The island descended the same way it had the first time, and the same five tables filled in the same order, though the mood settled differently now that everyone knew what to expect.
"Only three items tonight," John said, once the lanterns dimmed. "Fewer, but heavier. I’d rather sell three things worth fighting over than ten things worth forgetting."
Nobody looked disappointed.
...
The first pill sat pale gold on its cushion, faint cracks of light pulsing slow beneath its surface like something breathing.
"The Demi-God Spark Pill," John said. "For a Calamity-9 powerhouse standing at the edge of breaking through. It doesn’t guarantee success, but it raises the odds by fifty percent, which is fifty percent more than most of you currently have."
[Demi-God Spark Pill: Demi-God rank. Increases breakthrough success rate to Demi-God rank by fifty percent when consumed at peak Calamity-9. Single use.]
"Two hundred," Baldric said immediately.
"Three hundred," Voragul countered, five mouths curling. "Noxtheran has waited considerably longer than the empire has."
’Three hundred fifty,’ the Elder of Thorns said, her voice arriving cold inside every mind at the table. ’Ebonveil does not intend to wait at all.’
Nobody topped her. "Sold," John said, "to Ebonveil. Three hundred fifty Demi-God crystals."
...
The second item rested in a small case lined with black velvet, a cluster of pale, diamond-hard bone fragments that caught the lantern light like cut glass.
"Demi-God Diamond Serreker Bones," John said. "Ground and consumed properly, they refine a Demi-God rank body from the skeleton outward. Toughness increases. Raw output increases. It won’t push anyone past their rank, but it makes the rank itself considerably harder to kill."
[Diamond Serreker Bones: Demi-God rank. Refines skeletal structure of an existing Demi-God rank body, permanently increasing physical toughness and combat output. Requires existing Demi-God rank to use safely.]
Kyvena’s eyes lit with open interest. "Two hundred fifty."
"Three hundred," Iralith said, her floating chair drifting forward an inch.
"Four hundred," Kyvena said, unwilling to lose twice in one evening. "Celestshade’s ascended elders will make good use of it."
Iralith inclined her head, conceding gracefully. "Then it’s yours."
"Sold," John said, "to Celestshade. Four hundred Demi-God crystals."
...
The final item emerged without ceremony, a small, unassuming ring of dull grey metal, entirely unremarkable to look at.
"This one’s different," John said. "A one-time protective artifact. Bind it to your soul, and the instant something would kill you, it triggers automatically. Negates the death outright. Saves both soul and body, taking the damage in your place, even against a Quasi-God-rank strike."
Silence settled heavy over all five tables.
"That’s not possible outside a Forbidden Zone," Baldric said slowly. "Demi-God rank artifacts don’t function in this layer at all. The world’s own law caps everything at Calamity-9, except in the handful of places where an Ancient One’s presence bends that law enough to allow it."
"Every one of the five pillars holds at least one such zone," he continued. "Mine sits in the northeast reaches, sealed and guarded for three centuries. We’ve sent Demi-God reinforcements down from the upper layers to try capturing what lives inside it, more than once. Every single attempt has failed."
Voragul’s laugh rattled dry across the table. "Noxtheran has lost four expeditions to our own zone. My court no longer sends volunteers. Only those we can afford to lose."
"This one works anywhere," John said simply. "That’s rather the point of selling it."
The bidding that followed moved fast and without much pretense, every table understanding exactly what they were being offered.
"Five hundred," Voragul said.
"Six hundred," Baldric said, jaw tight.
"Seven hundred fifty," Iralith said, her voice arriving in that same delayed half-beat. "A council cannot afford to lose its wardens to bad luck twice in one century."
Nobody matched her. "Sold," John said, "to Levetron. Seven hundred fifty Demi-God crystals."
...
The transaction had barely settled when one of Iralith’s silent attendants leaned close, murmuring something urgent enough to make her whole form flicker unsteady for a moment.
"The Sundering Vault," Iralith said, voice gone tight. "Our eastern research enclave. Breached last night. The wardens are dead, and the arcane archive’s been stripped bare."
"Interesting," Voragul said, five mouths tilting toward curiosity rather than sympathy.
Baldric’s hand came down flat against his own table, hard enough to rattle the cups. "We were also attacked. Those mongrels took the whole treasury of one of my duchies and killed many, including the Duke himself."
"Who are these people," Kyvena asked, leaning forward. "Did you manage to investigate?"
"Tried," Baldric said, jaw tight. "They disappeared into thin air. No trail, no clues, nothing left behind but an empty vault and a great deal of blood."
"Two of the five pillars, in the same handful of weeks," Iralith said quietly, her form still flickering unsteady at the edges. "That is not coincidence. That is a pattern."
Kyvena’s gaze drifted toward John for just a moment, sharp and considering, before settling back on the table. "One almost wonders whether the timing means anything."
"One almost does," John agreed pleasantly, giving nothing away at all.
John let the silence stretch a moment longer before rising, unhurried.
"Well, then," he said. "Let’s hope I can bring something next time that helps you nail these naughty people. For now, I’ll be taking my leave."
He didn’t wait for a response. The garden faded around him mid-step, and a moment later Monster Paradise opened warm and quiet around him instead, three suns hanging low over a world that had no idea what he’d just walked away from.
...
"Alright, folks. We will be taking a break from outside world for fifteen days. During these fifteen days, I want to complete two objectives, and two side-quests."
John grinned. "First objective, all of us will progress towards to least the 5th Calamity. With my resources, and our daily training, we can get strong enough to fight a calamity every two days."
"Second objective, which is my personal one. I want to successfully figure out how to safely turn humans like me. A new race mixed of Human and Eldritch."
"Now, the first side quest is that we launch two more attacks and loot two places."
"Second side quest is our second proper expedition into Abyss to create more Eldritch Gears. We only got three for now, after all."
With all the haul two raids and two auctions, John had crazy amount of value that he converted to Xhal Drops, and had enough for the whole group to reach Calamity-9 rank eventually, especially thanks to Ythera who could utilize some of the resources to create pills for progression.