Jongho swept his eyes through the grand hall without letting his eyes dwell on any details for too long. The size of the room was bigger than anything Jongho had ever seen, nearly as big as a whole airship dock. It had to take up most of the second floor and spread out mostly emptily over dozens of steps. Even more waste was the lack of furniture or anything of use. The throne room was nothing more than exactly what its name supplied. A room with a throne backed up against the window front. Several polished marble steps laid up to the slightly elevated platform that rose the throne above anybody who stepped into the room. The sole person to overlook the average folk was the king, and he sat on his throne even now.

Having seen the horrific drawing Yeosang had made of this very man, Jongho at least had an idea of what to expect. The scary mixture of man and machine that hung on the chair in front of them like a lifeless glob of flesh that had been meant to rot long ago already came to no surprise. He still startled at the eyes that met them. Black and small like the sharp pebbles Jongho sometimes got into his shoes; they stood out from a pasty and round face. They radiated pure evil and looked far more awake and able than the rest of his sunken form.

His face was surrounded by the metal wires that Jongho had noticed already. They roped down his bald head to disappear behind the throne like grotesque strands of hair. Their weight pulled his skin oddly stiff, smoothing out some wrinkles but making the face look as if stretched on a metal globe. In turn, his eyes bulged slightly out of his head. They didn't have enough space to sink into their sockets.

The king had a human chest dressed in expensive red velvet that probably cost as much as six months worth of food for Jongho. One of the hands that had settled on the armrest was human, the other one nothing but a metal skeleton that barely resembled a hand. Spindly like the legs of a spider, it had settled on the cushion beneath his arm and gripped onto it with sharp fingertips. Jongho bet they could be used to slice open skin if so needed.

Since he had a blanket in his lap, Jongho couldn't see more, but he also didn't detect the shadow of legs underneath the heavy fabric. The Undying was indeed no more but a human heart and a brain supported by machines that held him up like a metal cage.

His button eyes focused on them and swept along their ranks without much interest. They got stuck on Seonghwa, however. If his mood changed when he recognised his dead son, then he didn't show it. With rattling breaths, he remained just where he was and merely inclined his head. The cables attached to him shifted with the movement.

"How can it be... I received affirmation that you died, dear son of mine. What a horrible, terrible accident." The voice coming from the king sounded like a cat's claws scratching over wood. Raspy and hitching now and then, and clearly creating pain for the owner. Jongho shifted on his feet uncomfortably. He still held Yeosang's hand behind their backs to soothe the man's tremors. Finally, he understood what made the king so eerily creepy. His very being and everything that came with it brought horror beyond Jongho's comfort. Pictures of wild demons and odd creatures that ate humans in art were one thing. But this man was very real, and his fight against death had made him into a monster so scary that Jongho would have troubles getting rid of his image in his mind.

Before Seonghwa got to bite out an answer, the king's eyes caught onto Yeosang. From this distance, Jongho also felt stared at, and those eyes seemed to bore into him like a nail penetrating flesh. It ripped into his very soul to lay bare his secrets and scoff about them. That king had no interest or sympathy. The blackness of his soul mirrored in his very eyes.

"You... I can't remember summoning you. You know you aren't allowed in the main building. What had the guards get you two and a crowd of... street rats in here?" The disdain in the king's voice had Jongho tighten his grip on Yeosang in anger. Shivering, the librarian leaned into him more. His every muscle was tensed as if ready to run at any given moment. The fear in his body was palpable in the air, and Jongho did his best to soothe him.

Just what might that meeting in the past have been? The one where Yeosang had spent enough time here to draw the man only to get angry enough to scratch him out of the book while precious tears dripped from his innocent eyes?

Seonghwa was the only member of their group who dared to face the king directly. All this time, he had to deal with this monster of a man, and he never gave in, despite all the horrible truths he learnt. Jongho was deeply impressed with him. Since he had never seen the king before and only heard myths about him that the shadows of Zey whispered in the narrow alleys, he hadn't fathomed this much evil to ooze from the man like black oil.

"We came to end this! I found out everything, and we prepared to change this era of tyranny!" Tense, Seonghwa gesticulated towards the group. Still, he didn't dare to venture closer to their enemy yet. Jongho felt Wooyoung shift uncomfortably next to him. As if out of reflex, San's hand settled on his back to share his warmth with the guard. Wooyoung leaned into the touch unconsciously. The uncomfortable atmosphere around the king hung thick in the group like stubborn fog.

"End this? Oh, Seonghwa... Aren't you a little dreamer. I always told you to stop dreaming. You are nothing special. Nobody of grand importance. Your plans to change the world for a better place are hallucinatory fantasies. Did you think you would get a bunch of friends like the heroes in those novels you enjoy reading and overthrow the evil government?" A thunderous laugh came from the colourless lips of the king. "Foolish son of mine. I thought I had taught you how the world worked, but it seems as if I failed. This world is a dark place. Not the utopia you dream of."

Jongho held his breath when Seonghwa's face darkened further. He motioned the automatons to advance and surround the king. Anonymous and wordless, Yunho and his men did as they were told. All of their weapons were pointed at the old king, who looked amused, if anything. He didn't feel threatened, and his apathetic reaction had a skilamalink fear coil in Jongho's belly. They should hurry. Any second that passed in the oddly quiet room with this man still alive was a waste of time.

"We are both repeating ourselves. I will show you just how much better it can be without you. Jongho. The core."

When summoned, Jongho stepped forward to produce the large object from his bag. As they fiddled with it, Mingi remained protectively by Yeosang's side. Again, the king's eyes found the trembling boy.

"You still live. I thought you had rotted long ago, just like your whore mother. I honestly didn't expect to see you again."

Worried, both Seonghwa and Jongho glanced at Yeosang. The man in question had balled his hands into fists and bit his lips to stop the tears in his eyes from spilling over. Mingi attempted to reach for his pitiful form, but the librarian shook his head. His teeth dug in his lip hard enough to draw blood nearly, and Jongho wanted to soothe him once more and caress the worries away from him.

Jongho directed his stare back at the king, colder now. As intimidated as he had been before, now his heart froze over with icy hatred again. This was the man. The man who had attempted to kill Seonghwa, who made Yeosang's life a living hell, and was responsible for the loss of Jongho's family. The man who had sunk Zey into sorrow.

"Watch your mouth, gibface. He might be too polite to retort, but I won't hesitate to stab a bastard when I see one," Jongho growled at the king without an ounce of fear. For a moment, the man looked flabbergasted before a rough giggle nearly sent him into a coughing fit. In their heads, they all wished for him to choke. Moments later, he regained his breath and lowered his mirthful gaze at the group of men on the level below him.

"Oh, you got yourself a little watchdog. What a dirty mutt, though, with a dirty mouth. I expected more from you, but it seems as if your mother's side is stronger in you."

At that, Jongho pushed the core against Seonghwa's chest and reached for his belt. His knife snapped open sinisterly when he flipped it in his hand to be able to use his full force stabbing down. Nobody stopped him when he advanced in the king's direction. Whether he died first, and they used the power afterwards or let him die because they disconnected the power from him didn't play any role of importance. This man would die today, and if Jongho were the one to stab him, nobody would keep him from that. All of them had their fury they wanted to act upon, but Jongho would bring closure to all of them.

"Yeah, it might be. His mother also settled for a dirty mutt. The difference is that Yeosang actually loves me." His petty fight aided none of them, and his rage fuelled only further when he was ignored once more. Despite being the one to have started their childish tug-of-war, the king practised nonchalance at Jongho's stab.

"Ah, Yeosang. Right. That is the name she gave you. I already forgot."

Jongho reached the steps to the throne, and for the first time, the king looked at him. His eyes were full of disgust as if he were looking at vile vermin. A bitter smile formed on Jongho's lips, hidden by the mask.

"You guards, aren't you going to remove that scum? He stinks up the whole place." The king scrunched his nose and averted his eyes as if he couldn't bear looking at Jongho. Hot and sweet like a dangerous treat, the anger inside Jongho bubbled over.

"Stab him, Jongho. You have my permission," Seonghwa called from further behind. Without another second of hesitation, Jongho jumped up the stairs taking two at a time. The king had time only for a fraction of a second to recognise the seriousness of the situation. Then, his eyes widened when Jongho rammed the knife into his chest. It met metal, jarring alongside it with a screech that let every cell in Jongho's body curl up. It also penetrated the soft flesh of the man, though, so he counted it as a win.

"Bastard. Think in hell about just what you did to the people in this country." For good measure, Jongho twisted the knife. The blood that spilt out on his fingers and made his grip on the knife slippery was scare and barely enough to announce a real injury. At the king's cough, he knew the injury to be bad, however.

"Imbeciles, all of you. I'll let you people rot in hell for this." With those words, he let his head fall against the backrest of his chair. His eyes fluttered even when the blaring of an alarm sounded promptly and so loud that Jongho had to press his hands on his ears to protect them from harm. When he retreated from the heaving king, he nearly toppled down the stairs. As he turned to check where he was going, he found that the automatons had turned to the large double doors to stare at them tensely. Seonghwa just picked up the sphere from the ground after he must have dropped it.

Then, like a flood dawning upon them, the gates of the throne room opened. Soldiers streamed in, trained men as well as possibly a hoard of automatons who slowly moved around their metal steps. Gradually, they flooded the room to point their weapons at the group and yell orders at each other to make sure the king was alright.

The team of Jongho's friends backed up in his direction, and Yunho and his friends formed a protective barrier. Disheartened by the number of guns pointed at them, Jongho glanced at the windows.

Hongjoong was nowhere in sight. They had been cut off from their escape path.