"What in the gods...," the words trailed off Freya's mouth as she was too stunned to finish her sentence.
The people around her, whether members of the Drazen family or not, shared the same reaction, though the former's was by far the fiercest. Their eyes widened in disbelief as they stared blankly at the empty vault, some even rubbing their eyes as if convinced they had to be seeing things.
They were currently still inside the auction house, but in a different area. The fight against the masked men had ended a while ago, so they had moved out.
However, they couldn't leave the unconscious bodies lying around. These people were nobles, and even those who weren't were just as wealthy and influential as nobles, if not more.
The trouble was that they couldn't take them along either. It was clear that the whole city was under attack. The only solution Freya had come up with was to leave them here, but somewhere safe. And what place inside the auction house was safer than the vault where they kept their treasures and wealth?
The thing was, they were now standing before that very vault. Yet, instead of being packed with priceless treasures, rare artifacts, and piles of gold, it was almost completely empty. Only a vast, hollow space greeted their eyes.
No money, no treasure, there was nothing. The vault was as empty as a barren desert.
"How can that be...?" Maya mumbled to herself.
She knew better than anyone how difficult it was not only to open this vault, but even to find it in the first place. The thought that someone had managed to empty it so completely was simply inconceivable to her.
Freya, however, immediately put two and two together.
'Traitors,' she thought grimly.
There wasn't a shred of doubt in her mind that someone from within the family was behind this attack.
The family vault wasn't something that any member of the Drazen family could access at will. Every city under the family's control possessed a vault like this one, and access to it required authorization from either Freya herself or one of the two branch heads assigned to that city. One of those branch heads, Frieda, was standing only a few steps away from her, while the other wasn't even in Imperion at the moment. There was simply no other way to open the vault.
The fact that the vault had been opened could only mean one thing: there was a traitor. And not just any traitor, but someone with a high-ranking position within the family.
Whether she realized it or not, the first person who came to Freya's mind was Frieda, prompting her to glance at the head of the main branch, who stood only a few steps away.
Frieda immediately caught the look, and her eyes flared with anger. "Don't you dare suspect me!" she spat venomously. "Need I remind you that I have the most to lose from all of this?!"
Freya studied her for a brief moment before giving a slight nod and looking away.
Her suspicions didn't disappear entirely, but Frieda had a point. She stood to lose far more than she could ever gain. After all, she had been the one in charge of organizing this year's auction, and this entire disaster had unfolded under her watch. If anyone was going to bear the blame, it would be her. It simply didn't make sense for her to orchestrate something that would ruin her own standing.
At this rate, today's catastrophe would likely be the last yearly auction she would ever oversee... assuming there would even be another yearly auction after everything that had happened.
Knowing there was nothing they could do about the missing treasures for the moment, Freya pushed the matter aside and focused on what they had come here to do.
"Place them here," she ordered, referring to the unconscious people they had brought with them.
The one advantage of the emptied vault was that it now had more than enough room to accommodate all of them.
Once everyone had been laid inside the vault, Freya turned toward the sole surviving Level 5 warrior of the Drazen family.
"Stay here," she ordered. "No matter who comes, do not let anyone enter." She deliberately emphasized the word anyone, making it clear that her order applied to everyone without exception.
Taking it as a cue, Kradwell turned to his colleague. "You stay here as well. Protect the Earl and the young master," he instructed.
Freya noticed that the old man had specifically ordered his colleague to protect only the Earl and his son, but she chose not to comment on it.
Instead, she looked at him. "You're coming with us?" she asked.
"I believe that would be for the best," Kradwell replied with a nod.
Freya wasn't entirely convinced, but she eventually relented and nodded in agreement.
"I'm coming with you as well," Talia, who had remained silent until now, suddenly spoke up.
Freya glanced at her before giving a slight nod, a faint smile appearing on her lips.
Moments later, Freya, Maya, Frieda, Talia, and Kradwell were making their way up the stairs toward the exit of the auction house, with Kradwell walking a few steps behind the four women.
'Should I go for it?' Kradwell wondered, his gaze lingering on the women ahead of him, especially Freya.
While the Drickon family didn't have any particular grudge against the Drazen family, neither the Earl nor Kradwell himself had forgiven the matriarch for interfering when he and his companions had been taking Arcanor to the Earl.
Besides, the Drazen family was one of the Drickon Earldom's biggest economic rivals, and getting rid of not only their matriarch, but also their heiress and the head of the main branch, would deal them a blow they wouldn't be able to recover from anytime soon.
What he was uncertain about was Talia. He held no personal grudge against her, and the Earl's family had no conflict with the Eswald family either. Besides, the Eswalds were a ducal family. If one of their members were to disappear without a trace, there was no telling how they would react.
As he thought it over, however, Kradwell came to the conclusion that he had nothing to worry about. If anything, this was the perfect opportunity. Once the bodies were discovered, all the blame would inevitably fall on the Drazen family.
Kradwell's hand twitched as he contemplated it, ready to move and slaughter all four of them, but after a moment, he shook his head.
'Not now,' he thought to himself as he quietly followed behind the women, looking every bit like a harmless old man.
If only he had known that, had he made a move against Freya, he would have died before taking even half a step, he wouldn't have entertained the thought in the first place.
A couple of minutes later, they exited the auction house, and all five of them froze simultaneously.
"What in the... gods..." Kradwell muttered, his jaw nearly dropping as he stared at the colossal monolith of ice towering over the city, its peak disappearing high above the rooftops.
"What is that at the center? It looks like... blood?" Frieda asked, her voice trembling slightly.
No matter what had happened while they were trapped inside the auction house, the one thing all five of them wanted to know now was who had created that monstrous pillar of ice... and what that crimson mass at its center was.
ROOOAAAARRRR!!!!
A deafening, earth-shaking roar erupted in the distance, followed by countless weaker, yet equally savage roars that echoed throughout the city. Only then did the gravity of their situation truly dawn on the five of them.
"Another beast tide," Talia commented, her expression hardening.
'Maybe I really should take the master and young master and flee this city. It's doomed,' Kradwell thought.
He wasn't much of a frontline fighter, despite how capable he appeared, so he had spent his entire life sharpening his senses instead. That was why, even before stepping outside the auction house, he had sensed the abnormally faint life auras scattered throughout the city, leading him to the same conclusion Alex had reached earlier: the explosion during the auction had affected the entire city. On its own, that didn't bother him much. He had never cared about commoners.
The truth was, Kradwell had an utterly twisted view of the value of life, and obtaining his title had only made it worse. When he told Arcanor that he deserved no payment for saving nobles, and should even be punished for asking, he had meant every single word. To him, the life of a noble was worth far more than that of a commoner.
If the city was truly doomed, as he believed, then his plan had been simple: use the city guards and the common citizens as shields while he carved a path out of the city with the Earl and his son. But now those same guards and citizens were unconscious, meaning he had lost the very distractions he intended to sacrifice. With a beast tide seemingly approaching, he was seriously considering making his escape while he still had the chance.
It wouldn't be easy, but with his remaining companion by his side, carving a path out of the city before it was too late should still be possible.
Before he could make up his mind, however, Freya suddenly headed toward the city walls, forcing everyone else to follow.
'Let's follow for now,' Kradwell thought to himself. 'There will still be plenty of opportunities to act.'
Throughout their walk, Freya's eyes never left the giant monolith of ice.
Freya was certain Alexandre was the one who had created that ice structure. She had seen traces of frost scattered throughout his room when she visited him at night. That was why she was so worried not to see him anywhere, and why she was hurrying toward the walls in the hope of finding him.
She didn't want to imagine a life where he wasn't around anymore. It was strange how someone she had met only a few days ago had come to mean so much to her, but that was simply how things were. He had become so important to her that she couldn't even picture what her life would be like if he were to disappear.
She wasn't the only one worried about Alex though. Maya was as well, and as much as she would have liked not to admit it, Talia was worried about him too. After all, she had been with him before they were separated by that monstrous creature.
Their little group didn't get far before they were forced to come to a stop though.
"Welcome, welcome, you all," a voice resounded, forcing them to halt. "We have been waiting quite a while for you to come."
When they focused on the source of the voice, they froze as they witnessed the hulking monstrosity standing before them.
"Now, shall we begin the negotiation?" the wolf man said with a wide, toothy grin.