The Dark Overlord Heavens Throne

Untitled Episodechapter 3

Chapter 3: The Traitor’s Crown

The shadow-beast didn't stand a chance. Yan’s hand tightened around its throat, and with a single, brutal twist, the creature dissolved into black smoke. The silence that followed was heavy. Yan stood there, blood dripping from the holes in his collarbones, his chest heaving. He was free, but he looked like a man who had forgotten how to stand.

Yan stood in the center of the ruined dining hall, the "Dragon-Slaying" spikes still protruding from his collarbones like horrific jewelry. He turned toward me, his blindfold soaked red. He didn't look like a savior; he looked like a storm waiting to happen.

[Warning: The Male Lead’s 'Murder Intent' is focused on YOU.] [Status: You are currently 'The Master' of a man who wants to kill you.]

"You have ten seconds," Yan whispered, his voice vibrating in my marrow. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't add your head to the pile on the table."

I was leaning against the Emperor's throne, my lungs burning. The poison was still there, lurking in my blood. I looked at the corpses of my siblings—the people who had treated the original Wei An like a footstool.

"Because," I gasped, wiping blood from my mouth with a silk sleeve, "I'm the only one who knows who actually put you in those chains. It wasn't just the Emperor. It was a deal made with the Heavenly Sect."

Yan froze. The air in the room dropped ten degrees.

[New Quest: The Master's Gamble.] [Objective: Bind the 'Imperial Hound' to your soul.] [Penalty for Failure: Immediate Decapitation.]

"How do you know that, little rat?" Yan lunged, his hand stopping an inch from my throat.

"I'm a disposal specialist," I said, looking him dead in his covered eyes. "I see the stains everyone else tries to hide. You want revenge? I want a throne. I'll give you the heads of the Sect Leaders, and you'll make sure no one stops me from cleaning this palace."

"The blindfold," Yan rasped, his hand reaching for the blood-soaked cloth over his eyes. "Take it off, Wei An. I want to see the blood on your face when I kill you."

[Warning: Removing the 'Seal of Silence' will alert the High Council.] [Status: You have 60 seconds before the palace gates are breached.]

"I'm not taking it off to watch you kill me," I said, my voice shaking as the poison in my veins continued to burn. "I'm taking it off so you can see the truth."

I reached up. My fingers brushed the rough fabric. As I untied the knot, the black cloth fell away.

Yan blinked. His eyes weren't the eyes of a monster. They were a piercing, crystalline silver, cloudy from years of darkness. He looked at the room—the dead Emperor, the poisoned princes, and finally, me.

"You look different than I remembered, little prince," he whispered, his gaze sharpening. "Smaller. Weaker."

"I'm the only one who didn't want you dead," I replied.

Suddenly, the massive bronze doors of the hall didn't just open—they were blown off their hinges by a blast of white light.

[Inciting Incident: The High Council has arrived.]

A line of priests in shimmering white robes marched in, led by an old man with a long beard—Grand Sage Gong. I expected them to be horrified by the dead Emperor. Instead, Gong looked at the corpses with a cold, satisfied smile.

"You did well, Prince Wei An," Gong said, his voice echoing through the hall.

Yan stiffened. His silver eyes locked onto the Grand Sage. "Gong? What is this?"

"The 'Calamity' is awake," Gong said, ignoring Yan and looking directly at me. "As we planned, Wei An. You poisoned your father and your siblings to prove your loyalty to the Council. You delivered the Imperial Hound to us on a silver platter."

My heart stopped. I looked at Yan. The confusion in his eyes was being replaced by a murderous, soul-crushing rage.

"Planned?" Yan’s voice was a low, dangerous growl. He looked at me, the man who had just "saved" him. "You... you were working with them? All those years I spent under that table... it was for this?"

"No!" I shouted, but the System pinged with a cruel timing.

[Secret Revealed: The original Wei An was the Council's spy.] [Current Situation: You are being framed for a crime you didn't commit—by the people you thought were your enemies.]

"Here is your reward, Prince," Gong said, tossing a scroll at my feet. "The decree of Succession. You are now the Emperor. And your first act will be to execute this monster once and for all."

The betrayal was perfect. The Council had used the "weak" prince to wipe out the royal family, and now they were using him to kill the only man who could stop them. They didn't want an Overlord; they wanted a puppet.

Yan let out a sound that wasn't human—a roar of pure, broken agony. He had spent ten years in a cage, hoping for a shred of justice, only to be told the person who freed him was the one who put him there.

"I should have killed you the moment I stood up," Yan whispered. He raised his hand, his silver Qi flaring like a dying star.

"Wait!" I stepped between him and the Council’s guards. I didn't look at the soldiers. I looked at Yan. "They’re lying! Look at the wine! I’m poisoned too! If I were their puppet, would I be dying on the floor with you?"

I grabbed the obsidian coin—the Traitor’s Toll—and crushed it in my bare hand. The dark energy surged into me, causing my skin to crack and bleed, but it gave me a moment of terrifying power.

"I am the Emperor!" I roared at Grand Sage Gong, my voice booming with the System’s authority. "And my first decree is to sentence the High Council to death for treason!"

The priests gasped. Yan paused, his hand inches from my chest. He saw the blood pouring from my eyes—the price of using magic I didn't have. He saw that I was destroying myself to protect him.

"You... you fool," Yan breathed.

[Quest Triggered: The Great Escape.] [Objective: Carry the ML out of the Palace.] [Penalty: Death.]

"Hold on," I whispered to Yan, my vision fading to black. "I'm the specialist. I’m getting us out of this mess."

I grabbed Yan’s hand—the hand of the man who wanted to kill me—and triggered the System’s last resort.

[Skill Activated: Mass Disposal.]

The floor beneath us vanished.