Chapter 88

Despite the clear hierarchical relationship, he acts as if it doesn’t exist.

"White King, caw. I detest wordplay, caw. If you try to make me move as you please, I have no reason to be here, caw."

Such a position of power.

Such a mandate from the White King.

If it’s not equal, I don’t need any of it.

I clearly declared that I cannot work with someone who only plays word games.

The White King’s mask trembled.

"…So, if I play word games, you’ll kill me? The White King?"

He laughed as if it were absurd.

But it was a laugh filled with murderous intent.

Who would openly declare that they will kill someone?

Especially in front of the White King.

It was as if he was lecturing, telling him to stop playing word games and treat him properly.

The White King had never encountered anyone like this before.

It was truly a baffling situation.

The situation was escalating to an extreme.

However, the more it did,

the more relaxed I became.

I shrugged and lowered my hand.

The water was already spilled, and neither of us intended to sweep it under the rug, so all that was left was to pour more water.

How to pour it again.

Who would pour it.

That was the issue to be decided now.

"Sit on the throne, White King, caw."

Sit on the throne.

On the seat prepared for you in the White King’s hall.

The Four Seasons and the White King showed a puzzled expression when they heard my words.

Wasn’t asking him to sit on the throne an acknowledgment of his kingship?

The highest seat prepared here.

Was it a suggestion that he would become a vassal?

At that moment.

《Using the ‘Throne of Ominous Light’.》

《When sitting on the ‘Throne of Ominous Light’, everything around is projected as an ‘ominous form’.》

《Using ‘The End of Ominousness (Lv10)’ will eliminate the prefix.》

To have a proper conversation, we needed to sit at the same table.

The White King at his seat.

"I will sit in my seat, caw."

I will sit in mine.

Now, let’s decide.

Who will pour the water into the cup again.

‘Not as splendid as a prefix, but in this situation, it’s not bad.’

I slowly sat down.

The Throne of Ominous Light.

The prefix of the Throne of Light varies greatly depending on the offering.

The ‘ominous’ prefix was obtained by offering two ‘extreme iron swords’.

Weapons that would become unnecessary once I entered the Mountain of Practitioners and improved my skills.

It was fortunate that I had already set it up.

When I sat down, the Four Seasons’ eyes began to tremble.

“Aah…!”

Medusa’s reaction was particularly dramatic.

Medusa, who had all her eyes covered, couldn’t see the front.

But this allowed her to grasp the ‘essence’ more precisely.

Confronted with the form of pure ominousness, she couldn’t help but let out a groan.

The Great Earth Dragon, the Four Kings, and the Palace Guard were also looking on, clearly flustered.

All the Four Seasons reacted to the Throne of Ominous Light.

Then, what about the White King?

At that moment.

“Stop it.”

Someone intervened.

Dividing the space exactly between the White King and me.

The one who appeared was the Four Kings.

He stood between the White King and me, mediating.

The Four Kings, who told me to stop, then looked at the White King.

“I will discern the intentions of the Black King. Also, White King, you must recognize that the Five Seasons is different from the other Seasons. Unlike us, he has not received any ‘favor’ from you, has he?”

The Seasons who follow the White King have received great favors from him.

But the Five Seasons is different.

The Five Seasons has never received any favor from the White King since his first appearance.

Even the ‘city’ offered as a gift has not been designated yet.

Instead, he has claimed his own city.

The Abyss Labyrinth.

The land of the former empire, where the Sword City of Ralilie sank!

Therefore, it is equal.

He cannot be forced.

The Four Kings looked at me again.

“And Five Seasons, you should stop too. Accepting the position of a Season, not a Guardian, was ultimately your decision. If you turn all of us into enemies now, you will be in trouble too.”

That’s true.

There’s no way to return to the Guardians now.

If I did, the Giant of Annihilation would not stand idly by.

If I make Kramdel an enemy here, the whole world will be against me.

‘What is he doing?’

At the same time, a red line appeared in the Four Kings’ hollow right eye socket.

The red line, visible only to me, formed a ^ symbol.

‘…Winking?’

Could he be winking at me now?

The Four Kings continued to speak in that state.

“I understand the Five Seasons’ feelings, but the remarks were clearly over the line. You know that if we push each other to the extreme, we will inevitably clash. Do you really want war? Didn’t you want a genuine ‘equality’ rather than wordplay?”

That was also not a wrong statement.

Calling and forcing someone to do things is far from an equal relationship.

Moreover, the one who intervened was the Four Kings.

Personally, I wanted to maintain a good relationship with the Four Kings.

However.

“This is the minimum condition for me to be a Season, caw. I don’t need a position that is not equal, caw.”

I emphasized it again.

When I first became a Season, various situations overlapped, and I couldn’t properly address it, but I was determined not to back down unless this condition was clearly established.

Thus, I passed the ball to the White King.

Equality. I don’t ask for anything more.

So, White King, what do you think?

Do you agree to place me on the same level as you?

“…You are truly a man who has lost all fear.”

This was the first time he had encountered someone who charged forward without any backup.

It was probably because he had confidence in his own status, but that wasn’t all.

This guy was originally like this.

Fearless and always challenging anything that stood in his way.

Whether it was the White King or a god, he would act the same.

Where did such a crazy crow come from?

If he was just crazy, I would have killed him a hundred times over, but his ominousness, which was impossible to understand, made him particularly difficult to deal with.

“I admire your boldness. But there will be no second time.”

So the White King took a step back.

Emulating his consistent boldness, he was willing to forgive the over-the-line remarks once.

Since the mistake was clearly on his side, with his words contradicting his actions.

But there will be no second time.

This is the last chance.

‘I’m alive.’

I secretly let out a deep sigh of relief.

This was not bad.

No, it was very good.

‘He really took a ten-year hit.’

Just being alive was a success.

If the Four Kings hadn’t intervened, it would have been the end.

The bluff was a bit too much.

And if it had ended, the result would have been obvious.

At best, I would have destroyed one mystery and my body would have been split in two.

It was fortunate that the Four Kings intervened.

That’s why I can’t dislike the Four Kings.

Although the wink was a bit much.

“Fine, caw. Now we are ready to ‘talk’ to each other, caw.”

“…Five Seasons.”

The Four Kings pressed, as if scolding me for ruining the reconciliation.

Was he hoping the atmosphere would turn bad again?

But now, it’s fine.

Being on equal footing means we can also make deals beyond equality.

“White King, caw. If I find your lost ‘canine tooth’, what will you give me, caw?”

The formalities are done, now let’s talk about what we actually need.

The lost canine tooth.

What will you give me if I find it for you?

“…Even though I said there will be no second time, you’re making an interesting proposal.”

The White King’s two eyes turned back to me.

As if asking what kind of provocation this was.

Telling me not to make another mistake.

However, it was a fact known to all players.

It was openly displayed in the Golden Rule Shop.

One of Wilhelm’s spoils.

Of course, it required a thousand-hour fragment, but depending on the reward offered by the White King, it might be worth considering.

‘A complete Golden Rule.’

I had a complete Golden Rule.

A Golden Rule that was fundamentally different from the broken fragments!

The Mountain of Practitioners

After Randolph left the White King’s hall.

The White King’s hall was quieter than usual.

Like the world after a fierce storm.

A strange, calm atmosphere flowed, though it was a mess.

‘Strange.’

The White King, sitting on the throne, rested his chin and recalled the recent storm.

The crazy crow, the Five Seasons Randolph.

After he left, the White King’s mind was in turmoil.

Strange.

It was hard to predict what he would do next.

This was the first time ‘he’ had encountered someone so fittingly described as strange.

‘The Knight King Wilhelm. He was like that too.’

They were clearly different.

Wilhelm was human, and the Five Seasons was a corpse crow.

Their abilities and characteristics were entirely different.

However, they shared a common trait.

They possessed something that surpassed his ‘premonition’.

They were beings with an ominousness that couldn’t be easily defined and whose true nature was unknown.

‘But he is different from him. This feeling is new.’

The White King felt an emotion he had never experienced while dealing with Wilhelm.

No matter how much he pondered, he couldn’t understand it.

The nature of this emotion.

After a long time of tapping his temples, he finally understood.

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

Wilhelm didn’t know him.

But Randolph acted as if he knew him.

The Five Seasons, that crazy crow, saw through him.

-…Impolite, caw.

At their first meeting, Randolph ‘read’ a ‘skill’. Realizing he was using an observation-type skill, he talked about ‘manners’ with a serious face.

At that point, he thought Randolph was just ‘interesting’.

Randolph’s ability to destroy mysteries was only a slight cause for concern.

However, what Randolph showed today shattered his first impression.

It wasn’t just the skill.

He saw through everything.

Even the appearance inside the mask.

He must have seen through even deeper aspects.

The threat to kill him if he played tricks.

He said he would let it slide once.

‘Did I… feel tense?’

Perhaps it wasn’t just a bluff.

Baal’s aura and the Throne of Light.

Just those two were enough to be surprising, but if they were just the tip of the iceberg?

So he felt tense instinctively.

At the endless possibilities of this guy.

A new kind of tension.

“Hahaha!”

Realizing the nature of this strangeness, the White King burst into laughter.

‘Interesting.’

How long had it been since he felt such tension towards someone?

Even Wilhelm was ultimately within the scope of his ‘premonition’.

His overwhelmingly powerful and bizarre force was thrilling to think about, but Wilhelm couldn’t kill him.

However, Randolph was outside the scope of his ‘premonition’.

Not ominously ominous, not strong but not looking strong.

So, even though he was by his side, perhaps Randolph was the only one who could kill him?

‘The only one who can kill me.’

This was the reason he reacted so strongly to the threat of being killed.

Unpredictable.

The crazy crow, who could do anything,

instinctively realized he was the only one who could kill him.

It was a feeling he had never experienced before.

Seeing through him, surpassing the realm of premonition, and directly hinting at death.

“White King…?”

The Great Earth Dragon, who was left in the White King’s hall, was puzzled by the sudden laughter.

The White King, wiping away his smile, asked the Great Earth Dragon.

“Great Earth Dragon. What do you think of the Five Seasons?”

“He will cause a big problem someday. We need to take action before that happens.”

“I agree. We need to take action.”

The Great Earth Dragon had a strong animosity towards the Five Seasons.

A crazy crow who didn’t know his place and was causing trouble.

A nuisance that wouldn’t be satisfied even if swallowed whole.

The White King nodded at the Great Earth Dragon, who openly showed his feelings.

“I will connect a warp to the Labyrinth City and officially declare it in the name of the White King. And I will accept the Five Seasons’ proposal.”

“B, White King? What do you mean?”

The Great Earth Dragon was shocked.

Was this the kind of action he meant by taking action?

It was a reaction that showed he couldn’t understand.

But the White King was resolute.

“If we leave him alone, he will soon become an enemy. We need to give him a ‘favor’ beforehand. As the Four Kings said.”

“I will kill him myself if he becomes an enemy.”

“Be careful. I don’t want to lose you.”

“…Are you saying I will lose?”

“Yes.”

The White King’s confident words made the Great Earth Dragon frown.

The strongest being among the Earth Dragons, known as the most powerful.