Leila folded her clasped her hands behind her back, gaze cold as she said, "We have heard enough of your intentions, Zitch-san. Now, please, lay out your accusations before the court so we may defend our honor and name, or do you wish to do so when Kashi is not here to defend himself?"

'This malicious viper!' Zitch inwardly cursed in rage. That statement had driven him into a corner. It didn't matter that he always intended to lay out the accusations here. Leila's charge came at too right a timing, sowing discord in the hearts of the neutral parties. Right now, defending himself would only appear weak, and he would remain passive.

As a result, Zitch finally decided to stop playing games with this woman. He had lost the preamble, but the game was far from over. "As you wish, Ms. Lightwood. I will lay down the facts as well. I pray that you let me finish without unnecessary interruption, a courtesy I showed you."

'Hoh. He's a spicy ginger all right.' Leila understood this was Zitch's method of eliminating one of her most significant advantages; her ability to steal the spotlight whenever she wanted effectively. However, in order not to come off as insensitive, she had no choice but to agree to his request. "Of course. I shall not interrupt your spiel."

Zitch grinned as he cupped his hands toward the wisben. "Thank you for understanding." Following this statement, he turned to address King Parissius. "Your Highness, I am a loyal subject of Rosendun and have been so since the day I was born. I would not lay these accusations before the crown if I did not have sufficient proof that they were true." Although he was addressing King Parrisius, Zitch was paying particular attention to the neutral ministers behind him.

When he noticed he had their full attention, Zitch stated, "As promised, I shall begin laying out the facts of this case. Fact number one: Despite claiming to be a vassal of Rosendun, Kashi has amassed power behind everyone's back." Zitch's eyes narrowed as he glared at the daeben and stated, "In fact, less than a day ago, Kashi secretly added the centaur race to his army, over five thousand strong cavalries. He neither reported this news to the capital nor did he deign to supplement Rosendun's forces with this enormous force."

Kashi's brow rose, shock appearing on his face for the first time. How did Zitch already know about the centaurs? Kashi finished up just over a day ago! It made no sense that this politician's information network was that goo. The only explanation was that someone had been following him. And that someone leaked information to Zitch in preparation for this ambush.

"Kashi!" Zitch shouted, pulling the daeben from his thoughts. With a malicious grin, the politician demanded, "Before the crown and court, answer me this: Did you or did you not subjugate the centaurs?"

Caught off-guard, Kashi accidentally replied, "Well, yes, but not exa—"

"And did you or did you not report to the court?"

"There wasn't enough time to—"

"Not enough time?" Zitch exclaimed with an exaggerated scoff. "But you had time to induct them into your secret world, didn't you?" Zitch grinned as the court let out loud gasps of disbelief. "Yes, my fellow ministers. You did not hear wrong. This man here, Kashi, has a secret world which he aims to populate with Rosendun's men and women, our wildlife, our crops. He aims to cannibalize it all to build up an independent force of his own that does not answer to Rosendun or anyone else."

Kashi's eyes narrowed as he stared at Zitch. If he wasn't sure before, now he was. Someone was definitely leaking information to the minister. The only question was: how much was leaked, and for how long?

"And if all that wasn't enough," said Zitch as he pointed at the daeben. "This traitor also conspires with the daeben to return them to power." Spreading his arms, Zitch proclaimed to his fellow ministers, "I am sure news of the Battle of Aygorzi has reached your ears. You might have heard of the many exploits wrought by Kashi to achieve victory, but what you do not know is that thousands of daebens also surrendered. Of these surrendered daebens, most were asked to work in Aygorzi, while Kashi had the rest carted off to the Maggots' headquarters to work in their runecrafting divisions."

Zitch's eyes narrowed as he pointed at Kashi and said, "You stopped the dwarfs from executing the treacherous daeben because you already had an agreement with the daeben, didn't you?"

"That was not the case," Kashi refuted with a sigh. "The daeben are an intelligent race, decades beyond the rest of the world in runecrafting. However, I chose to save those daeben not only for their intelligence but for the sake of peace in the future. If the daeben in the enemy's troops see that there's hope they will not be executed; there's a higher chance of a peaceful surrender in certain situations and less bloodshed."

The ministers behind Kashi murmured among themselves, nodding their heads in agreement with the daeben's words. Indeed a cornered rat was most dangerous. However, if one left an escape route open, the rat would most likely choose that option rather than attempt to fight to the death.

Zitch's sneer widened when he noticed the gullible ministers' thoughts wavering. His eyes flashed as he pointed at Kashi and roared, "Sophistry and smoke mirrors! As expected of a deceitful daeben." The politician paused, taking in Kashi's stoic expression like none of his accusations affected the daeben. 'Hmph, let's see how much longer you can keep this up.' "You claim to have nothing to do with the daeben, yet whose side did you pick in the war eleven years ago?"

"The daeben," Kashi answered without any hesitation, causing the ministers behind him to let out gasps of disbelief. What? He chose to side with the daeben!? Then he was undoubtedly a treacherous man! "...However, I did my time for that crime," continued Kashi before Zitch could seize the opportunity. The daeben caught Leila's eye and soldiered on, "Eleven years in fact. While my fellow Summoned got good gear and starting locations, I had to rot in a dungeon. Through Aerith's guidance, I got out of jail and eventually made it to Kerta. I made many friends in my quest to free Rosendun from tyranny, one of which happens to be sitting on the throne over there."

Kashi folded his arms as he defended himself, "Have I ever claimed to be a righteous person? No. But I am an ally of Rosendun. She will never have to see the uglier parts of me."

"So you claim," Zitch sneered. The old man harrumphed as he waved his hand and said, "Let's talk about your assets. You came into possession of a mine by murdering the mayor of Meilfour after signing an agreement to transfer ownership. Do you deny this?"

"Nope," Kashi replied with a straight face. "He was a terrible human being, and I would do it again given the opportunity."

"See! This man's trea—"

"Zitch-san," Leila interrupted her gaze cold. "I said I would not interrupt, so please do not force me to do so again. We are not here to discuss Kashi's morality. Stick to the topic of Kashi's disloyalty to the crown."

"Ugh!" Zitch choked, having swallowed his saliva when he was rudely interrupted. The old man cleared his throat and then glared at Leila. "As you say. I went off topic there. Let me get back to the point." The politician looked at Kashi and asked, "You've recently built many projects in Merriheim. Suvron's Tower, Suvron's Gate, The Emporium, The Coliseum, several top-secret inventions and most recently, a new bank." Narrowing his eyes, he glared at the daeben and asked, "Why, if you're an ally of Rosendun, has Merriheim witnessed two [Apparition of the Gods] and yet Rosendun, your supposed host nation has not had a single one. Why are all your inventions based solely in Merriheim? If one did not know better, they would think you are harboring some very dangerous intentions."

Atop the throne, King Xafier's brows knitted as he clutched the chair's armrest.

King Parissius noticed his counterpart's distress and immediately sent an apologetic nod his way. Following which, the eyes with which he looked at Zitch grew much colder. This buffoon. In his greed, he had dragged Merriheim into this mess and called into question King's Xafier's honor. This was a matter that could lead to a giant rift forming between the nations!

Could it be true? Did Zitch intend to derail the negotiations before they even began?

Zitch, oblivious to his king's thoughts, continued his tirade, "Furthermore, one only has to look at the company you keep to know the kind of person you are." Zitch pointed at Syèl as he lambasted, "Syèl Rifatora. How many of you know this vile person is a true blooded vampire! He feeds off of humans every day to keep himself alive. What's more, in the guise of bounty hunting, he violently slaughtered and drained blood from hundreds of men and women."

For the first time, Kashi's eyes twitched, a trace of discomfort appearing in them as he turned to look at Syèl.

Contrary to expectations, the vampire sported a wide toothy grin as he looked Zitch up and down. "Your information is out of date," Syèl joked, the whites of his eyes turning blood red as he clarified, "My numbers are in the thousands."

"See!? What vile spawn, boasting about killing the innocent in the thou—"

"Hey man, don't put words in my mouth," Syèl interrupted with a sly grin. "I've killed thousands, yes, but I haven't killed a single innocent person." The vampire prince released a lazy shrug as he lamented, "You'd be surprised how many bandits, murderers, and rapists are out there waiting to be culled. Oh, and there was the whole battle at Aygorzi. Kinda boosted my numbers by a lot."

Zitch ignored Syèl, understanding instantly that this was a crazy individual. He could not contend against someone mad as he would not be able to predict their reactions. Instead, he walked up to Absalon and said, "Need I say more about this man? He dared covet the throne and was prepared to slay the rightful king for it. Rather than have him executed, Kashi not only saved him but rewarded him with an army to conquer even more land." The politician rolled his eyes as he said, "However, even with all that, what concerns me most is his incompetence. Despite being in a city blessed by the gods themselves, he still managed to lose half of the troops led into battle needlessly."

"Take that back," Absalon's deep voice reverberated throughout the room as he raised his battle sharp gaze to meet Zitch's. "No soldier died a needless death. Every brave sacrifice paved the way for our eventual victory. I will not let you sully their noble sacrifices with a word like useless."

Zitch snorted as he glared at Absalon. "Hmph. Shameless words befitting the man who attempted to steal the throne for himself. I'd expect a coward like you to hide behind the death of his soldiers."

Absalon's brows furrowed, his eyes turning red as he struggled to hold back his rage. In all his life as both a serviceman and now, a gamer, no one had ever called his honor into question like this. The gall of this politician to not only sully the deaths of honorable warriors but then use those deaths as a political weapon to shoot down an opponent.

Absalon had seen many of this kind before in the real world. He never thought he would have to deal with these type of people in the game too. Luckily, just before Absalon lost his mind, he looked to the side and caught Kashi's eyes. The daeben's expression was stiff, jaw set in stone as he slowly shook his head.

Absalon did not know why, but he could sense that Kashi was truly getting angry. He had never seen the daeben without at least some mockery or jest in his eyes. However, at the moment, it seemed like all he needed was a spark to set him off. Somehow, seeing the rage in Kashi's eyes made the proud general calm down. Absalon's fist relaxed, and he clamped them behind his back, resisting the temptation to punch the politician.

Zitch looked at Absalon's self-control with regret. Just a little more and the warrior would have lashed out. The old man looked over at Kashi and grimaced. It seemed the daeben was the reason Absalon had regained his senses at the final moment. Fine then, there were plenty more targets. Absalon then went on to disparage each Hopeful Maggot, calling Miote a corrupt swindler, Jade an evil scientist who was not afraid to use illegal means to complete her experiment and Stryke a baby coward pretending to be a leader only because he was friends with Kashi—a clear sign of nepotism.

Soon, Zitch turned his attention to Leila and began throwing accusations after another at her. He insisted she had bribed countless officials and court men in the city to push them in her favor and manipulated the rise and fall of many guilds behind the scenes. He also let out dangerous insinuations by claiming that several witnesses could testify to seeing her walk out of officials' homes and offices late at night.

With each insult levied against his guildmates, Kashi's frown grew more profound, and he had to fold his arms to prevent himself from doing anything rash. Even then, by the time Zitch brought Leila's honor and reputation under fire, Kashi could scarcely hold himself back any longer, gripping his arms so tightly that he almost broke his bones.

Lunette noticed Kashi's distress, but because of their location, she could do naught but offer a quick pat on the daeben's back.

Kashi turned to Lunette, and upon seeing her beautiful blue eyes, somewhat calmed down. However, only so much so that he did not lose his mind. Zitch had already pissed him off, and he intended to make the snakey politician pay. "How many mana potions do you have on you?" Kashi asked.

"I have twenty Level 150's," Lunette answered, brow raised as she wondered why Kashi wanted those. "But they're in my inventory." Casting a glance at Zitch, she added, "I don't think it's a good idea to open it in this situation."

"You're right," admitted Kashi. Zitch could easily spin it into a potential attack.

"I have 5 Lv. 150 mana elixirs," Shadow said as he passed a bottle over to Kashi from behind Lunette. "I keep them on me at all times in case of emergencies."

Kashi gratefully accepted the elixirs, forming portals in his hand, so they were transported to Orez immediately he grasped them. "Why, though? You don't use mana, do you?"

"No. But you do," replied Shadow as he passed over the last bottle. "You should learn to stock up before trips. That self-regen is spoiling you."

Kashi looked at Shadow as the makings of a small smile cracked the daeben's stiff expression. "Thanks. You're always looking out for me."

"It's what Shadows d—."

"And you!"

Shadow paused, interrupted by Zitch's looming figure. Initially, he thought the old man was talking to him, but upon following Zitch's line of sight, he saw that he was pointing at Lunette.

"You claim to be a songstress, but you go up on stage half-naked to sedu—"

BAM!
CRACK!

It happened too fast for anyone but a select few to comprehend. One second Zitch was on his usual tirade; the next the old man was crumpled against the steps leading up to the throne, bleeding from a tear in his forehead and a torn lip.

Meanwhile, Kashi stood where Zitch was a second ago with a bloodied right fist. Just a step behind him, Shadow stood with his hand held out, revealing the hidden blade extending from beneath his sleeve, his frosty expression reminiscent of the God of Death.

"A pity," Syèl lamented with a sly grin as he looked at the crumpled Zitch. "Kashi just saved his life. Should've let Shadow finish the job."

"Don't say that," Shokō spat. "Shadow can't get in trouble over this waste of space. He's not worth it."

Syèl chuckled as he winked at Shokō. "You're only mad cause he did not mention you."

Zitch, meanwhile, shot to his feet, clutching his lips as he pointed at Shadow and pointed, "Arrest this man! Execute him! He dared to bring a weapon into the Royal Chamber and attempt an assassination in broad daylight. This affront cannot be forgiven. Guards! What are you waiting for!? Arrest him immediately."

The guards hesitated, looking at each other and then their King.

King Parissius' face was red with rage, eyes bloodshot as he gripped the throne. It took everything he had not to jump off and strangle Zitch to death. These people he was insulting were not only his friends but the few people in the world he could unconditionally trust. Being forced to watch their names dragged through the mud without doing anything to help was the hardest thing that had ever happened to him. However, each time he could no longer take it, Leila's cautioning gaze would force him to retain his position.

Unfortunately, the royal guards misinterpreted the source of their King's anger, and thus ran toward Kashi and Shadow with their spears drawn. However, before they could reach them, a pair of twin guards suddenly appeared in front of both Kashi and Shadow. The twins donned black and red leather armor, with a couple of daggers as their weapons, making them look more like assassins than guards.

However, the other royal guards recognized the duo as the King's personal bodyguards, who never left his side, Narkis, and Alex, the Shadow Guards.

The guards stared at Narkis and Alex, unsure of what to do. The stalemate lasted for a few seconds until loud laughter erupted from somewhere in the court.

Everyone turned to the laughter's source, only to see Kashi walking out from behind Narkis and Alex as his laughter devolved to a sinister grin. The daeben paused for a moment next to the twins and said, "Thanks for the help. I've got it from here."

"Okay," the twins affirmed and then promptly disappeared from view.

Kashi turned his attention to Zitch who had walked to the front of the guards, face flush red with rage, joy, and anticipation. "You said you wanted Shadow? I say you can have him... Over my dead body."

Zitch raised his hand, eyes wide with excitement as he shouted, "See!? This is what I mean. This man has no respect for Rosendun or her laws! His subordinate just committed attempted murder, but he is shielding him, going so far as to threaten an official in court. He should be tried and executed post-haste!

"Hahahaha!" Kashi laughed out loud, his body shaking as he struggled to push down his rising rage. He could feel the call of the old rush of anger, the allure satisfying feeling he had after beating whatever caused that anger into oblivion. 'No. That is not me. I am Kashi. I'll do it my way.'

Kashi laughter ebbed, once again replaced by his sinister grin. "You are right about one thing. I do not care about Rosendun or its laws," said the daeben as an elixir appeared in his hand. He removed the stopper and placed the drink to his lips as he raised his hands and said, "You want to see who I really am? Fine, then I'll show you..."

Vwoom!

The court held its breath as three large portals appeared in front of the daeben, out of which stepped...

A/N: Hehehehe... Sorry about the cliffhanger people. I could not resist...