Ken dissolved into the dark shadows. He completely vanished from the estate. He teleported silently across the capital city. He headed straight for a secret pocket dimension. He had a meeting with the Round Table, and he was completely annoyed that he had to miss his afternoon nap.
---
The dark pocket dimension was completely soundproof. There were no windows. There were no doors. The walls were made of smooth, gray stone. A single magical lamp hung from the ceiling. It cast a dim, moody light over a massive, round obsidian table.
Twelve large, throne-like chairs sat around the table. Eleven of the chairs were already occupied.
The people sitting in the chairs were the absolute shadow rulers of the Belmontia Empire. They were wealthy politicians. They were elite military commanders. They were billionaires. They all wore thick, full-body armor. They wore enchanted metal masks to hide their faces and their voices. They operated under the names of ancient knights.
The Emperor of Belmontia sat in a special chair near the table. He did not wear a mask. He was the ruler of the nation. He looked incredibly serious.
The twelfth chair at the far end of the table was completely empty. It belonged to the most feared member of the group.
Suddenly, the shadows near the empty chair began to swirl. The air in the room turned freezing cold. The temperature plummeted. A dark, terrifying aura filled the dimension.
Lancelot stepped out of the darkness.
He wore his high-collared, dramatic black cloak. Beautiful gold embroidery lined the dark fabric. The cloak flowed silently around his boots. A smooth, featureless black mask covered his face. A single, glowing purple eye shined brightly in the center of the mask.
Lancelot sat down in the hard stone chair. He crossed his arms over his chest. He sat perfectly still. He radiated an aura of absolute, crushing authority.
Inside his mind, Ken Eliot let out a long, silent sigh.
"This chair is absolutely terrible," Ken complained internally. He did not move a single muscle on the outside. "It is made of solid rock. It has zero cushion. It hurts my back. The evil villain council in my comic books always has very nice leather chairs. This is a massive scam. I am a highly respected shadow god. I deserve ergonomic seating. I want to go back to my sofa."
King Arthur sat at the head of the table. He wore a golden mask shaped like a lion. He looked at Lancelot. He offered a respectful nod.
"Lancelot," King Arthur greeted smoothly. His magically altered voice echoed in the cold room. "Thank you for joining us. We watched the Emperor's speech. The public narrative is totally secure. The citizens believe we are the heroes. Now, we must plan our actual next steps."
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A knight wearing bright red armor leaned forward. His alias was Gawain. He slammed his metal fist on the obsidian table.
"We need a massive military response!" Gawain growled angrily. "We cannot let these Black Magicians insult our Empire! They fired a weapon from our mountains! They framed us! We must send the entire Imperial army across the continent! We must find their secret bases and burn them to ash!"
"Do not be foolish, Gawain," a knight named Percival argued calmly. Percival wore a sleek, silver mask. "We do not know where they are hiding. The Luminous planet is massive. If we send our armies marching blindly across the deserts and forests, we will waste billions of Bels. We will leave our own capital city completely unprotected."
A knight wearing a dark green mask spoke up. His alias was Tristan. He leaned back in his hard chair.
"We have to track the stolen artifact," Tristan stated. "They stole the Neitherworld Devil Seed from the Bluemoon vault. That seed is a beacon of dark magic. If we can trace its magical signature, we can locate their primary headquarters."
Ken sat quietly in his uncomfortable chair. He listened to the politicians argue. He looked at Lord Voss and Minister Thorne. They were sitting at the table wearing their metal masks. Ken knew their true identities. He knew they were secretly corrupt. He knew they had funded the original toxic radiation project. They were pretending to be innocent right now.
"These guys are incredible actors," Ken analyzed casually in his mind. He watched Lord Voss nod along with the conversation. "They are sitting here acting completely shocked by the attack. They are pretending they want to catch the bad guys. But they are totally sweating under those masks. They are terrified that the investigation will lead straight back to their own bank accounts. This is a very funny comedy show."
The Emperor cleared his throat. The entire table went completely silent. The Emperor looked around the room. His cold eyes landed on Lancelot.
"The public expects absolute justice," the Emperor declared firmly. "We promised to hunt these war criminals down. We cannot fail. We must scour the entire Luminous planet. We must find out who orchestrated the theft of the seed. We must find out who launched the Solurious weapon."
The Emperor leaned forward. He rested his hands on the obsidian table.
"Lancelot," the Emperor addressed the masked entity directly. "Your shadow network is unparalleled. Your spirits operate outside the boundaries of normal law. What is your assessment of the situation? How do we find them?"
Lancelot did not move immediately. He kept his arms crossed. He let the silence hang in the air for exactly three seconds. He knew dramatic timing was very important for an edgy persona.
Lancelot slowly raised his right hand. He placed his dark-gloved hand flat on the stone table. The glowing purple eye stared directly at the Emperor.
"The conventional armies of this Empire are completely useless for this task," Lancelot stated. His deep, echoing voice filled the room. It was totally devoid of warmth. "Marching soldiers across a desert will only alert the enemy. The Black Magicians hide in the absolute darkest corners of the world. They operate in silence. They must be hunted in silence."
Gawain frowned behind his red mask. "Are you suggesting we do nothing?"
"I am suggesting you stay out of my way," Lancelot replied coldly. The chilling insult made Gawain flinch backward. "My network is already expanding. My elite spirits are currently sweeping the continent. They are tracking the residual dark mana. They are interrogating the surviving cultists. I do not need your loud, clumsy armies ruining my investigation."
Lord Voss spoke up. He tried to sound helpful. He wanted to steer the investigation away from his own corrupt businesses.
"Perhaps your spirits should focus entirely on the southern ports," Lord Voss suggested smoothly. "We have received rumors of dark shipments moving through those waters. It could be a valuable lead."
Ken almost laughed out loud. He knew exactly what Voss was doing. Voss was trying to throw out a fake clue. Voss wanted to send Lancelot on a wild goose chase.
"Nice try, buddy," Ken thought lazily. "But I am not falling for a fake side quest. I hate fetch quests. I am going to ignore your terrible advice completely."
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