Chapter 442

Chapter 442

"Dad..."

The youngest son of Kellibey, the Dwarf King Kellison, walked out of the banquet hall, his face flushed with drunkenness.

His bushy beard and bulging eyes resembled his father's, but there was a crucial difference.

Swish, swish.

His hair was lush.

Golden curly hair cascaded down, and Kellison sighed as he swept it back. In his hand, a broken liquor bottle gleamed threateningly.

"You called me a traitor... But do you know what 'betrayal of duty' really means, huh?"

"Huh?"

Kellibey, hiding behind Verdandi, stuttered.

"Isn't that what you're doing right now?"

"'Violating the duties that should be rightfully fulfilled.' That's what betrayal means."

Kellison growled menacingly.

"You ran away from the throne, abandoning your family, and now, decades later, you return without a proper explanation and drag me here... As a prince and a father, you didn't fulfill your duties."

Kellison menacingly waved the broken bottle in his hand.

"Perhaps the real betrayal was committed by you, Dad?"

"Okay, okay, let's put that down and talk, alright?"

"All I ever wanted was a modest life fitting for a dwarf. To buy a small cave, dig until I can dig no more..."

Kellison, grinding his teeth, approached Kellibey.

"But my dream flew away because I was forced into this unwanted throne... You ruined my dream, Dad!"

"I'm fulfilling it for you! I'm the one digging the tunnels now!"

"It should be the father realizing the son's dreams! Why is it the other way around?"

Kellison grabbed his flowing hair.

"I've had to play the king since I was thirteen! Forced into marriage! I already have four kids! I'm even losing hair due to the stress of kingship! Can't you see my receding hairline?!"

"Is that something you say in front of me?!"

Kellibey spat out loudly, thrusting his gleaming bald head forward.

"And besides, did I ever give you the throne?! Everyone just played hot potato with it, and you, being the youngest and weakest, were forced into it! Dont just blame me, go complain to the other relatives and your older siblings!"

"I already did! All the other relatives got a good punch from me!"

"...Oh, did they...?"

"Now you're the only one left, Dad! So, just one punch! Let me punch you just once!"

"How can you even think of hitting your own father... Ah, this shitty... Hey! Lock him up!"

The dwarf father and son continued shouting and running around the banquet hall.

Watching this disgraceful scene, Elf Queen Skuld clicked her tongue.

"Just great, such lowly brawling between relatives... The dwarves never change, even after all this time."

"Who is this?"

Only then did Kellison notice Skuld and, fixing his crown, grinned.

"Still playing queen while trapped in your autonomous district, our little queen?"

"Who are you calling little! You damn shorty!"

Skuld's forehead instantly bulged with veins.

"Listen, Dwarf King! I've lived many times longer than you. Watch your words, got it?!"

Then Kellison clicked his tongue.

"Listen here. I'm forty-six years old."

"So?"

"Dwarves live up to five hundred years at most. So, in human terms, considering humans live up to a hundred, I'm about ten years old."

"And your point?"

"How old do elves live?"

"If they don't die in accidents, they live forever... but usually, elves don't achieve eternal life and die. The oldest elf recorded in the documents lived for about 10,000 years, right?"

"So, based on 10,000 years. Your age is about 300 years now, right?

"Uh..."

"Then, in human years, you're about three years old?"

"...What?"

"I'm like ten years old in human terms, and you're three. So, aren't you even younger than me?"

"What kind of nonsense is that...!"

Skuld's face went blank in front of this miraculous logic.

The spectators could only sweat at the sight of such childish quarreling between leaders of their races.

That's when it happened.

"The King of the Merfolk, King Poseidon XIII, is entering!" (TL Note: Changed from Mermaid to Merfolk)

King Poseidon XIII of the Merfolk entered the banquet hall.

His body was in a movable bathtub.

He had returned to Crossroad just a few weeks after leaving, obviously to attend a formal meeting in Crossroad.

Unlike his previous appearance (?), the merfolk king, adorned in proper royal attire, looked splendid.

Without any extravagant jewelry or the common crowns seen here, the young man's relaxed smile seemed to emit an aura not inferior to, perhaps even greater than, that of the other kings.

Many in the banquet hall swallowed nervously at Ash's appearance.

Skuld fanned herself and covered her nose, lost in thought.

'He's changed again since last time.'

After the fight with the goblins, Ash had seemed extremely vulnerable.

But now, he appeared completely stable. If his previous self was like a branch swaying in the wind, now he seemed like a great tree deeply rooted in the earth.

'Back then, he had the charm of a boy about to crumble, but now...'

...he seemed to possess a charisma that wouldnt be out of place in the highest seat of power.

Was it an innate trait of his royal lineage?

Or maybe...

"Welcome everyone. I am Ash 'Born Hater' Everblack, the lord of Crossroad who invited you here. Thank you for coming such a long way."

Ash, bowing gracefully, smiled softly.

"It will take a few more days for all the invited guests to arrive, so the formal meeting will wait until then. I hope you can stay relaxed until that time."

Everyone had anticipated this and had cleared their schedules accordingly.

It would be more of a loss to wrap up a gathering of such leaders in just a day or two.

"Relaxed, huh..."

However, Dwarf King Kellison seemed to have different thoughts.

"This isn't the time for relaxation, Prince of Everblack."

Ash slightly bowed his head towards Kellison, who stepped forward.

"Please speak, Dwarf King Kellison."

"The world is collapsing. Not metaphorically, but literally."

Thud-

Setting down the liquor glass he had been holding since his arrival, Kellison continued.

"After the Imperial Throne War, the empire's capital locked its gates, and global logistics and industry halted. Amidst this, all kinds of ominous rumors are spreading worldwide."

"What rumors?"

"Harbingers of doom."

Kellison shrugged.

"End-of-the-world scenarios are a favorite topic among doom-mongers. I'm just a young dwarf of forty-six, but almost every five years, there's been a frenzy about world-ending theories."

There were always sinister rumors.

Plagues, famines, wars people trembled in fear. But the world didn't end.

Not until now.

"But this time it's different. You all must have felt the same ominous feeling, thats why you rushed here."

In this world built on magic, intuition is sometimes more accurate than any other judgment.

And everyone was feeling it.

Something immense and ominous was about to happen.

The sovereigns gathered here all sensed it.

That's why, instead of the locked-in second prince in the imperial capital, they answered the call of the third prince from this remote southern land.

"Why have you gathered us here? If theres an agenda to discuss, let's be frank and get to it."

To Kellisons question, Ash, with a slight smile,

Did not hesitate to state clearly.

"The reason I've gathered you here is simple... I ask you to lend me your lives."

Kellison frowned.

"For the war against Fernandez? Are you aiming for the throne?"

"And beyond that."

Ash was unequivocal.

"The final showdown with the ruler of the monsters - the Demon King."

"So... its not just a fight for the world's center, but also to lend a hand in battling monsters in this remote southern land?"

"Thats correct."

Kellison clicked his tongue.

"Why should we do that?"

"If you don't, we'll all die anyway."

Ash was smiling.

But the young man's eyes, although tracing a gentle curve, were chillingly cold.

"Let me be clear. This is not a suggestion."

Ash looked not only at Kellison but also at all the other kings gathered here.

"It's a threat, everyone."

"...!"

"Want to save your lives and those you rule? Then cooperate with me."

Immediately after, Ash shrugged nonchalantly with a playful smile.

"Or we can all die together."