The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 733  Depths of Truth

Once the coronation was over, Ahmad took Karlʼs hand and used an air spell to deposit them both, along with Overlords Othello and Niall, in front of the throne.

A few other Overlords were in attendance, and they were filling the path to the throne behind them, while everyone else waited for their turn.

{Take out your gift for the King. You did make one, right? Not just something for me?} Ahmad asked with a System message.

{Yes, I made him a custom bracelet with Trollish Regeneration on it and some warrior buffs.}

Ahmad was the first to the throne, where he refrained from taking a knee, but bowed deeply before the King.

”Your Majesty, on behalf of the Elites, I present Monarch Karl with a custom crafted gift to begin your reign.”

Oh, that was devious. It saved the rest of the Elites from needing to turn over a particularly valuable gift of their own. They could rely on the one given on behalf of the Elites as a group. Karl moved forward at the Totemʼs direction and bowed in the military manner, left knee down so that he could easily get at his blade if necessary. Not that he was openly wearing a weapon. There was no need with an Inventory.

Karl held out the bracelet on a small black pillow that got nearly as much attention as the actual gift. Rae had made it of her silk, and it was a precious treasure on its own.

But once he saw the bracelet on the pillow, the new Kingʼs eyes went wide, and he quickly picked it up to place it on his wrist.

That wasnʼt protocol, he should have recognized the gift, and then had a maid place it to the side. But King Axel surged with power as he put it on and [Trollish Regeneration] took effect, along with the other buffs that Karl had put on the item.

”This is a most wonderful gift. The Crown thanks the Elites for their generosity.”

Then he motioned for a maid to take the pillow, and Karl hid his smile.

They were giving him two gifts today, it seemed.

The four of them stepped aside, and Karl noted the relief on the faces of a number of Overlords behind him. Now they only needed to give something worthy of being a personal gift to the King, a much lower standard than trying to come up with something that would be noticed and prove goodwill from King Axelʼs fellow Elites.

Mostly, they were giving him dungeon gold and magical gems. A practical gift to help rebuild the Royal City of Wenmouth.

Such gifts were considered a standard form of goodwill, and the city was going to need a lot of them. But Karl did notice a few of the mages had scrolls in their hands.

{Work Pledges. They are volunteering to help rebuild the city with Earth Magic. Those are mostly mages who have a link to the city.} Ahmad explained with a System Message as he led Karl away.

Karl gestured to the other members of the team that he was fine, and then asked Rae and Thor to hand out treasures to the others to give to the King.

Rae made small bags and pillows, since the King liked the pillows so much. By the time they were all done, he would have a whole pile of them for his bed.

Ahmad led Karl to an extremely fancy suite not far from his own, then dismissed all the maids and put four layers of barriers over the room.

Karl double-checked it with Soul Sight, and with all of his various vision abilities.

”It appears clear to me. I donʼt sense anything living within your barriers.” Karl explained.

Ahmad nodded in relief, then sighed as he sat down.

”Well, I suppose that I should start from the beginning of this shit show. First off, the King was assassinated by one of his brothers. But what the idiot didnʼt know was that the magical device he obtained wasnʼt targeted, and it killed everyone in the room. No, thatʼs not the start. Recent events in the war with the Giants have raised concerns in the other nations of the Continent. Firstly, because the Archbishopʼs power is beginning to fade. There is a successor among the bishops who is likely to gain enlightenment soon, but possibly not soon enough. So, the other nations all saw that as an opportunity to split our territory between them.

Strangely, Newbon and the Divine Beast Nation sat it out, but there were forces from every other nation in the Capital. All three Giant Nations, every human nation, even a few Overlord Rank Divine Beasts from the Wilds came to join the chaos and attempt to claim parts of the south as their own afterwards.

It was my Ascension that prevented the complete collapse. The other Totems didnʼt dare to push their luck when I was here alongside the Archbishop. No matter how bad his health is, heʼs not dead yet, and between us, weʼre one of the strongest forces on the continent.

But on a more personal note, I donʼt think you are aware just how much danger you were in.”

Karl waited to see if Ahmad would continue, then explained what he knew.

”I was informed by Overlord Niall that there was a rather large bounty on my head. I personally dealt with a total of four Overlords from two different forces who had come for me.”

Ahmad nodded. ”And that is the root of the problem. Your powers are viewed as too great of a threat to be allowed to roam free. I donʼt know how, but it has become common knowledge among the Totems that you have the ability to elevate a skill above your Rank.

When you hit Overlord, that means you will have a chance to elevate a skill to the Totem Rank. And they are not willing to allow that to happen. If you could threaten the Totems, that would be as good as a third Totem in the Golden Dragon Nation, and nothing short of a declaration of war in the minds of the other nations.

You see, there is a reason that each nation only has a few Overlords and a single Totem, two at most.

When blessed ones, the ones that can threaten the balance of power, are found on this continent, they are either killed or exiled.

That is what the Totems are demanding now. That you are sent off the continent, or that I turn you over to them for execution.

Obviously, that second option isnʼt going to happen, but keeping you active on the battlefield will not be an option either.

Now, I get what the Archbishop was hoping for, that you would advance quickly enough to replace him. But now that I have advanced, with a strong likelihood that a new Archbishop will advance when the old one passes, the timeline doesnʼt work.

But the two nations most likely to take you in also already have two Totems a piece. Newbon and the Divine Beast Nation both suggested that you be transferred to them, as an alternate solution.”

Karl needed a few minutes to take that in.

The Archbishop wasnʼt really a people person, and he was somewhat aloof. But the Church had always sent Karl to wherever the greatest opportunity was, and now the reasoning began to make sense.

The Church knew there was a chance that every other nation would team up to try to kill him, but if he gained power fast enough, he could be protected until he was the Golden Dragon Nationʼs next totem.

But that had relied on the Archbishop being the only totem in the nation. Now that there was a thirty-year-old mage at the Totem Rank, with a century of likely good health in front of him, things were different.

Nobody was willing to risk the Golden Dragon Nation gaining an expansionist mindset with the power to back it up.