**397. The White King vs. the Black King**
—
There is a traitor.
Here.
Among the senior officials of the Reaper Cult—the eleven Patrons of Lineages.
They were the only ones who knew of this covert operation.
“Do not jump to conclusions, Golden Mask.”
At that moment, a woman wearing a golden fox mask spoke.
She was the one who had raised countless fox-mask swordsmen of the Empire, and a figure deeply connected to the Balrog Cult.
As the third-ranked authority of the Reaper Cult, even Golden Mask could not easily ignore her words.
“The Star Guardians have sealed the entrance. Are you saying this is *not* the work of a traitor?”
“Didn’t *you* say it yourself? That Fifth-Pillar is the Goat, and that the Goat is Randolph… ‘Phantom.’ If he has been toying with us from the beginning, then it would be entirely possible for him to anticipate our movements in advance.”
…Phantom.
That’s right.
They had already concluded that the ‘Goat,’ who appeared as the Twelfth Patron of Lineages, was Phantom.
If he truly was Phantom, then everything made sense.
He conquered the Abyssal Labyrinth, joined the Reaper Cult, and examined its inner workings—predicting their movements and routes would not have been difficult.
He must have approached them with calculated intent from the start.
The betrayal of Phantom’s avatars followed the same logic.
Above all—
‘Phantom’ was, with high probability, an incarnation of ‘Wilhelm.’
And Golden Mask despised Wilhelm.
The Empire’s refusal to support the Grand Expedition had been heavily influenced by Golden Mask’s will.
And now, that very object of his hatred had toyed with the Reaper Cult itself.
…He would not be satisfied without utterly destroying him.
That was why the Reaper Cult’s senior officials, for the first time in a long while, had unanimously agreed on an invasion of the Labyrinth.
“He is a well. A bottomless well whose depths even we cannot fathom.”
“Indeed. He is no easy opponent.”
The Lion agreed with the Fox’s words.
At the Reaper’s Banquet, the Goat had monopolized every soul, one after another.
His provocations, his refusal to align himself, his balancing act between Raiga and the Reaper Cult—all of it finally made sense.
And yet, no one had managed to uncover his true identity.
Truly… Phantom was a chilling existence.
“We do not know what relationship the Star Guardians have with the Labyrinth, but they cannot stop us. Isn’t that right, Golden Mask?”
“……”
The Golden Fox’s words were entirely sound.
And indeed, it was strange.
The Star Guardians rarely moved unless matters related to the ‘Stars of the Goddess’ were involved.
Yet the moment the Labyrinth City was targeted, they appeared in force.
That meant there was some sort of connection between the Labyrinth City—or Fifth-Pillar—and the Star Guardians.
And moreover—
‘…The Giant of Ruin has moved.’
Calmly, Golden Mask reviewed the situation.
First, the group of Star Guardians, and among them, the Giant of Ruin.
The Giant of Ruin was the guardian of the ‘Mother Star.’
His strength needed no explanation.
‘The only being capable of moving the Giant of Ruin is Phantom.’
If the Giant of Ruin had acted directly, then the truth of the Goat and Fifth-Pillar being Phantom became all the more certain.
Phantom—Randolph!
The one who had toyed with him from beginning to end.
“Cool your temper. I will deal with the Giant of Ruin myself.”
“…Understood, Golden Fox.”
Golden Mask forced himself to nod.
Creating internal fractures by obsessing over a traitor was foolish.
Now was the time for the Reaper Cult to stand united.
Knowing this, all of them had rushed here the moment they heard the news.
‘Just this once, I’ll play along with your tune, Phantom.’
Golden Mask calmed his boiling emotions.
He didn’t know how much the bastard had prepared… but there was no way he could face *him*, or the Reaper Cult.
—
—
The Dark Elves who entered the Labyrinth moved while suppressing their presence to the utmost.
Their stealth was unmatched.
Among all races, none were as covert as Dark Elves.
No matter how powerful the monster, it would never dare to sense them.
—How many sectors is this place divided into?
—Look at the walls. Each sector has a level written on it.
—…We’re currently in Level 3.
—My lord, shall we ascend further?
The Dark Elves communicated through the Golden Scale’s secret lines.
Among them was one called the Lord.
A figure whose face and entire body were concealed beneath black cloth.
He quietly surveyed his surroundings and thought.
‘Ten sectors. Like a tower, it keeps rising upward.’
Each time a sector was cleared, stairs led upward.
Each sector was so vast that depending on the entry point, it felt like an entirely different area—yet in truth, there were only ten sectors.
This…
‘It’s closer to a tower than a labyrinth.’
Closer to a tower.
The problem was that choosing the wrong staircase could cause them to fall instead.
Each sector had dozens of stairways, and among them, there was likely not even one guaranteed correct path.
And only after surpassing the Level 9 sector could one finally reach toward the heart of the Labyrinth.
In that sense, it truly was a labyrinth.
Designed with unprecedented difficulty.
Moreover, the moment one ascended a staircase, an entirely different sector appeared, and the staircase used vanished.
Which meant—
‘It’ll be difficult to go back.’
…They couldn’t go back.
From the moment they entered, they were trapped inside the Labyrinth.
Instead of reporting this to the Black King, they now had to worry about their own survival.
They could either continue ascending toward the center—
Or be lucky enough to stumble upon a warp to escape.
Which meant—
—We go up.
They had no choice but to ascend.
From the beginning, there were only stairs leading upward.
Still, there had to be a rule.
They had to identify some sort of pattern.
And after ascending countless stairways—
—……
—……
The Dark Elves stopped breathing.
The number ‘7 Lv’ written on the wall.
It meant they were already nearing the end of the Labyrinth.
Yet they couldn’t gather their wits.
Because a ‘girl’ was staring directly at the concealed Dark Elves.
“…Hello?”
“A—…”
“R-run…!”
They knew the instant they saw her.
That this was not a kind of monster the Dark Elves could face.
They instinctively took a step back.
…But the staircase had already vanished.
There was nowhere to run.
“N-nice to meet you… so… um…”
That was when it happened.
*Srrrrrrrk!*
Countless ‘black hands’ emerged from behind the girl.
They had seen them before.
The Dark Elf Lord had encountered those hands once.
‘The Tower of the War God.’
There had been a monster there that Wilhelm had stabilized.
Lucaria, was it?
To think they would face that ‘Despair’ again here.
And at merely Level 7.
Then what kind of monsters awaited above this level?
At last, the girl spoke with a gloomy expression.
“…Will you die for me?”
—
—
…The Dark Elves sent on reconnaissance never returned.
Even the Lord was among them.
Neither the Reaper Cult nor the Balrog Cult had sent any meaningful updates either.
‘Everyone’s acting on their own.’
It seemed everyone had different intentions.
Even the Dark Elves.
This was nothing but a waste of time.
There was no longer any room for delay.
“Enter.”
They would have to enter the Labyrinth and settle this directly.
At the Black King’s command, black beasts poured forth like a tide toward the warp.
Living weapons—perfect life-forms.
Who could possibly stop them?
But it didn’t take long to realize that thought was wrong.
When even the Black King crossed the warp—
*Kyaaaah!*
*Grooooo—!*
A battlefield of destruction and screams spread before his eyes.
Blocking the advance of the black beasts was a group he found strangely familiar.
‘…The monsters of the North.’
Hah.
Did this mean the White King had already joined the battle?
Even so, the monsters of the North couldn’t defeat the black beasts.
Even the main forces would struggle.
And yet—
“…They’ve evolved.”
It seemed the White King had awakened the abilities of the White Tiger Clan.
He had dispersed that absolute power—one capable of evolving an entire species—to all of them.
Just as the Black King created the black beasts and granted them ‘Hidden Traits.’
That was the authority of the White Tiger Clan.
The White Tiger Clan and the Black Lion Clan had been natural enemies since birth.
But the White King was a fledgling.
Having lost his fang, and unable to fully awaken his abilities—he was only half-baked.
‘Interesting.’
Things were getting interesting.
Killing the White King—
He had worried it might be too dull.
But something was strange.
He had watched as the main forces formed a southern front and halted the advance.
It had been to evaluate the White King’s power and the strength of his main forces.
And at that time, their abilities had been below expectations.
Even the so-called ‘Death King’ of the Four Pillars had been unimpressive.
Their only merit had been that their souls matched ‘Despair.’
‘So the awakening of the White Tiger Clan’s authority must be recent.’
That made sense.
The Black King’s smile deepened.
Could newly awakened authority truly stop all of his perfected black beasts?
*Kraaaash!*
*Ruuuumble!*
At that moment—
A monster appeared, tearing everything apart.
A body made entirely of muscle, countless eyes embedded across its flesh.
The creature began slaughtering the black beasts the instant it appeared.
The Black King’s smile vanished the moment he saw it.
Naturally. Instinctively.
And his expression hardened into a deep scowl.
Because he knew exactly what it was.
“King of Extinction… Mork…?”
…The being hailed as the greatest perfected creation of the White Tiger Clan.
The monster known as the ultimate of its species.
The King of Extinction—Mork!
And yet…
Mork should not exist in this world.
Even awakening the White Tiger Clan’s authority would not be enough to create it.
And yet, the White King was wielding it?
The Black King bared his fangs.
And at that moment—
“It’s been a while, Black King.”
From afar, the White King appeared.
With gleaming white fur, and his lost fang restored.
“You coward…”
The Black King licked his lips.
The White King was a coward.
Except for one time, he had never shown himself before him.
And yet here he was, appearing of his own accord.
Did he believe he could win now?
“Are you going to beg and cry for mercy again, like before?”
After all, the White King had once lost to the Black King.
When the White Tiger Clan and the Black Lion Clan had last gone to war.
Before he had even become the White King.
Over a hundred years ago.
“…Let us end the war between the White Tiger Clan and the Black Lion Clan in our generation.”
“I said it then, and I’ll say it again. You are not fit to be the White King.”
“And you weren’t fit to be the Black King either.”
The White King briefly reflected on the past.
He hadn’t been born the White King.
He had been fearful since childhood.
He became known as an undefeated monarch only because he fought battles he knew he would win.
But if they were to speak purely of qualifications, the same applied to the Black King.
The White King shrugged.
“Besides… I’ve never lost to you, nor have I ever begged in tears. Wasn’t that *you*, Black King?”
“…It seems I’ll need to refresh your memory.”
*Shrrrrrk—*
The Black King’s entire body began to swell.
His form distorted, transforming into a four-legged beast.
The mana he radiated was incomparable to before.
And—
*Grrrrraaaak!*
The same was true for the White King.
At last, the colossal forms of a White Tiger and a Black Lion emerged.
Forms so powerful they had been sealed away.
Then, as if by unspoken agreement—
*Goooooo—*
*KRRRROOOAAAR!*
With thunderous roars, the two charged straight at each other.
