…
Seoyeon and Khairix looked up in amazement at the wall in front of them, a big concrete wall—while not as colossal as the wall separating the Zars Region from the outside world, was still incredibly massive—as the two continued walking forwards.
The gate leading through the wall was guarded heavily with soldiers armed with rifles. Khairix and Seoyeon hid behind a wall to conceal themselves, as Khairix occasionally took quick glances at the patrolling guards.
"That's the entrance to the inner city, the inner city is richer than the slums outside, but we need to take care of those guys first."
Seoyeon looked at Khairix once more,
[Khairix Auvendale]
[Level 15]
[Skills: Crimson Phoenix's Swordstyle LVL 5, Imperial Tribulation LVL 1, Combat Intuition LVL 2]
[Stats: Agility (Evasion) 15, Luck 10, Strength 20, Dexterity 15, Speed 10, Vitality 12, Mana 15]
…
Seoyeon nodded at Khairix as he lunged out of their hiding spot, he soared in the sky upside down as he looked at a soldier straight into their eyes, the two locked onto each other as Seoyeon manifested a singularity in his hand before the soldier could even react.
*Swoosh* The singularity tore through the air as Seoyeon flicked it forwards, it created a thunderous ripple through the surroundings as powerful bolts of plasma, abyssal lightning, and a surge of energy converged towards it.
The soldier looked down and readied their weapon, when they looked back up, the singularity already swallowed his arm, "Aaaagh!" Their body could be visibly seen being torn to shreds by the other soldiers who trembled and flinched.
Seoyeon landed cleanly on the ground, he looked up,
The singularity exploded in a powerful shockwave, leaving the other soldiers dazed and confused, one soldier aimed at Seoyeon, ready to pull the trigger… Suddenly,
*Swish* A clean pierce through the soldier's body left them lifeless as Khairix pulled out his sword—now covered in blood—looking firm and convicted.
With
[Khairix Auvendale activated
A fiery aura emanated around him as his eyes glowed with a powerful, inextinguishable blaze. Filled with determination and conviction, Khairix dashed forwards at one of the soldiers as their bullets flew past him, and every bullet that was in front of him simply got cut down.
[Khairix Auvendale activated
"Aargh!" A soldier yelled out as a powerful aerial cut of fire tore through them, while they were still busy yelping in pain, Khairix dashed forwards and sliced through him cleanly.
Seoyeon summoned several Abyssal Chains with his skill, immobilizing the soldiers as they trembled in fear.
Meanwhile, Khairix flowed swiftly through the air, like a dance of fire and death, slicing through bullets and the soldiers as if he was cutting through the air.
*Swing* Another swing of his sword tore through another soldier as one by one they collapsed and died by Khairix's blade.
By the end, no soldiers remained, and Khairix huffed, his breaths were loud and heavy, as he glanced at Seoyeon.
Seoyeon smiled, approaching him, patting him on the back, "Are you alright?"
Khairix smiled back, "I've never felt better, Master Seoyeon." His voice was tired as he panted, but soon his breathing had returned to normal.
The two walked forwards and through the gate, entering what seemed to be a completely different city than the slums, the streets were now more distinctive, reminding Seoyeon of a city block, the concrete buildings—some were small, others were large—although all of them had neon lights and flashy imagery, holograms, and symbols catered to audiences easily swayed by the pleasures of City 8.
Seoyeon's footsteps echoed through the alley as him and Khairix took off their raggedy clothes from the slums, and back into their usual clothing, emerging from the dark alley as they joined the moving crowd on a path.
Khairix took a look around, seeing flashing lights and bright signage everywhere, it was an epileptic's worst nightmare, and a gambler's paradise.
Casinos lined up in rows, brothels just a corner away, bars placed strategically at every pathway, it was a den of lust, greed, and sin.
"Come here, Khairix." Seoyeon said, as Khairix looked ahead and saw a massive glowing sign,
"City 8 Grand Auction House" The sign said, illuminated with spotlights.
"What we want is inside of there." Seoyeon said, pointing towards the auction house with a grandiose, almost regal design.
Khairix and Seoyeon approached the entrance but were subsequently blocked by guards, "Excuse me, do you two have participant numbers?" One of the guards asked as she extended her hand, blocking the way.
Seoyeon looked around and asked, "Where can we get a participant number?"
The guard breathed softly as she pointed towards a slotted window beside the entrance, "You can pay 200 Credits for a ticket and a participant number."
Seoyeon bowed as Khairix followed him to the window, Seoyeon approached and asked, "Excuse me, can we both get participant numbers?"
The cashier from inside jumped up from his sleep after Seoyeon had startled him, as he quickly fixed his hat and reached his hand out, "Uh… Right—Sorry, please pay 400 Credits for two tickets."
Seoyeon manifested an orb of 400 Credits in his hand, giving it to the cashier, "Thank you, here you go." He replied with two shining, golden tickets in hand, along with two slips of paper with numbers on them in his other hand.
Seoyeon grabbed the two tickets and the slips of paper with their participant numbers as he approached the entrance once more, showing the tickets to the guard from earlier as she nodded, Seoyeon nodded back.
Upon entering, the air conditioning in the room washed over Seoyeon and Khairix as the clamoring of many important guests resonated throughout, the interior was majestic and elegant, luxurious and fancy.
Khairix's mouth dropped, "This is fancier than the manor my family owned from my realm. I simply can't fathom that this elegant lobby is just a walk away from the slums earlier."
Seoyeon stifled his laugh, "Welcome to City 8, where poverty and greed meet. This is the auction house, I need to get an item from here."
He looked at his credits amount; [Credits: 2,355]
Khairix looked at Seoyeon, "What's wrong?" He asked.
Seoyeon tapped on the interface and dragged it, glancing at Khairix.
[Would you like to share this interface with Khairix Auvendale?]
[Yes]
…
The interface appeared in front of Khairix too,
"A system window? I've seen them from my realm before… Is this… The amount of credits you have?"
"Mhm." Seoyeon replied, clicking his tongue.
"Is two thousand credits not enough?" Khairix's voice rang through the lobby as a few guests looked at him with raised eyebrows.
"Shush, don't attract attention… And for your information, the average bidding price here is in the millions." He said with his finger on his lips as Khairix swallowed down and zipped his mouth.
The two walked past the lobby, and into the main hallway.
There were two open entrances, Seoyeon looked at Khairix and spoke to him quietly, whispering in his ear, "We're going to cause a commotion and steal the item that I need, get ready to fight your way out of here."
Khairix nodded quietly, as they approached one of the entrances,
"Special Individuals Auction" The sign above the entrance said in bold letters.
"Special Individuals… They're selling people?" Khairix asked in a disheartened tone.
"Mhm, because the Zars Region isn't under any government, international laws—especially ones criminalizing inhumane acts like slavery—don't really apply here." Seoyeon replied, walking into the room.
Within the room, the spotlights shone on the main stage at the front, as a cascading row of seats and desks arranged in semi-circles presented themselves, with balconies on the ceiling with individuals wearing gold-plated masks.
"Is the item you're looking for in here?" Khairix asked.
Seoyeon shook his head and replied with a devilish smile on his face, "We're going to kill two birds with one stone, we'll stop the slave auction and cause a commotion. We'll swoop in and steal the item once we're done causing a disruption."
"A heroic act, Master Seoyeon. I can get behind that."
Seoyeon chuckled, "I'm no hero, far from it, there are many others who work for grander ideals, while there are also others who work with subpar, downright villainous intentions… I'm neither of the two."
Khairix looked at Seoyeon as he continued speaking, "Khairix, I work to protect myself and those I want to protect, we can't save everyone, so we'll save who we can, alright?"
Khairix simply nodded with a faint, but audible, snicker; "My perspective of heroism is already skewed, Master Seoyeon. I don't expect to save everyone either."
Seoyeon playfully slammed his fist into Khairix's chestplate, "We'll save those that we can save though, got that? I don't want any unnecessary casualties."
He stepped down a few steps as Khairix followed behind him,
"Including the villains that need our help?"
Seoyeon scoffed, "Are you joking? Of course we don't help them, this isn't an ideal world, there is no place here for idealistic views."
"Remember, Khairix. Naivety isn't wanting to help everyone, it's thinking that we can help everyone."
"Prioritize helping those whose tears fall onto their palms, and let the villains who've dug themselves to hell claw their way out themselves."
He looked back at Khairix who listened intently,
"Let them wallow in their false delusions and wrongful perspective—That's their choice to make."
…
"There are villains who commit terrible deeds because they didn't know any better, if they reflect on their actions? Good, but that won't bring back the people they've killed to life, nor will it restore the hearts of the grieving souls whose misfortunes were caused by the villain."
…
"Good and bad, it isn't as different as some may think… So who's to say what we decide is good and bad is the universally-applicable truth?"
Khairix nodded, "So what you mean to say is… To trust my gut and help those who seem good?"
Seoyeon smiled, "I don't know, follow what you think is right." He said as he sat down on one of the seats, a silver-lined luxurious, cushioned chair, with a wood desk in front of him, as he slid his hand over the desk, it was smooth and waxed, and felt slippery to the touch.
Khairix sat next to him, leaning back on his chair.
"Now then, let's act like good, paying, patrons, alright?" Seoyeon said to Khairix.
"Alright, it seems like it's starting." He replied.
Then, the host at the front greeted the audience with a barrage of waves,
"Ladies and gentlemen… City 8's monthly special individuals auction…"
Seoyeon curls his arm into a fist, "Let's get this over with." He mutters to himself after a long sigh.
…
He looked around, seeing the faces of several notable people amongst those seated, some with intricately-designed masks, others in formal suits and fashioned dresses, as they all grinned at the hearing of the host's next words.
"...Has officially begun!"