“Would you become my husband?”

At Serdea’s words, Alon blanked out for a moment.

And it was not just Alon.

The kings who had been quietly watching the situation also froze at the sudden marriage proposal.

Even Contanias and Airinna, who until just moments ago had been glaring at Alon with hatred, stiffened as though their minds could not keep up.

Yuman and Siyan, who had ties to Alon, as well as Palmarian and Karsemm, were all staring blankly as well.

And the one who broke that silence was—

Crk-kkk!

—the sound of something being crushed because it could not withstand the force gripping it.

“Ahem... I made a mistake.”

Soon after, Yutia bent down as though she had dropped something.

Even as he looked at her, Alon remained dazed, until—

“Do you not intend to answer?”

—Serdea pressed him again, and he finally came back to himself.

For a moment, the thought crossed his mind that this might be some kind of mischievous joke, but Alon quickly denied it.

Though there was a cool smile resting at the corners of her lips, there was no playfulness in her eyes.

So, after hesitating for a moment over how he was supposed to answer, Alon slowly opened his mouth.

“...Excuse me, but what exactly do you mean by that?”

Alon asked in case he had somehow misunderstood something.

But—

“Hm? Is there some other way my words could be taken? I mean exactly what I said.”

“If you mean it on the surface—”

“I mean you should become my husband. I’m proposing that we marry.”

A straight shot, without the slightest attempt to dress it up.

Serdea spoke as though she found Alon’s persistently expressionless reaction amusing.

“Hoh—how strange. Usually when I bring up something like this, people’s faces change all sorts of ways. But yours doesn’t.”

“...Were you joking?”

“No? I’m serious. I don’t particularly enjoy this kind of joke.”

At the sight of her speaking so firmly once again, Alon lost his words.

Honestly, he could not understand why Serdea was proposing marriage to him in the first place.

But as though she could see straight through his thoughts, she asked,

“Are you perhaps curious why I asked you to marry me?”

“...To be honest, I am.”

“It’s simple. Because I judged that if I were with you, I could truly become Emperor.”

Again, a blunt answer.

Soon, Serdea slowly stepped closer to Alon and reached a hand toward his cheekless face—

And in that moment—

Tap—

Serdea’s hand was blocked.

At the sudden interference, her gaze turned to the side.

What she saw there was—

“That seems a little rude, doesn’t it?”

Yutia, wearing a fresh smile that somehow gleamed with something chilling beneath it.

Serdea looked at Yutia indifferently, then slowly curved her lips into a smile.

“Hoh, is that so?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Well, what of it? Touching the face of the man who’ll soon become my husband may be a little embarrassing, but it’s hardly a serious matter, is it?”

“...You’re speaking as though the marriage is already decided.”

“Of course I am. It’s what I want. There’s no reason it wouldn’t happen.”

Serdea exuded absolute confidence.

It was not hard to understand why.

She was an imperial princess who ruled part of the Empire and one of the figures who could ascend to the imperial throne, so taking her in was no different from gaining all of that.

...Though considering her ambition, it did not seem likely that she would properly swallow the entire Empire whole.

“Regrettably, I don’t think Teacher likes Your Highness very much.”

“Don’t worry about that either. Time will solve that little by little.”

“No, that absolutely will not happen.”

As Yutia and Serdea continued exchanging words, the atmosphere gradually began to freeze over.

A tension that felt as though something might happen at any second.

And just as Alon was about to step in without meaning to—

Creeeak—

the door opened.

“Lord Alon, I would appreciate it if you followed me.”

At the sound of the mask’s voice—

“...I’ll be back.”

—Alon was able to remove himself from the scene naturally.

####

“So, you’ve come.”

How much time had passed since he started following the skull mask?

An old-fashioned wooden door came into view.

“You may go in.”

Following the mask’s guidance, Alon went inside alone.

And there—

“So, you’ve come.”

The Seeker was inside the room.

Sitting at a desk, he gestured with one hand toward the chair in front of him.

“...”

As soon as Alon sat down, the Seeker’s gaze clung heavily to his face.

Then—

“...I see.”

He let out a small sound as though he had realized something.

“What is it...?”

Alon asked back, but—

“No, it’s nothing. A thoroughly personal matter.”

The Seeker waved a hand dismissively, then looked at Alon as though he found him interesting.

“As I said earlier, I granted the lot of you possibility, and now I intend to give you the relics that will let you handle that possibility. Under normal circumstances, that is.”

“...Under normal circumstances?”

At Alon’s question, the Seeker nodded.

“Yes, under normal circumstances. But it doesn’t seem like you need my help.”

“...What do you mean by that?”

“You already have a means to stand against Divine blood, don’t you?”

“...”

As though he knew everything, the Seeker let out a shallow sigh and leaned back in his chair.

He seemed to consider something for a moment, then continued.

“So instead, I’ll tell you two things that should be of help to you.”

“...Something else?”

“Go to the temple at the far west.”

“The far west...”

“Yes. If you cross through imperial territory and reach the temple there—then you will probably gain the power you need. More precisely, the power to move on to the ‘next stage.’”

Alon’s eyes widened.

“If you mean the next stage—”

“I mean exactly that. You will obtain there the power to reach Rhythm.”

“-!”

“But be careful. If you fail to obtain that power, you’ll die.”

“...If I fail, I die?”

“Yes. But assuming you do not die and are able to move on to the next stage, then the only advice I can give you is—”

He spoke as though offering guidance.

“Keep thinking, endlessly, about what it is you need most.”

“What I need most.”

“Yes. And what comes from the end of that thought—”

The Seeker suddenly stopped speaking, then in the end shook his head in silence.

“No, that would be too much interference. And the other thing—go find the Divine blood in the west.”

At those words, Alon only felt puzzled for a moment before answering.

“...The dragon in the west?”

“Yes. Because the power of that bastard, the Father of Maggots, will be of use to you.”

While Alon sorted through the information—

“That’s all. There’s nothing more I can say ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) to you here.”

The Seeker ended the conversation.

It was an exchange that concluded far too quickly, and in an entirely different sense, almost emptily.

After falling into thought for a moment, Alon carefully spoke.

“...May I ask you something?”

“If it’s about the temple, there wouldn’t be much point in asking me. That’s all I can tell you.”

“It’s not that.”

“In that case—”

The Seeker shifted his eyes and glanced once at the clock hanging on one wall before answering.

“—I can allow about one question.”

Limited time.

Alon thought for a moment, then chose one.

“The power you put into the kings earlier... what was it?”

The power the Seeker had pressed into the kings.

It was neither magical power nor divine power.

He wanted to know what it really was.

“I already told you, didn’t I? It was the power of ‘possibility.’”

“...The power of possibility?”

“Yes. Nothing more, and nothing less... Ah, though I suppose I can express it in one other way.”

After taking a brief breath, the Seeker spoke his final words.

“The power of Monster blood.”

####

Calmly.

The Divine blood group that had formed in the Allied Kingdoms, Star Root, had by now grown considerably in size.

Of course, even then their number had not yet reached fifteen, but for Divine blood, unless they belonged to one of the major factions, it was difficult even to gather in those numbers, so it could effectively be called growth.

And recently, through the clone ability of one of the Divine blood who had been recruited into Star Root(?), a secret meeting was held in an underground hideout beneath a certain city.

A somewhat heavy atmosphere filled the place.

““...””

No, strictly speaking, this was not a meeting of all the Divine blood in Star Root.

The ones attending this underground gathering were the five Divine blood—including the Darkness-Eating Sword—who had witnessed the greatsword the last time they went to the Divine Land.

The Darkness-Eating Sword spoke in a grave voice.

[...So what we need is a decisive move...]

They had already witnessed Alon’s abilities with their own eyes.

The talk about the Star Eater’s abilities being fake or not had never been baseless chatter.

They knew why the Burned Vegetation had gone so far as to create a group called Star Root.

There was only one reason.

To appeal to the Star Eater.

The Star Eater did not want others to know that he was Divine blood.

And so the Divine blood created Star Root, trying to block other Divine blood while appealing that they themselves were not enemies, all while building merit at the same time.

The Divine blood gathered here judged that the Burned Vegetation’s choice had not been a bad one.

If they could not reveal themselves directly and appeal to the Star Eater, then acting this way was effective too.

But the reason everyone gathered here looked so serious was the order.

These were Divine blood who had joined Star Root late.

Which meant that when the time finally came for the Star Eater to bestow power—

assuming the worst, they might not receive any power at all, or might have to wait an extremely long time.

That was news no one could possibly welcome.

[...So, to get to the point, you’re saying we have to compete with the earlier members, including the Burned Vegetation.]

[That’s right. If things continue as they are, we’ll have no choice but to receive that person’s power later than the others.]

That was what they were troubled over.

[...But it doesn’t seem like there’s much we can do at this point.]

[I agree. No matter how we act, it looks difficult to build greater achievements than those who came before us.]

[...That’s certainly true. Even if we bring in other Divine blood, the Burned Vegetation will take the credit for it.]

Various opinions poured out.

But with no real breakthrough in sight, worry was beginning to settle over the faces of the Divine blood when—

[...There is one way.]

The Darkness-Eating Sword, who had remained silent until then, finally offered a direction.

[...What is it?]

Curiosity lit up in the eyes of the other Divine blood.

Feeling their gazes on him, the Darkness-Eating Sword said,

[If we can’t catch up by ordinary means, then we simply need to make a move so great that anyone looking at it would have to acknowledge it.]

[A great move?]

[Yes.]

With a look of firm resolve—

[...The Star Eater probably knows who’s been sending Divine blood here.]

—that was what he said.

The Divine blood, who had been wearing confused expressions, all suddenly looked shocked.

[...Surely not...!]

[The Father of Maggots?]

[...Certainly, if it’s the Father of Maggots—]

[I see—]

Thinking of a single being, they all began murmuring at once.

[...This is an opportunity. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to leave a clear impression on that person.]

The Darkness-Eating Sword drove the point home.

It did not take very long for the hesitant Divine blood to begin nodding firmly.