Chapter 445 - 248: Rejecting the Duo Queue

Upon the mountain’s peak, two figures in black robes silently gazed at the town in the distance.

Gray clouds rolled in from afar, and flashes of white lightning occasionally illuminated the dreary world.

The larger of the two, his form revealed in a flash of lightning, suddenly asked, "Is everything ready?"

"Ready," the other robed figure said. "My heart has been completely replaced by a Dragon Heart. Even without Transforming into a Dragon, I have the power of a top-tier Bronze. After I transform, I might even approach the level of a Pseudo-Silver."

"This is our best chance," the larger man said. "The plan in London City has been set in motion. Aside from the Griffin carriages, they have no way to reach Berthelili. And just as expected, that person fell into the trap. He must be in the Arctic right now, cleaning up the mess..."

"New—"

"No! Don’t say his name! Have you forgotten his Tier? As a Golden Mage, he can track us with nothing more than the mention of his name," the larger man suddenly snapped.

He quickly regained his composure and spoke to the other man, who had bowed his head to accept the reprimand.

"Roy Hestia, go. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be terrified of them, for your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."

Beneath the hood, Roy’s gaunt, Dragon Scale-covered face was faintly visible in the lightless night. He crossed his fists over his chest.

"For the glory of the Goddess, even in death, I shall become a heroic spirit."

He turned and started down the mountain. Another blinding flash of Light lit up the sky, revealing the dense ranks of Dragon Attendants and Cultists stretching from the summit to the mountainside. Their glowing, amber Dragon Eyes made them look like an army returned from Hell, ready to bring absolute sorrow and suffering to the world.

The larger robed man watched this army melt into the darkness, then looked up at the wind and rain that had suddenly begun to fall and whispered:

"Everything is for immortality."

Another flash of white light illuminated the eerie eyes under his hood, which held the faint color of Gold.

...

「The Auction Hall.」

The hall was filled with a lively and festive atmosphere. Nobles of the Old Blood whispered amongst themselves, the clinking of their glasses punctuated by talk of recent major events on the Inner Side, such as the "Bloodless Escape" and the "Return of the Dragon Knight."

The air was filled with the soft chatter and expensive perfume of the finely dressed women. Their discussions revolved around predictable topics: cosmetics, luxury goods, and men’s fashion.

And in the world of these young women, a man’s fashion sense was often tied to his looks.

It was like a popular meme from Baron’s past life on the internet: a picture of a slovenly landlord in plastic slippers and a plain white undershirt, a fat ring of keys hanging from his waist. Netizens thought he looked like a total creep.

But if you photoshopped that old man’s face with a handsome celebrity’s, he was suddenly considered suave and stylish.

Thus, their discussions centered on the most handsome men in the hall, like Silver Lion Wilder, Dewey of the Frank Family, Elvin from the Holy Mechanism, or Gold from the Walter Family.

Without exception, they were all Law Enforcers.

This was only natural. The Old Race, being descendants of the Old Gods, had far superior physical constitutions than the ordinary people of the Outer Side. The same went for their appearances. For example, many Bloodless who left the Inner Side became household-name celebrities on the Outer Side.

Some of the more extreme Alchemists even argued that the Old Race weren’t the same species as humans or black people. They dedicated hundreds of pages in their own Alchemy journals to proving this point, but they were eventually shut down.

Still, this indirectly proved that the proportion of handsome men and beautiful women among the Old Race was indeed much higher than among the ordinary people of the Outer Side.

Moreover, on the Inner Side, a sufficiently outstanding Spiritual Sense was a prerequisite to becoming a Law Enforcer. And those with exceptional Spiritual Sense were, without fail, the best of the Old Race. The chances of one of them being some five-out-of-ten clown were slim to none.

Then there were the young men attending the auction to gain experience as representatives of their families. Setting aside the childish ones who were busy comparing their families’ power, and also setting aside the pervy losers who were lecherously fantasizing about the women’s figures...

...the remaining youths were all, intentionally or not, acting like self-proclaimed experts trying to prove their information networks. They competed to "educate" each other on the identities and backgrounds of the guests present.

This allowed Baron, with his enhanced hearing as a Dragon Knight, to eavesdrop on quite a few secrets of the bigwigs, though most of it was useless gossip.

’But I can still use this to my advantage,’ he thought. ’I can mentally flag anyone the young masters don’t mention, or anyone they don’t seem to know. Then I can observe them more closely and see if they might be a spy from the Dragon Eater Association.’

Besides these groups, there was one other type of person in the hall.

The most licentious men and the most seductive women drifted through the crowd with wine glasses in hand, their eyes scanning for suitable prey. When two of them locked eyes, they would share a knowing smile, take each other by the arm, and find an Attendant to get a key for a private room to hook up.

But some failed to find a match. So, the playboys would go after the rich heiresses, while the playgirls went for the innocent young masters or their well-built bodyguards—like the unassuming Attendant, Baron.

Baron refused a Wandering Woman’s invitation to hook up, stating that his duty was to protect Miss Freya. He had no need to obey anyone else’s orders.