593
Chapter 593
At Zeke's single word, King Notales and the nobles gulped nervously.
Normally, they would have angrily ordered executioners to drag away anyone who spoke so disrespectfully, but they were too overwhelmed by his pressure to speak.
King Notales especially trembled from head to toe after meeting Zeke's eyes, looking ready to collapse.
He wore an expression of disbelief seeing the blood eye shining clearly on Zeke's forehead.
'C-could it be a blood eye? How is this possible?'
None of Tantra's sacred bloods possessed a blood eye as clear as Zeke's.
Moreover, Zeke's blood eye held such powerful force it could be felt even from a distance.
As King Notales and the nobles stood frozen, unable to act, Saruhan shouted from the side.
"The rightful heir of Shambhala! Successor to the Blood King's name! Our true master commands you to kneel!"
He glared threateningly at King Notales and the nobles as he yelled.
"The great Blood King has arrived in the kingdom! Kneel immediately!"
At Saruhan's cry, some younger nobles awkwardly knelt.
But King Notales tensed his body, furrowed his brow, and glared at Saruhan.
"Saruhan, what do you think you're doing as captain of the royal guard?"
To his words, Saruhan responded with a fierce expression.
"False king. Tantra now welcomes its true master, so put down your crown immediately and beg the Blood King for mercy."
Notales's face contorted at being called a false king by Saruhan.
Forcefully ignoring the power emanating from Zeke, he shouted.
"You bring some convincing impostor here and spout nonsense! You'll pay the price for insulting the great king of Tantra!"
TSTSTSTS!
Suddenly a blood eye began to appear on King Notales's forehead.
When the power of the Three-Eyes manifested from his blood eye, not only the low-ranking dancers and servants but even the high nobles trembled and knelt before him.
The power of the Three-Eyes could subjugate not just the mind but also the soul of beings in its sight once in view, escaping its will was impossible.
But Zeke's gaze remained completely unchanged as he looked at King Notales.
'This can't be…?'
He tried to exert stronger power to penetrate Zeke's mind.
TSTSTSTS!
Then the red blood eye on Zeke's forehead shone even more intensely and shot red energy toward Notales's blood eye.
CHIIIIIK!
King Notales's blood eye began burning as it took the red energy head-on from Zeke's blood eye.
"AAAAARGH!"
King Notales collapsed and rolled on the ground in pain that felt like his brain was burning.
At the same time, he felt his mind being thoroughly dissected.
Zeke's blood eye was examining his entire being.
"N-no! Get away! Get away!"
King Notales was completely subdued by Zeke's blood eye, his mind and soul conquered.
"UUUUGH..."
Shortly after, King Notales became a complete idiot, drooling with unfocused eyes and a blood eye-shaped scar on his forehead.
Behind Zeke, Saruhan broke into a cold sweat seeing Notales subdued by Zeke before he could even properly use his power.
'To suppress the king's blood eye in an instant...'
The reason Notales could become king of Tantra was because his power was stronger than anyone else in the kingdom.
No Three-Eyed clan member could escape the range of his power once they met his blood eye.
Yet Zeke had crushed King Notales's power in an instant.
Zeke slowly walked toward the great hall and sat on the empty throne.
Sitting on the throne looking down at the great hall, the title of ruler suited him better than anyone.
Zeke spoke to Saruhan.
"Summon all the kingdom's high-ranking nobles immediately."
He spoke with cold eyes.
"Tell them a new king has arrived."
* * *
DUDUDUDU!
Armed soldiers and sorcerers gathered in front of the Tantra palace.
They were the kingdom's prominent high-ranking nobles and their private armies.
The sacred blood nobles had brought their private soldiers to execute the one who seized the palace and called himself the 'new king'.
Thousands of troops quickly gathered in front of the palace.
The sacred blood nobles moved their forces from behind and entered the palace.
CHUK! CHUK! CHUK! CHUK!
The nobles expected the usurper to close the palace gates and prepare for a siege.
But surprisingly, all the palace doors were wide open.
Tosabid, head of the Arakji clan which held the most power among the sacred blood nobles, led his forces into the palace with furrowed brows.
'A usurper who subdued King Notales and became the new king.'
How he killed King Notales and usurped the throne remained unknown. Though the situation clearly called for caution, Tosabid saw it as an opportunity.
King Notales came from a rival family, putting Tosabid at a disadvantage in power struggles. But now that the usurper had removed Notales, he could use this to install a new king.
'The question is how he ambushed King Notales. Perhaps he struck while the king was intoxicated. Regardless, this many troops should be enough to subdue him whatever method he used.'
He envisioned the future ahead.
'If the Arakji clan installs a new king... I could control Tantra kingdom.'
Though Tantra was a secret kingdom in the Eternal Mountains, they monopolized rare resources and enslaved other mountain races, allowing nobles to live in luxury.
While lower ranks battled monsters daily, it was paradise for upper nobles who sought to maintain this order.
And at the pinnacle was the king.
Then suddenly…
"What's that?"
A black figure floated in the air, slowly descending toward Tosabid's forces.
THUD!
It was a bizarre being with four arms that landed in the palace square.
As Tantra's forces hesitated before Caligula, his three eyes began glowing red.
TSTSTSTS!
Though now a shadow guardian, Caligula was originally the Blood King who ruled the Three-Eyed clan.
When he exerted his blood eye power, blood eyes appeared on the nobles' and soldiers' foreheads.
"AAAARGH!"
The stronger nobles' blood eyes reacted more violently to Caligula's power.
Tosabid screamed in brain-burning agony, falling from his elephant.
THWACK!
His dislocated shoulder was nothing compared to his burning mind.
Other sacred bloods also writhed in pain. Lower-ranked soldiers suffered less but remained frozen in chaos without orders.
Then someone slowly emerged from the palace.
KUGUGUGUGU!
The absolute ruler approached, walking on a path of shadows while wrapped in Shadow Armor.
It was Zeke.
Even Caligula, emitting tremendous blood eye power, respectfully stepped aside as Zeke approached.
When Zeke raised his hand, Caligula closed his blood eyes.
TSTSTSTS!
The red eye patterns on their foreheads faded along with the burning pain.
The sacred blood nobles finally regained their senses and faced Zeke standing before Caligula.
Seeing the blood eye shining on Zeke's forehead, they realized their grave mistake.
'Not a mere usurper. He is...'
'The true king.'
'Heir of Shambhala.'
The vast Blood King's power emanating from Zeke was enough to instantly subjugate them.
The sacred blood nobles all knelt and bowed before Zeke.
"We greet the great Blood King!"
"Our true master!"
"Forgive our insolence!"
Zeke gazed at Tantra's nobles with calm eyes. His mere gaze was enough to make them all swear loyalty.
Watching this, Zeke was once again impressed by Blood King Caligula's power.
'To influence even his descendants after thousands of years.'
I understood how deeply rooted the power of the Third Eye was.
Zeke ordered the highest-ranking blood noble among those kneeling to approach.
He was Tosabid of the Arakji family, the most powerful clan, and he immediately approached Zeke's side.
"You called for me, my king."
Sitting on a throne made of shadows, Zeke looked at the great army kneeling in the plaza and asked Tosabid.
"Is it possible to install magical arrays for external communication or portal transportation?"
Tosabid made a troubled expression at Zeke's words.
"I apologize, my king. Though we have power passed down from ancient times, what you speak of is beyond our abilities."
While it was possible to deploy exceptional magical arrays using mandala, they seemed unfamiliar with the central continent's magic system.
'This is problematic since communication itself isn't easy in such an isolated place.'
Whether by chance or some arrangement unknown to Zeke, he had managed to subjugate the Tantra Kingdom while here, but there was no reason to waste more time in this place.
Eventually he needed to move to the central continent, but the problem was that system portals couldn't be used in the Eternal Mountains.
While system portals that could be used with karma points were a highly convenient function, their operational area was limited, so it seemed they would need to go outside the Eternal Mountains to reach the territory of the Muruk Empire.
Zeke looked at Tosabid and asked.
"Is this all of Tantra's military force?"
To those words, Tosabid shook his head and said.
"Those gathered here are the private soldiers of the blood noble families. There are border defense troops and central standing army that exist."
"Does the central army's job involve eliminating magical beasts that invade the kingdom?"
"While that's mainly true, preparing for conflicts with foreign enemies is a bigger aspect, my king."
Zeke turned his head at Tosabid's words.
"By foreign enemies, do you mean the Muruk Empire?"
"No, my king. Within the Eternal Mountains, there are other races living in groups besides the Tantra Kingdom."
"Other races. Are you saying you're having territorial disputes with them?"
"They sometimes invade the farms managed by the kingdom to steal food, and sometimes they kidnap slaves, leading to occasional battles."
Listening to Tosabid's words, Zeke could understand how the inner Eternal Mountains were structured.
'It seems the Third Eye clan of the Tantra Kingdom is at the top of the food chain. They're using other races as slaves. And there are races that rebel against such a system.'
The Tantra Kingdom operated by dividing classes through blood quality, while treating outside races like livestock and forcing them into hard labor.
Zeke looked at Tosabid and said.
"So you joined hands with outside dark mages to maintain this system of control."
Tosabid's expression darkened at Zeke's words.
In reality, the Tantra Kingdom had joined hands with the Abyss to dominate other races and solidify their privileged system.
They helped open gates in the Eternal Mountains, and used the magical beasts under their control to secure the safety of farming areas.
Additionally, they used the power of the Abyss to suppress other races who rebelled against them by force.
For weaker minor races, they had no choice but to continue their lives working in the farms these people had created.
Given this situation, Zeke intended to completely change Tantra's thoroughly corrupted structural system at once.
He turned from Tosabid and opened his mouth towards the front.
【I declare myself as the true master of Shambhala.】
Zeke's voice, resonating with a buzz in their minds, spread beyond the plaza throughout the entire kingdom.
【As of today, the bloodline system of the Tantra Kingdom is abolished.】