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In the Kingdom of Axelor, the minister had brought a chair with him and was now sitting outside the King's chambers while waiting for news from the Hidden Kill Sect.
Both of them knew that what would happen underground during that auspicious hour would dictate their next step towards conquering the sect.
"Contact him again. Ask him what he's doing."
Hearing this from the king, the minister sighed with exasperation but obeyed anyway.
Sending a message, he waited for a little while and then said, "My King, there are still 10 minutes left for the auspicious hour to end. He has his eyes on the tower, and he said that he would let us know as soon as he sees something to report."
There was no response from the king, and both of them resumed waiting.
But, it looked like the king had been counting down the seconds, as exactly after 10 minutes had passed, he said, "Ask again."
If they weren't separated by a wall made of metal, the minister would never have dared to put on the expression of irritation that he had right now.
Ever since that fateful decision of decreasing his power, the king had undergone psychological changes which made the minister think more and more that he was slowly going crazy.
It didn't help that the process of getting back his power involved stressing his mind so much that it had broken many people before.
Of course, he was just a lowly minister, so he just shut up and went about his work.
Asking again, he got the response, but he had to doublecheck whether he had heard right.
Meanwhile, a slow banging sound could be heard from inside the room, as if the king was taking out his frustration on something inside again.
Was there anything left in the room for the king to bang against? Wondered the minister, before opening his mouth and saying, "My King, it's inconclusive. But it looks like they might have failed. The sect leader was seen being carried to the medical section of the sect by his son. We already know that the Big Four were made to leave beforehand, so everything is in the hands of that Master Novrain. There is only one strange thing, though. He is still in the tower. Our spy reports that he has not exited. He will keep us updated."
The king had nothing to say about this, but the banging increased in intensity.
This continued, until a message around 20 minutes later made him stop completely.
"My Lord... They have called for a sect meeting. It will happen tomorrow morning, and the gossip is that there is something major to announce. Master Novrain has still not exited from the tower. The sect leader appears to be unconscious in the medical bay. I don't know what to make of this."
"Humph. He might have overestimated himself and lost his life in the process. All ancient formations are dangerous. Why else would they let him stay in the tower which is only meant for the sect leader? The sect meeting must have been called so that they can break the news that they might have to surrender to us. I can feel that victory is near. Minister, go and get me some healing liquid. I think I'm going to succeed tonight."
Hearing this, the minister couldn't help but get up in surprise.
Succeed? Meaning... The king would be getting back his power and going back to ruling the land, as was his duty?
At this moment, the minister didn't know what to feel. On one side, as a loyal subject, he was happy that the king was going to recover.
On the other, he knew the king's personality. Before, purges were a routine occurrence, happening whenever the King got into a bad mood. He governed using fear, and the daily death toll itself was so high that if it weren't for the fanatic admiration the people felt for the king and the iron grip of the Army over the Kingdom, there would definitely have been a mutiny by now.
However, both the fear and the admiration were at such a level that this was a thought that had no possibility of appearing in the minds of the citizens.
The Minister realized that since the moment he had released the mosquitoes and caused the deaths of hundreds of people, he had changed. Perhaps... it had been too much.
He had also been someone who loved his Kingdom and wanted to serve it, and the whole reason he had entered the government was to do the same.
However, no matter where he looked, he only saw things which displeased him and made him understand how foolish and blind he had been, just like everyone else.
Alas, he was bound by oaths, so he could do nothing.
The oaths sworn by the government officials of Axelor were some of the strongest and most binding in the entire Central Continent.
Even the slightest action which did not have the approval of the king would cause immediate death.
The only thing he was allowed to do was harbor these thoughts within his mind, while trying to do everything he could to make sure that as fewer innocent lives were lost as possible.
The next day, the minister hesitantly knocked on the king's door, and when it opened, he gawked at the destruction.
There was not an inch in the room which didn't have fist marks on it, and the stench of blood was unbelievable.
There was blood everywhere - dried blood, flowing blood, blood that looked like it had been spit out.
Among it all, the king was sitting on the throne with his head tilted, resting on one hand.
The throne room of the kingdom of Axelor was said to be the largest in the Central Continent, according to the scholars who made it their life's work to examine all the royal palaces they could.
After all, everyone liked comparisons, so their information was valuable.
Just like the Palace which was surrounded by humongous bone shards, even the throne had a circle of sharp bones that looked scary.
All in all, they lent a ferocious air to the throne, making it look like the gaping maw of a prehistoric beast that would leap forward and swallow anyone if they displeased the king.
Bowing on both knees, the minister said, "Congratulations on regaining your power of a Warrior, My King! I would, however, request you to rest and stabilize your mageroot. I have spoken to the healers, and they say that this is a very crucial time where even the slightest change in temperament will result in you dropping back to being a Fighter and having to repeat the whole process of blood rebirth once again. It is this humble minister's opinion that -"
"Shut up. They can't possibly do anything. Their sect leader fell unconscious! There must definitely have been some really bad news. Hell, even if they do manage to take control of the formation, unless there are unaccounted trinkets with enough power to change things, we can counter their legendary Assassination Godbow using the help of the Big Four. I've already been promised this. The sect leader was just too naïve to think that his sect can escape my grasp just by recovering their treasures. How could they have forgotten that even others have treasures which can counter their own? Granted, I hope that they failed, because it would mean that I can take full credit for the conquering of the sect. Anyway, get this cleaned up. Is our spy on standby?"
Hearing this, the minister nodded.
This plan had been in motion for a long time, so it was only to be expected that they had considered everything and put countermeasures in place so that they could handle whatever the Hidden Kill Sect threw at them.
"Yes, sir. The sect meeting will start soon. He will be sending us updates whenever he can."
In response, the king nodded and fell silent.
Cleaning crews entered the throne room and started to clean up the blood, all while the king and the minister waited.
The minister was still on his knees, as he hadn't been told to relax.
Even though he was a strong fighter, he had already lost feeling in his legs, but he stayed there without saying anything.
This was something the king liked to do-it seemed as if asserting his dominance over his subjects gave him some kind of twisted happiness.
Already used to things like these and telling himself that there would be many more soon, the minister clutched the communication trinket in his hand and just hoped that there would be good news.
"The top assassins are explaining about some prophecy of theirs. They are not saying what is needed to fulfill the prophecy, but they just stated that the one who does so will save the sect from calamity."
Chuckling, the king said, "Must be some sort of last-ditch attempt to hope for salvation. What a bunch of foolish lizards."
Usually, when the king said something like this, everyone listening to him was obligated to laugh in response.
However, the minister just knelt there in silence, which irritated the king.
He was about to begin his first punishment on his subordinates, but he stopped when he saw that the minister's eyes were opened wide, as if he was seeing his worst fears come true.
"What is it?" He asked, feeling a slight dread in his heart.
The minister had to take a few moments to gather himself, but even after he did, he spoke in a stuttering tone, as if he couldn't believe what he, himself was saying.
"My Lord... That Master Novrain... has fulfilled the prophecy and taken the seat of sect leader. They say that they believe that he will lead them out of their difficulties. Also... They are cursing us for being responsible for the assassinations in Eldinor and the Black Raven Kingdom."
Hearing this, the king froze for a few seconds before terror struck his heart on realizing the ramifications of this accusation.
As he felt all of his newly returned strength leaving his body, he collapsed on the throne.
For some reason, the last thing he saw was the smug face of the King of Lanthanor, which made him froth at his mouth before he passed out.
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