“Next up is a real treat for you gents. I would like to introduce you to someone who makes even me feel inferior.” The auctioneer began. 

As she spoke, a woman walked, or rather slithered, onto the stage. Unlike the other slaves, she was neither led out nor was she bound in any way. She had dark green hair that extended past her shoulder blades, leaving a gap exposing her back covered by skintight leather. Comparatively, her clothes’ front was relatively loose, joined by a skintight skirt around her hips where her torso and tail began. Her tail, which appeared to be more than twice the length of her torso, was also a similar shade of dark green and was composed of tightly knit scales on the back. Her torso was Caucasian, and similar scales to her tail covered the back of her forearm and wrist. Something that caught Martel’s attention was her eyes. They were also dark green but had vertical pupils, which gave her innate beauty and exotic and wild look.

As the woman slithered onto the stage, she looked around as if curious about the auction participants. Her body movement was done in such a way to show off her flexibility and charm. After spending a few seconds looking around, she appeared to become a little shy. She brought her finger to her lower lip and settled back into her shoulders, looking both enticing and vulnerable. “Everyone, my name is Echidna. I’m hoping to find someone powerful to protect me and attend to my needs.” She said in an enticing voice.

Martel cannot help but be slightly impressed by her performance. However, it was just that, a performance. That being said, he felt that what she said was true, just not the implication.

“For everyone wondering, she has never been with a male and has spent her ‘heats’ in seclusion. The starting price is 1500 gold with increments of 200.”

“3000.”

“3200.”

3400.”

Martel could help but be surprised at the enthusiasm of the participants. [Shield-goddess, is there something I’m missing?]

Shield-goddess scoff at his comment. [That’s not surprising, given that 95% of the participants are male, you bunch of perverts.]

Martel’s eyebrow twitched as he noted she was including him in that statement but did not retort. [Can you be more specific?]

[There are two subspecies of Demihuman that are particularly popular with males, the Usagi and Lamia. The former, which you already ran into, is relatively protected while the latter isn’t. This is not out of prejudice, but because the Usagi are close to the border with humans. Lamia reside deep within the demihuman territory and rarely appear. They are so popular because of the stereotype that the two races share. The proclivity and expertise towards… physical desires.]

[Are the stereotypes true?]

[Why, are you interested?] She replied with an angry tone. [There is some truth to it, but like nearly every other demihuman race, they are quite conservative, even compared to humans.]

[In what way?]

[Demihuman society does not have the concept of prostitution, as sleeping with such a woman implies that a man is incapable of attracting and maintaining a mate.]

[I see. Why mention her ‘heats’?]

[A ‘heat’ is a time period that female demihumans and beasts have. As you might be able to guess, it does have a certain physical implication, but that isn’t completely true. For example, the first ‘heat’ has to do with growth and food. After that, it implies that she will be more receptive to the opposite gender, but it has more to do with emotions than physical wants. 

[Especially during the first heat, they will more easily become attached to a male that provides them food and shelter. During the few days that they experience rapid growth, nearly skipping the teenage growth phase that humanoids have, they will feel insecure. Subsequent heats can also have such an effect, though not as impactful. The emotional impact isn’t all-powerful, however. For example, if someone they dislike forces them to spend their heat with him, they will grow to dislike if not hate them completely. It’s a time period where they are more emotionally susceptible. That said, excluding the first heat, it won’t adversely affect their life or even necessarily be notable to others.]

[Okay, but what causes it, and why specify seclusion?]

[It corresponds to their fertile period.] She bluntly replied. [The seclusion implies that she most likely does not have any emotional ties with a male. This makes her more impressionable during her next heat, though still less than her first. Why? Are you interested?] She asked with a slight fire in her tone.

[I’m always interested in new knowledge.] Martel replied, deflecting her implication. [She also has quite an interesting and powerful Talent that would be handy if we ever have another situation like Laelynn.]

[Let me see… Wow, this is a top-tier Talent. It would’ve been handy in Laelynn’s situation. No, wait, it only affects the Talent holder, so it would not have worked in Laelynn’s case unless… Wait, are you planning to-?]

“10,000.” Martel bid, doubling the rapidly rising price and cutting off the increasingly angry voice of Shield-goddess. Of course, he also wasn’t ‘planning’ to do anything. Her Talent was just too useful not to have on hand for emergency purposes.

There was a notable *bang* of fist on wood after Martel’s bid from a private box several away from Martel, who had also been fervently bidding.

“11,000.” A voice from inside the private room said. “Good sir, I already gave up the Orich, and I’m quite fond of-”

“15,000.” Martel immediately interrupted.

“Sir, you-”

“This is an auction where money talks. Besides, you’ve already purchased several women. It makes me wonder if the rumors about you are true, Second Prince of Wessex.”

“How do you-... I’m not sure what roomers you have heard or why you think I’m the second Prince of Wessex, but I most certainly am not.” The man replied.

Martel rolled his eyes. It was little wonder that the Crown Prince of Wessex seemed not to care for the Second Prince. Such an unintelligent prince who practically exposed his identity, coupled with the fact he was obsessed with wine and women, was of little threat. Of course, Martel knew who he was because of the SRIN and took note of him due to how he treated Hestia.

“Can the two gentlemen please stop disrupting the auction?” The auctioneer said to regain control. “The last bid was 15,000 gold. Are there any other offers?… Sold!”

[Is there any problem with the fact that her soul is 27% demon?]

[Given that we know she’s a virgin… Does she have any abnormal statuses or crimes listed?]

[No.]

[Then she should be fine. Lamia have either snake or dragon ancestry or a combination of both. This means that they have a high percentage of demon soul at birth. As hers is beyond 25%, it could be a combination of having negative life experiences or a negative mentality. It’s not uncommon for such a situation to occur, but you should assume that someone with more than 30% has already started down a path of no return.]

[What’s the implication in her case?]

[It means she is highly pliable. Depending on how you handle her, she could be brought back. Alternatively, you can fuel it, and she could become a ruthless killer or a sexual deviant. If. You. Wanted. To.”

Martel frowned, ignoring her tone. [There’s just one thing that bothers me.]

[What’s that?]

[Her race isn’t Lamia.]

…

Echidna waited with bated breath right outside the private room for the maid to complete the transaction. She watched as a man wearing a red mask took her contract paper. The ever slight tingle on her neck confirmed her new reality. This man was her new master, one who would decide her future. She experienced how cruel this world was firsthand. Now, she could only hope that her new master would treat her well. She could only make the most of her situation. To obtain the best position she could, she was willing to give up everything.

Knowing that first impressions were important, Echidna moved through the doorway and closed the door. She remained there quietly in a position that expressed her respect for him but did not speak. Doing so could be considered out of turn and taking the initiative to manipulate him. After several seconds of nervous waiting, especially hearing the sounds of the untethered hellhound gnawing away at a bone, she finally moved forward at his wave. Taking a deep breath, she approached his left flank. 

Echidna’s hands slowly touched and began to gently rub his shoulders as she leaned over to whisper in his ear sweetly. “Master, is there anything you would like Echidna to do? I want to make Master very happy.” She said as she gently began to rub his shoulders. It was then she slightly flinched as she noticed he began to frown slightly. Although she hid it extremely well, she felt a slight twinge of panic set in. She was worried she might have ruined her first encounter. Concluding that her unprovoked physical touch probably caused his frown, she did her best to slowly and naturally remove her hands. “Master?” She tentatively asked as he had remained silent this entire time.

“Sit.” He said as he nodded towards the empty spot on his sofa.

Echidna slightly jumped but quickly complied with her first order as she moved to sit on the couch. Her inherent flexibility allowed her to sit on the couch relatively normally and without discomfort. Turning to look at him, she found that his slight frown had not changed, and his eyes were subtly looking around as if he was focusing on something in front of him. After a couple of awkward seconds passed, she tentatively reached out to his upper arm to see how he would react. She was relieved when he didn’t seem to change at all for the first several seconds, but then he raised his arm. Out of conditioned response, Echidna flinched to the point of recoil. After noticing her mistake, she did her best to act as nothing happened. She patiently waited for him to complete his now paused movement.

Martel was slightly taken aback by her response, but soon his eyes filled with pity and sympathy. He experienced a similar reaction when he first met another young woman, Laelynn. Thinking of her Talent, a terrifying image suddenly passed through his mind, but he could only stifle his suspicions. He continued to move his arm until he gently placed it atop her head. “You’re tired, right?”

“Master?”

“It’s all right. You are safe now. I’ll protect you.”

Almost like magic, his words hit Echidna’s brain, causing her to feel dizzy suddenly. Was she tired? She was. It wasn’t physical tiredness at the moment but emotional tiredness from her situation. She was not in control of her own life; she was never in control of her own life. She was at the whims of others, always. Now she found herself in a new environment with people who she didn’t know. It was extremely tiring. With light tears filling her eyes, she succumbed to her dizziness, leaned into the warmth next to her, and fell unconscious.

Little did Echidna know that her reaction made Martel inhale a cold breath. “That system is a little scary.” He mumbled to himself as he scooted himself over to allow enough room for Echidna to use his lap as a pillow. The System he was referring to was the Harem King System that he had never used. Knowing that Echidna’s soul was in a pivotal state, he wanted to use every means he had to steer her in the right direction. With this in mind, he used one of the Harem King System functions that gave him several prompts on what to say or do. Ignoring the one that said ‘assault her,’ he took a small gamble and followed the suggestion to answer as he did. As such, he was terrified by its apparent effectiveness. 

Taking a few seconds to think about it, Martel realized why. The System, his intuition, and ring that helped convey meaning and intent were potent. Seeing how she reacted reminded him of Laelynn, whom he wished to protect, which made his statements all the more earnest. While no magic was directly used in their brief interaction, he summarized that, for the first time in a long time, if ever, she truly felt safe and could drop her guard.

Noticing the subtle movement to his side, Martel turned to look at Eferhild, who, after a brief look of surprise, gave him a grin and a thumbs up. Martel couldn’t help but roll his eyes. From his brief interactions, he could tell that if Morgan was a ‘tomboy,’ Eferhild acted like a guy. Based on their brief interactions, if not because she had a beautiful face, among other notable things that separated men and women, she could easily be misidentified as male. Martel turned his attention back to the auction. He slowly tensed up as time went by as the main purpose of his auction was soon to appear, and he did not want to take any chances.

...

With so little energy she could barely move, Rio was wheeled towards the auction platform. She had managed to suppress the outbreak of Dougal’s curse, but that came at a high price. Unfortunately, the outbreak had fulfilled a terrifying aspect of the curse, the permanent removal of XP and subsequent level drop. Now, she was at Level 0, and the curse further weakened her body to the point where she could do little more than simply live.

“Everyone, we come to the finale of the auction.” The auctioneer said joyfully, seemingly no less energetic than when she started. “As you can see, we’ve got quite a treat for you. The rare and elusive nine-tailed fox! Just think of it, you could have a companion that only heroes have had before! In case you’re wondering about her identity, we haven’t looked into it.” The auctioneer said, which prompted laughter from several people in the audience.

There wasn’t a single person in the building who didn’t know who she was. Even with her body covered in black spots, she was still incredibly beautiful. Her white fur gave away her identity, a companion of the seventh-generation shield hero.

After a couple of seconds, the auctioneer continued. “In her current situation, she’s incredibly weak, but her life is not threatened, and she has many, many years of life left as she is still young for her species. However, she’ll need to be cared for in multiple ways that she is quite… vulnerable in her current condition.” The auctioneer said in a way expressing her real meaning. “The starting bid is 10,000 gold with increments of 1000.”

“50,000 gold.” A voice in a private room suddenly spoke out, causing a moment of silence throughout the entire room as that voice had only spoken before to double the previous bid and not to start.

“55,000 gold.” A voice that had never bid suddenly said from the first floor.

“60,000 gold.” A voice from a different private box shouted, unable to hide his enthusiasm.

“62,000 gold.”

“65,000 gold.”

“70,000 gold.”

“Dammit. 75,000 gold.”

“Humph.” The man on the first floor grumbled as he turned to leave, apparently not having sufficient funds.

The man laughed when he saw his competition walk away, but another voice suddenly stifled his laughter.

“100,000 gold.”

“You! Do you have so much gold? I suspect you are trying to cause trouble deliberately.”

“Idiot.”

“What did you say?”

“Are there any other bids?”

The auctioneer blinked in surprise. “Are there any other bids?” She parroted. “… Sold.”

“Good.” The voice responded as an item was suddenly sent out of the box, which everyone quickly identified as a storage bag. However, what boggled everyone’s mind was that the storage bag seemed floating in a straight line directly towards the auctioneer. Then it briefly hovered in front of her. No one had ever seen such a thing before and could not help but be surprised. She tentatively reached out and grabbed the storage bag before checking the items within, only to see it full of gold. “Dear customer, we will quickly count your gold, so you may either stay there or come down to pick her up more quickly.” She replied professionally.

“Understood.” The voice responded. 

However, it was at this moment something else shot towards the platform, but it came from the first floor and was much faster and deadlier than the storage bag.

Rio barely registered the entire process of the auction. Her heart was slowly being consumed by despair. She didn’t understand what she did so wrong to be in such a situation. Her entire existence was wrapped around Kogane, the daughter of the man she loved. She had nothing else, nothing she cared for. Besides Kogane, she had no family, and now she didn’t even know if Kogane was alive. They put her on a chopping block like a piece of meat for sale by the very people who only existed because she risked her life to fight against the 7th Invasion. Yes, these were the people she protected. Anger, frustration, despair seemed to strike at her very essence as no one noticed the black spots on her body started to grow slowly. 

It was at this moment that Rio’s survival instinct, born over many life-and-death battles, kicked into full gear. Her eyes shrank, her body tensed, as the world slowed down around her. A dagger streaked through the air, heading straight for her chest. In her heyday, such a dagger could not harm her in the slightest, but now she could barely move. At that moment, she gave up, but her mind immediately flashed an image of Kogane. She could not face Jonathan in the afterlife if she did not even know if Kogane was okay. Suddenly the desire to live filled her entire body, but she could do nothing, not even scream. 

Just as Rio lost all hope, something suddenly appeared in front of her. The feelings of disbelief, shock, happiness, and confusion begat her when she recognized what was before her, a shield. Not just any shield, but a shield she saw growing up. A shield that was attached to the man that she loved suddenly appeared before her. At that moment, it seemed to her if the heavens collapsed, that shield would still protect her.

“Reflect.” A foreign voice suddenly said from her side as a barrier suddenly surrounded her in absolute protection. 

The moment the dagger touched the barrier, it reversed its orientation and direction, streaking back to its thrower at twice the speed it was sent. The assailant, the man who had made the previous bet but had begun to leave, froze in astonishment. He only just managed to dodge the dagger as it scraped across the side of his face. However, what the man did not know was that from his blind spot, from nowhere, from elsewhere, a man with a black mask suddenly appeared behind him. With a burst of Ki, the black-masked figure slammed the assailant’s head against the wall pinning him there. 

Everyone was shocked by the sudden turn of events, but many were stunned by what they saw. The man who had attacked the assailant was extruding a massive amount of Ki, but his Ki was black, something none of them had ever seen. Moreover, the Ki seemed to form the shape of the clawed hand that began to close slowly. Everyone felt as if they had fallen into a cold purgatory as killing intent radiated through the room.

The assailant could help but scream as he felt as if his head was slowly being crushed.

“Enough, guards arrest the man into the dagger.” A voice that belonged to the ‘Mayor’ said from another private room. 

Kuro sneered before he threw the man at the Tentatively approaching guards before heading back up to his private room. He knew who the man was, a dog of the king of Sussex. The king most likely wanted Rio for himself but otherwise preferred her dead due to her influence. Fortunately, Martel never let down his guard.

Rio completely ignored the entire exchange that occurred on the other side of the room. Instead, she had focused all her attention on the figure that had appeared next to her. When she saw an unfamiliar figure, her elation from seeing the familiar shield slowly crumbled away into bitter understanding. This person wasn’t Jonathan. However, she could at least accept her Fate being ‘bought’ by the Shield Hero. She almost felt as if it was karmic justice, and she was filled with hope that perhaps he would help her find Kogane. 

Rio knew more about the goddesses’ weapons than most and understood that the shield was one of the pickier weapons. For example, the sword preferred strength, willingness to fight, and inherent ability with the sword. Conversely, the shield required almost no affinity for the shield but instead desired those who were helpful, just, and protective. Unless something drastic had happened in the selection process for this Invasion, falling into such a person’s hands would be comforting in her current situation.

Martel turned to look at the auctioneer. “Hurry up and count. I’m going to take her up to my room while you do. Bring me the contract quickly.”

“Yes sir, of course.” She quickly replied as she hastily rushed off to get the money counters to start. Her face was nearly pale at what she had just seen. She felt that even the strongest people defending the auction might not beat the two masked figures.

Martel gently pricked up Rio in a princess carry and proceeded to walk back towards his private box.

Rio, who emotionally in the sudden positive change of circumstance, whispered into his ear. “My hero.”

Martel briefly flinched at her words before giving a bitter smile. “I don’t mind nicknames, but you’ll need to pick a different one. That one is already taken.”

Rio was taken aback for a moment but weakly chuckled. “Then I’ll think of something in the future.”

Martel couldn’t help but chuckle back but was suddenly worried for no apparent reason. At this point, they made it back to the private box. He took a deep breath and relaxed, but that deep breath caused him to pause as he smelled something he did not expect. He briefly looked at Rio in confusion but then wrote it off as a misunderstanding.

“Is she okay?”

“Eferhild? Why are you here?” Rio asked with her eyes drifted down to the slave collar on Eferhild’s neck, and a look of astonishment appeared on her face. “These people are bold if they sold you into slavery. After all, if mumph-” Rio began before Eferhild quickly covered her mouth.

“I see you two know each other.” Martel said with a slight chuckle before he turned to Eferhild. “You must be close if you’re willing to sleep with me to save her.”

For the first time since Martel had seen her, Eferhild gave a surprisingly feminine response. She suddenly looked away, refused to make eye contact with him, and her face took on a slight blush.

Meanwhile, Rio, whose mouth was still covered, could only open her eyes to the point of expressing horror as she looked between the two of them.

Taking a deep breath, Eferhild worked up some courage. “Since I said it, I will definitely-”

“No need.” Martel interrupted. “I was going to anyway. Besides, if Kogane knew I took a bribe to save her ‘mama’ she would probably end up disappointed in me.”

“You found Kogane?! Ouch!” Eferhild asked in excitement and disbelief before she suddenly removed her hand when Rio bit her.

With all the strength she had, Rio grabbed the front of his shirt. “Kogane, Where’s Kogane?” She excitedly asked.

“She’s perfectly fine and healthy. Incidentally, she ended up in a similar situation as you.”

“So, she is your slave?”

“Technically.”

“Can I see her?” Rio asked, seemingly not phased by the revelation but instead relieved that Kogane was all right.

Martel nodded. “Soon. However, first, now that the auction is over, we are going to get you healed.”