Chapter 27: The Throne and the Hairball
Grokemon's POV – The Hall of Sun-Kings
Host Status: 95% Anxiety, 5% Cleanliness.
Armor Integrity: 100% (Thanks to the royal servants who scrubbed the grease out of your soul).
Alert: The atmosphere in this room is heavy enough to crush a tin can. Recommendation: Start praying.
Saferu stood at the center of the obsidian hall, looking more like a noble than a vagrant. The servants had spent hours prepping him—steam-pressing his clothes, trimming his hair, and ensuring not a single trace of Bicol Express remained on his collar. He looked sharp, but inside, his nerves were a frayed mess.
At the end of the hall, King Leonidas sat on a throne that seemed to radiate heat. He was a mountain of gold and muscle, staring down at Saferu with the eyes of a predator who had already decided how his prey would taste.
As Saferu and Mirae reached the halfway point, a sound echoed through the silent, majestic hall.
"Hrrk... hrrk... hrrk-ACK!"
The King of all Beastmen suddenly leaned forward, his massive chest heaving. With a final, violent shudder, he spat a wet, grey, grapefruit-sized mass onto the pristine marble floor.
It was a hairball. A royal, golden-furred hairball.
The silence that followed was deafening. The guards remained like statues. The King wiped his mouth with a silk cloth the size of a tapestry, his expression never shifting from one of absolute authority.
"Step forward, Fool," Leonidas rumbled, his voice like grinding tectonic plates. "Lyra says you are a beacon for the Queen. I say you are a variable I have yet to solve. I don't like unsolved equations in my kingdom."
The King snapped his fingers.
A massive iron gate at the side of the room groaned open. From the darkness, a Shadow Hound emerged. It was a creature of liquid nightmare—it didn't just walk; it seemed to spill across the floor, its form shifting between a gaunt wolf and a jagged, multi-limbed monstrosity. As it entered the light, it let out a roar that vibrated in Saferu's teeth. It was a Greater Echo, a pure manifestation of the forest's hunger.
"The trial is simple," Leonidas said, leaning his chin on his hand. "If you are her master, the beast will submit. If you are her puppet, it will devour you. Either way, the truth will be revealed."
"Host, defensive protocols engaged!" I shouted in his mind. "This thing is a Tier-5 Echo. You are currently a Tier-1 Meatbag. Motion sensors are redlining!"
The Hound lunged.
"Blink!" Saferu screamed.
He used the skill he'd practiced with the rabbits, his body flickering and reappearing five feet to the left. The Hound's claws shattered the marble where he had stood. Saferu's heart was hammering against his ribs. He had to fight. He had to survive.
"Blue Chains!"
Saferu threw his hands forward. Shimmering, ethereal blue chains—the manifestation of his internal 'System'—erupted from his palms, wrapping around the Hound's throat and legs. The beast thrashed, the chains glowing brighter as they sizzled against its shadow-flesh.
For a second, it looked like he had a chance.
Then the Hound laughed—a sound like breaking glass. With a surge of black miasma, it snapped the blue chains like they were made of dry straw. It swiped a massive paw, catching Saferu in the chest.
Saferu flew backward, crashing into a stone pillar. The air left his lungs in a painful wheeze.
"He's helpless," Lyra muttered from the sidelines, her eyes narrowed. "The Echo isn't submitting. It's trying to erase him from existence."
Saferu tried to stand, his vision blurring. He used Blink again, trying to get behind the beast, but the Hound was faster. It pinned him to the floor, a heavy paw crushing his ribs. The monster's jaws opened, dripping with corrosive shadow-saliva that burned holes in his clean clothes.
Saferu punched, kicked, and tried to summon the chains again, but his mana was depleted. He was scratching at the beast's obsidian hide, leaving no marks. He was nothing but a toy to this creature.
Leonidas watched, his expression shifting from curiosity to a deep, dark boredom. "Is this it? Is this the 'Fool' of prophecy? He can't even scratch a common hound. I'm disappointed."
The Hound lowered its head, its eyes glowing with a murderous intent. It opened its maw wide, aimed directly at Saferu's throat. Saferu closed his eyes, the cold breath of death washing over him.
"Host! Host, get up! DANGER—!"
BOOM.
The containment barrier surrounding the trial area didn't just flicker—it shattered into a thousand crystal shards.
A blur of white and red tore through the dust. Mirae.
She wasn't the polite guard anymore. Her fur was standing on end, glowing with a terrifying, jagged light. Her eyes were no longer brown; they were swirling vortices of crimson rage. The air around her distorted with the sheer pressure of her Berserk Mode.
In a single motion, she slammed into the Shadow Hound, her foot connecting with its skull with the force of a falling star. The beast's head was driven into the floor, its neck snapping instantly. It didn't even have time to whimper before its form dissipated into black smoke.
Silence returned, but it was a different kind of silence. It was the silence before a storm.
Mirae stood over Saferu's broken body, her chest heaving, her claws extended and dripping with shadow-residue. She slowly turned her head toward the throne.
She didn't bow. She didn't speak. She looked directly at King Leonidas with a gaze of pure, unadulterated killing intent.
The guards leveled their spears at her, but they were shaking. They knew. A Berserk Rabbit-kin in a closed room didn't care about crowns or kings.
"He is mine," Mirae's voice was a low, vibrating growl that made the glass windows in the hall crack. "If you touch him again... I will show you why the Dragons stay on their island."
The Lion King stared at her, his smirk completely gone. For the first time, the predator in the room realized he wasn't the only one who could hunt.