My Celestial Ascension

Inside his VIP room, Emperor Philip stared at the figure wearing a golden skull mask, who was holding the mythical dagger. Shock flashed across his face as a flurry of thoughts raced through his mind.

"T-This is unbelievable… H-How did they get here? What about the soldiers?! How could they have breached security without alerting anyone?!"

He immediately stood up from his sofa, his eyes widening in disbelief as he fixated on the mysterious intruders from the Golden Skull.

His family members were equally stunned. They had just witnessed these enigmatic figures appear out of nowhere in the stadium, nearly killing Lady Teressa and her two attendants.

"Did we overlook some weak points in security? Could there have been an entry point we failed to guard?" Crown Prince Daniel muttered, his voice trembling with disbelief. The sight before him sent shivers down his spine.

After all, the intruders were none other than the most notorious criminal organization on the entire continent—the Golden Skull.

Just the mere mention of their name was enough to send fear coursing through anyone’s veins, making them the most feared group in existence. And now, these very criminals had infiltrated the auction and stolen the Purple Poison Blade—a mythical treasure of unimaginable power.

Emperor Philip turned to Daniel with a grave expression. "Daniel, assemble the Magic Knight squad. Make sure the citizens and our esteemed guests are protected."

"We cannot afford to gamble with people’s lives," Empress Selena added, her voice firm with concern. "Ensure that everyone is safely escorted out of the stadium."

Daniel clenched his fists and nodded. "Don’t worry, Mother. I’ll see to it that everyone is evacuated safely."

Without hesitation, he turned on his heel and hurried out of the room, his face set with determination.

Meanwhile, chaos erupted in the stadium. The moment the spectators recognized the insignia of the Golden Skull, sheer terror gripped them. Their arrival had been so sudden that many were caught off guard, paralyzed with fear.

"Run! The Golden Skull is here!!"

"If you value your life, get out of here! Something terrible is about to happen!"

Panic spread like wildfire. Screams of fear filled the air as people scrambled to escape, desperate to save themselves. In the frantic rush, many were injured—some suffering minor wounds, while others were seriously hurt in the stampede.

Seeing the people running around the stadium for their lives, the mysterious individuals from the Golden Skull organization couldn’t help but chuckle, amused by the sight.

"Every single one of them is a coward... Not a single one has the guts to stand in our way. What a bunch of useless people. None of them deserve to live," the leader of the group, the one with the Golden Skull mask, muttered, his voice laced with disdain.

"Should I just kill all of them? After all, they’re nothing but dead weight for the world. By killing them, we’d be doing the world a favor. Hahaha!" One of his subordinates, a large man, said, laughing loudly as he pointed his magic wand toward the fleeing people.

Just as the man was about to cast a powerful spell to kill everyone in the stadium, a sudden shout interrupted him, causing the spell to dissipate instantly.

"Deploy the barriers! Immediately!" Emperor Philips’s voice rang out as he unleashed a massive amount of mana.

In an instant, a surge of mana gathered around the stadium, and a multilayered barrier shot up from the ground, trapping the members of the Golden Skull organization inside.

Seeing the barrier encase the attackers, preventing their escape, the people in the stadium felt a wave of relief.

"T-This is… The Golden Skull is trapped inside the barrier! Let’s move! This is our best chance to escape!" someone in the crowd shouted.

People immediately began running toward the exits.

The large man approached the barrier and touched it. The impact sent him flying back a few meters with an electric shock, causing the leader of the group to frown.

"Damn it! I didn’t expect them to set up such a powerful barrier for this auction... It seems Emperor Philips knew from the beginning we’d cause trouble here…" the leader muttered, surprised by the strength of the barrier holding them inside.

"So what do we do now, Leader? This barrier is too powerful; breaking it will be difficult," one of his men asked, clearly uneasy about the situation.

The leader thought for a moment, then a wide grin spread across his face. "Let’s see what they plan for us. After that, we’ll break the barrier by force and destroy the entire city to warn the world of the consequences of standing in our way."

"After all, a barrier like this can’t keep us trapped. We’re too powerful for this to hold us. Breaking it will be easy."

The leader with the Golden Skull mask grinned confidently, casually twirling a mythical dagger in his hand as if it were a harmless toy.

Inside the VIP room, Veni looked at Heidi with a concerned expression and asked, "Young Lady, don’t you think it would be a good idea to leave here and return to the villa to rest for a while?"

"Why? Are you afraid of these arrogant criminals? They’re just a group of criminals and nothing more." Heidi said with a soft smile and a chuckle. "And I’m sure Emperor Philip will handle the situation. Nothing will happen to us."

"Y-Yes, but these are the notorious criminals—the Golden Skull we’re talking about. They’re very dangerous, Young Lady!" Veni said, her face filled with worry as she shook her head, her body trembling in fear.

"I know that. However, I don’t think they can do anything, or even escape from here, with such a powerful barrier trapping them. They’ll end up on the execution platform later." Heidi said with a smile, exuding confidence in the barrier that trapped the Golden Skull members.

Just then, she added, "Just in case, bring the Magic Knights from our clan into the room. The Golden Skull organization is unpredictable."

"As you wish, Young Lady." Veni nodded and left the room.

A few seconds later, Veni returned with all the Magic Knights of their clan and closed the door behind them. She made them sit on the floor to rest, as they had been standing outside the entire time.

Heidi, meanwhile, gazed at VIP room number 1 with a curious look on her face. She couldn’t help but wonder what Yuan was doing, as he had been silent for a while now.

"I wonder if he’ll let these thugs do whatever they want in here, or if he’ll take care of them…" Heidi muttered under her breath, her voice laced with both curiosity and concern.

—

Crown Prince Daniel had surrounded the entire stadium with thousands of Magic Knight Captains and was escorting the people out of the stadium safely. However, with tens of thousands of people to evacuate, it would take some time to get everyone to safety.

After struggling for nearly an hour, Daniel had managed to evacuate half of the people. However, during the evacuation, many had been injured, some severely.

"This is bad! The silence is unsettling. From the moment the barrier was deployed, the Golden Skull organization has been eerily quiet. I don’t think this is a good sign." Daniel muttered, his face marked by worry as he glanced toward the VIP room where his parents were, and he couldn’t help but sigh.

Then Daniel glanced at VIP room number 1, wondering why Yuan hadn’t taken any action against the Golden Skull organization, especially since he had promised his family he would deal with those filthy criminals.

"There’s no time for me to think about this... I’ve already completed my task. I should return to the room and report back to Father," Daniel muttered before turning to leave.

Before departing, he instructed the captain of the Magic Knight squad to keep a close eye on the surroundings. The Golden Skull members could be anywhere in the city, and they could strike from any angle.

Shortly after, Daniel returned to the VIP room and immediately reported the situation to his father, Emperor Philip. He didn’t want to waste time on unnecessary matters.

The situation was dire for the empire—any wrong decision could lead to its destruction. The Golden Skull organization was far too powerful, with many tricks up its sleeve.

A few moments later, Daniel looked at his father and asked, "Father, how about we ask Yuan for help? He’s incredibly powerful and could defeat those thugs easily if we ask him."

"Leave it," Emperor Philip sighed, shaking his head. "We won’t ask him to defend our Empire. Doing so would make us appear weak, especially in front of the other nations and the Ten Great Families. We can only rely on our own strength in this situation."

"B-But…" Daniel was about to protest when something unexpected happened at the center of the stadium.

BANG!

A powerful explosion rang out, and huge cracks began to form all over the barrier. The crackling sound of the barrier immediately drew everyone’s attention.

"The barrier is cracking! This is bad, very bad! The barrier is cracking!"

Panic spread throughout the crowd as people began rushing toward the exits. In the chaos, many were severely injured.