Netori SSS-Emperor: All Queens Shall Be Mine!

Robert had been out of the dungeon for a whole day. Nobody but Sola and her companions even knew of it. Thus his arrival into William's room came as a surprise, but enough of one to make him jump out of his chair. Busy tending to the soreness in his limbs, he gave his master an uninterested glance.

"You're not gonna try and kill me, right?" Grabbing an ice-filled cloth, William rubbed it against his shoulder, the very same that had been stabbed by the trident. Hissing in pain, he glanced back up. Met with a neutral look on Robert's face, he figured that the old man hadn't lost his senses about him just yet. "Great, because I think I'm gonna need your help with Wolf later. That bitch managed to nearly kill me so I don't wanna take any chances with that bastard."

Finally moving from the doorward, Robert shut the door. Humming in agreement, he grabbed himself a chair and settled down in front of the prince. Sharing a quiet moment in contemplation, the two stared at each other while a strange heaviness lingered in the air.

"Fine, say what you want," unable to hold his frustration about the quiet, William allowed Robert to speak his mind.

"If you fail to become king, I'll kill you myself," Robert responded and once his anger towards his apprentice was visible on his face. Given the chance, he would've staked William himself after what he'd put him through, but with the possibility of being the king's advisor so close, he couldn't risk throwing it away.

"I would be dead already if I lost, you idiot..." William hurled back, expecting Wolf to kill him as he would him if he won.

"Let's make sure that you do win then," Robert responded, his expression still foul.

There were many a ways to ensure victory, but with the goddess watching the event closely, the two had to rack their brains to escape being caught. That is if they even could do such a thing, fooling a goddess wouldn't be easy. Their synergy as dark magic users, however, proved otherwise, for the two found a way to remain discreet and pit Wolf against not one but two opponents.

"Not everyone knows the effect of my father's clothes, and if I can flood the arena with dark clouds again..." With a smirk on his face, William continued to explore that idea. Chiming in every so often, Robert helped him build further on the possibilities.

Charting their final plan not too long after they had started, the two heard the call of Kanna and Wolf's name. The two were to begin fighting each other in a few minutes, and with it being Wolf's first battle in the event, the two decided to watch how it went as well.

To learn the tricks of their enemy would help them better strategize further, but to what extent the priestess could push Wolf when William was knocked out in a single punch? That remains to be seen.

William and Robert weren't the only ones who felt the battle to be unfair, for the crowd and even the head maid were concerned about the power difference. For one, the priestess was a healer and not a fighter on the frontline as Wolf had been, and secondly, the best she could do was defensive magic while a barbarian countered that exact tactic. Shatter shield, breaking enemy formation, and powering the effects of magic, that was the essence of a barbarian–something the priestess couldn't hope to beat.

"Then why? If anything it would've made sense for her to be pitted against the girl Sola, at least then once the faunan forfeits, Wolf and William could have their fight," looking at the queen with her eyes staring daggers at her back, Hestia pressed Astoria for an answer. "And if the priestess' words are to be trusted she would've forfeited as well given the most competent person besides her has already made it to the end."

"You underestimate a priestess too much, Hestia," although both of them had been priestesses in the past, Astoria remembered it much more clearly. "I don't know how it used to work back in your days, but now only the best of Aestonia are given the position to serve the goddess directly."

Trying to think back to her time in the clergy, she remembered faint hints of the Aestonian island being as decrepit of a village as any other around it. Back then, the only building with a spire was the church and worshipped within, in a barebones box structure, was the clay idol of Akramadia.

"I suppose you're right, but on a fundamental level, the girl has no chance at winning," slowly bringing herself out of her thoughts, Hestia looked at Astoria again. "Is this your way of weeding the weaker ones out? To accelerate the selection?"

Heaving heavily, Astoria relayed her reluctance at a response. The queen wanted a king to take the mantle as soon as possible, and with nightfall not far from now, she hoped for the fights to conclude before tomorrow arrived.

"Our greatest weapon, Leviathan, is missing. What do you expect me to do? Stretch the process some more? No, we've had enough entertainment. Now things need to settle..." Although she knew even after the king was chosen, it would be days before they could do anything about Leviathan, Astoria wanted that process to conclude as soon as possible.

'I have to test the new king before we can even attempt a retrieval of that beat too.' Growling in frustration, she closed her eyes and decided to look through the eyes of the angels. Watching the two contestants moving closer to the arena, she allowed them a moment of peace before opening her eyes and heading for the window.

Getting there, she cast her gaze down at the duo. Both seemed as ready as they could be and with nothing left to do, Astoria raised the sceptre and commenced the battle with her announcement.

Read lat𝙚st chapters at fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓ Only.

"Let the battle, commence!" She said, hoping it wouldn't last too long and the procession of the king could commence before nightfall...