"I killed her!" Stynx hollered dejectedly upon bursting open the double doors of the throne room.
Cassius regarded the juvenile drearily from atop his perch, his jaw pressed against his knuckles.
"M-My mother," Stynx continued while gazing down at his trembling hands. "I-I killed her. I-I didn't mean—it was an accident. I would never—"
The flustered youth glanced up at the chancellor for pity, reassurance, forgiveness—anything, but the gleam that lit the man's eyes was sheer and unmistakable disdain.
"That's quite alright," Cassius responded stoically. "That insufferable woman was merely a pawn who didn't even remotely live up to expectations. As far as me or anyone else is concerned, you did the world a favor by disposing of that filth."
The words were sharp, cold, and sobering.
If this man was anyone else—the Mhaledictus excluded—Stynx might have gone off like a bomb to defend his deranged and deceased mother, but instead he chose to grovel.
Following the weak and unsightly manner in which he entered the room just now, he had to try and regain even a modicum of respect and favor.
"T‑There is information that will surely be of use to you, Your Eminence," he said, dropping to one knee. "It concerns Lumielle—she yet lives, and she is presently moving about within the city."
Stynx glanced up with a smog smile, confident this new revelation had earned him instant prestige. But instead of glee, the chancellor's jaw was still resting against his jaw, his expression still very much neutral.
If anything, he had grown even more annoyed.
Stynx frowned. Did he… already know?
"You and your pitiful excuse for a mother appear to share a single brain cell between the both of you," Cassius spat derisively. "You've utterly failed to gain any kind of leverage—or even earn the slightest favor from the dignitaries."
Distraught, Stynx's eyes wandered the room as his mind reeled for a solution to his sudden fall from grace. But what he found instead was the bloody remains of Vaerythos on the floor.
"You're completely useless, and like your wretched mother, utterly expendable," said Cassius in a tone of finality.
But Stynx had found his solution the moment he spied the fresh corpse on the cold stone floor. The chancellor's words merely exacerbated what would come next.
A desperate act of survival.
"ARGGHHH!"
A guttural, twisted roar ripped from Stynx's throat. At the same instant, torrents of fire burst from both palms, crashing against the throne like waves smashing into jagged cliffs.
Suddenly, ego had shifted to an urgent sense of self-preservation.
Vengeance?
Confirming the kill?
Stynx didn't care about any of that—all that mattered was escaping this place. And, if he had to be completely honest, he had a gut feeling Cassius was still very much alive.
With his chest heaving and his lungs burning for air, Stynx turned on his heels to flee, hyperaware that the man's loyal hound could retaliate at any moment.
Suddenly, as predicted, there was retaliation… just not the type he was expecting, nor was it from the anticipated assailant.
"BOUAGHHHH!"
Without warning, Vaerythos lunged from the pool of blood that, up until moments ago, had served as his deathbed. Gone was the man's once cool and collected aura.
Now he was a fiend—a feral, grotesque creature that mindlessly galloped on all fours. A vertical maw stretched from his face all the way down to his abdomen, splitting open to reveal rows of jagged, saliva-slicked teeth.
Stynx screamed in sheer terror as the creature's monstrous jaws clamped down on a leg, tearing it away from the knee with brutal force.
Panic etched across his face, he scrambled backward, leaving a trail of blood in his wake while the fiend calmly savored its gruesome prize.
Before it could even swallow, the beast's gaze snapped upward, fixating greedily on the remaining leg. The struggling prey only fueled its hunger.
But before it could strike again, a silvery blur shot through the air, delivering a roundhouse kick that sent the fiend hurtling across the room and smashing into the wall with a satisfying crunch.
"I've probably said this before," the assailant muttered, "but the workplace safety for lackeys really leaves a lot to be desired."
"…Sophia Everwinter," Cassius said coolly as the knight commander dispelled the flames with his sword. "…Or should I say, Haxks Starfrost."
In the same instant, a brilliant white light enveloped Daisuke, fading to reveal his body shifting seamlessly from female to male.
"You," Stynx hissed through his teeth and the searing pain.
He wanted to give the bastard a piece of his mind and several good hits in the face. But all he could manage at the moment was applying pressure to his wound to slow the bleeding, and even that was becoming increasingly difficult.
Daisuke spared him a pitying gaze. "You're human garbage, but I don't think you deserve to die like this."
"On the contrary," Cassius interjected. "He deserves that and so much more."
Stynx sneered in response.
"After proving his utter uselessness time and time again, I've decided to blackmail him as the one who killed Vaerythos."
He gestured to the marquess's corpse at the far end of the room. Daisuke also noted a motionless young woman nearby, as well.
"A public trial and execution would certainly be entertaining," Cassius mused. "I'd relish watching the moment the fame and reverence he so painstakingly cultivated collapse before his eyes. But alas, unforeseen circumstances require his immediate death—one I will, of course, attribute to the Absolution Guild you and Princess Lumielle so conveniently orchestrated."
Daisuke frowned.
"You bastard!" Stynx snapped, ignoring the excruciating pain. "I'll fucking kill you! If it's the last thing I—"
"By all means," Cassius invited mockingly. "Why don't you stroll on up here and put a dagger through my heart."
Stynx glanced down at his stump of a leg and snarled menacingly.
"Once every nuisance has been dealt with—Lumielle included—I'll leave Reneal on the throne as this kingdom's ruler and my personal puppet. His newfound talent for rallying and manipulating the masses will be useful. And if he ever proves difficult to control, he'll be erased just as swiftly."
"Again… incredibly bad workplace ethics," Daisuke quipped before shifting his gaze to the rigid canine at his feet. "Zephyr," he gestured with a vial of potion in hand. "You mind taking this to—"
His words trailed off.
Zephyr's attention was entirely fixated elsewhere—far beyond the stone walls of the castle. His hackles were raised, his eyes a mixture of anxiety and fury.
"Boy? Is someone a matter?" Daisuke asked in an attempt to perceive the wolf's distress. "What is it? What's wrong?"
Without sparing so much as a glance back, the canine activated Extreme Speed and hurled himself through a nearby window. The shriek of air being torn apart by something massive swallowed the sound of shattering glass as he burst through.
"Zephyr!" Daisuke bellowed, disbelief flooding his voice as his comrade abandoned him at the most critical moment—after weeks of meticulous planning.
In the next instant—as if on cue—Cassius snapped his fingers and roughly a dozen men clad in black appeared in the chamber, their eyes fixed on the silver-haired threat.
"What a shame," the mastermind drawled, crossing his legs with a cool smile. "It was foolish enough to confront me with such a small force in my own domain—but to then have your only companion abandon you? Ha-ha."
The man frowned, all amusement suddenly gone. "I've been told that you're strong, but personally, I think your odds of making it out of this chamber alive is zilch. You're going to suffer the same fate as that insufferable piece of filth staining the floor."
Taking that as their cue, the masked men slowly began to close in, weapons raised and glinting as they were brought to bear on their enemy.
With a stoic expression, Daisuke asked. "Before you tear me limb from limb, humor me this… why did you choose this kingdom? Why now?"
Cassius searched his gaze and found no trace of hope or resistance there. With a gleeful smile, he raised his hand in a silent command and his soldiers halted in their tracks, even the Knight Commander lowered his hefty sword.
"…The Mhaledictus has always been cautious and incredibly methodical in their actions," the man began haughtily, regarding the lost soul over the high bridge of his nose.
"So we've realized," Daisuke murmured.
"For years, we operated the same way—setting up camp in towns and cities, working in the shadows, greasing the palms of local officials and law enforcement to stay untouchable. But this time was different. Our power and influence had grown too great to remain content with petty schemes. We wanted something bolder. Something grander.
This kingdom was the perfect target. It was young, unstable—and its king had grown weak and careless."
Daisuke frowned. "Sure—that much is obvious, but how did you manage to infiltrate? Despite its shortcomings, this city's still a well-protected fortress."
The man smirked, triumph glinting in his eyes. "Along with a small band of loyalists, I was dispatched here some time ago. Through our connections, arrangements were made for General Varrick Merrowind to strongly recommend me as his assistant.
From there, we carefully engineered a series of crises—each one crafted so that I alone appeared capable of resolving them. With every solution, I earned more trust, more influence. Favor came swiftly, promotions even more so.
And in the end," he continued smoothly, "I claimed the role of chancellor—the king's right hand, his most trusted adviser."
In the midst of the private and rather one-sided conversation, a cloaked drone perched in a corner of the ceiling, silently observing and recording everything unfolding in the chamber.
[FinalFormSoon™: That slimy bastard!
TrashTierHero: A random live from our favorite guy? Well, don't mind if I do 😝
SleepDeprivedGrinder: Wait—isn't that Haxks surrounded by a bunch of ninja-looking dudes?? What's going on here?
Skibidi_Latrine: Context?
Nigel: Well… that's kinda the throne room of the Arcanium Kingdom, where Haxks is in the middle of stopping a coup.
But more importantly, the goal of this stream was to give everyone a glimpse into Haxks' daily life—hopefully to earn him a little sympathy and some slack. But yeah… I think my horrible timing may have just made things worse.
LootOrDieTrying: No shit, Sherlock! If I wasn't interested in Haxks before, I sure as hell am now. Because, no matter how you look at it, that's definitely a Main Quest.
Poopie-Wuppie: Oops 🤪
RadiantKnight: If I'm not mistaken, Haxks is the first player to ever enter that castle. There's no quest history posted anywhere on the community forums 🤷
LookAtMyDinkidoo: Already rallying my guild. The fallout from this quest is gonna to be lit! Even the freakin' scraps are gonna be legendary. I'll be there to reap the gains.
PlotTwistIncoming: Do you guys even realize how dangerous the Mhaledictus are?? If you're smart, you'd give up on this one. Haxks is toast 🙅♀️
A$$butt: Speak for yourself. Am about to haul ass over there right now 🤑
Mamma-Mia: If those evil sons a bxtch3s have really taken over the capital and Haxks is there to stop them, then that's definitely one of the elusive Main Quests… and I want in!]
Hidden in a secure location beyond the castle walls, Nigel nervously bit his fingernail, torn between frustration and dread at what Haxks Starfrost might do if he discovered that his location had been exposed to the entire gaming community.
It wasn't long, however, before he found himself drawn back into the unfolding conversation in the throne room.