Amidst the aftermath of the explosion, panic rippled through the auction house like wildfire. All attendees and workers present at the auction, as well as all the important places within the auction house, were each enveloped in protective water spheres.
A man wearing a tiger mask flipped his cape, conjuring a gust of wind that cleared the dust, and some poison fumes, as well as some small fires around them.
"The air is poisoned!" gasped the announcer, covering his nose as a stinging sensation afflicting the lungs of the weaker people around, and also alerting everyone.
"Protect our customers!"
"Madam, the slaves!" a servant yelled, pointing towards the area designated for keeping slaves, now open due to the explosion. A foul stench of rotten blood filled the air, drawing a displeased look from Mrs. Bear.
"Most of the weak ones are dead!" the servant pointed out, causing Mrs. Bear to purse her lips. Most of the slaves seemed to have already died before the explosion while others were killed by the explosion. Only the stronger ones remained alive wondering what was going on.
"This is a huge loss to our organization," she said, her tone angry yet oddly calm. "There's no one who can easily remove a slave collar, so what is she?" Mrs. Bear wondered, glaring at Aurianna.
"Pfft, how incompetent of you to let this entire place get destroyed!" sneered Mr. Tiger, earning a glare from Mrs. Bear.
"Shut the hell up!" she snorted.
"How dare you talk to my father that way?!" snapped the young boy with a lion mask.
"So what? Since he wants to be so pompous, how come he too didn't sense what caused the explosion?" asked Mrs. Bear, causing both father and son to fall silent.
"You would regret this greatly, child," threatened Mrs. Bear coldly, turning her attention to Aurianna and making her feel a shiver of fear, though she didn't show it.
"You think I'm scared of an old hag like you? Your entire organization will pay greatly for daring to kidnap me. I'm sure this isn't your only base. Any others around the world?—I'll definitely destroy them all in the future!" Aurianna retorted.
"Hru, hru, hru, hru, hru," Mrs. Bear laughed.
"You sure are confident. For a mere child to challenge me like this. I don't know how you managed to fill this entire place with poison, but you'll regret this greatly."
"Well, I'm not done yet!" Aurianna said with a grin.
"Huh?"
"Round Table, I summon King!" Aurianna yelled, and immediately a massive portal tore through the sky, visible to all since the building was in ruins. The portal, over 500 feet tall, revealed a large eye staring down at them all.
Suddenly, a massive, sickening pressure covered the entire area, making everyone tremble in fear except Mrs. Bear and Mr. Tiger.
"What the hell is that being?" Mr. Crow asked, feeling as though he was being crushed.
"Take my arms and legs, King, and blast this entire place! I don't want anything to remain of it!" Aurianna yelled, her smile now crazed as the being in the portal grinned evilly.
"As you wish, master," resounded King's voice in Aurianna's head.
"Kill her! Maybe if we do that, her summon will disappear!" Mrs. Bear yelled, as they all began attacking Aurianna with spells.
Waves surged and coalesced from the surrounding ocean, spiraling upwards into the sky a mixing together. Soon emerged a colossal drill of water, its immense form poised to descend upon Aurianna, controlled effortlessly by Mrs Bear. The command was given, and the drill plummeted, rending the surrounding area collapsing by the devastating force of the attack.
Yet, to the woman's astonishment, an invisible barrier enveloped Aurianna, shielding her from her attack. Instead of being crushed beneath the weight of the water, Aurianna floated to meet King eye to eye.
Suddenly, with a sickening crunch, all four of Aurianna's limbs were severed, torn from her body and floated towards King. They were then consumed by his gaping maw. Agonizing pain seared through Aurianna's body as King devoured her body parts with relish.
Once satisfied King pulled himself out from the portal, Aurianna writhed in torment, the excruciating pain intensified as crystal rainbow-like spikes erupted from her body, eliciting a guttural scream followed by King that reverberated through the seas around them.
The noise they created was deafening, drawing the attention of all present to the being that now stood before them—a colossal monster. It was hard to tell whether the monster was majestic or horrifying.
Towering over them at a staggering height of 500 feet, King bore ten floating rings with eyes adorning his head, clad in resplendent knight's armor and wielding a magnificent sword befitting his king like appearance.
"With this amount of noise, she'll wake up the sea kings!!" Mrs. Cat cursed, her teeth gritted in frustration as she didn't like how the situation was turning out.
"Water blast!" Mrs. Bear conjured massive orbs of water which were the same size as king, and hurled them towards him with the intent to destroy him. However, her efforts were futile as her attacks were repelled by the shield, adding more to her growing frustration. Undeterred, she and the other workers continued their assault, raining down spells and attacks upon King and Aurianna.
"Master, you better snap out of it," King advised, his voice soothing as Aurianna knelt upon his shoulder.
"Are you alright?" King inquired, concern evident in his tone.
"I... I am," Aurianna managed to reply, though her trembling body betrayed the truth. "Kill them all. I don't want a single one alive. Disgusting, disgusting, disgusting,” she muttered through gritted teeth, her revulsion palpable as she recalled their disgusting gazes directed towards her and their filthy words.
"As you are aware, I have taken four of your body parts, meaning I can only use four powerful attacks," King warned.
"I am fine with this. Hurry up. The pain I'm receiving from summoning you is excruciating! Just leave the docks," Aurianna commanded.
"As you command, my Gemaris," King responded with a sinister grin, his sword pulsating with a hum that drew the attention of their assailants.
"This energy! I must act quickly!" Mrs. Bear exclaimed, her panic evident as she conjured a water shield to protect those around her as well as herself.
"Slash!" King roared as his blade cleaved through the air in a blur of motion, slicing through everything in the area around him a thousand times per minute.
"Explosive breath!" Mr tiger bellowed, his throat burned with a blue light on his fair skin, the heat intensifying before he released a massive blast from his mouth. Yet, King deftly parried the attack, but the reaction resulted in a massive explosion. King staggered back, but with a swift slash, he cut through the explosions.
“What just happened?" Aurianna wondered, her perception blurred due to her poor condition, making it challenging to see the rapid attacks happening before her.
"That being cut through my blue flames," Mr. Tiger thought with a frown, his red brows creasing in consternation.
"Just wait and watch," King said with a smile as he swung his sword. Half of the island they stood upon was slashed into several small pieces, crumbling into the sea. Some unfortunate individuals floating in the sky were caught in the devastating attack, sliced into pieces as well. The casualties left Mrs. Bear staring in shock, realizing the breach in her defenses.
"King, they aren't all dead," Aurianna remarked with a displeased look, disappointment evident as his attack fell short of her expectations.
Suddenly, Leila's advice resurfaced in Aurianna's mind. "Be careful when you use King," she had warned. "His attack power is extremely strong, but he often misses half of the target. And once he's summoned, you'll collapse afterward, so make sure you're surrounded by people you can trust."
‘I have no one I can trust here,’ Aurianna thought, her expression cold.
"King, attack them again!" Aurianna ordered, determined to press on because there was no going back.
"If I make another attack, you may collapse, and this isn't the best situation for that," King warned, caution in his tone.
"Just feed me the bodies of everyone you can, and I'll be fine. You know how Ruigo did it, right?" Aurianna asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I suppose I can do that. And I only have an hour left," King shrugged.
With a snap of his fingers, King caused the bodies of most of the low-level beings around to crumple into mush. Their flesh, blood, and souls mingling in a gruesome display. The weapons around were crushed, and Mrs. Bear, along with the other workers, became infuriated. She charged towards King, creating a pair of water knuckles on her hands, which soon turned into ice. With a manic attack, she used the knuckles to relentlessly punch the shield, releasing half of her Grand Human pressure, ultimately suffocating Aurianna and making it difficult for her to breathe.
King, however, remained indifferent. As some workers tried to intervene, to stop the floating weapons—worth fortunes. However, they were gruesomely mulled by the floating weapons, which resulted in a gruesome end, and they joined the pile of flesh and blood.
All the bodies formed together into a massive ball, which King swiftly compressed into a small, candy-like form. He made it float toward Aurianna, who formed crystal hands and caught the ball, swallowing it in one gulp.
"How sweet!" Aurianna beamed with an ecstatic expression, licking her lips. She rose to her feet, feeling considerably better than before.
[ You have devoured 234,577 souls.]
"What the hell?" gasped the announcer, unease evident on his face.
“Seriously, what is that child? I only came to this auction because my son wanted a new slave. But I'm a bit glad that I didn't buy that monster,” Mr. Tiger said with a frown.
"You're a Grand Dragon, right?" Mrs. Bear asked Mr. Tiger.
"Yes," he answered nonchalantly.
"Please help me kill her. If she causes any more disturbances, she'll awaken the sea kings, and the last thing I want after all these losses is to fight a sea king.”
____
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‘They both blocked King's attack. Those two people—the man with the child and the woman with a bear mask. A Grand Human and a Grand Dragon. The second most powerful beings to exist,’ Aurianna thought with a frown as the situation turned dire. ‘Confronting a Grand Human is a foolish move, but I'd rather die than be sold as a slave,’ she thought coldly.
‘For now, I can only bet on King. I have three more attacks left.’
“Water spiral!” Mrs. Bear yelled, conjuring a hundred spirals of water around her.
“Blast breath!” The man's throat burned with a brilliant blue light again as he released a powerful blast attack of blue flame. Both attacks clashed against the shield.
‘Damn, the power of their attacks is crazy!’ Aurianna thought. ‘Arc Humans are nothing compared to these monsters,’ she declared as she witnessed the strength of a Grand Human firsthand. ‘I want to be stronger than them.’
“You're dead! How dare you defy me, you slave! I want her dead! I want her to be a living puppet!” Mr. Fox yelled as he regained consciousness.
“If I'm to die, isn't it better to take all you fucking assholes with me? This would be a wonderful lesson to never try to kidnap me, Aurianna!” she declared arrogantly, further infuriating them.
“You crazy brat?” Mr. Fox yelled angrily.
“King!” Aurianna yelled.
“Purgatory flames!” Mr. Tiger calmly stated.
“Eiuma Cluster!” King yelled as he snapped his fingers, summoning thousands of lights in the sky.
“The skies—they are covered with stars?” a woman with a peacock mask wondered, but as they drew closer, they revealed themselves to be crystals with burning flames inside, hurtling towards the group.
“You sneaky brat. Damn that bastard for selling you to us without revealing all your skills. If you don't surrender, your body won't even be left once I'm done. I'll blast you away!” Mrs. Bear yelled, conjuring a hundred thousand magic circles in the sky to counter King's attacks.
Seeing this, King distanced himself from the island, standing on the sea as if it were solid ground.
However, Aurianna was still affected by the flames despite the shield. Her entire body started to combust with blue flames. Despite healing and reviving repeatedly, the blue flames persisted.
“I hate flames,” Aurianna cried out, writhing in agony. “Leila’s fires are different, warm and comforting. But this fire—it's hot, burning, terrifying like those ones, aghhhhhhh!” she yelled.
‘I hate it. I hate this feeling. I hate this fire. Fire never felt this hot whenever I fought, so why is this one so intense? No, Aurianna, you must not be afraid; it's just fire. But I am afraid of fire. I've always been afraid of fire, especially ones that can engulf my whole body. But I can't continue to be afraid. I must embrace it. Some of my skills involve fire. I would always fight with and against fire. So if it's not my fire, it must be eliminated!’ Aurianna thought coldly as she lost consciousness.
"This pressure!" exclaimed a pair of eyes, widening in surprise as they silently observed the unfolding spectacle. "How is this possible? It's not possible for a Gemaris to wield Regal powers."
Aurianna's humanity immediately slipped away, her eyes turning black and hollow as rainbow-tinged lines, tainted with ominous black hues, traced through her body.
"Arghhhhh!!!" Aurianna's scream echoed with a distorted voice, piercing the air as the skies cracked, eliciting surprised gazes from Athena and the dragon Guios.
The skies wept a strange mixture of white and rainbow-colored substances, cascading down to cover the seas below. Sinister laughter reverberated in the air, adding to the eerie atmosphere, while Aurianna's body continued to burn with an agonized intensity, her screams growing even louder.
“My body refuses to move. This feels like the presence of a Primordial Human,” Mrs. Bear thought nervously as she found Aurianna's current appearance deeply unsettling.
“How does she have the aura of a Grand Human even though she isn't one?!” Mrs. Bear wondered as she bit her lips and met with Aurianna's hollow eyes.
“Is this some sort of mutation? Wait, this feeling, this skill, a Regal??? What? How is Aurianna using the power of a Regal?!” Eva gasped from her void space, her eyes and body trembling in response to the familiar, horrible feeling. “Only Regals can use such a skill, yet she and Leila are able to use it. What does it mean?” Eva wondered.
“What I don't understand is how she is using Chaos Realm?!” Eva pondered, her brows furrowed in confusion.
“System, I demand an explanation! First Leila with Chaos flame, now Aurianna with Chaos Realm!” She demanded angrily, slamming her hands on the table and glaring at the white screen before her.
“With this level of commotion, it would awaken the strongest sea kings! We must kill her quickly! Everyone, if those sea kings arrive, even I can't guarantee your safety!” Mrs. Bear urgently alerted everyone, inciting panic.
“What do you mean?” The boy with the lion mask asked.
“There's a reason why no one ventures into the dark seas. These sea kings are as strong as Grand Humans or Primordial Humans. The only reason our auction remains protected from other sea monsters is because it's built atop a sea king!” She blurted out fearfully, and under the water, the eyes of a massive beast opened as it slowly began to move.
“Water blast!” Mrs. Bear yelled as she sent a punch towards Aurianna, enraged, causing a massive wave in the ocean around them. The waters churned and the skies echoed with explosions.
However, another shield formed blocking Mrs Bear's attack, and Aurianna pointed at her, shooting a beam of light that pierced through Mrs. Bear's shoulder, injuring her.
‘She injured me, a Grand Human, a mere Chaos Human!’ Mrs. Bear panicked as her eyes met Aurianna's hollow black gaze and creepy smile.
‘She has to be stopped, she's too dangerous!’ Mrs. Bear concluded, regaining her balance in the sky and glaring at Aurianna.
Due to the intense fighting and pressure, the mask on her face cracked, revealing a lovely yet cold-faced woman with long blue hair and olive skin.
The barrage of attacks continued, and the shield began to crack. The man with a tiger mask immediately transformed into a great western dragon, his flame attacks growing larger and hotter, causing the sea to bubble around them. However, all within the water users' shield remained protected.
“Lady Athena is beginning to take this seriously,” the announcer blurted out nervously.
“That child poses a threat. If she isn't dealt with swiftly, this fight will awaken the Sea Kings. I wouldn't be surprised if some are already awake and heading this way.” a man beside him blurted out, watching the fight from the water shield he was in.
After a few minutes of Athena attacking, Aurianna's shield finally collapsed, leaving her exposed. Athena grinned, but Aurianna's grin was wider. Ten monstrous figures suddenly appeared before Athena, resembling deformed angels. Were they truly angels? It was difficult to tell, but they were horrifying and as tall as King.
"What... what are those things?" Mrs. Bear muttered, her voice tinged with fear as she stared at the towering monstrosities.
"They… are definitely familiar indeed, Archeons but smaller versions," Eva stammered from her void space, her usually composed demeanor was now replaced by fear in her eyes.
One immediately grabbed Athena and hurled her across the sea, while all ten deformed angels chased after her, launching their assault.
Athena twisted in mid-air, summoning a whirlwind of water to cushion her landing.
“Blast him away, don't you dare miss,” Aurianna said coldly to King, who nervously met her gaze.
‘Is she really a Gemaris? I can't tell, but isn't this the same form Master Leila had?’ King wondered. ‘With this new form of hers, my power has increased greatly. But she's more frightening than the former White Gemaris,’ King thought, his evil grin widening before he gripped his sword tightly.
Obeying Aurianna's orders, King raised his sword high as a beam of light gathered around it. Seeing this massive attack of light, Guios roared loudly, his anger fueled by his son's terrified face.
Guios transformed into a half-dragon and pulled out a large broadsword from his ring, ready to counter King's attack.
King brought down the burning light, and Guios yelled as he countered with an equally powerful attack. The clash of their attacks created a large explosion and sending shockwaves through the air.
‘I have to kill her no matter what! And what the hell are these beings, and what happened with the water? What is this strange color? No matter how many times I crush them, they keep coming back. It's definitely not an illusion. So the only way to stop them is to kill her. Water arrow!’ Athena conjured up a large bow in her hand and loaded three arrows onto it.
“I'm going to attack her with everything I've got!” She told herself, her gaze fixed on Aurianna's vital parts before she released the arrows containing massive destructive water magic. The arrows streaked through the air with blinding speed, trailing streams of water behind them.
Aurianna turned as she noticed the incoming arrow of attack and tried to stop it, but the arrows were stronger. The shield cracked under the power of the arrow, causing one arrow to pierce King in the chest, creating a massive hole, and two pierced Aurianna, one in her heart and the other in her gut, creating gaping wounds.
Aurianna's hollow eyes widened in shock, and she coughed up a massive amount of white blood.
‘Yes, I pierced her!’ Athena cheered as the beings attacking her started to move slower.
Feeling unimaginable pain in her body from the arrow as well as the fire, Aurianna cried out, her cry louder than the rest, causing the air to tremble and the waves to roar.
“She just became louder?” Athena hissed, placing her hands over her ears.
“Arghh, my ears are bleeding!” cried one of the auction attendees.
“I have finally caught this bastard's sword!” Guios laughed as he glared at King and held his large sword tightly.
However, as he tried to break it, it didn't budge, which surprised him. “Wait, why is it so hard?” he wondered, but seeing all of King's eyes terrified him, making him jump back.
“A mere mortal dared to touch my sword. How revolting,” King said coldly, his voice making everyone watching him tremble in fear or feel uneasy.
“Father, kill that thing already!” his son demanded.
“I would kill it, but I need to be careful. This thing is more dangerous than it looks,” Guios said, patting his son gently on the head.
“Hey, Athena!” Guios called out her name, knowing it from overhearing her subordinates. “Let's attack them together and end this quickly,” he offered, as dealing with Aurianna and her summons was starting to become difficult.
Indeed, I'm tired of this. I'll use my strongest attack,” Athena declared, gathering large amounts of water above her.
“Same for me,” Guios declared, his entire body immediately bursting with blue flames that burned ferociously. Luckily, the others were protected from the heat by Athena's shield.
“Blast breath!” Guios unleashed a fire attack that caused an explosion when it neared King.
“Water dragon!” Athena's water formed a dragon in the sky, opening its large maw as a blue beam of light converged there. Immediately, a powerful water blast shot out from its mouth towards King.
“Perish!!!” They both yelled as their attacks rained down on Aurianna and King, slowly destroying the young girl's body.
King raised his sword to make one more attack. A black and red light converged on his sword, giving it an eerie appearance, and his white eyes turned black.
“Nebula,” he calmly said as his sword cut through the air and he released a massive dark purple and blue explosion covering a 200-kilometer radius. The aftermath shimmered like stars forming in the night sky, illuminating the waters below.
After this attack, King finally crumbled, and Aurianna succumbed to her injuries as she returned to her normal form. Her body was burnt into ashes by that attack.
Once the attack subsided, Aurianna revived on the island, which was barely protected by Athena's barrier.
“I'm alive. Well, that's a relief. It's good to be able to revive!” She sighed.
However, Athena and the others weren't doing well. Athena sustained massive internal injuries from that attack, as did Guios. Fifty-three of the attending auction members were killed in that assault.
“Finally, it's over…” Athena sighed in relief. “I'll have to report this to Master once I get back to the mainland,” she said to herself, her eyes fixed on the star-like patterns created by King's attack. When she looked below, the water was illuminated, causing her pupils to shrink and her face to turned pale.
“Dammit, the sea kings are here!” She yelled.
“So, those are sea kings, how terrifying,” Aurianna mumbled as she noticed numerous enormous monsters as huge as King but longer surrounding the water around them and killing off competition.
Athena’s aura surged when she noticed that the place was unusually dark. So dark that it terrified her.
Suddenly, she could finally make out what was in the darkness. It was the large body of a creature. Its scaly skin shimmered, and its head suddenly shot out from the darkness, aiming to bite her.
Luckily, Athena noticed the attack and blocked it with a water shield.
The creature before her was much more terrifying than King. She was barely taller than its teeth, and the creature had haunting red eyes that stared at them.
“So, that woman and man were holding back the entire time. Makes sense since they didn't want to draw the attention of the sea kings,” Aurianna nodded as she concluded and struggled to get up.
“Hehe, well, I'm not willing to die here. Time to run,” she told herself as she dashed towards the docks.
“The wounds those two gave me are excruciating. The hole in my chest and well as my stomach are not healing even though I just revived,” she mumbled as she noticed them, and she couldn't help but frown.
“Hmm, well, I don't know exactly how I survived, but I did. And those bastards struggling with sea monsters. How can sea monsters be that strong to make a Grand Human tremble in fear as well as several Arc Humans?” Aurianna wondered as she watched everyone floating in the skies fight.
“Well, I better escape with one of the ships. Luckily none were destroyed with all those attacks,” Aurianna mumbled as she dashed towards one of the ships at the dock, jumped, and landed on the deck. People could be seen panicking as they immediately began to hoist their sails and cut off the anchor of the ship.
Noticing someone on the ship caused the workers on the ship to be alerted. But seeing her adorable face, their panicked expressions immediately became calm.
“Miss, may I ask who you are? This ship belongs to…” a man who seemed like a captain tried to explain but was met with Aurianna's raised palm.
“I don't care who it belongs to. Let's escape this place at once, unless you want to deal with those sea monsters,” she stated, pointing at the sea monsters heading towards Athena.
“But miss, we can't,” the captain tried to refute.
“Start the ship,” Aurianna ordered coldly.
“Yes!” The man chirped, his eyes dazed as he walked towards the ship's wheel, spun it, and the ship began to move.
“I hope I'm not mistaken, but is that a hole in her chest and stomach?” a woman, one of the crew members, whispered to her male friend with a nervous expression.
“It's better we don't ask questions,” he said, shaking his head, and continued pulling in some ropes.
“Why?” the woman asked, inching further towards her busy mate.
“She makes me feel extremely uneasy. No human should be able to walk normally with such a wound, so it means she's not human,” he said with a grave tone, and the woman nodded, resuming her duties.
“Everyone, we are passing through infested waters. Be on high alert!” the captain ordered, and everyone nodded.
“These waters are really being flooded with sea monsters. And they are all heading towards the place with the largest mana concentration and bloody scent. Hmm, good luck dealing with that,” Aurianna chuckled as she watched the illuminated waters from the side of the ship, seeing many sea creatures swimming towards the island.