CHAPTER 108: CHAPTER 108 - A KING’S SEAL AND A THEATER OF SHADOWS

Chapter 108 - A King’s Seal and a Theater of Shadows

BOOOM!

CRASH!

Adonis clenched his jaw and bit down hard on his lip as he looked toward the men chasing them.

Familiar gear.

That cold, chilling stare...

There was no way he wouldn’t recognize that face.

In fact, anyone living in this world would know it instantly.

"Kyle... from Exodia 1?!"

But that man — that thing — was supposed to be locked in battle with Black Dragon Arman right now.

And there were two of them.

No one had ever heard of that.

Ruuuuumble...!

"Captain! Another one just appeared!"

"...You’ve got to be kidding me!!"

Backed into a corner, the group had fled into the worst possible place —

A sealed-off movie theater inside BeyTower.

With a massive screen behind them, Adonis’s unit huddled together, being pursued by three different Kyles converging on them.

"Isn’t Mr. Kyle supposed to be one of us? An ally?"

"...Give it up. Does that look like the real Mr. Kyle to you?"

"No, but... he was supposed to be fighting Arman ..."

"And yet he’s attacking us right now."

Why was Kyle attacking them?

It wasn’t hard to guess.

They had experienced the transformation of BeyWorld firsthand — and they knew the biggest change that had occurred.

The Parasite Beasts had already taken complete control of BeyWorld.

The truth was, this Kyle was never the real Kyle.

Just like Arman — he was a fake. A monster.

A monster made of the same stuff.

He’d stopped attacking players temporarily because his traits were tuned to "monster hunting"...

But this was a different story.

All the other monsters were already gone.

Did anyone really think Kyle wouldn’t start PK-ing if nothing else was left to kill?

With no monsters remaining, he’d naturally start targeting players.

"Don’t be afraid, everyone.

No matter what, he’s still just a level-100-range monster."

Adonis tightened his grip around his sword and rallied his trembling team members.

It wasn’t time to give up.

Even if the enemy was "Kyle," his level was hovering just around 100.

They could win.

After all, Adonis himself was an old hand — a veteran from the early days.

"Everyone... prepare for combat!"

What other choice did they have?

If they didn’t fight and win, the only outcome left was death.

There was no room for hesitation.

Just then —

One of the side doors swung open.

And in walked a reassuring ally.

Millie, her pistol already preheated with magic rounds.

She positioned herself beside Adonis , locking her aim on the approaching Kyles.

"I’m not too late, am I?"

"...No. You’re right on time!"

But the three Kyles — approaching from three different directions —

Only smiled eerily like grim reapers, their grins stretched wide across their faces.

"Kiiiiii-ik!!"

"...Hmmmmm."

Jhin rested his chin on his hand, deep in thought.

So this is the true nature of BeyWorld.

He had wondered why this strange place existed.

And now that he finally had the answers, he realized they were far more tangled and complex than he expected.

Pierrot...

Even now, a question still lingered.

Putting aside the fact that the clown had the Goblin Orb in the first place —

Why hadn’t he just proceeded directly with the dungeoning process?

Normally, monsters that triggered dungeonization were compelled to focus on just that.

That was how it always worked.

But Pierrot was different.

He was an exception.

Why?

...Could he be intelligent?

It was a wild theory.

Dungeon bosses — especially during the early stages of an open-world — were never intelligent.

They were driven purely by instinct to complete the dungeonization.

That was their only role.

F-grade dungeon bosses shouldn’t even be capable of thought.

That was the balance system of Exodia.

But Pierrot had deliberately suppressed the dungeonization.

He turned humans into dolls, and began managing the space himself.

He definitely had intelligence.

This isn’t like Exodia 1.

Suddenly, Jhin recalled the "Bermuda Zones" scattered around New Capital.

He didn’t know for sure, but they probably weren’t all that different from this place.

...Just what is happening in the world?

He bit down on his lower lip, shaking the thoughts away.

There was no end to it — no use wondering about problems three steps ahead.

Right now, he had more immediate business to deal with.

"First, become the owner of the Goblin Orb," he recalled.

Jhin looked down at the Goblin Orb, lying silently before him.

The murky crystal had lost its light. It no longer had a master.

The King’s Seal...

Luckily, Jhin knew how to engrave equipment with the goblin’s power.

Stab!

He pulled a spine from Scarecrow’s Thorn Gauntlet and made a small cut across his palm.

Scarlet blood welled up in his hand and dripped down —

Drip. Drip.

Each drop struck the Goblin Orb.

The cloudy crystal slowly began to turn red.

The blood soaked in — and suddenly, an overwhelming burst of light erupted, bright enough to blind him.

[Title ’King of the Goblins’ confirmed.]

[Beginning ’King’s Seal’.]

[3... 2... 1... 0.]

[’Goblin Orb’ has been engraved.]

[Due to the ’King’s Seal,’ the Goblin Orb has returned to its true form.]

The crystal — previously the size of a watermelon — began to shrink.

Soon, it transformed into a ring, a brilliant orb embedded in its center.

[You have acquired the ’Ring of the Goblin King’.]

Only now did Jhin fully understand why Lykan had insisted that acquiring the Goblin Orb was necessary to elevate the "dignity of the King."

The King of the Goblins.

It turned out that when someone bearing that title engraved equipment, it transformed into exclusive, king-bound gear.

Looking down at the now-manifested Ring of the Goblin King, Jhin examined its embedded abilities.

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