The problem was the White King.
The guardian deity of the North.
Because he was the only monster I couldn’t kill with Wilhelm.
‘It’s doable.’
I change my mind.
When you change your mind, your body responds, and when your body responds, your demeanour naturally changes.
I deceived the Four Great Masters. Why couldn’t I deceive the White King too.
The most important thing is not to shrink back.
If the Heart of the Iron-Blooded Monarch steadied my emotions, then ‘Eternal Randolph’ made every single one of my actions carry weight.
On top of that, the fact that I could destroy mystery at any time gave me a certain leeway.
If you look at how the Four Great Masters treated me after I destroyed the Imoogi’s mystery, you get your answer.
‘They’re wary.’
Of me.
Not just on guard in a general sense, they’re keeping a close watch on me myself.
Destroying mystery must have been something unfamiliar even to them.
If it could happen to Transcendent Species, they’d assume it would do even more incredible things without hesitation.
Maybe even killing them.
‘The stronger the monster, the greater the influence its mystery has.’
Of course, this situation was perfectly natural.
Human mystery and monster mystery are used in completely different ways.
Just as humans use their names as proof of themselves, monsters use mystery as proof of themselves.
For humans, mystery is merely proof of position, but for monsters, mystery is everything.
What divides ordinary monsters from boss monsters is whether they have mystery or not.
When you play a game, you inevitably run into countless monsters that all look exactly the same.
But even if two monsters look identical, depending on their effects, one might be treated as far stronger.
It’s not just an effect, it’s like a powerful weapon that grants the unique additional effects of a boss.
Without mystery, most monsters would be indistinguishable.
‘It’s like starting by cutting off a hand.’
That’s what it means to erase a monster’s mystery.
It’s no different from fighting without one hand.
The higher the rank, the stronger the monster, the larger the impact of its mystery.
If you destroyed the highest-grade mystery possessed by a monster like the Four Great Masters or the White King, a level-down phenomenon could occur from that alone.
“Such a strangely shaped corpse crow.”
……That was the moment.
In a blink. I didn’t notice at all, yet before I knew it, the White King had appeared right in front of me.
A half-human, half-demon with a white tiger mask, a body nearing two meters.
Judging by the sturdy build, white fur, tail, and ears, this bastard really was the White King.
At least, thankfully, it didn’t seem like he screamed.
I felt cold sweat, but fortunately, it was just my imagination.
This really is a place of death. If I don’t keep my wits about me, I’ll die without even realizing my neck got cut.
And that was because—
【Lv. 15】
He was a monster that made no sense.
‘…Was his level always this high?’
And the White King isn’t even a super elite raid boss monster.
He’s above that.
On the level of a Demon King, with no properly fixed name to speak of.
That’s why gamers called him the ‘final boss,’ or a ‘named boss.’
Even I didn’t know the White King’s level.
There was no related information anywhere.
After all, didn’t we fail even to subdue him with Wilhelm.
Still, I stiffly lifted my head and met the White King’s gaze.
‘I’m going to get eaten.’
I was certain the moment I faced him.
‘The hidden trait works.’
More than I expected, I’m not trembling.
Even though normally I should’ve been seen through completely and had my head cut off.
That meant the effect from the hidden trait worked even on the White King.
The White King couldn’t see through me, and that’s why I’m still alive.
Which also means ‘brazen shamelessness’ through the hidden trait is possible too.
<‘Giant’s Magic Resistance’ negates ‘White King’s Eye’.>
<‘Heart of the Iron-Blooded Monarch’ negates ‘White King’s pressure’.>
“……You’re rude, caw.”
He went beyond probing and used a skill.
He’s trying to see through me.
But it doesn’t work. The hidden trait neutralized even the White King’s skill.
When I frowned and clearly showed my displeasure, a strange light flickered in the White King’s eyes.
At the same time, the pupils of the Four Great Masters were shaking violently.
Even in front of the White King, this corpse crow kept his head stiffly raised and casually talked about ‘rudeness,’ so it must’ve rubbed them the wrong way.
“Hmm. You really are a strange one.”
The White King honestly gave his evaluation of me.
A strange one.
‘That’s enough.’
That level of appraisal is very good.
The White King is impossible to pin down. Truly unpredictable. There was a reason I chased him for a month.
So if someone like him said, ‘you’re a strange one,’ that was the highest praise he could express.
“You passed through the Mystery Hall?”
“Wasn’t much, caw.”
I said with a shrug.
Of course, it was a lot.
By the end, I thought I was really going to die.
But there was no need to tell him that much.
If I didn’t say it, nobody would know.
“So there were five trials, not four?”
The White King stroked his chin.
He was muttering to himself.
Rechecking it alone.
White King. The fourth he gave up on was the Hall of Completion.
The stage where myth is completed. Yet he couldn’t help but feel doubt that there had been trials beyond that.
“……How on earth did you clear that?”
The White King couldn’t understand.
The Mystery Hall he had challenged was a bizarre difficulty not made to be cleared.
He finished three stages, and was certain. The fourth, ‘completion,’ had been impossible from the start. That the Tower had arranged it that way.
But the corpse crow in front of him had surpassed ‘completion.’
A fifth stage. Transcendent, or perhaps something even beyond that.
“Can you tell me what the final trial was?”
“You want me to tell you for free, caw?”
Nothing in this world is free.
Why do you think the White King came to meet me?
Even if he’s a guy utterly indifferent to worldly affairs.
‘He’s insanely curious about the Mystery Hall.’
Curiosity about a secret he couldn’t cross, a secret he hadn’t even known existed, had drawn him out here.
Still, the fact that the White King reached stage three honestly makes him even more amazing.
I managed through a trick that wasn’t really a trick, but he must have faced the trials head-on.
‘He’s a real monster.’
You fight ten thousand enemies of the same level, and each time you advance a stage, a massive trait gets added. Clearing three stages of that was only possible because it was the White King.
“What do you want?”
“If I want something, I want your one remaining fang, caw?”
The instant I finished speaking.
Brrr!
Every one of the Four Great Masters began to tremble.
Pure rage. They looked like they wanted to kill me.
……Did I push too hard?
“Hmm. That’s troublesome. But how did you know I only have one fang left?”
The White King spoke as if genuinely troubled.
The reason he wore a mask was to hide the one remaining fang.
The fang that the Knight King Wilhelm tore out.
But he was asking how I knew something that no one except Wilhelm and the Four Great Masters should know.
‘Never let him know that I’m Wilhelm.’
I’m Randolph. I had to be Randolph, completely.
Otherwise I’d be breaking a promise. The White King and the Four Great Masters would truly try to kill me with everything they had this time.
“I can’t possibly not know that, huh?”
As in, it’d be strange not to know.
Rather than giving some half-baked explanation, it’s better to come out strong.
If I leave it to his imagination, he’ll fill in the blanks himself.
And he’ll mistake me for an even more dangerous, more incredible being.
“Hoo. The Four Great Masters really did bring you to me for a reason.”
The White King quietly fixed his gaze on me.
A being the Four Great Masters couldn’t judge.
Even with his own eyes, he couldn’t grasp him.
From the moment he first appeared, there was no sign of surprise, no wavering, but also not a lack of composure.
Eyes as if he knew everything.
Even the fact that one fang was missing.
Not even Medusa could see through what lay beyond his mask.
‘A piercing seer…….’
One who saw the end of a mythical trial.
Indeed, worthy of a being for whom all Four Great Masters had given up understanding.
If he had been startled or reacted when the White King first appeared, he would’ve been disappointed. But this corpse crow showed no such sign at all.
His heartbeat was calm and quiet, there was no trembling in his pupils or skin.
‘To go deeper, I’d have to change into my true body.’
The White King hesitated for a moment.
If he transformed into his true body and used a skill, he could peer into a deeper abyss.
Then he would know whether what blocked his magic was the inherent rank of that species, or something else.
But soon, the White King shook his head.
To talk about rudeness meant he had even read the subtle use of a skill.
That corpse crow could sense a skill’s activation.
And besides—
‘He destroyed the mystery. The Mystery Hall granted him authority to destroy mystery outright.’
The White King already knew the corpse crow had destroyed the Imoogi’s mystery.
He wouldn’t have had such a power from the start.
It must have been something gained within the Mystery Hall.
That meant the Tower had recognized that corpse crow as a ‘Sovereign of Mystery.’
And what did that mean?
‘It means his species’ standard is higher than even mine.’
Mystery was also an indicator of the standard of a species.
In other words, that corpse crow’s race value was higher than his, higher than anyone’s.
A high race value doesn’t automatically mean strength, but if he completed the final mythic trial, he was not someone to take lightly.
The White King felt an intensely powerful emotion surge in his chest.
‘…Rivalry.’
It was a rivalry.
A trial he couldn’t obtain, couldn’t achieve.
The one who cleared it and still stood before him, scattering bold spirit.
His body heats up.
But what he felt wasn’t just rivalry.
‘Even my own mystery is afraid of him.’
The White King is perfectly unified with his mystery.
A connection on a different level from other monsters.
It felt like skin itself, like the tissue of his skin.
Yet the mystery he possessed stiffened at the sight of that corpse crow, sending a warning.
As if it had been frightened by the appearance of a being who could destroy him.
This was a first.
‘Truly interesting.’
So now he had to admit it.
That the corpse crow before him unquestionably possessed something.
“What is your name?”
The White King asked for my name.
Realizing the intent behind that question, I clenched my fist inwardly and answered.
“I’m Randolph, caw.”
“I heard you were looking for me. Why?”
“For the same reason you’re here, caw.”
“The reason I’m in Kramdel?”
“Yeah, caw.”
I was sure.
The White King has no interest in Kramdel.
No, he’s detached from worldly affairs altogether.
Whether Kramdel collapses or not, he doesn’t care.
He only pretends to care because of the Four Great Masters who follow him.
Yet that man was in Kramdel right now.
Then the White King nodded.
“……The 33rd star, you’re trying to find that out too.”
“That’s right, caw.”
“But authority over stars belongs only to the ‘star guardian’ ones. Even I have no right to interfere with the star guardians.”
Star guardians.
That was what they called the powerful monsters who guarded stars.
Even the White King, for all his might, seemed to have a hard line drawn against the star guardians. Seeing how he couldn’t intervene in Kramdel either.
Just as I saw at Kramdel’s entrance, they really did seem to be treated completely differently from ordinary monsters.
The White King spoke again.
“Can you find out what exactly the star guardians are searching for?”
“I can, caw.”
Only I can be certain.
Dramut.
Because he’s here too.
And maybe……the five stars that Wilhelm possessed. There was a strong chance their guardians were here as well.
“That place is sealed by a unique-grade mystery. Even then?”
“Easy, caw.”
Sealed by mystery.
So that was why the White King looked and then gave up.
Even better for me.
“……Fine. Then temporarily, I’ll give you the seat of the fifth Great Master. It will be easier for you to act in Kramdel.”
“Lord White King……!”
The Four Great Masters sprang up in shock.
The White King shrugged and asked.
“I can’t give him my own seat, can I?”
“Ah, even so, giving the five-Great-Masters seat to someone you’ve just met, that’s out of the question!”
The Great Earth Dragon raised his voice.
I also spoke in a tone that made it clear I didn’t like it.
“Why should I go under you, caw?”
“Because I can’t just let a dangerous being like you roam free.”
As if telling me not to misunderstand, the White King continued.
“And a Great Master is not a seat beneath me, it is a qualification equal to mine. They merely respect me, but in practice, it is not I who leads Kramdel, it is the Great Masters.”
An equal qualification.
But what bothered me more was, he couldn’t just let me go.
A guy like me who could be ally or enemy.
If he didn’t want to fight, he had to at least slap a title on me.
And that also implied that if I refused, he was willing to fight.
So what I had left to do now was—
Drive in a wedge on an entirely different level than before.
“Sure. If you and I fight, Kramdel will vanish from the map, caw.”
When I said that, every pair of eyes among the Four Great Masters filled with shock.
Death King, insanely arrogant.