete with the warrior who had reached the highest floor since the Tower was built. How tragic.”
I grabbed my sword hilt. “I understand why you participated in the auction.”
The phoenix looked down at me. Actually, I wasn’t sure if they had eyes. The phoenix burned incessantly, and there was no part of them that the fire didn’t consume. Perhaps the phoenix was glaring at me not with physical eyes, but with the eyes of their soul.
“I hear you’re the Sword Emperor’s heir. Is that true?” 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖
I scoffed. “So you can still hear even with your ears set on fire?”
“Very well. This is a good opportunity. I cannot allow myself to suffer tragedy twice.”
The phoenix flapped their wings. The ashes that had settled over the entire world were stirred and swept away. Gray snowflakes scattered and brushed against my cheeks.
“I’m the fire that burns fire, the omen, and bird of doom. I am the fire that desires to be the last in the universe.”
“I’m the Death King.” I wiped the ash from my cheeks. More ash coated my throat, so my mouth felt dry. I willingly chewed and swallowed the remnants of the fire as I paid my respects to the duel. “I’m the sword that desires to break other swords.”
Further conversation was pointless. The judge, the Primordial Staff, stood between us and raised her long staff, giving one light tap to the ground.
Taking that as my cue, I charged forward and stepped on the ash. “Hishimit Kritz, fulfill your promise.”
[The Labyrinth-Dwelling Eye has activated their power.]
The loser from the previous floor responded to my command. The thin snake crawled out of my chest pocket and wrapped around my wrist like a bracelet. They had sworn to help me clear the Tower, and this was their fulfillment of that oath.
[The Labyrinth-Dwelling Eye exposes the enemy’s information.]
With my aura, the flow of time slowed down, and letters sluggishly etched themselves in the space before my eyes, revealing the enemy’s true name to me.
—Title: Fire-Burning Bird.
—Real Name: Taotie.
The origin of the phoenix soon followed, embroidered in space. Hishimit Kritz’s handwriting, written in one stroke, was as twisted as their own body yet as clear as their glowing eyes, making it easy to read.
—Taotie is fire. If water is the right path that flows downward, then fire is the rebellion that goes upstream. Taotie’s fire represents emotion. Their fire consumes others and nourishes itself. It has no eyes to see the world.
—Taotie is the Constellation of the blindest emotions: hatred, disgust, and, above all, pleasure that melts one’s mind away in the act of self-flaunting. They scream as if they’re about to die, but they never do. In fact, they only kill others.
—While I’m addicted to the pleasure of observing others, Taotie is addicted to flaunting themselves. They demand to be looked at, yet they can’t burn on their own if there is nothing around them to consume. Their other names are the Fire-Burning Fire, Self-Eating Self, and Blindness. Taotie is nothing but a blind fire.
In an instant, I saw through the phoenix’s true nature. “You aren’t bitter about missing the fight against the Sword Emperor.”
The Constellation’s wings flapped. In other words, their nonexistent eyes widened. Though their appearance was far from that of a human, I was more confident than anyone else in reading the expression of fire. I saw the angle at which the flames surrounding the Constellation bent, the crackles in the conflagration, and the embers burning. Those told me everything I needed to know about their nature.
I used Aura Transmission to communicate.
“You’re just frustrated that you can’t flex about fighting the Sword Emperor when he was around. You couldn’t care less about a duel between warriors. Still, you want to be known for having fought the Sword Emperor and that you exchanged swords with the man known as the Death King. You envy the Constellations who were fortunate enough to have experienced that, as well as the Constellations that I’ve defeated. You just want to look like the Constellations who had a true duel with me. That is all there is to it right now.”
I swung my sword.
“Right now, you’re not thinking about how to defeat me, but how to put on the most outstanding show possible to impress the other Constellations.”
The phoenix couldn’t refute me, but that was because they had no time, not because they had nothing to say. I slowed down time even more using my aura, so the Constellation couldn’t keep up with me at all.
By the time the Constellation tried to say one word, I had already said twelve. The Constellation didn’t have a chance to respond. If that was the case with words, it was needless to say what was going on in terms of swords.
I said, “I guess you were the Constellation who gave Yoo Soo-Ha his fire Skill.”
The Sword Emperor had said that Estelle, the Demon King of Autumn Rain, was a Class D Constellation. Even considering only pure power, this phoenix’s class was no more than that of a D+ to C.
“I have no time to waste on someone who doesn’t even think of challenging me sincerely. Get lost.”
With this in mind, I cut down the Constellation that could have become Yoo Soo-Ha’s god. Screams echoed. It had taken years to cut down the Demon King of Autumn Rain, but this time, it took not even a few seconds.
Amidst the ash flying like dust, the Primordial Staff declared, “The duel for the sixty-fourth floor is over. The winner is the Death King. Let’s start the auction for the sixty-fifth floor right away.”
