"Wat kin? (Rat King?)" The words stumbled out of me more as a mumble than a proper reply.
I gawked at the mouse before me, its tiny frame trembling with fury—though honestly, the display looked more like a tantrum than righteous rage. Still, there was no mistaking it: this wasn't just any rodent. This was the Rat King, leader of the Animal Zodiacs.
My mind raced. What in the abyss was the Rat King doing here, locked away in the Eternal Prison? Don't tell me… No, impossible. Could Nico—if that's what it called itself—be one of the Emperor War Beasts? That didn't add up. Every record I'd dug through insisted there were only four. And I'd already tamed one myself. Which left one possibility that made my stomach churn.
Nico wasn't here by mistake. He was one of the prisoners.
Noticing my stupefied expression, the mouse's rage cooled into something far worse: smug delight. With a flick of its whiskers, it hovered inches from my face, while I remained pinned to the ground under the crushing weight of its aura.
"You, human named Carl," Nico sneered, eyes glittering. "What crime brought you here? What offense so vile that the Realm Divine Council themselves dragged you into this pit?"
Realm Divine Council? Oh, wonderful. Because what Mythica really needed was another shady council pulling strings behind the curtain.
My answer came out in a pathetic, muffled stammer. At that, the mouse lazily flicked a claw, and the suffocating pressure evaporated.
I gasped, forcing myself upright, and immediately checked on Agnos, Jiuge, and Heim. No good—they were still plastered to the floor like broken marionettes. My gut twisted. Even gods couldn't stand against this little tyrant. And he was supposed to be just a mythical beast?
"Erm… could you maybe release my friends too?" I asked, clinging to whatever shreds of dignity I still had.
"Why should I?" Nico replied, curt as a blade.
Right. Why should he? I had no leverage, no bargaining chip.
The mouse crossed his tiny arms and glowered at me. "I despise being ignored. And you have ignored me long enough by refusing to answer my question."
"Forgive me, your majesty," I said quickly, bowing my head, stroking his ego before he decided to crush me again. "I was out of line."
"Then speak. Answer."
"I wasn't caught, your majesty," I said carefully. "I… arrived here by warping. After I ran awa—"
Nico's crimson eyes widened to saucers. "Wait. You can warp? You wield space control?" His voice trembled with excitement.
"Huh? N-no, your majesty, I was—"
"Wahahahahaha!" His laughter rattled the air like thunder in a cavern. "At last! Freedom is mine! You will warp me out of this cursed cage, human. Now!"
My heart plummeted. What? Was he insane? I couldn't warp at will. The only reason I'd been tossed into this place was because of Vorta's lingering fragment, activated with Kaleon's essence. That fluke had burned out. Even if I begged the laws of reality, there was no chance of repeating it.
But if I told him the truth—that I couldn't warp him out—would Nico snap my neck then and there? Sweat beaded across my forehead. My pulse hammered in my ears.
Damn it. How the hell am I supposed to wriggle out of this one?
Then the thought struck me—clean, sharp, like a scalpel sliding into place. Yes. This could work. Two birds with one stone, if I played it right.
"Your Majesty," I began carefully, testing the words like I was setting down explosives. "I'm afraid I can't fulfill your request."
The Rat King's whiskers twitched, his red eyes narrowing. I rushed to shore up my excuse before he exploded again. "On my way here, I was attacked. I'm not exactly in peak condition to warp."
Nico narrowed his eyes, his nose twitching as if sniffing out a lie. "Attacked? Yet I see no wounds upon you." His gaze scanned me from head to toe, like a predator appraising a meal.
I gave him a sheepish grin. "Not hurt, exactly. More like… running on low battery. You know, human problems. We're very fragile. Paper cuts are our natural predators. Anyway, I need to recharge. But to do that, I need access to the Source of Space."
"The Source of Space…" Nico muttered, stroking his whiskers in thought. "Yes. I know what you mean."
My heart skipped. Wait—he bought it? Really? Out of all the lies I've spun in my life, this was the one that stuck? Fantastic. Absolutely fantastic.
Nico's beady eyes suddenly lit with revelation. "I can help you find this source. In fact, I know just the right being to restore your power."
I swallowed a laugh. Oh, this was rich. The Rat King himself was volunteering to guide me to some cosmic battery charger. What could possibly go wrong?
Feigning gratitude, I dipped my head. "Your Majesty, I'm humbled. Truly. You've outdone yourself."
Inside, though, I was grinding my teeth. This royal speech was starting to chafe. Every bow, every syrupy "Majesty" felt like chewing tinfoil. I wasn't sure how much longer I could keep the act up before my tongue staged a rebellion.
"Yes, but we must go now," Nico said gravely. "That being does not have much time left."
My smile froze. "Not much time left? That sounds suspiciously ominous, your Majesty. Is this being sick? Dying? Exploding? Because I feel like those details are important to share, just in case."
He snapped his claws, and suddenly gravity betrayed me—I was airborne, limbs flailing as though I'd just stepped onto an invisible rollercoaster.
"Wha—woah, woah, woah! No seatbelts? No safety briefing? At least let me sign a waiver! Where are we going?" I yelped as my stomach lurched.
Nico's grin was sharp as a blade. "We are going to meet Vorta."
And just like that, I was swept away—whisked out of Pazuzu's chamber in a blinding rush of light. Behind us, I heard the beast's miserable wails echo against the stone, powerless to intervene. Poor thing—I was being kidnapped again, this time by the Rat King.
I was surprised by how free Nico could traverse within the Eternal Prison. Isn't he trapped here as a prisoner? But why is it that he doesn't look like he's caged? Is Nico not a prisoner? But the way how excited he looked when he heard that I warped myself here borders more like he was held captive against his will.
I couldn't control my curiosity and decided to bravely ask against my judgement.
"Erm your majesty, I apologize if I was rude for asking this but… why were you imprisoned here?"
I was honestly baffled by how casually Nico strolled through the Eternal Prison. Shouldn't he, I don't know, be imprisoned?
He didn't walk like someone trapped—more like a guy who knew the place better than the back of his hand. Was he even a prisoner at all? The way his eyes lit up when I admitted I warped myself in here felt less "locked away" and more "hostage who's been waiting for an unsuspecting idiot to stumble in."
Against all better judgment, curiosity won out.
"Erm, your majesty, forgive me if I'm being rude but… why exactly were you imprisoned here?"
We were weaving through endless hallways and branching corridors—like some deranged puzzle box—but Nico didn't miss a beat. He navigated every turn like someone who had been living in this labyrinth forever.
"Imprisoned?" He scoffed, puffing himself up with indignation. "What nonsense are you babbling about? I'm no criminal. I work here. I'm the caretaker of the Eternal Palace."
I blinked. "You're the caretaker?" I blurted, caught completely off guard.
"What? I'm a king, and this is a palace. What's strange about that?" He looked genuinely offended.
Right. Totally normal. A king doing maintenance duty for another ruler's palace-slash-prison. Sure.
"Then why did you tell me you were trapped and wanted out?"
His expression soured instantly. "Because my contract expired a century ago, and I haven't been paid a single coin since. I can't leave without Kaleon's explicit permission."
I frowned. "Why not?"
Nico shot me a look sharp enough to cut stone. "You're irritating. You ask far too many questions."
I gave him my most apologetic smile. "Occupational hazard. I kind of need to know if I'm accidentally freeing death-row inmates. Don't want to get slapped with an accomplice charge, you know?"
He let out a growl of exasperation before relenting. "Because only the Realm's Owner can end or extend my employment contract. Kaleon is the owner, and he's gone! Meanwhile, I'm stuck here, working without pay, for a hundred years!" His voice rose with every word until it echoed down the corridors. "I need a vacation. This is inhumane!"
I swallowed hard. One hundred years.
So the big reason behind all his divine fury? He was basically the world's angriest unpaid employee. And honestly, if I'd been slaving away for a century without a paycheck, I'd probably be foaming at the mouth too.