CHAPTER 60: AN UNEXPECTED TURN

When he saw the option, Gabriel fell into a dilemma, but he knew he needed to make a decision very fast.

’Skills, I can get that in the future.’

Though even with using extraction, it seemed getting skills was rare, and the most common options were stats, it was still very possible.

But a class...

How many times had that popped up before? None.

He had been in this world for a while. Because he didn’t want to be left behind by the players and other NPCs, he had hunted monsters relentlessly, yet none of them had offered up a class.

Which meant that classes were super rare.

’Even if I decide to go with a class, what will happen to my Berserker class?’ he inwardly thought.

Will it be overridden? He had never heard about a player or NPC wielding multiple classes before in both of his lives.

From the name Demonic Exorcist, it was quite easy to tell that the class would allow him to vanquish and purify demons.

It wasn’t a really useful class in this early part of the game due to the absence of demons, but who knows if it can be useful later on?

Well, there was one way to find out.

Without a moment of hesitation, he selected the Demonic Exorcist class.

Several screens flashed before him. However, due to his current situation and how many minutes had already passed with him just standing there, he ignored them for the meantime.

He returned his focus back to the auction hall.

"Right, for a moment, I almost forgot about you guys." His eyes locked on Neon, who was within the crowd.

"You have them, right?" Neon’s eyes flashed with anger and fear. "What more do you want? Can you leave now?"

"Funny." Gabriel chuckled darkly. "I heard the crazy summoner was someone with actual balls. To think you’d falter with just this little display of strength."

Neon gritted his teeth, his face looking like someone who had swallowed a bitter pill. Yes, he was crazy but... but that only applied when the situation was the opposite—when he was the stronger person.

"Well, that’s that," Gabriel said, moving away from the topic. "I’m not here for the church representative or any of you. I’m here for the elven children."

"That..." Neon hesitated.

Those children were worth about a million dollars. It would be a great loss to the Chain of Veylor organization, and they might even kill him outrightly out of anger.

It only took a few seconds for him to make a decision.

"No... unfortunately, I can’t," he stated.

"Very well then," Gabriel said.

Neon spread his arms as two magic circles appeared in front of him.

Fwish! Swish!

Even before the circles could be completed, a greatsword pierced his head, bursting out the other side, splashing the faces of those closest to him.

The summoning circles dimmed instantly, and the outlines of the monstrous creatures began fading.

Everyone’s eyes widened in shock, and they seemed to lose their ability to scream.

Gabriel’s footsteps echoed across the auction room as he pulled back [Crimson Judgement].

[Ding! You have extracted: Guard’s Robe (Gold)]

[Guard’s Robe(Gold)]

[Durability: 400/400]

[Description: Summons a transparent protective barrier around the owner for 50 seconds. Cooldown: 10 minutes.]

"Not bad." Gabriel smiled as he donned the robe, and it turned invisible, merging into his body.

Afterward, he looked over at Anna and spoke in a cold, deep voice, "Kill everyone."

Anna seemed shocked at first, but when she heard the order again, she snapped out of her daze and lunged at the crowd, twin chains in hand.

Gabriel didn’t glance back despite the screams and cries for help. He simply approached the cage and, with a punch of his fist, destroyed the lock.

"Thank you... thank you for saving us." The elven children echoed at once as they broke into tears.

"It’s fine, you can be at peace now," he said softly as he unchained them one after the other and took off the slave collars from their necks.

He reached a particular boy whose body was filled with tension, his big black eyes filled with fear.

’This level of tension... only God knows what cruel things these bastards had done to these kids,’ he inwardly thought.

"You’re in safe hands now, little guy."

No reaction.

He quickly retrieved an apple from his inventory and offered it to the boy. "Here... here you go."

The boy hesitated.

Gabriel nodded assuredly, and the boy finally stretched out his hand, snatched the apple, and started eating hungrily.

A small, imperceptible smile appeared on Gabriel’s face. If one saw this sight, they wouldn’t hesitate to doubt that this was the same Gabriel who had killed without hesitation.

"Thank you once again."

It was at that moment he heard a voice behind him. He turned around, his gaze settling on a lithe elven teenager who seemed to be the oldest here.

"How can we repay you?"

"No... no repayments." He waved his hand. "I was sent by someone... I assume you’re the eldest here. Please, group everyone together and get ready to leave this place."

"Y-yes, mister," she stuttered.

"Everyone is dead," Anna reported.

"Good." He slowly turned around.

"So what nex—" Anna’s eyes widened as she suddenly felt something wrap around her neck.

Her eyes slowly fell to her neck.

Right there... was the slave collar.

"Y-you." Anna stuttered, her eyes widening in disbelief. Her initial plan had been to backstab Gabriel when he wasn’t expecting it, but that was difficult as even though he led, it seemed as if he had eyes behind him.

After seeing this, she had given up and instead planned to flee after everything... who... who would have thought he would be a step faster than her?

"If you had left here, you’d probably run back to the Chain of Veylor, maybe injure yourself a bit and tell them about me," he said calmly. "And that’s something I don’t want. So I was thinking, instead of killing someone like you, why not make you my personal benchman?"

Anna clenched her fists, not knowing what to say.

"From today on, you’ll work for me. You’ll prove your trust and worth, then I’ll release you," he declared.

Anna gritted her teeth, but the collar tightening around her neck made her freeze. No matter how she looked at it, she had lost.

"...Fine. I’ll work for you," she finally muttered.

He smiled faintly. "Good choice."

Anna’s expression was sour, but she lowered her head. For now, she had no other choice.

Gabriel turned to the elven children. "Come on, let’s move before more pests show up."

"W-where are we going?" the elven girl asked, still gripping the younger ones tightly.

"To a safer place." He waved his hand, leading the way out of the auction hall.

Anna frowned but didn’t say anything. She glanced back at the children quietly following behind them. ’He saved them but still enslaved me... What a crazy man.’