Chapter 53: King.

William kept looking between Arthur and Karl’s dungeon feed after hearing the words twenty-one-star compatibility and F-rank talent.

For several seconds, his expression did not change.

"Don’t joke with me now."

Arthur remained completely serious.

"I’m not joking, that was the result."

William frowned harder and looked back toward the screen.

Twenty-one-star compatibility was already beyond the accepted limits of the Human Alliance, but somehow pairing that with an F-rank talent made even less sense.

"The awakening crystal wasn’t damaged?"

"No."

"And you checked it again?"

"Everything was verified."

William still looked unconvinced, Arthur watched him for a moment before carefully adding,

"His awakening caused a celestial phenomenon too."

That finally removed whatever amusement remained from William’s face.

Arthur briefly explained what had happened during the awakening ceremony.

An enormous undead army had appeared across the sky above Karl, large enough that practically everyone present had seen it before the phenomenon eventually disappeared.

William remained silent for several seconds after hearing that and then his eyes returned toward Karl’s feed.

"Twenty-one stars, an F-rank reading and a celestial phenomenon..."

He shook his head slightly.

"What the hell did that boy awaken?"

Arthur gave him a flat look.

"If I knew, I wouldn’t be sitting here wondering with you."

William stared at him briefly before sighing.

"Once this examination ends, I want to meet Karl."

He thought for another moment.

"Leon and Mira too."

Arthur understood immediately and gave a small nod.

William then stopped watching the screens and finally looked at Arthur properly.

"Well, you look much better too."

His gaze moved across Arthur’s face before narrowing slightly.

"You finally got rid of that?"

Arthur’s expression lightened for a moment, though it quickly became heavier again.

"Heavenly luck."

Arthur lowered his voice slightly.

"What I consumed was practically pure Divinity. If it had been anything less, I doubt it could’ve washed away the mark of... you know who."

William immediately understood and did not ask him to finish.

"So your Level is back?"

Arthur sighed and shook his head.

"No."

His gaze moved toward the examination screens again.

"I lost too much time, too much power... and her."

After several moments, he continued quietly.

"Give me a few weeks, I’ll come meet you then and we’ll discuss what I’m planning after that."

William studied him briefly before nodding.

"Fine."

The atmosphere remained serious for only a little longer before William’s attention drifted back toward Karl’s dungeon feed.

Karl was still sitting beneath a tree while his undead handled another wave.

Every so often he stood, Harvested the corpses and returned to the same spot as though the examination had already become a chore.

A smile slowly appeared on William’s face.

"Since I’ve already come this far..."

Arthur immediately looked toward him.

"What are you thinking?"

William raised one hand and a small glass jar appeared in his palm, inside it sat a tiny golden tiger that looked almost harmless.

Arthur’s expression changed the instant he recognized it.

"Damn... what are you planning to do with that?"

William glanced toward Karl’s feed.

"Nothing, whatever happens will be done by your grandson."

Arthur narrowed his eyes and for several seconds, he seemed to consider stopping him but then he simply leaned back.

"That brats just sitting anyways... Go ahead".

William disappeared from the control room.

---

Deep inside Karl’s artificial dungeon space suddenly cracked open and asmall glass jar fell through the opening and struck the ground.

Crack.

Several lava Hounds nearby immediately turned toward the sound.

The jar had shattered completely, leaving a tiny golden tiger standing among the broken glass.

For a moment, the surrounding monsters only stared at it but then the tiger began growing.

Its body expanded rapidly as thick golden fur spread over its frame, powerful limbs pressing into the ground while the harmless little creature became several metres tall within seconds.

The la a Hounds stopped growling and started backing down sensing the pressure from it.

Soon actual whimpers escaped their mouths as they lowered themselves and tried to retreat.

But before they could move far, the ground shook and amassive three-headed Cerberus emerged from deeper within the terrain and roared loudly making the ground tremble.

The golden tiger turned toward it and the Cerberus charged towards the intruder in its territory.

The tiger moved and in a flash a golden claw tore through one of its heads before the beast could even complete its attack.

The second head lunged from the side, only for the tiger to turn and catch it between its jaws.

A heavy crunch echoed through the terrain.

The remaining head barely had time to react before the massive Cerberus collapsed.

The lava Hounds immediately fled.

Several more crunches followed from deeper within the forest.

Before long, almost every monster prepared within that terrain section had disappeared.

---

William reappeared inside the control room a moment later and casually returned beside Arthur.

"Enjoy the show."

Arthur stared at him.

"You’re still completely insane."

The senior Association officials around them were still under William’s earlier trance, sitting blankly in their seats and paying absolutely no attention to him.

Several had slightly unfocused eyes, while one had begun drooling at the corner of his mouth without noticing.

William glanced at them.

"They’ll be fine."

Arthur clearly did not care much about them anyways.

---

Meanwhile, Karl had already reached the mid-thirties in his examination.

The waves had finally become slightly more troublesome as stronger species and better ranks began appearing together.

Several members of his original group of undead had finally been destroyed, but Karl simply summoned replacements whenever necessary.

Even now, he still had no reason to personally fight at last the ongoing wave ended normally.

Karl stood and began walking toward the corpses when a notification suddenly appeared.

[Wave 36 cleared.]

Karl stopped as his eyebrows drew together.

Wave 36?

He had not fought Wave 36 but before he could think further, another notification appeared.

[Wave 37 cleared.]

Karl stared at the panel blankly but then another appeared.

[Wave 38 cleared.]

"What?"

The notifications suddenly began arriving faster.

[Wave 41 cleared.]

[Wave 44 cleared.]

[Wave 46 cleared.]

Karl slowly turned toward the undead standing around him, they were all still there and nobody was fighting.

[Wave 50 cleared.]

Karl looked back at the panel.

What the hell is happening?

The public viewers had no better idea.

Karl was clearly visible standing in the middle of his dungeon doing absolutely nothing, yet his wave count had suddenly started climbing by itself.

People who had stopped watching his feed earlier began returning.

"Did his dungeon malfunction?"

"How is he clearing waves without fighting?"

"He hasn’t even moved!"

Inside the control room, several entranced officials instinctively began checking the dungeon system.

Their movements were slow and slightly dazed, but the monitoring equipment still showed no obvious malfunction.

Arthur, Ediwn and William meanwhile knew exactly what had happened and were waiting for the real show.

The notifications finally stopped and for several seconds, Karl’s dungeon became completely silent.

Then a red panel appeared.

[Boss Monster detected.]

[Final Wave forcibly initiated.]

[Danger Level: EXTREMELY HIGH.]

Karl frowned, he was still more interested in where Waves 36 through 50 had disappeared to than in the warning itself.

A directional marker appeared, pointing deeper into the forest.

Karl looked toward it briefly before finally moving.

Several members of the Death Legion followed behind him, while the Heaven-Eating Crow perched lazily on one of the larger undead.

They had barely gone far when a loud crash came from somewhere ahead.

Several trees collapsed in the distance, then nother impact followed.

Whatever was approaching clearly massive and not so environmental friendly.

The public feed immediately shifted toward Karl’s dungeon.

Word began spreading through the Association that something strange had happened inside his examination.

More trees crashed down as a massive shadow moved between them.

Karl’s expression finally became more attentive and at last the final line of trees collapsed.

A gigantic tiger stepped into view.

Its fur shone brilliant gold beneath the grey dungeon sky, while a dark natural marking resembling the symbol of a king rested across its forehead.

Fresh blood still stained part of its mouth.

Karl activated Perception immediately.

[Golden King Tiger]

[Level: 99]

[Beast Rank: King]

"The fk!!, no way a king rank beast is here".

Outside the dungeon, the reaction was similar and immediate.

"A King-rank beast?!"

The words spread through the Awakeners Association almost instantly.

People who had switched away from Karl’s feed earlier began returning as the news passed through the viewing areas.

Public screens across Ardent City started changing one after another.

Every other contestant lost nearly all the viewers

For the moment, none of them mattered.

A Level 99 King-rank beast had somehow appeared inside Karl Reed’s entrance examination dungeon.

Across Ardent City, more and more people turned toward the same screen.

Karl stood opposite the enormous golden tiger while the Death Legion spread behind him.

The beast slowly lifted its head dn roared loudly towards Karl and it’s army.

Karl’s eyes remained fixed on the final line of information floating before him.

[Beast Rank: King]