Augustus froze as he listened to the report.
Some nobles could no longer contain themselves. Combined with their resentment towards Viktor, they burst into angry curses.
"Damn it! What the hell are the guards doing? How could demi-humans invade the royal city?"
"Is this what our annual taxes are for? To feed you useless bunch?"
The guard continued in a weak voice:
"We... we deeply apologize."
"Today, the security around the royal city was particularly thin... We had no choice..."
At these words, countless lords fell silent as realization dawned.
Why was the city guard so thin?
The answer was simple.
Due to today's auction, large numbers of noble lords and wealthy merchants had gathered at the venue.
Even the king himself was present.
To prioritize the safety of the nobles and the king, almost all the city's forces were concentrated around the auction house.
This allowed the demi-humans to...
"Strike at our weakness."
Almost instantly, several harpy bird-people flapped their wings in the sky, using their sharp talons to break through the dome.
Glittering glass rained down from above as the ceiling was torn open, creating a massive hole. Countless stone fragments fell along with the glass shards.
The crisp sounds of shattering glass mixed with the heavy thuds of falling debris created a broken symphony.
Agonized screams of soldiers echoed from outside the doors as the noble lords felt the ground trembling beneath them.
In the blink of an eye, several muscular minotaurs burst through the doors as if invading forbidden ground.
The golden doorframe and surrounding walls crumbled like chocolate under their crushing force, rock dust rising like smoke grenades to envelope the surroundings.
They dispersed the thick dust, their bronze muscles gleaming under the golden light.
Dozens of armored guards were instantly thrown into the air by these minotaurs' strength, flying helplessly in all directions like powerless puppets.
"Moo!!!"
The minotaurs' eyes blazed red, their muscles bulging like rocks, leaving deep furrows in the ground wherever they stepped.
They breathed heavily, white mist puffing from their nostrils.
As if responding to some signal, countless demi-humans poured into the venue from all directions like an ocean tide.
They surrounded the nobles like predators cornering their prey.
The demi-humans were similar in size to humans, but their long or thick tails and distinctive beast ears revealed their true nature.
Demi-humans with various animal ears moved on all fours.
Foxes, leopards - their rare species stood out distinctly in this golden auction hall.
The nobles were deeply shocked as they found themselves surrounded by these anger-filled demi-humans.
They couldn't imagine what had happened outside.
Why had the demi-humans suddenly launched such an organized, disciplined operation?
Why target this specific auction?
Why coincidentally during the auction of demi-humans?
At this moment, something even more terrifying than the demi-human siege occurred.
The two half-beasts standing in the massive iron cage suddenly moved.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Several chains shattered with metallic clangs as the two tiger-men finally broke free of their arm restraints.
They flexed their wrists, casually tossing aside the thick chains.
Then, before everyone's eyes, they reached out and gripped the cage bars.
As the muscles on their bodies bulged, they pulled the sturdy iron cage apart.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The cage bars snapped one by one until finally, the two tiger-men used brute force to completely tear open the massive cage.
The countless lords watching this scene were completely dumbfounded.
The huge cage was made of obsidian-forged steel, incredibly sturdy.
Even massive beasts could barely damage or bend it.
Even a typical fourth-tier warrior couldn't break it open so easily.
Yet these two tiger-men had effortlessly snapped the bars using just brute strength?
What terrifying power this was!
No, wait - if they were this powerful, how were they captured in the first place!?
The two tiger-men now strode out proudly, arms crossed over their bulging chest muscles.
Next, they both stood on the golden auction platform and stomped heavily.
In the blink of an eye, the sturdy iron cage behind them shattered like paper, scattering metal fragments across the floor.
With the tiger-men's forceful stomp, even the solid golden floor cracked with terrifying fissures.
A shocking earthquake arose as the entire floor began to shake.
The towering golden walls trembled continuously as rocks and dust peeled off and fell.
Everyone present staggered, almost losing their balance.
Even Princess Aurelianne and Gwen in the second-floor box seats were shaken. Aurelianne fell back into her seat while Gwen barely managed to steady herself.
Augustus gripped the armrest tightly, his gaze fixed on the two tiger-men below, seemingly unable to accept what he was seeing.
Meanwhile, Viktor stood with his hands in his coat pockets, his coat fluttering in the wind.
At this moment, he was like an immovable statue, as if the chaos of the entire world had nothing to do with him.
The two tiger-men glanced at Viktor simultaneously.
The male tiger-man showed obvious surprise.
But he didn't dwell on it.
Because he remembered that this man in the black coat, this powerful warrior, didn't seem to be allied with the others around him.
Almost simultaneously, the other iron cages were completely shattered, and the demi-humans inside scattered and escaped, hiding behind the two tiger-men.
Among the two tiger-men, the most striking was the male with the character for "King" on his forehead.
His intimidating tiger eyes proudly surveyed every human present, his steady voice resonating like an ancient bell, exuding the air of a true king:
"Is there anyone here who can fight?"
His provocation angered the countless lords present.
"Mere demi-humans!"
As noble lords, they were among the most elite warriors in the Kanter Kingdom.
And these demi-humans were usually just slaves for their entertainment!
Being bullied by Viktor was one thing.
But since when could these slaves rise up and ride on their backs!?
A count wearing three stars on his chest drew his blade with overwhelming momentum, his eyes shooting cold light.
With a light step, his figure shot out from the crowd like a meteor, heading straight for the two tiger-men on the platform.
Whoosh—!
In the flashing light, the surrounding space seemed to distort subtly, as if the air itself had frozen.
Under the flowing light, the blade emitted a dazzling radiance. The surrounding space seemed to be dominated by the sharp sword energy, a cutting sensation seeming to penetrate everyone's skin.
Even the surrounding walls were carved with several deep grooves.
Everyone's gaze was drawn to this flash of light.
"It's Count Andre!"
"A fourth-tier warrior has made his move!"
But the tall tiger-man just stood there calmly with his arms crossed.
His tiger eyes even seemed to show contempt and mockery.
Accompanied by the crowd's exclamations, the count's attack appeared even more powerful.
But almost simultaneously.
Behind the male tiger-man, the female tiger-man finally moved.
Her foot stomped down, causing the ground to crack. One leg formed a "bow" shape, ready to spring.
The muscles in one leg quickly trembled, supporting her entire body as she burst forth.
She clenched her fists, pulling back both elbows.
Her entire body began to spin in mid-air, fierce winds swirling around her, colliding with the sword light.
The sword light flashed past, caught in this terrible whirlwind, its force deflected.
It struck perfectly into the air at the tiger-man's waist.
Count Andre was shocked:
How was this possible?
But it was too late - the tiger-man's hook punch was as swift as lightning.
Instantly, that powerful fist smashed into the count's face.
After taking such a powerful punch, Count Andre's face was nearly distorted as he was completely knocked flying by this terrible punch, soaring towards a golden wall.
The crowd barely saw anything.
They only felt two powerful forces meet and collide.
The golden sword light instantly dimmed as the count was thrown completely to the ground in the collision, plowing back several meters, breaking through the golden chairs before slamming hard into the golden wall.
The spectacular impact instantly left a deep crater in the wall, cracks spreading like a spider web as sand and stones scattered.
The nobles were dumbfounded, too shocked to speak.
As the dust settled, the count's condition was revealed to all.
His face was beaten beyond recognition, blood and scattered teeth showing the severity of his injuries.
Everyone was stunned, unable to believe what they were seeing.
A fourth-tier warrior.
One punch, instant knockout...
The female tiger-man landed calmly, dusting off her hands as if completing a simple task.
The male tiger-man remained expressionless, standing quietly as if everything that had just happened had nothing to do with him.
The atmosphere suddenly grew quiet as the lords realized this incident was far from ordinary.
In the silence of countless people.
The male tiger-man opened his huge mouth, baring his fangs and teeth.
With an ice-cold presence, he heavily surrounded everyone.
"You humans, who think yourselves so clever and supremely arrogant."
"Your reckoning has come."
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