The Mage of Primordial Chaos

Chapter 278 - Lights Out

We waited around the Ross Estate building. Tons of guests poured into the place tonight, under the guise of a presentation of some sort. Of course, in reality, it was an auction being held, and these 'guests' would be the bidders.

"Everyone in position?" I asked through our voice comms one final time. Old Man Leng had lent us some earpieces for this mission.

"Yes, Master," Mei Gui replied.

"Mhm. All good with An Xue and I here," Yu An Yan said.

"And the rest of us are waiting patiently a short distance away," Xiang Peng said lastly. "Just as the plan says."

I turned to Feng Mian beside me, and nodded. "It's time."

The last guest had just went inside the building, and the two guards watching over the door were about to shut it tight. As Feng Mian put on her Cloak of Invisibility, I took a deep breath, and went out of hiding.

Approaching the two guards, I spoke. "Heya. Remember me?"

The two guards looked at each other, than back at me. "You're that molester kid..."

My smile froze on my face.  M-Molester kid?! Really?!

"Uh...I thought we already concluded that I didn't have any actually bad intentions?"

"Doesn't change what you did," the other guard said. "So? What the hell do you want today?"

"Well...you see, I have a sort of history with this company," I explained. "I want to get back at them by pulling a bit of a prank at the auction today..."

"Huh? A prank?"

"Yeah...you know, like...shutting the lights off or something."

"And what makes you think we will let you just enter and do that?"

"You two hate that woman from last time, don't you? If you let me in...I'll get some revenge for you," I offered with a devious smirk on my face.

"Oh? And how are you going to do that?" the other guard asked, looking down on me.

"I'll make sure she will never show herself at this company again," I replied confidently. "I'll embarrass her so bad, she won't be able to ever return here. How about it?"

The guards looked at each other, nodded, then turned to me again. "Sorry, pal, but...even though your offer is tempting, I ain't risking losing my job over this. You do realize that if you get caught in there, we will be the ones held responsible?"

I sighed. "That's too bad...I didn't want to have to do this."

"Wha-" the two guards' eyes widened as I snapped my fingers, and the two Yu sisters leapt out of the bushes on either side of the entrance, with their weapons instantly at the guards' throats. One could feel the hot, burning flames of Yu An Yan's Axe of Fire, while the other could feel the cold, harsh air of Yu An Xue's Sword of Ice and Water. 

Cold sweat immediately broke out on the two guards' foreheads.

"You...are you threatening us?" one of them asked, shooting me a glare.

"Well...what does it look like?" I smirked. "I didn't want to resort to this method, but you left me no choice."

"..." the two guards fell silent, realizing that the moment they tried anything, their eyes would be lopped off. Both the Yu sisters have killed people before, back when we fought against that gang - the guards could see it in their eyes. They wouldn't hesitate to kill another.

"...Fine. Do as you wish," one of the guards said at last.

"Thank you," I replied, and walked into the building. Feng Mian followed behind me, hidden by her Cloak of Invisibility. But before I went inside completely, I stopped for a brief moment.

"Don't let them get free," I said quietly, and the Yu sisters nodded silently in return.

*****

I led Feng Mian inside. Spotting the security camera hanging on the ceiling nearby, I didn't continue any further, but instead just sat down in a comfy-looking chair. This was to create the guise that no one else was with me, and I was just here to chill. It was a bit of a strange sight to anyone monitoring the security cameras, and perhaps some people will come to drag me out, but my goal has already been completed. Feng Mian was inside, undetected.

Sure, she could've just slipped inside on her own, but the door opening on its own would've been suspicious. Therefore, this was the method of attack we used. She slipped into the unmonitored staircase, and just like that, our plan was set in motion.

In the end, no one came to drag me outside, since they probably just figured I wasn't doing any damage, or just didn't care. They had more worrying matters to be concerned about, after all. The bidders who came here tonight are all big figures in the underworld. The Ross Estate needed to direct most of their forces into preventing any of these people from unfairly snatching any of the treasures away, since doing so certainly wasn't beneath them.

Little did they know...the treasure will be stolen. Just not by the ones they expected.

*****

- Feng Mian's Perspective -

I was here. In the staircase, facing the door leading to the third floor. I could see from the peephole the bidders had already entered the room, and were sitting in the audience seats. Gently, I opened the door. Luckily, it didn't creak or anything. I slipped inside and softly let it close. I took a deep breath, and looked around. Seems like no one noticed the door opening just now. That was good.

I headed downwards, closer to the stage. I passed by several bidders sitting in their seats, but none of them seemed to realize someone had just brushed pass them. Keeping my footsteps light and nimble all of the way, I soon arrived right beside the auction stage. There were ten stands placed next to each other with a set interval in between, each with a cube covered by velvet-colored cloth resting on top. I assumed that these were the items to be auctioned today.

And the Basilisk Dust we were looking for, was one of them.

"May I have your attention, everyone?" a booming voice announced all of a sudden. He had succeeded in rallying everyone's attention on him. "Thank you. The auction will now commence. Please keep talking to a minimum - as for the rest of the rules...I do not need to say them, I believe?"

The man who had just spoke seemed to be some kind of auctioneer. He held an auction gavel in his hand and twirled it around. The audience remained quiet.

"I will take that as a yes. Now then, without further ado..." he walked over to the lectern, and struck it with his gavel. "The first item we will be auctioning today is one of the Six Divine Weapons, forged by Mu Zi Kang himself. It is the Spear of Space - capable of tearing open rifts in space. The starting bid is 1 million gold."

After saying that, he walked over to the first stand, and pulled off the velvet cloth covering it to reveal the item underneath. It was far smaller than expected - but it could change its size to the wielder anyway, just like any of the other Five Divine Weapons.

"3 million troy ounces of gold," a man raised his banner and called out.

Hm? Gold? I thought there wasn't a method of currency inside the Fortress...oh wait, they're probably talking about literal gold, not coins. That's why the unit of measurement is 'troy ounces', after all.

"5 million!"

"10 million!"

...

The process continued like that, and repeated for all of the other items. Until at last...the one I was waiting for arrived.

"And now...our final item - Basilisk Dust. Ten whole grams of it. I trust that everyone here knows just how valuable this item is, so let us just begin - the starting bid is 5 million troy ounces of gold."

"7 million!"

"10 million!"

"15 million!"

I quickly activated my earpiece, which came with a mic as well, and whispered. "It's time. They are auctioning the Basilisk Dust."

Xuan Kai's voice came through immediately. "Got it. Get ready. Mei Gui, you in position?"

"Yes, Master," Mei Gui said.

"Alright..."then, on the count of three," Xuan Kai said, taking a deep breath, as the price continued to increase. "One...two...three!"

At that moment, all the lights inside the auction room shut off, and I made my move. I leapt onto the stage and grabbed the glass box containing the basilisk dust inside. It was heavy, mainly due to the box, but nothing I couldn't handle. It may restrict my movements a little though.

I hid the box underneath my cloak and headed for the door to the staircase immediately, rushing past the confused audience. However, before I could...the emergency lights came on.

Damn-! 

"The Basilisk Dust - it's gone!" someone immediately yelled, and everyone began to panic.

Realizing there was no turning back now, I merely continued, pulling open the staircase door with one hand while my other held the box. However, since the lights were now on and I had no time to be soft and gentle like I had when I came in, people noticed the door opening, even though they couldn't physically see me.

"There! The stairwell door! Guards!" the auctioneer hollered, and immediately, a pack of security guards began rushing my way at astonishing speeds.

"Tch-!" I gritted my teeth. I could use Vanishing Shadows to easily escape here, but I couldn't bring the Basilisk Dust with me into the shadows. I could only rely on purely running.

I ran, and ran. I nearly tripped a couple of times, but I regained my balance and kept going. I was making lots of noise by doing so, however, hence the guards chasing after me had a good idea where I was, even though they could not see me. Their speeds were obviously faster than my own, and a few of them even boosted their own speeds with magic. At this rate...

There! The first floor door!

I body slammed the door open. The impact caused the Cloak of Invisibility to slip off a bit. It also hurt a lot, but I had no other choice. However, even this was not enough. The guard in the lead was within distance to grab me-

"Level Three Metal Magic - Metal Surge," the boy before me whispered quietly, but threateningly.

Immediately, a thick vein of metal burst out from the ground. I leaped up and yelped in surprise.

Luckily, Xuan Kai - the boy in front of me - was ready for that. He caught me with one arm, and I gasped in surprise.

As for the other guards, they weren't so lucky. They were hit by Xuan Kai's spell, and sent flying back into the staircase they had just came out from.

With our business here done, Xuan Kai turned tail and ran for the door. The two guards outside couldn't do anything except let us pass, since the Yu sisters still had their weapons set near their throats. The moment we were out, everyone else also retreated, with Xiang Peng sending behind a Flood spell just for good measure.

We disappeared into the darkness of night.

With that, our mission was complete - and successful.