Hell Mode: Volume 9, page 21
Rudo began when the Five Continent Alliance had finished its conference with Allen. After returning to Albahal, Beast King Muza had quickly summoned his ministers, including Temi as an advisor, and held an emergency meeting. The monarch had stated that he would choose either Zeu or Shia as the next Beast King and that once the decision was finalized, he would step down from his position. When pressed for a reason, he had stated that he had done the unthinkable during his duel against Shia and that it had done considerable damage to his reputation as the Beast King.
Must be because he used Beast Mode. Allen glanced at Dogora, who was listening without uttering a single word. He must feel responsible for causing it because he jumped in to protect Shia. Just as Allen was about to offer words of consolation since he had joined in on the battle as well, Shia opened her mouth.
“I see... No wonder he said that back then...”
When Muza and Allen’s battle had been interrupted, the Summoner had noticed the monarch exchanging words with his daughter, though the details of their conversation were unknown.
“Wait, does that mean that Beku no longer had the right to succeed the throne by that point?” Allen asked.
Rudo frowned. He did not like to hear the crown prince of his nation being referred to so casually.
“Beku...” the rhinokin replied. “But yes. Only those who have overcome the trial given to them by the Beast King have claim to the throne.”
While Allen did not know why Beku had started a revolt, Shia was a member of the No-life Gamers. The Summoner wanted her to become the next Beast King and grow more powerful—he felt no need to respect anyone who stood in the way of that.
“What are these trials?” Dogora asked.
Rudo went into detail about the trials given by the Beast King. In Albahal, the firstborn child had claim to the throne. I guess if you’re older, you automatically become better. However, there were times when a younger sibling should succeed the throne instead. In such situations, the king provided each younger sibling with a trial, and any who overcame their trial could become the future monarch. Kinda like how the rulers of the elves and the dark elves can be the child of an elder since it’s hard for those races to have children.
“So was there an argument because two of them cleared their trials at the same time?” Allen asked.
Discussions for the next monarch had been going on for nearly three months.
“I wouldn’t call it an argument, but as you say, two children having claim to the throne in addition to the Beast Crown Prince is rather unprecedented,” Rudo replied.
The trials given by the Beast King had included defeating the Pontiff of Daemonism, who had many followers across the world and had propagated his religion far and wide, and being the first to clear the Rank S dungeon. Needless to say, the trials had been incredibly difficult, and historically, only about one in ten people were able to overcome such tall tasks. Two people clearing them simultaneously had never occurred before.
“And what kind of opinions were thrown around?” Allen asked.
“Opinions?” Rudo inquired.
“It took so long to reach a conclusion, meaning that people had differing opinions, no?”
“Ah, I suppose so. The chancellor and the secretary of state wanted Prince Zeu to become the next Beast King.”
It seemed the Five Continent Alliance, which had been established decades ago, impacted the internal affairs of Albahal. With the Empire of Giamut standing at the helm, the Alliance had been requesting aid in its fight against the Demon Lord Army while shutting out less cooperative nations. The chancellor and secretary of state must have wanted someone with a gentler attitude who also had friendly ties with Giamut to deal with its leadership. Beast Prince Zeu fit both criteria, so there was a chance he could pry open their occluded national affairs.
“Are you saying that Zeu didn’t become the next Beast King?” Allen asked.
“Precisely,” Rudo replied. “Lady Temi was the first to go against the idea.”
“Huh? So the divination changed?”
Until now, Temi had divined that Zeu would be the next king.
“More accurately, there was no result at all,” Rudo said.
The chancellor had accused Temi of being irresponsible for having allowed such a thing to happen, and though the meeting had continued after that, a compromise had never been reached. The situation had reached the ears of the nobles, and they had begun discussing the fate of the future monarch as well. Ultimately, many had settled on the idea that the next monarch should not be chosen just yet. Temi’s divinations are really influential in Albahal.
Beast King Muza had not agreed. He had continued to insist that he was going to abdicate the throne and forced discussions to continue, adamantly claiming that a new Beast King would be announced to Albahal by the designated date. Today was the fateful day of the announcement, and Muza had gathered the ministers early in the morning to finalize the result. He had declared that no one was allowed to leave the room until his successor was chosen. In the middle of this meeting, Beast Crown Prince Beku’s soldiers had taken up arms and started a revolt. They started just as the Beast King and all the ministers gathered in one room. Maybe they were waiting for this opportunity.
“But if Beku’s revolt was suppressed, that means he failed, right?” Allen asked.
“I’m not exactly sure if ‘failed’ is the right word,” Rudo replied. “If we claim that His Highness tried to claim the throne, then indeed, his attempt failed. He injured His Majesty rather gravely, however...”
“What?!” Shia cried. “You said that His Majesty was fine now!”
“He is, of course. He suffered from a deep wound, but he managed to cling to life, and his condition has stabilized. That’s what I’ve been told.”
“I-I see... That’s good news. And what happened to my brother and his soldiers?”
“The Beast King Corps managed to capture almost all of the soldiers under His Highness. However, he took the Symbol of the Beast King.”
“No! Why did Beku steal that?!” Allen shouted.
The Symbol of the Beast King was a set of three equips: orichalcum knuckle-dusters, orichalcum armor, and a Holy Orb from Holy Bird Quatro. The golden gleam of the orichalcum paired quite well with the golden Holy Orb of Quatro, serving as perfect accessories for the Beast King. Allen had already assumed that they would go to Shia. It’s like the time someone stole Freyja’s divine vessel, though it’s probably not on that grand a scale.
The year prior, the invasion of Rohzenheim had been used as bait to attack the temple of Freyja in the Heavenly Realm and steal her divine vessel. Gushara had then used it on his followers to transform them into daemonic incarnations. While Allen could understand the cause of the revolt in Albahal, Beku had basically stolen the tokens of the Beast King.
“We immediately sent soldiers to chase after him,” Rudo explained. “But it seems the crown prince had expected this and flown away on a magic ship.”
Huh. So Beku didn’t think he could become the Beast King by killing the current monarch. I mean, it is Muza we’re talking about, so I don’t blame him, but he still couldn’t give up on the throne. He needed another plan. Allen tried to understand the mind of the crown prince. The moment Zeu and Shia overcame their trials and earned the right to claim the throne, the probability of Beku being crowned the king had dropped to nearly zero.
The current Beast King had enough power to clobber Hero Helmios; Beku had no chance of winning against such a foe. How else, then, could he become king? Beku had proceeded to steal the Symbol of the Beast King, implying that the items signified that he was the monarch. Surely, the items themselves did not make one king, though. What process was needed alongside the gear to claim the crown? If I were in his shoes...
“Does he have an ally somewhere? Maybe in Giamut?” Allen surmised.
I don’t think his personal soldiers would’ve been able to do much. The Corps and the Ten Heroic Beasts were probably stationed at the royal castle. While the size of Beku’s army was unknown, the Beast King had his personal Corps that protected his life. Even a sneak attack would not have been able to get through the tight defenses of the castle. Each member of the Corps had at least a two-star Talent, and Beast Hammer King Rudo had once been stationed there. General Hoba and a few other members of the Ten Heroic Beasts were members of the Corps—for Beku to have suppressed them while stealing the Symbol of the Beast King, he would have required an ally.
“There...have actually been a few reports of people spotting a large group of merfolk soldiers,” Rudo said.
“Merfolk?!” Shia yelped in surprise. “Are you saying that Crevelle is behind all this?!”
She’s been in negotiations with them for a while. No doubt she feels some level of betrayal from them. But I didn’t expect this. Did they decline us in writing last time because Crevelle was connected to Beast Crown Prince Beku behind the scenes? Crevelle was the kingdom of merfolk. Allen had repeatedly asked that he be granted entry into the Prostia Empire, and he had recently received an official letter formally declining his request.
“We can’t be sure,” Rudo replied. “When we inquired about it with Crevelle earlier, they seemed befuddled. It seemed they didn’t fully comprehend the situation either.”
When Crevelle was contacted, they had replied that they wanted to confirm the current state of affairs.
“Interesting,” Allen said as he tried to determine the mastermind behind this ordeal. If Crevelle’s telling the truth here, then there’s only one other nation with merfolk that could lend their aid.
“It can’t be!” Shia gasped, implying that she had reached the same conclusion.
“Yep. The only other culprit is the Prostia Empire,” Allen declared, and everyone gulped nervously.
After hearing Rudo’s report, Allen and his party teleported back to Hardcore User Island and dispatched a Bird A straight for the Crevelle Kingdom, which was their next destination. The King Me’d Bird A had 25,000 Agility, so it reached Crevelle in about an hour. It then made a Nest and used Homing Instinct, teleporting everyone to the kingdom of merfolk.
The Gamers had learned of the revolt a little past noon, and it had taken a good while for them to make the necessary preparations, so the sun had already set by the time they arrived in Crevelle. Even so, the Crevelle royal family had decided to welcome them, and they were guided into the meeting room of the royal palace. Pelomas had tagged along this time around. He was dying to head to the Prostia Empire for Fiona and had instantly agreed to tag along for a Crevelle visit. Shia, meanwhile, looked to be in a daze. It was like she was not all there.
“Shia, you can head back if you’re worried,” Dogora said.
“No, I’m fine. This is my duty as a member of the royal family,” the Beast Princess replied. “But thank you.”
The Albahal royal castle had been invaded by the crown prince himself. Not only had her father, Muza, been under attack, but many familiar faces must have been dragged into the mess as well. Even if that had not been the case, Beku’s army and the troops defending the castle had clashed. Many must have gotten injured, and much blood must have been shed. Despite her worries, she knew there were other matters she needed to tend to, so she desperately suppressed her anxiety and kept a pensive expression on her face.
After a while, a merfolk appeared and guided everyone to a separate room. Huh. I guess we’re all allowed to go. If there were too many of us, I’d planned on going with only Shia and Pelomas.
Luke was also with them. Allen had decided to extend everyone in his party the courtesy of an invitation to go to Crevelle, and Luke had been more than happy to tag along. It was not clear just how much he understood about what was going on, but this experience might prove indispensable to the young future king of the dark elves. Either way, Allen had planned on letting the Crevelle royal family dictate the terms of his audience with them, so he was grateful that they were willing to allow his whole party to attend.
They were guided into a spacious conference room where the Crevelle royal family was waiting for them. The king was sandwiched by his queen and Princess Carmine, all three of whom were facing a long desk, in front of which sat another desk. Beside the queen were two merfolk dressed rather splendidly—likely chancellors or ministers. Behind them were a host of royal guards, tasked with protecting the merfolk.
“Thank you for coming all this way,” the king said as Allen sat down.
“I apologize for intruding at such a late hour,” Allen apologized, “but there’s something I need to confirm as soon as possible.”
“Ah, yes. Beast Princess Shia, I have heard about the unfortunate incident back in Albahal. If there’s anything we can do, we shall lend a hand.”
“I cannot express my gratitude enough for your generosity,” Shia replied with a deep bow as tea and snacks were placed in front of the Gamers.
“It seems Beku, the one behind this revolt, had some sort of ally,” Allen, who was sitting in the middle of his group, said, getting straight to business. It was late at night and there was no time for idle chatter. “There are rumors that the merfolk might be lending their support.”
During previous negotiations, Shia had been in charge of the conversation as the princess of Albahal, but this time around, Allen was paying a visit as the commander in chief of his army. Rudo had already reported to him that the Beast King Corps had fought an army of merfolk.
“I see...” the king replied. “As I told Albahal earlier, we are completely unrelated to this series of events.”
Hmm... Yeah, I don’t think he’s lying. Allen used his Intelligence to closely observe the king, the queen, Princess Carmine, and the other officials, but they did not seem to be lying or hiding anything.
“Then is the Prostia Empire somehow involved?” Allen inquired.
“We...have not been entrusted with that knowledge,” the king answered.
I guess they’re not given accurate information. Allen had tried to look into the Prostia Empire in his own way, but he had been left with more questions than answers. He could only gauge the empire’s situation from scant details he had learned from trade—exports shed light on what the empire produced, and imports gave information on what the empire could not sufficiently create.
“I understand,” Allen finally said. Crevelle had been created solely so that the Prostia Empire could interact with nations above water and thus could not provide any meaningful information.
“But...” the king started, steeling his resolve.
“Yes?” Allen asked.
“I have heard that the Prostia Empire’s army has been behaving rather...strangely as of late. These are only rumors, of course.”
“Thank you for letting me know.”
Prostia’s army is on the move. Gotta thank the king for telling us. The king of Crevelle had leaked information about Prostia to outsiders. Realizing this, the Summoner slowly looked over at the queen and Princess Carmine, as perhaps the ladies were also steeling themselves for the future. In any case, we have to go to Prostia one way or another.
One thing had become clear: There was more reason for Allen to visit the Prostia Empire. At first, he had just wanted some Holy Orbs and to meet Holy Fish Macris, but now, stopping Beku’s puzzling scheme had been added to the mix. The Beast Crown Prince, who wanted to eradicate humans from the world, had stolen away the Symbol of the Beast King. And Prostia’s helping him.
While Allen still could not fully comprehend the situation, Beku had to be stopped.
“Shia, if we retrieve the Symbol of the Beast King, would that make you the next Beast King?” Allen asked, turning to the Albahalan royal. Seems like this entire ordeal started while Albahal was deciding between her and Zeu.
In other words, a decision about who would be the next Beast King had not been made just yet. Beku, who was born with the claim to the throne, had stolen away the Symbol of the Beast King. As its name implied, if the gear made one the Beast King, then the one who retrieved it would rightfully be seen as the next monarch in the eyes of the beastkin. Allen would provide his full cooperation in this endeavor. As she had joined his party, his power was hers to borrow.
Shia had decided to join Allen in hopes of one day making an empire of beastkin. But a king can’t rely on their power alone. They have to rely on others at times and do whatever they can to claim the throne for themself. Which might affect Zeu’s lifespan...
Beast Prince Zeu was a henpecked husband, forced to submit to his wife’s every whim. She believed that he would be the next king, so if he did not achieve that, his life would be in danger. Gotta think of a way to help him out, then.
“That’s not for you to decide, Allen,” Shia said firmly. “But perhaps the possibility is there. Still, the items Beku stole must be returned to Albahal once. And to do that...”
Shia believed that this would be the perfect opportunity to demonstrate her power as the next possible monarch. In order for her to do that, however, she required something very important. The Albahalan royal turned to the Crevelle king, but he immediately bowed his head.
“I’m terribly sorry,” he said. “We can’t issue visas for you.”
The queen, princess, and ministers gave looks of dejection. It was clear that Crevelle could not do much.
“Which visa in particular?” Allen asked. “There’s one issued by Crevelle and another by Prostia, I believe.”
One visa, issued by Crevelle, was for merfolk only. The other, issued by Prostia, was for nonmerfolk. The latter type was blessed by Aqua, allowing the person wearing it to breathe underwater.
“The one issued by the Prostia Empire,” the king replied, revealing that he had already requested Prostia for the visas. “I was, in no uncertain terms, rejected.”
“Even though Beast Crown Prince Beku was allowed in?” Allen asked.
“As I said before, we cannot confirm that.”
I guess we can’t pester them much more. It’s not like we have hard evidence that Beku’s in Prostia. No one knew where Beku had gone after fleeing the royal castle.
