Reincarnated as the Final Villain's Vessel

Sunlight slipped through the open windows as I sat on the sofa, fiddling with the small object in my hand.

A few centimeters in size with a smooth glassy surface, it was a small sphere with a faint white light emanating from it, barely noticeable in the well-lit room.

After my conversation with the Marquis yesterday, I returned to my room and acted as if I had truly fallen under the effect of his ability, and with all those cameras and devices around this building, it was better for me to assume I was being watched around the clock.

The best thing to do was to go along with the mission and wait. Based on what he said, I think someone important from the Void system will come here during the auction and talk to me, perhaps the head of one of the branches or something like that.

And no matter how much I thought about it, I didn’t think they would give me a real choice to refuse if we reached that point. True, the Marquis didn’t try to force the matter onto my mind, as if he wanted me to make the decision to accept of my own free will, but would that continue?

Perhaps to them, the possibility of me agreeing was very high... I mean, just someone like me, no family, no money, and no power, with the possibility of being marginalized by the nobles, this was the perfect opportunity for me to seize.

Now all I had to do was wait and see if my thoughts were correct, and as long as I had the Mind Anchor, I didn’t think my thoughts could be manipulated, at least not completely.

I heard the sound of the door opening, interrupting my thoughts.

”What do you think? How does this look on me?”

I hid the glass sphere in my ring as I raised my head to see Emeris with her silver hair tied in a ponytail, wearing a dark shirt with a black jacket closed by a few buttons and matching pants of the same color as the jacket.

I smiled. ”You look like you’re about to attend a funeral.”

In fact, I was also wearing a suit like this, since one had been provided to each of us.

She puffed out her cheeks as she walked toward me. ”You know, giving some praise won’t shorten your life... just say something like, wow, Emeris, you look so beautiful that I don’t want to take my eyes off you... you know, be nice.”

I couldn’t help but let out an awkward laugh as I imagined myself saying that. ”Honestly, that’s a little difficult.”

She shook her head in dissatisfaction, her tied hair swaying with her movement. ”Tsk... how disappointing... anyway, what were you and the Marquis talking about yesterday?”

I shrugged, ignoring the question. ”Nothing important.”

Emeris narrowed her eyes before sighing. ”Well, let’s hope the grumpy man isn’t boring today too.”

...

After everyone put on their suits, Raph took them and began assigning each of them their role and the places where they would be stationed during the auction according to their strength and known abilities.

It took Raph several hours of explaining and going over possible scenarios to cover all ten of them, so by the time they finished this briefing, it was already night, or more precisely, dinner time.

Unlike yesterday, the Marquis wasn’t at the dinner table... it turned out he had left for somewhere early in the day, and after filling their stomachs, they had nothing to do but rest in their rooms or do whatever they wanted in the permitted areas of the building.

Although both Emeris and Ivan insisted that Raph allow them to go out into the city, he still firmly refused. They even thought about sneaking out, but it turned out to be impossible with all the cameras and Artifacts around the place.

At least not without being discovered.

And just as the second day passed, the third day also went by quickly and boringly, announcing the arrival of the day the auction would be held.

Although the auction wouldn’t begin until seven in the evening, it would start receiving guests from five-thirty, but the guests weren’t the only ones who would come here.

Since morning, new people had been flowing into the building. Many of them were servants who would take care of preparing the place and cleaning it for the guests, as well as serving them in the evening.

Every person who entered needed to have their identity verified and matched with the information they had, and Garon and Valia handled this part along with another guard from among the people who had been here from the beginning.

At the same time, these servants and cooks had to be watched as they did their work, from cleaning to preparing the dishes and desserts that would be served today, and the rest handled this along with a few other people.

But among all this, the most important part was what was underground.

Supervised by Raph and the Marquis himself, the rest of the items that hadn’t arrived yet were being brought through the teleportation gate, some from the same place and some from different places and other owners.

And among all this, in one of the VIP rooms, Caius sat on the luxurious and comfortable seat, his body sinking into its softness as he stared at the glass wall in front of him overlooking the place below.

A large hall filled with rows of chairs facing the long stage at the end, in addition to the domed ceiling that gave it a distinctive appearance.

His eyes were on the servants there as they made sure the place was clean and prepared the tables that would hold food and fine wine for this event.

According to what was mentioned, the auction would end around midnight, more or less depending on the items, so these nobles and wealthy people needed things to occupy them until then. After all, not everyone came to bid.

Even in the room where he was sitting now, two servants were silently doing their work with some tension... perhaps Caius’s presence among them wasn’t comfortable.

But to him, none of what was happening mattered.

He took a deep breath and let the air settle in his lungs before releasing an audible exhale that made the two servants glance toward him before returning to their work.

’Am I really nervous?’ Caius couldn’t help but wonder now as a feeling of unease seeped into him.

Perhaps because he hadn’t been in contact with them since the day he escaped... yes, there was the Artifact transport incident, but that was different from now.

Now they were coming for him, for him personally, and the Marquis had confirmed his guesses this morning.

So he couldn’t help but feel uneasy about it. He hadn’t told him who was coming, but it was obvious that it was someone with more authority than him.

”I don’t need to fight or anything like that,” he muttered as he let out another breath.

Yes, he didn’t have to fight them. He only had to complete what he came here for... gather information, whether about the Marquis, whose involvement had now been exposed, or anything else... like tangible evidence, so there was really no need to be nervous.

While he was lost in deep thought, a voice interrupted him, pulling him out of his thoughts.

”Sir, we’re finished here.”

Caius’s eyes swept across the room before he looked at the two servants standing straight. ”Good, you can move on to the next room.”

The two nodded and left, leaving him alone.

...

The hours soon passed, and it was time for the place to open its doors to the guests. At first, no one came, but by six o’clock, people began flowing into the place.

The closer the starting time came, the more frequently the guests arrived.

Not everyone was an awakened, after all, even ordinary people could build great wealth.

Caius sensed every person who came even before they reached the entrance. They ranged from Rank 1 to Rank 4, with a few at Rank 5.

Standing on a high platform that looked like an open balcony above the large hall, he stared at the guests, their souls laid bare before his eyes while the faint noise of their conversations filled the place.

He remained calm the entire time, but in the next moment, a frown covered his face as he felt the new soul that joined the occasion.

It wasn’t overwhelming like Alicia, but it also wasn’t light on his head... and yet he didn’t cancel his ability, instead enduring the faint pain along with his senses becoming slightly chaotic.

But what made him frown wasn’t this person’s strength, but the fact that they had appeared directly inside the building.

Specifically, in one of the private rooms hidden behind the glass wall overlooking this hall.

”This doesn’t look good,” a faint murmur escaped his lips.

And in the next moment, he felt a pair of eyes pierce through the insulating glass and land directly on him.