The auction reached its absolute climax when a single glass case was carried out under heavy armed guard.
Inside rested a single feather. It looked snow-white at first glance, but as the light hit it, it shimmered with brilliant silver, deep crimson, and emerald hues.
"Our final item tonight," the auctioneer whispered, his voice trembling slightly. "Discovered within the heart of a divine, unmapped ruin. Every identification spell applied to it has failed. It produces an unknown form of holy and dark magic simultaneously."
Rosearia glanced at Asmodeus — and froze.
All his casual amusement had vanished. The Demon God was leaning forward, his jaw locked, staring at the feather with an intensity that sent a chill down her spine.
"What is it?" she whispered.
"I... do not know," Asmodeus admitted, his voice low and dangerous.
Rosearia blinked in shock. "You don’t know?"
"No." His dark eyes swirled with violent mana. "But my instinct demands that I take it."
The bidding erupted into absolute chaos. Cultists, ancient warlords, and mysterious shadow figures threw astronomical sums into the air. But Asmodeus crushed them all, bidding an amount of treasury gold that left the entire underground market paralyzed.
"Sold!"
When the attendant brought the glass case into their suite, Asmodeus reached out and laid his long fingers against the glass.
THUMP!
A sudden, invisible shockwave of energy hit the room. The single feather inside flared with a blinding, ethereal light.
At the exact same second, a burning heat exploded beneath Rosearia’s skin — right over her chest, right where her core resided.
She gasped softly, clutching her hand to her heart as her pulse violently spiked.
What was that?!
Asmodeus instantly whipped his head toward her, his dark eyes sharp as daggers. "Did you feel that?"
Rosearia quickly suppressed her physical reaction, forcing her breath to steady as the burning sensation vanished as fast as it had appeared.
"Feel what? You touching a shiny feather?"
Asmodeus stared at her for five long seconds, analyzing every micro-expression on her face, before withdrawing his hand from the glass.
As they exited the underground palace into the jagged obsidian alleyways to head back, the cold night air whipped against Rosearia’s dress.
"Well," Rosearia said, idly twirling the black rose ornament between her fingers. "That was certainly more entertaining than staying in your gloomy—"
She stopped dead in her tracks.
Asmodeus halted beside her, his expression entirely unbothered.
From the shadows of the narrow mountain pass, dozens of heavily armed, masked mercenaries materialized. They held heavy curved blades dripping with green poison and massive suppressive mana-crossbows.
"Lord Asmodeus," the leader spat, stepping forward. "You took too many treasures tonight. Leave the Calamity Beast and the artifact... or die here."
Rosearia tilted her head, a slow, predatory smile spreading across her lips. "I was just thinking that tonight was going far too smoothly."
Asmodeus didn’t even bother drawing a weapon. He crossed his arms, glancing down at Rosearia with an amused smirk. "They’re targeting my treasure box. Consider this your final test with your new gift."
"Are you asking me to clean your trash, my Lord?"
"I am offering you a playground."
The leader of the mercenaries roared, "Kill them both!"
Ten mercenaries lunged forward simultaneously, their poisoned blades cutting through the dark air.
Rosearia moved like a phantom.
Before the lead mercenary could even register her movement, she was right in front of him. She pressed the stem of the black rose against his throat—
CLICK!
The slender Thornveil blade shot forward, piercing straight through his enchanted neck armor and coming out the back.
Blood sprayed into the cold night air.
Without missing a beat, Rosearia spun on her heel, pulling the blade free and slicing effortlessly through the iron bowstrings of three crossbowmen. She kicked a heavy demon mercenary backwards into the wall with immense physical force, her movements fluid, graceful, and terrifyingly efficient.
In less than twenty seconds, half the squad lay dead on the cobblestones.
Rosearia flicked her wrist, sending a drop of blood flying off her dark blade before retracting it back into a rose shape with a satisfying click.
She turned around, tossing her hair over her shoulder.
Asmodeus was leaning casually against a stone pillar, watching her murderous performance with a look of pure, unadulterated admiration.
"Satisfied?" she asked, smoothing down her dress.
"Immensely," he purred, walking toward her and stepping right over a corpse. "Your form is far too refined to be fragile,’ Rosearia." Find the original chapter at g.com.
"I told you," she smiled sweetly, stepping up close to him. "I’m full of surprises."
By the time they returned to the gates of Asmodeus’s grand fortress, the early dawn light was beginning to bleed across the horizon.
Rosearia stretched her arms lazily, taking a deep breath of the crisp air. "You see?"
Asmodeus glanced down at her. "See what?"
"Taking a walk in the night is so much better than rotting inside." She looked up at the fading stars. "The cool breeze, the quiet streets... overall, it feels so serene."
Asmodeus glanced upward at the sky, his hands resting casually in his pockets. "Perhaps."
Rosearia turned to look at him, her brows furrowing playfully. "’Perhaps’? It’s a fact!"
"It is not an environment I typically care for."
"You are ridiculously stubborn."
She laughed softly, stepping up to the massive iron doors of the estate.
Before she could even knock, Anthony pulled the heavy doors open, bowing deeply. "Welcome back, my Lord. My Lady."
Rosearia blinked. "Wow. Anthony, do you just stand behind the door all night waiting for us?"
"It is my duty, Lady Rosearia," the old butler replied smoothly.
Rosearia stepped inside the grand foyer. "Are Adrian and Aldric back from their task yet?"
"Not yet, my Lady."
She frowned slightly, looking down the empty, quiet hallways. "I thought they would have returned by now..."
Asmodeus stepped inside behind her, the heavy iron doors shutting tight with a loud thud. "Why?" His voice dropped, a faint thread of jealousy woven into his smooth tone.
Rosearia turned around, raising an eyebrow. "Why what?"
"Do you miss them?"
Rosearia’s lips curved into a wicked, teasing smirk. She took a step toward the staircase, pausing on the first step to look back down at the grand Demon God.
"Of course I do," she said softly, her crimson eyes gleaming with playful malice.
"They are so much... easier to manipulate."