A gathering of monsters loomed, dark clouds pressing low overhead.
Germain lifted his head, scanning one by one across the presence before him.
Morel hadn't been wrong after all. "The Four Heavenly Kings are actually five," he had said — and it turned out to be true.
At the lower right of the wide, long stone steps, something hovered in mid-air — a one-eyed demon with curled bull-like horns.
It was massive, its body covered in thick, heavy fur, like a Himalayan yak.
"The one-eyed demon that tried to rule all — yet every creature that formed a pact with it met their end. Its wings have been utterly shattered…"
Most people present recognized it immediately. It was the Guardian Beast of the late Ninth Prince — Halkenburg.
Halkenburg had been a radical, extreme figure.
He had refused to participate in the Succession War at first — but before long, bullets became his language of transition.
First, he threatened his biological father — King Nasubi — demanding that the bloody war for the throne be brought to an end.
But King Nasubi had stated clearly: once the Succession War begins, it is no longer his decision when it ends.
Halkenburg refused to accept that baseless response.
So, he raised his gun and fired at King Nasubi.
His intention was clear — kill the king, and force the Succession War to an end by blood.
In truth, if King Nasubi had actually died from that shot, the succession war wouldn't have ended—it would've exploded into full-blown chaos.
It was King Nasubi's presence that had been holding back the bloodshed between the princes. Without him, the civil strife would've erupted long before the voyage even began. More than just the Fourth Prince, Tserriednich, would already be dead by now.
If King Nasubi truly were gone, the entire order aboard the Black Whale No. 1 would collapse completely.
Halkenburg would have no chance of controlling the situation. And the other princes, who had been eyeing the throne from the start, would never accept a "king slayer" like him as the new ruler.
The chaos would break out far earlier than anyone expected.
That shot—Halkenburg hadn't thought it through at all.
He had simply assumed that everything would unfold according to his ideals.
But, as King Nasubi himself had once said, once the succession war begins, no one—not even the king—can decide when it ends.
King Nasubi must survive until the very end of the Seed Urn Ceremony. Only then can a proper conclusion be drawn.
Until then, no one has the right to decide the king's life or death.
The moment the bullet was fired, it froze mid-air right in front of King Nasubi—then veered off to the side, harmlessly.
Halkenburg, unable to comprehend what had just happened, made another impulsive mistake.
He turned the gun toward his own head—and pulled the trigger.
If I can't stop the succession war... then at least, I won't be a part of it. That way, I won't have to carry the sin of killing my own blood.
That's what he believed—and that's what he tried to do.
But just like before, the same impossible scene unfolded.
The bullet halted in the air, only inches away from Halkenburg's temple.
The guardian spirit beast floating behind him had saved his life.
But he couldn't see the spirit beast at all, so he had no idea what had just happened.
King Nasubi didn't blame him — instead, he simply let him go.
As the victor of the previous Succession War and a decades-long ruler of the Kakin Empire, Nasubi wasn't shaken by something like this.
In fact, King Nasubi was even pleased that Halkenburg had dared to defy his will — though he thought the method was far too reckless.
It was from that moment that Halkenburg made up his mind.
He would become the new king. He would end this brutal Succession War and change the Kakin Empire for good.
Just like when he took over the Heil-Ly Family, driven by the desire to avenge the Fourth Prince, he had made a decision — and planned to see it through to the end.
But wanting something and being able to do it were two very different things.
Whether it was controlling the Heil-Ly Family or winning the Succession War, both proved far more difficult than he had imagined.
Afterward, Halkenburg lost his ally — Third Prince Zhang Lei— and failed to rein in the Heil-Ly Family's rampant actions. His personal soldiers were also wiped out one by one.
In the end, he had essentially withdrawn from the final stages of the battle for the throne — reduced to a powerless prince waiting to be slaughtered.
Disheartened, he once again sought out King Nasubi, desperate to understand the roots and true purpose of this bloody and twisted war of succession.
And soon, from the king's own lips, he learned a shocking truth.
"I've known for a long time that Zhang Lei — the Third Prince — wasn't my child. From the moment he was born, my guardian spirit beast told me."
King Nasubi sipped his wine, his bloated frame sinking into the fur-lined throne, smiling faintly.
"I also knew about the affair between Tang Zhao Li — my third queen — and Onior, that second-rank noble from my generation..."
Halkenburg stared at him in disbelief, too stunned to say a single word.
King Nasubi chuckled dryly and gave Halkenburg a calm, measuring look.
"I could've easily smothered Tang Zhao Li and the infant Zhang Lei the moment I found out. And poison Onior without a second thought."
"Most men in my position would have done the same thing. But I am not 'most men.' In that moment, I foresaw today's Succession War."
"I wondered… if a prince who wasn't of my seed, but still carried the blood of the Kakin royal line, could play a role in the coming conflict—what would that role be?"
"Ah… yes, I thought of it.
To let him die, right at the doorstep of the throne… by the hands of my own blood.
The hatred, the cruelty… it would be thick. Unforgettable."
Halkenburg trembled as he listened to this horrifying confession.
His back bent under the weight of it, his eyes wide as he stared at the floor, sweat pouring down like rain.
He had underestimated the Succession War.
And worse—he had underestimated his father.
*******
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