"We are near the end; only ten more items remain." The showrunner bowed at the crowd; after the accident with blood crystals, the night had gone with no problem.
Ray had spent most of his money, with most of it being materials needed for his craft station. All the items he needed to summon a demon had been gathered too, with no suspicion from Marian.
Marian counted seconds for the event to end; the tension in the air mixed with Ray's lustful looks on her body had pushed her to her limit; her body needed to be satisfied as soon as possible.
"Item 136, a monolith that was found deep under the oceans, we don't know what exactly it is, but its structure is different from anything on earth. The base price is 10 million."
Ray's eyes went wide from the sudden opportunity in his way; the monolithic structure was like sand with a dark color constantly moving through it.
"Calm down, even Marian shouldn't know about it." Ray took a deep breath and said, "10.1."
A person's voice that had not talked from the beginning echoed in the hall: "50."
"What?"
"What the hell is that thing?"
"Who even is she?"
Ray turned toward Claire. "I want to charge my card again."
"Sorry... But that's not possible."
Ray clenched his fists; the identity of the buyer was clear in his mind. "All this time, her goal was the Atlantic monolith."
The Atlantic monolith had only one ability: it could change the form of a magical crystal to another type of magic. In 90 years its secrets would be unraveled, yet at this time only three people on earth had the needed knowledge about it.
Marian narrowed her eyes. "Something is very off putting about that person; who is she?"
"She's the heir to some small businesses in a city named Loup." Claire explained her background; not much was known about her anyway.
"Item 136 is sold for 50 to #98."
Containing his killing intent was one of the hardest tasks that Ray had done since his time travel. Under a white cloak, nothing about the person was visible, only a pair of blue eyes.
After making sure that she had won the auction, she left without even looking at Ray.
"What are you so mad about?" Yelena asked with a curious tone.
Ray sighed, "Nothing, I like weird stuff."
He returned to his chair. "She probably planned this from the very beginning; there is no point in wasting energy being sad about it."
"You should be sad."
Everything stopped moving at once; time itself froze for everyone except Ray and a footstep that got closer and closer to him.
"What do you want, Katarina?"
"Nothing, just wanted to give you a warning: when the impact starts, get near Loup, and I will kill you personally."
His eyes opened with Marian and Yelena above him with concern on their faces. "Sorry, I think I drank too much."
Marian checked his neck. "Everything is good."
"It's the end anyway; we might as well be going." Yelena took out her phone and called the drivers. "I have to give my squad their supplies; I will see you in an hour."
Marian whispered into his ear, "Want me to accompany you home?"
"If you have nothing else to do." Ray said genuinely.
"I think I can spare an hour."
His mind carried its dazzling state until they reached for the car with the driver waiting for them.
"Can they even believe that there is someone with mind magic?" Even in the previous world, it took a long time for the whole world to know Katarina; in most cases, she pulled the strings alone and stood at the top by herself.
The thought of her having the ability so early on to craft magic crystals was devastating.
"Thanks again for the gift."
"Nothing important." Ray sat in front of Marian in the back of the limousine. "After today, I will have my free week; my crafting station needs a lot of work."
"It's ok; I agreed with you joining Alexandria's squad for the dungeons too." Marian crossed her legs; the bulge in Ray's pants distracted her more and more.
"How about a celebration?"
Marian sensed the intention in his voice; however, she played along: "What kind of celebration?"
Ray pointed at her chest; her nipples were visible even under the shirt. "We can celebrate by letting me help you."
Marian laughed. "Let's do it then, but you can only touch my upper body, and after I'm finished, we will end it. It's fair too; you have Yelena waiting for you in bed."
He didn't have to wait for approval; in the tight space of the car, he pulled her body onto her lap.
"It's all a dream, isn't it?"
Marian's face twisted itself, turning into a woman with white hair and red eyes. "Not bad. You realized it was a dream after an hour."
Her voice and features said that their age could be similar, yet Ray didn't know exactly what to trust about her.
"What do you want, Katarina?"
"Death at its glory." Her figure was frozen in his embrace, yet her voice came out from her mouth.
Ray trailed her finger on her spine. "Then why did you escape during the fight with Scarlet?"
"When that happens again, I will tell you my reason."
A blood spear came to life, cutting the throat of the puppet in his mind; in just a blink, the world returned to where it stopped. Ray was watching Katarina, with the item being sold to her.
"It really looked cool; I wonder why she paid that price though?"
Marian said with her eyes on the monolith, "Its structure is so weird..."
All of them forgot about the weird object and returned to their usual conversation; after that, Ray spent his last 50 million to buy seven dark crystals for Yelena as a gift.
"Shall we go?" Yelena drank the last bottle that they had given her, and she whispered into Ray's ear, "You will get a special thank you tonight."
"Yeah, we don't have anything more to do either. Thanks, Ray, for the night and the crystal." Marian stood up from her chair as she called her driver; at times like this, her teleportation could raise eyebrows.
Ray shrugged: "Anything you want. Hope you have a good night." His attention returned to Yelena: "Where do you want to go?"
Yelena licked her lips: "My place."
He nodded as her hand guided her through the hallways into the exit. "Tomorrow, I should start the ceremony. Fucking Yelena until morning shouldn't have an effect on that."