Rudra walked into the palace gates escorted by two tier 2 guards , clad in full red armour , at level 105 , Rudra had no doubt , that he would be evenly matched at best against these two , without his trump cards , should a fight break out. And this was only because of his monstrous stats. Any average tier two player at level 79 would get skewered by them , in a fight.

  Rudra gulped as he looked around , hundereds of such tier 2 guards manned the royal palace. Forget about the two tier four monsters sitting in the court room waiting for him , even with the entire Elite force he could probably not force his way into the palace.

  This made Rudra realize , just how weak his current strength was , compared to the NPC's of the game. Forget about the gods And the pope and the emperor's. Just the normal royal guard , that is how strong he actually was.

  Rudra walked into the royal court room , King Aman was seated on his throne , with Rahim standing beneath him , and a few courtiers in the room.

  Rudra went as close as etiquette allowed him to , before taking a knee , as he looked towards the ground and said " Shakuni Won Knight , the mayor of Purplehaze city , greets the majesty , the light of the kingdom , the mighty , the just , the brave , Emperor Aman ".

  Aman was amused by Rudra's flattery , he was not a vain man , he could easily look through crap when people spouted buttery words to coax him , he knew very well , it was a simmilar case here , that Rudra did not mean a single word he said currently , yet the way he said it was impeccable. Aman was thoroughly amused?, as he said " Arise ".

  Rudra got up , as he looked Aman in the eye , absolutely unfazed , he knew he was an ant compared to Aman who sat on the throne , yet Rudra was not afraid of Aman . His challenging eyes made it abundantly clear.

  Rudra was a player , someone who was blessed by the goddess , hence could not die. An immortal?who would just wake up at the church of light upon death. Aman was well aware of this fact as well , he knew he could kill Rudra time and time again , but not forever. Someday he was bound to get stronger and become either his great ally , or a great enemy.

  Which was the reason why he treated him with respect. Rudra was a Won knight , and won knights were loyal to the throne , the chances of him becoming a great ally in the future were more likely than him becoming an enemy. Hence , Aman even allowed his transgression of not repremanding him for not handing over the beast token. As for him , Rudra was worth the prize.

  Aman said " Soo , Mayor , what brings you to my court today ? ".

  Rudra said " My lord , you must be well aware that , I the mayor have undertaken a few projects to increase the stability of Purplehaze city. The city wide wall and the teleportation array are being constructed , the unemployment and crime rates are down and the people seem to be happy ".

  Aman raised an eyebrow , Rudra was beating around the bush , he said " Yes , it's an admirable job you are doing , naturally I'm informed , I was pleasantly surprised that you obtained the Rhodium necessary for the teleportation array , it's a good achievement. What surprises me more however is your money source. These projects are surely not cheap , yet you manage it pretty well. Makes me wonder how deep your pockets are ".

  Rudra laughed " I was lucky enough to have a few gold mines to my name , nothing worth the notice of your majesty. The reason why I am here , is for permission your grace . As you must know , I have raised a Purplehaze city millitary force. Though not as vast and glorious as the royal army. I hope on equipping my troops with explosives , to help in combat.?Like my ancestor Augustus , I too am an explosion artist , I request your majesty to grant me permission to build a testing arena for my project ".

  Aman was pleasantly surprised , he had long speculated that Rudra might be an explosion artist like Augustus , ever since they met at the library.

  Aman said " Granted …… However , you as the mayor and Duke of the kingdom do not need such permission from me , why make the trip to the court ".

  Rahim looked skeptically at Rudra , soo did Aman , they were cautious , not buying the reason for his visit.

  Rudra politely replied " My sister Patricia said that it is impolite for us citizens who serve his emminence to take the freedom vested in us for granted. Testing bombs is a dangerous endeavour , and might be perceived as national threat . I was here to make sure that does not happen ".

  Rahim was convinced , soo was Aman . After a moment of silence Aman said " Well then I will await the results of your research. If you make a technology worth using on the battlefield , I will reward you handsomely".

  Rudra bowed and gave his many thanks to the emperor before taking his leave.

  Rudra thought he had performed his plan flawlessly. However the moment he went out of the Royal court. The fake smile from Aman's face vanished. The courtiers that had skin and a healthy complexion. Melted into bones and hollow skulls. As Aman himself turned from his healthy skintone to a very pale shade.

  As he said " Tail him ".

  Two skeletons turned into dust , seemingly vanishing from the court room.

  Rahim looked at Aman and said " something doesn't seem right here , my Emperor , we need to be on guard ".

  The remaining skeletons inside the room , had a green fire flicker in their hollow eye sockets as Aman said " Indeed ".

  Rudra had underestimated the opponent named Aman . Who was barely human anymore , hanging on the edge of being alive and undead , his mind one with the forbidden art of necromancy. He had long seen through Rudra's useless ploy.

  He was not yet sure what Rudra was planning , however he was on guard against any conspiracies. Rudra's SS mission just got a grade harder to pass!

  /// Special hint for the previous riddle for privilage readers : ' the answer is something that made may readers cringe , while reading the novel '. ///