260: Undercurrents

Outside the Golden Palace, many capital nobles and court ministers visited more and more frequently, all with a single purpose: to request an audience with Golden King Bjorn.

For several consecutive days, rumors within the capital intensified. To any keen observer, it was clear that a hidden hand was pulling the strings behind the scenes.

Initially, the high-ranking nobles of the capital paid no mind to these rumors. They didn't believe anything could happen to the Golden King. Over the centuries, the kingdom had faced countless challenges, but no matter the crisis, His Majesty the Golden King had always resolved it with ease. They were more inclined to believe these rumors were the schemes of Cultists.

In the eyes of the kingdom's nobles, the Golden King was invincible. No existence could make the great Golden King bow his head, let alone kill him.

Did you think you were a Legendary Extraterritorial Evil God? Thinking you could kill His Majesty the Golden King?

A pipe dream!

But as the days passed, these great nobles gradually realized something was wrong. Not only did the rumors intensify, but there was no response from within the Golden Palace. Aside from the frequent deployment of the Ordinance Knights and the Golden Legion, no other measures were taken.

Normally, this would be expected; after all, how could an existence like His Majesty the Golden King bother with such trivial matters? However, some meddlers suddenly realized that it had been several months since anyone had seen His Majesty the Golden King.

Others might never see the Golden King in their entire lives, but as top-tier nobles of the capital, these grand figures still saw him from time to time.

When the first great noble seeking an audience was turned away without seeing the Golden King, more and more nobles and ministers began to knock on the gates of the Golden Palace with doubt in their hearts.

As more people were refused entry, even greater doubt and confusion arose.

A sense of anxiety began to spread among the capital's upper class.

"Is His Majesty the Golden King still in the Golden Palace?" This topic was repeatedly raised in private settings.

At this moment, within the Golden Palace, Holden stood with a calm expression in the center of the magnificent hall. At the end of the hall was the high throne, the seat belonging to his father.

"Your Highness, the Finance Minister and Marquis Philip have come again to request an audience with His Majesty!"

Holden said coldly, "Tell them to go back. His Majesty is in secluded cultivation and has no time to see them."

"Your Highness, I'm afraid this cannot go on. Sooner or later, there will be a major problem."

Mars, the Lord Chamberlain of the Inner Court, looked at Holden with a worried expression, his gaze then falling on the vacant throne nearby.

As Bjorn's personal attendant, he was one of the very few who knew Bjorn's whereabouts. Mars was currently filled with dread. He couldn't imagine what he would do if the rumor turned out to be true. What would the kingdom do?

"Problem? What problem could there be?"

Holden's icy gaze fell upon Mars.

"As court ministers and kingdom nobles, those idiots are all just a bunch of stupid pigs. What can they do besides cause trouble?"

"Ignore them. Nothing will happen to Father, and the kingdom's sky won't fall. Let this storm continue to blow; let it become even more violent."

"I want to see exactly who is stirring up trouble in the shadows."

"Since Your Highness is confident, my mind is at ease. I will go and reply to them now."

Seeing Holden's confident demeanor, Mars felt relieved. Having served the royal family his entire life, he was quite capable and quickly began to carry out his duties.

After Mars left, Holden turned back and stared at the throne in silence.

Behind him, several figures silently appeared. They were the powerful hidden foundations of the Asriel Family.

The bloodline of the Golden Royal Family was the strongest in the entire human kingdom. Members of the royal family were born with exceptional talent for cultivation, and combined with the vast resources they possessed, their strength was formidable.

Even the weakest members of the Golden Royal Family would eventually break through to the Gold Rank, and Legendary figures would emerge from time to time. The lifespan of a Legendary Expert far exceeded that of ordinary people, allowing the Golden Royal Family to accumulate a significant amount of Legendary foundation.

The figures behind Holden were all members of the royal family and his elders; they were all Legendary Experts.

These individuals looked at the empty throne with complex expressions. They had only recently learned that Bjorn had left the capital for Eight Peaks Mountain. When Bjorn departed, he had only informed Holden and a few close associates; no one else knew.

Such things had happened in the past, but back then, Bjorn would return shortly after going out, and no one would even know he had been gone.

But this time, an accident occurred. On the first day the rumors appeared, the royal family knew the truth. The rumors were definitely false; the royal family had their own ways of knowing the Golden King's life status. If Bjorn had died, the royal family would have been the first to know.

Although the rumors weren't true, they weren't entirely false either.

Golden King Bjorn had lost contact. On the day the rumors surfaced, Holden realized he could no longer reach his father. Subsequently, the royal family used various means to contact Bjorn, but all failed.

It was a fact that the Golden King was still alive, but his loss of contact was now a massive issue.

Losing contact meant an accident had occurred, and this accident made the entire situation complicated.

Were the Dwarves enemies? What exactly happened in Eight Peaks Mountain? How should they deploy against the Dwarves next? Did they need to send someone to Eight Peaks Mountain to rescue His Majesty? What enemy was hidden behind the rumors? Why did the secret information that the Golden King had gone out—which even some in the royal family didn't know—leak out?

Various questions followed, each one extremely thorny. Now, they were all piled in front of Holden.

"Holden, what do you intend to do now?"

Faced with the questions from his elders, Holden did not respond immediately. The hall fell into silence.

After a moment... "Wait!"

"Wait?"

"Yes."

Holden responded with only one word: wait. Continue to wait and do nothing.

Another royal family member was becoming impatient. Just as he was about to speak, he saw Holden stop staring at the throne and turn to look at them.

Holden's gaze swept across the royal family members. His blade-like stare caused them all to shut their mouths.

"I believe in Father. Just do your own jobs and don't worry about anything else. I will handle the rest."

"For now, we just need to wait!"

Holden's voice echoed through the hall like the biting cold wind of the Northlands.

Outside the Golden Palace, the nobles who had been rejected once again left the palace gates unwillingly. Greater dissent began to emerge.

In the following days, the rumors were no longer confined to the capital. The rumor of the Golden King's death spread rapidly in all directions. Within half a month, even the distant lands of the Northlands began to hear the rumors of the Golden King's death.

In Cold Wind City where the biting winds howled, in the restless Rage Bear Fortress, and in the tense Stag Territory, the Northlands—already in a turbulent period—suddenly grew quiet within just a few days of the rumors spreading.

The cold wind seemed to have stagnated. The nobles of the Rage Bear Territory no longer cared about the young Grand Duke in Rage Bear Fortress, and the confrontation between the north and south in the Stag Territory quieted down.

Not just the Northlands, but all four borders of the Kingdom of Asriel became terrifyingly quiet. Even long-standing enemies coincidentally set aside their disputes.

No one dared to underestimate this rumor. For a thousand years, no rumor concerning the life or death of His Majesty the Golden King had ever reached the four borders.

Countless eyes converged on the capital, Saint Stratos. Messengers and spies from all directions flooded into the capital like a tide, everyone wanting to know if the great Golden King was truly alright.

As countless outsiders of various identities poured in, the already chaotic capital became even more disordered.

Beneath the surging undercurrents, the hidden hand continued to violently disturb the situation. As the situation grew more chaotic, more and more ill-intentioned individuals joined in.