"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! Don’t 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.
His body was adorned with pearls, shells, and jewels, and the bathtub he was in was also decorated with various gems. A crown woven from pearls adorned his aqua-colored hair.
Skuld was taken aback by his arrival.
"King Poseidon XIII...?! I thought all the merfolk had gone to a different continent?"
"How easily can one abandon their homeland... That's what he says."
Serenade translated for the king from the side using sign language.
Then Kellison, stroking his beard, asked.
"King Poseidon XIII...? So, you're thirteen years old?"
"...?"
"Nice to meet you. I'm Dwarf King Kellison, forty-six years old. Since you're thirteen, I guess I'm a bit older, right?"
At that moment, King Poseidon, who had been communicating through sign language, opened his mouth.
"Talking nonsense. These kids trying to match up with me... Hey, do you know how old I am?"
"...It is genuinely a pleasure to meet you like this."
Serenade, sweating profusely, translated (?), but no one believed that was the actual content.
As the three kings of different races were squabbling over their ages, things began to calm down. Skuld exhaled a long breath and looked around.
"So, three of the four races blessed by the ancient gods have gathered here... But the last race is missing. Isn't anyone here from the Beastfolk?"
"There is no one called 'king' among the Beastfolk. Even during the racial wars, they participated as a tribal coalition."
"Maybe we should start the meeting without waiting... That's what King Poseidon suggests."
That's when it happened.
Boom!
The doors to the banquet hall swung open forcefully, and a towering figure entered.
With long, braided red hair, an X-shaped scar on his forehead, and a silver leather cloak on his back.
He wore no crown, but instead, his arms were adorned with symbols of various Beastfolk tribes - it was Kuilan.
"Am I late? I hurried as much as I could."
Kuilan, looking sheepishly at the other waiting racial kings, scratched the back of his head.
"I'm Kuilan, from the Leaf Wolf Tribe. Recently, I gathered all the other Beastfolk tribes and won a big fight. So, from today, you can call me the King of the Beastfolk."
His sudden appearance and self-introduction as the King of the Beastfolk was immediately accepted by the other three kings.
Not only because of the representative symbols of the Beastfolk tribes tied around his arm, but also because they intuitively felt it.
The fighting spirit emanating from Kuilan's entire body.
The Beastfolk are a race that venerates martial prowess. The strongest represents the race.
The man before them undoubtedly radiated the presence of a strong leader, sufficiently qualifying him as the King of the Beastfolk.
Kellison approached Kuilan and bluntly asked.
"How old are you?"
"Excuse me?"
Kuilan, confused, counted on his fingers, furrowing his brow.
"Um... how old am I? I haven’t hit thirty yet."
"Then I, being forty-six, am older. Call me 'Hyung' (brother)." (TL Note: In Korea, addressing someone who is slightly older than you as 'Hyung' (older brother) or 'Noona' (older sister) is seen as a form of respect and familiarity)
"Oh, should I? Hyung!"
"Ha, this guy is straightforward!"
Kellison, pleased with Kuilan, chuckled heartily and patted his back, then handed him some cold liquor from a nearby table.
"Anyway, since we're all gathered here, let's have a comfortable chat!"
Thus, the four kings began their conversation.
At last, relieved from the oppressive atmosphere, Kellibey, Verdandi, and Serenade hid in a corner of the banquet hall to catch their breath.
"I feel like I've aged ten years, damn it..."
"I feel like I've aged a hundred years..."
"...I can't afford to age as quickly as you two. Please look."
Drinking the beverages laid out in the banquet hall, the three of them looked around.
While the four kings of different races were the center of attention, other kings and leaders from various places had also arrived.
Leaders from small neighboring countries and city-states that supported Crossroad during the previous fight with the goblins continued to enter.
Even those who hadn't participated in that fight, but were intrigued by Ash's invitation, had come from afar.
"There are many impressive figures here. Only renowned leaders from the frontier..."
"Hmph. No matter how impressive, they're just rejects driven away from the central lands conquered by the empire. What's Ash planning, gathering these nobodies..."
"...Please lower your voice. Others might hear."
The three of them continued their conversation, observing the attending kings.
Then, it happened.
"I wonder if everyone is enjoying their drinks."
Click. Click.
With the sound of distinct footsteps, the organizer of this meeting appeared.
Black hair, black eyes.
A young man in a smart and comfortable suit.
It was Ash 'Born Hater' Everblack, the third prince of the Everblack Empire.
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 wouldn’t 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, that’s 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 there’s an agenda to discuss, let's be frank and get to it."
To Kellison’s 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... it’s not just a fight for the world's center, but also to lend a hand in battling monsters in this remote southern land?"
"That’s 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."
--TL Notes--
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