The Dark Overlord Heavens Throne

Chapter 1: The Salt and the Severed Head "There are six places at the dinner table, but only five of us are breathing, and the killer is currently asking me to pass the salt." The voice belonged to First Prince Wei Long—the eldest, a man whose skin was etched with the glowing azure talismans of a Peak-Stage Spirit Warrior. He didn't look at the slumped, grey-faced man at the head of the table. He didn't look at the black blood leaking from the Emperor’s nose into the golden jade chalice. He looked at me. "Wei An?" Long’s voice was like grinding stones. "The salt. Or has your terror finally turned your brain to mush?" My hand trembled as it reached for the crystal shaker. Wei An. That wasn't my name. My name was Arthur. Twenty minutes ago, I was wearing a hazmat suit, scrubbing industrial chemicals off a laboratory floor in Neo-Seoul. I was a "disposal specialist"—a polite term for a man who knew how to make a body disappear in a vat of acid without leaving a trace of DNA. Now, I was draped in heavy, stifling brocade in a palace hall that smelled of sandalwood and rot. A blue light flickered in my peripheral vision, translucent and cold. [Sync 100% Complete.] [Host: Wei An (The Waste)] [Condition: Poisoned (Paralysis beginning in 04:59)] I’m poisoned too? My heart hammered against my ribs, a frantic rhythm that felt too large for this frail, princely chest. "He’s going to cry," a melodic voice purred. That was Princess Mei. She was swirling a silver chopstick through a piece of spiritual venison, her eyes glowing with a faint, predatory violet light. "Look at him. Father’s been dead for three minutes and Wei An has already wet himself. Honestly, Long, why did you even let the concubine's runt sit with us tonight?" "Enough," snapped the Second Prince, Zhen. He slammed a fist on the table, making the porcelain rattle. "The Blood-Ward is active. The hall is sealed. No one enters, no one leaves until the Succession is decided. That is the Law of the Overlord’s Table." He looked at the dead Emperor with a chilling lack of emotion. "The poison was a coward’s move," Zhen growled, casting a side-eye at Mei. "But effective. Now, we have a choice. We can wait for the poison to claim the rest of us, or we can settle this like true scions of the Dark Heavens Throne." I felt a cold numbness spreading from my stomach to my limbs. It was a sensation I knew well—I’d seen it in the eyes of workers who’d accidentally inhaled neuro-toxins on the job. I looked at the Emperor’s wine. Almond scent. Bitter. Hemlock derivative. I looked at my own wine. The same scent. But then I saw it. A tiny, crystalline residue on the rim of Long’s glass. And Mei’s. They weren't just waiting for me to die. They were all already dying, and they were trying to see who could stay upright the longest. I didn't pass the salt. I dropped the entire crystal shaker into my wine glass. The liquid hissed, turning a violent, frothy green. The chemical reaction was immediate—a trick I’d learned cleaning up alkaloid spills in the lab. The table went silent. Four sets of lethal eyes locked onto me. [Hidden Trigger Activated: Defiance of the Weak.] [System Initializing... Would you like to view the 'Kingslayer' counter-measure?] "I think," I said, my voice rasping, "that the killer didn't just kill Father. They’re currently watching us all take our last breaths. And I’m the only one who knows which one of you is already dead." Long stood up, his chair screeching against the stone floor. He unsheathed a dagger made of solidified shadow-qi. "You always did talk too much, Wei An. Let’s see if your throat works as well when it’s opened." [Warning: Physical Confrontation Imminent. Time to Death: 03:22] [Counter-measure Selected: 'The Janitor's Perspective.'] [Effect: Highlight all structural weaknesses and 'disposal' points.] The world turned grayscale. I didn't see a terrifying cultivator; I saw a man with a misaligned lumbar and a pulsating red dot right over a specific nerve in his neck. I ducked, my fingers snapping out toward the red dot like a viper. The "unstoppable" First Prince hit the floor with a thud, his body seizing as his meridians misfired. "What did you do?" Mei’s voice was a jagged edge of panic. She scrambled back, her violet eyes darting to my hands. "You have no cultivation. You’re a Null!" "I didn't use Qi, Mei," I said, stepping over Long. I felt the paralysis climbing into my jaw. "I used biology." [Warning: Time to Total Organ Failure: 01:45] [Suggestion: Extract 'The King's Ransom' from the Primary Deceased.] I turned my back on my murderous siblings and walked toward the dead Emperor. I reached into his open, dead mouth. My fingers brushed something cold and metallic lodged under his tongue. I pulled it out: an ancient obsidian coin engraved with a weeping eye. [Item Acquired: The Traitor’s Toll (Rank: Immortal)] [Active Effect: Suspends the 'Succession Poison' for the holder.] The ice in my veins thawed. I stood tall, the coin glowing with a sickly light. Zhen and Mei gasped, reaching out purple, poisoned hands toward me. "Pass me the coin, Wei An," Zhen wheezed. "I will make you my Grand Vizier... I will give you longevity pills..." I looked at the monsters who had tormented the original owner of this body. "There are six places at the dinner table," I whispered. "But the 'Overlord’s Law' says only one survives." I dropped the coin into the deep slit of the Emperor’s throat, letting it disappear back into the corpse. "I'm not sharing," I said. "I'm disposing." The massive bronze doors screamed. A voice of a thousand dying souls echoed through the rafters. [QUEST UPDATE: Survive the 'Guest' who wasn't invited.] The Emperor’s head snapped 180 degrees to look at me, his eyes now burning white stars. "Wei An," the corpse whispered, but the voice came from the shadows behind me. "You weren't supposed to find that." The candles went out. Total darkness. In the dark, the sound of something very large, with too many wet legs, began to scuttle across the ceiling.