NOVEL NEXT Chapter 175: The Bidding
The thing that ate away at me was of how I'd promised my first grandson's hand for his newly born daughter.
Of how I'd promised Noah's hand to none other than this crazy femme fatale of a girl—
Ignoring the poor boy's please at hand, I turned my glance to Philip's daggered stare.
He knew how I'd work and how I had the worst timings and methods to let the cat out of the bag.
I mean...I knew what I did could have been done in a more official and controlled environment, the only problem was that this is exactly what I wanted.
The way everyone's mind had started reeling towards the worst outcomes, the chaos, the cacophony of shouts mixing together in the surroundings—
I didn't say these words just to scare people.
I said them to prepare them.
I said them to prepare him...
***
It took a few minutes before the auctioneer was able to compose herself and get back at me,
I could distinctly hear her heels stepping against the black surface as she made way towards me.
"You… planned this, didn't you?" The lady said with gritted teeth, her voice a resemblance of the quiet before the storm, after all, even if the 7 kingdoms had fallen, the power we held wasn't so easy to dissolve.
"No," I replied honestly. "I didn't plan it. I just didn't stop it, if anything, the fact that the so called god's haven't interfered in between all this chaos itself means that they want this to happen.
Nothing can stop the war ensuing between the Hollows and the humans before one of the sides go extinct. The sooner we humans realise that, the better it would be for us."
The tall lady swallowed hard. "Still...you just set fire to half the world."
"Better a fire now than ashes later." I quipped, trying to make her understand the seriousness of this situation.
Behind us, alarms began softly buzzing. Not the panic kind but the mana security kind.
Each building across the Lapui auction house had likely begun to lockdown.
Portals were being sealed while the guards tried to calm the public.
Because if the Hollows were really back...everything was at stake.
I knew they believed me now.
Because I was Venus D. Romero.
Last king of the Blackblade Kingdom.
The man who didn't speak without reason.
The mic was still floating near me and I guessed the system was still on live recording.
So I gave one last statement—calm, clear, and final.
"To those watching, far from this place…let this be your warning."
I raised my hand and pointed to the center of my chest.
"This is not about glory."
"This is not about fear."
"This is about...survival."
The broadcast ended.
And the world we know would never be the same.
***
The platform felt heavier now.
Not physically—but with the weight of panic.
I didn't need to look to know what was happening around me.
Guards from every faction were reaching for their weapons.
Lapui House mages were rushing towards the sound systems, probably trying to control the broadcast.
Auction staff were whispering furiously into their comms.
And above all that…was silence.
The kind of silence that wasn't quiet.
The kind that came after something holy broke.
The kind that wrapped around your throat and made you feel like you were floating midair with no ground to land on.
Then—
"WHAT DOES HE MEAN, THEY'RE BACK?!"
Someone screamed from the second floor.
That was the spark.
Chaos bloomed like wildfire.
Dozens of nobles leapt from their seats, shouting, questioning, accusing me.
"Who confirmed this?! Where is your proof, Romero!?"
"You can't just declare something like this!"
"Is this some kind of tactic of yours? Are you trying to shift trade routes?!"
I turned to the crowd once more.
Still standing atop the obsidian platform, hands folded behind my back.
Let them scream, I thought.
Let them panic.
Because that's how truth feels when you've been living in a lie too long.
***
Behind the noise, I heard someone begin to cry.
Not the sound of a child, but an older woman—a noble. Maybe she remembered the First Fall.
Maybe she saw what those things did back then.
Or maybe she just realized money can't protect you from what's coming.
The auctioneer finally moved to my side, panic barely hidden behind her still-beautiful smile.
She leaned in, speaking through her teeth now that she had called down a little.
"Lord Romero, what really in the Divine's name have you done?"
I looked at her.
Really looked at her.
And said, calmly,
"I told the truth."
A sudden BOOM echoed from the lower floors—someone had tried to teleport away and failed. The Lapui House had locked down teleportation spells.
Of course they did.
They didn't want anyone leaving before damage control.
I stepped forward and raised one hand—not to calm the crowd, but to be seen.
The platform pulsed under my boots as the mic came floating back to me.
I let out a very forced cough, trying to gather the crowd's attention as I spoke further.
"You don't have to believe me. But you will see it for yourselves soon."
That quieted the screams again, just for a moment.
"Three villages in the North wiped clean. Seven more reported 'vanished.' Not burned. Not looted. Just gone. No mana residue. No traces. Just silence. That's not bandits. That's not war." I said without taking a single pause.
"It's the same silence that came before the First Fall."
Everyone's eyes widened as most of them started running the images and situations at the back of their mind, their faces only now turning a little paler.
Some stood frozen. Others grabbed their wrist-comm relics, trying to verify the report themselves.
But they wouldn't find anything.
After all...the Council was hiding it.
Just like we always did.
Only this time, I knew it was no longer the time to do so.
"I gave you a warning," I said. "What you do with it…that's up to you."
Turning my head back to where the kids along with King Philip and Sia were standing, I was just about to rush back there when another voice rang out.
Rather, it was a simple doubt.
a clear, controlled and cold doubt—
"If the Hollows are truly back…then this auction is pointless."
***