The king of the Dynasty introduced himself to all other members while also hinting at his eagerness to recruit Azrael, Vanessa, and Agares while mentioning various benefits.

Making Danzel realize that this king might as well be as shameless as the century-old Lich. Though he didn't especially point it out, it was clear enough of his intent that even Danzel realized it.

After all, the leader of our group, Velkir was in the same room.

As to why he didn't seem eager to recruit the others, it wasn't hard to guess...

Shiro and he were known as the apprentice of Velkir, a powerful necromancer. It was natural for others to assume that we will follow his ways of magic.

And with necromancy being quite unpopular among the common folk, it was best to avoid recruiting troublemakers.

As for Sartan...well, I don't blame the king for not trying towards the immortal juggernaut.

And none one surprise, everyone passively rejected his invitation with exception of Vanessa. Which directly scoffed at the king. If it wasn't for Azrael being here, Danzel could easily imagine her starting to curse at the king...

Her reaction was also the fuse that made the king bid his farewells and leave after inviting everyone here to be present in the day where they will declare the reward and merits of the heroes that fought in the war.

***

After leaving the room of the Deathfull Skulls, the king of the Dynasty of Ioratal is seated in his office while rubbing his eyes from exhaustion.

"Tell me your honest opinion... Spear of our Dynasty. What do you think of them" The king said as he used a communication artifact for someone to bring him a cup of tea.

"They are a danger to our Dynasty and yourself, you majesty." The man with the title of Dynasties spears answers coldly.

"Me too? be more specific, and don't explain the obvious." The king said.

"Except for the little girl, everyone else wasn't restraining their aura at all. Which technically could prove to be fatal to someone of your strength, your majesty. If it weren't for the magic items you were wearing, one could easily suffocate in there."

"That's mercenaries for you. Most of them are criminals and taboo magic users." The king said as he suddenly heard a knock on the door.

"Come in."

Opening the door, a maid with a small cart containing sweets and his requested tea.

"Those people were different, your majesty. I could sense an abnormal amount of mana surrounding the room. Not only were their barriers, but also some kind of spell being held and ready to be activated at any time."

"What kind of barriers and spell was it?" The king asked, only for the spearman to shake his head.

"I am sorry your majesty, but that I don't know. But if they were offensive-oriented spells, it could prove to be dangerous even with his majesty magic times..."

There was a pause before the spearman continued, his gaze now being attracted to the maid.

"We also are unsure if their leader is an undead or not. Also, according to the reports of the son of duke Ionarres. His apprentice, the one that they call Abdiel the Cruel has yet to reveal his face to anyone. Considering that he is skilled with the sword and is an apprentice, he could very well be an undead."

"Mhm, so you think so too, huh..." The king said as he looked towards the cup of tea with a small plate having a few of his favorite sweets. Though his doctor told him to stop eating them. He still didn't find himself refusing his sweet tooth.

The maid picked up the cup of tea and plate and moved them towards his majesty, but before she was able to drop them on the table, the cup was exploded into pieces by the spear of the guard.

The spear guard moved so quickly that neither the maid nor the king was able to see his movement.

The maid out of shock, let go of the plate full of treats and attempted to scream, but was swiftly grabbed in the neck by the spearman.

"Aghh~S-Sir?" She said amidst a gasp of air.

The king raised from his seat and looked at his guard with a frown, but didn't try to interrupt him at all.

The spearman in question looked down on the tea and shook his head in disappointment.

"Elisa Valson, recommended by the head maid of a noble house to serve his majesty, worked here for over 10 years and also built many relationships among other staff members with similar rank as you. Now my question is, why is such a person poisoning his majesty's drink?"

The midst pleading eyes suddenly grew solemn and dark.

Lowering one of her arms to the side, a sudden brief light appeared in her hand, after the light disappeared, a small crossbow with bolts stained by poison appeared.

And without hesitation, she pulled the trigger aiming toward the king.

They were two sounds to be heard.

*Ting!

A sound of clashing metal.

*Crack!

And a sound of bones breaking.

Letting go of the maiden, she fell to the ground like a puppet who had her strings cut.

The spearman who effortlessly blocked the bolt with his spear bent down and pulled an arm ring.

"A dimensional storage item. I believe it's one of your son's assassination attempts you majesty...again." The spear said solemnly as he placed the storage item in front of the king's desk.

"Sigh~" The king sighed exhaustedly.

Letting his body fall on his chair, he put his hand on top of his chest, trying to calm his heart from the sudden surprise.

Reaching out of the communication device and ordering a group to come and pick up the corpse, the king looked at the spearman.

"Those children...I know it's my fault for not choosing my heir, but ending my stay in this world is too cruel. Thanks for doing so much for the Dynasty, Lancelot."

The spearman, also known as the Dynasty spears stayed silent as he was called by his name.

"You majesty, my loyalty will always rest upon your hands. If you will it, I can find the culprit and bring him to justice." Lancelot said with a serious voice.

"For now let it go, I don't want any bad rumors coming out now with the announcing day coming. You can look after who of my sons it was after." The king said, before adding after.

"In case you don't manage the culprit of this assassination, find a way to push the blame to my bastard son and have him executed."

"May I ask why him, your majesty? Through the reports, he is one of the prime candidates that gained the trust of the magic academies and solved various problems. Is it because of his blood?" Lancelot said with a frown.

"My dear friend, you know that I don't care about bloodlines. If it weren't for the already established laws of my ancestors and the nobles obsessing on them, I would even already remove them."

"Then why?"

"..." The king stayed silent before looking out of the window.

'I can't tell him because he died...' The king thought to himself, remembering the day of the accident that one of his concubines had together with his son.

On a night filled with thunders and heavy rain, when they were returning back to the capital after taking a look into a different territory. An explosion caused by people fused with mana crystals on their bodies caused their carriages to be blown off the road and to fall several meters high.

He survived the fall thanks to his magic items, but his son and concubine didn't. Once thunder lighten the world, he saw their bodies pierced by the pieces of the carriages, their limbs bent and broken.

But moments later, he saw how the silhouette of his son, despite his broken body seemed to rise from the ground and twitch before coming to check on him.

At first, he thought it was a miracle given to him by the goddess, but with time he learned that this wasn't the case.

After this event, his son changed in a noticeable decree. He first blamed it on the loss of his mother but after time, he started thinking back on the night of how he survived and what he saw back then.

The doctors and magic caster that he ordered to check on him confirmed that his son was healthy and maybe has some trauma of that day, but his mind told him otherwise.

***

2 days before the announcement of rewards and merits...

Seating on the couch in a lone room with only him inside, the bastard son of the king of the Ioratal Dynasty had a huge grin on his face to the point that it seemed about to reap his cheeks.

Or rather, the being that uses the bastard's prince's dead body as a being born of miasma and death itself.

An all-powerful Lich knew as Kingra'mash.

In the next moment, a total of 3 magic arrays lighten from the floor, reviving the shadows to rise up.

In each magic array, different robed figures appeared.

One of them being Velkir, another Lich that was hiding his true self with flesh.

But the other 2 people had no such flesh.

Instead, they were two robed skeleton figures, one having one single eye socket, while the other had no teeth nor mouth, instead pure bones.

Their eyes burned in ethereal flames.

Raising up from the couch, Kingra'mash opened his arm while burning away his flesh, revealing his true form.

"Welcome, fellow undead."