When Did I Become An Artifact Dealer?!
Chapter 75 - 76: The Beginning Of The Awakening

Chapter 75: Chapter 76: The Beginning Of The Awakening

Sellene stiffened like a string pulled tight the moment she saw her father.

The Chairman walked calmly, finally stopping at the edge of the cracked ground. He was standing opposite Cail and Sellene. He opened his mouth... his voice was soft, but it reached everyone.

"Sellene."

Sellene flinched, but she didn’t move. She hid deeper behind Cail.

"Come back. Now."

The moment she heard that, something inside her snapped. She looked at the Tyrant and the Chairman. She screamed, "I’M NOT GOING!"

The Chairman looked at her coldly. "Your state now. This is what you’ve become just an hour after leaving my protection. Your ability? Drained. Your manners? Gone. You even learned to talk back to your father like that."

Her hands trembled, but she didn’t step away from Cail. Deep down, this was the first time she realized that she had been holding a grudge for a long time. Her mother’s death, her brother going missing... everything came gushing out.

"That’s right. I want to leave. I want to gain independence," she said, her voice lower. "Because I never had a voice when I was under yours. To be honest, this is probably why you wanted to betroth me to that psycho... you—" Her voice cracked with tears at the end.

"You call this your voice? Hiding behind a rogue void user who came from god knows where? Behind a boy who toys with powers beyond his comprehension?" What the Chairman meant was the Key. But Cail agreed with what he said. He had been jumping blindly until now... but that’s what made it fun.

"But wait!" Cail thought. "I’m just watching the drama, why did this Chairman suddenly attack me?"

"You’re attributing your daughter’s rebellion to me. You’re a Chairman of such high position, but you keep denying your faults. Your daughter probably doesn’t want you anymore because she felt suffocated."

Although he did give Sellene a little push, he believed that, maybe some time from now, even without his push, Sellene would still have rebelled.

Cail was staring at the Chairman, but his attention kept getting caught by the old man beside him. The old man looked very punchable as he seemed to be gloating and watching the show.

Seban had no idea that Cail wanted to punch him. He was looking at the Chairman, whose aura had changed. Hehehehehe. Old fucker who is difficult to talk to. You finally met your match. Someone who can disrespect you like it’s nothing.

Vale snorted. "You really want to provoke him? You’re really rogue. You have no idea how to respect people... He’s not someone you—"

"He’s already here," Cail cut him off. "That’s enough provocation for me." Although he lured him here, it was still annoying to see this guy face to face.

The Chairman looked at Cail for the first time

...a true look.

"You think she chose you?" the Chairman asked.

What the fuck do you mean, chose me? Cail felt there was a misunderstanding somewhere. Before getting involved in something he didn’t want to, Cail clarified, "Why would she choose me? I’m not an option. I’m not her lover."

Sellene didn’t make it hard for him. She stepped out a bit from her hiding... well, just a little bit.

"I chose myself," she said with strong conviction. Yes, she felt nervous. But the feeling of standing up for herself was good.

The silence after Sellene’s declaration felt unnatural. It felt like the world had stopped.

"I choose myself," Sellene finally had the courage to say it one again. Well, it wasn’t like her father was deaf, but Sellene felt that his voice before lack a bit of strength.

The Chairman looked at his daughter. He didn’t respond to her statement but merely raised his hand.

From the cracked surface around him, tendrils of dark authority rippled out. Cail saw it. It wasn’t pure void, but mixed with something else... something older and more divine. The very air around the Chairman bent to his will, pressing down like gravity.

Cail was caught off guard and almost fell. Sellene stumbled. The Tyrant’s pressure manipulation was child’s play compared to this.

"You’re not ready," the Chairman said to Sellene. "I’ll show you why you are not yet ready."

It wasn’t just Cail and Sellene. Even the people behind the Chairman felt the suffocation. Seban, the butler, and Arny surrounded the younglings. They created a shield with their void energy to pull the pressure away from them.

Cail gritted his teeth. The stored void energy inside him erupted. It formed a coating around him. It didn’t remove the pressure, but it was better than before.

"I guess this is the time..." Cail muttered under his breath. He pulled the thread out of his core.

Massive energy erupted from his body. It wasn’t from his stored void energy... it was coming from the Key.

Seban narrowed his eyes. "What is he doing?!"

The pit below released a low cry. It was like something ancient inside stirred. As if to confirm the existence of the creature, the ground trembled and the cracks widened.

The butler stabilized himself against the shaking ground. He looked at the red glow coming from inside the cracks. "He’s awakening something underneath. Stop him!"

It wasn’t about the Chairman’s aura or the Key inside Cail. The void energy coming from underground was enough to give them overwhelming pressure. Dense void energy gushed out from the ground. It was so dense it turned physical. One touch could kill anyone.

The Chairman was probably the only one not affected. He looked at the awakening, then looked at the glowing Cail. "I know you are up to something. What’s your plan?"

Cail felt his vision darkening. "Well, don’t be in a rush. You’ll see it later."

The ground behind Cail opened. At first, it might’ve looked like just a crack caused by his doing, but Cail immediately took out his rifle and swung it like a bat.

BANG!

Arny stopped the rifle that was aiming for his head, rushing his arm. It was unexpectedly painful. Cail had infused his null into the rifle. A void user would feel what an ordinary person would feel when getting smashed full force with a rifle.

Seban looked at their confrontation and asked the Chairman, "This looks bad now. Are you not going to do anything?"

The Chairman was calm. "I’ve got a feeling that it’s already too late." He looked at Seban with his pure white eyes that resembled a pearl. "Maybe we were tricked the moment we entered this rift 77 years ago."

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.