Realization

When General Maldor saw how disrespectful Versei had been towards Elio, his king, he knew he didn't need to wait for orders to know what to do next.

He nudged one of the knights present in the king's chamber who nudged the one beside him and they slowly walked past Versei who was heading for the exit, placing themselves in front of him to block his way.

Before Versei could say anything, Elio let out a chuckle, taking a step toward the bald-headed fat pig who had dared to disrespect him.

If he didn't teach him a lesson, he would think that Elio was a joke.

"Insignificant? Humph! I thought that... that perhaps if I mentioned it you would show some remorse... However fake it could have been, yet you think it's insignificant? You insult my Queen, and then dare to show that level of disrespect in front of me?"

He took another step.

"Tell me, what's significant to you then, uh? Isn't the most significant thing right now to get rid of the Blue Monsters? Yet, back in the meeting, you tried to frighten us claiming we can't afford to provoke them."

"Because you didn't succeed, now you want to turn the officials against me by attacking my Queen's dignity and imposing a marriage proposal you know I would never agree to. What could be the motivation behind it?"

Elio paused for a while, looking as if he was in deep thought.

"Oh, you want Lord Ahtred to get angry when I refuse his daughter's hand in marriage. You want us to fight among ourselves instead of fighting against the monsters. That would make us more poor, more desperate, more in need of you. You want us to run to your wife for loans, is that it?"

Master Versei had been standing still, not even bothering himself to turn around and look at Elio, yet the mention of his wife made him flinch, spinning around to face Elio.

"Nonsense!" he shouted. "I only want you to see reason. Attacking monsters you can't kill, provoking them to come after you in large numbers is something that's gonna get all of us killed."

Deep down, Versei was in disbelief. How could have this brat of a king managed to connect the monsters to his wife's debts? Their scheme?

Of course, that was not the entire scheme. Only a part. It was enough to disrupt Lord Hako's plans though.

In truth, Versei knew that Lord Hako had only a handful of Blue Monsters. They seemed a lot because Lord Hako's sorceress sent each in a different place at the same time so as to give the impression that they were so many, yet they weren't even over 15.

Now that Elio had that thunder thing he used to strike the monsters, not to mention the realization that burning them actually did kill them, it would take only a few men to hunt and kill every last one of them.

He had to leave this room and go warn Lord Hako's sorceress.

If she could direct the monsters into the palace tonight and finish off this arrogant brat calling himself Son of Niemoth, then things would get back to normal.

Of course, Master Versei didn't believe that Elio had blessings from god Niemoth. Niemoth would never lower himself to that extent. That would be ridiculous.

However powerful and mysterious that trinket he used to strike the monsters was, it could as well have been granted to him by a sorcerer or a sorceress, not Niemoth.

That's why, after Versei said those words to Elio, he turned around and attempted to push past the knights. "Get out my way!" he barked at them.

They didn't even budge.

He scoffed, realizing he would have to endure the king's blabbering. Before turning around to face the king again, he made sure to mentally note the faces of the knights blocking his way.

He was going to make sure they paid for it... Along with General Maldor, of course.

Meanwhile, Elio fished a chicken nugget out of the bucket and tore a chunk off of it.

Mareen had finished the one Elio had given her a while ago, so she grabbed the McLonald's bucket from him with a smile on her face that said she was going to eat them all.

Master Versei, who had turned around, eyed the bucket for a split second, trying to hide his curiosity for the alien object and food.

Things like these were the reason he wanted Elio dead. It was obvious that the brat had a strong sorcerer or sorceress and the sooner Versei eliminated Elio, the sooner whoverer that sorcerer or sorceress was would come crawling to Versei for employment.

Elio continued chewing on his nugget with a smile on his face, making Versei more angry.

"Say whatever you want to say and tell your dogs to move out of my way," said Master Versei, frustrated. "I have some important things to go do."

Elio let out a chuckle, taking another step toward Versei before he slowly said, "I would watch my tone if I were you. Or, do you not remember that the king has your life in his hands?"

In reality, Elio felt like slapping this fat pig that was disrespecting him to this extent. However, he could smell something fishy about the whole interaction. He could tell that Master Versei had something under his sleeve. Something beyond being Lord Hako's son-in-law. Otherwise, the man wouldn't be acting all mighty in front of Elio.

However, Versei's next words were the last stroke.

"You're not my King," said Versei, still looking confident. "And you wouldn't even touch a beard on my chin, let alone my life. 'Cause if you did, you would see where the real power lies."

Elio couldn't stand this anymore.

Slap!

The sound of flesh hitting flesh echoed around the chamber as Elio's hand connected with Versei's left cheek.

He had put all his strength in that slap and that meant why it knocked Versei sideways. The bald-headed man, confused and in disbelief, raised his hand to touch his cheek, struggling to remain on his feet.

"You dare slap me," he said with a voice close to crying, pointing accusing finger at Elio.

This only angered Elio even more. He stepped closer and smacked the shit out of Versei again.

The maids behind him glanced at each and exchanged smiles. The knights did the same. Even Mareen who was too focused on the chicken nuggets smiled.

Versei had disrespected a person they all respected. It felt so satisfying to see the idiot pay for it.

The second slap had knocked Versei onto the ground where he now wriggled, crawling away from Elio.

He had now realized that Elio really did have his life in his hands. Yes. Lord Hako was his father-in-law. And yes. The Blue Monsters could do his bidding. However, he needed to be alive for that.

If Elio gave an order to have Versei killed, even though Lord Hako would surely and eventually avenge him, it still would not change the fact that he was dead.

With that in mind, Versei went to his knees, kowtowing in front of Elio. "Forgive me, My King. I haven't been in my right mind these days. I shouldn't have disrespected you."

He gritted his teeth as he said this, already plotting how he would get his revenge. All he needed was to get out of here.

He was going to do anything to get out of here. Only then would he have his revenge.