As the night fell, Selthia, Charlotte, and I prepared to leave the settlement to go to the auction.

I had asked Khalissi to use her magic to alter my appearance again, giving me white hair and horns protruding from my head.

The auction was held in a dome-shaped building on another side of the city. There were a few bodyguards positioned outside checking everyone who entered.

Interestingly, the bodyguards weren't ghouls. Instead, they were fauns: half goat, half man creatures.

There were quite a lot of them trying to intimidate those who were passing by. They didn't pay us much mind since we were with the lamia queen.

It wasn't much, but it seemed she had some influence at least.

Inside the building was set up like a theater with rows of seats, and at the front was the stage where the items would be held.

Selthia's eyes sparkled as she gazed around at the beautifully decorated space.

There were quite a few people of different races all around us. My eyes were drawn to the ghouls. There were quite a few inside. They looked as if they were setting up.

Looking at everything taking place around us, I couldn't believe that a small gang of ghouls could be responsible for all of this. This seemed way bigger than what they could come up with.

They needed some power backing them to achieve all of this.

We found an empty space at the back and sat beside each other. Selthia was seated to my left, and to my right was Charlotte. The seats were made in such a way to accommodate her.

I watched the stage with interest, wondering what kind of items would be displayed, when suddenly I felt a tug on my sleeve. It was the lamia queen.

"You see that woman sitting five rows ahead of us?" she asked.

"You mean the pink-haired girl that is talking to that guy? She looks as if she could be in high school."

Charlotte chuckled.

"She's older than you think. That is the witch of sloth, Artemis."

"Really?"

The woman in question wore a purple dress. She sat with her legs crossed as she leaned into an older-looking man.

"That man beside her is her brother. He is a renowned sorcerer, but not quite on the level of his sister. One thing to know is that she is obsessed with him. If anyone even harms her brother, then they would suffer through hell. Despite how it seems, she is actually the older of the siblings."

She cares for her brother, huh? That is good to know.

Charlotte then pointed to another fellow, a man dressed in a black suit, his hair combed back and slick with gel.

"That man is another noble vampire. He is the head of the Salvatore clan. That man runs half the businesses in Purgatory. When the Sun clan burned half the city, he almost froze it over. Speaking of the Sun clan, take a look to your left."

I followed Charlotte's gaze onto another vampire. This vampire didn't look all that special. Matter of fact, I didn't feel any special powers coming from him. He seemed like just another regular vampire.

"That man is actually a representative of the Sun clan since their leader is in bad health." She chuckled, then leaned in to whisper something into my ear. "Rumor has it that the Sun clan has been stripped of their noble title. Their house is in shambles, right?"

The Sun clan? Yes, Ember told me about them. She said that during the great war, the leader melted half the city.

"I heard that he had the potential to be as powerful as the Veylmont and the Dracule clan, but then he came down with a sudden illness," I said.

"Not exactly," Charlotte shook her head. "Vampires don't have to worry about illnesses. His illness was highly strange from the beginning."

"So what could have caused it?"

"It was the work of a witch. One of the queen witches placed a hex on him. We all knew it, but there was nothing we could do about it."

Her words didn't surprise me at all. They must've been worried about how powerful he would become and planned to get rid of him just like they did with Allucard.

If the Sun clan lost their noble title, then the vampires in their clan must be scrambling to find a new leader. I reckoned most of them will go to the Veylmont clan or the Dracule clan.

"Ladies and Gentlemen. Welcome to another one of our fabulous auctions."

Just then, the Kappa climbed onto the stage. It was a supernatural creature that looked like a fish. They usually lived in rivers or shallow bodies of water.

This was the first time I was seeing one in person. Everyone visibly perked up and turned their attention to him the moment he spoke.

His very presence seemed to signal the beginning of the auction.

He continued with the introduction, going over the rules and such, until he suddenly paused in his tracks. His eyes locked on the entrance.

Seeing his reaction, everyone followed his gaze to the back of the room. I also followed their gazes to see what or who had caught their attention.

There was a man standing at the entrance.

The first thing I noticed about him was that he had no presence. He was like a ghost. When he moved, he seemed to levitate.

His eyes were yellow, kind of like a wolf's. The nails on his fingers were long and black. He had a long face and hair that looked like spikes.

His appearance was peculiar to say the least. I was just about to ask Charlotte who this man was when the announcer's voice erupted.

"Welcome!! The man of the hour, Damian Dracule!"

The moment the announcer spoke, I felt a shiver run up my spine. It wasn't just me. The entire room seemed to be enveloped in a strange energy.

It wasn't predatory like it was with most creatures. It felt as if I was staring at a divine being.

This is him!

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