Ze looked into the eyes of the people who were looking at him. One thing for sure, except for the few who were experienced in battles, others had yet to comprehend the situation they were in. Their brains had yet to fully process what transpired before them.
Ze then turned his gaze to the VIP section, to the lady in the fox mask with her crimson hair flowing around the mask, her emerald eyes looking at him with curiosity rather than fright.
"Indeed, the fox mask suits her well," he thought. Even her attire fitted well with her crimson fox mask.
With a smile under his mask, he turned away from the VIP section and looked at the girl, who tugged at his sleeve. Seeing him turn to her, she extended her heavy hands to him. Ze understood her gesture, took another cookie from his pocket, and placed it in her outstretched hand. With sparkling eyes, she took the cookie. Ze ruffled her hair as she reminded him of someone he cherished.
He then turned to the dead bodies of the host, lady, and two guards. They were killed in a flash, their blood covering the floor. Ze extended his hand toward the lifeless bodies.
[Blood creation: Blood hound]
He uttered, causing the mana in the air to tremble. The blood that had flowed out of the bodies flowed back, filling and swelling the bodies. As the bodies swelled, they turned, twisted, crushed, and mixed. The sound of bones cracking echoed, and the iron smell of blood filled the air as their bodies became nothing but a mass of flesh, bones, and blood. Some noble souls who witnessed the transformation couldn't stomach it and vomited, while others turned away in disgust.
Ze turned to the child, who was still eating the cookie, oblivious to what was happening around her. He flapped his long coat, covering her in his darkness, offering her a sense of comfort. The twisted mass of flesh then stopped its course. The blood flowed, the broken bones aligned back, and the flesh gave shape to an utterly disgusting creature. The creature had a human skull acting as its head, a wiggling mass of flesh holding the broken bones as a skeleton, and blood flowing like veins. It looked like a four-legged beast made of flesh and bones.
The crowd stepped back instinctively as they looked at the abomination before them, but to their despair, the other twisted bodies also took on the same form. The blood hounds growled, revealing teeth that resembled human teeth. The guards and mages who were brought by the bidders and some others pulled out their hidden weapons and began chanting spells to protect their employers. Just because weapons were not allowed didn't mean they were foolish enough to come unguarded. They had fully grasped the situation.
Some individuals in the back rushed towards the door to escape, but they found it shut tight. The guards tried to unhinge the door using their strength.
"What are you doing? Smash the door," one of them shouted.
Upon hearing this, a guard raised his sword and struck the door with force, causing it to splinter away. Others guarded against any unexpected attacks from the stranger. The knight managed to create a hole in the door, but what awaited them on the other side was a never-ending abyss. With shocked expressions and unsure of what to do, they looked towards the stage where the man stood, watching their futile efforts to escape. His eyes showed pity, conveying one message: it was futile.
The utterly shocked crowd couldn't find the words to express what they were feeling. Ze scanned the crowd that stood at the front, and his eyes landed on a man wearing a dog mask. "Sir Dog, how much is your life worth?" he asked enthusiastically, imitating the host.
The man in the dog mask snapped out of his daze and growled at Ze, irritated by his cheery voice. "Who do you think you are? Do you think that after doing this, you will leave in one piece?" the man barked.
Ze tilted his head innocently and replied, "No, I will leave in a shirt and trousers with a blazer, though." His crude joke, which missed the timing and sense, caused some faces to twist in discomfort.
But the hounds that were next to him jumped at the man's guards. The guard who was taken off guard swung his sword in a hurry, trying to cut the abomination that lunged at him. To his futile effort, the sword stuck to the mass of flesh and bones, unmoving. The guard, who lost his sword, had his neck bitten by the hound, his head torn from his body.
Blood spurted out of his body, covering those around him in red.
Without as much as a cry, the man's life had ended. But the other guard, who was not fortunate enough to die a quick death, cried out in agony.
"Ahhaa!"
His cry was agonizing even for those who heard it. The guard, with his hand ripped off from his body, was bitten in his abdomen as his guts spilled, dying a painful slow death.
The man who brought them couldn't help but fall to the floor as his legs gave out. The other two bloodhounds circled their prey as they waited for the order.
People who saw this moved away as they grouped together. The man, wetting his pants, looked to the stage with dread, the smell of ammonia spreading.
Ze, looking at the pitiful man, asked again, "How much is your life worth?"
The man, clutching by fear and not knowing the answer but aware that if not answered, he would die, opened his mouth.
"Ten billion gold," he stuttered.
That was the worth of his fortune.
"Wrong," Ze said in a playful tone, but his eyes looked at the man as if he were trash.
"Wai-AHHHHHHHHH!"
Without letting the man speak, the hounds pounced on him. Following their attack, only agonizing cries filled the air. The hounds ripped his limbs one by one, slowly not letting him faint, and dug into his innards. The man, who didn't know why his answer was wrong, died a torturous death.
The people who watched this torture shuddered at the thought of going through it. All they could do was swallow their breaths and pray that they wouldn't be next.
But even when hope is lost in the despair of death, there are those who fight back. They don't lose hope in hopeless situations. They are what people call heroes.
"What are you all frightened for? He is just one man. We just have to kill him," the man in the cat mask shouted.
Yes, he was right. Killing the caster was the best way to escape his magic. But the one thing he didn't understand was that, despite knowing all this, not a single person had tried to attack the man in the wolf mask.
It was due to terror, the instinct of prey trying not to be recognized as the prey by the predator. Not to be killed due to its futile effort of going against the nature of prey, to be hunted.
But...
"If we all attack him at once, we can beat him. He has been maintaining a barrier magic, and he also used his mana to create those things," the hooded mage explained.
Everyone looked at the mass of flesh.
"He should have already spent too much mana maintaining the barrier. If we attack before he regains his mana, we can beat him."
The words of the hooded mage resonated with everyone. They felt that his words were true. They could survive if all the prey attacked the predator.
The guards gripped their swords, the mages began to chant their spells, and the bidders who could fight gripped their weapons. They would fight and die or just die a futile death.
"Okay, mages support from the rear," one of the guards said, taking command.
"Okay."
They all turned to the man, who looked at them as if he were watching a show, not moving a bit. The knights rushed at him. They would slay this man and gain their freedom.
The spirited knights reached the stage, the man in command waited for the mage to strike from long range to create a gap.
But the attack never arrived. Without thinking much, he jumped at the man.
Ze, in his wolf mask, not bothered by the knight rushing towards him, looked to the VIP section for the next bidder. His gaze soon stopped at the golden bear, his eyes smiling.
The knight, who was rushing, stopped, sensing that something was wrong. The man hadn't even bothered with him, as if he were an insect that could be crushed anytime. He turned back, noticing the mages whose faces showed disbelief and the knight who looked out of breath.
"W-what happened?" he asked.
The mages looked at him, their dread and disbelief clearly visible.
"T-there is no mana," the words escaped the mage's mouth.
The knight only then noticed that the mana in his body was diffusing out. They were slowly losing mana from their bodies.
Mana, which is the foundation of this world, is a mysterious substance with the power to create and change. It has evolved humans and animals alike. However, the mana that was once present everywhere on this earth is no longer available to them.
Mages use mana to invoke change, create spells, and manipulate different elements or effects. Knights use mana to protect and strengthen themselves, pushing the limits of what humans can achieve. Without the foundation of mana, they are nothing but cannons without gunpowder.
The frightened knight looked back at the unbothered man and slowly retreated to the back. The man in the golden bear mask noticed the gaze upon him and locked eyes with Ze.
"What do you want me to say?" he asked. He knew that this person was here to kill them, but he was playing with them by asking about their worth.
Ze sighed and leapt from the stage, turning into a blur. He stood on the railing of the second floor, looking at the VIP Golden Bear. He gracefully descended and stood before the muscular man wearing a suit that seemed like it would rip due to his muscles, a body fitted for a bear.
"Man, why are you spoiling the mood?" Ze said with disappointment in his low voice. He waved his hand at the bear, as if asking him to calm down, but the man vanished.
*Burst*
With the sound of a water balloon bursting, blood splattered, covering the VIP section in red. The people around him didn't perceive what happened to the man, but they knew he was dead.
Ze, who remained clean despite being the closest, prepared to return to the stage.
"Aren't you going to ask me?" a pleasant voice entered his ears.
"Madam," the knights cried out to stop her.
Recognizing who it was, Ze turned to her. A shield covered her from the blood, and two red knights stood like statues to guard her. She looked at Ze.
Ze vanished into a blur and appeared before her, gazing into her eyes. He sensed curiosity emanating from her, born out of amusement.
'What an interesting lady, indeed.' Ze leaned closer, extending his hand, but the knights guarding her swiftly moved and formed a wall.
*Boom* *Boom*
With two booming sounds, the knights who blocked his path disappeared. Unhindered by the guards, Ze's hand moved towards her mask, but as he looked into her unmoving eyes, even after her knight was killed, he was amazed.
Instead of removing her mask, he brought her crimson hair closer, inhaling the pleasant scent of freshly washed hair amidst the iron smell of blood.
Kissing her hair in his hand, he spoke.
"It's a waste, you already have a man in your heart."
Upon hearing his words, her emerald eyes trembled for the first time.
"But you smell familiar."
Perplexed by his incomprehensible words, she looked into his deep blue eyes, as deep as the sea, but couldn't find their meaning.
Ze straightened his posture and vanished without a sound, leaving her unanswered.
*****