Chapter 42

Chapter 42
## Chapter 42

### The White King

The primary obstacle was the White King.

He was the Northern Guardian Deity.

The singular entity that even Wilhelm had failed to eliminate.

‘He earns the title.’

I adjusted my mental state.

When the mind pivots, the physical form aligns, and once the body falls into line, one’s entire demeanor shifts as a result.

I had already managed to trick the Four Guardians. Was it impossible to do the same to the White King?

The essential thing was to never show weakness.

With the Iron-Blooded Lord’s Heart keeping my pulses steady, the weight of ‘Eternal Randolph’ gave gravity to every motion I made.

Furthermore, the knowledge that I could shatter a mystery at a moment’s notice gave me a sense of composed confidence.

The moment I liquidated the serpent’s mystery, the reaction of the Four Guardians would provide the clarity I needed.

‘He is being cautious.’

Watching me.

It wasn’t just simple wariness; he was scrutinizing me.

The act of destroying a mystery was likely an unprecedented phenomenon even for them.

They surely assumed that a transcendent entity capable of such a thing would have no qualms about achieving even darker feats.

Including their own executions.

‘The more potent the creature, the more significant the impact of its mystery.’

Naturally, this logic held firm.

The mysteries of mortals and those of beasts served fundamentally different functions.

Just as humans utilize names as a testament to their existence, monsters utilize mysteries as the core proof of theirs.

To a human, a mystery is a badge of rank, but to a monster, it is their entire being.

The presence of a mystery is the sole dividing line between a common beast and a lord of its kind.

In games, you frequently encounter hordes of identical-looking enemies.

However, even among those clones, the ones imbued with special effects are considered vastly more formidable.

It isn’t merely the visual flair; they possess boss-level stat increases, turning them into lethal instruments.

Without their mysteries, most high-level monsters would be indistinguishable from the rabble.

‘It’s equivalent to losing a limb before the fight starts.’

Severing a monster from its mystery is precisely that.

It is no different than forcing a warrior to fight with one arm tied behind their back.

The higher the rank and power of the beast, the more devastating the loss of that mystery becomes.

If I were to annihilate a top-tier mystery held by a creature of the Four Guardians’ caliber or the White King himself, it might even force a reduction in their overall level.

“A corpse crow of peculiar shape, I see.”

……That was the instant.

In a flash. Without a single hint of warning, the White King materialized in front of me.

A chimera of man and beast standing two meters tall, his face concealed behind a white tiger mask.

His powerful frame, snowy coat, tail, and feline ears left no room for doubt: this was the White King in the flesh.

At the very least, he hadn’t let out a deafening cry.

A bead of cold sweat rolled down, but luckily, it remained only in my mind.

This location was a literal slaughterhouse. If I let my guard down for a second, I would be decapitated before I even realized my life was at risk.

And that was to be expected.

**[Lv. 15]**

He was a preposterous entity.

‘……Was his level always this astronomical?’

It was even more jarring because the White King wasn’t just some high-end raid boss.

He was beyond that classification.

He sat on the same tier as the Demon King, despite lacking a formalized name.

Because of this, players referred to him as the ‘ultimate boss’ or the ‘named sovereign.’

I had never known the White King’s true level.

Data on him was nonexistent.

To begin with, Wilhelm had been unable to bring him to heel.

Despite the pressure, I kept my neck stiff and locked eyes with the manifested King.

‘It’s working.’

I felt a surge of certainty the moment our vision aligned.

‘The hidden characteristics are functioning.’

I wasn’t shaking, which was more than I could have hoped for.

By all rights, he should have seen right through my facade and taken my head.

The benefits of the hidden traits extended even to the White King.

He couldn’t pierce my disguise, and that was the sole reason I was still breathing.

This confirmed that the ‘brazen audacity’ provided by my traits was viable here.

**[‘Giant’s Magic Resistance’ nullifies ‘White King’s Gaze.’]**

**[‘Iron-Blooded Lord’s Heart’ nullifies ‘White King’s Presence.’]**

“……Disrespectful, caw.”

It wasn’t a simple test of will; he had actively deployed a skill.

An attempt to peer into my soul.

But it failed. The hidden traits brushed aside the White King’s technique.

As he frowned visibly, showing his annoyance, a spark flickered in his eyes.

Simultaneously, the eyes of the Four Guardians spasmed in shock.

It clearly grated on them that a lowly corpse crow was standing tall before their King, lecturing him on ‘etiquette.’

“Hmm. Truly a peculiar specimen.”

The White King offered a blunt appraisal of my person.

A peculiar one.

‘That’ll do.’

That judgment was better than I could have asked for.

The White King was erratic. Completely beyond logic. That was why I had hunted him for an entire month.

For a being like him to label me ‘peculiar’ was the highest form of recognition he could bestow.

“You traversed the Crown of Myths?”

“It was nothing special, caw.”

I gave a casual shrug.

In truth, it had been a massive ordeal.

Near the conclusion, I had genuinely accepted that my life was ending.

But there was no reason to volunteer those specifics.

If I kept my mouth shut, the truth remained my own.

“Not four trials, but five?”

The White King rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

He was talking to himself.

Processing the information.

The White King. The fourth stage he had turned away from was the Crown of Completion.

The pinnacle where legends are finalized. Yet he couldn’t stop himself from pondering the possibility of trials existing beyond that peak.

“……How in the world did you overcome that?”

The White King was at a loss.

The Crown of Myths he had once braved was of a nonsensical difficulty, designed to be unbeatable.

He had conquered three phases but was convinced: the fourth, ‘Completion,’ was a functional impossibility. The tower had built it to be a dead end.

And yet, the carrion bird standing before him had surged past ‘Completion.’

The fifth. Transcendence, or perhaps a realm even further beyond.

“Will you describe the nature of the final trial?”

“You expect information for nothing, caw?”

There are no free favors in this existence.

What motivation would the White King have for this audience?

He was famously apathetic toward the politics of the world.

‘He is consumed by curiosity regarding the Crown of Myths.’

The desire to know the secret he hadn’t conquered—the one he hadn’t even realized was there—had lured him out.

But in all honesty, the fact that he reached the third stage made the White King the more impressive figure.

I had relied on a workaround that bordered on cheating, while the White King had met those trials with nothing but his own strength.

‘A legitimate terror.’

Slaying ten thousand foes at his own power level, earning massive traits with every breakthrough. Surviving three stages was only possible because he was the White King.

“What is your price?”

“Suppose I asked for the final remaining fang, caw?”

The instant I finished the sentence.

*Vrrr!*

The frames of the Four Guardians began to vibrate with tension.

Unadulterated fury. They stared at me with murderous intent.

……Had I overstepped my bounds?

“Hmm. That presents a difficulty. But tell me, how did you discover that I only possess a single fang?”

The White King spoke as if he were genuinely contemplating the logistical issue.

He donned the mask specifically to conceal the absence of his teeth.

The one that had been ripped out by the Knight King, Wilhelm.

This was a detail unknown to everyone except the victor and the Guardians. How did I possess this knowledge?

‘I can never allow them to suspect I am Wilhelm.’

I am Randolph. I had to inhabit the role of Randolph completely.

Any deviation would shatter the illusion. If that happened, the King and his Guardians would converge to slaughter me.

“Who wouldn’t be aware, caw?”

I made it sound as though ignorance was the anomaly.

It was safer to double down on the arrogance than to provide a weak justification.

If I left it to their imaginations, they would invent their own explanations.

They would convince themselves that I was an even more lethal and mysterious force than I actually was.

“Hmm. The Four Guardians were wise to escort you to me.”

The White King kept his eyes locked onto mine.

He saw an entity the Four Guardians couldn’t fathom.

Even his own divine sight couldn’t pin me down.

From the moment he appeared, there was no panic, no loss of composure, not even a lapse in casualness.

Eyes that looked as though they had already read the script.

Even identifying his hidden wound.

Seeing through that mask was a feat impossible even for the eyes of Medusa.

‘The one who pierces through……’

The individual who reached the terminus of the mythic gauntlet.

Truly, he was worth the Guardians’ total confusion.

Had he shown fear or shock at the first meeting, I would have been let down. But this crow showed none of it.

His heart beat with rhythmic precision; there was no tremor in his gaze or his skin.

‘To see further, I would have to revert to my primal state.’

The White King debated for a moment.

Shifting into his true form and utilizing his full power would permit him to look into the deepest voids of a soul.

Then he could determine if this creature’s very existence blocked his insight, or if it was a technical trick.

But he eventually dismissed the thought.

The mention of manners suggested the bird had detected even his most subtle attempt at magic.

This crow had the instinctual talent to sense the activation of high-level skills.

Furthermore, the King was well aware that the crow had deleted the serpent’s mystery.

‘He erased the mystery. The Crown of Myths bestowed the power to unmake mysteries.’

It wasn’t an innate talent.

It was a reward earned from the Tower.

That implied the Tower itself recognized this bird as the ‘Sovereign of Mysteries.’

What were the ramifications of that?

‘His fundamental rank is higher than my own.’

Mysteries also functioned as benchmarks for a being’s class.

In simpler terms, this crow’s inherent value as a species eclipsed his—eclipsed everyone’s.

A high racial value didn’t always equate to raw combat power, but finishing the final mythic trial meant he was not to be underestimated.

The White King felt a burning sensation in his chest.

‘……Competitiveness.’

It was a sense of rivalry.

A challenge he hadn’t finished, a peak he hadn’t reached.

This being had broken through it and stood before him with absolute certainty.

His blood began to boil.

But it wasn’t just rivalry that surfaced.

‘His mystery is intimidating mine.’

The White King was perfectly synchronized with his own mystery.

It was a bond far deeper than that of other magical creatures.

It felt like his own flesh and bone.

And yet, his mystery was tense, sending ripples of alarm at the sight of the crow.

As if it were terrified by the presence of a predator that could unmake it.

This was a new experience.

‘Genuinely fascinating.’

He had no choice but to acknowledge the truth.

The crow before him was undeniably significant.

“By what name are you known?”

The White King inquired after my identity.

Recognizing the weight of that question, I squeezed my fist hidden from view and answered.

“Randolph, caw.”

“I was told you were seeking me. To what end?”

“For the same reason you find yourself here, caw.”

“My motivation for being in Kramdel?”

“Indeed, caw.”

I was positive.

The White King had zero concern for Kramdel.

He was entirely removed from the affairs of the world.

Whether the city was razed or saved meant nothing to him.

He only played the part for the sake of the Four Guardians who worshipped him.

Yet, he had come to Kramdel anyway.

The White King gave a slow nod.

“……The 33rd star. You were attempting to uncover that secret as well.”

“Precisely, caw.”

“But the command over the stars is reserved solely for the ‘Star Guardians.’ Even I lack the authority to dictate their path.”

Star Guardians.

The designation for the apex monsters protecting the celestial bodies.

Even the mighty White King seemed isolated from their hierarchy. He couldn’t even exert his will within Kramdel.

As I had observed at the city gates, they were treated as a completely different caste than standard monsters.

The White King spoke once more.

“You possess the means to identify exactly what the Star Guardians are hunting for?”

“I do, caw.”

I was the only one who could be certain.

Dramat.

He was present here.

And perhaps…… the five stars that once belonged to Wilhelm. Their protectors might be here too.

“It is obscured by a mystery of unique quality. Even under those conditions?”

“Child’s play, caw.”

Shielded by a mystery.

That was the reason even the White King had hit a dead end.

It was perfect.

“……Very well. In that case, I will appoint you as the provisional fifth Guardian. It will simplify your movements within Kramdel.”

“White King……!”

The Four Guardians stood up, visibly appalled.

The White King merely shrugged and asked a rhetorical question.

“I can’t exactly vacate my own throne, can I?”

“Even so, to grant the rank of fifth Guardian to a total stranger—we cannot accept this!”

The Earth Dragon’s voice boomed with protest.

I also chimed in, making sure to sound annoyed.

“Why should I take a position under you, caw?”

“I cannot simply allow a threat of your magnitude to roam without oversight.”

As if to clarify his position, the White King continued.

“The Guardians are not my subordinates; they are my peers. They follow me out of respect, not obligation. In truth, it is the Guardians who govern Kramdel, not I.”

Peer status.

But the part that stuck with me was his refusal to let me walk away.

An unknown variable like me couldn’t be ignored.

To avoid a direct conflict, he felt the need to give me a formal title.

Turning him down now would be interpreted as an invitation to war.

So, the only thing left for me to do was…

To cement my status on a level they couldn’t touch.

“Very well. It is for the best. If you and I were to clash, Kramdel would be erased from the world, caw.”

At my proclamation, the eyes of the Four Guardians widened in pure shock.

Demon King.

Outrageously prideful.