’Holy crap!’
Nero! Nero, of all people!
So this was why the Crown Princess was here. She wasn’t just casting a wide net for the Executioner; Imperial Intelligence must have picked up on an anomaly regarding a slave with an impossibly high mana density.
The Phantom Sword of the Abyss?! This wasn’t even supposed to happen in the original tiline! Or rather, this must have been the hidden backstory that the ga skipped over.
In the current era of Asteria Online, there is one supre male swordsman—the Sword Saint, Kael. And eventually, a supre female swordsman—the Sword Queen.
But in the late-ga, there was one boy whose na struck terror into the hearts of both. A young, emotionless assassin who fought Sword Saint Kael to a bloody standstill.
’The Phantom Sword, Nero, was a Black Market slave,’ I realized, the pieces finally clicking together.
"What do you think, Your Highness?"
A hushed voice broke my train of thought. I focused my enhanced hearing on Princess Rumina and her disguised Shadow Knight, sitting a few rows ahead of . The Knight was staring intently at the boy on the stage.
"He seems to have decent latent talent. His mana pathways are blocked, but the density is unnatural. He could be molded into a fine blade for the shadows."
"...Really? Hm."
The Princess pondered quietly, her golden eyes—currently masked by a dull brown illusion—narrowing as she scrutinized the bruised ten-year-old boy.
"No need," Rumina finally whispered, leaning back in her chair with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I already have my sights set on a much more capable hunting dog. Procuring two rabid dogs would just cause them to fight for their master’s favor, wouldn’t it?"
I frowned beneath my hood.
Who is fighting for whose favor, you arrogant royal? I’m not your dog. But my irritation was quickly eclipsed by a surge of sheer relief. By prioritizing her hunt for the ’Executioner’, Princess Rumina was voluntarily walking away from Nero. The tiline was diverging drastically, and this ti, it was entirely in my favor.
’She probably doesn’t realize her supposed hunting dog is sitting right behind her, actively planning to steal her greatest future asset.’
anwhile, Nero’s auction was nearing its pathetic end.
"2 silver, 85 copper." "Then I’ll bid 2 silver, 90 copper." "Tch, 2 silver, 92 copper." "2 silver, 95 copper." "3 silver."
"Alright, we have 3 silver! Haha! Co on, folks, we are just warming up. Bid freely!"
The auctioneer egged on the crowd, trying to squeeze out even one more copper. The higher the final sale, the fatter his commission.
I didn’t want to drag this out. I quietly raised a hand, catching the attention of a roving staff mber in the aisles. I pulled a few coins from my inventory and conveyed my intent.
The staff mber ran down the aisle, signaling the stage.
"Oh! An anonymous bidder in the back row has just offered 3 silver and 20 copper! Quite a jump from the copper incrents! Do I hear 3 silver and 30 copper?! Any more?!"
The auctioneer looked around, but the room was silent. No one else raised a hand. A scrawny, ten-year-old boy who looked spiritually dead and physically broken was more trouble than he was worth to these rchants. Unless you were a sadist with twisted desires, there was no imdiate return on investnt.
"Going once! Going twice! Alright! Sold to the gentleman in the gray cloak!" The auctioneer slamd his gavel. "The winner, please proceed to the processing room now or after the auction concludes to finalize the contract!"
I let out a slow, asured breath. I just bought an SS-Rank latent powerhouse for the price of a decent dinner.
I glanced back at Princess Rumina. She was covering a yawn with her gloved hand.
"I thought this would be entertaining, but it’s utterly boring," she whispered to her knight. "There are no relics here, only filth. I’ll have tea at a nearby café while we wait for the vault reports."
"Understood, Your Highness. I’ll have a carriage ready outside the surface entrance."
Princess Rumina stood up, her dull gray cloak swishing as she turned and walked out of the auction house. I used my [Sixth Sense] to track her mana signature until I confird she had completely exited the Black Market’s underground periter.
I slumped slightly in my chair, exhaling a breath I didn’t know I was holding.
’I absolutely cannot let the Phantom Sword join the Princess.’
In the original lore, one of the key reasons Princess Rumina managed to defeat the First Prince and ascend the throne—an event that nearly ruined the Aurelian Empire from within and plunged the continent into a tyrannical civil war—was the Phantom Sword.
No matter how much First Prince Kairos rolled in the dirt and built up his military factions, he was the overwhelming top contender for the throne. Yet, Rumina claid it.
The secret? Her intelligence network and her personal executioner, the Phantom Sword, Nero. He beheaded her opposition in the dead of night, slipping through magical wards like a ghost.
’...It’s not great that I’ve essentially taken his place on her radar,’ I mused, rubbing my chin.
But I could betray her at the critical mont, couldn’t I? By taking Nero under my wing now, I would prevent the worst political outco of the ga. And if the Phantom Sword fought alongside , future battles against the apocalyptic disasters would be exponentially easier.
Anyway, with the Princess gone and Nero secured, it was ti for the main event.
Assassinating Marquis Vance.
’It’s not too late, right? Or maybe I am.’
The auction and the bidding war had taken up quite a bit of ti.
In the original ga, the Protagonist Party had showed off their typical righteous stupidity. They ticulously gathered clues, alerted the authorities, and cornered the Marquis, which gave him ample ti to activate his hidden chira traps and awaken his ultimate artifact.
But this ti, they already knew the culprit thanks to Julian Vance’s confession in the diner. I needed to hurry before they did sothing rash.
’No, don’t think too harshly of them,’ I tried to reassure myself as I slipped out of the auction hall. ’They’re justice idiots, yes, but they aren’t reckless fools who act without thinking. Princess Celestia is with them. She’s calculating.’
Before slipping away from the diner, I had subtly mouthed to them to subdue the target imdiately upon sight to prevent collateral damage. Surely, they had taken my advice to heart.
I just needed to sneak into the VIP lounge, put a bullet in the Marquis’s head, and leave before the Protagonist Party even found the entrance to the Black Market.
BOOM!
CRASH!
I stopped dead in my tracks.
The entire subterranean cavern shook violently. Dust and loose gravel rained down from the ceiling.
I stared in absolute disbelief toward the far end of the market—the exact location of the highly-secured VIP lounge.
Massive, roaring flas shot out from the reinforced doors. Thick, black smoke billowed into the underground streets, accompanied by the blinding flash of localized storm clouds and golden aura slashes.
"It’s an attack! Run!"
"The guards are dead! Everyone, escape!"
"Kyaaa! The ceiling is collapsing!"
The illicit rchants and buyers erupted into sheer, panicked chaos, stampeding toward the exits as the cavern’s ceiling groaned.
...Damn it.
*****
The middle-aged Marquis Vance rolled across the opulent, debris-covered floor. Like a beaten dog fleeing a sudden storm, he scrambled back to his feet, coughing violently through the thick smoke.
"Huff! Huff...!"
The blaring of magical security alarms tolled in his ears, signaling that his life and empire were in sudden, catastrophic peril.
’What! What went wrong!’ Vance’s mind raced as he stumbled toward his secret escape tunnel.
As always, his day had started perfectly. He woke early, ate a refined breakfast in his sunlit estate, and perford his public duties as a Marquis. He handled routine complaints, reviewed tax reports, and held formal etings with his vassals. He was a pillar of Imperial society.
And after work, he ca down to the Black Market to manage his true, highly lucrative enterprise—harvesting the dregs of society for the benefit of the elite.
’My sons?! Are they safe?!’ The sudden, overwhelming ambush had wiped out his elite guards in seconds. The Marquis himself barely escaped being crushed by falling masonry. He didn’t even know if his beloved sons were safe up on the surface. The only silver lining was that his youngest, Julian, was supposed to be enjoying a dessert at so cafe, far away from this disaster.
’I just need to reach the surface! Gather my private army and return!’ He’d seal the tunnels, trap these insolent bandits underground, and show the world the agonizing fate of those who crossed House Vance.
"Argh!"
A powerful, unstoppable force slamd into his waist. The wind was completely knocked out of his lungs as he was tackled to the hard stone floor.
Despite the searing pain in his spine, Vance twisted around to see his assailant’s face.
"Who... who dares...!"
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