The Crown Prince of the Human Kingdom had just casually thrown down fifty gold coins for a cursed sword. The entire room was holding its breath, too terrified to raise a hand against the Royal Family.
Zero leaned back in his plush velvet armchair, the heavy Abyssal Steel plates of his armor shifting with a soft, metallic scrape.
"Fifty gold," Zero murmured, his mechanically distorted voice barely a whisper. "He throws away a fortune for a toy he will likely never swing in actual combat."
He tapped his armored finger against the armrest, a dark, calculating thought forming in his mind. He only had two gold coins and a handful of silver in his physical pouch. If he won this bid, he couldn't pay for it with the Kingdom's currency.
But he didn't need to.
"System," Zero thought. "If I win a bid and lack the physical gold, can I pay the Golden Scales Auction House with equivalent high-grade materials from the Shop?"
Ding!
[SYSTEM CONFIRMATION]
[Affirmative: High-end auction houses operate on a barter system for VIP clients. Items of equal or greater value (such as Velkora Fruits or higher-grade elixirs) are accepted as legal tender in place of gold coins]
Zero's crimson eyes narrowed beneath his iron mask. He had over a thousand System Points. He could buy items that the Human Kingdom considered priceless myths. He had more functional wealth in his mind than the Prince had in his entire vault.
"Let's test the waters," Zero decided, a cold, dangerous smirk forming behind his mask. "Let's see how much this arrogant royal brat is willing to bleed for his pride"
Down on the stage, the Auctioneer was already raising his gavel, a nervous smile plastered on his face.
"Going once to VIP Room One for fifty gold coins!" the Auctioneer announced, eager to close the sale and please the Crown Prince.
"Going twice..."
Zero reached out and placed his heavy, gauntleted hand over the magical communication dial on the table next to him. He channeled a tiny pulse of mana into the crystal.
"Sixty Gold Coins"
The magically altered, completely anonymous voice echoed from VIP Room Seven, booming through the silent auction hall.
GASP.
The reaction was instantaneous. Hundreds of merchants and low-ranked nobles on the main floor physically flinched, twisting in their seats to stare up at the dark, mirrored window of VIP Room Seven. Absolute shock rippled through the crowd.
"Did someone just... bid against the Crown Prince?" a fat merchant whispered loudly, his face pale with terror.
"Who is in Room Seven?!" a knight hissed to his companion. "Are they insane? Or do they have a death wish?"
Inside VIP Room One, Crown Prince Caspian was glaring through his one-way crystal window, his handsome, aristocratic face twisting into an ugly sneer. He was dressed in pristine white and gold silk, a jeweled rapier resting on his hip.
"Who dares?" Caspian snarled, gripping the edge of his velvet chair. "Who in this miserable city has the nerve to outbid me in public? It must be some insignificant ant who is just begging to be crushed"
Beside him, Princess Seraphina, draped in an elegant silver gown, merely sighed, sipping from a crystal goblet of wine. "Calm down, Caspian. It is an auction. People are allowed to bid"
But Caspian wasn't listening. He aggressively pressed his hand against the magical communication dial on his table.
"Seventy-Five Gold Coins!" the Prince announced, attempting to crush the opposition with a heavy jump in price.
The Auctioneer on the stage smiled in relief, raising his gavel. "Seventy-Five Gold to VIP Room On—"
"Seventy-Seven." Zero's distorted voice interrupted instantly from Room Seven, not missing a single beat.
Caspian's eye twitched. He slammed his hand onto the dial again. "Eighty Gold!"
"Eighty-One." Zero replied immediately, his tone completely flat and unbothered, as if he were buying an apple at a fruit stand.
Caspian completely lost his temper. The blatant disrespect was too much for his royal ego.
"Who are you?!" the Prince's magically amplified voice roared through the entire hall, completely shattering the formal etiquette of the auction. "Do you have any idea who you are messing with?! How dare you have the audacity to bid against us!"
The merchants on the main floor ducked their heads in sheer terror, waiting for the guards to storm Room Seven.
But before Zero could even respond, a completely different voice echoed from the mirrored glass of VIP Room Three. It was young, male, and dripped with lazy, arrogant mockery.
"So what, Prince Caspian?" the new voice chuckled smoothly.
The crowd gasped for a third time. Everyone recognized that arrogant drawl. It was Crown Prince Kaelen of the Solarian Kingdom, a rival nation bordering Oakhaven.
"Are you really throwing a tantrum over a few coins?" Prince Kaelen mocked, his voice echoing loudly for everyone to hear. "Is the great future King of Oakhaven so poor that he has to bully anonymous bidders with his title instead of his wallet? How embarrassing"
Caspian's face turned beet red with absolute humiliation and rage. Being mocked by a rival royal in front of his own subjects was the ultimate insult. He violently slammed his hand onto his magical communication dial.
"One Hundred Gold Coins!" Caspian roared through the hall, his voice echoing with raw fury.
The crowd below fell dead silent. One hundred gold was enough to buy a small estate. The Prince was using his overwhelming wealth to try and salvage his pride through sheer financial force.
In another part of the auction house, hidden behind the mirrored glass of VIP Room Four, an elegant woman sat alone in the shadows. She rested her chin on her pale, manicured hand, her sharp, intelligent eyes fixed on the unfolding drama.
When VIP Room Seven had first challenged the Prince, and Room Three had piled on, a slow, highly amused smile had spread across her lips.
"Well, well," she purred softly to herself, her voice like velvet. "Someone finally decided to kick the spoiled brat in the teeth. It seems Oakhaven has gained a very interesting, very arrogant new player tonight"
She watched the dark window of Room Seven intently, highly curious to see if the mysterious bidder would push the royal ego even further.
Back in Room Seven, Zero removed his heavy gauntlet from the dial.
He didn't bid again.
He leaned back in his plush velvet chair, completely relaxed. He had achieved exactly what he wanted. He had forced the Crown Prince to double his own bid purely out of spite and bruised pride, wasting a massive fortune on a cursed sword he likely couldn't even wield properly. Furthermore, he had just learned that Oakhaven had tense political rivals sitting right in the next room.
"One Hundred Gold from VIP Room One!" the Auctioneer shouted, wiping his brow in sheer relief that the chaotic bidding war seemed to be over. "Do we have any further bids? Going once! Going twice!"
BANG.
"Sold! To VIP Room One for One Hundred Gold Coins!"
Zero watched the elite guards carefully remove the Blood-Wraith Sword from the stage. He let out a dark, metallic chuckle that vibrated within his helmet.
Zero watched the elite guards carefully remove the Blood-Wraith Sword from the stage. He let out a dark, metallic chuckle that vibrated within his helmet.
"Let us see how long you can maintain that fragile arrogance, little Prince," Zero whispered to himself, his crimson eyes gleaming behind the iron slits of his mask.
"You just paid a massive fortune for a cursed blade merely to protect your bruised ego. A very expensive mistake"
He leaned back in his plush chair, his mind already spinning a new plan. The Blood-Wraith Sword was a masterpiece of dark forging. It was completely wasted on a pampered royal who would likely just lock it away in a vault out of fear.
"But that sword... it will be very useful to me," Zero murmured.
If he could secure it, it would be the perfect weapon to grant to one of his powerful subordinates. Perhaps even his newly acquired vanguard, Kaelith, once she was fully healed and needed a blade worthy of her giant strength. He didn't need to win the auction to get it; he could simply take it from the Prince when the time was right.
But first, he needed to deal with the weapon's fatal flaw.
"System," Zero commanded internally. "That Blood-Wraith Sword. If I acquire it, how do I break or cleanse its curse so my subordinates can wield it without dying?"
Ding!
[SYSTEM ANALYSIS]
[Target Item: Blood-Wraith Sword](Cursed Artifact).
[Curse Type: Parasitic Life-Drain] (The weapon feeds on the wielder's vitality to fuel its dark mana).
[Purification Method 1: Purchase a [High-Tier Holy Cleansing Scroll] from the System Shop] (Cost: 500 SP).
[This will completely erase the curse, but it will also weaken the blade's dark properties]
[Purification Method 2 (Recommended): Absolute Subjugation. As the host of the [Demon King's Aura], Master can forcefully inject his own Abyssal Mana into the blade to crush the weapon's parasitic spirit. This will permanently bind the sword's loyalty to you, completely nullifying the life-drain effect for you and any subordinate you permit to wield it] (Cost: 0 SP)
A cold, satisfied smirk formed beneath Zero's mask.
"Method Two it is," Zero thought, crossing his heavy Abyssal Steel gauntlets over his chest. "Zero SP and a stronger blade. The Prince can play with it for now. I will collect it from him later"
Down on the main stage, the Auctioneer wiped the sweat from his brow and raised his gavel once more, preparing to bring out the next item.
Would you like the Auctioneer to bring out the Velkora Fruits next so Zero can start bleeding the nobles' gold, or is there another item you want to see auctioned first?