Chapter 100

Chapter 100

Crown had been dreaming.

The last player.

The final rebel and challenger.

Prince Ash Born Hater Everblack, his eyes glowing in the darkness, had been screaming at him.

- The Pied Piper...!

"Ugh!"

Swallowing hard, Crown snapped his eyes open.

The safe zone between the third and fourth sectors of the Lake Kingdom Dungeon - the base camp - was shrouded in complete darkness.

Only the permanent magic stone embedded in the corner gave off a faint light.

Crown was sitting under that magic stone, leaning against the wall.

It seems I dozed off.

He couldnt remember the last time he had a good nights sleep.

Crown tried to wipe his weary face with his hand.

But soon he realized his face was covered with a ridiculous mask.

"..."

Crown slowly looked down at his hands, and then his body.

A black hooded hat, a minstrel costume.

And a laughing mask.

"Ha."

He couldnt even remember how long it had been since he put on these ridiculous clothes and started playing the fool.

Suddenly, he recalled the scene where Prince Ash had screamed at him.

The Pied Piper, he said?

The Pied Piper.

There was such a tale in the Lake Kingdom, too.

A village was infested with rats, and the villagers hired a minstrel to get rid of them.

The minstrel played his pipe and controlled the rats, drowning all of them in the lake.

But the villagers, stingy and regretful, did not pay the minstrel as promised.

Angry, the minstrel played his pipe again and controlled the villages children, drowning all of them in the lake as well.

Thats too much, really.

Crown bitterly clicked his tongue.

Thats way too accurate...

Then.

"Crown."

A metallic voice reached him.

Turning around, Crown saw one of the Nightcrawler squad members standing next to him.

"Whats the matter?"

"The commanders under the Demon King are being summoned. It seems theres a war council today."

War council.

Crowns lips twisted behind his mask.

The Nightcrawler squad member asked slowly.

"Will you attend?"

"...I have to."

Crown slowly got up, his body creaking as if he were a wooden puppet.

"After all, I am the representative of this Lake Kingdom."

"..."

"Even if this kingdom has fallen to be a colony of demons."

Crown staggered out of the base camp and started walking towards the center of the Lake Kingdom.

The Nightcrawler squad member muttered in a low voice.

"Be careful."

"Careful..."

Crown shook his head weakly.

"I wish something would happen where, if Im not careful, I would just die..."

***

The very center of the Lake Kingdom.

In this place, shrouded in a fog as thick as smoke, a colossal tower loomed ominously.

Kings Castle.

Once the most bustling and beautiful place in the Lake Kingdom, it was now smothered in dripping, inky darkness.

Crown strolled nonchalantly into the palace engulfed in this darkness.

"Hes just a jester."

"Shameless fool."

The palace gatekeepers, demons, sneered at his sight. However, Crown walked on, ignoring them and crossing through their midst.

Walking a distance along the hallway, a vast hall unfolded before him.

A space where the subjects revered the king.

There were three thrones on the stage, but the two thrones on either side were grotesquely destroyed and empty.

Only on the throne in the middle sat a figure, blurry as a shadow.

"..."

Crown kept his mouth shut in silence.

"Anyway, good. I like it. Most of all, it seems like it will be fun."

The king nodded at Celendion.

"Celendion, I grant you permission to march. Begin your invasion four weeks from now, in earth time."

"I accept Your Majestys command."

Celendion, who had risen from his seat, deeply bowed towards the king.

"Good, this matter is settled. Next, we have the issue of Nightmare supply throughout the kingdom-"

Just as the king was about to discuss the next agenda item.

Boom!

The door of the Reality Chamber burst open, and a gatekeeper demon rushed in, panting heavily.

"Your Majesty, there is a problem!"

"What is it?"

"The Nameless... has invaded...!"

The table began to buzz. Crowns eyes widened.

The king, sighing faintly, inquired.

"A message?"

"A message indeed."

"Figures, its always been that way."

"So, perhaps it would be best to conclude the meeting here and close the palace gates for the day..."

The words of the Water Gate Demon were cut off.

Thunk!

The upper body of the Water Gate Demon shattered into pieces along with a flash of light.

A sword hurled from a distance lodged into the back of the Water Gate Demon, simultaneously setting off an explosion of light.

Thud. Thud.

An unhurried silhouette strode down the corridor and slowly retrieved the sword from the body of the Water Gate Demon.

"You!"

"This blasphemer, even in our court!"

The outraged commanders all shot up from their seats.

"Its a good night, monster lords."

The figure who sauntered into the demons lair was a woman in tattered robes. Her bleached white hair dragged along the floor, and the black sword in her hand was so worn it looked more like a lump of iron.

Facing such an adversary, the king voiced his dismay.

"So, you continue this pointless fight, tireless and futile, Nameless."

"Sure, since cleaning up your incessant dust is my job."

The dungeon merchant who roamed the grounds of the Lake Kingdom.

The NPC who first guided Ash and his companions - Nameless gripped her sword.

"Though it may seem sudden, Im here to execute you."

The king shook his head disapprovingly.

"How much time has passed since you started swinging that sword? A hundred years? Five hundred? Or is it several millennia?"

"I dont know. Ive forgotten all about it."

"No matter how hard you try, your kingdom will never be saved. Youll just wander this hell forever."

"If thats the case, I will fight forever."

Nameless old sword began to slowly emit light.

"If thats my duty, so be it."

The commanders blocking Nameless path drew their weapons.

Both sides entered a state of tension as if a collision were imminent.

Thud. Thud.

And then.

Crown walked out of this tense reality as if nothing were amiss.

"..."

"..."

Crown and Nameless brushed shoulders. But the two didnt even glance at each other.

"Hahahaha!"

Watching this spectacle, the king roared with laughter.

"A surrendered one and a resister, huh? Haha! I love them all! They make excellent nightmare material!"

Listening to the demon kings laughter, Crown murmured quietly as he left the palace.

"Resistance is futile. The nightmare never ends."

Holding her sword in front of her, Nameless dismissed him nonchalantly.

"Even so, someone has to keep the torch lit."

Nameless thought of the countless people who had perished in the effort to illuminate the darkness of this kingdom.

And she thought of the faces of Ashs group, who were still fighting.

"Because someone following that torch... can light a new one."

With a whoosh!

Charging headlong into the monsters, Nameless thrust her sword.

The battle that had unfolded countless times in the hell beneath the Lake Kingdom was being repeated once again.