"And now, for the item you've all been waiting for" Mistress Noctra said as the female skeleton slowly removed the silk covering the item.
Encased in a glass case, was a cosmic purple crystal with waves of energy swirling within.
"This is an item that needs no introduction," Mistress Noctra's voice came again "but for the sake of tradition, allow me to."
"This, dear guests, is the Shard of Odin, the All-Father of the Norse Pantheon" the excitement in her tone was evident as she introduced the shard.
Mistress Noctra let the tension build, her red-painted lips curling into a knowing smirk.
"As you all know," she continued, running a gloved hand along the glass case, "Shards are the exclusive domain of the gods—granted only to their chosen Champions, their loyal enforcers in this world."
"But I present to you the opportunity to gain power rivaling the Champions of the gods, while remaining unbound to them," she said "And not just the shard of any god, but one belonging to a god king."
At this point, the guests were practically vibrating with anticipation, eager for Mistress Noctra to state the starting price already. Shards were the one thing money couldn't buy… well, legally anyway.
Without becoming a Champion—and in turn, a slave to the gods—one could never hope to wield divine power.
But here, in the shadowed depths of the black market, that iron law could be broken, for a price.
The bidders in this room weren't just criminals or nobles. Among them sat the leader of the Resistance, a group that sought to gain back humanity's freedom from the gods.
And for that chance, for the power to stand against the gods themselves, they were willing to pay any price.
Ace observed the excitement around him before turning back to the man sitting by him. The noble looked uninterested as ever, which was weird.
But Ace ignored the man and turned back to the platform. His goal for coming here was right in front of him but he couldn't rush.
He needed a way to steal the shard and escape the bounty hunters waiting for him. For that, he needed chaos—pure, unfiltered mayhem to engulf the auction theater.
The more distracted they were, the less they'd notice when the Shard of Odin vanished.
And when the dust settled, he'd be long gone.
But he wasn't in a rush to execute his plan—after all, Ace thrived when the odds were stacked against him.
The greedy bounty hunters grew more eager as the bidding neared its conclusion. Their prey was right here, trapped with nowhere to run.
To them, this was easy money, one that walked straight into their pockets, or so they thought.
"We'll start the bidding at a million gold coins, with an increase of a hundred thousand gold coins per bid" Mistress Noctra informed and soon enough, the bids started rolling in.
"Five million gold coins" the rich noble that had won the previous bids announced, he seemss to never run out of money as he casually stated the amount.
The shocked most of the bidders, since they never expected the amount to go this high on the first bid, but they were also unwilling to back down.
"Six million" another offer came, the bidder was the assassin covered in shadows.
"Eight million" another offer came.
It didn't take long for the price of the shard to cross ten million gold.
No one was willing to back down and forfeit this chance, which might as well be their last.
"Twent—" the rich noble wanted to increase the price again but was stopped an older man who was dressed like a butler.
The butler whispered something in the noble's ears causing him to back down albeit unwillingly and with a frown on his face.
The bidding continued for a while before it finally concluded. It was sold at twenty million gold coins to the leader of the resistance.
Although he had won the bidding, one could tell by his clenched fists that he had spent a lot more than he planned.
"I almost feel sorry for what I'm about to do," Ace muttered, a smirk playing on his lips. Then, with an amused chuckle, he added, "Nah."
"I guess it's time," he said, leaning back in his seat and subtly reaching into his cloak.
The bounty hunters also started subtly moving towards him as the auction was concluding.
As soon as Mistress Noctra left the theater, this place would officially become their hunting ground.
After all, no one dared to anger the Mistress by disrupting her auction. The safest time to strike was after the auction concluded—when Ace or anyone else would no longer be under her unspoken protection.
Ace, on the other hand, had a different plan. His hand rested on the device hidden beneath his cloak—another generous gift from Hephaestus' blacksmiths.
The leader of the resistance walked up to the stage where the encased crystal was handed over to him.
His eyes held a victorious glint as he received the shard.
'This brings us one step to gaining freedom from those monsters' he thought to himself.
Ace looked at him and smirked 'I'm sorry buddy, but that shard belongs to me.'
Mistress Noctra turned to the audience with one final sweeping glance.
"With that, our auction has come to a close. Enjoy the rest of your evening… and, of course, do try to survive the night."
Her eyes were momentarily fixed on the relaxed Ace and she gave him a smile, before disappearing in the shadows with her skeletons.
As soon as she left, the withheld blood lusts were released all at one, some targeting the rich noble, others, the leader of the resistance but the vast majority was aimed at Ace.
Before anyone could react, Ace activated the device beneath his cloak. Instantly, the rune-powered lights in the theater flickered out, plunging the room into darkness.
Gasps echoed as confusion befell the guests in the room. Everyone immediately drew their weapons but the lights soon turned back on.
The theater was almost the same as it was before the lights went off.... almost.
There was a moment of silence before a voice broke the silence.
"The...the shard, it's gone"
The glass case lay empty in the hands of the leader of the resistance but the shard was nowhere to be seen.
"The b*stard's gone too!" someone cursed.
Not only was the Shard missing, but Ace had vanished as well.
The bounty hunters scanned the room, searching for any sign of him. His seat was empty, as if he had never been there.
Some rushed to the exits, hoping to catch him, while others turned to the Resistance leader, who clenched his fists in anger.
"Find him," he ordered. "I'm willing to pay any amount to the one who brings that Shard back to me."
This increased the amount of people searching for Ace, but deep down they all knew one thing,
Ace wasn't someone that could be caught.