3 million platinum had been the amount Zaine had originally speculated that Riveting Night would require in order to sweep the Divine Auction clear, as well as purchase the scales of the Light Dragon.
However, as it turned out, just this one deed had already reached this vast sum. It became clear that had Draco not added those high-grade crystals to the mix, Riveting Night would be a lot more constrained in the bidding.
Still, what was surprising was that her powerful bid was not enough to stop the truly determined.
"3,100,000 platinum." Came a gentle and calm voice from VIP room number 4.
Whoever was in VIP room 4 would definitely have to be either from the Mage Association or the Merchant Guild. Both powers would have great use for any Divine Dungeon, and the latter would naturally have endless purchasing power.
Riveting Night refused to give up though. This item was simply too good to make her give it up. "3,500,000 platinum."
She spoke this bid out darkly, a clear warning tone in her speech. Even though the various powers had no idea of who was in there, they couldn't help but feel slight trepidation.
An entity that could enter VIP room 1, which had been unoccupied since the Church was founded, was certainly someone that would be a future God of the world.
The other powers understood the implication of an existence residing there, but they weren't scared off. They were all monoliths of this current era, organizations that were so deeply rooted in the functionality of society that they couldn't be done away with.
As such, they just felt worried on the account that further bidding would thoroughly offend the party in VIP room 1, but this was an auction and not a popularity contest, so they didn't plan to stop.
The same way the Church protected Riveting Night and Draco's identities, so too did they protect the other VIPs.
It was just that, based on the rankings of powers in the world, it was pretty easy to guess who was in which VIP room.
"3,600,000 platinum." Spoke a snarky voice from VIP room 3. Judging by the tone, it was clear that this person disdained the one in VIP room 1.
Then again, powers in the 1st to 5th VIP rooms were of a different scale altogether. One could not put them on the scale as any other power from 6th to 300th.
Riveting Night wanted to kill whoever that was very badly, but she managed to barely restrain herself. She was usually able to remain aloof, but she wasn't like Draco.
Riveting Night was fundamentally a madwoman with many screws loose, and the way she viewed the world was different from others. She even had 10 split personalities in her head, forming the legendary Council of Riveting Nights.
Right now, each of these personas were screaming for blood and murder, and this caused her aura to go berserk. It was so potent that those in the other VIP rooms could feel it, and it stunned them.
Such an aura of death and murder… how many lives? How many goddamn lives had been taken to reach this level? Not even a demon could claim to have such a brutal aura.
The person in VIP room 3 became solemn. Even though he had nothing to fear as a Rank 7 entity from a pinnacle power, he still felt like he should tread carefully. Clearly, his actions had really triggered whoever was in that VIP room.
A gloomy feeling enveloped the whole auction VIP room, and everyone tentatively remained silent for reasons they couldn't even comprehend. It was that same feeling one got when a tragedy had occurred, that silent tension that everyone felt.
Even Shizura began to sweat. Her usually playful demeanor and chipper self was gone, replaced by what she truly was, a naive child that had been pampered. As such, she trembled from fear and worry.
"Enough." A solid and vigorous female voice emerged from VIP room 2, and with it, all of the murderous aura was dispelled.
Even Riveting Night was jolted out of her episode, as she came back to her senses. Her face was underneath her hood, so one could not see her expression, but she had a slight grimace.
Her instability was getting worse by the day…
"4,000,000 platinum." Riveting Night said after controlling herself. She even tried to make her tone amiable, but anyone could hear the undercurrents of death and murder in it.
This time, no one contested her. The auction was so silent that one could hear a pin drop, and this was all due to the earlier phenomenon.
For a person to have killing intent that could seep through a whole super mini small world, at a level capable of making even cause Rank 7 entities feel worried, it required a body count as high as the heavens.
Riveting Night must have taken millions of lives, all of them sapient. Monsters did not count in such an equation.
The truth was, if hell existed, Draco and Riveting Night would be barred entry. Even the devil would feel like it was a herculean task to try and punish these two for their sins.
The term 'Evil Duo' wasn't used to describe them for fun. If there was a heavenly dao or karma, it would absolutely not tolerate their continued existence.
Putting aside the lives she had claimed in Boundless, Riveting Night alone had personally killed almost 20,000 humans in the real world. Compared to the millions she killed in Boundless, it was small.
But to take so many lives… just what kind of malevolent entity was this? And if this was hers, how big was Draco's body count…?
Shizura woke up from her stupor and hurriedly called out the sale. She quickly wiped her face of the sweat that had formed, and no one blamed her for the gaffe.
Riveting Night calmed down when she held the deed in hand. She immediately transferred it to Draco and informed him of what had happened. This had been around the time Draco began on the support spells for The Box.
The next item was brought out slowly, and was ceremoniously revealed to be a small orb. It had markings and carvings that were extremely etheric and heavenly. It simply looked like something that would exist in the future, something mixed with science and magic.
Riveting Night started, and then her pupils dilated as she felt abject horror. Her body began to release sweat as her expression twisted into one that looked like she wanted to cry.
After all, how could she not recognize that item? It might be a stronger version than the one Darkrow had managed to recreate after painstaking efforts, but it was also a replica of the original.
This item was the Orb of Worlds!
｢Orb of Worlds (Replica) – Special Item
Rank: Legendary
Effects:
Passive 1 – Void Immunity: Up to 50 people can be blessed with the <Void Immunity> status, preventing them from experiencing any backlash from world traveling.
Passive 2 – Indigeneity: No matter which realm one is transported to, the people sent over by this item are granted the knowledge of the natives.
Active 1 – Gateway: Activating this skill sends up to 50 people to a random small world or side realm for 1 week. Cooldown: 1 month.｣
This was the very item that Draco had destroyed Darkrow for, at least towards the latter part of their war. Draco had even employed the help of a Rank 7 Hidden Power, who was easily able to trample over Rank 6 entities like them who had shaky foundations.
Riveting Night would never forget that moment when Draco had looked down on her from his throne, twirling the Orb of Worlds in hand as he had relished his victory over her, having destroyed all she built and her path forward.
The pain of that moment... of seeing the source of her obsession gaze at her with utter loathing and delight at her suffering, would be forever branded in her mind.
It simply hadn't surfaced because Riveting Night and Draco had made up already. Seeing the Orb of Worlds right now, however, triggered that memory.
As such, she became so lost in her pain and anguish that she failed to partake in the bidding.
"The base price of this item is 1,000,000 platinum! Increments must be 10,000 platinum at the least!" Shizura said with a noticeably subdued demeanor.
"Let the auction begin!"
The crowd had fallen into a stupor as they took in the sight of a genuine replica of the Orb of Worlds, one of the top ten greatest items in the world.
Not just humans, but monsters, demi-humans, demons and devils alike desired this item. It would allow them to enter any side realm or small world for one week, where they could plunder resources or set up bases.
There were thousands of naturally formed small worlds in the material realm, putting aside the rare few artificial ones. These worlds were hardly ever discovered manually, so they could only be chanced upon.
Naturally formed small worlds that were occupied were basically World Dungeons, like Qiong Qi's realm. If one could discover one, they could take control of its core and become the owner.
After that, one wouldn't even need the Orb of Worlds again. They would be able to directly open a permanent passageway into the small world and live in it as they wanted, free to do as they pleased.
This was not even factoring in the fact that they could also be sent into side realms. Side realms were different from small worlds, or one could say that they were the natural evolution of small worlds.
A side realm was something like the Devil World, Hell, the Abyss Realm, the Shadow Realm, etc. They were huge worlds that contained billions of lives in them, and usually functioned as a world of its own.
To compare, a super mini small world was like a small asteroid, a mini small world was like a satellite of Pluto, a small world was like Pluto itself, a side realm was like Earth, while this main world would be akin to Jupiter.
It was a terrible endeavor to conquer the main world, even for Draco who had laid down an exemplary foundation. However, if one could conquer many small worlds, they could quickly rise in power.
Not to mention that they could infiltrate side realms and perform espionage on the races living there, plotting how to seize it.
The bids immediately went crazy.
"1,500,000 platinum!"
"3,000,000 platinum!"
"5,000,000 platinum!"
In no time, the price reached five million platinum. Just a while before, the Hidden Powers had been hesitating to spend more than three million platinum on the deed to a Divine Dungeon, but now they were tossing out money like it was nothing.
Of course, one could not compare the value of a Divine Dungeon to a single small world. It was like comparing a coal mine to a gold mine. Who would dare to, if they cared about their face?
The price continued to soar, reaching eight million platinum quickly. All this while, the Hidden Powers competed viciously, directly calling out bids that would make the average man's heart stop.
Riveting Night was still lost in her trance of pain. Her expression changed multiple times a second as tears began to leak from her eyes and her body began to shiver slightly.
The trauma she had played off due to her insanity and obsession with Draco had burst forth, and it wasn't something she could easily bottle up. She had bottled it up throughout the previous timeline and this one, managing to avoid delving deeply into it.
However, once the dam shattered, it was hard to repair it while the water continued to pour out like a torrent. This was something that was bound to happen one day, but it had the misfortune of happening today.
Draco also had his own trauma that he had repressed, and his turn would come one day. Riveting Night was facing her own small-scale calamity at this moment, and the bids began to slow down.
"11,300,000 platinum!"
"11,500,000 platinum!"
"11,800,000 platinum!"
"12,000,000 platinum!"
At this point, the winner for the bids was about to emerge, and Riveting Night was still in the midst of her calamity. A crucial item that could change Draco and Umbra's plans for the better was going to slip out of their hands because of old wounds that had been patched with shitty dogskin plaster.
And now, those wounds had happily ripped open, pouring out blood like a children's fountain.
The price finally halted at 13,000,000 platinum, and the snarky fellow from VIP room 3 was about to steal it away. It was very likely that he was from the Merchant Guild, because this amount was truly outrageous.
Only those greedy misers from the Merchant Guild could be so rich. It also explained why they were so fervent for the item, as this was the world's greatest investment.
They could gather so many resources and land for sale, reaping unholy profits in the hundreds of millions of platinum. What was a mere thirteen million platinum when compared to this?
"13,000,000 for the Orb of Worlds… going once! Going twice! Sol-"
Just before Shizura could call out the sale, an alluring female voice from VIP room 1 spoke out, her tone betraying her exertion.
"15,000,000 platinum!"
Shizura froze, and so did everyone else. Just when they thought VIP room 1 had bowed out of the bidding, a new voice from there spoke out. This one was much different from the cold voice earlier, and contained an irresistible attraction for males.
The fellow in VIP room 3 who was rubbing his hands with glee suddenly became like a stone statue, his mind failing to comprehend what was happening right now.
He had been on the cusp of gaining his item for a low price compared to the profits that could be reaped, and yet someone else dared to take it away from him?
His face became heavy and his mind swirled. He had, at most, twenty million platinum on his person. If the price were to exceed that range, he would be caught out with no means to proceed.
As such, he called out a new bid. "20,000,000 platinum!"
He didn't care anymore. He was betting it all on this one bid. He refused to believe that there was a power out there that could pay more than the Merchant Guild in terms of raw cash.
Of course, many powers and factions had items and resources that could easily be traded for such items, but… heh, who would be so stupid? Like Draco emphasized, resources could be easily sold for money, but money could not always get resources.
As such, the Merchant Guild was arguably the most powerful guild in terms of raw money, and the Grand Elder in VIP room 3 believed so.
However, he could only hate himself for being born human. How could he compare to the monsters that were Draco and Hikari who mass-produced an item that was one of the most valuable in the world?
In the list of the top ten greatest items of the world, Aether Crystals were currently number 2. Compared to the Orb of Worlds that was at number 7, it was clearly much greater.
Draco and Hikari were walking money printing machines. That was why Draco hid Hikari being a bonafide White Dragoness of the Supreme Rank. It was very likely that all the Hidden Powers would engage a world war in order to capture her in their bas.e.m.e.nt for the production of Aether Crystals.
"21,000,000 platinum!" Zaine called out while staring at Riveting Night, who was still lost in her stupor.
Zaine was a devil. As a succubus, she was most attuned to feeling L.u.s.t from others, but given her Royal Devil blood, she could also tell other types of negative emotions.
Especially the erupting volcano that was wreaking havoc in her companion's mind. She knew what kind of ordeal Riveting Night was going through, and she had a few ways in which she could help.
But first, she had to secure this item for Draco. After that, when the fellows were killing each other over the Aether Crystals, she could focus on assisting Riveting Night.
The Grand Elder from VIP room 3 was stumped. His mind failed to process how exactly such nonsense could occur. How could this happen? How could there be an entity that could have a bigger financial donger than the Merchant Guild?
No, did such a thing make sense? Or was he hallucinating? How could an unknown power outbid the global group of the richest men in the world? Did that make sense? No, how did that make sense?
The Grand Elder almost reached the point of pulling his hair out, and he wanted to cough blood when the sale was called.
"21,000,000 platinum going once! Going twice! Sold!" Shizura smashed the hammer with an ecstatic expression.
This should get her a lifetime's worth of candy, right? Right?!
While the Grand Elder in VIP room 3 was beginning to doubt the truth of reality and the meaning of life, Zaine turned to Riveting Night and transformed into her full Royal Devil form.
She placed her fingertips on Riveting Night's forehead, and then concentrated, bringing their minds together to that she could help dispel the negative emotions swirling in her mind.
While this was going on, Shizura excitedly called out to the crowd when a huge tray of a covered item was brought out.
"And now, for the final item of this month's Divine Auction!"
Shizura twirled and extravagantly pulled the cloth off. When the various persons here saw what lay there, forget being stunned, many outright screamed or cried out. Were this not the Divine Auction, they would have barged up there and started a massacre!
Shizura smiled toothily. "That's right, we have real Aether Crystals. 700 medium-grade Aether Crystals and 400 high-grade Aether Crystals."
Even as the crowd went wild and rowdy, Shizura remained unfazed. After her last blunder during Draco's bidding, she had learned from it and decided to be firmer during such situations.
Otherwise, Madam Carrie would brutally spank her like last time… her butt still stung whenever she thought about this event.
"The base price is 27,000,000 platinum. Increments must be 100,000 at the least."
"Auction…. Start!!"