After some time, the fat king suddenly burst into loud amusement once again. His laughter echoed through the dark chamber while the flare lights outside trembled under the rising wind.
"Ahhh… much better now," he said while wiping saliva from the corner of his mouth. "So tell me… how did all of you dare arrive late and then lecture me about time slipping away?"
His drunken smile widened.
"To hear insects talk about time before a king… truly entertaining."
From the side of the throne, the same proud woman finally spoke again, though this time her voice carried visible restraint.
"Young King… please control yourself. The kingdom is already facing enough disasters. Do not create more unnecessary trouble tonight."
The moment those words entered his ears, the king's expression darkened.
Then...
"Hey… you bitch, shut your mouth."
His voice exploded across the chamber.
"You only started trembling after seeing what happened to them, right?"
The woman's face instantly stiffened with anger and humiliation, but she remained silent.
The king noticed it immediately and laughed mockingly.
"Good. That expression suits you better."
He leant back lazily against the throne-like seat.
"You are nothing more than a street whore pretending to bark at her owner." His eyes narrowed cruelly. "Did you already forget what happened just now?"
Suddenly—
Pa!
A sharp slapping sound rang through the chamber.
The king roared again, his voice filled with drunken tyranny.
"Remember this clearly—"
He pointed towards himself violently.
"I am your master now. Not that bastard."
The flare lights shook.
"You were planted here only to gather intelligence for him, so sit quietly on your fat ass and stop lecturing me."
The woman clenched her fists tightly, veins visible beneath her sleeves, yet she still did not retaliate.
Then suddenly...
"Hmmm…"
A strange humming sound emerged from the crystal-like communication sphere resting in her hand.
The chamber instantly grew silent.
From within the sphere came the faint sound of laughter… followed by soft moaning noises and intimate whispers, distorted as though coming from far away.
Then a mocking male voice echoed from the ball.
"Well now… little king."
A low chuckle followed.
"Who do you think you are to touch my pawns?"
The king's smile slowly faded.
The voice continued lazily.
"Do exactly as that woman says. Remember this carefully… I am the true king, not you."
The room turned colder.
"And if I wish," the voice added mockingly, "I can make you the very first offering in tonight's ritual."
A pause followed.
"So… do you want that?"
For a brief moment, the fat king remained completely silent.
Then suddenly...
"Hahahahahaha!"
He burst into loud, wholehearted laughter.
Even the walls seemed to vibrate under it.
"A funny little bitch hiding beneath his mother's clothes is threatening me now?" he mocked while clapping slowly. "What happened? Did you forget the last time you tried playing games against me?"
His grin turned vicious.
"Or do you want me to cut off the remaining part too, huh… little bastard?"
Several people in the chamber lowered their heads immediately.
The king continued mercilessly.
"Remember this clearly... you are only alive because of my mercy."
His voice deepened.
"I spared your mother, and because of that, you survived."
The communication sphere remained silent.
The king stepped closer towards it.
"Did you forget how every single one of your schemes collapsed?" he sneered. "You lost your qualification for the throne because of your own stupidity."
He pointed towards the woman holding the sphere.
"And now you hide behind women and play games from the shadows."
The fat king laughed again.
"Your tricks only work on those pale noble bitches resting around your legs. They do not work on me."
His eyes glinted with madness.
"And tell me… why did you plant this woman here?"
He leant closer towards the sphere.
"If you truly wanted the throne, you should have claimed it openly instead of acting like a rat."
The flare light flickered across his swollen face.
"Don't worry," he said with a cruel smile. "When I return…"
A dangerous silence spread.
"The first thing I will do is make you mate with a female donkey in front of the entire capital."
Several people visibly shuddered.
"Then perhaps," the king whispered mockingly, "you will finally understand humiliation."
After cursing for so long, he finally took a deep breath.
But no answer came from the sphere.
The silence stretched longer and longer.
Then the king suddenly grinned again.
"What happened?" he asked mockingly. "Cat got your tongue?"
Still no response.
The king tilted his head.
"Hey… say something. Did you suddenly become mute?"
Then—
The sphere flickered.
The light inside it distorted violently before stabilising.
A woman's face slowly appeared within the glow.
The moment the king saw it, his grin widened instantly.
"Ohhh…"
He laughed loudly.
"So the signal was weak earlier."
The woman inside the sphere looked dishevelled, her hair slightly messy, breathing unevenly.
The king's smile turned filthier.
"But now it's clear enough."
He leant closer towards the glowing sphere and laughed in open mockery.
"Look carefully, everyone…"
He pointed towards the image.
"See how I'm riding your sweetheart."
The room froze instantly.
The king chuckled darkly.
"You really shouldn't have left her here alone."
But he burst into laughter again, the sound echoing through the dim chamber like a drunken beast.
"So… another scheme to make me look weak?" the fat king mocked. "Then let me show you something in return."
Tak.
He snapped his fingers lazily.
"Watch carefully."
From the darkness behind him, three women stepped forward and bowed their heads.
"Master… your orders…"
The king grabbed one of them by the chin and forced her face upward with a cruel grin.
"You," he sneered, "come here. Hold the communication sphere properly so that the little prince can see everything clearly."
The woman trembled slightly but obeyed.
The glowing sphere floated higher into the air, illuminating the room with pale light. Shadows twisted across the stone walls while everyone inside remained silent.
For several long moments, no sound came from the other side.
Then suddenly...
"You bastard! How dare you—!"
A furious roar exploded from the sphere.
The fat king laughed loudly.
"Shut up," he said mockingly. "Making you angry is truly entertaining."
His eyes swept across the women standing nearby.
"So these are the ones personally trained under your care?" he clicked his tongue dramatically. "Disappointing. Seeing their reactions, I finally understand what kind of master you are."
The atmosphere inside the chamber turned heavier.
The king leant back carelessly and waved his hand.
"Go on then. Show him your loyalty properly."
None of the women moved immediately.
The king's smile faded slightly.
"If any of you resist," he said quietly, "I will kill every one of you."
Silence swallowed the chamber again.
Then...
"Hey."
The king turned towards the armoured woman standing nearby.
"You, Snow Commander."
His grin returned.
"Bring her here."
The woman commander slowly rose from her position.
The plump noblewoman near the throne, who was holding the communication crystal, instinctively stepped back in fear, but before she could escape, the commander seized her arm firmly.
The fat king chuckled.
"What?" he mocked. "Are you forgetting who rules this place now?"
The noblewoman's face turned pale.
"Come willingly," the king continued lazily, "or I'll have you executed before the ritual even begins."
Then he looked towards the communication sphere again.
"Brother," he laughed, "don't leave too early. The show is just beginning."
From the sphere, another furious voice exploded.
"Don't you dare, you bastard!"
The image inside the sphere distorted violently.
"You snowy bitch, release her immediately!"
But the words suddenly stopped midway.
Because even the commander had lowered her head silently and stepped besides the king.
For the first time, genuine rage erupted from the other side.
"I will remember this humiliation," the prince roared. "I swear I'll make you suffer for this!"
The fat king only laughed harder.
"Good! That expression is much better."
He leant closer towards the sphere.
"Oh? So angry already?" he mocked. "Then perhaps I should thank you properly for leaving such loyal people behind."
His grin widened unnaturally.
"I really must return the favour someday."
The prince's breathing became heavier from the other side.
Then the king suddenly sighed dramatically.
"Still…" he muttered, "why are you so stubborn?"
He tilted his head.
"How is your little sister doing these days?"
The room instantly became colder.
The prince answered after a pause filled with hatred.
"I do not consider anyone born from that bastard to be family."
"Oh?"
The fat king's eyes narrowed.
"Really."
"Yes," the prince spat. "You are nothing but a failure."
For a brief moment—
The king's smile disappeared completely.
Then slowly, very slowly, he began laughing again.
"Interesting."
His eyes gleamed dangerously.
"Then perhaps you should ask your mother what she thinks."
The communication sphere suddenly flickered violently.
Cracks began spreading across its glowing surface.
The prince's image distorted under the pressure leaking from the king's aura.
Even the air inside the chamber started trembling.
The fat king slowly looked upward towards the ceiling and stretched his arms.
"Aghhh…"
A satisfied sigh escaped his mouth.
"Why can't entertaining things like this happen every day?"
His laughter echoed again.
Then he looked towards the frightened women standing nearby.
"You all really are inexperienced," he said mockingly. "From today onward, learn properly."
His eyes turned colder.
"Did nobody ever teach you how to do simple holding in first place?"
Nobody answered.
The commander remained silent.
The noblewoman trembled quietly.
The king chuckled.
"What a disappointment."
Then finally—
A calm voice interrupted the madness.
"King."
The entire room stilled slightly.
The Silent Advisor had finally spoken.
"Please," he said quietly, "it is time."
...
Seeing the advisor finally speak, the fat king clicked his tongue twice in irritation.
"Tch. Tch."
"You again," he muttered with open annoyance. "Did all of you truly forget that I've been sitting here waiting for nearly three hours already?"
His swollen fingers tapped aggressively against the armrest of the throne.
"Do you think I cannot count time myself?" he shouted suddenly. "Hunh… useless bastards."
The flare lights around the chamber flickered violently with his rising aura.
"Every single one of you will receive punishment for this delay. Remember it carefully."
Then he waved his hand impatiently.
"Call the accountant."
At once, another man stepped out from the shadows.
He was tall and thin, dressed in expensive noble robes embroidered with silver thread, though sweat already soaked through the cloth around his neck. The moment he approached the throne, he dropped to his knees and bowed deeply.
"Hail to Your Majesty," he said hurriedly. "Please forgive them this once. We can compensate for the delay later. Time was very short for the past few days."
His voice trembled slightly.
"Most of our capable workers and guards were already sent south because of the ongoing war. And… those slaves brought from the mines are extremely weak. They could barely walk from the mines to this place."
The king's eyes narrowed instantly.
"Did I not order that they be freed from labour for one entire week before the ritual?"
The moment those words fell,
The nobleman's face turned pale.
The king immediately noticed.
Then suddenly...
"Hah!"
A dangerous laugh escaped him.
"You bastards actually ignored my orders?"
The king leant forward slowly.
"How amusing."
The nobleman lowered his head even further.
"Majesty, we..."
"Kick him out," the king interrupted coldly.
Several guards instantly moved.
But before they could grab him, the Silent Advisor finally spoke again.
"Please pardon him for now, Your Majesty."
The guards stopped immediately after grabbing him.
The advisor continued calmly.
"It is true that complications arose after the collapse inside the mines. Many workers entered… and never returned."
The king slowly turned his gaze towards the advisor.
"Ohhh…"
His expression shifted slightly.
"You mean that earthquake during the excavation of the holy skull?"
The advisor nodded once.
The king rubbed his chin lazily.
"I never had time to hear the full report." He smiled faintly. "Tell me everything now."
His grin widened.
"And if the story entertains me enough… perhaps I may grant mercy."
The nobleman visibly swallowed.
Sweat rolled down his forehead.
Seeing that reaction, the king immediately understood something had gone wrong.
"Really now…" he muttered with disappointment. "All of this over such a simple task?"
He spread his hands dramatically.
"Can none of you complete even one simple order properly?"
The atmosphere grew heavier.
Then the king sighed exaggeratedly and leant back.
"Fine. Speak."
His smile returned.
"I am a magnanimous ruler after all."
The nobleman quickly bowed again.
"A team was sent into the deepest region of the caves," he explained carefully, "to retrieve the skull relic of the Holy Lord known as Trienos."
Even speaking the name seemed to make him uncomfortable.
"But after reaching the lower tunnels… they vanished."
The room became quieter.
"We found no traces of them. No bodies. No blood. Nothing."
The king's fingers slowly stopped tapping.
"However," the nobleman continued quickly, "the holy skull itself was recovered successfully."
At least that part seemed to calm him slightly.
"Then the earthquake happened shortly afterwards."
The nobleman lowered his voice further.
"We assumed the workers fell into collapsed tunnels during the disaster. Search teams were sent immediately."
His face darkened.
"They searched day and night for several days… but nobody was found."
A cold silence spread through the chamber.
"That is why the labourers received no proper rest," he finished weakly.
The king stared at him for several long seconds.
Then suddenly—
"What about food?"
The question came sharply.
The nobleman hurriedly answered.
"We fed them daily, Your Majesty. We even reduced their workload significantly."
He hesitated briefly.
"But after the searches ended… many became lazy. Some outright refused orders."
The king's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"So," the nobleman continued nervously, "I was forced to use harsher measures in order to fulfil Your Majesty's wishes."
He pressed his forehead harder against the floor.
"Please forgive me for disobeying your order regarding the freed citizens."
The king's smile slowly vanished.
The nobleman continued trembling.
"Even after receiving freedom, many of them refused to come here willingly."
His voice weakened further.
"They became arrogant."
A dangerous silence followed.
"One of them even declared…" the nobleman swallowed hard, "…that they had already sacrificed enough for the kingdom's happiness."
The flare lights trembled again.
"He said they no longer wished to participate in the king's foolishness."
The chamber instantly froze.
Then—
"What?"
The king's voice came out frighteningly calm.
Every person present lowered their heads immediately.
"Who said that?"
The king slowly rose from his throne.
"Bring him before me."
A dreadful smile stretched across his face.
"I will personally cut off his head…"
His voice deepened.
"…and impale it upon the palace gates."
He pointed towards the kneeling nobleman.
"And you will stand besides him."
The nobleman's body trembled violently now.
The king continued.
"I doubt only one person spoke against me."
His gaze swept across the room.
"So bring every single one involved."
The pressure inside the chamber became suffocating.
But before the panic could worsen—
The Silent Advisor spoke once more.
"Your Majesty…"
The king glanced sideways irritably.
The advisor's voice remained calm as always.
"For now… perhaps mercy would be wiser."
A pause followed.
"After all… they are already going to become offerings soon anyway."
The king suddenly raised one hand impatiently.
"Stop. Stop. I understand already."
He clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"Don't ruin the fun by repeating the same excuses."
The chamber instantly fell silent again.
Then slowly, the fat king turned his gaze towards the commanders kneeling nearby.
His swollen eyes narrowed dangerously.
"So…" he muttered, "is this not the fault of the regional commanders?"
The flare light trembled faintly across the armoured figures.
"You failed to carve my words into the slaves' heads properly." His voice sharpened. "Then tell me… how exactly do all of you plan to escape punishment?"
The commanders lowered their heads deeper.
Besides them, both the advisor and the noble accountant immediately bowed again.
"We deeply apologise, Your Majesty," they said together. "They had already accepted punishment willingly."
For a brief moment...
The king stared silently.
Then suddenly...
"Hahahahaha!"
His laughter burst across the chamber once more.
"But that alone is not enough."
The atmosphere instantly became colder.
Then the king ordered calmly...
"Bow properly."
Without hesitation, the five commanders moved forward and knelt in the same line as the others, lowering their heads completely towards the floor.
The sight amused the king greatly.
"See?" he said mockingly. "How obedient everyone becomes after tasting only one sip...."
He leant forward slightly.
"Now then… explain properly what happened inside that cave."
His smile slowly thinned.
"But remember this carefully…"
A dangerous pressure spread from his body.
"No matter what excuse you give, punishment will still come."
The king swirled the wine inside his bowl lazily.
"And from what I'm hearing… the goods themselves may have been damaged."
His eyes darkened.
"So speak carefully."
Suddenly...
Thwack!
A heavy sound echoed through the chamber as the Silent Advisor slammed his forehead hard against the floor.
Even the king paused briefly.
"Your Majesty," the advisor said quietly, "please forgive us for this crime."
The king's expression became unreadable.
The advisor continued.
"Even we were unable to fully control the situation."
His voice remained calm, but the tension in the room only deepened.
"The moment we approached the holy object in order to retrieve it…"
A slight pause followed.
"…it suddenly divided itself into six separate pieces."
The king froze.
"What?"
His roar exploded through the hall like thunder.
Several servants flinched violently.
The advisor lowered his head further.
"We beg Your Majesty's forgiveness."
"Forgiveness?" the king repeated slowly.
Then suddenly he slammed the wine bowl against the throne.
Crash!
"What happened to the seal placed there by my father?!"
The entire chamber shook under his rage.
The nobleman nearby trembled uncontrollably before answering in a low voice—
But still loud enough for the king to hear clearly.
"The seal… was already broken when we arrived."
Silence.
The king slowly turned his head.
"…Meaning you arrived late."
The nobleman's face instantly turned pale.
"No, Your Majesty!" he hurriedly said. "We were travelling with the second retrieval team. We only paused after feeling the earthquake…"
His voice became weaker.
"And some soldiers reported seeing… something moving nearby."
The king's eyes widened with fury.
"You idiots!"
He stood up violently.
"How many times have I warned all of you?!"
His voice echoed endlessly through the chamber.
"When transporting that thing, absolutely nothing should witness it!"
The flare light dimmed unnaturally for a moment.
"How many times must I repeat the same order?!"
The nobleman and advisor immediately pressed their foreheads harder against the floor.
"We are terribly sorry!"
"Please forgive us!"
The king's expression slowly became colder than before.
"Can your apologies restore the damage?" he asked quietly.
No one dared answer.
The king took another long drink of alcohol.
Then he slammed the bowl down again.
"I said, 'Continue.'"
The nobleman swallowed hard before speaking again.
"When we finally reached the sealed chamber…"
His breathing became uneven.
"…we discovered several slaves already standing around the broken seal."
The room became silent once more.
"They had pulled the holy skull out themselves."
Even the commanders slightly stiffened after hearing that.
The nobleman continued trembling.
"A blood yantra had been drawn across the ground."
His voice lowered further.
"Using their own blood."
The king's fingers slowly tightened around the armrest.
"But the strangest part was…"
The nobleman hesitated.
"They were dancing around it."
A faint chill spread across the chamber.
"They laughed… sang… and circled the skull like madmen."
The flare light outside flickered violently as if reacting to the memory itself.
"We observed them from a distance at first," the nobleman said.
"But when we finally approached closer…"
His face became filled with fear again.
"…we saw that the skull had become watered."
For a second—
Complete silence.
Then suddenly—
"Shut your mouth!"
The king roared so loudly that cracks spread across the nearby wine cup.
"What nonsense are you speaking?!"
His voice rose into near madness.
"How can a skull become watered?!"
The pressure exploding from his body distorted the surrounding air.
The women besides him were thrown backwards from the force.
The king's eyes turned bloodshot.
"The commander who witnessed this should explain it himself!"
His gaze swept violently towards the kneeling commanders.
"How…"
His voice became dangerously low.
"…did it become watered?"
Then suddenly—
The king grabbed one dull-eyed commander by the throat and yanked him upward effortlessly.
The armoured man barely resisted.
The king smiled terrifyingly close to his face.
"You bastard…"
His fingers tightened slowly.
"You went there personally, didn't you?"
TBC...