Days flew by, swept along into the passage of time.

Before long, the day of the auction had come nigh. Preparations have been made. Backup plans have been staged. All that mattered was for us to set our priorities right and follow the plan.

Fortunately for us, our target, Marquess Pearl, had bit the bait we had laid.

The auction would take place on Melkor's previous base that Renata and I raided. Supposedly, it was to show that we were there not for blood but as a show of good intentions to the nobles.

How does that logic work? Beats me...

Anyway, that's that.

Enhancing my senses, I could tell that the guests were finally here. And from what I saw by tunneling my vision through the walls, they were bringing their own guards.

Following that, the process repeated itself for some time. Though the list of people we invited wasn't that many, the place was soon packed full of people due to the nobles' guards.

Taking center stage, Melkor stepped up, dressed neatly and flashy. He welcomed the guests before presenting a short window for the host to introduce himself formally.

Trodin. A.K.A, Paladin.

With a jet-black cloak that resembled the beauty of the ethereal night and a clean white mask adorning his face, Trodin got up on the stage.

The pure size of his body and the underlying power that seeped out from every pore of his body were evident to everyone present.

They knew that he was bad news right from the get-go. Especially the Knights who came as an entourage to their masters.

"I am Paladin. Buy what you like and leave if you don't. Today, I hope to keep my hands clean. But should either of you test me...Believe me, I am no shy with blood."

The audience swallowed his words in total silence. Some with the higher ego could be seen gritting and staring at Trodin with menace written all over their face, but that was only the case for a minority.

Brushing the dampening air aside, Melkor took the stage again and marked the beginning of the auction, handling the presentation and selling process himself.

Cages after cages were being brought out and presented to the crowd. They were a bit skeptical at first, refusing to take in Melkor's sales pitch at face value. And to be honest, even I thought he sounded full of shit.

But it was within our expectations, and we had Margareth and James to handle this.

Seeing the air of the bidding war stayed lukewarm at best, Margareth would then ask whether she could test the authenticity of Melkor's claim by seeing what the battle slaves could do.

Obviously, these slaves that were in the cages were our very own Shadows, and there was no need to argue about what they could do.

So, following Trodin's approval, they have the Shadows put on a little demonstration by having them go head-to-head with a random Knight from the crowd. They were given simple sparring tools, and that was it.

The knight was mocking about this and that, but sadly for him, it was over in a one-sided thrashing by the Shadow.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Thanks to that, the crowd was pretty much sold on the quality of our goods, all the more so when Margareth began to ramp up the prices from the side.

Only then did the auction begin in earnest...and soon before long, the real event came at last.

The first part had been going remarkably well. The nobles seemed to forget about their prior anxiety, lost in the euphoria of bidding war against each other. And at the peak of all, that was our turn to don the chains...

Saying that myself felt kind of weird, but it is what it is, I guess.

The venue appeared dauntingly dim, with the spotlight on the three of us inside the thick metal cages.

For the record, Renata was posing as a Beastmen mercenary, Clara as a mad magician, and I as an exotic magician from a distant kingdom in the south. The two had used artifacts to disguise themselves, and I used the good ol' word magic to do the job.

As the crowd threw us the scrutinizing silence, it was Renata who decided to break the ice, playing her role as a wild Beastmen merc to perfection.

She boldly kicked the cage twice and growled with a gaze full of rage before throwing curses left and right.

Among the profanities that she laid out for the crowds to hear, we couldn't help but notice the peculiarity in between. In that split second, Clara and I exchanged quick glances.

'That code...The Phantom Squad...'

Our main plan was to have Marquess Pearl buy us from this made-up auction without trouble and later infiltrate his estate. But that didn't mean we didn't put any contingency in place. In fact, we had thought of many of them in case things go south. And right now, we were forced to do just that...

It was unclear why and how, but Renata told us that on the off chance the Phantom Squad did choose to pay us a visit, she believed it would be her former mentor who'd come.

And she was right, apparently.

As for how she could be so sure and was able to find him in this crowd of people, it was all due to her dagger. A cursed relic that would give a massive surge of power in return for endless pain and suffering that would not stop until the vow of death was fulfilled.

What was the vow of death? It's a bit complicated to replicate what Renata said, but in short, as long as she made a vow to kill someone, the dagger would recognize it as a covenant between it and Renata. And the result of that would be the power and also the torture, side by side.

A bit fucked up, sure...But she knew what she signed up for.

Now, enough sidetracking.

I have known for some time that her former mentor was also Renata's nemesis. And by borrowing the dagger's assistance, Renata would always know when she was near her nemesis.

The earlier outrage was also something Renata had briefed us beforehand. That way, we could find where he was.

Then again, it seemed that we didn't need to trouble ourselves because the man in question himself didn't even bother to hide.

"Did you forget how proficient your master at Illusion Magic, O' my Red Lily?" A light, mocking tone clearly rang, subduing all the noise from the raucous crowd.

"Ha~ there goes all the efforts cooking up all the damn plans." Sighed Clara, tossing out the appearance-changing artifact casually to the side.

"Hey, Paladin? It's too quiet. Let's kick this up a notch now that things got to this. And can someone bring me my cloak and mask?" Added her.

Two Shadows faithfully appeared, answering Clara's call. They brought the cloaks and masks for both Clara and Renata.

As for me? Well, I was just chilling.

You know, whenever terrorists hijack a plane, there would always be one or two bastards whose role was to play as passengers to deal with an unforeseen crisis?

That's me.

I was told to stay still and just relax, and when they needed help, then I would decisively step in, dealing the final blow while I was at it.

Splat!

With hands full of dripping blood, Trodin threw his cape away and stood as an unmovable vanguard in front of the two.

And the many eyes that still couldn't swallow the shocking turns of events couldn't help themselves but stare at Melkor, whose head was flattened and died on the spot by a direct blow from Trodin's brutal slug.

Among the people who were about to run for their dear lives, I saw the look of pure horror manifested on Marquess Pearl's face as he grabbed the collar of his closest guard and made a run for it.

'Well, shit happens...'