Hitman with a Badass System

While Adelia was fighting the beasts to get the second piece of the armor left behind by the past Dark Lord, Saber was heading for Yaserius. His destination was the Aqua Palace. Sadie received a piece of information about something valuable that was about to be auctioned. Surprisingly, this item had some kind of connection to the Dark Lord. Hence, Saber attended the auction under the Dark Queen's order. Since the Dark Lord was in his heavenly tribulation, most of his subordinates were on the floating mountain except for Saber. Rather than participating in the auction himself, Saber was ordered to be a spectator. If the item had any significance to the Dark Lord, Saber was ordered to track down the buyer and steal it. Gaya didn't bother to spend millions of gold coins in the auction, especially when they were in a financial crisis. By the time Saber reached the outskirts, the darkness had enveloped the world. Although Saber had no need to worry about the daylight anymore, he still loved the night more than the day.

On a pitch-dark night, the Aqua Palace was fairly quiet. Several groups of guards patrolled the island, and each of them was at the Soul Refining stage. The aqua palace spared no expense in armoring them up. They were armored to the teeth, and their armor glowed in the night due to the runes engraved in them. As Saber approached the island, he noticed a sliver of glow around the island. Apparently, they placed new arrays and runes to ensure the island's defense. The last thing the Aqua Palace wanted was an attack from the Dark Lord. But Saber knew the Dark Lord had more pressing concerns than attacking the Aqua Palace for no reason. As far as Saber was concerned, the world was so wrong about the Dark Lord. He wasn't as evil as the Guardians painted him to be.

Saber heard hushed discussions and commands from all over Aqua Palace. Most conversations were about the royal dragon skeleton the aqua palace dug out recently. Neither Saber nor the Dark Lord had any interest in the skeleton. Hence, Saber paid no attention to these conversations. But none of them talked about the mysterious item Saber was looking for. The auction was scheduled to begin when the sun rose. Since Saber had arrived at the island earlier, he sat under a tree, enjoying some peace and quiet. He even closed his eyes to take a quick nap. The night quickly passed. Sun broke the dark skies from the horizon, showering the island with its golden rays. Saber's eyelids twitched as he slowly opened his eyes. The Aqua Palace had been decorated with ribbons and lanterns as nobles and commoners streamed in and out of the building. The VIPs were flying in another direction to enter the place using a separate entrance.

Today was the first day of the Aqua Palace auction. Last time the Dark Lord himself honored the auction by participating. This time, the aqua palace hoped he wouldn't arrive. They had arrays and security mechanisms to catch him if he did. Unknowing to the people, the guardians were roaming the island, just in case.  In the past, the auction time had always been the busiest day in Yaserius. Thousands of people would come from every part of the continent to watch and participate in the auction. However, today was an exception. Compared to the last time, Saber saw fewer people on the island. As a regular to the auction, Saber could tell the decrease in the crowd.

The sun slowly rose into the air, emitting a red glow that bathed the lands in its warm light. More and more people began to gather at the Aqua Palace. People found it extremely difficult to walk to the entrance without being squeezed. Saber was among the first thirty people who entered the building. After he entered,  he heard firecrackers and a thunderous bell. They symbolized the start of the auction. Crowd or no crowd, the aqua palace began the auction right on time. Just like any other organization, the Aqua Palace also raised the entry fee. They charged seventy gold coins per person, unlike the last time when they charged fifty gold coins.

Although this price hike made a small group unhappy as usual, it did not stop them from paying. No commoner would have dared to participate if someone charged seventy gold coins in Elon or Ozer continent. But this wasn't Elon or Ozer. In Awor continent, even a commoner could spare seventy gold coins. There was a reason why everyone called the Awor continent the richest. After the gates opened up for the auction house, the people that already had tickets and had been waiting outside for a very long time began to enter through the entrance in a straight line.

Saber covered his face with a gray hood. He slipped into the crowd, slowly following the people to the auction hall. As he reached the inner halls, a large grandeur hall greeted his eyes. The space was filled with neat rows of seats for as far as the eye could see. There were at least three thousand seats around the hall. The auction hall had two stories worth of seats. Installed on the sides of every seat were dozens of private rooms for VIPS. A tinted glass wall separated each room. The VIPs could clearly see the outside through the tinted glass, but no one on the outside could see what was happening inside. Everyone focused on the stage in the middle where the items would be auctioned. Several stands remained in a neat row in the center. They were all covered with red cloth to prevent people from seeing through.

Finding a relatively isolated seat, Saber calmly sat down and waited for the auction to start. People all around him were slowly starting to settle down as well. Eventually, the auction house was filled up. One couldn't find a single empty seat. Changing the auction hall was a great tactic by the Aqua Palace. If they had held this auction in the hall they used last year, many seats would have been empty. This would have ruined the Aqua Palace's reputation. They knew there would be fewer crowds than the last time. Hence they chose a smaller hall. The Dark Lord was one of the biggest reasons for the decrease in the crowd, but the Aqua Palace refused to admit that.

Just as the final seats were taken and everyone had settled down, Saber heard another set of firecrackers exploding. People curiously stared at the stands as the red cloth slowly began to rise. One by one, the concealed items were revealed to the crowd. A few moments later, an elderly man descended to the center from the sky. He was the auctioneer, Rickston, the same man who auctioned the items when Michael was here.

Rickston's eyes swept the audience as he cleared his throat before introducing himself, "Honored guests, I thank you all for participating in our Aqua Palace's annual auction. I, Rickston Bash, will host this year's auction. I hope everyone will buy an item or items they longed for,"

Rickston paused for a moment to clear his throat once more before continuing to speak, "Due to recent events, you may notice more guards and security arrays. They are in place to safeguard the people. So rest assured you can be at peace. Now without further ado, I'll declare that the auction has officially begun…"

Rickston looked over his shoulder as a young, elegant woman slowly walked to his side. She gently put her hand into the first glass box and lifted up a golden pill. She raised her hand so everyone could clearly see the energy radiating from the pill.

"Honored guests, we shall now auction away the first item,"  Rickston looked at the pill before turning his gaze back at the crowd.

"The very first item is a Blood lily pill. For the honored guests unfamiliar with this item, only twelve pills exist in the world. They were concocted by Legendary Alchemist Ingrid Stenham,"

Many people looked clueless. As though Rickston had expected this reaction from the crowd, he explained further,

"Ingrid Stenham was a 6-star Alchemist and the first Supreme Guardian of the Guardian Guild. Her mastery of alchemy is still unmatched. These pills were one of the few gifts she left behind before ascending to the higher realms,"

Those who looked clueless gasped after Rickson explained. Even an oblivious man knew about the status of a Supreme Guardian. Moreover, Rickston said she had ascended to higher realism. This was enough to make people shudder in shock. As a member of the Order, Saber knew everything about Ingrid Stenham. For instance, he knew that she was one of the Mazeroth founders.

"Consuming this pill would clear any bottlenecks in your cultivation. Furthermore, you won't have any bottlenecks in the future at all," said Rickson. Many nobles leaned forward in their seats. Their eyes lit up as many were stuck at the same stage for decades due to bottlenecks. This pill could finally enable them to break through to the next stage. Rickston smiled as he knew the nobles would go crazy for the pill. Saber was surprised that the auction began with a priceless pill such as this.

"The starting bid for the blood lily pill is five million gold coins. Every new bid will add an additional a million minimum. You may begin bidding!" Rickston's thunderous voice swept across the hall.

"Six million!"

"Eight million!"

"Nine  million!"

As Rickston expected, the nobles fought like starving dogs for the pill. In a few minutes, the pill's price went from five million to fifteen million. The price was nothing compared to having no bottlenecks in their lives.

Saber calmly watched the nobles fight for the pills with a faint smile on his face. The Order had no need for such a pill when they had the Dark Lord. After a fierce battle, the pill bottle was sold to the highest bidder for twenty-five million gold coins. Saber's eyes were focused on the items behind Rickston. Among them, none seemed to have any connection to the Dark Lord. Maybe he was wrong but waiting was the only option he had.

The pendant on Saber's neck dimly glowed as Gaya was looking at the auction through the pendant from the dark ocean.

"Sadie better be right about this," Saber heard the Dark Queen's voice in his head.