Hearing the name Time Cutting Edge, the first person that came to Esdeath's mind was Elara Erevan — the former principal of the Awakened Academy.
That man's signature killer move was also called Time Cutting Edge. It was a terrifying skill that required a Time Cutting Edge Essence Stone as its core. Elara's version, however, was an S-rank killer move powered by a Rank A time cutting edge essence stone.
But what was being auctioned here was only a Rank B Time Cutting Edge essence stone, along with the recipe for the Rank A version.
To any ordinary person, this seemed like a treasure — an opportunity of a lifetime. The way the item glimmered on the stage, the smooth tone of the auctioneer's voice, and the whispers spreading among the guests all made it seem so tempting.
But Esdeath didn't let her excitement show. She simply sat back and looked around the hall with a calm expression, her cold eyes scanning the faces of the people present without turning her head too much.
Something felt off.
"This feels more like a trap," she thought, narrowing her eyes slightly. "There's a high chance the person selling this is connected to the officials. Maybe they extracted the recipe from Elara's dead body and managed to refine only up to Rank B."
Her mind worked fast, connecting the pieces. There was another possibility too. Perhaps Elara hadn't destroyed all the essence stones in his body before his death. If that was the case, the officials could have taken the remaining stones and or recreated lost ones since Elara's essence stone recipes might have already known to the academy, He was used to be academy's principal after all.
But no matter what the truth was, the main question remained — who was the bait meant for?
"Who's the real target here? Who's the prey?" Esdeath wondered silently, her fingers tapping lightly on her armrest. She glanced again at the audience — some were watching eagerly, others whispering behind their masks. Everything looked normal on the surface, but her instincts screamed otherwise.
She leaned slightly toward Maruti, planning to whisper that it was definitely a trap. But before she could even speak, Maruti looked at her with a faint smirk and said, "It's a trap, right? I was waiting for you to confirm it. If you didn't, I might've taken it as a sign that your awakening as an Anomaly and it has already corrupted your thinking."
Esdeath blinked once, a little impressed by Maruti's sharpness for the first time in a while.
"At least you're not completely useless," she thought, hiding her small smile.
"So… are we bidding or not?" Maruti asked, her voice calm but curious.
Esdeath crossed one leg over the other, adjusting her posture elegantly. "It would be more suspicious if we didn't bid at all," she said quietly. "And if we bid too normally, after all the drama you caused earlier, that would also look strange. So bid high — make it look convincing. But make sure we don't win. For all we know, that essence stone might not even be real."
"Bidding will start from two thousand gold coins!" the auctioneer announced in a loud, clear voice.
The entire hall went quiet in an instant. Two thousand gold coins wasn't a small amount — one could easily buy a large mansion with a garden for that much money.
But those who truly understood essence stones knew the price was suspiciously low. It wasn't just a Rank B essence stone being sold — it also included the recipe for a Rank A essence stone.
Rank A essence stones were treasures of the kingdom. Only S-rank awakeners possessed them, and even among those, most had no more than one or two. If the bidding had started at ten thousand gold coins, no one would have been surprised.
"Four thousand gold coins!" Maruti raised her hand confidently, doubling the price without hesitation.
"Four thousand one hundred!" someone else called.
"Four thousand three hundred!" another added quickly.
The bids continued slowly, as people tried to win it at the lowest possible price. Just when the auction was about to heat up, a sudden loud *bang* echoed through the hall.
It was the sound of a gun.
The entire audience froze and turned toward the noise. A group of armed guards in police uniforms had entered. Some carried guns, others swords.
"No one move! We are not here to harm any innocent!" one of the guards shouted.
For a moment, Esdeath thought they were after her, but soon she realized they were heading toward a different section of the hall. The guards surrounded a man with dark green fluffy hair.
"Hands up! On your knees!" a guard yelled, aiming his gun directly at him.
"Berlin, you dared to betray us and sell that essence stone for money?! You're facing the death penalty for this!" the guard shouted again, barely holding back his anger.
Esdeath's suspicion had been right — it really was a trap. But not the kind she expected. This was actually a smuggling case. Berlin was one of the officials who had stolen the Time Cutting Edge essence stone and was trying to sell it illegally for quick profit.
He could have escaped the kingdom and sold it safely in another country years later, but he had overthought it. Instead, he decided to do the opposite of what people would expect — stay in the kingdom and sell it in a secret auction.
Unfortunately, his clever plan backfired.
Maruti leaned closer and rolled her eyes. "So, are we going to wait until everything's over and then go home quietly?"
Esdeath scoffed. "He said they won't harm any innocent people. But tell me, do you think anyone here is innocent? This is an illegal auction."
Maruti blinked, then understood what Esdeath meant — the guards would deal with the criminal first, then turn their attention to everyone else here.
"Then why not steal it first? Look — it's right there in the open," Maruti said with a mischievous smirk.
Esdeath glanced toward the glass box under the table where the essence stone rested.
"We're in the third basement floor," Esdeath replied quietly.
"Just leave it to me!" Maruti said eagerly.
But Esdeath shook her head. "That's not convincing enough. What if it's just a lie to hide another lie? And we don't even know if the essence stone is genuine yet."
Just as she said that, Esdeath's sharp senses picked up something — a man moving quietly toward the glass box. His stealth was weak, but his intent was clear.
It seemed someone else had decided to take the risk.
"Hey! What are you doing there? Stop!" a guard shouted, spotting the man.
But it was already too late. He was only a few inches away from the essence stone. With a twisted grin, he lifted the glass box's cover.
The glass wasn't ordinary — it had been sealing most of the Rank B essence stone's powerful aura, only letting leak a portion of it. Once the seal was removed, the overwhelming energy burst out like a flood, spreading through every corner of the auction hall — from the fifth underground floor, filling the fourth and third floor of basement to the surface above.
Esdeath's eyebrows widened slightly. "It's real," she said in a firm tone, then looked at Maruti. "Do it."
Maruti nodded and raised her hand calmly. "Divine Judgement," she whispered.
A glowing magic circle appeared in the sky above the auction hall. It wasn't an ordinary spell — the circle was huge, its golden lines forming complex patterns that pulsed like a living thing.
A few seconds later, a massive pillar of golden light came crashing down from the heavens. It was so bright that the entire area lit up as if it were daytime. The light slammed into the ground like the wrath of a god, tearing everything apart in its path.
Debris flew everywhere. The beam pierced through the roof, shattered the walls, and drilled straight into the earth. It destroyed the first underground floor completely, wiping out everyone in its path. Then it blasted through the second basement floor, leaving behind nothing but dust and ruin.
By the time it stopped, the golden light had faded, but the ground kept shaking violently. The entire third basement floor where Esdeath and Maruti were sitting trembled like it would collapse at any moment. Seats broke apart, the ceiling cracked open, and chunks of stone rained down. Screams filled the air as people panicked and tried to run, but in the chaos, the guards pointed their guns, shouting for everyone to stay still.
Amid the confusion, one of the guards — the same man who had caught the thief earlier — noticed something strange.
The pressure of the Rank B essence stone's aura, which had filled the hall a moment ago, was gone. Completely.
He looked down toward the center table — and froze. The man who tried to steal the essence stone was dead, his body split cleanly in half. His head rolled beside him, eyes wide open in shock.
And the glass case was empty.
The essence stone and its recipe were both gone — stolen right under their noses.
The guard clenched his jaw and turned toward Berlin furiously. "You had an accomplice, didn't you!?" he shouted.
But when he looked back, Berlin was gone too. Not even a trace of him remained.
---
Outside, far from the ruined auction hall, Esdeath and Maruti were calmly walking through the quiet streets, pretending to be ordinary citizens.
Esdeath had already stored the Time Cutting Edge essence stone inside her special storage-type essence stone — a gift from Lortell. Maruti, on the other hand, was casually carrying an unconscious Berlin slung over her shoulder like a sack.
"See?" Maruti said with a proud grin. "You were overthinking again. It wasn't a trap at all."
Esdeath didn't answer. Her eyes stayed sharp and alert, scanning the area to make sure they weren't being followed. Only after she was certain everything was clear did she stop in a narrow, quiet alley.
"Wake him up," Esdeath said.
Maruti smirked and slapped Berlin's cheek lightly. "Wakey wakey, brother!" she said in a playful tone, giving him a few more slaps for good measure.
Berlin groaned and slowly opened his eyes. The moment he saw Esdeath standing before him — cold eyes, calm face, and a gun pointed straight at him — he froze. Panic filled his expression, and his hands started trembling.
"Just tell us where you got the essence stone," Esdeath said in a calm, steady voice. "Do that, and we'll let you go."
She tilted her head slightly and pressed the gun's barrel against his forehead. "Or else…"
Berlin immediately broke down. Words tumbled out of his mouth like water. "I–I was a psychology teacher! But they forced me into the Exploration Department! They needed test subjects, so they sent people like me into dangerous areas to check for strange effects and take measures!"
He actually wanted to say more clearly, But because of being panick, He didn't know how to put his words wisely.
"Do you… do you know the myth of the River Sand of Flawless Time?" he said suddenly, his voice trembling. "It's real! It really exists!" His eyes widened, and he gave a nervous chuckle, almost sounding half-crazy.
"There were so many Time-type essence stones there — scattered everywhere like scraps! And in some parts, the sand turns into a mirror! I saw my own future in it! I saw myself selling the treasure here, becoming rich… and marrying two women later!"
Maruti scoffed and crossed her arms. "Is that so? Then why are you here instead?" She chuckled, tilting her head at him. "Your 'future-seeing mirror' doesn't sound very reliable to me."