Seeing the bids climb like a brushfire in dry grass, Lilo clenched her hands, torn between caution and the fever in the room.

“Aphelia, from where you stand, is that Mageblade really worth this kind of blood-stirring scramble?”

Aphelia blinked at the sudden question, then thought a beat and answered.

“A weapon that holds a True God’s path to godhood? Even a sky-high price wouldn’t shock me. But that Mageblade… its Artifact Spirit feels feral. Taming it will come with a steep bill.”

Her gaze slid to the other two bidders, clouded with doubt, then she went on.

“No matter how rich you are, you don’t fight like this over a True God’s relic. Raising a strong one from scratch beats gambling on borrowed divinity—unless…”

Dark suspicions rose like thunderheads, and with Lilo’s words in mind, the feeling sharpened—storm brewing, wind pressing against the eaves.

Seeing Aphelia’s face, Lilo sighed, the sound heavy as damp ash. “I’d rather this wasn’t so tangled… ah, news from the family.”

Her Mana Crystal card pulsed. She touched it with a thread of will. A breath later, she managed a helpless smile, shook the card, and gave up the bid. Her palm brushed the mana-slab in the box, sealing it.

“Oh dear, what a pity~ Guest Forty-Six bows out~ Any higher offers?”

The girl auctioneer fanned the flames with a lilting tone, a bright smile painted on like spring sunlight, as if it were nothing at all.

At her words, the two frenzied bidders turned as one toward Lilo’s box. Their eyes were needles. Lilo felt a prickle of disgust, her face darkening like ink on snow.

The glare didn’t last. The madness of the bidding dragged the hall along like a riptide and didn’t let go.

Inside their box, Lilo and Aphelia had no mood to watch. Lilo murmured a brief instruction to an attendant. Before that endless frenzy burned out, they slipped away.

They reached the exit. Fen and Shi waited with the carriage like two stones in a river, steady and ready. Seeing them, they hurried forward to greet.

“This time’s a real mess,” Lilo said, the words dropping like embers.

Once inside, she sketched tiny Runes in the air with crimson sparks. They slid to the carriage’s corners like fireflies, then she let out a long breath.

Aphelia didn’t ask at once. She waited, calm as still water, and sent a thin veil of will to wrap the carriage.

“Aphelia, go find Master Merlin as soon as you can. Don’t get involved in this.”

Lilo began, stopped, then, meeting Aphelia’s steady look, tightened her fists. She took Aphelia’s hands, a plea threading her tone.

“This matter? The bidding was off, but does it tie back to—”

Lilo pressed a finger to her lips. A small shake of her head. Aphelia’s guess landed true.

This final bidding wasn’t merchants stirring the pot, nor small houses posturing. From Lilo’s reaction, it smelled like a clash of great clans—no, maybe the royal line of the Demon World itself.

That thought pulled up Nero’s words. His rivals were brothers, and their bond with him was sour.

No wonder Lilo chose suspicion over bravado and stepped back.

Aphelia nodded that she understood. Lilo released her, a shade deflated, and turned to the crystal chip, speaking with her kin in clipped sparks of thought.

Lilo’s grave look told its own tale. With royal blood in play, even the Crimson Dragon Clan would find the road thorny. Still, the Demon King on the throne wasn’t the sort to let royal scions force a great house into open enmity.

Even so, when this storm passed, what would it carve from the Crimson Dragon Clan?

Aphelia breathed out. Politics was never her blade of choice. She could read a hidden intent like tracks in snow, but turning it to advantage? That took veterans of marble halls and honeyed knives.

If the Clan faced a reshuffle, guarding their share was their own art. With Aphelia’s status and power, any move she made would sit awkwardly in the mouth.

No mandate. No standing.

Even with a Valkyrie and Merlin at her back, she wouldn’t trouble them over this. In the end, it was a private matter, a “private feud” for power-drunk zealots.

She let the breath run long and looked out. The night sky shone the same, hard and bright, as if the Demon World never changed, stars hung like cold coins.

Then a chill climbed her spine like winter water. Every cell flared warning, a storm-bell in her bones.

Silver-white flashed in her eyes. The carriage lurched, torn up by unseen force, and flipped across the road with a thundering crash.

“What’s hap—”

Lilo didn’t finish. A lance of cold light screamed down with a sharp whoosh and punched through where the carriage had been. Aphelia moved without doubt, seized the killing frost by its throat.

A clear barrier flowered around the blast, caging the riot of Arcane Power. Aphelia held nothing back, forcing the raging magic to heel, cramming it back into the cold beam.

Only then did Lilo feel how close death had brushed her cheek. The strike held ruin enough to make a Demigod blanch. Until it burst, she hadn’t even sensed its approach.

As Aphelia pressed, the wild magic bled away like mist. The weapon revealed itself at last.

“Military Magi-Strike Weapon, Type III? You’ve got to be kidding me—how’s this damned thing in the capital!”

The black, spear-like alchemical device gleamed with malice. Rage and fear roared through Lilo. She almost launched skyward to hunt the shooter.

Before she could move, iron poured in from every street—soldiers in plate like a steel tide. Dragon crests burned on their shields. They closed with the weight of law.

The city guard of the capital.

“You’re just in time, someone tried to—”

“Seize the lunatic who stole military alchemy and sought to wreak havoc!”

The commander wore fanged black armor, a walking nightmare. He didn’t let Lilo finish. He raised his blade and pointed straight at Aphelia.

Chains of black iron whirled out as his men advanced. They were heavy as falling hammers. The chains cut the air with whooshing snaps and crashed toward Aphelia.

Even a fool could taste the setup. It was clumsy as a snare in fresh snow.

Aphelia laughed, low and cold. Power surged. At a thought, silver-white and pitch-black wove into Bracer Gauntlets that locked onto her arms like living metal.

The chains swept in. She didn’t step aside. She drove her fists forward—once, twice. Before she even closed the distance, the chain-bearers flew back as if hit by a gale. Their chains slipped free and smashed into their comrades.

Aphelia hadn’t moved a single step.

“Interesting. Armed with military ordnance, attempting to kill officers—”

The black-armored knight didn’t finish either. A blossom of searing flame raced for his face. He had to rip his blade free and carve, splitting the blaze into two roaring halves.

A figure wreathed in fire stood before Aphelia now. She looked like a revenant born from the flames. Golden, slit pupils fixed him. The words he meant to bellow froze in his throat.

“Trumped-up charges. In my face?”

Before Aphelia could lift a hand, crimson dragon wings opened behind Lilo. Silent fire coiled there, hiding a beast’s snarl. A predator’s pressure rolled out. Shields rose on reflex. Boots scraped back.

“Deputy Commander of the Royal Mage Corps—Lilo, present. Who dares run wild!”

Demigod might flooded the street, carving a clean circle of ground around her like a sanctum of fire.