Everyone’s attention turned to Lady Ilse, who had a tone of challenge in her voice. Gustav was the one to break the silence, though he still seemed shocked.
“S-Six thousand?” He sounded uncertain of what to do, as his gaze kept wandering to the masked lady up above. “R-Right, a six thousand Spirit Stone bid… T-That’s-”
“I feel forced to ask a question on our host’s behalf,” the lady in the butterfly masked cut him off. “Six thousand Spirit Stones is a substantial fortune, the likes of which few people in this city are capable of presenting. Suffice it to say…”
“You don’t think I have it?” Lady Ilse completed her thoughts.
“It’s not that I don’t think you have it, but it’s hard to believe anyone could have it,” the lady fanned herself as if to accentuate her words. “I don’t mean to cast suspicion on your person, my fellow guest, but when speaking of values this high… It would be best if you could present your means of payment upfront to lift the worry from our host’s mind.”
“Is there such a rule that I need to do it?” The young woman turned her attention towards Gustav.
“A-Ah, no, it’s not that. If our guest wants to bid for the pill, they are free to do so, it’s just…”
They didn’t expect anyone else to bid on this product. It was clear to Red that the masked lady was supposed to be the sole bidder for the pill, but Lady Ilse’s actions had thrown their plan into disarray.
“It’s fine,” Lady Ilse waved at Gustav before he could babble on. “I indeed don’t have that amount in Spirit Stones, but I can make up for it with another item.”
“Another item?” Some of the merchant’s surprise was replaced by reluctance. “I’m afraid that’s not how the rules of the auction work, honored guest. We only take raw Spirit Stones.”
“Of course, but you’re a business organization, right? Shouldn’t you at least verify what I’m offering?”
At this, Gustav hesitated. He looked at the curtain behind the stage, as if having a silent conversation with someone. No one heard anything, but it didn’t take long before the man turned back to Lady Ilse.
“What is the item you wish to exchange?”
“This is preposterous!” The masked lady slammed the arms of her chair and stood up. “Is your organization going to go back on the rules you promised to protect so fervently?”
“By no means, my lady.” Gustav shook his head. “We will still protect the rules and interests of our guests, but we are also a business. Should the item this guest offers be sufficiently valuable, then we will also put it up for auction, and then this other guest can use the money to bid for the Shaping Sea pill.”
“And you still think that’s fair? This is not what was agreed upon.”
“My lady, please, if you are still unsatisfied with our arrangements, we are more than willing to discuss compensations with you afterwards.”
The masked lady looked like she wanted to say more, but Lady Ilse cut her off.
“Before you continue, perhaps you should learn what the item I offer is. Maybe it would even interest the lady up there.”
At this, she took out a box from her pouch. It looked to be the same size and shape as the box the Shaping Sea pill was in, though its decoration were far more modest.
Everyone watched the item in her hands with enraptured attention, and Lady Ilse seemed to revel in the anticipation. She looked over at her companions, and they both nodded.
Red had already been preparing for a long time, having stowed away the disassembled puppet into his bag. Both he and Pierre knew this was the signal, and the two of them popped the pills into their mouths. As the crowd’s attention was drawn to the woman carrying the box, though, no one seemed to notice or react to their actions.
Then she opened the box, revealing a gleaming green pill. A wave of vivid Spiritual Energy, just as strong as the Shaping Sea Pill, spread throughout the room from it, causing the auditorium to exclaim in surprise. Just as everyone wondered what this pill was exactly, something strange happened.
Red noticed it affecting their fluctuation first before spotting anything on the surface. A sense of sluggishness spread through their body as the Spiritual Energy entered through their pores, and their limbs stopped responding to them properly. Guests fell back onto their chairs, guards stumbled, and a sense of confusion
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This happened to everyone in the auditorium except for the trio. No words were spoken before they sprung into action.
When it came to assassinations, Red had a weapon that gave him an edge to most other assassins - the Tranquil Beak Weapon Art. It was a skill that consisted of accumulating strength within his muscles and patiently waiting to explode into action and kill the target with one blow. As it turned out, throughout the entire auction, although he seemed relaxed and laid back, this was exactly what he had been preparing for.
Red dashed towards the Middle-stage Lesser Ring Realm cultivator closest to him, crossing the significant distance between them in a single step as the winds carried his body. Then, in one swift motion, he unsheathed his claymore and hacked at his opponent like an axe.
There was no need for finesse when his opponent couldn’t move.
The man showed panic in his eyes as he tried to react to no avail, his limbs not responding to his commands fast enough. A blue barrier formed around him, though, likely from a protective artifact. This didn’t dissuade Red, as his sword also glowed with cyan energy and he swung down.
The barrier shattered like glass and the sword bit into the man’s body. His armor offered him no protection, and the claymore cleaved his body across from shoulder to waist.
Two seconds had passed, and just like that - a Middle-stage Lesser Ring Realm cultivator died. Red would have considered this concept absurd before breaking through, but now he knew that even Lesser Ring Realm cultivators were still very vulnerable in front of powerful attacks, and two seconds was an eternity for someone like him to kill such a cultivator ten times over.
As he prepared to attack his next target, he spared a quick glance at his companions from the corner of his eyes.
Just a second behind him, Pierre also killed one of his target, his rock-covered spear blowing their head clean off. Further ahead, Lady Ilse had just reached the stage where Nikon stood. The numbing effect of the pill seemed to have affected him the least, but even then, he could barely take a few steps before stumbling to one knee.
Lady Ilse took this opportunity to pull out a needle and throw it at the man’s chest. Red saw it strike true, but he couldn’t pay attention to the rest of the details as he approached his next target.
This one was in the early stage, and he seemed so confused he didn’t even see his death approach. A thought passed through Red’s head to slash him in half like he did his companion, but instead, he saw an opening to finish it faster. He grabbed the claymore with both hands, but rather than wielding it like a heavy weapon, he swung it with a saber’s finesse and grace as he approached the clueless target. The guard turned around just in time to have his head cut clean off.
This was the benefit of his claymore - it was built in such a way that one could wield it like a light weapon should he find the need to. Before the spilled blood had even touched the ground, Red had already dashed off.
‘Five seconds. I can still kill another.’
To be truthful, his early estimate of only being able to kill two was rather conservative. He thought it was possible he could kill more, but he didn’t want to risk it. Now, though, he realized his weapon allowed him to cut Lesser Ring Realm cultivators apart like butter, so killing even four cultivators before ten seconds were up was possible.
His goal, though, was one of the other two middle-stage Lesser Ring Realm cultivators down by the stage.
While soaring over the auditorium, he once again studied his companions’ efforts. Pierre was in the process of killing his second target - a step behind Red - and Lady Ilse was throwing yet another needle into Nikon’s body. He couldn’t tell the purposes of those needles, but judging from Nikon’s expression and fluctuation, they were likely poisoned.
Right as he got ready to strike again, though, he sensed something.
Nikon’s fluctuation changed.
Red’s eyes narrowed, and a bad premonition came to him.
‘Demonic fluctuations.’
Suddenly, all the negative effects disappeared from Nikon’s fluctuation and his skin started to glow in a purple-gold light. Lady Ilse seemed to notice this and made to dash away, but the giant man exploded into movement before she could.
His fist, now covered in a metallic gleam, soared forth into a punch. All the light in the room dimmed before this unstoppable force, and the fist seemed to grow into an enormous boulder in the eyes of observers. The Spiritual Energy in the room formed into a vortex around Nikon’s hands, as if being absorbed and reinforcing the power behind this simple but devastating punch.
Lady Ilse’s movements were also slowed down, and it seemed as if she could not dodge the attack.
Red saw this and froze his sword mid-swing before making a quick decision. He let go of his sword, but the claymore didn’t fall. Like an arrow, it shot forward on its own, leaving a cyan-light trail in its wake, and struck the side of Nikon’s fist right before it could hit the woman.
There was a sharp clang of two weapons clashing.
The claymore was sent tumbling away, unable to pierce the man’s flesh, yet it struck with enough force to redirect the punch away from its target. Nikon stumbled, and his punch meant for Lady Ilse instead struck into a row of guests near the stage.
A meteoric explosion happened. Purple Spiritual Energy, debris, and the mangled flesh of those unfortunate enough to be caught in the way of the fist burst from the impact center to cover the entire auditorium as a large crater formed beneath. The entire underground room shook and almost every guest was thrown off their feet.
Even Red felt his body shake from the shockwave, but he didn’t stop. He recalled his sword and soared over to Lady Ilse, who was coughing blood from being caught in the aftermath. Without hesitation, he picked her up, threw her over his shoulder and dashed towards the exit.
From behind, he heard Nikon’s heavy steps chasing after them.
“I’ll kill you bastards!”
‘He’s fast.’
Even with his Gale Drift, Red didn’t know if he could lose him fast enough. As he reached the top of the auditorium, he felt his movements suddenly slow down and his Spiritual Energy being sucked away from his body. A quick glance behind him revealed the reason.
Another punch was coming his way.