Lilith, perched in her VIP section, gazes down, tapping her chin thoughtfully. 'These weapons... or guns, as he calls them, are effective and fast,' she muses. Her attention shifts to another VIP room at the center. Through the glass, she spots someone with a mask bearing the number six. 'She's been sitting there motionless since the beginning. If she has a number six and he has a seven, she must be his superior, or at least someone with a higher status than him,' Lilith conjectures, her curiosity piqued.
Meanwhile, Queen Celeste rubs her forehead, a look of concern etched on her face as she peruses the selection of guns. 'This must be a joke. Are they planning to create chaos?' she wonders, her skepticism mixing with a growing sense of unease.
Kael, observing Bein, smirks and says, "Hmmm... I guess it's best to show you." He snaps his fingers, and the golems are released. Holding up the sniper rifle, he advises, "When using a sniper like this one, try taking out multiple targets, like so." Kael's eyes lock onto the six golems. 'These golems are technically S ranks, though they barely fall in that category. They are only considered S ranks due to their strong bodies and high regeneration. This is a piece of cake since I already know where their core is.' He loads the sniper, a light blue hue glowing briefly. As he shoots, the bullet silently vanishes, piercing two golems right through their cores, reducing them to rubble instantly.
Kael puts the sniper back in its place, spins his cane, and points it at Bein. "I don't mind you using your sword. However, I would like you to use our weapons during the battle to show their effectiveness." He hands Bein a paper listing the guns and their abilities. "Go ahead and read it. You may reject, but if you proceed, I will gift you a weapon I designed for your guild master."
Bein, taken aback by Kael's offer, scans the paper, his eyebrows arching in intrigue. 'A weapon for the guild master? This could be an interesting opportunity,' he thinks. Despite his initial reluctance, the prospect of acquiring such a unique item for his guild intrigues him.
Bein sighs internally, 'If I reject his offer, I'm afraid the guild master won't let me off so easily.' Rubbing his wrists, he says with resolve, "I understand." He walks over to the showcased guns, scanning the paper Kael handed him. 'These weapons have a couple of advantages,' he notes, eyeing the cages and the two slowly approaching golems. Tapping the hilt of his sword, he weighs his options.
Zagrax grins from his seat, tapping his fingers rhythmically. 'Hmhmhm, I heard the guilds tend to have strong humans. I wonder how strong that man is,' he muses. He taps Vexira's shoulder and whispers, "Don't ruin the fun." Vexira, releasing the grip on her knife, asks in demon tongue, "Why?" Zagrax whispers back "##### ###### ### #####," clearly enjoying the unfolding spectacle.
Bein, meanwhile, extends his arms to grab two guns. 'I have no intention of showing any techniques to this crowd. These weapons should suffice. I don't think I need that sniper he showed me to kill off the golems.' He weighs the Tempest Echo Mk1 in his hand, a submachine gun, according to the instructions. 'If this is as it explains, it will make this easy.' He attaches it to his belt and picks up the Revenant's Grasp Mk1 and the Oblivion's Edge Mk1, a semi-automatic gun. 'I still can't get used to these names,' he thinks, holding them as he walks towards his challenge.
Kael grins and snaps his fingers. 'It's showtime.' The workers activate an array, and a shield is created, confining the monsters and Bein within a specific area. Kael turns to the audience, and the lighting shifts dramatically around the stage. He spins his cane and announces, "I'm sure you all want a better view." With a slight pull of his top hat and a lift of his fingers, the seats start rearranging, ascending higher and drawing closer for an optimal viewing angle.
Bein stands ready, his expression calm yet focused. Kael spins around dramatically and calls out, "Bein, are you ready?"
Bein nods and replies, "Go ahead, Seven."
Loid takes a seat among the crowd, leaning back with a contemplative sigh. 'That man Bein is rather lucky. To be able to test out multiple of these guns however he likes,' he muses. His gaze drifts down to the slowly opening cages. 'He sure is lucky... but I can't complain.' He glances at a clean redwood box given to him, opening it to reveal a sleek, metallic revolver nestled inside.
Bein, meanwhile, watches as the two golems approach with their massive bodies of crystallized rock and stone. 'Their strength and durability are no joke. I can't take a direct hit without any protection,' he thinks, gripping the Revenant's Grasp. He jumps onto the barrier, using it as a wall for a slight height advantage. 'Although he removed the strength seal, it's useless to fight a golem with that alone.' As one of the golems tries to hit him, it strikes the barrier instead, sending vibrations throughout.
Lysandra remains motionless, her face resting on one hand, the very picture of boredom. Her eyes, half-lidded, sweep across the crowd with a disinterested gaze. She muses to herself, the internal monologue dripping with sarcasm. 'He's such a fake. Can't believe these fools are buying into his charade.' Her eyes then settle on Kael. They narrow slightly, not with anger but with a playful, mischievous annoyance. 'Kael, oh Kael, if only I could just yank that overly styled hair of yours... that'd wipe that smug look off your face under that stupid mask.' Her lips twitch into a barely noticeable smirk at the thought, her boredom momentarily interrupted by her amusing fantasy of bringing Kael down a peg or two.
Bein skillfully jumps as the golem tries to attack him, landing directly on its arm before leaping again as the other golem smashes the first's arm, shattering it to pieces. The golem quickly regenerates its arm. Bein, aiming the Revenant's Grasp at its head, fires the shotgun, blowing the head clean off. The recoil pushes him back a bit, especially since he's mid-air. Landing with a flip, he looks up to see the head regenerate. 'The core isn't in its head, so this is a mutated golem. Thanks to all the arrays, no one can use mana, so these golems shouldn't be able to manipulate any earth around here except for their own bodies,' he assesses. Reloading the shotgun with a different bullet, he thinks, 'I think this one might be more useful.'
Bein, agile and alert, jumps back in fast leaps as the golems charge at him. He narrowly dodges left as one golem morphs its hand into a sharp stone projectile, launching it towards him. With a swift hand on the ground, Bein propels himself up, evading another strike. Landing briefly on a golem, he immediately springs up as its body sprouts spikes. 'This is the frustrating thing about these golems,' he mutters, his focus unwavering.
Another attack flies towards him; he catches it mid-air and hurls it back at the golem. It flies through the air with a swish, embedding itself into the golem and causing a shockwave. The golem staggers, but the spike is absorbed, and it slowly rises again. 'Let's try this,' Bein thinks, aiming the shotgun and blasting a hole through its chest. As the hole begins to close, he glimpses a portion of its core. 'I got you now,' he thinks, firing the second barrel. The shot doesn't break the core but freezes the surrounding area, hindering regeneration. Seizing the moment, he grabs the Oblivion's Edge and fires a precise shot at the core, shattering the golem into rubble. He repeats the strategy with the remaining golems, each falling to his tactical prowess.
Kael, watching with theatrical flair, claps his hands and spins his cane. "Using elemental bullets helped slow down the regeneration, allowing him to easily kill off the golems. Normally it would take three mages, a tank, and two archers to deal with these golems, under normal conditions, that is. As you know, the golems could not use all their abilities, but even so, there is no weapon that makes hunting this easy apart from ours. No magic, aura, or any high-end technique is needed. Now, let's see how he deals with the remaining monsters simultaneously." Kael announces, snapping his fingers and releasing all the monsters.
Queen Celeste, rubbing her chin thoughtfully, surveys the remnants of the battle. 'These guns are bound to be popular. Remote villages, merchants, stores, soldiers, assassins, adventurers, thieves, mercenaries... everyone would love to get their hands on one of these.' Her gaze hardens as she looks at number seven, and the masked figure numbered six. 'This is alarming. If these weapons flood the open market, the dynamics of every economy across the Miral lands will be upended within a month.'
Meanwhile, Lilith's impatience grows as she glares at Kael. 'There's no way I'm letting any of this out into the world. Everything is relatively peaceful now, but this could trigger a war...' she ponders, tapping the VIP special information listing she was given. 'What in the world is Darius thinking by supporting this?' She turns to Leo, who stands by the door, and inquires, "What would happen if I were to exit this room?"
Leo's eyebrows shoot up in alarm. "P-please don't do that, ma'am. If you really intend on leaving your seat, Sir Darius will personally escort you out," he stammers.
Lilith grins mischievously. "Oh ho~ So the old moron will come himself, huh~" She stands up, prompting Leo to press a button. A light hue glows on the glass window, creating an illusion of her still sitting. "Oh, what an interesting solution. To not cause a commotion, you set up an illusion barrier that makes everyone think I'm still sitting down~," she observes with amusement.
Leo, taking a step back, is in a state of panic. 'Dammit, dammit, dammit! What's going on!? Why is she doing this? Is she going to cause chaos? Please don't, or I'll get fired. Dammit, I won't be able to buy that mansion I want,' he cries internally.
Lilith saunters closer, teasingly running her finger on Leo's face. "So, how long for that old bastard to get here~?"
The door slams open, and Darius steps in, munching on popcorn. "You damn witch, I told him not to invite you here," he grumbles.
Lilith rolls her eyes, retorting, "You look like a dried-up raisin. Why don't you go and die already?"
Darius counters, "You talk a lot of trash for an old hag." He turns to Leo, remarking, "You know, this witch is older than me."
Leo's eyes widen in disbelief. 'No way, she looks so young. I mean, I know she's using youth magic, but she's older than him?'
Lilith shouts, her voice tinged with annoyance and humor, "I'm only one year older, you brain-dead old man!"
Lilith, her frustration evident, grits her teeth and confronts Darius. "What the hell are you doing letting this happen?" Her voice is sharp, cutting through the air as she breaks two of her seals, conjuring a perfectly round ball of solid-looking fire in her hand.
Darius, unfazed by her anger, responds nonchalantly, "Oi, don't make a scene in my auctions. We have an agreement, remember?"
Lilith's glare intensifies as she turns towards Kael's direction. "Whoever that man is, he needs to be stopped. You should already know the chaos these weapons will cause."
Darius lets out a hearty laugh. "Hahahahahaha! If you're surprised by this, just wait until you see the national-grade weapon. I personally invested everything they needed to make it," he boasts with a smug grin.
Lilith stares coldly at Darius for a long, silent minute. "You're taking this too lightly," she finally says, her voice laced with a chilling seriousness.
Darius yawns dismissively. "Yeah yeah, whatever. I don't feel like fighting you when you're all debuffed. Do me a favor and just sit down and watch the show." With that, he turns away and exits, closing the door behind him.
Lilith lets out a deep sigh, her anger dissipating. The fireball in her hand transforms into ice and shatters into pieces. She leans back into her seat, muttering under her breath, "I'm not an old hag."
Leo, standing by the door, nods fervently. "O-of course you're not. You're a young, beautiful lady," he says, trying to appease her. In his mind, though, Leo is in turmoil. 'I want to go home... This is way above my paygrade,' he laments internally.
Catching his mutterings, Lilith offers a rare smile. "You better forget everything you heard today," she warns gently, her tone hinting at the gravity of the situation.