An undead explodes violently, sprayed on the walls of a fancy room.

“You should calm down, Harmon.” Said Dahmer closing a book on the other side of the room, protected by a magic barrier.

“Calm down? Not until I find those rats, been months already!”

“Why are you still attached to that? It’s been so long anyway.”

“A promise is a promise, sooner or later they will use Argonian magic and I will be there to look into their eyes and tell them that Harmon Skaralt never breaks his word.”

Dahmer nodded, “Fine, but you better ask Julius for permission first. He might not like you using his things like that.”

“If he didn’t like it, then why has he taught us how to use them?”

“True.”

Harmon calmed down and took a deep breath, “Talking about him, is he still locked in that room?”

“Yes… he hasn’t left it for many days now.”

“Our lord has strange habits and even stranger thoughts, I’m still wondering why would he want to befriend an enemy.”

“Remember that you’ve died once already for that enemy, and we should be mindful of our lord wishes, you should not call that man an enemy if the lord wishes to befriend him”

“I can’t understand it, with a power like his in my hands, I’d have saved the city and killed all enemies in an instant. A good enemy is a dead enemy.” another undead enters by the door, bringing a plate with drinks and food for them.

Dahmer sighed “Who are we to understand our lord’s designs?”

“Still, to me, he should have crushed them all and showed his glorious power to the world!”

Julius' voice comes from the entrance and he steps in “So, you are still questioning my decisions, Harmon?”

Both immediately turned to him and kneeled, “Of Course not! Your wisdom is beyond my grasp, my lord! But I’d be lying if I said I wouldn't have liked to see our enemies dead and your name elated in the process!” quickly rectified Harmon.

“You better put that aside and into the past, Harmon where it belongs, if not you will not be able to fulfill a request I have for you two,” said Julius.

Dahmer was surprised, “A request my lord?”

“I want you to go back and send a message to our future friend.”

Both looked at each other surprised.

“Once you find him or any of his subordinates, tell them that I wish to speak to him. In three days from when you find them, tell them to meet me at the great lake where Brine was last seen as the last light of day disappears into the horizon.”

“My lord! I will deliver your message at once,” confirmed Dahmer. Julius nodded pleased and began to turn to leave the room.

“My lord?” asked Harmon.

“What is it now, Harmon?” he said, turning back to face him.

“I have unfinished business in that realm, I promised I’d take my revenge on some rats. May I use the opportunity to track them down while we are there?”

Julius pondered for a moment, “Why not… a little bit of revenge is always good. Just don’t provoke our friend, I want him in a good mood when I meet him.”

“Of course, my lord!”

As Julius then added before he left, “And another thing Harmon,” he looks at the undead remains on the near wall.

“Yes!?”

“Stop attacking the servants, the citadel is starting to smell.”

Riou’s portal opened in the main room where Eileen and others waited impatiently for his return.

He steps through it and glances at Eileen nodding, stepping forward giving room for someone coming behind him.

An Elf woman. Eileen widened her eyes in surprise. The elf just glanced around and spoke to Riou “Where is it?” He pointed to Viki, “I believe she knows. On your way out you, two mentioned passing by the vault right? You got something from it didn’t you, Viki?”

“We did,” said Viki pointing to Eileen.

Riou looked surprised at Eileen.

“Give it to me! To think filthy humans have touched that sacred treasure! I will have to clean it!” said the elven woman.

Eileen shook her head, “No, I won’t give it away.” and looked at Riou seriously.

“That treasure belongs to my people! Hand it over at once or I will obliterate you all!” threatened the elf gathering an immense quantity of mana.

“Sit down and just listen for a moment.” Riou walked past her, dissolving the whole mana she was gathering.

He moved towards Eileen. “What was it?”

“I didn’t have time to tell you before you left, but look.” She opened the necklace revealing the longer and changed golden string.

“Finally!” Shouted the elven woman menacingly walking towards Eileen.

“I said, sit the fuck down!” Riou was not in the mood to entertain anyone’s tantrums at that point. His patience was long gone. He just glanced back, looking at her from the corner of his eyes, waiting for the Elf's response to it.

“I won’t be denied when my people’s heirloom is before me! You said you would get it for me! Fulfill your word human!”

“Quiet! And listen for a moment!”

Eileen started to explain “The string piece I had started to react to, led us to a hidden vault room where another piece was stored. Viki helped me get it and when I put them together, they immediately fused and became like this.”

“Lies! You couldn’t possibly have a piece of it!”

He sighed and looked at the Elf. “Was your string this long? Or with these strange details?”

The elf moved a bit closer and took a better look, widening her eyes at it “What have you done?! You dare to modify our most valued treasure!?”

“Most valued? Why? What's this used for? What’s its purpose?” asked Eileen.

“Human! Give it back, for you have no idea what you are holding onto! You are angering the gods by just holding it!”

“My piece of string was gifted to me!”

“Don’t try to lie to me! The gods are forbidden in this world! That’s why our race came here in the first place! There is no way for you to have received it from one of them!”

Riou shook his head “It’s not a lie, if she says that happened, you should believe it.”

“Believe in a human… What a joke.”

“So, what is that string?” asked Riou.

She shook her head “I can’t tell a human that secret.”

“Fine… we will talk later then. Where is Max? Is he back yet?” he asked the others.

Eileen nodded “He is taking care of Bhalrom with Ursula and Lilly’s help.

“Attia and Bellica?”

“Returned to the Village.”

“Good, now…” The door opens and Max enters the room.

“I knew I felt something weird! So you came back and…” he sees the elven woman near Riou and stops completely.

Riou quickly asks, “How’s Bhalrom? We need him and his men back at the Tulip right away.”

Max’s eyes remained on the elf while talking, “I got his mind back in place, luckily the damage wasn’t too severe… Why is there an elf in the room?”

“Don’t you refer to me! Human!” said the elven woman bothered.

Riou sighed “Aren’t elves supposed to be elegant and well behaved? And where is the gratitude from freeing you? You don’t act like someone that has been trapped for centuries and just has been released.”

“Centuries? No, she is not even 200 years old yet. She is still a child in elven parameters. A grown woman physically, but mentally, she is still developing, that’s why she seems full of raw emotion, all elves go through it.” added Max.

“A teenager elf? Really?” Riou glanced at her surprised.

“What do you mean by that? 200 years is plenty enough for anyone to mature isn’t it?” asked Eileen.

“Well, the elves' brains take 200 years to fully develop,” added Max. “She’s still in the emotional phase of her development given the attitude, that’s why I said she's not 200 yet.”

The elven girl looked at him suspiciously, “How do you know about the elves?”

Riou interrupted, “How long have you said you have been kidnapped there?”

“I told you, It’s been hundreds of years, maybe thousands! It felt like an eon had passed in that damn room!” she answered, glancing at Max suspiciously.

Riou sighed and shook his head, pointing to the string on Eileen’s hand, “She said that’s the elve’s most valued treasure, you know something about it?”

“She did?” Max approached Eileen to take a better look.

“As If a human would know!”

“The elves brought many things on their exodus to this land. But history tells us that the most important thing was a treasure without equal, something that could unlock all secrets between the earth and heaven. A key to understanding the elven god.” he looked at the elf girl “But why would someone like her have it? And how was she even captured from inside the forest?”

They looked at her and the elven girl was, even more, intrigued, “How do you know so much? Only elves should know that!”

“Then that’s some sort of key?” asked Riou to Max, ignoring her.

She immediately spoke, “I told you! Nobody outside of the elven race knows about that treasure, so give it back to me so I can take it back!”

Max nodded, “If that’s the elven most valuable treasure… then I can only think of one thing. But again, I don’t see how this string could be a key.”

“Tell me! How do you know!? What happened to the elven forest for our secrets to be out in the world like that!?” “Nothing happened,” said Max. “I just lived in the elven city for a few years and learned a few things. It was before you were even born.”

“But humans were never allowed…” she widened her eyes and then squinted them at him. “You are a half-breed, how disgusting!”

“Enough! Max, see if Bhalrom can take care of the Tulip.”

Max nodded, “We need to discuss my findings as well. But before that… What happened to Tullius? I heard you went to see him and now you want Bhalrom at the Tulip, is he…”

“He is alive… but he won’t bother us anymore.”

Eileen nodded, “and the soldiers?”

“We will deal with them after the auction.”

Viki looked at the elf girl “What about her? He doesn't look like she wants to hang around.”

Riou looked at the elven woman. “She can choose, stay for her treasure until we figure out what's going on with it, or she can go her way. I won’t hold anyone here against their will. But I won’t hand over that thing before we understand why it was given to Eileen and what’s its purpose. I believe she is curious about what's going on as well.”

The elf looked around thinking, “Fine… I will stay, I also wish to understand how you may have another piece of that treasure.”

“Now that’s settled…” Commotion on the streets caught everyone’s attention. The loud noises of people moving at that late time was not common.

“What now…” Max rushed to the window and opened it, “The soldiers are on the move! They are all going through the streets towards the east gate!”

“Tullius!” said Eileen, “He must have given the order!”

Riou frowned, “That can’t be… he couldn’t give the order with my curse on him, something is wrong here.”

“What do we do? Longart is in danger!”

Max nodded “I will go, maybe they will listen to me!”

“No!” said Riou. “I will go. It’s time to put an end to this nonsense…” He looked at Eileen with a tired expression. “Riou? What are you gonna do?” She asks, quite concerned by his looks.

“What we should have done from the start. Bhalrom’s and Bronach’s tried to warn me about this place long ago, but only now, I realize the true weight of their words regarding this place.”

Max sighed “Riou, just calm down. Don’t act harshly.”

“I’m calm, as calm as I can be…” He said emotionless while leaving the room. Eileen looked at Max, both exchanged concerned looks.

Eileen then turned to Viky and the elf “What else happened while he was inside the Tulip?”

The Elf went serious, “He stared directly at the vice of the human soul.”

The soldiers were gathering at the east gate and preparing to march against Longart, but a lonely man seemed to appear on the road to the capital and was casually approaching the army.

“Who gave the order to gather here?” asked Riou approaching them.

The army men looked at each other and then at a soldier that stepped up. “I’m the commander in charge, we were ordered by the Iris’ court representative to march against the king of Allard!”

“Really? On what basis?”

“He has been charged for ordering the assassination of Lord Tullius.”

“Tullius is dead? How?”

“As he visited the Tulip, an assassination took place. They say the king sent several men that infiltrated the place and killed everyone and everything inside the place. The Tulip became a bloodbath.”

Riou frowned and shook his head “that’s impossible, I was just there, Tullius was well and alive and…. and the king would not order an assassination.”

“I saw it myself, the blood ran to the streets from the front door… there is no denying that.”

Riou looked towards the city, wanting to go check for himself what happened. But he had to deal with the guards first. “Fine, if Tullius is dead, who is commanding this attack?”

The soldiers looked at each other and the commander shrugged, “I got the order from my superior… I don’t know who he got it from. It’s unfortunate, but we will have to obey and march against Longart.”

“Oh, no you don’t.” Riou pointed up and a ball of light appeared above him, putting him in the limelight so all soldiers could see him.

“Members of the First! If you know who I am, step forward!” he shouted so everyone could listen.

The soldiers once again looked around and many began to appear in front.

“You probably heard that Bhalrom is back. But you fear what could happen if you return now… So I ask if a man is ashamed of what he has done and fears the repercussions of his action to the point of continuing to perpetuate the very thing he is so ashamed of… Then I say that’s not a man nor is he a worthy member of the First Army.”

The soldiers took those words quite heavily.

“And now? The moment the kingdom needs you the most, the moment the knight captain needs you the most, what will you do? Will you cower once again? Will you raid your own home and kill your brothers? Kill the king you promised to protect? And for what? Petty coin, shame, and fear? Or will you show everyone that you still have the pride needed to be in the first army? Will you answer the call of the knight captain and help him to clean up this wicked city completely? First Army! I ask you how you respond?”

With angered faces, one by one of the men began walking towards Riou and standing behind him until all of the men that stepped forward were now backing him.

He nodded and addressed the remaining soldiers. “Army of Allard, I extend to you the same question. It is time to separate the good from the bad, the children from the adults, the boys from the men. So, where do you stand in this conflict?”

But the other armies were not as prideful nor as movable for pretty words and a sense of honor. The number advantage, coin, and impunity were still on their side.

The commander shook his head “I’m sorry, that’s a pretty speech but that’s nothing but that, a pretty speech. Now I advise you to leave before the order to attack is given. If you continue to obstruct us, you will be taken down as well.”

Riou shook his head, “Why does nobody ever listen? I’m telling you right now, none of you will take a single step towards Longart.”

“I understand it, if I could choose it, I wouldn’t attack Longart too. So How about you go talk to your noble friends and ask them to hold their hand on this matter? Or better yet, get us a full pardon from the king, a bag of gold coins each of us here and maybe we can negotiate. Otherwise, we will attack Longart as the order comes and remain free and rich after it.”

“Oh no, we are way past that point now. So I came here to talk to every single one of you now. Don’t be fooled, the sword in your hand is the sword that will strike your brothers and sisters. This is on you, not the nobles.”

The commander laughed and pointed at Riou glancing at the men “Better be them than us in this case. I’d rather be free and rich than morally correct and in a dungeon. So step aside or your blood will be the first to touch the ground!”

Riou smiled “I will say this once, and only once. So every single soldier should pay attention to it. You have two options: Join me, help Bhalrom to clean Iris, and face your crimes once we are done. Or drop your weapons and go back to your houses and wait until we finish the job with Iris.”

The commander laughed even harder “You are forgetting the third option! The one we kill you all!”

Riou's smile vanished, “I’m not having the best of days and the day hasn't even started yet. And you commander, you aren’t showing the best attitude towards this matter. So let me make it abundantly clear to you all. We will solve this here and now… how? Simply by those who do not comply with my orders, they will die where they stand.”

The soldiers looked at each other in doubt while the Commander noticed their wavering and thinking on the coin he’d received, he decided to take action. “Brace yourself, men! What honor is worth if you’d have to spend the rest of your life in a dungeon? Look at them! They are few and we are many! Don’t mind his empty words and let’s do our job so we can get paid and buy food for our families!”

Riou nodded, “So you intend to defy my orders, Commander? Last warning, submit or you will die.”

“I told you, I won’t be held in a dungeon for the rest of my days, I’d rather die than that! And if I have to kill you, the king and whoever else they tell me to so I can keep my freedom and my coins…. So be it!” The commander steps forward pulling his sword.

“I warned you,” Riou snapped his fingers and the commander began to shake. His eyes turned red and his chest inflated to the point of bursting out in a terrifying visage of blood and guts spread all over the place.

The Soldiers watched that in complete terror.

“Now, Does anyone else wish to move against Longart?” shouted Riou.

But the soldiers quickly dropped their weapons and began running back to the city and only the first army soldiers remained there. They didn’t dare to move without any order, especially after seeing what Riou was capable of.

Riou sighed as the last of the soldiers ran inside the city. “Take the weapons from the ground and report back to the guard garrison. Bhalrom will need all the help he can get to put this city in place again, do you understand?”

The first army soldiers nodded and shouted acknowledging the order.

“Now… what the fuck happened to the Tulip.” Riou moved with haste back to the brothel.

Bodies piled up in the street as guards kept moving them out of the building. Riou quickly recognized them. “No… no… this shouldn’t be happening. I put a spell on that bastard, where is he?”

As he moved towards the entrance he noticed a large man in fancy clothes turned with his face to the ground, the same clothes Tullius was wearing as he last saw him. And on his back, a dagger, deeply buried in an angle to reach the lungs and ensure a quick death.

“Manager…” Riou pulled a guard nearby “Where is the manager?” but the guard just shrugged. Without delay Riou rushed inside, disregarding the guard's warnings and searching the whole place, but there was no sign of the Manager, just bodies everywhere. It was clear that everyone that was inside the Tulip after he left, had been killed.

Without an option, Riou returned to the Inn to meet with everyone. But as he gets back he gets another surprise.

“You? Another that has a death wish, I told you to not show yourself anymore.” And walked menacingly towards Galan who was waiting in the room with everybody else.

“Wait!” said Max, but Riou’s mind wasn’t in its right state, and anger consumed his mind and clouded his judgment. And as he reached Galan, Eileen stepped forward and stood in front of Riou, blocking him from going any further.

“Eileen? You know what he did, why do you protect him?”

Max used the moment to approach as well “Wait a moment, Riou. Let us explain.”

“There is nothing to explain!” his anger translated into a wave of mana that moved with some air pressure from him. “Now move aside Eileen!” “No.” replied the princess calmly.

“No? You will defend him after all he has done?”

“No, I’m not. I just think you should listen to us before making any harsh judgment.”

Riou looked deeply into her calm, steady eyes and sighed. His anger subsided immediately and he sat in the nearby chair.

Eileen smiled and glanced at Max who took the opportunity to speak.

“Galan came bearing gifts, he wishes to make amends and lift his death sentence by what I understood of his story.”

Riou nodded, “And how did he plan to do that?”

“He might have discovered the identity of one of the twilight council members, it seems the guild was also investigating them and after some digging of his own, he came here to tell us that.”

Riou looked at Galan, “What’s the name?”

“With his information and what I manage to find on my investigation, It’s almost certain that the old Lord Malroy is a member of the Council.”

“The one with the crazy wife?”

“The one and same.”

“Why would someone from the council put up with that?”

Max shrugged “I don’t think he cares, that identity is just a facade anyways. I think he just puts up a front to make the part believable. After all, someone like him can excuse himself for months if not years while going through his properties throughout Allard and the North.”

“I see… and what about the other one?”

“We hope to discover it during the auction. We will watch Lord Malroy closely and see if he leads us to his friend.”

“When is the Auction?”

“In about 10 hours…”

Eileen moved towards Riou, “Then we have some time… can you please leave us alone for a moment?”

Max nodded and moved out with Galan. Viki was no longer there when Riou returned nor the Elf.

“What happened?” asked Eilleen.

“Tullius is dead, but the army won’t march against Longart… at least for now.”

“Dead? Did you…”

“No, someone stabbed him in the back, literally. I think it was the manager, it must have been. To have killed everyone in there… I can’t think of someone else.”

“Who else was killed?”

Riou paused for a moment, “in the Tulip, the place was full of prisoners, people that they were using for their amusement… I got a list of names, these lords must go.” he handed the list to Eileen.

“I can’t believe it, you mean the names in this list… they all knew?”

“Knew and used the place freely.”

Eileen looked at the names, imprinting them in her memory, “This needs to be brought to my father’s attention. He won’t let any of these people retain their status… or lives.”

“Then take it to him and make some plan for today. The manager of the Tulip disappeared and he might have warned these lords of what happened. They might not be around until the end of the day.”

“I will take the portal back then…” she looked at him quite concerned “Will you be ok while I’m gone?”

“I’m fine, I’m just tired of all this. Go, see your parents, stay there with them and I will meet you back at the castle once this is over. Since Tullius is dead and the army is wavering between masters, Longart is not under threat anymore. So we just need to discover one more name during the auction and we should be done.”

“So you will come later on to Longart as well, right?”

“Yes, see you later today.”

Lord Gilles was sitting in the best place of the whole room. The auction house was a massive place with chairs, chambers, and special rooms everywhere. Behind the stage, the warehouse with the goods.

“Everything is ready,” said Max, sitting down beside Riou in a booth on the second floor of the room.

“And who is observing Malroy?”

“Galan said he’d be on the watch.”

“Again with him? You know he can’t be trusted, right?”

“On the contrary, now that he lost his guild, his leash has been released and as I understood his story, you put a death sentence on his head. It’s just normal for him to try to appease you by doing you favors.”

“Still, I don’t like it.”

“But you can’t deny his efficiency, he is trained for it.” Max watched as Galan mingled perfectly with the people near Malroy’s booth. He had a clear vision of the lord and everything he could do.

But Riou just went silent.

Max looked at his concerned expression, something bothered his friend. “Are you thinking about what happened in the Tulip? you know you couldn’t know, right?”

Riou nodded, in silence.

“I see, you don’t want to talk about it… and we still haven’t discussed our new elven friend, did we?”

“Discuss what?”

“It’s a mistake to let her free, elves see humans as lesser life forms.”

“I noticed, but what does that concern you?”

“She will lie and she will try to steal the string from Eileen and take it back home.”

“But Eileen is back home now.”

“For now… but she might try something, I’m just warning you, elves have no regard for human life. So we better be careful when dealing with her. Don’t let her face or demeanor trick you, she is a wicked being that will kill to get what she needs.”

“I understand, I will keep an eye on her.”

“Good…”

Riou and Max get silent for a moment when Riou breaks it with a question, “So Malroy? What’s your plan regarding him?”

Max Sighed and looked at him, he was bothered by it but didn’t seem to want to talk about it. So Max replied to the question.“Knowing the Council, they will be interested in our item. Especially now that I asked some friends to spread the rumor it was found in a hideout near Thanes. A hideout that belonged to a very strong mage.”

“I see… that guy that sent me to the Spirit world, you will use that fact to entice them to go after the item.”

“Yes, and if Malroy gets it, the other one won’t stay silent. Knowing them, I bet all my coins the hidden one will approach Malroy for more information on it.”

“I don’t know… it seems like a bad plan.”

“Right… My plans are always bad. So what does your excellence suggest?”

Riou sighed, “I’d go straight to the suspect and scare him shitless.”

“And if he is not the person from the Council?” “Now he might not be? Decide old man, are you sure or not?” Riou smirked at the mage.

“I’m sure… I’m sure, I’m just not used to this upfront approach, not everyone is like you, you know?”

“I know… but let's observe, for now, either way, this ends today. With the auction or not, we will know who is who one way or another.”

“Agreed… look, it’s starting.”

The first item is brought to the room, covered in a white cloth. A man walks beside it and begins to speak loudly.

“Ladies and Gentleman, our esteemed auction house has the privilege to host yet another session to such a prestigious audience. We welcome you all that even despite the recent incidents, mustered the strength and courage to come here today. The murder or of our dear friend Tullius was a tragedy and the culprits shall pay for it mercilessly and swiftly!”

Claps sound all around the room.

“But as Tullius himself would say, the business must go on, and so shall our Auction! We have so many special items today that it would be another tragedy if we couldn’t put them for you all to bid on. And with that said, let’s begin!”

He removed the cloth from the first item and revealed a large ceramic vase with a delicate picture of a flower in it.

“Let’s begin with 100 gold coins!”

As the bids began, Riou looked at Max, “A vase with flowers?”

“It’s magically painted, the figure changes every couple of days. Very rare, especially since most painters of this technique have already passed away.”

“Sold for 500!”

The auction continued uneventful and full of art items, the bids were relatively low and the fights for the items were all of the low intensity. Riou just observed the place, and despite his concerns, all lords were there. It seemed that the Manager disappeared and did not put the word out of what happened inside the Tulip, especially regarding the list he made, exposing those very lords.

“Riou, look!” said Max as his item was brought to the table.

The young Brahm glanced at Galan who was watching Malroy with great attention.

The cube was shown drawing looks of awe from the participants, Riou watched Malroy and he seemed interested in the item. The presenter looked at Gilles and waved at him. The presenter then called a man on stage that handled the cube and showed its effects to the public.

The cube shined and lighted the ambiance, not doing much more than a fancy light show. But Riou’s Eyes stared at Malroy as he smiled broadly at it. He then searched the other booths and room, but couldn’t distinguish any reaction to the other.

“Let’s begin with 1000…” before the presenter even stopped speaking, Malroy already bid.

“1500!”

“We have 1500, do we have 1600?”

“2000!” Shouted lord Nesdam, looking at Riou and smiling complementarity.

“He thinks he is helping you raise the stakes of the item.” Said Max.

“2500! Shouted Malroy right after.”

“I know… but we don’t care for the money, do you see who else seems interested in it?”

“No, not yet, let’s keep watch.”

“2600!”

“3000!” shouted Malroy.

Max leaned into Riou, “It seems Malroy wants it,”

“Yes, once this is over I will follow him closely.”

“No need, Galan will be our agent, you can stay and act like a patron that just made 3000 coins.”

"If he messes up I will kill him myself..." Added Riou sulking in the chair.

“Sold! To Lord Malroy for 3000 coins!”

Mas looked down and nodded to Galan that began to move.

The presenter then spoke to the audience once again, “And now, as a last-minute surprise, a bonus item to be sold!”

They brought it on a table with a cloth as they did to all others, and as the presenter removed it, he revealed a black stone with a red rune in it.

“No, no, no! That can’t be,” said Max.

“A summoning stone? Where did that come from?” Riou asked the mage.

“I don’t know! But this is bad, by the size of it and the brightness of the rune, I can’t even imagine what would come out of it is used.”

“Let’s start with 1500!”

“We can easily remediate that,” Riou stood up and shouted “3000!”

“3000 for the lord, do we have 3100? Do we have 3100?” he asked as everyone murmured after Riou’s bid.

Max looked at Malroy, but he wasn’t even in his booth anymore. He looked down, and Galan was gone as well. The mage relaxed, it was a wise move to put Galan watching Malroy after all.

“5000!” Suddenly someone shouted to the crowd's surprise.

“Gilles?” Said Riou as he realized who bid.

“6000!” added Riou.

“7000.” said the lord.

“8000!”

“10000”

“Calm down, you better stop Riou. He might be using you to profit, remember that this is his auction after all and he has all the credit while you must pay at the end of the session, there is no winning when bidding against him.”

Riou sat down “He shouldn’t be allowed to participate in that case.”

“You are right, but this is Iris, remember?”

“No more bids? Give it once, twice, Sold! To lord Gilles!”

“It’s over, let’s move.”

Max Agreed, “I’ll find Galan and Malroy, you go get your coins for the cube.”

As Riou approached the presenter for his reward, there, he noticed quite a few people waiting as well, and amidst them, lord Holden immediately turned to Riou and smiled.

“Congratulations on the value of that cube artifact. You got yourself a small fortune. I’m ashamed in comparison, I only got 500 for my item.”

“Thank you, but 500 is no small deal either.”

“Gentlemen!” Gilles' voice came from behind, “I imagine you all want your coins. But I’ve spoken with your buyers beforehand and this round of auctions will be paid by me. So if you all please join me, I will prepare carriages for you all to come to my house to get the money owed to you.”

“Very well,” Said Holden with a smile.

“Is this normal?” asked Riou, finding it strange that nobody paid and everyone used the auction credit.

“In Iris? Very common.” replied the lord.

And after a lengthy journey by carriage, they arrived at Gilles Mansion, a place outside the city but whose size could put shame to the castle itself.

Holden leaned to Riou, “Gilles is not the richest, but the richest owe him coins since ever. And every auction they go deeper and deeper into his hands.”

“I see.”

As they entered the manor, Gilles separated the group, “The ones with prices over 100 come with me, the ones with less, go with my subordinate here.”

Riou and Holden move to another room with Gilles, where to Riou’s surprise, Malroy was already waiting. Sat down on a chair impatiently moving his feet.

“Hello Lord Malroy, it seems you beat us to my home.” Said Gilles going to meet the lord.

“Nothing but a little magic,” said the lord with a big smile on his face, wiggling his fingers towards Gilles generating a few yellow lights that surrounded the lord owner of the house briefly before disappearing.

“Indeed, but give me a moment Malroy, I will first pay these two their coins and be right back at you,” spoke Gilles as he led the two to the next room.

the old Lord's smile got bigger, “Take your time... There is no hurry.”

Riou observed the strange interaction but followed Gilles inside the next room. There, rusted swords, broken statues of all elementals, half-burnt and decaying books under some stasis spell. Remains of bronze armor, magic tomes, and strange weapons.

Gilles walked towards a very large chest at the center of the room and opened it revealing it was full of coins. With bags in hand, he began filling them.

“I got to say, I didn’t think you would stop bidding.” Suddenly Gilles spoke, and Riou realized it was aimed at him.

“I realized who I was up against, I didn’t know the house could also bid.”

“Haha! Not only bid, but bid on its item. That stone is from my collection,” he points to the side, on a cabined covered by thick glass, several black stones with red marks on it.

“It seems there are no rules for this auction house,” said Riou looking at the stones. “It’s my house, why not make my rules? But again I thought you’d go to at least 15000 maybe 20000 by the way you were bidding. I was surprised when you suddenly stopped. I should’ve sold the 10000 and made myself another chest of these.” he smiled as he finished putting the coins in the bags.

He hands the smaller one to Holden and then the bigger one to Riou. “Now, if you follow me out, I still have some business to attend to.”

As Riou turned around, he saw something on the wall near the door that instantly caught his attention. “These two short swords on the wall here… where did you get it?”

“Oh, you have a good eye, I bought it from a merchant in Longart, right after the blacksmith there created some weapons made of living metal. These two are the real deal.”

“How much do you want for them?” said Riou immediately after that.

“Unfortunately, they are not for sale, they have a great sentimental value to me.”

Riou smiled from ear to ear at Lord Gilles, “How unfortunate, I’d like to have them.”

“Maybe another time the blacksmith crafts more, if he does, I will be sure to buy you some as a gift.”

“Many thanks, Lord Gilles. I won’t forget this, you can be sure of it.”

“Now, please, let’s move, Lord Malroy owes me a great deal now after expending that much on your artifact and I need to discuss some business with him.”

“Of course…” As Riou left the room and glanced at Lord Malroy, he immediately noticed Lord Malroy laughing in his chair while holding the black stone in his hand. “Lord Gilles, where did you leave that summoning black stone from the auction?” Riou’s tone was quite concerned.

“Right here, why do you ask?” Lord Gilles notices his tone and immediately sees Malroy handling a very similar stone in his hand.

Gilles immediately goes for the inner pocket of his fancy coat. “It’s not here? Both of them are gone!” he exclaims looking at Malroy that could barely contain himself in laughter.

“To think I’d get two treasures instead of one… How lucky of me,” said the old Lord. “You should store such items better, lord Gilles.”

Gilles approached him, “To think you’d take them from me like that, this is not what we agreed!”

“Silence! I do not care for our previous arrangement, now that these two are in my hands I don’t need you anymore! None of you! I can finally ditch this tight skin” as he moved his skin began to stretch and rip, revealing another body inside, a man, but with insect-like carapace instead of soft skin.

“Much better now!”

“What is this!?” Said Holden horrified by the sight.

“Hahaha! Lord Holden, I believe you’ve never seen me in such light, have you?”

Gilles shouted “Guards!”

“Not so fast!” as the guards rushed inside they fell one by one the moment Malroy pointed the cube at them. “Yes! Yes! It works! I can use this to increase my power a thousandfold! Nobody then will be my foe, not even the god of death!”

“What is that artifact? Didn’t you say it was broken?” asked Gilles.

“It was! It wasn’t supposed to do any of that!” replied Riou.

“Fools! Do you think someone like me can’t fix an Argonian circuit of magic? Who do you take me for? Now, look at the full capabilities of this artifact!”

He grabbed the cube infusing power in it and raising it, the lights from the cube expanded widely, but this time they went through the walls and covered a large cubic area engulfing the whole building.

Suddenly, beams of white light began coming towards the cube from all around them. Every time it happened, the cube gained power, not only that the insect-like body of Malroy seemed to improve as well.

Even the guards on the ground, the white light was like the souls leaving their bodies and rapidly being sucked by the cube.

“Hahaha! I will be invincible! Immortal!”

Gilles reaches for something in his pocket, a beam of green light hits his arm causing great injury and stopping Gille's movement.

“No, no, wait your turn.” said the old lord moving his hand back from shooting that spell.

From the wound, an insect emerged and latched itself on his arm.

Gilles immediately pointed his hand to it, small roots with thorns appeared from his hand, moving around the large insect and constricting it away from Gilles's arm until the insect was finally removed.

“Very good Lord Gilles! Splendidly done! I didn’t know you were such a capable mage.” Said Malroy as he absorbed more and more souls getting bigger and stronger. “But now, I fear you must die.” and as Malroy began to speak in Argonian, many different insects began to appear from small portals around him and fly in circles right above his head.

“That's good enough, I think it’s safe to assume you are really from the Twilight council.” finally said Riou, after he observed everything and everyone in that room until that moment.

“You… Don’t think I don’t know about you, what you did to Arstos and Thessai, those fools! But I made sure to face you when you were all alone and in a place you wouldn’t need to be so defensive!”

“So that’s their names? I was wondering if all of you called yourselves differently… and you would be?”

“I’m Sadon, the Soul Eater!”

“Good name, you do remember me of one. Just as ugly.”

“Fool, you dare mock me in a situation like this, you will die first because of that!” Sadon launched the attack, the insects flew towards Riou in all directions.

But he just smiled and after blowing in his palm he raised it and released a brown smoke that expanded and covered him and everything around him.

As the insects entered the smoke they fell instantly, dead. The ground was now filled with the many insect corpses.

“You are full of surprises, aren’t you?” Said Sadon.

“No, it was your spell that was shitty. Insects? Really? Come on, compared to Arstos and Thessai, you are by far the weakest so far. Are you sure you are from the same club?” Holden chuckled as Gilles became even more pissed, “If you can kill this bastard, do it quickly before he does anything else!”

Sadon’s body shook in anger, “I will make you eat those words, I will let the insects feast on your dead body and then raise you back as an undead to work for me, you will clean my insect dens for all eternity!”

“Let me do a counter-proposal, I’m very good at negotiation now.” Riou pointed his finger to Sadon’s leg.

A beam of light went from his finger to the leg that exploded violently, throwing the large Sadon to the floor.

“Tell me your friend’s name or I will do the same to your other limbs.”

“Curse you! What have you done? My insect carapace should be impregnable to magic attacks!” shouted Sadon from the ground.

“It was not just magic… well, you call it magic, but it’s much more than that, now, the name?”

“Aarrrhhhhh!” shouted Sadon as his leg regenerated intently and he stood up once again. “You haven’t seen a fraction of my power yet!” He grabbed the cube with even more intent, but at that moment the window blasted, and following it an arrow with lightning attribute flew towards the cube, hitting Sadon’s hand forcing him to throw the cube away.

“Grab it now!” Max’s voice came from the broken window, Riou quickly moved and in an instant, retrieved the Cube even before it hit the ground.

Sadon couldn’t believe what happened, “More and more they appear, why is there always someone to stand against me!?”

“I was wondering where you were, old man. If Malroy was here, you wouldn't be much behind.”

Galan and Max jump through the broken window, “We found this window by chance and decided to act. You looked like you could use some help.” said the mage smiling at Riou.

“Right, but in any case…” Riou threw the cube towards Max, “You said this was broken, but he was able to use it.”

“I’m sorry, it seems I underestimated the knowledge of our enemies once again.”

Sadon nodded, “Indeed you did. Great Magus. And I don’t think we have ever met before. But I heard a great deal about you from Arstos.” Sadon looked and searched every part of Max’s body, searching for any signs of a special artifact they suspect to be in his possession.

“Surrender! You are outnumbered and overpowered, give us the names of your friends and we may spare your life,” said Max.

“Hahahaha! Do you think you got me cornered? Do you think you have the upper hand? No, you’ve seen nothing! You should review who is in real trouble here!”

As Sadon completed those words, everything began to wobble, dancing like the flames of a fire… Sadon, the house, and everyone there moved in a waving manner until everything faded away and disappeared.

Max found himself alone now, everything disappeared and there was nothing in sight but a blue sky, sand in the ground until his eyes could see. “What sorcery is this? Riou!? Galan? Can you hear me?” shouted the old man. But he couldn’t hear any response or see any of his friends.