"I don’t think it’s just plain hatred. They’re probably after something else," Daniel replied after a brief pause.
In fact, from the moment this auction began and he saw the Valenberg family’s stubbornness in getting this scroll, the same question had been on his own mind.
At first, he also thought it was about hatred, and that maybe there was some untold past between these two forces. But... was that really the case?
The Elthanor Empire hadn’t shown any signs of hatred rooted in the past. It seemed their dislike toward the Valenbergs was because they were financially supporting the rebels.
He also wondered what the Valenbergs were truly aiming for. What could be worth going this far for?
Unless... they found something within the empire’s territory and the royal family refused to let them take it. He didn’t dwell on the thought for long and pushed it aside.
It wasn’t like he was directly involved in this matter, or that it had anything to do with him, right?
"You Valenberg bastards! Fatty, this is your last chance—if you don’t back off, things won’t end well," an elderly voice rang out from the Trevan Empire’s VIP room.
It was a voice they were hearing in this auction for the first time, but many were familiar with this ancient tone.
The current Emperor of the Trevan Empire!
Just thinking about it made a buzzing fill everyone’s heads. Such a powerful and majestic being... here?
"Hmph, old man, you’d better back off! Do you think your voice coming through a communication talisman is enough to scare us?" the Valenberg family’s representative snorted, clearly not caring.
The audience sighed. It became clear it was just a voice—if the Emperor had actually been here in person, things might have turned out differently.
Seeing that their bluff failed, the Trevan Empire had no choice but to withdraw. They really couldn’t go any further; this was their absolute limit.
"Is no one else going to bid? Has it been decided that the fate of the empires will fall into the Valenberg family’s hands?"
"Do you think there’s another force that can spend this much money?"
"Of course! Those churches, the Transcendent forces, and even some other Ancient Forces could easily pay more Chaos Crystals."
"But those ones don’t care about this kind of scroll."
On stage, Kyros stood with a smile, and seeing that this battle had finally ended, he spoke.
"I thank all those who placed bids. However, it seems luck is on the Valenberg family’s side this time. They win this one with a bid of forty-seven Chaos Crystals."
Even though everyone already knew the price, hearing it again made them feel like they were dreaming.
Forty-seven Chaos Crystals! For many here, that was nothing short of a mythical sum—more than they could ever hope to see in their entire lives, let alone imagine owning.
With that amount of wealth, one could build their own force and turn it into a regional ruler. Yet now, such an amount had been spent on a single treasure.
"After the auction ends, our staff here in the palace will approach you to finalize the purchase," Kyros said, his gaze falling on the Valenberg family’s VIP room.
After that, the scroll quietly vanished behind him, replaced by a single flame.
Though it was just a flame, it bore no resemblance to an ordinary fire. Its color was entirely purple, streaked with black and crimson.
The moment it appeared, the temperature in the hall skyrocketed, and everyone strangely felt like they were burning—and indeed, their skin actually began to scorch.
Even though the flame was far from them, its mere vibrations were enough to burn their skin. Beyond that, just looking at it made their eyes feel like they were being seared.
However, everyone present here was powerful, so this level of pain didn’t matter much to them. Instead, what filled their eyes upon seeing the flame was intense greed and desire.
In the eyes of some, something dark and ominous appeared, as if they were ready to kill every single person in the room just to take that flame by force.
What a joke! If this thing is really what they think it is, this place will definitely turn into a sea of blood. No one would be willing to back down to obtain it.
Even if it means becoming the enemy of the world, they would still be ready to kill anyone here.
Daniel noticed the flame too, and upon seeing it, he frowned, as if he couldn’t believe what his eyes were showing him.
"That’s a Heavenly Flame?" Andreas, standing beside him, was struggling to even control his breathing.
Heavenly Flames—the most powerful flames in the world. According to legend, they could burn even the world itself, and even phoenixes and dragons, famed for their immunity to fire, weren’t safe from them.
Had the House of Ten Thousand Treasures really managed to acquire such a thing? And would they actually dare to put it up for sale?
The existence of something could easily spark an all-out war of unimaginable scale—even demigods might get involved.
Demigods are beings who stand at the very pinnacle of the world. No one knows whether there are entities more powerful than them or not.
Perhaps the things capable of drawing the attention of such beings could be counted on the fingers of one hand — and without a doubt, one of those things is the Heavenly Flames.
But is finding the Heavenly Flames really that easy? No... they are flames protected by nature itself, acting as the very pillars of the world.
Even the Demigods themselves are powerless to find them.
"Is that flame really such a big deal?" Ilaris, unfamiliar with it, asked in confusion as she saw the expressions on Andreas, Daniel, and the rest of the attendees.
She could clearly sense the killing intent filling the room because of that flame.
"For that thing, anyone here would be willing to commit genocide," Andreas said with a bitter smile.
"Something’s not right," Daniel suddenly said with a deep frown. Not just him—when everyone looked more closely, they also realized there was something off about this flame.