With the appearance of the violet-armored knight from beneath the tall knight's cape, the already oppressive atmosphere surrounding the battlefield became even heavier. The pressure that had previously spread across Death Land now seemed to have gained a clear center, pressing down upon everyone gathered around the mansion.
"This pressure...!"
Simon muttered through gritted teeth as he forced himself to remain standing. Pier's Bone Armor still covered his body, but even with its support, maintaining his connection with the crown and the enormous zombie army surrounding him was becoming increasingly difficult.
[Boy! Keep your feet steady! If you lose focus now, your connection with the crown will collapse along with you!]
Pier's warning immediately pulled Simon's wandering attention back to the battlefield. He adjusted his footing and forced himself to breathe steadily, while the zombies surrounding him remained strangely silent.
Across from them, Manus and his skeleton forces had also stopped moving, leaving the battlefield that had been seconds away from erupting into war trapped in an unnatural stillness.
Prince, who had remained unusually quiet since the two mysterious figures appeared, finally seemed unable to endure the absurdity any longer. He slowly looked from Jin to Simon, then toward Manus, before grabbing his head as an exhausted laugh escaped his mouth.
[Ha... Haha... What the hell is even happening anymore? First, Manus nearly kills me, then I get dragged back into the Seventh Legion against my will. After that, Simon somehow manages to use my crown on his first damn try, and now another monster suddenly walks onto the battlefield! Seriously, what the hell is happening today?!]
No one answered Prince's complaint. Manus, in particular, had no interest in joining his outburst, as his attention had remained fixed on the mysterious knight from the moment he appeared. Although the Ancient Skeleton kept his sword ready, he made no attempt to attack and instead carefully studied the newcomer.
[You... Who are you, and why have you come here?]
At Manus's question, the violet-armored knight finally responded. Despite the tremendous pressure radiating from his body, his voice was surprisingly calm as his glowing eyes swept across everyone present.
"Greetings, everyone. Let me introduce myself. My name is Jin. Some know me as the Commander of the Eighth Legion, while others call me the Shadow Monarch. It's a pleasure to meet you all."
The moment those words reached them, the atmosphere changed once again.
Simon felt his heart drop.
Another Legion Commander?!
The title itself was already enough to make the situation far more dangerous, but Simon had an additional problem that none of the others needed to worry about.
His helmet had already been removed earlier, leaving his face completely exposed while he stood there wearing Pier's Bone Armor, commanding Prince, and controlling an enormous zombie army through the crown.
Fear, pressure, and the possibility of his secret being exposed all crashed into Simon's mind at once. His expression stiffened as his thoughts raced in several directions, until Pier's increasingly urgent voice finally snapped him out of it.
[Boy! Boy!! Get a hold of yourself!]
"Ah... Sorry, Pier. It's just... my identity..."
Before Pier could even respond, Prince whipped his head toward Simon and shouted in disbelief.
[Is that really what you're worried about right now?! Your identity is the least of your damn problems! If you die here, what use is keeping your identity secret afterward?!]
Simon opened his mouth, only to close it again a moment later. As much as he hated admitting it, Prince actually had a point.
While Simon tried to regain his composure, Manus had been processing a very different part of Jin's introduction. Unlike Simon, he had lived through an era when Legion Commanders were already regarded as some of the most terrifying beings on the continent, which made the identity Jin had just revealed far more significant to him.
[Another Legion Commander, huh...]
Manus tightened his grip around his sword as his gaze traveled across Jin's armored figure.
[I had heard that a new Legion Commander had risen, so that person was you. But with that aura and strength, you're supposed to be a "new" one?]
The Ancient Skeleton paused briefly, his suspicion clearly growing rather than fading.
[I will ask you again. Why are you here, Eighth Legion Commander?]
"Why am I here, you ask?"
Jin clasped both hands behind his back as he spoke, his posture becoming strangely elegant despite the ruined battlefield surrounding him.
If a certain group of players from another world could see him right now, they might have found his mannerisms disturbingly reminiscent of one particularly complicated blond man from Honkai Impact 3rd.
"You see, I was merely wandering through the area when I suddenly sensed something interesting. An aura that felt familiar, yet unfamiliar at the same time."
As he spoke, Jin slowly turned away from Manus until the violet glow beneath his helmet settled directly upon Simon. More precisely, his attention seemed to be focused on the Bone Armor covering Simon's body.
"Although I may be the newest Legion Commander, that doesn't mean I wouldn't recognize the aura of an Ancient Undead. Especially when that aura belongs to someone from the infamous Legion of Betrayal."
A faint trace of amusement entered Jin's voice.
"Am I wrong, Pier?"
For several seconds, Pier gave no response.
Simon immediately noticed the silence, and the uneasiness in his chest only grew stronger when Pier finally answered in a far more guarded tone than before.
[...So your target is me?]
"Target? Nothing that dramatic."
Jin chuckled softly before shifting his attention back toward Simon.
"To be precise, I was simply curious. I wanted to see what kind of new commander you had chosen to follow."
[...!]
Pier visibly stiffened through the Bone Armor. Simon reacted almost as strongly, but before he could say anything, Pier had already suppressed his surprise and answered as calmly as possible.
[...I don't know what you're talking about.]
"Hehe, that's funny."
Jin didn't press the matter immediately. Instead, he remained standing with both hands behind his back, his relaxed posture somehow making Simon even more uneasy. The longer this conversation continued, the clearer it became that Jin wasn't behaving like someone who had simply wandered into the battlefield by coincidence.
"In that case, perhaps I should ask all of you something first. Can you guess how long I've been here?"
Simon's expression immediately changed.
"What do you mean...?"
A bad feeling crept into his mind, and judging from the way Prince suddenly stiffened beside him, he wasn't the only one who had realized what Jin was implying.
[Don't tell me... You...!]
"Correct. I've been in Death Land for quite some time. Long enough to watch the three sides fight each other from afar."
Although Jin said it so casually, his words made Manus realize something important. Manus was the first to fully understand the implication, and his grip around his sword tightened as he looked at the Shadow Monarch in a new light.
[I see... So from the beginning, while we believed ourselves to be fighting our own war, we were already moving within the palm of your hand!]
"That's giving me too much credit. I was merely watching~."
Prince, however, cared much less about the distinction. He immediately pointed toward Jin with an irritated expression.
[Then why the hell did you wait until now to show yourself?!]
This time, Jin didn't answer. Instead, he simply turned his helmet toward Simon, drawing everyone's attention to him.
Seeing where Jin was looking, the others quickly understood what he meant. There was no need for him to explain anything.
Simon stared back at those glowing violet eyes, and the terrible suspicion that had been forming in his mind finally became certainty.
"...You were waiting for me?"
"Indeed."
Jin took a slow step forward, causing the shadows hanging from the lower edge of his cloak to drift around his armored legs.
"When I first arrived, all the actors hadn't gathered on the stage yet. What kind of audience member interrupts before the main cast has even arrived? So naturally, I waited."
His tone remained light, but his attention never left Simon.
"Fortunately, the final actor eventually appeared, and rather spectacularly at that. The protagonist of today's little story finally stepped onto the stage."
Protagonist?
Simon blinked at the strange choice of words, but Jin continued before he could question it. His gaze briefly shifted toward the vast army of zombies surrounding Simon, taking in the scale of what the young necromancer had accomplished.
"Not only did a young Legion Commander appear, one who hasn't even held that position for very long, but he also managed to control an absurd number of zombies using that crown on his very first attempt. Now that was worth waiting for."
Jin slowly brought his armored hands together.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
"Marvelous. Truly marvelous."
For some reason, Simon didn't feel complimented in the slightest.
If anything, every word only made the pressure in his chest worse. Jin had apparently watched enough to know about the crown, Prince, Pier, and Simon's position as the new Legion Commander. Continuing to pretend ignorance would accomplish absolutely nothing.
After several seconds of consideration, Simon finally narrowed his golden eyes and spoke.
"...So what exactly do you want from me, Jin? Besides, this isn't the first time you've seen my face, is it? You were the one who helped me during the priest attack in the Forbidden Forest."
At the mention of their previous encounter, Jin tilted his helmet slightly as though recalling something amusing.
"Ah, that time. Back then, the egg had only just hatched. It was still far too early, nowhere near ripe enough for me to become truly interested."
His violet eyes seemed to brighten beneath the crown-like helmet as his attention returned fully to Simon.
"But now? That's a different story."
Hearing Jin's words, Simon immediately felt an enormous pressure weighing down on him, as though an entire mountain had been placed on his shoulders. Only then did he realize that his situation was far worse than he had thought.
However, before Simon could fully process everything, the Shadow Monarch suddenly asked him another question.
"So tell me, Simon Polentia. What do you think you should do now?"
Simon remained silent.
His mind raced through one possibility after another, trying to determine whether Jin intended to fight, negotiate, or simply test him. Yet before Simon could settle on an answer, Jin unexpectedly shifted his attention away from him.
The intimidating atmosphere around the Shadow Monarch suddenly became strangely casual.
"By the way, Pier."
Pier didn't respond immediately, but his attention was clearly fixed on Jin.
"How has Senior Yona been doing lately? Is he well?"
The moment they heard that name, both Simon and Pier were startled. After all, it was the name Simon's father had once used when he was still the Commander of the 7th Legion, before changing his name to Richard.
And that was exactly why Jin's question caught them so off guard.
Richard's true identity was supposed to be a secret, yet the Shadow Monarch had just casually mentioned his former name. Neither Simon nor Pier had expected him to know something like that, leaving them unsure of how to respond.
Even Pier, despite being an Ancient Undead, could feel just how dangerous their situation had become. He remained silent for a few moments, trying to figure out how much Jin actually knew.
In the end, however, he decided to play dumb.
[You... I don't know who you're talking about.]
"Hmm? How strange." Jin tilted his helmet slightly, sounding almost genuinely puzzled.
"Is there something wrong with your memory? Perhaps changing masters had some unexpected side effects."
Hearing this, Pier couldn't tell whether Jin was genuinely asking or deliberately threatening him. Either way, the fact that Jin knew about his previous master made him even more wary of the Shadow Monarch.
With that thought in mind, Pier's tone immediately became more guarded.
[What are you trying to say?!]
"Nothing complicated. Fortunately for you, I'm quite kind, so naturally I'll help refresh your memory~"
Jin allowed that uncertainty to linger for several seconds before a quiet chuckle finally escaped his helmet.
"Hehe, let me change the question."
His glowing violet eyes settled directly upon Pier.
"How is Senior Richard doing~?"
For a brief moment, Simon wondered whether he had heard those words correctly. Beside him, Pier had fallen completely silent, while Simon's golden eyes widened beneath the weight of a name he never expected to hear from Jin.
Until now, Simon had been worried that Jin might uncover his identity as the Seventh Legion Commander. Yet with one seemingly casual question, Jin had gone far beyond that. Richard wasn't merely the previous commander of the Seventh Legion.
He was Simon's father.
"You... How do you know my father?!" Simon shouted, his earlier caution disappearing as he stared directly at Jin.
His thoughts were already spiraling through countless possibilities. Jin knew Pier, knew about the Seventh Legion, had somehow seen through Simon's position as its new commander, and now he had casually spoken Richard's name as if he were talking about an old acquaintance.
For the first time, Simon truly understood what it meant to be afraid. His heart was beating so fast that he could barely hear anything else. All he could hear was the sound of his own heartbeat pounding in his ears.
If his father's true identity was exposed, there was no doubt that his mother would be dragged into it as well. And once that happened, the peaceful life they had finally found would be in danger.
Just thinking about his father and mother, who were now living peacefully together in Leshill Village, was enough to make Simon's mind go blank. He had always wanted to protect that peaceful life, yet now, standing before the Shadow Monarch, he realized just how easily everything could fall apart.
And the worst part was...
He had no idea how much Jin already knew.
————————————
Character Voicelines · Knox: About the Complicated Blond Man from Honkai Impact 3rd
Knox: "You wanna know where I learned to be so annoying?"
Knox: "Have you ever met someone whose name alone is enough to make you start cursing in anger?"
Knox: "Hmm? You're curious what that feels like? Well then, repeat after me... Otto Apocalypse~"
Meanwhile, somewhere in the Honkai: Star Rail universe...
Welt Yang: "DAMN YOU, OTTO!! %##$#%&@!!"