Monarch of Darkness, Arsene

Chapter 193: Memory Lock

"Now shall we begin? I am not sure what deal the dwarves had in mind but throw it out the window. All two hundred spiral relics will be sold at once."

Opening their eyes wide in bewilderment and anger, I simply nodded. "The starting price is... Silvia, what is a good number?"

"Me?" she questioned in surprise, blushing as she covered her mouth.

"Yes, you are quite familiar with this realm. What would be a good currency to ask for?"

"Ether Shards, or ES for short. That is what those within the mid and central region's trade. The outer region major families here do not dare ask for such since they believe it could potentially make them lose money."

"Wow, you all are stupid... Damn, I have a lot of work on my hands. Do these people even understand the concept of the economy?" I exclaimed, shaking my head. "Was this also the Jarls doing?"

"Correct," said Trygve, "He commanded that we start hoarding Ether Shards. the only time we use them is to pay taxes or tribute towards the Gods."

"..."

Calm down, Arsene, calm down. Taking a deep breath, I pretended to smile, yet my gaze held a different story, "Fine... anyway, Silvia, go on, please."

"Sure... " She voiced in a delaying tone, " Well, I would say a single Spiral Relic should be about two million Ether Shards, depending on how much they can hold."

Paling Trygve arose, shaking his head, "That would be four hundred million ES. No one within this city can afford that, and that's only the starting price."

"they don't need to; it's not for them, but for those within the Middle and Center Regions. That's why I'm selling them within a bundle. Please, think of this as a start-up fund for me. " I politely responded, taking another sip of water. "And the house will receive... let's say 5 percent."

"That's not acceptable," Brerson voiced in an annoyed tone. However, his father immediately held his arm out, silencing him.

"What do you think our cut will be?" he asked in an interesting smile.

"This could potentially be worth about a billion ES, so you do the math." I lightly said, "Plus, it's not like it's going to be the only time I sell such merchandise. Charge a fill hundred thousand for each seat. This may change the entire realm of Midgard."

"Now, shall we talk about protection?" I asked with a cold smile. "I'm sure a few masters of World shall be attending. While I myself cannot contest against them, I would suggest you all warn them. Until its sold, this property is under the rule of Vaevictis."

"Who?!" Brerson exclaimed

"Should they attack, they will find out," I warned, not bothering to explain anymore. Rising from my chair, I smirked, "This shall be it. I hope this will profit the both of us."

Reaching out my arm Trygve firmly shook my arm as I nodded, turning to leave, leaving the fool turning red with humiliation as I ignored his arm hanging out, waiting for the same mutual respect I showed his father.

Pulling out my phone, I quickly began to text while making my way to my carriage.

Me: Auction within Three days. Can Lilith or Ezra attend?

Yura: Both of them should be able to join. Anything else?"

Me: Are you in a rush?

Yura: Yes... many have died, but I am close. The survival rate is below .00000000001 percent. At this moment, only two have survived.

Me: See you within a few days then.

Stepping into the carriage, I placed my phone in my pocket as my mind began to review everything I needed to accomplish.

... I should visit Lisa. It's always best to finish things... no, I may just have Orion kill her. It's annoying, but Andor already has his suspicions... Hmmm, it looks like the Nines Killer will strick once again tonight. Poor Lisa, you deserved better. I wanted to kill you, but at least you will have the honor of entering my stomach.

"Take me to the Dwarves. There is one final thing we need to do before we can actually sell these relics."

Sending me a deep glance, Zanris smiled, "By your will, master."

It had not taken more than a few minutes, but I was quickly able to see the dwarves surrounded by a horde of people screaming. SHaking my head, I snorted, "Zanris if you would."

Suddenly a ray of crimson light filled my sight as blood ran cold as snow continued to blanket Midgard. The screams of mercy quickly entered my ears as I turned to the disturbed Silvia. It was all but present that she was not comfortable with such scenes. If they were enemies, I'm sure she would not care, but many of these people were innocent.

"YOu will be the same soon enough," I whispered as she paled. "YOu will be just as cruel, if not more. Personally, I think cities will begin to burn by your rage."

"I would never slaughter the innocents."

Sending the young girl a deep side-glance, I smirked, leaving the carriage as I approached the terrified dwarves.

"Now then, take me to see what you have created," I said towards one eye, who briefly nodded, taking out a single ring from his pocket.

Taking it, my eyes flashed as I sent my intent into the dark ring. There was no comparison between the ring of Bael and this, but if I can say for sure, this ring was ten times larger than the one I gave him. which was roughly fifty cubic meters.

"Is there a way to lock the rune, making it impossible for others to analyze?" I asked, hoping there was. This would make the competition far smaller in the short run. I believe it would take other dwarves to create such relics within a few years, if not months. The Idea was out in the world, after all.

"There is, my lord, we dwarves have three methods. One is less secure, and that is to use an image of someone or something within your memories. The other is to have a bloodline authentication." He said with a respectful tone. "The second one offers better protection as they would need your blood. While the image method is less secured as the chances of someone getting the image correct is truly high since many cultivators can live for over a hundred thousand years."

"And what are the chances of someone simply breaking the lock," I asked curiously.

Eying me with his single eye, the one-eyed dwarf snorted, "We are masters of our craft. We dwarves, no matter the talent, are all capable of locking the internal structure of our runes. It's within our blood, my lord. Neither the Aesir Gods nor Vanir Gods can shatter our locks. We were not born for them but by Ymir. Breaking the lock would require a high-level god, and even then, if they are not blacksmiths, then they may just eradicate the rune before they could study it."

"Good, then it shall be an image," I said as he flashed me a surprised gleam. However, it had to be like this. My body is constantly changing, and using an image was perfect for me. Since my timeline cannot be viewed. The memory of the second time I saw Flama was perfect.

No one knew what I saw there, not even Lilith. Shit, even I could nearly understand what I saw there. It was perfect. If I can't understand it, how can others?

"Wait, what's the third method?" I asked as he groaned begrudgingly.

"It's called the soul lock, but we lack the skill and power to use. While we are masters at our craft, we are only tier three blacksmiths, my lord. we are good, but we are but students compared to a true master of our race."

Curtly nodding, I continued, "What do I need to do?"