The bidding war continued, reaching 25 million gold coins.
And then all of a sudden, the Duchess of Ikaris stopped bidding, accepting her defeat, and allowing others to step in.
Kael leaned to the side and whispered to his wife. "So, you are going to step in now, I suppose?"
"Not Yet," Amanda said, shaking her head calmly. "We have to wait."
Almost forty seconds passed away and Camilla reminded everyone about the time limit of the bid.
And then Amanda's hand finally rose for the second time in the auction. "30 million." Her voice once again forced everyone, the commoners and the distinguished guests to look at her.
"30 million for that artifact?" "Directly increasing by 5 million?" "Hey, it is the princess." "The royal family can indeed afford to spend." "These fuc*ing nobles amass huge wealth for themselves, splurging on the things they want, but wouldn't spend a dime of money on their citizens even in the case of a famine. Imagine how many people could come out of poverty if such money is donated to society?" "That's how the world works, sister." "Hey, you two. Do you think they spend so much money on some artifact? It was probably all a show placed by the Witch Tower, giving the item away to the palace in exchange for some kind of favor."
As murmurs spread all over the ground floor, Duchess Leona's lips curled up to a faint smile, and she put away the paddle aside.
"30 million going once, twice" *Bam* "Sold"
"Congratulations, VIP Box No.9 on acquiring the artifact—Pendant of Argos."
"Now, for the final item of the auction. Behold the Elixir of Immortality."
Camilla raised the violet-colored potion stored in the crystal bottle and introduced its properties. "The Elixir of Immortality is considered one of the greatest creations of Witch Tower. Those who drink it will not only gain an extra hundred years of life span, something unique to demigods, but they also retain their youthfulness until they reach their natural life span limit. Apart from that, it would also aid in the breakthrough for those who were stuck in the peak stage of the legendary realm. The Witch Tower guarantees one hundred percent."
Murmurs soon filled the room once again, this time, even in the VIP Boxes, everyone getting attracted to it.
Camilla waited for a few seconds, letting those murmurs die down a little. "However, there are potential drawbacks to drinking this potion, too. One, the females have a 95% chance of losing their fertility upon consumption. It doesn't affect the males, though. Two, unless you reach the demigod realm after your natural life span limit ends, your strength will continue to deteriorate along with your appearance, which you can counter by drinking high-quality dragon blood regularly. Finally, those with variant elements (everything other than seven basic ones: Fire, Water, Wind, Lightning, Earth, Light, and Dark) would face a high risk of death after consumption.
We'll start the bidding with 2 million gold coins."
Despite the warnings from the host, the item remained the most popular one in the auction.
The bidding war started a few seconds after the starting bid was announced. Following a similar strategy to the first two biddings opted by others, the Duchess of Falcoris—Neryssa Seastorm and the Duchess of Thornmere—Aelithra Ashenvyne fought with each other.
"3 million" "5 million"
"6 million" "8 million"
"10 million" "12 million"
"15 million" "18 million."
From there, Duchess Leona took over the reins from Aelithra who quit. "20 million"
"22 million." Neryssa didn't back away at all. The reason was obvious for everyone to see. The woman sitting beside her, aka her mother and the former Duchess is a Tier-8 expert.
"25 million" "28 million"
"30 million" "32 million"
.
.
.
"60 million"
When 60 million was announced by Leona, Neryssa could only back away. This also put away the competition from almost all the guests. After all, 60 million is not by means a small amount. Many either abandoned the idea of possessing it or made some plans to steal the item from its future owner.
However, the Duchess of the hosting duchy didn't think the same. She joined in the fray and the fake battle of bidding between them once again ensued.
"65 million" "70 million"
"75 million" "80 million"
"85 million" "90 million"
.
.
.
"155 million" "170 million"
By the time it reached 170 million, everyone had lost their intentions to bid anymore.
Once again, the princess came into the war, simply following a similar pattern; this time, Leona backed out after Adelina raised it by 15 whole million gold coins.
"200 million." Amanda raised it even more, challenging every vip out there to bid against her and showing off the might of the imperial palace. It was like she was stating that if the palace wants something, everyone else has to back off.
Without any surprise, Leona didn't bid from there and no one came forward either.
"200 million once, twice, *bam* sold."
Camilla, with a great smile, announced loud and clear. "Congratulations to VIP Box No.9 on acquiring the Elixir of Immortality."
In the end, the Princess had secured both items, paying 230 million gold coins, an amount almost twice the debt Moonstone House made over centuries to the royal bank. It just blew off Kael's mind, making him feel like he truly underestimated Amanda's resolve.
Princess Amanda was on cloud nine. She acquired the items she wanted, and soon, she would force her mother to annul this marriage with Kael, and later, becoming busy with gathering evidence against the perpetrators that conspired with her late husband's death. Once she talks to his spirit, the truth will also unfold before her.
Kael, on the other hand, couldn't help but think how much this wife of his wants to annul their marriage that she spent such an exorbitant amount. He was happy for her, but at the same time, he also felt disappointed. But then he reminded himself that he married them for 127 million gold coins too. So, what's wrong with the fact that she is spending more than 200 million gold coins to annul their marriage? Then, his thoughts suddenly shifted to the dagger in his possession. He couldn't wait to look for an opportunity to unseal the spirit and tame it.
Kael's thoughts were however interrupted by an unexpected turn of events.
As the Princess exited the auction house and was about to board the carriage, the air suddenly crackled with danger.
Five mysterious experts, all wearing hooded black robes and demon masks, appeared without warning, their presence overwhelming, throwing the surroundings into chaos. Some people started leaving in a hurry, while some drew out their weapons.
As the Witch flew into the sky, facing them alone, four of the five acted together, forming a mysterious seal in their palms and pushing to her.
Surprising for every spectator, the Witch did do nothing. The seals fell upon her body one after another, and she was imprisoned with four white chains, each tied to one expert.
The remaining one then looked down at Kael's direction. Kael's heart skipped a beat and spoke. "Captain Cain, we have to leave quickly. Let's go."
"Wha…" the Captain didn't even have the time to respond, and the expert had already teleported behind Amanda and given a chop to her neck. As she instantly fell unconscious, he carried her over his shoulder and stomped onto the ground, releasing strong electrical currents in his surroundings.
Kael and others blasted away in different directions. Many soldiers were wounded. Serestia was completely knocked out with heavy injuries. The only one doing well is Cain with light injuries from the earlier current shock. Kael remained unharmed but due to the dust around, none could find Kael's condition.
Kael got up and watched the expert, carrying away his wife. His eyes darkened, clenching his fist. "This bas*ard."
"Nyx, come here." He immediately reached out to his tattoo. The tattoo glowed for a second and the spectral wolf was summoned to his side. He sat on top of it and ordered. "Follow them."
The spectral wolf charged forward.
By the time Cain got up, he had found Kael was far away, and the spectral wolf was too fast. "Dammit." He gritted his teeth. He instantly reached out to his storage ring, took out a communication scroll, and voiced the message. "Supreme Commander, this is Cain. The Princess was abducted by the Demonic Cult, and the royal consort went after the enemy with his summon. I request a demigod's intervention."