Dungeon King: The Hidden Ruler-Chapter 106: [The Throne of Kharnath-Dur 9] The Clash of Dungeon Sovereign

Chapter 106: [The Throne of Kharnath-Dur 9] The Clash of Dungeon Sovereign

Raven spun one of his chains in a wide arc, the sound slicing through the heavy air like a whetstone across steel.

"Thistlecreep. AX-K9," he called calmly. "Your first time teaming up with me. Glad to have you here. Listen up."

The two monsters stood at attention. One, a panther-shaped beast cloaked in living foliage and venomous orchids, its floral musculature rippling with barely-contained violence. The other, a sleek, angular construct—tiger-shaped, forged from blackened alloy and glowing copper joints, gears hissing softly as it shifted its stance.

Raven pointed his chain toward the looming figure of Grave-Knight Orun. "That one, the guy with the double blade? He’s yours, Thistlecreep. He’s a stealth predator. A shadow killer. I want you to do what you do best—lock him, bleed him, eat him alive if you have to."

Thistlecreep gave a low growl, vines bristling.

Raven turned. "AX-K9, your job’s the priest. Velitha. She’ll fill the field with fog, try to scatter us. Your howl clears stealth and fog. Your fire puddles and your mini-spawns will flood the battlefield. Keep the pressure constant. Overwhelm."

AX-K9’s metallic voice buzzed with reverent tone. "It is an honor to fight beside you, Sovereign. I will obey."

Thistlecreep snarled low. "And the pretty paladin? Yours, I assume?"

Raven gave the faintest smirk. "That’s right."

Seravelle tilted her head with a coy smile, her cracked halo spinning faintly. "Are you sure it’s wise to announce your strategy so openly?"

But Raven was no longer in place.

He was already behind her.

CLANK.

Chains shot forward—Phantom Bind. The runes ignited around her, locking her limbs in spectral grips.

"You can know everything," Raven whispered, knives in hand, "but that won’t change a thing, paladin."

The moment Phantom Bind locks Seravelle, Raven’s knife stabs land deep, forcing her to cancel her opening channel. Her halo flickers, breaking a chant meant to prime Flesh Benediction. She was forced to heal herself.

And that was exactly what she did. Good.

The King barked from behind the throne again, his voice raw with frustration.

"Focus, you fools! Stop letting them scatter you!"

His second outburst cracked across the chamber like a whip.

Then a third—"Velitha, you blind wretch! Hold the fog!"

Each command revealed not control—but desperation.

Raven smirked mid-duel. "Your sovereign’s barking like a lost dog, paladin."

Seravelle snarled in reply, but Raven was already gone from her line of sight.

"Your command, Sovereign!" Seravelle half-growled, pulling up her shield and sword, clearly preparing for melee—though it was far from her specialty.

The King shouted in fury, "Just kill them, you monsters!"

Raven laughed, his knives dancing like serpents. The Dominion Chain spun and lashed, flinging a blade in one arc and stabbing with another. "Your sovereign is fake, paladin!"

Another shout from the throne.

"Orun! You’re a disgrace to the Legion!"

But Orun didn’t respond. He was too deep in the shadow battle with Thistlecreep—too busy bleeding.

Raven didn’t even glance back. He raised two fingers. Phantom Seer vanished into motion without a word.

Behind him, the battlefield explodes.

Velitha’s arms raised, and her voice slid into a whisper. The crypt echoed with an ancient dirge—the opening lines of Remembrance Fog. Shadows crept from the stone, thickening like smoke.

But AX-K9 had already moved.

The mechanical hound let out a bone-shaking howl, a sonic burst that rippled across the floor. The forming fog buckled under the pressure, warping and dispersing in ragged veils. Velitha’s chant faltered. Glyphs flickered early, exposed before they were ready.

AX-K9 lunged.

A blast of flame arced from its maw, erupting across the stone like a net of fire. The burning trails scorched Velitha’s casting ring, licking at the edge of her robes and forcing her upward, higher into the air.

And then came the reinforcements.

With a metallic hiss, AX-K9’s back vents opened—and five smaller hounds tore from its frame like living missiles. The mini-hounds scattered, snapping and howling as they lunged at Velitha’s legs and tore through her defense circle.

Velitha screamed. Not in pain—but in panic.

She lost grip on the tome. Her next summoning—Writ of the Forgotten—fizzled in her hands.

And just as she tried to recover, a ripple of phantoms surged across the ground.

Phantom Seer had released Haunting Mirage. Spectral dwarves sprinted through the fading fog, dressed in armor Velitha would recognize. Her targeting matrix shifted, confused by the illusion. One of her glyphs triggered—harmlessly—under a phantom’s nonexistent foot.

Another miscast. Another delay.

Her control of the battlefield was breaking.

Across the chamber, Thistlecreep moved like mist itself. Tangle Leap triggered with a sudden blur of motion—the panther-like beast vanished into the underbrush of its own summoned bloomline, then reappeared midair, claws outstretched. It slammed into Grave-Knight Orun mid-step, just before the ancient warrior could activate Death’s Vigil.

Both predators vanished into shadow.

Then came the bloom.

Thistlecreep’s petal trail burst outward, forming a spiral of false paths behind it. Where Orun tried to reposition, thorn traps snapped up like jaws. His armored leg caught a coil of bramble, staggering his advance.

His blade lashed outward—only to strike empty air. Thistlecreep had already circled.

Fangs like orchid thorns sank into Orun’s side—Ivybrand Fangs triggered, and poisonous plant monsters began to crawl from the surrounding moss, summoned by the tag. They swarmed along Orun’s retreat line, matching his speed with instinctive malice.

Enraged, Orun slashed forward in a wide arc—Oathbreaker’s Ruin—cutting down the plants, and darting through them toward the center.

But Phantom Seer’s illusions triggered again.

Orun lunged toward a phantom target. The blade passed through nothing.

He was still in the mist.

Still being hunted.

Phantom Seer drifted like smoke between the engagements, never solid for more than a heartbeat. Where others clashed steel and spell, it moved with silence and intent.

A sudden spike of mana—Mind Shatter. Orun staggered mid-lunge, his execution arc disrupted. He twisted, blade missing its mark entirely.

Elsewhere, Haunting Echoes whispered through the room. Faint footsteps, ghostly voices, phantoms crying out in reverse. Velitha’s summoned Echo hesitated, glitched—then vanished before striking.

Distortion Aura pulsed faintly in the air. Reactions slowed. Movements faltered. Phantom Seer didn’t need to land hits—its very presence frayed the coordination of the enemy triad.

The battlefield wasn’t just split. It was unraveling.

A sharp bark echoed from the dais again.

"Velitha! Where’s the fog? Where’s your fog!"

The King’s voice cracked with disbelief.

"Stop them! Stop something!"

AX-K9’s glowing eyes didn’t waver.

Meanwhile, Raven didn’t fight Seravelle with brute force. He danced around her incantations.

Every time her hands lifted, he struck—knocking her elbows aside, breaking her rhythm. Her halo sparked violently, trying to anchor a chant that never finished.

Touch of Obedience triggered.

Raven’s eyes flicked up. He grunted—then launched his Dominion Chain into the stone overhead. It latched. He yanked.

The charm dragged him halfway, but the momentum reversal tore him free, skidding across the floor.

He rose again. "Nice try."

Seravelle raised her hands again—Sacred Flagellation starting.

He dashed forward and slashed across the rune glowing on her torso. The sigil shattered with a burst of light. No backlash. No healing pulse.

"Denied."

She hissed.

Velitha finally landed a Fire Glyph under AX-K9.

Two of the mechanical hound’s mini-spawns exploded in flame. The hound jerked sideways, staggering. Steam hissed from its joints.

"Redline Grid—engage!" AX-K9’s voice flared.

The floor beneath shifted as the machine realigned its stance. Hexagonal plates beneath its feet lit up red—Redline Execution Grid activating. A safe-zone puzzle clicked into place, forcing Raven’s team to reposition. But in the chaos, one of Velitha’s summoned echoes—a ghostly dwarf ancestor—slipped past the line and bit into AX-K9’s arm. Sparks flew.

Across the chamber, Orun unleashed his fury.

He dashed through two of Thistlecreep’s summoned vines with Grave Divider, cleaving them in one brutal slash. A flash of dull light rippled across his armor—+20% haste activated.

He blurred into motion.

But Thistlecreep didn’t meet speed with speed.

Instead, it bled.

Vines retracting, body low, it slipped back into the bloomline—leaving a deceptive trail of petal shimmer behind. Orun, hastened and enraged, pursued.

His mistake.

The moment his armored feet struck the shimmer trail—Bloomstep Ambush triggered.

Thorn traps burst from the stone.

Metal cracked. Orun faltered—just for a moment—but that moment was everything.

From the mist behind him, Haunting Mirage erupted—Phantom Seer’s illusions dancing like ghosts. One shadow sprinted past Orun’s vision.

Instinctively, he reacted—Final Rite charging forward in a blur.

The blade passed through the ghost.

A second later, Orun’s back was wide open.

At the far end of the battlefield, Seravelle snarled and snapped her fingers—Flesh Benediction.

A crimson ripple spread through the crypt.

Everyone was marked.

"Crimson Grace," Raven muttered.

The King’s voice hit a higher pitch.

"Kill him! Seravelle, kill him now! End him!"

Raven tilted his head slightly.

"You hear that, paladin? That’s not leadership. That’s fear."

He bolted forward without hesitation.

He didn’t hesitate.

He sprinted, crossed the gap in seconds. His knives caught the light—then cut through her halo line, carving across her shoulder. She twisted to strike back—but Raven kept moving, shoulder-rolling under her guard.

He headbutted her under the ribs mid-chant.

Seravelle coughed blood, staggering. "You—don’t—fight fair—"

"I’m a sovereign," Raven whispered through clenched teeth. "It’s a sovereign’s duty to win—no matter the cost."

Chains flared from his gauntlets again, locking her wrist and ankle—Phantom Bind snapped her casting posture wide open. She tried to lift her staff, but he drove a dagger between her elbow joints, locking the movement.

Seravelle screamed—this time in pain.

Behind them, Phantom Seer whispered into the chaos. Echoes of pain overlapped with echoes of doubt. Orun faltered. Velitha screamed again.

With a loud scream, Seravelle screams.

"ENOUGH!"

The system pulsed.

[Triad Cohesion Disrupted – Phase Two Initiated]

Seravelle’s corrupted halo shattered in a spray of golden shards. And with violent push, Raven was thrown to the corner.

A small window. Seravelle cast heal, and make Orun and Velitha fully healed.

Raven exhaled. He knows this.

Phase One was over.

And Phase Two—the real nightmare—was about to begin.

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