Chapter 445: Auction begins
The woman remained silent for a long moment before she turned and started walking away. "Stick around. Maybe after everything is over, I can bring you along with me." Her form blurred at the edges, swallowed by shadow. A heartbeat later, she was gone.
Damon exhaled slowly. He leaned against the wall, crimson eyes narrowing at the empty alley where she had vanished. "After everything is over, huh? Sounds like this auction really is going to be fun."
He waited for a couple of minutes. Then, with a casual roll of his shoulders, he stepped out of the alley, once again heading in the same direction. The woman had only asked him not to interfere in their affairs. She did not say anything about attending the auction itself.
He followed the red lanterns in Stealth and arrived at the location in no time. "1 gold coin to enter." The demon brute at the entrance blocked his path.
The guy was massive, horns curling like jagged blades, his bulk nearly filling the narrow entryway. His hand was outstretched, palm open, waiting for the coin. The lantern glow painted his skin in flickering red, his fangs bared in a half-snarl, half-smile.
Damon paid the gold coin. The guard stepped aside, the heavy door behind him creaking open with a low groan.
Damon was shocked right away. The inside of the building was nothing like what he thought it would be. Instead of the small, cramped room, there was a big hall in front of him. The walls were lined with shiny obsidian pillars that had glowing runes on them.
There were a lot of races around him. Everyone was going to the big auditorium that was at the end of the hall.
Rows upon rows of seats stretched toward a central stage, where attendants in black robes prepared cages, shrouded crates, and relics covered in runic cloth. At the far end, there was an elevated dais where an auctioneer was yet to come.
The whole setup pretty much resembled a system-sanctioned auction house, except that the scale of this was slightly smaller. Also, there was no separate VIP section or different private booths. There was only the common seating area.
The different races seemed to have segregated and staked out their own corners. The demons occupied the right side, the beast kin were sitting on the left, and the other races were grouped here and there.
Even though the entire place was way too crowded for this to be called a secret auction, there seemed to be only selective individuals present at the auction. It was definitely not the same rowdy crowd on the street.
Damon only took a moment to observe everything and then silently walked over to the group of vampires sitting in the crowd. A few heads turned his way, but no one said anything. Only one particularly hostile pair of eyes followed him.
"I thought I specifically asked you not to interfere." An angry voice sounded in his ear.
Damon shrugged. "Relax," he murmured, his lips barely moving. "I’m not here to meddle in your little games. I’m here to watch. Just like everyone else."
For a moment, there was silence, but the hostile gaze never left him. He could feel her trying to pierce through him, as if weighing whether to strike him down here and now or let him be. Finally, the voice whispered again, colder this time. "Then sit, acolyte, and remember your place. If you step out of line, not even your precious noble blood will save you."
Damon did not say anything. He simply leaned back and looked around. More and more demons and beastkin continued to enter the auditorium. Shockingly, almost everyone who had arrived here was either a peak D rank or a C rank, more powerful than the crowd he had expected.
After a while, the hall’s torches flared to life with green fire. The attendants in black robes stepped back, and a new figure walked onto the dais. The auctioneer had arrived.
The hum of whispers died instantly as the auctioneer stepped onto the stage. He was a gaunt demon with skin like pale ash, his eyes glowing like embers beneath a hooded robe. With a single sweep of his clawed hand, silence blanketed the hall.
"Honored guests," his voice rang out, amplified by enchantments carved into the walls. "Welcome to the Auction. Tonight, you are not merely buyers, you are predators hunting rare prey. And prey... there will be."
A ripple of excitement surged through the audience. Even the vampires leaned forward slightly, their crimson gazes sharpening.
The attendants dragged the first item forward, a massive cage veiled in black cloth. The metal rattled as something inside snarled. The air thickened with killing intent, forcing a few weaker beastkin in the crowd to flinch. With a flourish, the cloth was yanked away.
Inside was a creature Damon instantly recognized. A Hellhound, its hide charred black, veins glowing with molten fire, eyes like pits of magma. Except this one was special. Chains of rune-inscribed silver bound its limbs, sizzling each time the beast strained.
"A juvenile Emberfang Hellhound," the auctioneer announced, his lips curling into a sharp smile. "Born of the Infernal Pits. Rare, untamable, and worth more than gold. A beast that can rip apart squads of demons once it matures. We will start the bidding at... ten gold coins."
The hall erupted at once, bids flying. "Fifteen!" a beastkin chieftain barked. "Twenty!" a demon noble countered. "Thirty!" another shouted. The number shot up fast, reaching a hundred in the blink of an eye, but that seemed to be the limit.
The beast was sold off for a hundred gold coins to a beastkin.
The beastkin stomped forward, tossing a heavy pouch onto the attendant’s tray. The auctioneer’s grin widened as the Hellhound’s cage was dragged off stage, the beast thrashing and spitting molten drool all the way down. The beastkin’s eyes gleamed with savage pride, his underlings cheering behind him.
"Sold for one hundred gold coins!" the auctioneer declared, his voice booming, silencing the hall once more. "Now then, our next item..."