The room remained thick with tension. Whispers filled the air as everyone struggled to process the horrifying truth behind their kingdom's history.
Ryo, wearing his bright grin, suddenly clapped his hands together. "Alright, guys! Let's move on to condition number two!"
Shahira's eye twitched as she deadpanned, "Umm, Ryo… at least give us a moment to process after that shocking reveal."
Amina, still visibly shaken, sighed heavily. "I wanted a cool anime-like detective reveal, but that was too dark and overwhelming for my heart!"
Ryo smirked smugly, "I told you you'd love it."
Amina and Shahira, in unison, "LIKE HELL WE DO!!!"
The king, still deep in thought, finally lifted his gaze. Though the revelation unsettled him, his expression hardened with determination.
"It's okay, Mr. Detective," the king declared. "As Sultan, I have the right to know everything—whether good or bad—about my kingdom's history."
Ryo nodded respectfully. "Then let's continue."
Ryo's gaze darkened as he spoke.
"The second condition… was that Malakar had to discard his humanity—as demanded by the Ancient 'Thing.'"
Everyone stiffened.
"From what I gathered in the library, as mentioned before, summoning magic was once a common thing, but after Malakar, it was reclassified as dark magic. Why? Because such magic allows one to summon beings as dangerous as the devil himself… and when you make a deal with an entity like the Ancient 'Thing'—"
Ryo smirked darkly, "—you're essentially making a deal with the devil."
The room remained dead silent, all ears on him.
"Now, here's where things get interesting," Ryo continued, "I looked up the consequences of using dark magic. There were a few side effects—corruption, loss of self, madness—but one of them caught my attention…"
A moment of eerie silence stretched before—
"…You can no longer die."
Amina and Shahira gasped.
"The Ancient 'Thing' took Malakar's mortality as part of the deal."
The king's face twisted in disbelief. "THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE! But Zayd slew Malakar before he could open the gate!"
Shahira, still processing, turned to Ryo. "Wait… Didn't you say there was a third condition?"
Ryo looked at her calmly. "Don't worry, Sha, I'll explain everything."
Then, turning to the king, he continued, "Let's start with your part, Your Majesty. History says Zayd killed Malakar, right?"
The king nodded. "Yes, that's what has always been recorded."
Ryo's expression darkened. His voice lowered.
"Then let me ask you this…"
A pause.
A single, spine-chilling question.
"Where is Malakar's grave?"
A tense silence fell over the room.
The king's brows furrowed as he thought deeply. "Wait a minute…"
Ryo crossed his arms. "According to the records and some simple internet search using this kingdoms' private network, ALL great historical figures—heroes and villains—have graves. Even Malakar's subordinates, centuries later, were buried and remembered in some form. But Malakar? His remains? Where is it? It's as if previous rulers of Al-Munira wanted to erase his fate from history because… they couldn't explain what really happened to him."
Shahira's hands clenched into fists. "Ryo… earlier, you said Malakar could no longer die…"
She gulped.
Her voice wavered.
"Are you telling us… that Malakar is still… alive… today?"
A suffocating silence.
The tension was unbearable.
Everyone started murmuring, their voices shaky.
"T-That can't be… right?!"
"This has to be a mistake! Malakar died centuries ago!"
"But… if he couldn't die… then where is he?!"
Amina clutched her head. "Ryo… just say it already!"
Ryo's eyes flickered towards Shahira. A sharp, side glance.
He didn't speak.
He just watched her.
The pause was nerve-wracking.
Then, without breaking eye contact—
He slowly lifted his right hand.
One finger.
Then two.
Then—
His third finger.
"And that," he said, voice low, suspense thick in the air—
"—is where the third condition comes in."
"WHAT?!"
The reaction was explosive.
Gasps. Yells. Panic.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN A THIRD CONDITION?!"
"DON'T TELL ME—"
"DETECTIVE, JUST SPIT IT OUT!"
The king leaned forward, gripping his armrests tightly.
"EXPLAIN, MR. DETECTIVE!!!"
The tension in the throne hall grew heavier. Even the faintest whisper of the wind felt ominous as Ryo prepared to lay down the final piece of the puzzle.
"Before I get into the real stuff, let's go over a little theory first," Ryo began, his tone casual yet laced with a dangerous undertone.
Amina, despite still being shaken, waved her hand dismissively. "At this point, anything is fine, Ryo. Just say it."
Everyone listened intently.
Ryo's voice carrying weight.
"After Zayd 'killed' Malakar, he took the Celestial Compass and escaped from the area where the gate was located. His allies were waiting for him outside, and the moment they saw him emerge victorious, they cheered and praised him as a hero."
The king and Shahira nodded, as this part of the story was well-known in history.
"Then," Ryo continued, "Zayd ordered his men to retrieve Malakar's body, to confirm the death of the most dangerous man this kingdom had ever seen."
He paused, his next words sending chills down their spines.
"…But when they got there, Malakar's body was already gone."
A collective gasp filled the throne hall.
"W-What?!" one of the attendants murmured.
"H-How is that even possible?!"
"His body just… vanished?!"
The murmurs grew in intensity, panic setting in.
Ryo crossed his arms. "Now, this is just speculation. After discovering that Malakar's body had disappeared, Zayd feared that Malakar might return. He must have been terrified that the battle wasn't over."
He smirked slightly.
"So, what did he do? He declared himself the new ruler. He promised his people that he would never become like Malakar, and he made this kingdom stronger than ever before. He increased military defenses at an extraordinary rate. And just in case, he hid the Celestial Compass deep in the dungeons, long before the vault room was built, locking it away in a box with heavy chains and placed it on top of a pedestal of sand"
The king, gripping his armrest, spoke. "In the records, Malakar never attacked again."
Ryo's smirk darkened.
"Now that the theories are out of the way, let's get into the real stuff… the third condition for activating the Celestial Compass—"
A dramatic pause.
"—AGAIN."
Shahira almost tripped. "AGAIN?! Are you serious?!"
Amina gulped. "Oh no… This is going to be even worse, isn't it?"
Ryo's gaze sharpened.
"Let's go back… to before Zayd's men tried to recover Malakar's vanished body."
The room fell silent again.
Amina held her breath.
"Malakar… woke up."
A deathly chill ran down everyone's spine.
"He woke up from his supposed death because, as I mentioned before—he could no longer die."
A sickening realization settled in.
"And when he woke up, he was furious."
Ryo's voice lowered, and it was as if the entire hall leaned in closer.
"He was this close to opening the gate, and then Zayd attacked, took the compass, and left him with nothing. In a fit of rage and desperation, Malakar summoned the Ancient 'Thing' again."
Gasps echoed through the room.
"He begged it—pleaded for another Celestial Compass, so he could still open the gate, because the compass also serves as a key to open the gate."
The queen, who had been silent all this time, now looked horrified.
The king's voice wavered. "And… what did the Ancient 'Thing' say?"
Ryo's expression grew even darker.
"It told him… that there was only one compass in existence. The only way to open the gate now was to retrieve the compass that was taken from him… and activate it again."
Shahira clutched her chest. "No… no way…"
The king, feeling a chill run through his veins, asked the question that sealed their fate.
"And the price…for the activation?"
Ryo, with a terrifying calmness, delivered the bombshell.
"He had to gather dark energy—once every year. And to do that… he had to claim one human soul every year as a form of compensation to the Ancient 'Thing.' A yearly human sacrifice."
The room erupted.
"WHAT?!"
"A HUMAN SACRIFICE EVERY YEAR?!"
The murmurs turned into shouts of distress.
Amina's eyes widened in horror. "That's why you asked the librarian for books about unexplained deaths! But why would you suspect those were related to this?!"
Ryo exhaled deeply, looking over at her.
"It's common sense that in the dark ages, human sacrifices were done by sinister cults. They believed that offering souls to higher beings would grant them power. So, I thought—what if someone was still doing that in this kingdom? And then, the librarian handed me another book—one about the consequences of using dark magic. And there, on one particularly terrifying page… I saw the words… 'Involve many human souls.'"
Amina shuddered. "Ughhh…"
The king, now pale, suddenly gasped—his hands gripping his throne tightly.
"That's right…! Every year, there were mysterious deaths—cases that even the police and our best detectives couldn't solve! Even last year!"
Ryo nodded grimly. "Exactly, Your Majesty. And I strongly suspect that Malakar has been secretly killing people—one by one—for centuries. He's been gathering souls for the Ancient 'Thing,' slowly, patiently—even after Zayd is long gone."
Amina covered her mouth. "No way…"
Shahira trembled. "This whole time… for centuries…"
The realization was suffocating.
Malakar had never been defeated.
He had never stopped.
He had been here all along.
Ryo suddenly grinned.
Then—
He turned around.
And, loud enough for the entire throne hall to hear—
"ISN'T THAT RIGHT, MALAKAR?! OUR MAIN CULPRIT!"
Silence.
The king and queen stood up in shock.
Everyone in the room whipped their heads around, frantically looking at each other.
"WAIT… WHAT?!"
"HE'S HERE?!"
"WHERE?!
Shahira's breath hitched. "No way… To think that a person from back then—"
Amina's voice wavered as she finished the sentence.
"—is still alive."
Deep in the shadows of the hall, hidden from sight, a dark figure trembled.
His hands clenched into fists.
Sweat dripped down his forehead.
A deep, furious growl echoed in his mind.
"Curse you… Detective!!!"
The throne hall erupted into chaos.
The king, panic-stricken yet resolute, roared an urgent command.
"GUARDS, PREPARE YOUR WEAPONS!! AND READY YOUR MAGIC ATTACKS!!"
In an instant, the entire hall transformed into a battlefield.
The guards' weapons—swords, spears, and halberds—began to shimmer, their edges glowing with immense elemental power. Lightning crackled, fire erupted, water swirled, air howled, and the earth trembled as every warrior prepared to strike down the ancient criminal hiding among them.
Shahira gritted her teeth and pulled out her dagger. The moment she unsheathed it, the blade shimmered with a deep blue glow, water coiling and twisting around it like a living entity. She took a stance, eyes fierce, scanning the room for any sign of movement.
Then—
Amina unsheathed a small sword, holding it in front of her.
Ryo glanced at her, blinking in confusion. "Wait… Amina, you have a weapon? Since when—"
Before he could finish, a miraculous transformation unfolded before his eyes.
Amina lifted the small sword high, and—
FWOOOOOSHHH!!
The blade shimmered in brilliant white light, glittering with raw energy.
A violent gust of wind exploded from the weapon. The once-small sword stretched and extended, growing longer and longer, until—
A fully formed KATANA, cloaked in swirling winds, appeared in her hands.
She coolly swung it forward, pointing its tip ahead with perfect precision.
Ryo's jaw dropped. "HOLY COW, AMINA!! DID THAT TINY LITTLE SWORD JUST TURN INTO A LONG, WINDY KATANA?!"
Amina smirked, flipping her hair back slightly. "As a long-time anime fan…"
Then, she loudly and proudly declared—
"…A KATANA IS MY FIRST CHOICE WEAPON!!"
Ryo's eyes twitched. He sighed, half-laughing, half-deadpan. "…You definitely got that from a fantasy samurai show."
Meanwhile—
A flaming arrow suddenly manifested in the air.
Ryo turned, eyes wide, as Queen Zafira magically summoned a bow, quickly pulling back the flaming arrow.
His eyes widened. "Wait, did she just pull that out like from an item box in a game?! Guess Jamil really inherited his fire magic talent from his mother!"
And then—
The king himself clenched his fist.
A golden aura exploded around him, his knuckles shimmering like treasure. The glow was so blindingly bright that Ryo had to shield his eyes with his arms.
"SHINY!!" Ryo yelped. "IS HE GONNA START BOXING THE CULPRIT?!"
The maids and attendants ducked in panic, covering their heads, fearing a sudden clash.
The tension was at its absolute peak.
The guards, Shahira, Amina, the queen, and the king all carefully scanned the throne hall, eyes darting, muscles tensed, ready to attack at the first sign of Malakar.
But then—
"Hold up, guys."
Ryo's calm yet firm voice cut through the intensity like a blade.
Everyone snapped their attention toward him.
All eyes were on Ryo.
His sharp gaze pierced through the atmosphere like daggers.
"Malakar isn't going to reveal himself so easily."
A long, heavy silence followed.
Then—
Ryo's eyes darkened.
A slow smirk crept onto his face.
"So let's continue with my findings… and eventually—"
Ryo took a step forward, his voice dropping to a chilling whisper—
"…reveal Malakar's true identity… the one who is hiding—among us all."
Ryo was still in awe, watching the sheer fantasy power-ups surrounding him—the queen's flaming bow and arrow, the king's treasure-like glowing fists, and Amina's long, wind-powered katana and so on.
It felt like he had been dropped straight into a high-stakes RPG boss battle.
But—
He quickly shook off his amazement, cleared his throat, and refocused.
"Now then," he started, regaining his composure. "As you all know, people with that cursed mark in their eyes—a black circular mark with spikes—are being manipulated."
Everyone listened intently.
Ryo's expression turned grim.
"And the one behind cursing people with those marks, turning them into his mindless soldiers, is most likely Malakar."
A hush fell over the throne hall.
Then—
Ryo's eyes darkened.
"…He must've been covering people's eyes from behind—sneaking up on his targets—branding them without anyone realizing until it was too late."
FWOOOSH!
The flames on the queen's arrow flared violently as her rage erupted like an inferno.
"MY SON IS INNOCENT!!" she shouted furiously, sweeping her bow from left to right, scanning the room, her arrow ready to burn someone alive.
"WHERE ARE YOU, MALAKAR?! I'LL SET YOU ABLAZE!!!"
The king, fists still glowing like sunlit gold, quickly intervened.
"Calm down, sweetheart! We cannot make any rash movements!"
Ryo, sweat-dropping at the queen's intense bloodlust, nervously stuttered—
"Y-Yes! Jamil is innocent!"
He gulped before continuing.
"The Ravens… are basically just one person controlling many unwilling, manipulated soldiers. Anyone can be forced into becoming a Raven member—just by Malakar covering their eyes and branding them!"
The queen's fury exploded further.
She pulled her bow back fully, ready to let loose a fiery arrow—
"I KNEW IT!! I KNEW IT!! I KNEW IIIIIIIIIT!!!"
Her voice shook the entire throne hall.
"MY SON IS NEVER A BAD BOY!! HE WOULDN'T ATTACK ANYONE LIKE THAT!!!"
Amina, watching the Queen go berserk, internally thought—
"Uh… sure, but… Jamil also slept around with a lot of women…"
"And, uh… he did consider drop-kicking Ryo and deporting him out of the kingdom…"
Shahira quickly stepped in. "MOTHER! Don't be rash! We must stay vigilant!"
The queen gritted her teeth but lowered her bow—slightly.
Ryo took a deep breath before continuing.
"Before Amina and I visited Jamil in the prison hospital, we actually took a short detour while still at the palace."
Amina nodded. "Yup, we did!"
"We went to the palace's administration office," Ryo explained, "where I requested a list of all palace workers—from every single sector."
Ryo's eyes narrowed.
"…And something looked fishy."
He then turned to Shahira.
"Hey, Sha, remember the first day I arrived at the palace? That one attendant who forcibly took my bag the moment I stepped out of the limo—like they were giving me VIP treatment?"
Shahira furrowed her brows. "Yes… what about him?"
Ryo then looked at both Shahira and Amina.
"And do you girls remember—when we were heading to elevator that leads to the vault room in the dungeon—there was a guard who stopped us before we could enter? You, Amina, got turned away because you weren't royalty."
Shahira and Amina glanced at each other before nodding.
"Yeah… we remember."
But then—
The king suddenly looked confused.
"…Wait a minute, Mr. Detective…"
Ryo turned to him. "Yes, Your Majesty?"
The king's brows furrowed.
"…Amina may not be royalty, but I never said she wasn't allowed to enter the vault room with you."
Silence.
Amina's eyes snapped open as realization hit her like a ton of bricks.
"HOLD ON A SECOND—
NOW I GET IT!!"
Ryo locked eyes with her.
"What is it, Amina?"
Amina clenched her left fist, her wind magic swirling slightly around her katana as her excitement grew.
"With my wind magic… I can secretly feel the air and people around me."
Her sharp gaze locked onto Ryo's.
"…Even if a presence is invisible, I can still feel it."
Ryo's eyes widened.
Then—
His expression darkened.
"…I see."
His voice dropped to a serious, sharp tone.
"…That explains why that guard didn't allow you to enter the elevator."
His gaze burned with intensity.
"…Using 'royalty-only' as an excuse… was nothing more than a lie."
Ryo, still standing confidently in the center of the throne hall, continued his deductions.
"Now, let's go back to the palace administration records."
His voice echoed through the throne hall.
"I looked at the list of all palace workers—from every sector."
"And there's one person… registered as an attendant, the guy who forcefully snatched my bag, displaying his top customer service."
Every attendant murmured in fear, ducking, glancing around, trying to figure out which of their colleagues was suspicious.
Ryo's eyes gleamed as he dropped the next revelation.
"That same attendant… looks exactly like the guard who was stationed at the elevator to the dungeon's vault room."
A chill ran through the room.
The king's expression darkened.
Ryo smirked.
"I'm sure he tried to be a maid once, but his manly features gave him away too much—so he rarely dressed up as girly as a maid with a wig."
"Probably wore a facemask sometimes, claiming he was sick, to avoid suspicion."
A few maids turned pale.
Then—
Ryo's tone turned bold.
"And let me tell you what Malakar's face looks like…. when he discarded his humanity."
Everyone stiffened.
"I read it in the history books… and here's what I found."
A deep breath—
"Dark eyes."
"A graying beard."
"A sharp nose."
"Weathered skin."
His words cut through the silence like a blade.
"And guess what? That guard and that attendant I mentioned…"
Ryo's sharp eyes locked onto the crowd.
"…They look exactly alike."
Then—
One of the maids, still ducking in fear, suddenly gasped.
"Wait a minute…" she whispered, remembering something.
Her voice shook as she continued—
"I think… there was a maid who always looked a bit off."
All eyes turned to her.
"She had a man's build… and she always wore a facemask….like you said."
Ryo's smirk deepened.
"Go on."
The maid gulped.
"She was mopping the floor… always turning her back to us… said she didn't want us looking at her because she was embarrassed about being sick."
Her voice wavered—
"…But from a distance, her face almost looked exactly like how you just described, Mr. Detective."
A deadly silence fell over the throne hall.
Then—
WHISH!
Unnoticed by everyone, a guard standing just behind Ryo slowly tightened his grip on a hidden dagger.
His breathing was calm. His movements silent.
He inched closer—step by step—towards Ryo's unguarded back.
Closer—
And closer.
No one noticed.
No one except—
Ryo.
The moment the maid finished speaking, Ryo turned his head slightly and locked eyes with Amina.
Amina's expression shifted.
Ryo's gaze… was filled with a knowing smirk.
And then—
He winked.
Amina's eyes widened.
Her heart pounded
She knew.
She knew exactly what was about to happen.
Her mouth slowly started to open in excitement.
Then—
Ryo slowly lifted his right index finger.
The sneaky guard behind him gritted his teeth, preparing to lunge forward.
Everything—
Felt like slow motion.
Amina's body tensed in anticipation.
Then—
With a sudden, swift motion—
Ryo dramatically pointed behind him.
His voice BOOMED through the hall—
"The identity of Malakar…"
A beat.
"THE REAL CULPRIT…"
Ryo's gaze burned with intensity.
And then—
"IS YOU!!!"
The sneaky guard's body froze in panic.
His dagger—just inches away from Ryo's back—stopped midair.
The throne hall erupted into gasps.
Amina, pierced her katana to the floor, crossed her arms smugly, nodding in pure satisfaction.
"Ahh… now that's a proper detective anime-style reveal."
She grinned, clearly enjoying herself.
A true masterpiece.
The room erupted into chaos.
All eyes snapped toward the 'guard'.
He took a step back from Ryo—his helmet slightly shifting—revealing…
Dark eyes.
A graying beard.
A sharp nose.
Weathered skin.
The exact face from the history books.
Everyone stared in horror.
The king and queen turned their attention to the culprit, and were in complete shock.
A few guards instinctively raised their weapons.
And Ryo—
Ryo grinned darkly as he looked into Malakar's eyes.
His voice dropped to a low, taunting whisper.
"…Why hello there, 'over 1500-year-old Malakar'…"
His grin widened.
"Looks like you just failed to stab me."
A powerful dark aura surrounded Malakar as his face twisted in pure rage.
His hands trembled in fury.
His teeth gritted painfully.
And then—
He let out a furious roar.
"DAMN YOOUU, DETECTIIIIIIIIIIIVE!!!"