Chapter 349
Chapter 349: Damn, That's Badass—Even I'm Impressed by Myself
The male Tiger King's arrogant and piercing voice echoed in everyone's hearts, as though a thick shroud of desperate hopelessness had settled over every person present.
A single question rose unbidden in their minds:
If the female Tiger-folk was already that formidable—just how powerful would the male Tiger-folk be?
Was there truly anyone here who could fight him 1-on-1?
Perhaps there was.
But when the noble lords looked up again toward the platform—they found that Viktor had already vanished without a trace.
In that instant, the emotions of countless lords collapsed like a skyscraper about to crumble, the fire of despair kindled all at once, reducing everything to a smoldering ruin of ash and smoke.
The male Tiger-folk seemed to catch the direction of the crowd's stares. He followed those gazes to where Viktor had been standing.
The Mage was indeed nowhere to be found.
A flicker of suspicion crossed the Tiger-folk's eyes, but he didn't seem to dwell on it. He simply turned back to face the crowd and said flatly:
"Look at yourselves now, humans."
"You who are surrounded here—what difference is there between you and the Demi-human slaves you once kept caged?"
The nobles present heard this and instinctively swept their gazes around.
The entire auction hall had been seized by the Demi-humans. Most of the human guards had lost their fighting capacity, strewn across the floor in all directions, utterly motionless.
After all, without any prior preparation, humans were simply no match for Demi-humans of equivalent rank.
Beneath the chaos and the firelight, the auction hall looked as though the end of the world had arrived.
Victorious cries echoed throughout the Royal City—though those cries sounded more like the roars of wild beasts.
More and more Demi-humans were converging outside the auction hall, their clothes filthy, shackles still clasped around their feet.
Among them, the noble lords and wealthy merchants stared in disbelief—were these not the Demi-human slaves from their own households?
Yet now, those Demi-humans' eyes blazed with scorching fury, as if they would tear apart the masters who had once imprisoned them at any moment.
Suddenly, a female Eagle-folk soared through the air overhead.
Her voice split the stillness of the night with a sharp proclamation:
"Tiger Boss, we've rescued pretty much all of them."
Those sharp words stabbed into the nobles' hearts like needles, sending waves of pain through each one.
"No need to waste any more time on these humans—we have to withdraw completely before Festan Balo arrives."
Upon hearing those words, every noble lord understood.
These Demi-humans were clearly organized, disciplined—even commanded.
Why had this group of Demi-humans chosen today to make their move?
Precisely because today, the Royal City's defenses were at their thinnest.
When lords came to pay visits to the Royal City, hardly any brought significant military forces.
Most importantly:
The kingdom's pillar, Festan Balo, was not in the Royal City today.
The Demi-humans seemed thoroughly familiar with Grand Duke Balo's habits.
They knew with certainty that Grand Duke Balo had no fondness for attending this sort of auction among nobles.
It was precisely because of all this that the Demi-humans had seized their opening.
But the male Tiger King showed no urgency to leave.
Tiger Boss kept his arms folded, feet unmoving.
"Not yet."
Those sharp eyes swept across the 2nd-floor private boxes of the auction hall, gliding past King Auguste, settling on Auréliane—or more precisely, locking onto Xiangyilan, who stood behind Auréliane.
"There are other kin of ours who haven't been freed yet."
The male Tiger-folk's pupils suddenly contracted sharply, and a tremendous surge of presence erupted from him, the muscles along his legs snapping taut.
He crouched slightly, both feet pressing hard into the surface of the platform.
Boom!
The already-battered platform shattered completely in that instant; cracks raced outward across the surrounding floor.
Everyone felt the ground tremble, as though an earthquake was about to strike.
The male Tiger-folk launched himself like a missile, tearing through the air.
The surrounding air shrieked with a piercing whine from the shockwave of his speed.
Whumm—
In the blink of an eye, that massive orange figure was already hurtling toward the King and Auréliane.
Countless noble lords watched in stunned disbelief as the Tiger-folk shot toward the private boxes of the auction hall—their minds went completely blank.
What was this Tiger-folk trying to do?
Strike first at the leader?
Seizing the King would be one thing—that was the Kant Kingdom's own king, and if he were taken, so be it; they could always find another.
But where would they go to find a replacement for the Princess of the Kingdom of Carencia?
Never mind diplomacy—a full-scale war between the 2 kingdoms seemed all but inevitable!
The noble lords stared at the Tiger-folk, watching carefully, and realized—the Tiger-folk was genuinely charging at Auréliane!
It's over. This is truly over!
But almost simultaneously, a flash of cold light burst into view—a chill and a scorching heat rolled together toward the charging Tiger-folk.
That bone-cutting coldness made the Tiger-folk's body stutter for just an instant, but his gaze remained deadly calm as he surged forward with all his power.
A blazing light was wrenched from the scabbard at Gwen's waist.
The blazing longsword swung downward in a brilliant slash—as if capable of burning away the enormous threat bearing down on them.
The Tiger-folk did not retreat. Instead, he pushed off the wind with a mid-air step, rotating his body and drawing back just slightly, sidestepping that scorching slash.
Tiger Boss hung in the air, eyes locked on Gwen—who radiated cold energy from every inch of her body—his gaze razor-sharp.
That terrible stare was like blood-soaked spears, carrying infinite killing intent.
"A Knight?"
Tiger Boss's right foot struck a golden pillar, one leg bent, bracing with controlled force.
His body exploded with flowing power once more, condensing into an orange comet that hurtled ferociously toward Gwen.
Then he flipped his body mid-air, and with terrifying momentum, hurled a kick.
In that spinning motion, the devastating kick—shattering the wind around it—slammed hard into Gwen.
Gwen raised her sword instantly to block. That kick and the blade in her hand met in a collision.
Under that colossal force, Gwen could barely hold her ground.
A surge of raging power contracted sharply—then detonated outward in all directions.
The Bone-plate Armor across Gwen's body shuddered slightly upon receiving that terrible blow, absorbing nearly all of that fearsome force.
The power thus failed to penetrate into Gwen's body—but under the massive impact, her feet still gouged into the floor, dragging her backward several meters.
The blazing longsword was driven into the floor to arrest the slide; crimson flames ignited along the path of that backward trail.
After repelling Gwen, Tiger Boss landed steadily on the 2nd-floor platform.
He rolled his wrists, joints cracking with a series of dull pop-pop-pop sounds, and fixed Gwen with a gaze touched by faint contempt.
"Not bad strength."
"A pity you're only a 3rd-Tier Knight."
In this moment, he was standing directly before Auréliane and Auguste.
Hilda, facing this enormous threat bearing down on her, was drenched in cold sweat, hand already gripping her sword hilt, tensed and ready.
Yet Tiger Boss paid the young female instructor standing behind Auguste absolutely no attention—he didn't even spare her a second glance.
"And you—you're even less than that Knight from just now."
Tiger Boss said this and then shifted his gaze to Xiangyilan, who stood behind Auréliane.
"Cat-kin kin of mine."
"Come with us and leave."
Upon hearing those words, the surrounding lords snapped their gazes instantly to Xiangyilan.
They looked at this Cat-kin dressed in a Maidservant's uniform, and their hearts nearly stopped.
If this Tiger-folk found out that the Princess of the Kingdom of Carencia had been making Xiangyilan serve as her Maidservant—
it would likely fly into a furious rage over such a humiliation dealt to a member of its own kind.
In this moment, every noble in the hall was like a flock of geese hearing a bowstring drawn—hearts trembling and leaping.
All terrified that the next second, this Tiger-folk would bring its full wrath down upon Auréliane.
If Auréliane truly were to be injured—or die right here—at that point, everything would be finished.
Even Auguste followed the Tiger-folk's gaze, his eyes trembling with worry as they fell upon Xiangyilan.
Yet Xiangyilan only clasped both hands to her chest, and looking at Tiger Boss with a hint of resolve in her eyes, gently shook her head:
"No……"
Hearing Xiangyilan's response, Tiger Boss froze for a moment, seemingly unable to understand:
"Why?"
"Have humans already stripped away your wild nature?"
Xiangyilan said nothing—which only deepened Tiger Boss's surprise.
Then his gaze naturally moved to Auréliane.
But he found none of the fear he saw in the other noble lords on her face.
On the contrary, she was completely calm.
As if she were the single most unruffled human being in this entire auction hall.
Even that King, upon seeing him, had shown fear and dread.
And so Tiger Boss drew back that razor gaze and looked at Auréliane with genuine curiosity:
"Human, you're not afraid of me?"
"Why should I be?"
Auréliane replied with a smile:
"On the contrary, I'm much more curious about your situation after this."
"Oh?"
Tiger Boss was momentarily puzzled; he leaned back slightly.
In Auréliane's words, he had sensed the faintest trace of danger.
"Human girl, go on."
"What's your view on this?"
Auréliane calmly rested both hands in her lap, her expression entirely serene.
"My view? I wouldn't say it rises to that level."
She simply turned her head and glanced at Gwen—who had been nearly incapacitated by Tiger Boss's attack and was close to losing her ability to fight on.
Then turned back and glanced at Xiangyilan, who had just been invited to leave.
And then, she suddenly laughed out loud.
"What are you laughing at?"
Tiger Boss's eyes sharpened, locking hard onto Auréliane.
"Nothing—I just suddenly thought of my Teacher."
"He's fiercely protective of those close to him, and he holds grudges."
Auréliane said this while still smiling.
"Actually, I've always been curious—how could you so naturally forget about a powerful Mage?"
Tiger Boss finally registered it, and straightened up.
"Hm?"
Was she talking about the Mage from just now—the one who had declared he'd spend 100,000,000 to buy every one of their Demi-humans?
He'd admit it—that Mage was certainly something.
But every Demi-human present was extraordinarily powerful.
And Tiger Boss's 2nd-in-command was here too; there was no need to worry about that Mage causing any trou—
Drip—tap—
Whoooosh—
"Is this…rain?"
It's raining?
Suddenly, ice-cold, pellet-sized raindrops began pouring from the sky in a downpour.
The rain landed on Tiger Boss's face, gathering along its fur and whiskers before dripping down in streams.
A torrential rain filled the entirety of the ruined auction hall in an instant; countless nobles looked up involuntarily.
The once-clear canopy of stars had been blanketed by thick, heavy clouds—not a single point of starlight remained.
Only the fat pelting raindrops, hammering endlessly down upon lead-gray robes.
Tiger Boss raised his head; that piercing gaze cut through the auction hall, sweeping across the enormous Royal City.
The pouring rain extinguished every flame that had been lit outside, as though forcibly grinding the Demi-humans' victory completely to dust.
The Demi-humans out in the open could feel the rain sliding down their bodies.
That icy sensation seemed to douse the flames within their hearts as well.
White mist rose from the ground, beginning to swallow everyone present whole.
Just as the crowd stood there in confusion—the speed of the falling rain began to slow.
The next second, something that stunned countless people occurred.
Those individual droplets of water, as though freed from the influence of gravity, all stopped suspended in midair!
Dense, glistening drops hung still in the air, like countless translucent crystals.
Some Demi-humans found the raindrops frozen before them deeply curious; they reached out, tentatively touching the suspended water in the air.
The moment the rain was touched by a Demi-human, it clung to their fur, then slowly slid down their bodies and fell away.
Everyone became aware of a single fact.
In this moment, the rain—had "stopped."
Countless people raised their heads. Tiger Boss too.
Within that suspended curtain of enormous raindrops, they saw a figure in a black Coat.
It was Viktor.
At this moment, he was standing atop the rain droplets that had frozen in the sky.
Those droplets seemed to hold his body aloft, forming a staircase, step by step.
Drip—drop.
With each step he took, the floating raindrops beneath him naturally fell, striking the ground once more.
In that vast and silent auction hall—the sound of those raindrops seemed to become Viktor's very footsteps.
Each one, landing as though pressed against everyone's hearts.
Clear and unhurried.
He descended like this, treading down the rain-soaked staircase, sending droplets of water spraying with each step.
Until he landed smoothly on the ground and came to stand atop the long-since-shattered platform.
In that moment, the gazes of countless Demi-humans and noble lords alike converged simultaneously upon Viktor.
"My apologies—I had to step away for a bit."
In the silence of the auction hall, only his voice rang out, elegant and faintly polite, slowly echoing:
"Just now—I went to put out a fire."