“So... you want your own King to be the one to discover that the true Sacred Soul is a devil?” Grand Commander Kenon asked, his red hair casting sharp shadows across his face as he leaned over the summit table.
“Yes,” Prince Erwin replied firmly, maintaining his manufactured composure.
“But there is a glaring, fatal flaw in your equation, Prince,” Kenon sneered, a trace of bitter experience cracking his voice.
“And what precisely would that be?” I asked, keeping my 6'4" blonde 'Will Gurberr' disguise completely relaxed, acting as if I didn't already comprehend the terrifying chasm between a human ruler and a Sage.
“It is the fact that Sage Cros is an absolute monster,” Kenon whispered, his expression turning ice-cold. “The moment he realizes his treason has been compromised, he will not negotiate. He will systematically destroy your King, flatten his entire capital, slaughter every living citizen, and then legally brand the Kingdom of Krane as a heretical domain that worships demons. You are playing with an extinction-level event.”
“Forgive me, Sir Kenon, but I do not believe the Sages are entirely invincible,” Princess Quina spoke up suddenly. She was drawing confidence from the memory of the palace raid, unaware that the masked entity who beat the Sage was standing right behind her . “I have witnessed Sage Rigger fighting once. If Prince Erwin commands all the Royal Knights, squad captains, vice-captains, and the Grand Captain of Royal Knights himself to be fully mobilized at the perimeter, we can easily suppress Sage Cros before he unleashes his magic.”
Kenon let out a hollow, mocking laugh that echoed dangerously through the hall.
“I am truly sorry to shatter your illusions, Princess,” Kenon deadpanned, his crimson eyes locking onto hers . “But there is a literal difference between the earth and the heavens between the weakest Sage, Rigger, and Sage Cros .To put his raw power into perspective... if the other three Sages combined their full magical output to fight Cros all at once, Cros would still emerge as the undisputed winner.”
Thump.
The revelation hit the room like a physical blow. Quina’s face instantaneously drained of all color, her hands shaking on the ledger. Behind my blonde bangs, my own phantom core subtly twitched. If Rigger—the monster who forced my Death's Gambit contract to its absolute limit—was merely the weakest of the four, then launching a direct physical clash against Cros was an absolute suicide run.
“Then it seems our business is officially concluded,” the Blood Tyrant’s deep, dual-resonant voice thundered from the darkness of the throne. “The summit is over. Furthermore, kid... if your scouts happen to locate Kiro anywhere within the lower sectors, report it to my commander immediately. Enjoy your sightseeing while you remain here, and leave our borders whenever you desire.”
Ruken leaned back, dismissively waving his hand. I knew this would happen. The Blood Throne was entirely folding under the fear of Sage Cros.
Prince Erwin and Princess Quina slowly began to push their chairs back, preparing to stand up in defeat.
“Wait,” a deep, sharp voice cut through the room.
“What is your problem now, boy?!” Kenon shouted aggressively, his mana flaring as he glared at my rookie uniform. “Did you not hear the explicit command of the Blood Tyrant? Step back!”
“If Sage Cros is truly as god-like as you claim,” I spoke aloud, stepping directly into the center of the room and breaking all royal protocol, “then we will simply utilize his existence to replace our current alliance.”
Kenon froze. Ruken’s shadowed eyes narrowed on the throne.
“Since your intelligence networks already uncovered our secret Elven-Skull-Krane alliance, we legally cannot deploy the Elven Kingdom anymore,” I explained, my blonde disguise projecting a terrifyingly calm, calculated logic. “If we force the elves to fight, you will announce their broken treaty of neutrality to the world, and the continent will collapse into chaos. Therefore, we will simply invite Sage Cros to actively participate in our border war instead.”
I leaned against the mahogany table, looking straight at Kenon. “Our Kingdom of Krane is the Sacred Soul’s single largest financial disciple and holy taxpayer. If Prince Erwin sends a formal royal letter stating that a massive heresy nest has been discovered on the border... the Sage will not refuse. In fact... he must be desperately dying to visit that exact underground devil cave once more.”
Kenon’s teeth ground together so hard a click echoed through the hall. “Are you... are you attempting to openly blackmail His Imperial Majesty, rookie?”
“I will leave that entirely up to your imagination, Grand Commander,” I deadpanned.
“How dare you—!” Kenon surged forward, his hand dropping to his hilt.
“Wait, Kenon,” the Blood Tyrant’s booming voice suddenly commanded, halting his commander mid-stride.
The mountain-sized monster on the throne leaned forward, his burning yellow eyes staring directly at my blonde frame. A heavy, solemn weight entered the air as the Tyrant prepared to unlock a secret he had hidden from the entire continent for eight long years.
“Tell me, Will Gruberr...” Ruken whispered, his dual-resonance echoing with a chilling, historical clarity. “What exactly do you think is the true, hidden reason... that the four Sages of the Sacred Soul have never once attempted to launch a direct holy crusade to destroy our heretical kingdom in the past eight years?
“Because the Blood Kingdom serves as a critical global exporter for the surrounding empires,” I spoke aloud, maintaining my flat, analytical 'Will Gurberr' persona.
Internally, I knew this wasn't the actual, primordial reason. It was merely the superficial economic shield Grim had uncovered in the archives. I was deliberately throwing out a logical guess to test their -expressions and force the truth into the open.
“No,” the Blood Tyrant rumbled from his throne, his burning yellow eyes narrowing beneath his dark hood. “The Sages do not care about mortal trade scripts. The true reason our kingdom remains untouched is because our territory has—”
“Blood Tyrant!” Kenon sharply interrupted, his deep voice cutting through the hall like a razor blade as he forcefully stepped between the throne and our delegation. “The reason our kingdom remains untouched is simply because we possess the absolute martial authority of the Blood Tyrant himself. We represent a military nightmare the Sages refuse to provoke.”
My teeth subtly ground together behind my blonde bangs. Dammit.
Kenon had deliberately, aggressively cut off his own King. I looked at the red-haired Grand Commander, my core calculating his sudden panic .He had instantly recognized that I was digging for their ultimate, foundational state secret. If I could just discover the exact leverage the Blood Kingdom was hiding from the world, I could have weaponized that exact same reason to exploit the Four Sages myself. I could have single-handedly forced Krane and Blood into a permanent tactical alliance, stopped the border war tonight, and destroyed the Sacred Soul religion once and for all .
But Kenon’s political instinct was too sharp. He had successfully gagged his own sovereign ruler to protect their cards.
On the throne, Ruken let out a heavy, solemn breath, the brief window of disclosure slamming completely shut. He adjusted his tattered black cloak, his dual-resonance echoing with a cold finality.
“The summit is officially dispersed,” the Tyrant commanded.
Kenon immediately gestured to the elite vanguard guards, the heavy iron gates of the Grand Summit Hall grinding open to signify our immediate dismissal.
Prince Erwin and Princess Quina stood up from their chairs in a silent daze, their minds entirely overwhelmed by the high-stakes blackmail they had just witnessed from their rookie vice-captain. Erina followed tightly behind them, her expression completely unreadable as we walked back out into the sunlit corridors of the palace.
The formal meeting was over. The diplomatic route had reached a dead end. If I wanted to unearth the secret that kept the gods of this world at bay, I would have to abandon the legal shadow of Will Gurberr tonight, put the crimson mask back on, and drag the truth out of this capital through the shadows.
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