The Immortal Player

Pedro had a clear view of the open area from above—allowing him to see the 'converted VIP room' where Duke Kleon was located. His eyes slowly followed the pale white-skinned men as they separate into two groups.

Four of the vampires walked out of the room, while five remained with Duke Kleon. At this moment, Pedro could not help but frown as one of the Vampires got close to Duke Kleon and bit him on his neck. 

"Shit!" Pedro cursed as he shot up from his seat. Then, his eyes suddenly shifted to Duke Albert, who seemed like he was in a paralyzed state beside the Auction Host.

However, in the next second, the four vampires—who walked out of the room, revealed their fangs as the pupil of their eyes turned blood red. To make things worse, all of them were eyeing the 'main item' to be auctioned, and, at the same time, they were seemingly also targeting Duke Albert.

Without wasting another second, Pedro pointed his right arm to the window—sending his pen-knife that shot like a bullet and instantly broke the glass into pieces. This, in turn, gave them an opening that would lead them to the open area as fast as they can. And since he knew that Ragas and Clara can move faster than he does, Pedro gave them an order, saying, "Clara! Ragas! Protect Duke Albert! Hurry!"

At this moment, the four vampires noticed the windows of Pedro's VIP Room to be broken, consequently forcing them to charge towards the main item and Duke Albert in response. Unfortunately, before they could even reach the main item, the four vampires' bodies crashed into the ground—headless. 

Two heads rolled near the bodies while the other two were missing. And it was only after a second did they notice two figures standing from where the four vampires had just passed. 

It was no other than Clara and Ragas. 

Clara held her sword like a true Royal Knight. She held her silver sword with two hands while twisting her body slightly to the right with her sword oriented vertically. With her left foot forward, she was ready to strike anything she deemed necessary to be sliced into half. Paired with the shining golden pupil of her eyes and the golden aura enveloping her silver sword, those who gazed at her could not help but shiver in fear.

On the other hand, a seemingly old man stood a few meters beside her with the two missing heads of the other vampires. He gripped their heads on his hands that were covered in greenish pointy scales. While his body emanated a murderous aura that was strong enough to scare everyone else.

Before anyone could utter a word, Pedro's pen-knife shot past through Ragas and Clara. It sucked all the blood along the way, completely killing the vampires and hindering them from their recovering the part of their body that got injured. Then, it went straight to the remaining five vampires. 

Unfortunately, due to the vampires' heightened senses, they were able to dodge Pedro's pen-knife at the last second. That said, before the vampires could rejoice, Clara's blade and Ragas' fist arrived in front of them, rendering evasion impossible in response. 

"What are you pests doing here?" Ragas chuckled in response. At this moment, the other guests were already in panic and were about to leave the Auction Mansion as soon as possible. Thus, Duke Albert could not help but stare at the dead bodies all over the place—including Duke Kleon's lifeless body that was sitting on a couch. 

Pedro could not help but to force out a smile in response and scratch the back of his head. Then, he took a sigh as he climbs to the window of his room—preparing to jump from it.

But before he did so, he glanced towards his demi-human slaves and Auction Guide Weese, saying, "Please head to the discussion room! All of you! I'll be back in a few minutes! Hurry!" 

"Y-Yes, young master!" Auction Guide Weese cried in response. She trembled out of fear and immediately guided the demi-human slaves to enter the discussion area. 

On the other hand, Pedro jumped out of the window and headed straight towards Duke Albert. Pedro had no choice but to save him. They were both under a blood contract, and Pedro would die if Duke Albert dies. So, he had no choice but to protect him—until Duke Albert would be successfully crowned as the new King. 

With one obstacle away from Duke Albert's mission to become the new King—which was Duke Kleon, Duke Albert takes one more step forward to being the new King. Add up the possibility of gaining the favors of the nobles and high ranking officials that were present at the Grand Auction, this event was as if a well-planned event by him. 

"Duke Albert, are you alright?" Pedro asked in a cold and wary demeanor. 

Duke Albert simply nodded in response, saying, "I-I am alright!" 

"That's good to hear…" Pedro said as his attention shifted to the guests who were escaping. "The vampire bastards were taken care of… I'll leave the guests and the resume of the Grand Auction to you. You can do that, right?"

"I can!" Duke Albert frowned as he nodded towards an Auction Manager in response. This, in turn, made the Auction Manager ring a bell and shout as loud as she can.contemporary romance

"STOOOOOP!" The Auction Manager shouted on top of her lungs. "Esteemed guests, I humbly request for all of you to calm down! The unexpected circumstances have been successfully handled! And the perpetrators of the assassination and robbing incident have been neutralized! May we request all of you to return to your rooms as we are about to resume the Grand Auction's final part!" 

"R-Resume my ass!" One of the guests shouted in anger. "Someone died and you dare continue the Auction despite knowing this fact! My life is more important than any treasure that you have!"

The other guests could not help but agree with what that guest said towards Duke Albert and the Auction Manager who shouted. That said, the Auction Manager was able to successfully attract the attention of all the guests at this point.

And without wasting another second, Duke Albert used this chance to showcase the effects of the skill. He used his Wolf Transformation Skill and transformed into his wolf form. 

"This…" The guests could not help but be frozen in place out of astonishment. Some of them even had their jaws dropped and their eyes seemingly wanting to pop out of their sockets due to astonishment. 

Before they could utter another word, Duke Albert reverted to his human form and smirked. He shook his head and limbs—indicating that he was still not used to using the skill. Then, he took a deep sigh and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen! I would like to introduce the Main Item for the Grand Auction today! Although it has a low rating… It is a miraculous skill that allows a human to transform into that of a wolf!"

At this moment, Duke Albert nodded towards the Auction Host—who, in turn, lifted the golden box and revealed the Skill Page that was the main item for the Grand Auction today. Then, Duke Albert smirked and said, "All of us are very familiar with Shapeshifters and Humanoids—who can transform from their monster form into human form! But now… We are offering an ultimately rare chance… For you, a human… To have a similar skill like them!"

Duke Albert paused for a few seconds, before he continued, saying, "There is no buyout price for this item! And the bid would start at… Fifty Gold Coins, no less!" 

"One hundred Gold Coins!" A guest shouted that made everyone else get back to their senses. This, in turn, had started the bidding war without giving the guests who were about to flee a chance to go back to their comfortable rooms.

"One hundred and fifty Gold Coins!"

"Two hundred Gold Coins!"

"THREE HUNDRED GOLD COINS!"

"Three hundred and fifty Gold Coins!"

…

The price continued to rise at a staggering amount. Those who were not able to compete had instead supported other guests in exchange for probably a favor in the future. Whatever was the case, Pedro and Duke Albert did not give a single care. What was important to them was to gain as much profit as they can from the wolf transformation skill page. So, they could only watch the other guests go on a bitter fight to obtain the said skill page.

In the end, the wolf transformation skill page was bought for a staggering amount of 1,070 Gold Coins. And the one who won it was the third Duke of the three great Dukes of the Tarala Kingdom. Duke Ersi Ester, the Duke responsible for the Military Affairs of Tarala Kingdom!

Of course, he did not win it by himself. He had the help of five more guests who contributed a hundred gold coins at the least. And just from the looks of it, it was not something odd for someone to help a high ranking official that is handling military affairs of a Kingdom, especially in times of crisis like this—where monsters are charging non-stop all over the place.

Well… That was true… Until Pedro would be able to successfully establish the Adventurer's Guild!

done.co