Gragas raised his hand and his mana flared up. He opened his palm as the flames rushed inside the room and when he closed his palm the flames disappeared.
He was a blacksmith and he was a master at handling flames.
"You said that everything will be fine, right?! Then, why did this happen?!" Amanda glared at Gragas for giving them false information.
She wanted to say something but Souta raised his hand while glancing at her from the corner of his eyes. She immediately shut her mouth and crossed her arms in front of her.
She was annoyed that this dwarf deceived them after they gave all of their money to this dwarf.
"Don't be annoyed, Amanda. Gragas was also surprised that this happened."
Souta said with a sigh. This woman normally had a fiery attitude due to her upbringing but she was subservient to Souta. He knows that she understood her position and without him, she wouldn't be able to find the clues about her clan.
"I don't know what happened as this never happened before. The guards of this auction house are strong so they wouldn't go down easily. If the battle arrived here then the perpetrators must be strong." Gragas said with a serious expression. "The bastards that attack the auction house! Just what are they planning! Come let's go and find the soul weapon! I won't let them take the soul weapon!"
"Good. That's what I want to hear." Souta smiled as he stood up while patting his clothes.
If possible, they could simply take the soul weapon and leave this place while the guards were fighting.
"Let's go."
The group exited the room and saw the scene outside the room.
The hall was scorched and churned corpses were laying everywhere.
The temperature was high and the strong stench assaulted their nose.
It was gruesome.
"Do you know the way?" Souta asked Gragas. He glanced left and right only to find that everything was burned into crisps.
They came from the left passage. This passage will lead them to the auction site before. So if they wanted to leave this place, they could take this passage.
But... Souta could feel the energy of several A-rank experts colliding repeatedly causing the whole place to tremble.
"I have an idea." Gragas nodded.
"Good, lead the way."
Gragas glanced at his hand. He didn't bring his hammer with him so his combat power was lower than normal. If they met a fully armed Annihilation Realm, it would give him some trouble.
The group took the passage on the right. It was a passage forbidden from outsiders and only the staff of the auction house have access to it.
On their way, they met some guards and the people that were attacking the auction house. Naturally, the group knocked them out effortlessly as the guards and perpetrators were only at Disaster Realm.
Only Yenxa would have a problem dealing with Disaster Realm. She would need to improve her strength before she could fight someone at Disaster Realm.
Her toxins would work against Disaster Realm... but the Disaster Realm could take her out before the toxins affect the Disaster Realm's body...
Soon, they stopped as they found a group of people in front of them.
The group consisted of six people, four men and two women. All of them were wearing black formal outfits made of rare materials.
'Two S-rank and Four A-rank experts.' Souta observed the energy around their body.
"Oh, what do we have here? The group that bought the soul weapon. I didn't expect to meet you here, Gragas." The old man from the opposite group said.
"As I thought, Vincent, you're the one who bought the High Phaseless Fruit," Gragas said as he removed his mask. He was acquainted with this old man.
"Yes, it is I, Vincent, of the Gargan Corporation. Let me guess why you are here... You are here to take advantage of this chaos to take the soul weapon without paying for it." The old man said with a faint smile.
"You're wrong. I came here to protect the soul weapon. I don't want to lose it in front of my sight." Gragas said in a strong tone.
"I have a proposal." The old man paused as he looked at the opposite group calmly before he continued, "How about we work together? We will take the items from this auction house and divide them fairly after we've escaped."
Gragas glanced at Souta, Amanda, and Yenxa before he answered Vincent.
"I know your personality, Vincent! It's impossible for you to divide the items fairly because of your greed! But don't worry, I don't want any trouble so I wouldn't say to everyone that I saw you today!" Gragas said before he turned around.
Souta, Amanda, and Yenxa also turned around and started walking. They didn't need to delay their time by talking to this old man. Every second the aftershocks that caused the entire place to shake were getting stronger.
Delaying the time will only make the risk higher.
"It's unfortunate. I hope that you keep up with your words." Vincent said as he turned around. His followers followed him while glancing at Gragas' group.
"Don't worry, I'm not like you." Gragas raised his right hand in the air.
Their destination was the same. The two groups' target was the vault of the auction house which was located deep underground. They just took different passages but all of them will meet in the vault later.
The group continued to move forward and they met the perpetrators. A group of twelve people rummaged one of the rooms, and all of them had the aura of a Disaster Realm. Disaster Realm wasn't a problem for them so they easily take care of these people.
After that, they met another group once again. This time the opposite group had two Extermination Realm which was equivalent to two A-rank experts in Imperium.
It took them a minute or two before they could wrap up the two Extermination Realm Realm. Gragas was the one who dealt with two Extermination Realm. He didn't want Souta to use his best feram as it would reveal his monster identity.
But he didn't know that Souta already sensed the impending battle. The battle that concerned Annihilation Realm, a powerhouse at S-rank level.
They were far from the auction site so they couldn't feel the aftershocks from the battle but Souta sensed another battle ahead of them. It was faint but he could clearly feel it.
Souta looked at Gragas and it seems that Gragas hasn't felt it. He wasn't imagining it and he trusted his senses. There's no doubt that more than two Annihilation Realm were fighting ahead.
He couldn't guess how many S-rank experts were there as the barrier was obscuring his senses.
'They are right ahead...' Saya's voice sounded.
The group dashed forward while ignoring the dead bodies scattered across the land.
Soon, the group arrived in a wide space and the entire place was silent. The energy from S-rank experts that Souta felt before was gone but the atmosphere was tense. The lingering mana from S-rank experts was still in the air.
Dead bodies were scattered in the area. Some of them were decapitated and some were burned.
Inside the room, Souta could see a group of people wearing dark blue robes. There were bloodstains on their body and all of them were releasing murderous aura.
On the side, he saw the body of the old man who called himself Vincent. Vincent didn't have any sign of life as his lower body was sliced into several pieces which were scattered around him.
"Vincent?!!"
Gragas opened his eyes widely. He didn't expect to see a powerhouse like Vincent die in this place. Much worse was that they just talk a moment ago.
"You!!"
Gragas glared at the group of people who were wearing dark blue robes. He didn't need to use his mind to guess that they were the ones who killed Vincent's group.
The air around him started to boil as his energy was intensely seeping out of his body.
The opposite group had a total of twelve people. Three of them were S-rank, five were A-rank, and the rest were B-rank. A powerful lineup that could take down a third evolution monster. Even if there were no S-rank and the opposite group only had A-rank, it was still enough to take down a third evolution stage.
"This..."
Amanda's expression turned pale. The energy that was coming from the opposite group was horrendous. It gives off heavy pressure as if a heavy boulder was pressing her body.
Bang!
Yenxa, who was the weakest among them, fall on her knees. She couldn't handle the aura of several S-rank experts with her current evolution level.
"What do we have here?"
Souta placed his hand on Yenxa's shoulder and used his energy to disperse the pressure on her body. She did the same thing on Amanda.
"I didn't expect that the higher-ups are right? A monster really blends in our society... It's dangerous."
A woman with a long blue hair said in a cold tone while looking at Souta. She was the leader of the group that attacked the auction house.
