I discussed with the Barbaric King on the 'secret of completing future scenarios'. Although it was a bit hard to convey my message with spears at my throat, he seemed to buy it pretty well. I told him that there was an object secretly hidden in Tunmark Forest that was capable of manipulating the future scenarios so you could clear them easily. I heard about it from the dokkaebis in the last scenario. I'm guessing the Barbaric King is extremely dense because he accepted everything I said. Well if I was lying he could just steal my flag, that's probably what he was thinking.

We soon reached Tunmark Forest and the Barbaric King ordered for the palanquin to come to a halt. Each of the guards made way for the Barbaric King and I as we stepped out and onto the grass. I was jolted forward by the Barbaric King Aaron Montanari's guard and sent to search for the item. The myth that I explained to Aaron stated that the hidden object was hidden in one of these ancestral, outlandish trees. I rigorously searched for the non existent object whilst being aided by the a couple of the guards, I needed to waste time until they got here.

After a few dozen minutes of searching, the Barbaric King grew impatient.

"Is it really taking you this long? I have about 20 men searching yet not one of them can find anything." He spoke in a stern voice.

"Well, of course they aren't going to hide an overpowered item in plain sight. That's just way too easy, your highness." I replied in an anxiously chuckling voice. I addressed him with honorifics just so I could last longer. After all I was basically wasting his time.

"Well I just hope your words are true, peasant. If not, I will kill you where you stand and take your flag. I haven't got 20 flags yet anyway."

My face grew slightly agitated at his insult but I quickly subsided the expression. After a moment, a growing noise could be heard inside the forest. All the Kings guards became vigilant and came before the King awaiting instructions.

"A couple of you search the perimeter, the rest keep searching for the hidden item. This takes much more priority than what's going on there... Keep moving!" He snapped and everyone got to work instantly. He then approached me and with an intimidating grin uttered these words. "You've got 5 more minutes, if you don't find it, I'll kill you."

As soon as he said those words, shouts could be heard. They were coming from the side where the noise was growing. The Barbaric King gathered his forces.

[The incarnation 'Aaron Montanari' has used 'Military Command Lv. 3'.]

The guards organised themselves in a military formation facing the commotion. They had their weapons ready as they watched the incoming force travel with pace through the bushes. A moment later, a man could be seen.

"Astute King?!" The Barbaric King exclaimed.

"Oh, the Barbaric King. I'm surprised you've made it so far. I thought I broke your forces awhile ago." He laughed loudly. This man appeared to be in his 30s and light brown hair. After he stepped foot from the bushes, a couple, possibly about 50 people, arrived from the bushes also. The Barbaric King then turned and glared at me, incensed.

"You...You set me up..."

Crap. This wasn't going according to plan. I wasn't supposed to die here. The Barbaric King unsheathed his sword but suddenly the ground erupted and everyone was shook off their balance. In the distance, the ground split open and a tall brown man emerged from the earth. He also had followers with him.

"Earth King.."The Astute King muttered. "Why are all of you here?"

"A little boy told me there was a useful relic that could be used to my advantage." spoke the Earth King.

"I was told that a secret strategic plan was present at this place. I wish to obtain it!" boomed the Astute Prince.

[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is amused by your plot.]

[You have been sponsored 500 coins.]

It was simple. I whispered to Leo to gather as much kings as they could. Especially with Eric's insects it wasn't hard to locate them. Seconds after seconds, other kings filed in.

King of Acting. A dazzling, blonde woman who appeared from the bushes.

King of Trickery. A man who likes to of course, play tricks.

And many other kings filed in with their own people and grew confused.

"It was all because of this guy!" The Barbaric King turned and looked down but I wasn't there anymore. If I stayed I would've surely been killed. The confused lasted for several moments before the dokkaebi appeared.

Poof!

[Well, well. It seems all the Kings have gathered in one spot. Surprising, but it makes the scenario move quicker. I will now deliver the next qualification!]

A window appeared in front of all of us and a new qualification was shown.

[King's Qualification]

1. 「 The owner of the throne should be braver than anyone else. 」

–The Absolute Throne never wants a 'weak king'. To challenge the throne, you must own at least a black flag.

2. 「 He who dreams of the throne must desire it. 」

–The number of 'kings' that can challenge the throne is decided. In order to gain the right to challenge it, you must remove the other kings around you.

[Please note that only five kings can challenge the final qualification of the Absolute Throne. The remaining number is… let's see.]

[Number of kings remaining: 17.]

[It seems most of you have grouped up here anyway.. This should be done in no time.]

The tension increased and the people muttered to themselves. It seems there were secret kings here, and planing to take the absolute throne. In a situation like this, the people turned against each other. Friends were no more and foes manifested. The first action came from yards away from me when a kings neck was suddenly ripped open by a sharp weapon. That created a domino effect and people started to turn against each other.

[Number of kings remaining: 13.]

The battlefield quickly turned into an all-out brawl and lots of people started dying left right and centre. As I expected, the Astute King had taken charge and breezed through the moment. As people started dropping like flies, I quickly picked up their fallen flags.

[Your brown flag has absorbed the cumulative achievements of the brown flag.]

[Your brown flag has evolved into a purple flag.]

[You are able to use the perks of the purple flag.]

As I was about to pick up another flag, I felt a menacing aura wave over me. I turned around awkwardly and saw the Barbaric King Aaron Montanari's gaze fixated on me. I guess this was to be expected, but who can blame me? I had to do what I needed to do to live.

[The incarnation 'Aaron Montanari' has used the stigma 'Execution Lv. 5'.]

The Barbaric King had his sword raised in the air ready to swipe down and cut my neck off. That motion was abruptly discontinued by a large creature dragon fly-like creature stomping on him. Mounted on top of the creature, I could see the exhausted Erich Caine and the grinning Leo Collins.

"I saved your butt then, Aksel!" asserted Leo Collins.

Erich Caine looked up from Aaron's collapsed body and peered up at me with a smile. The kid did a lot of work, so he should rest now.

"Thank you, Erich. Leo, take care of him. He's done enough."

Leo nodded as I sprinted into the conflict.

[Number of kings remaining: 8.]

I quickly snatched up some fallen kings flags, time was running out and I was cutting it pretty close.

[Number of kings remaining: 7.]

Phew. I quickly grabbed another purple flag. I was qualified.

[You have won the flag of the 'Queen's Cross' group.]

[Your purple flag has absorbed the cumulative achievements of the black flag.]

[Your purple flag has evolved into a black flag.]

[You are able to use the perks of the black flag.]

[Congratulations! You have completed the first king's qualification.]

[Number of kings remaining: 6.]

I picked myself up and quickly averted the straight sword that pierced fractions of my hair. I turned instantly and saw the face of the Astute King.

"No one's ever dodged my thrust like that." He uttered whilst inspecting his straight sword.

[The Constellation 'Military Sage of the Sun' is burning with excitement!]

The Astute King advanced once again, attempting to jab at one of my vital pressure points.

"It seems you'll have to wait, Astute King." I watched the King closely and deliberately stepped away.

[Number of kings remaining: 5.]

[The 'Last King's Qualification' has begun.]

The bodies of the remaining kings started to be forcibly moved through space.

[The qualified kings will move to the final testing place.]

My consciousness flickered again. A message popped up as a king's qualification was added.

[King's Qualification]

1. 「 The owner of the throne should be braver than anyone else. 」

–The Absolute Throne never wants a 'weak king'. To challenge the throne, you must own at least a black flag.

2. 「 He who dreams of the throne must desire it. 」

–The number of 'kings' that can challenge the throne is decided. In order to gain the right to challenge it, you must remove the other kings around you.

3. 「 A single king stands alone without any help. 」

–The king who can challenge the throne must be able to prove his strength was just his body.

[The Constellation 'Gracious Judge of Thunder' is rooting for you!]

[The Constellation 'Victorious Lion Heart' is yearning for your victory!]

[The Constellation 'She Who Brings Victory' is watching you.]

It seemed a lot of constellations were delighted by this particular scenario. I gazed into the night sky and saw many vibrant lights gleaming in the air.

The King's Battlefield began.

[From now on, all kings can't receive the support of their sponsor.

[From now on, the attack and defense of all items will be limited.]

[From now on, all skills, stigmas and special item options will be sealed.]

[From now on, the total stats of all kings will change to 10/10/10/10/10.]

[The Last King's Qualification will continue until one person is left.]

The Astute King.

The King of Acting.

The Barbaric King.

The King of Trickery.

I glanced at the still collapsed Barbaric King on the ground. I guess his chances were already stripped away.

[The Barbaric King can not fight for the throne.]

[The Constellation 'Mischievous Chiasa Fox' is playing tricks.]

The King of Trickery and The King of Acting were fighting each other, but it wasn't looking like both of them were doing much to each other. They were most likely really dependent on skills. Unfortunately, I didn't have much time to think when the straight sword came flying near my side. I unsheathed my blade quickly and parried the sword. The Astute King.

"Greetings. It seems we can finish our last battle here."

The Astute King rushed to me and pushed me back. I wasn't very familiar with sword to sword combat but I was holding my own a bit. I quickly side stepped and swung my sword quickly into his face. He leaned back enough to fully dodge the horizontal slice. Damn, he was good with the sword and flexible?

The Astute King recovered quickly and advanced on me. I could barely avoid the swipe that pierced my arm. I gripped my arm in pain and dodged to the side. It seemed that the battle between the King of Trickey and King of Acting had become a stalemate and they both abstained from the battle. I would need to abstain from the battle soon if I couldn't think a way to beat this game. Wait.

Coins. I don't remember the dokkaebi restricting them..? Dammit, its worth to check anyway. I'll lose either way if this doesn't work.

[4,000 coins have been invested in strength.]

[Strength Lv. 10 -> Strength Lv. 20]

[5,000 coins have been invested in strength.]

[Strength Lv. 20 -> Strength Lv. 30]

[4,000 coins have been invested in agility.]

[Agility Lv. 10 -> Agility Lv. 20]

[5,000 coins have been invested in agility.]

[Agility Lv. 20 -> Strength Lv. 30]

Astute King looked amazed at the situation and so did his sponsor.

[The Constellation 'Military Sage of the Sun' is concerned.]

[Haha, it is a natural right to be able to use coins.They worked so hard to gather coins that they should have a chance to use it.]

[Oh, the stats increased with the coins will be reset after the scenario is over. So be careful! It is like throwing away coins into the air! Hahaha!]

The Astute King barely had time to react before my punch flung him into the dome trapping the kings inside. Wow, it really was that easy? I mean, I did increase my stats anyway. That withdrawal was going to hurt.

[Astute King is out of combat.]

[Congratulations! You have passed all the tests of the Absolute Throne.]

The ward in the air slowly disappeared.

[The temporary stats added by the coins are reset.]

[All constraints on the kings have disappeared.]

[The Constellation 'Victorious Lion Heart' applauds your victory!]

[The Constellation 'Gracious Judge of Thunder' is ecstatic at your victory!]

[The Constellation 'She Who Brings Victory' is amazed.]

[You have been sponsored 7,000 coins.]

[The Constellation 'Duke of Firmness and Compassion' scoffs at your victory.]

[The Constellation 'Mischievous Chiasa Fox' despises you.]

[The Constellation 'Promiscuous Copper Nose' wishes for your death!]

Gee. I shook my fist a couple times. These constellations were really butthurt about their incarnations loosing. I turned my direction and gazed at the huge golden throne at the middle of Griemore.

[Congratulations, lucky incarnation. You have been granted the Absolute Throne because of your victory.]

"Hm... What can I do with this thing?"

[The Absolute Throne is just the name of the item. As long as you sit on the throne, you can become an omnipotent power. No one on this earth can stand against you and everyone will bow before you!]

As soon as the dokkaebi finished his words, I could feel the glares of envy shooting into my back by constellations and incarnations. This really was a big thing.

"Interesting."

I walked forward and took a couple of steps, climbing the throne at a steady pace.

[Go on. Sit down so I can end the scenario.]

The golden charm was sucking me in, the golden throne was practically begging me to sit on it. As I was about to sit down...

[Exclusive Skill, Capture Lv. 4 has been activated.]

{If you sit down, you will never reach the end of the scenarios.}