“To me! My servants! Vanquish my enemies!” The Goddess of Plunder shouted, calling her minion to engage the enemies who had suddenly infiltrated her premises.
Sound can be heard from various passages leading to the auction hall & spectator’s hall. All of Vivelka’s warriors wearing suits of armour which consists of plate mail, distinguishing themselves from the knights who wore full plated armour that are now in combat with her customers who are trying to escape capture.
“Run! It’s the dogs from that freaky organisation!” One of the gods can be seen screaming in fear among the crowd.
While the lesser gods & goddesses have little means to retaliate other than to flee, those who are able to fight choose to battle these invaders to show that they shall not be trifled with.
In the auction house, a battle is happening inside the building between the assault forces led by Cosmos against the servants of Vivelka. On paper, it appears that the Goddess of Plunder had the advantage.
First, it happens in her turf giving her the advantage in locality. Next, all her servants are armed to the teeth. Last, she has the support from her customers who share a common goal with her, which is to benefit from the business relationship they had with each other.
The situation had escalated into a brawl in the party, as each & everyone is fighting for themselves. While Cosmos & her knights have a single objective, that is the extermination of this syndicate. Same can’t be said for the Vivelka, as everything is a rioting mess in the halls of the auction house.
Cosmos is now engaged with the ringleader of the syndicate, giving no quarter for her to escape. They are locked in a close quarter battle on the stage in the auction hall with the weapon of their choice.
The two goddesses faced each other, while Cosmos had chosen to use a sword like the rest of her knights. Vivelka chooses to use a warhammer instead. Both of them fought with an inhuman grace where their movements cannot be tracked with a mortal’s eye.
Their fancy dresses, in the heat of the battle, did little to hinder their moment. The only thing that happened to them is getting shred by the ferocity of them exchanging blows with each other.
Fights can be seen surrounding them, where noises of weapons clashing & energy bolts exploding can be heard in the background. Both Lord Applegate & Pixar are also engaged in fights in another room & they are fighting to reach Cosmos to assist her in arresting Vivelka after securing the hostiles in the spectator’s hall.
Vivelka may be a young goddess, but she does have tricks up the sleeve to even up the playing field with a goddess who is many centuries senior to her in terms of practice & achievement.
Cosmos is not ignorant to methods that are available for her opponent, what is why she engages her with caution looking for the right moment to turn it as her advantage.
The senior goddess knew that the main issue with the hostess of the event had been growing in power through this woeful trade. Vivelka trades those whom she had captured by her syndicate with celestial stones. In the heavenly realms, all gods & goddesses uses this item as their primary currency for commerce.
The stones are similar to magic stones, but it is different as it is made from the condensation of celestial powers from the gods & goddesses who minted them. As every stone contains a divine signature from those who had minted it, the concept of counterfeit is nonexistent in the heavenly realms.
Those stones have a vast range of applications. They can be traded or used to produce goods & services that is in demand in the heavenly realms. Some of them use it for benevolent reasons, while others use it for malevolent motives.
Profits gained from the business had allowed Vivelka to have the means to use some of the stones to increase her power. However, there is a flaw in the method she uses to enhance herself.
Lack of training in handling divine power means that there is probability for her to overload herself with the powers from the stones, used as booster to increase her performance in combat.
This is the fatal flaw which Cosmos had planned in advance to exploit to win the battle with her. Lord Applegate & Pixar had entered the auction hall & joined the fight with their mistress.
The battle there is deadlier than the previous area with the sight of knights, servants, gods & goddesses who had fallen in battle. A company of Celestial Knights were deployed for this raid divided into ten squads. The knights from 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th squads are deployed in the auction hall while the 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th & 10th squads are deployed in the spectator’s hall.
Casualties are more in the auction hall, with nearly a fifth of the knights have fallen in combat. The losses in the spectator’s hall is less, around half of the number of knights from the auction hall.
There are concerns that some of the criminal element at the raided crime scene may escape. However, while there are fighting inside the premises is ongoing. A cordon has been established by Aspire & his fleet of Orbital Mission Ships (OMS).
A loud explosion can be heard from the outer compound of the auction house, caused by the fleet of OMS firing their magic guns at the defence emplacement there. Once the deed was done, guardian squads are deployed to finalize the cordon to catch all the auction house customers that are attempting to flee from the area.
“Looks like our cavalry have arrived.” Cosmos rejoiced on those explosions which hinted that Aspire had arrived to join the battle much to Vivelka’s dismay.
