Chapter 88

Chapter 88
## Chapter 88: The Ominous Throne

Despite the blatant power dynamic at play, he continued to reject it with that same defiant air.

“White King, caw. I have no patience for linguistic traps, caw. If your plan is to manipulate me like a puppet, then there is no point in my presence here, caw.”

That lead position in the vanguard?

That grand mandate from the White King?

If the foundation isn’t one of parity, it’s all worthless.

He had made his stance transparent: he refused to cooperate with anyone hiding behind verbal games.

The mask of the White King shivered almost imperceptibly.

“……Is that so? If I play with words, you intend to strike me down? Me, the White King?”

The King let out a laugh as if the suggestion was preposterous.

Yet, it was a sound saturated with lethal intent.

Who would dare to look him in the eye and threaten his life?

And to do it right to the White King’s face.

It was as though the crow was reprimanding him, demanding he drop the charade and show some real respect.

No one had ever dared such a thing, leaving the White King momentarily stunned.

The tension was climbing floor by floor.

The entire situation was racing toward a violent breaking point.

However, the more the pressure mounted…

The more relaxed I felt.

I gave a casual shrug and let my hand fall.

The water had already been knocked over, and since neither side was moving to mop it up, the only thing left was to keep pouring.

The real question was the method of the pour.

And whose hand would hold the pitcher.

That was the topic of the upcoming debate.

“Take your seat, White King, caw.”

Go on, sit on your throne.

The seat carved for you within the White King Temple.

At my command, both the Four Forces and the White King himself looked momentarily bewildered.

Telling him to take the throne—wasn’t that a gesture of submission?

The most prestigious chair in the hall.

Was he offering to serve as a subordinate?

In that instant.

《Activating ‘Ominous Light’s Jade Throne’.》

《By occupying the ‘Ominous Light’s Jade Throne’, you will be perceived as an ‘Ominous Figure’ by all nearby.》

《Applying ‘Ominousness End (Lv10)’ to remove the prefix.》

If we were to have a real conversation, we needed to sit at the same level.

The White King in his designated spot.

“And I shall take mine, caw.”

Me in mine.

Now, let the chips fall where they may.

Let’s see who refills the glass.

‘It might not have the luster of a radiant prefix, but given these circumstances, it’s a perfect fit.’

I lowered myself slowly into the seat.

The Ominous Light’s Jade Throne.

The specific prefix attached to a Light’s Jade Throne changes drastically based on the item sacrificed to it.

I gained the ‘Ominous’ tag by sacrificing a pair of Extreme Iron Swords.

Those were blades I wouldn’t need anyway once I committed to training in the Cultivator’s Mountain.

It was a stroke of luck that I had prepared them earlier.

The moment I sat, the eyes of the Four Forces began to flicker with unease.

“Ahhh……!”

Medusa had the most visceral response.

With her eyes shielded, she couldn’t see the physical world.

But that limitation only sharpened her ability to sense ‘essence.’

Coming face-to-face with a manifestation of pure foreboding, she couldn’t suppress a pained gasp.

The Great Earth Dragon, the Death King, and even Gonggi stared on in utter confusion.

The entirety of the Four Forces was reacting to the presence of the Ominous Light’s Jade Throne.

As for the White King?

Just then.

“That’s enough.”

A third party stepped in.

He moved to a position exactly centered between the White King and myself, effectively drawing a line in the sand.

It was the Death King.

Standing in the gap, he moved to act as a buffer.

Signaling for me to stand down, the Death King turned his gaze toward the White King.

“I will identify the Black King’s true motives. And White King, you must accept that the Fifth Force is not like the others. He has not received ‘benevolence’ from you like we have, has he?”

The Four Forces who served the White King were bound to him by heavy debts of gratitude.

The Fifth Force was a different story.

Since his arrival, the Fifth Force had never been a recipient of the White King’s charity.

The ‘city’ he had been promised as a reward hadn’t even been assigned yet.

Instead, he had carved out his own territory through his own strength.

The Abyss Labyrinth.

That sunken territory of the ancient empire where Sword Saint Riley had vanished!

Because of this, they stood as peers.

He was not someone who could be ordered around through sheer intimidation.

The Death King turned his attention back to me.

“And you, Fifth Force. Stop this. You are the one who agreed to lead a force, not the Star Guardian. If you make enemies of all of us right now, you won’t survive the fallout.”

His logic was sound.

There was no returning to the Star Guardians at this point.

If he tried, the Destruction Evil Giant would certainly retaliate.

Alienating Kramdel here would leave him with enemies on every horizon.

‘What is he playing at?’

Simultaneously, a crimson streak flashed in the hollow right eye socket of the Death King’s skull.

Visible only to me, that red line narrowed into a distinct shape.

‘……Was that a wink?’

Was he actually winking at me in the middle of this?

The Death King kept up his speech without missing a beat.

“I grasp your frustration, Fifth Force, but a boundary was definitely crossed. You are aware that if we both push to the brink, blood will be spilled. Is war truly what you seek? Or was it genuine ‘equality’ rather than wordplay?”

That was also a valid point.

Being summoned without warning and forced into tasks was the opposite of an equal partnership.

Furthermore, it was the Death King who had mediated.

On a personal level, I wanted to stay on good terms with the Death King.

Nonetheless.

“This is my baseline requirement for serving as a force leader, caw. I have no use for a rank that lacks parity, caw.”

I hammered the point home once more.

When he first took the mantle, several things had happened at once, preventing him from setting clear terms, but this boundary had to be established now, or he wouldn’t yield.

I threw the choice back to the White King.

Equality. That was the only demand.

So, White King, what is your verdict?

Do you consent to us standing on the same ground?

“……You truly are a piece of work, acting without a shred of fear.”

No one had ever cornered him like this without a massive army at their back.

It stemmed from a belief in his own importance, but it was more than that.

This person had always been this way.

Reckless, finding joy in challenging every obstacle in his path.

Even if it weren’t the White King—even if it were a literal god—his behavior would remain unchanged.

Where had this delusional crow even crawled out from?

If he were merely a lunatic, he would have been executed a dozen times over, but that inexplicable aura of doom made him frustratingly difficult to handle.

“I find that boldness admirable. But do not expect a second chance.”

The White King conceded a single step.

In a show of respect for that unwavering resolve, he would overlook one treasonous comment.

Mainly because he had been the one to start the friction with his own vacillating behavior.

But this was the limit.

There would be no more grace.

‘I made it out.’

……I let out a silent, heavy breath of relief.

This was sufficient.

In fact, it was a massive win.

‘That really took years off my life expectancy.’

Just making it through alive was a victory for now.

If the Death King hadn’t stepped in, it would have been a fight to the death.

Had the bluff been too thick?

If it had come to blows, the result was certain.

At best, I might have cracked one mystery before being sliced in two.

The Death King’s timing was nothing short of miraculous.

That was why I couldn’t bring myself to dislike him.

Though the winking was definitely a bit much.

“Excellent, caw. Now we can finally have a real ‘discussion,’ caw.”

“……Fifth Force.”

The Death King hissed, sounding like a parent asking why he was pushing his luck after barely escaping a beating.

Was he trying to ruin the mood again?

But everything was fine now.

Sitting on equal thrones meant they could bargain for things far beyond simple status.

“White King, caw. If I recover the ‘fang’ you lost, what price will you pay me for it, caw?”

The social dancing was over; it was time for the business they both cared about.

The missing fang.

If he returned it, what was it worth to the King?

“……Even after I warned you about second chances, you continue to say such fascinating things.”

The White King’s eyes locked onto mine again.

He seemed to be searching for the trick.

Warning me not to trip over my tongue again.

But there was no point in hiding it; it was common knowledge among the player base.

It was right there in the Golden Rule shop.

Listed as one of Wilhelm’s spoils of war.

It required an immense amount of fragments, but depending on the White King’s offer, it might be worth the purchase.

‘The unbroken Golden Rule.’

I was already in possession of the complete Golden Rule.

A flawless version, nothing like the shattered pieces others held!

—

**Cultivator’s Mountain**

After Randolph had departed from the White King Temple.

The halls were quieter than they usually were.

Like the stillness that follows a violent hurricane.

An odd vibe—chaotic yet strangely hushed.

‘How strange.’

The White King sat upon his throne, resting his chin on his hand, replaying the recent conflict in his mind.

The insane crow, Fifth Force Randolph.

Long after he had gone, the White King’s thoughts remained tangled.

Strange.

Unpredictable?

No one fit the description of ‘strange’ quite like ‘him,’ with the exception of this crow.

‘Knight King Wilhelm. He carried that same aura.’

The two were fundamentally different.

Wilhelm was a man, while the Fifth Force was a carrion crow.

Their powers and origins were worlds apart.

Yet they shared a common thread.

They both held something that bypassed his ‘intuition.’

Beings wrapped in an unidentifiable, unsettling darkness.

‘But he is different from Wilhelm too. This sensation is entirely novel.’

Even when facing Wilhelm, the White King hadn’t felt this specific spark.

No matter how deeply he delved into his thoughts, he couldn’t pin it down.

The nature of this feeling.

Only after rubbing his temples and thinking for a long while did the realization hit him.

‘……He is reading me. That is why I felt this.’

Wilhelm didn’t truly know him.

But Randolph conducted himself as if he knew everything.

The Fifth Force, that lunatic bird, saw straight through his layers.

-……How uncouth, caw.

During their initial meeting, Randolph had identified his ‘skill.’ Recognizing that he was being observed, he had brought up ‘etiquette’ and turned cold.

Up until that point, the King had just thought of him as ‘an entertaining fellow.’

Randolph’s ability to unravel mysteries was merely a minor annoyance.

But today’s performance had completely dismantled that first impression.

It wasn’t just about technical skills.

He had seen through his entire existence.

Even the face hidden behind the porcelain mask.

And the deeper secrets—he had surely pierced those as well.

The threat of death if he tried any more tricks.

He had allowed that bluff to pass just once.

‘Was I……on edge?’

Perhaps it hadn’t been a bluff at all.

Baal’s presence and the Light’s Jade Throne.

Those were startling enough, but what if they were merely the surface?

And so, he had instinctively tensed up.

Faced with the guy’s bottomless potential.

A type of pressure he had never experienced before.

“Hahaha!”

Upon discovering the root of this oddity, the White King erupted into manic laughter.

‘How delightful.’

How long had it been since he felt this kind of spark with someone?

Even Wilhelm had ultimately fallen within the scope of his ‘intuition.’

That man’s overwhelming, alien strength was still a vivid memory, but in the end, Wilhelm hadn’t killed him.

Randolph, however, existed outside of ‘intuition.’

Foreboding yet not quite, powerful yet appearing weak.

Keeping him close was a risk, but perhaps Randolph was the only being capable of ending his life?

‘The only one who can kill me.’

That was the reason he had reacted so viscerally to the mention of ‘killing.’

Unforeseeable.

The mad crow that could fly in any direction—

His core instincts had recognized that this was the only creature capable of his demise.

It was a refreshing sensation.

To be seen through, to bypass intuition, to have death placed directly on the table.

“White King……?”

His sudden outburst of laughter confused the Great Earth Dragon, who still lingered in the temple.

Wiping away the grin, the White King addressed the First Force.

“Great Earth Dragon. What is your assessment of the Fifth Force?”

“He is the sort to trigger a catastrophe one day. We should dispose of him before that happens.”

“I am of the same mind. Preparations must be made.”

The Great Earth Dragon didn’t hide his intense hatred for the Fifth Force.

An insane crow flying wild without knowing his station.

A creature that wouldn’t even be worth swallowing, arrogant and blind.

The White King gave a nod to the Dragon, who made no effort to mask his spite.

“I will establish a warp gate to the Labyrinth City and officially claim it under the White King’s banner. And I will accept the Fifth Force’s proposal.”

“W-White King? What are you saying?”

The Great Earth Dragon was stunned.

Was this the ‘preparation’ he had mentioned?

He couldn’t fathom the logic.

But the White King remained perfectly calm.

“If left alone, he will become an enemy soon enough. It is better to grant him ‘favor’ now, as the Death King suggested.”

“If he becomes an enemy, I will slaughter him myself.”

“Don’t bother. I have no wish to lose you.”

“……Are you saying I would be the one to fall?”

“Yes.”

At the White King’s blunt confirmation, the Great Earth Dragon’s face twisted into a deep scowl.

The strongest of the Earth Dragons, the one feared by all.