The rich no longer looked rich. The powerful no longer looked powerful. Everyone looked the same now.
Defeated.
Grandpa Venus finally moved. His voice was quiet but sharp, like a blade cutting through silence.
"Take Sia and meet me in our estate," he told King Philip, looking around. "This place is finished."
King Philip's face was pale, but his jade fragments circled him tighter as he nodded. The two kings didn't look at each other for long. There was no victory to share. Only failure.
I watched them both, my mind still echoing with Sia's words.
The Rebirth Flames, one of the things which could help humanity keep an edge gone just like that.
And deep inside, I couldn't help but feel like the Hollow knew that.
Like it had all been part of his plan.
As the last of the nobles fled and silence finally settled over the ruined auction house, I realized something.
This wasn't just the end of an auction.
This was the start of something much, much bigger.
