Chapter 630: Victory
Alaric found himself unable to move. His body refused to. He could feel the Diva inside him shivering in fear, as if the very sound of Michael’s voice was making it recoil in fright.
Michael turned back his attention towards the vials of Soo.
One by one, he touched every pillar in the red platform.
He got his fifth, his sixth, his seventh, and continued on.
Alaric could only watch helplessly as Michael obtained every single drop of Soo still available on the platform.
As Michael touched the last vial, the last beam of light shone down from the heavens above and illuminated the drop of Soo in his hands.
He did it.
In the end, he got all ten drops.
With his job done, the GodForge pieces in Michael’s hearts started slowing down. The mechanical armor around his arms started to lose their physicality, turning into a projection that slowly dissipated in the air.
His body rapidly cooled down, with his skin starting to frost everywhere around his body.
His muscles shrank, his bones lost volume, and his newly regenerated abundance of cells regressed one by one.
In just a few moments, his body turned back into adolescence, one fitting for a thirteen year old boy.
Pushing himself into the future put a large toll on his body, his mind, and his soul.
He fell to his knees and collapsed on the ground.
The auction had finally ended.
...
...
...
Even after the game had concluded, nobody was moving. They had their eyes focused and still rapt at Michael.
What they saw was beyond comprehension. It was something out of reality, and even out of imagination.
If someone told them yesterday that they would see a 4th stage Maugnetic boy merge with his Diva and win the game, they would have just ignored them and wouldn’t even entertain the idea.
Aerith, Bobby, and Potbol, who had been eliminated from the game earlier, looked at Michael with shock. Even though they were in the 9th stage of Body Formation, they knew they were still far away from merging with their Divas.
Yet, he did it. It was incomplete, but he still did it.
Even the so-called experts in Diva Cultivation and Aubilities had no answer for what they had just seen. That was supposed to have been impossible.
From Michael’s flying Mithril Artifact weapons to his reality-defying powers, everything around Michael seemed impossible.
Barnaby himself was still utterly shocked at what Michael had done. Just like the others, he was just blankly staring at the Pocket Dimension, not knowing what to do even though the game had technically ended.
"Ladies... and gentlemen... the game... is over," he muttered out, still in disbelief.
It was only when Micheal and Alaric were both teleported out of the Pocket Dimension did reality truly sink in for Barnaby.
Michael won! He won against Alaric, and all the other Major Factions in Metropolis!
He obtained 10 drops from 15, all the while only having himself for his team! And one might also add that he was only in the 4th stage of Body Formation!
He immediately had his best doctors and magical physicians oversee Michael’s recovery.
The boy was still breathing steadily, which meant that he was probably just completely exhausted from the fight. Barnaby considered this a miracle, given how much he must have strained himself to achieve what he had achieved.
"The results of tonight’s game for the Spirit of Old drops have been decided. Give it up for Alaric and the Gilderaan company, who obtained five drops of Soo in total! This is an outcome that we expected going into the auction.
But the overall winner of tonight’s bidding is someone that I bet had never crossed your ears before this auction. He is someone who has shown great talent in magic, in cultivation, and even in innovation.
Ladies and gentlemen, I would like you all to clap your hands for the owner of the Reborn company, to the innovator of the automobiles, and the current sensation of the entirety of Metropolis:
MICHAEL VANDERBILT!"
Barnaby’s announcement finally broke everyone’s stupor, making them focus back into the auction.
There were a few points in his speech that caught their ears.
"Did I hear that right? He... he’s the one who created the automobiles?!"
This, in particular, stirred up a lot of conversation and discussions amongst the crowd.
The automobiles, which now everyone considered to be the future of transportation, was created by none other than Michael and the Reborn company?
"So that’s where he gets all his money from!"
Michael’s apparent wealth that could even rival that of the Major Factions was something that was highly debated around. But now, the truth finally came out.
Soon after that, the pieces fell into place.
He owned the automobiles, which was probably why the Duchess seemed to favor him so much that she was even willing to give her black medallion to him.
He owned the automobiles, so Barnaby was implored to give him one of the VIP suites in the auction.
"If they start to sell automobiles in Metropolis... I really think that the Reborn company is going to become part of the Major Factions in the future."
Michael had shown strength and power deserving of a high spot in the rankings. He defeated Beau and the Rising Six, meaning that he should replace her in the top spot.
Many were still doubting that he deserved that spot, given that power wasn’t the only factor in a ranking. But this revelation completely upended that.
He deserved that ranking, and more, especially with what he showcased in this game.
And once Michael’s last name was revealed to everyone, their fate in the Major Factions seemed all the more fitting.
"He’s a Vanderbilt..."
Due to unfortunate circumstances, the Vanderbilt name was tarnished in Metropolis. It was no longer the prestigious title it once was, with many thinking that the talents of the great lion Yze Vanderbilt weren’t passed down to his descendants.
But Michael’s very presence disproved that.
With his abundant talent at such a young age, it seemed that he was destined to bring the Vanderbilt name back to the top.
...
Meanwhile, in the mermen’s VIP suite, the red-haired young mermaid peered through the tinted glass and watched as Michael got escorted away into the back stage.
There was excitement and adoration in her eyes.
"I have to meet him!" she exclaimed.
The mermen around her immediately disagreed with her decision.
"Young Mistress, we simply do not have time for trifling matters."
The young mermaid immediately protested. "You don’t understand! This guy is special! He’s different!"
Her frustration only grew more as she saw how clueless her mermen attendants were to what they just witnessed.
They were completely ignorant to human cultivation, which meant they didn’t know the significance to what Michael had just pulled off.
"Need I remind you that your father has tasked you with this mission, Young Mistress. We have to find the Pixie Queen. We cannot waste any more time."
The young mermaid bit her lips, unable to hold on to her frustrations. She could only curse her luck that finding Michael coincided at a very critical juncture in her mission in the surface world.