Arpious of the Planes

And once Zehar sunk back into the poison, I heard the Light Hero say one thing…

"[Throne World: Heavenly Ice Palace],"

My eyes widened, and my jaw dropped as I had appeared in a massive throne room at least 15x the size of the one in my castle. Golden chandeliers made from ice, glowing with golden lights hung from the ceiling, and pillars made from glowing ice supported the ceiling with unique designs.

And finally, right in front of me were 200 steps leading up to a massive throne with the next Light Hero sitting down on it. Both of the heroes were standing right next to him… looking down on both of us.

Though they were sitting up so high and looked arrogant from afar, I could tell they were mostly confused, including the next Light Hero. Even though he activated the skill, it seems he didn't expect such a massive room to form.

I looked around and saw that Zehar was standing right next to me, and he had just undone his poison blob-like body. He continued to seethe in anger, but right now, his anger was through the roof. I could see a few veins popping from his temples.

"Hey, calm the hell down," I say, patting his shoulder.

"But Master, those weaklings are fucking looking down on us," Zehar says through gritted teeth.

"Oh, so that's why…."

It seems the natural conflict between Monsters and Humans is extremely tense. But, wait, I've also been calling the humans despicable… ah, so I've already been eaten up by that instinct as well.

But I wouldn't really call them despicable… they're just another race. I mean, I've already accepted being a monster, but I'm not looking down on other races… but when I'm not thinking of much, that instinct definitely influences my thoughts.

I looked up at the heroes and saw them slightly back away in fear but try to gather a bit of courage to stand their ground.

They all swallowed a gulp of saliva as I just stared them down.

"Do you want to fight me and him or just him?" I ask the heroes.

"Master, you don't need to care about this trash. Let me take care of them myself," Zehar says.

"I don't think you understand how a throne world works,"

"Throne World?"

"Yep… but I don't think that guy up there knows… actually he has [Inspect], so maybe he has the gist of it,"

"Master, do you have a throne world?"

"Yeah, but I also barely have any idea how it works. I think it suppresses the skills of enemies and enhances your skills. But you can also control the properties of the material that makes the throne world,"

"So the next Light Hero can control all this glowing ice?"

"Indeed, that's why you have to be careful and not underestimate the hero,"

"I was never underestimating them,"

"*sigh*... we'll talk later,"

Zehar slightly tilts his head in confusion before the Light Hero interrupts our conversation.

"W-w-what happens if we accept to fight only the horseman?" The Light Hero says, his voice vibrating through the room, but the slight stutter, in the beginning, negated all intimidation.

"Hmmm… Well, if he dies, that's his fault. But, on the other hand, that means he wasn't strong enough, so if you decide to go against just him, you could probably win," I say.

It seems my provocation worked as Zehar squeezed his fists in anger. His aura had exploded out, and the suddenly released anger doubled the size and intensity.

"Master, you don't need to worry. I'm not dying," Zehar says, poison melting through his clothes.

"Then we'll choose to fight the horseman by himself," Tayber says, opening a giant golden gate made from ice that leads to the outside.

"When did I say that I'll be leaving… I'll take my own seat… so stop looking down on me," I say, my voice as cold as ice.

[Throne World: Deathly Ice Palace]

I walk over to the very back of the throne room and corrode the palace walls. My own gray and black ice replaces the golden ice, giving off the feeling of pure death.

The hero's eyes widen when he saw that he couldn't stop the spread of my ice. And once he looked towards his comrades standing next to him, he saw that they were shivering in fear.

Since I turned [Heightened 5 Senses and More] back on thanks to the palace getting rid of the horrendous smell and blocking out the blood-curdling cries, I was able to hear the conversation of the next Light Hero and Wind Hero.

"Ester… if we don't make it out of this alive… I have one thing to say to you… I love you," The next Light Hero says.

I glanced back and saw the next Wind Hero, otherwise known as Ester, blushed profusely. She squeezed her eyes shut before opening her mouth.

"T-Tayber… I-I love you to…." The next Wind Hero replies.

"Will you marry me once we get back?

"Y-yes,"

"Okay, love birds. The key phrase for today is: Once we get back- no, it should be if we get back. We don't know if that thing is going to keep her word; remember never to let down your guard," The next Fire Hero says.

"You've become pretty humble, haven't you. I've been the one always telling you never to underestimate your opponent... So what happened to you?" The next Light Hero asks.

"Isn't it pretty obvious… that thing who just sat down on the throne across from you is what happened,"

Yes, just as the next Fire Hero said, I sat down on a throne made from black ice. I made it much grander and bigger than the Light Hero, who only had a throne about the size of my dining chairs.

I looked around and saw that my ice palace had taken over half of the hero's ice palace. So half of the palace was glowing golden ice while the other half was an ominous gray—a complete juxtaposition.

Hmmm… I don't want to get bored. Maybe I should call over some company… my wives are all monitoring the war and fights between the commanders and heroes, so… I should call over some of my pets.

Using the influence of the collars, I was able to find out where they were and contact them VIA [Grand Mind Magic]. After only a few seconds, I felt somebody enter my throne room, and the throne room itself tried to counter, but I stopped it.

"Master, you called," Yin says, rising out of the shadows with Alexa and Ava.

"Alexa, you said you'll even be my footrest, so get on your hands and knees," I say, pointing to the area in front of me.

Alexa swallows a large gulp of saliva before following my order. She gets on her hands and knees in front of me, perpendicular to my body. I then rest my feet on top of her and lean back on my throne.

"I-Is that Miss Wind Hero?" The next Light Hero stutters, surprised by the sudden appearance of their old comrade.

"I-It can't be. It was pretty obvious that she was an elf, but I can't believe she's been reduced to that state…" The next Fire hero mutters.

"Yin, come here," I say, patting my lap, which she immediately jumps on as she stroke her soft black hair.

"Master, is there anything I can do right now?" Ava asks, deeply bowing.

"The lingering scent of blood is gone, so get me something to eat. I don't want meat. Instead, get me fruit or something," I order.

"M-Master, forgive my rudeness, but what is a fruit?" Ava asks.

Oh yeah… I think we just call it a plant.

"Get me one of those juicy and sweet plants," I order once again.

"As you wish," Ava says before leaving through a hole I opened beside my throne.

Suddenly, Alexa's hands slipped as she fell to her forearms, making my legs slip off her. She immediately gets back in position, but for some reason, I was extremely annoyed. No, it felt like something else. I felt angry by just one slip up from her.

"Alexa, what are you doing?"

"F-forgive me, my hands slipped-"

The activation of the collar cut off Alexa. It started to squeeze around her neck, choking her intensely.

"M-Master, forgive me! I-I-I won't do it ever again!" Alexa pleads, curled up on the smooth ice and clawing at her collar.

My cold eyes continued to stare her down, and I only released her once I felt satisfied.

"T-thank you for showing me mercy," Alexa says, gasping for air while getting back into position.

Hmmm… why do I feel so agitated? Why is it disgusting to look at this elf in front of me? Just looking at her mistake makes my blood boil… is this another racial conflict that happens with instinct.

No, that can't be possible since one of my wives is an elf and most of my subordinates are elves as well…

I continued to ponder while placing my legs on Alexa's back.

And after another few minutes, Ava had come back just in time with a few fruits that looked like dragon fruit. I decided not to peel it and eat it whole as I saw the battle below me commence.