Chapter 258: End of the Auction Noah felt his excitement building with each price increase, barely containing the feeling of euphoria generated by witnessing his most valuable item command prices that exceeded his wildest projections. This single auction had already allowed him to surpass his previous total daily income records. Whilst he had expected it to do really well, he never expected it to do this well. Just thinking about the daily reward and selling this item for even half the price daily made him smirk inwardly. His plan of purchasing items rather than spending money on materialistic things on earth had worked its wonders. "Eleven thousand golden coins!" Kael declared. The pause that followed stretched longer than previous intervals, both factions calculating whether continued escalation remained strategically viable given their other financial obligations. "Going once!" Lola announced with theatrical authority. "Going twice!" The silence extended as both sides weighed the consequences of victory against the cost of continued competition. "Sold to the Shadowvale Dominion for eleven thousand golden coins!" Contrary to Noah’s expectations, the luxury smoothie had been claimed by the dark elves rather than the light elves, who had demonstrated such aggressive bidding throughout the beginning of the auction. Noah studied the light elf delegation’s reactions, noting that they appeared remarkably unbothered by their defeat despite the substantial implications of allowing their enemies to acquire such powerful enhancement capabilities. Something about their calm acceptance of losing the auction that they had clearly wanted before struck him as suspicious, suggesting they possessed knowledge or plans that weren’t immediately apparent. Meanwhile, one of the dark elves immediately withdrew a communication crystal and began muttering urgent instructions. The archmage had used the same technique as Lola to avoid eavesdropping or even reading the lips. Within moments, hundreds of powerful magical auras erupted outside the one-kilometre boundary of Noah’s establishment, approaching rapidly. The light elves responded to this massive force deployment by manifesting their own extensive presence, archmages and masters materialising from concealed positions to create a balanced standoff that surrounded the neutral zone completely. Though no immediate fighting occurred, the sheer scale of forces now positioned around his shop made Noah realise why the light elves had stopped bidding so abruptly. They had received orders to end the auction quickly rather than continuing the financial competition, probably recognising that the real battle would be decided through action rather than economic warfare. These cunning strategists could have raised the price significantly higher, but they had chosen to end the auction early for whatever conflict was about to unfold beyond his territorial boundaries. What Noah didn’t know was that his sudden move with the rose petal candy had prompted this change. The light elves felt somewhat scammed and decided to reduce the gain that Noah would have gotten. Kael approached Noah to complete the transaction, showing no concern for the mounting tensions or the astronomical price he had just paid for a single enhancement item. Noah quickly seized the opportunity to deliver his standard post-auction disclaimer about future availability and pricing, though Kael seemed entirely uninterested in such commercial details. Kael nodded absently while accepting the luxury smoothie, his attention clearly focused on more immediate concerns than potential future savings. With the transaction completed, Kael immediately returned to his delegation to participate in whatever operations they had planned for the post-auction period. The massive forces now surrounding his establishment created an atmosphere of impending warfare that made even Lola visibly nervous despite her grandmaster-level capabilities. "The auction is officially concluded!" Noah announced hastily, recognising that prolonging their exposure to such an overwhelming presence would be extremely unwise. Both he and Lola retreated rapidly toward the safety of his shop as the reality of their situation became clear. Lola’s archmage-level power, formidable as it was against normal opponents, meant nothing when facing dozens of masters and archmages from both kingdoms. She couldn’t protect herself against such overwhelming numbers, let alone provide meaningful protection for Noah in what promised to be a very devastating magical battle. The auction had been spectacularly profitable, but the aftermath threatened to engulf his entire operation in the kind of warfare that could reshape kingdoms permanently. The auras that had erupted from both kingdoms converged rapidly, creating a dense formation designed to obscure the luxury smoothie’s actual location through deliberate misdirection. The dark elves implemented sophisticated protocol, shuffling their most valuable acquisition between multiple carriers to prevent enemy forces from identifying and targeting the genuine recipient. Elena observed the complex defensive manoeuvres with calculating eyes before turning toward a blind elf archmage who stood beside her with serene composure despite the mounting tensions. The woman wore a dark cloth binding across her eyes that concealed whatever injury or condition had claimed her sight, but her other senses had developed beyond normal elven capabilities in compensation. Her enhanced perception operated with precision that surpassed conventional vision, detecting magical signatures, movement patterns, and energy fluctuations with supernatural accuracy. Where others saw only a chaotic mass of dark elves employing a techinque to hide the item from them, the blind archmage processed individual magical auras like distinct fingerprints that couldn’t be disguised through simple positioning changes. "Can you identify the carrier?" Elena whispered with urgency, recognising that their entire strategic response depended on accurate intelligence about the smoothie’s location. The blind elf tilted her head slightly, her senses analysing the dark elf formation with focus. Her ability to detect subtle variations in magical emanations made her invaluable for penetrating exactly this type of misdirection. "Third row, second from the left," she reported with absolute confidence. "The luxury smoothie’s unique, magical signature is unmistakable despite their shuffling attempts. It’s in his storage ring; he was the last person with the item." Her perception had successfully penetrated the dark elves’ careful deception, identifying which specific individual carried the enhancement item that both kingdoms considered worth triggering major military confrontations to control. The approaching shadow elf forces believed their misdirection would protect their most valuable asset during the dangerous transition from neutral territory to battle zones. They assumed that the light elves’ observation methods wouldn’t be sufficient to track their prize through properly executed defensive protocols. But they hadn’t accounted for the light elves’ new specialised intelligence archmage that had recently emerged.