The Greatest Sinner

Koen's words were like a bolt from the blue sky. There was no way she could imagine that two people could just kill the head of the Cross Family.

"Brother...if they killed the former head...couldn't they have subjugated the entire Cross Family?" The girl said uncertainly.

Koen shook his head.

"Marcel and Zak weren't interested in that. They were attacked and they attacked back, that's all. Especially Fane is far from a simple man, too. He wouldn't let them do something like that."

While Rosa pondered her brother's words, Koen mouthed thoughtfully, "Hmm, I think we should talk to Marcel."

Koen waved his hand and the servant at the door headed for Marcel's room. Koen didn't mind buying the "Sacred Deer`s Horn" for a decent price, but he didn't see the point in paying three times as much. Especially since the money would go to Fane, who wasn't bidding at all.

A minute later, the servant knocked and entered Marcel's room.

"Mr. Marcel, Mr. Koen invites you."

Marcel smiled and said quietly: "Well, I guess it's better to talk face to face than to wait until one of us runs out of money."

After these words, Marcel stood up and gestured for Evan to follow him.

Click.

The servant opened the door and Marcel and Evan went into room number three.

Koen looked at the servant and he immediately knew what his master meant. The door closed and there were only four people left in the room.

"Koen, why did you get rid of him? Who's going to pour us wine?" With a slight smile on his face, Marcel said, taking a seat on the wide couch.

"We`ll manage ourselves, I guess."

Koen rose from his seat and headed toward the conference table. Rosa followed him.

Koen was the first to speak.

"I was wondering why you need the "Sacred Deer`s Horn". Will you introduce us?" Said Koen looking at Evan.

"Ahhhh, that's Evan. The man Zak`s picked out personally. I just decided to go out and take him with me to the auction."

Rosa looked at the black-haired young man and thought to herself, <Wait... is..it.. Evan?!

The thing was, Evan had changed quite a bit in appearance since their last meeting. His hair was thicker and longer, he was a little taller, and his body had changed from thin to athletic. Rosa just didn't immediately recognize him. But when she heard his name and looked into Evan's amethyst eyes, she quickly realized who was sitting in front of her.

Evan, on the other hand, instantly recognized Rosa. Unlike him, she looked the same as she did a month ago. Especially from Fien's story about the three heads of Mossy Vulture, Evan recognized that Rosa was from the Erden Family. This encounter was no surprise to him.

"Marcel, I'd like to give you this horn, but I wanted to give it to Rosa. Maybe I could trade some things for the "Sacred Deer`s Horn"?"

Marcel looked at Evan, but didn't say anything to the young man. Marcel understood everything from Evan's serious look.

"It`s impossible, we might just have to bet further if we don't come to anything." Marcel said thoughtfully.

Koen was thinking about how he could resolve the matter, until Rosa suddenly whispered to him, "Brother... let's give them the Horn, the thing is..."

After a moment, Koen nodded and said: "So that's how it is... what an amazing meeting we have. Marcel, I'll give you the Horn, and I'll pay for it as well. It turns out Evan is that man who saved Rosa from the bandits` attack not so long ago".

There was silence in the room for a moment, and then Marcel said with satisfaction: "Great, that's the best turn of events I could imagine. Then shall we drink to Rosa and to Evan?"

Koen didn't turn down the offer.

...

The auction was over, most of the guests had already left, and all the purchases had been given to their new owners.

Marcel, Evan, Koen and Rosa were drinking wine and chatting about various topics. To Evan, Koen made an impression as a cold, sensible and tough man.

Everyone was about to leave when suddenly Koen spoke to the young man: "Evan, there will be a small tournament in two weeks. The organizers are my Erden Family and the Cross Family. The participants are all talented young people from our Families, but also other gifted young men from Mossy Vulture. I will be glad to see you among the participants. The purpose of this tournament is to allow the youths to fight among themselves and test their skills before going to the Academy of Magic."

<Hmm, before that, of the magicians, I've only fought Fien. I think it will be a great practice>. Evan thought to himself and quickly agreed to Koen's invitation.

"I will participate, Mr. Koen. I hope there's an award for the winner?"

"Huh, of course, of course. Fane and I`ve personally chosen the prize, I don't think anyone will be disappointed."

Marcel entered the conversation: "It would be pretty funny if you and Fien met again at the tournament."

<So, Fien will be participating, too, well, that makes sense>. Evan concluded.

"Koen, thank you for such a warm welcome, but I think we should go now." Said Marcel.

"Okay."

Click.

Marcel and Evan went away, and Koen was left alone with Rosa. He needed to talk to her about something.

...

As soon as Marcel and Evan stepped into the corridor, a nasty voice was heard from the left: "Marcel Vierdag is so powerful, but he takes away materials from the ordinary people. What a shame!"

It was Bryce Davey. Oddly enough, unlike everyone else, he was still in the auction house. Bryce was purposely waiting for Marcel to come out of his room. He was very unhappy that Marcel wouldn't let him buy the "Cave Troll Crystal".

However, neither Marcel nor Evan paid any attention to him. Evan didn't know who it was, so he didn't care what Bryce said. To Marcel, Bryce was nothing more than a barking dog. If he paid attention to everyone who disliked him, he wouldn't even have time for breakfast.

Nevertheless, Bryce was not going to back down. He was determined to get back at Marcel.

"Marcel, you are nothing but a foolish ignorant, who thinks too much of himself! Just like your friend Zak!"

Marcel didn't care what Bryce said about him. But the moment Bryce talked about Zak, Marcel's behavior changed dramatically.

He stared at him with a cold stare, and at the same moment dozens of spiky vines wrapped themselves around Bryce's body. At the same moment, Marcel's "Warp" began to swirl violently, putting Bryce under serious pressure.

"А? What are you doin...!" He didn't even have time to say anything as the vines completely immobilized him and squeezed his neck.

"Hey, you, walking trash, what do you think of yourself?" Stiffly said Marcel looking into Bryce's eyes.

Marcel`s pressure made it hard for Bryce to even breathe, he was in a very dire situation.

Whoosh.

Suddenly the pressure stopped, but the spiky vines didn't go anywhere. Another man partially suppressed Marcel's pressure, which made Bryce feel better.

"Mr. Marcel, it's not good to treat this way the head of one of the big families in your city." The speaker was Cade Shepley.

Cade was a visitor from another town, who had been kindly invited to attend this auction. What's more, he had been even given the room number 1 on the third floor. It must be said, Bryce behaved so brazenly only because of Cade's presence in the city.

The whole point was that Cade wanted to extend his influence to Mossy Vulture as well. He needed a foothold and he had chosen Bryce, because the Erden Family and the Cross Family were simply out of reach for him.

"Who are you?" Said Marcel rudely.

Cade smiled grimly and said: "Oh, no one, a mere guest. You're quite an interesting person, and so is your daugh..."

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

Before Cade could finish his sentence, the pressure emitted by Marcel multiplied. It was so intense that Bryce immediately vomited blood. And Marcel's murderous intent sent shivers down everyone's spine.

"Piece of shit... Who the hell do you think you are?" Marcel muttered grimly.

Whoosh.

At the same moment, many purple Magic Circles appeared on the walls in the hallway. Dozens of dark hands quickly emerged from them, rushing toward Cade.

Initially, Cade was acting cocky and defiant, but he quickly realized that he had underestimated Marcel. Cade was about to defend himself against the creepy hands reaching for him as a commanding voice was suddenly heard.

"Marcel, calm down, please." It was Koen.

Strangely enough, after his words, Marcel came to his senses and tempered his ardor a little.

Koen calmly walked towards Cade without saying anything.

Cade thought Koen was on his side and all was well again, but he had yet to find out how wrong he was.

"Mr. Cade, I was kind enough to invite you as a guest to this auction. However, you`ve spit on my kindness, caused problems in my auction house, and disturbed other people."

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

Suddenly Cade felt a monstrous pressure. It was so powerful that he could barely keep his feet.

"I'm not as kind as Marcel, so if something like that happens again, I will personally ensure that there will be no trace of you in this world. All the best."

Clap.

Koen patted Cade on the shoulder once and walked away. At the same moment, Cade fell to the floor in a cold sweat and greedily began to gulp air with his mouth. His face was contorted with a pain, since Koen had broken him the shoulder with one single clap.