A faint chi sounded in his ear — a translucent holographic screen flickered before him:
*Ding!
[Divine Artifact detected: Throne of Vikramaditya]
[Ancient Seal active. Attempt to break the seal? Y/N]
For a mont, the golden light of his eyes shimred faintly. His fingers hovered near the Yes icon, but then... he smiled and closed the window.
"Not yet," he whispered to himself, closing the notification screen. "Let’s unseal after I defeat the fallen angel and claim its power."
He took a slow sip of his drink, a smile tugging at his lips in satisfaction.
*
Minutes later, the auction continued — the tension only growing thicker as only four items remained.
ITEM 7: Sun and Moon Brooch, an obsidian accessory that is soaked into the blood of a werewolf while forging. Just wearing it will protect one from any kind of possession, and during the night, they can turn into a shadow. Sold for 19.5 million Credits. Winner: Table 1.
ITEM 8: Flag of Huangdi, a flag when planted on the ground, can increase the powers of its master and his allies by 30%. However, it doesn’t work on monster companions. Sold for 26 million credits. Winner: Table 3.
And then the ninth item floated into view, which appeared like a circular silver mirror embedded in a dragon-shaped fra. At once, it does look like an ordinary mirror, but everyone around knows its powers very well.
"The next item," the hostess announced, "is the Heavenly Mirror — capable of revealing every kind of illusion, deception, or disguise. Whether it’s a physical transformation or a hidden truth within one’s heart, the mirror reflects it all."
A hush fell over the audience.
"However..."
"However," she continued, "it is classified as an Earth-grade artifact. aning, if the subject possesses a defensive treasure of Sky or Heaven grade, its effect may be nullified. The starting bid is four million credits, with each raise at five hundred thousand. Begin!"
Imdiately, paddles shot up. Kate’s most of all.
"Five million."
"Seven."
"Ten."
Kate’s voice was calm but determined, the sharp glint in her eyes betraying how much she wanted it, as she had yet to win one, and she highly doubted she could win the last item of the auction. Orion, seated beside her, rely turned his masked face slightly, watching her paddle rise again and again.
When the bid hit fifteen million, the hall grew tense. The bidder at table eleven — an elderly man in gray — finally dropped out. A brief silence followed before another voice joined the fray.
"Table two, seventeen million."
Heads turned as Selene joined as the new bidder.
Kate’s lips curved slightly, muttering under her breath. "So, you want to play too?"
The two won locked eyes, and the room seed to shrink between them
"Eighteen million."
"Twenty."
"Twenty-two."
"Thirty."
"Thirty-five."
The air grew heavier with each bid, the hall filled with whispers and gasps.
When the numbers crossed forty million, the crowd could hardly stay quiet anymore.
"Forty-four million, table nine!" the hostess announced, excitent rising.
Kate still had her paddle raised. Her hand remained firm while her eyes remained unwavering.
At another table, Selene watched their competitor, turning her head to look at Kate. When her eyes fell on Wolf-masked Orion, she couldn’t help but notice the faint silhouette of the man beside her — sothing about him... felt familiar, especially his body fra, one that she was looking at almost every day.
"This fellow look familiar... anyway, forget about him, i must have fought him in so tournant..." she thought, shaking her head.
anwhile, Orion sighed quietly, pressing a hand to his head and looking down.
Then—
"Fifty-two point five million! Table Nine!"
"Once, Twice..."
The hamr struck the golden gong in her hand.
"Sold — To Table Number 9."
A murmur rippled through the audience. Kate finally set her paddle down, exhaling softly before turning toward Orion.
As she raised her hand, Orion tilted his head toward her and raised his hand to give a high-five. "You did it."
However, deep inside his mind, he thought silently. "This gal... was she really that traumatized that she wants this mirror? I’d better hope she won’t use it on ."
And a while later;
The hall dimd slightly as the hostess’ voice rang out for the last ti, laced with excitent and formality — the tone that always marked the end of a grand event.
"And now, ladies and gentlen," she announced, smiling beneath the spotlight, "we co to the highlight of tonight’s auction — the mysterious, most prestigious item that wasn’t even included in your files."
A ripple of anticipation spread across the hall. Even the ones who had grown weary of endless bidding straightened in their seats, wondering what will be the item.
"Behold—"
With a soft hum of soul energy, the hostess reached into her ring and slowly drew out sothing massive — a large oval-shaped object, faintly glowing under the light.
For a second, the audience fell silent. Then a wave of surprise and intrigue burst across the hall.
"Another... egg?"
"What egg is that?"
"I can’t sense anything from it, though. It is not dead, right?"
The hostess smiled knowingly, letting the murmurs settle before continuing:
"This is a fossilized egg... or rather, that’s what we thought it was, when we found it in the caves of Yuk. It was unearthed from a site dated to nearly seventy five million years ago, back in the era when the world was ruled by giant monsters — before even the existence of soul energy, celestials, or demons began."
The room filled with awe-struck whispers. Even Selene and Luna exchanged glances. Only Orion flinched in surprise. Because he knows what the monsters are, the ones that lived during that ti. However, what he found strange that how dinosaurs live in this world and also in his own world that is light years away?
The hostess continued. "Upon study, we discovered sothing astounding. Despite being buried for so long, the egg had traces of a temporal seal — a seal that froze it in ti. When our team broke the seal, expecting a fossilized shell, we found sothing entirely different."
She paused for effect. "The egg was alive."
The air in the auction hall instantly grew heavy.
"It was a Tyrannosaurus egg, an apex predator of those tis. We cannot explain how it survived or who placed such a seal upon it — only that the seal itself was simple, ancient, and certainly not of divine or celestial origin. If anything, it appeared a bit modern, especially the runes used in sealing the egg."
A few gasps sounded from the audience. One even stood halfway from his seat with his eyes widened in disbelief.
"Now, before anyone gets too excited," the hostess added, smiling, "allow to clarify. This is not a spirit beast egg. So, even if you get the Tyrannosaurus as your Arcana spirit, you don’t get any powers, apart from its transformation. The good thing is that it didn’t need any elent to be bonded with."
A murmur of surprise and slight disappointnt rippled through the crowd.
"However," she said, her voice rising again, "at its pri, this species is estimated to possess the raw physical might of even a Demigod. Its bite could shatter steel, and its roar could crush your eardrums."
The disappointnt only increased further among the guests. They all expected this item to be the real highlight of the auction, but even if they manage to extract the spirit and get it, all they get is an Arcana spirit with no elents or abilities."
"The true value of this item," the hostess concluded, her smile widening, "lies not in its strength or potential — but in its rarity. This is the only surviving dinosaur egg in the entire world. The last relic of an age before soul energy itself existed."
The egg floated slowly above the display dais, rotating under the crystal lights.
"Even if you choose never to hatch its spirit," she said, "it will remain one of the greatest trophies of this age — a priceless display, rivaling any artifact or antique in prestige. Because it is the only one in the world..."
She spread her arm dramatically, voice echoing across the hall:
"However, following the protocol, the bidding for the Tyrannosaurus Egg begins at 20 million credits! The interested bidders must just raise the paddle and keep it up as we continue to raise the bid, until there is only one paddle. Once the paddle is down, those who hadn’t raised the paddle from the start are out of this bidding war.
"Now, who is up for 20 million. Raise the paddles."
Everyone: "..."
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