After witnessing the strange yet mind-blowing power of the weapon, the dwarves began the auction. The dwarves started the auction with the insane price of twenty billion gold coins. But none bat an eye at the price. Instead, the orcs raised the bid by five billion. Gaya was mind blown to see how rich these orcs were. She was more curious about the orcs than before. But when she thought about what the weapon could do in a real battlefield, the price seemed fair or if not cheap. Even though Gaya had not more than a hundred thousand gold coins in her space ring, she raised the bid by another five billion just to participate in the auction. She knew the final bid would easily go to a hundred billion gold coins. That kind of coin was not easy to get. Somehow, Gaya doubted a single individual could have such wealth. Even the Dark Lord Michael himself struggled to reach one billion gold coins in wealth. Of course, he would have easily reached that point if Noah hadn't banned the Majestic alchemy chains and Hades.
"Thirty billion," Colubra raised her hand and raised the bid casually.
"Fifty billion," the red orc almost immediately raised the boid after Colubra.
The guardians remained silent, surprisingly. To this moment, they didn't open their mouths once. As seconds turned minutes, the blood around the dead bodies slowly evaporated into the air and nauseated the others.
"Clean that up," Goddun ordered the two dwarves behind him. The two short dwarves nodded as they ran toward the bodies while Bufug and Goddun continued the auction. With each bid, the dwarves smiled brighter. The auction was making them very rich. Gaya doubted the empress didn't send anyone to buy the weapon for herself. It seemed to be the easiest way unless the dwarves had more than one weapon built, and they planned to sell each one separately. Gaya didn't even think about it.
"Sixty-five billion," The golden-haired man who snapped at the dwarf earlier raised the bid.
"Seventy billion," Finally, the guardian opened his mouth. Gaya was tempted to rob each and everyone in the room. They all could solve their financial problem in one go. Fortunately, Michael promised they wouldn't have to worry about gold coins after he returned from the demons grave. But even if Gaya had billions of gold coins, she didn't think she would have bid for the weapon when she had the option to steal it.
"Enough of this," The red orc growled.
"Hundred billion," Gaya browns arched up when the orc raised the bid by freakin thirty billion.
"Child's play," Colubra snickered,
"Hundred and fifty billion,"
The orcs growled but restrained themselves from doing anything rash. Everyone in the room raised Gaya's suspicions. Among them, Gaya was almost certain that Colubra attended the auction on behalf of King Zelic, the beast king. If that were the case, the orcs would have a difficult time outbidding the foxy woman because she had an entire nation behind her.
For an orc who was heartless, the red orc was patient enough to keep himself calm. Although the dwarves were not terribly strong and lacked bodyguards, none of them dared to mess with the auction. They were all well-mannered. Colubra didn't seem like she would back down any time soon.
"One hundred and eighty billion," The red orc raised the bid.
"Two hundred billion," the guardians raised the bid to two hundred billion. Their bidding war continued for some time, with even Gaya occasionally raising the bid by ten or twenty billion. Eventually, the guardians and everyone backed off from the auction except Colubra and the red orc. The beast woman raised the price to three hundred billion, and when the red orc was about to outbid her, the entire hall trembled slightly. For a moment, Gaya thought the dwarves had accidentally turned on the weapon. But no, the place trembled because of the guardian airship.
Gaya heard the sudden commotion outside as well as the strange whirring sound coming from above her. Her brain immediately recognized the sound.
"Guardians," Gaya's heart skipped a beat.
"My lady, the guardians-" Gaya heard the panicked voice of Aria when the ceiling above them exploded. Before anyone could react, several people clad in silver armor roped down through the hole in the ceiling. The explosion sent Gaya and the others stumbling away. Ceiling crumbled down as the silver armored soldiers landed on the hall. Everyone was caught off guard.
"Don't move!" one of the silver-armored soldiers shouted.
"Grghh," Gaya growled as she picked herself up. Colubra stood up, grabbing the wall for her support. Once the dwarves realized what just happened, Goddun tried to reach for the weapon. However, a silver-armored soldier dashed at the dwarf, grabbed him by the dwarf's collar, and threw him aside to the other end of the hall.
"Bastard!' Bufug unsheathed his dagger and tried to cut open the soldier who threw away his partner. Rage blinded Bufug, preventing him from seeing the power gap between them. Each silver armored soldier was at the Soul Refining stage. Only the red orc was powerful enough to fight them beside Gaya. But she tried to formulate a plan to escape the auction with the weapon.
Boom!
The silver armored soldier went flying onto the wall. Finally, the red orc walked out from the cloud of dust and threw away the soldier like he was nothing. With the orc's size and strength, the silver-armored soldiers stood no chance. At Least that's what would have happened if the silver armored soldiers were alone.
"ARGH!" The red orc roared. His shout alone had enough power to destroy the furniture and push everyone back. Bufug wasted no time as he rushed to the weapon. When the dwarf reached the weapon, Gaya thought he would use that to kill the silver-armored soldiers. However, she was surprised when the dwarf opened up the way they initially came from by pushing a button hidden on the floor. The floor was just a few seconds away from opening and letting the dwarf run away with the weapon. Poor dwarf didn't expect a light beam to strike him from above and throw him off balance. Gaya sensed a powerful being near her, and it wasn't the red orc who was just a few inches away from ripping off a silver armored soldier's head.
Another beam of pure white light struck the ground beside the red orc. The force knocked back the orc, saving the silver armored soldier. Then, another figure slowly descended to the hall through the hole they blasted, covered in dazzling bright light. Gaya's heart pounded against her chest when she saw Noah Winston. As usual, he wore pure white robes, and his raven black hair fluttered in the wind. His eyes glimmered with calm and serenity. Since Noah was just as famous as the Dark Lord himself, everyone recognized him almost immediately. It had been some time since Gaya met Noah in person. Some kind of bad luck put Gaya in the same room as the Supreme Guardian himself.
"Stand down, everyone," Noah's dominant voice swept across the hall. He completely ignored the red orc and announced,
"We are here for the dwarves and the prototype. Stand down, and this will be over before you know it," said Noah. He was just as calm as Gaya remembered him. That was one of the few traits Noah and Michael had in common. Both of them would remain calm in situations where most others would completely lose their minds. The red orc was far from listening to Noah and surrendering. Instead of backing off, the red orc made the mistake of thinking he could take on Noah since they were both at the Fusion Stage. A typical human at the Fusion stage would lose the fight against the red orc, not Noah. He was anything but typical.
With his big fists cupped, the red orc threw a punch, aiming for Noah's head. Noah waited till the last moment and blocked the red orc's fist with his palm. The ground beneath the orc cracked like an egg when Noah blocked his punch. Before the orc could retaliate, Noah twisted the orc's fist, pulled him closer, and punched him in the chest with enough force to send the red orc flying like a wooden dummy. The other orcs immediately ganged up on Noah and dashed at him from all directions.
Noah reacted by stomping the ground with his right foot, creating a shock wave that knocked down the orcs off balance. Then, Noah simply raised his hand as a beam of bright light shot out from his palm and hit an orc right in the chest.
"AH!" The orc cried out in pain before losing consciousness. One by one, Noah knocked out every single orc before their leader could get back to his feet. For a big brute, the red orc was quick to get back to his feet. He simply brushed off the dust from his shoulder and cracked his big neck.
"You are making a mistake, human," The red orc talked in his gruff voice.
"You already made one," said Noah.
"My lady, the guardians has blocked all the exits. They got this whole place surrounded," Gaya heard Aria through the earpiece.
"I still have the teleportation scroll. Don't worry about me. Get your team and get out of here," Gaya whispered.
"But-"
"It's an order," Gaya interrupted Aria before she could finish her sentence. Meanwhile, the red orc prepared to battle Noah once again. But this time, he decided to use spells instead of brute force. The orc's eyes shimmered with a strange green glow, just like his veins. It didn't feel like the orc was using only Celestial energy to Gaya. Something was amiss. Soon, a thick layer of emerald formed upon the orc, covering him like well-forged armor. The red orc moved toward Noah step by step. Each step he took shook the ground and made the ceiling more unstable. Gaya feared the theater might come falling down on their heads any second. But neither the orc nor Noah seemed to care about the building's structural integrity.
"Grab the dwarves and secure the weapon and the bidders. I will deal with him," Noah said to his men. Unlike the orc, he didn't cast any spells or equip any armor. Instead, he waited for the orc to make his first move. Finally, the orc rushed at Noah with his fists raised high.
"My lady, I don't think we can take the weapon anymore. Just please get out of there. We will figure something out later," Gaya heard Azezel. He was worried, and that wouldn't happen so often. If he was worried, Gaya could tell how bad her situation was.
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