The expressions of all the guests turned to terror. The sycophantic smiles that had filled their faces just a second ago vanished instantly, the eagerness and curiosity in their eyes extinguished like a campfire doused with ice water. Immediately following this, a fear rooted in biological instinct surged, filling everyone's hearts.
The vast majority of them had only ever heard of the terror that was the "emperor engine."
But hearing about it was a world apart from being personally subjected to this sound, which felt like the awakening of an ancient behemoth!
This wasn't a heartbeat; it wasn't noise; this was a natural disaster!
It was the sound of the earth cracking, the sound of the starry sky collapsing!
"That lord... why is he..."
"Who has enraged this great existence!"
"Could it be that there is something about the banquet that displeases him?"
Massive panic spread wildly through the air, faster than a plague.
Under the nobles' magnificent formal wear, their calves began to tremble uncontrollably.
Beads of cold sweat broke out on the merchants' foreheads. The expensive wine glasses in their hands tilted slightly, and they were completely oblivious as the costly liquid spilled out.
Several envoys from Snezhnaya turned pale, exchanging looks of shock and uncertainty.
'The one who angered him was Lord Childe... He wouldn't kill us just because we're from Snezhnaya, would he...'
The guests were nervous, and King was equally nervous.
The moment he stepped into the Starry Hall, his entire body froze.
Holy crap!
Why are there so many people?!
His retinas were overwhelmed by a sea of fancy clothes, jewelry, and countless gazes all shooting toward him at once.
The air was thick with a cloying mixture of perfume, alcohol, and the sweetness of pastries. The buzzing murmurs sounded like countless bees circling his ears. The high vaulted ceiling, the brilliant lights, the elegantly dressed crowd... all of this formed a massive, unfamiliar, and intensely oppressive social arena.
To a hardcore shut-in, this scene was no different from suddenly being dropped into the deepest part of a Demon King's castle—and with all his equipment stripped away, no less!
Heartbeat, accelerating—
emperor engine, start!
Thump—
Thump, thump, thump—!
A dull, heavy heartbeat with a strange penetrating power rang out, each beat louder than the last, as if a God had been startled from sleep and was irritably pounding his own chest.
This time, the sound of the emperor engine wasn't violent, but it was incredibly solid. Every beat hammered against the guests' hearts, causing their blood to flow backward involuntarily and their faces to flush.
The music went out of tune. The musicians' fingers trembled, and after producing a few jarring notes, they went completely silent.
Silence.
Aside from the emperor engine,
The entire hall was as silent as the grave.
It was as if everyone was being choked by an invisible, giant hand.
They stared with wide eyes, looking despairingly at the "monster" at the door—dressed in a black suit, expressionless, and seemingly ready to start a massacre at any moment.
Lady Furina had just given him a grand introduction, calling him a "humble" and "indifferent" guardian... but this heartbeat... this heartbeat that made one's very soul tremble... where was there even a hint of a guardian in this!
This was clearly the roar of a God! The prelude to destruction! A declaration before the end of the world!
Cold sweat instantly soaked the guests' backs.
King stood at the door and forced a "friendly" smile, but his facial muscles were stiff from excessive tension. Consequently, this smile became incredibly sinister. Combined with the roar of the emperor engine... in the eyes of others, that slightly twitching corner of his mouth and those narrowed, dangerous eyes looked like he was evaluating where it would be most appropriate to start "cleaning up the trash"!
"It's over, it's over! Does this lord dislike noise? Was I laughing too loudly just now?!"
"Such power... I fear only our Rex Lapis, who suppressed the demons of Liyue, could rival it!"
"Could this lord feel that we 'mortals' are unworthy of sharing a room with him?"
The atmosphere was as heavy as the sea before a storm, with a low-pressure front looming over everyone.
Paimon had already hidden behind Lumine in fear, showing only half an eye while her small hands gripped Lumine's dress tightly. Lumine's expression was also solemn as she clenched her fists, the elemental power within her circulating slightly. Though she knew it might be useless, her body instinctively entered a state of high alert.
Lyney stood in a corner, his face pale. The wine glass in his hand shook slightly, causing ripples in the liquid.
Lynette and Clorinde stood behind King.
Lynette's cat ears were pressed flat against her head, and her tail was stiff. Clorinde's cheeks were flushed and her eyes were exceptionally bright; she felt no fear at all, only a kind of near-burning adoration.
Furina stood on the high platform. That terrifying heartbeat was like a heavy hammer, pounding against her eardrums and the tip of her heart with every beat, making her legs go weak and leaving her almost unable to stand.
Under her magnificent black dress, her slender, snow-white legs trembled slightly.
But!
Coexisting with the fear was a near-dizzying sense of excitement and pride!
Look!
This is my, Furina's, guard!
Just by stepping into the venue, before saying a single word, he has already silenced the entirety of Fontaine's high society, leaving them trembling in fear!
Nobles, billionaires, foreign envoys—before the absolute power of Mr. King, they are all like snow under the sun, melting in an instant!
Furina even felt that King choosing to "act out" at this moment was precisely to display authority for her!
Let's see who dares to gossip about Furina's decisions behind her back now, or question why she treats an "outsider" so generously!
Mr. King is using his actions to tell everyone: Furina's judgment was not wrong!!!
Furina forced her numb body to stand tall, a smile that was a mix of pride, smugness, and dependence appearing on her face.
From atop the platform, Furina looked at King with pride. The black dress she had worn to "match" him now complemented King's black suit perfectly.
They truly became the supreme "Twin Sovereigns" of this banquet, and indeed, of all Fontaine.
While Furina was experiencing a mental climax, Neuvillette had already imagined a scenario where King, dissatisfied with the banquet, was about to make a move and slaughter him, the Dragon King!
Neuvillette's brow was furrowed, cold sweat slid down his forehead, and his heart was uneasy to the extreme. Just as he was about to speak and apologize to King—
"Thud!"
An exceptionally clear, dull sound of flesh hitting the floor came from the direction of the dessert area.
Paimon and Lumine looked over in shock.
They saw a slightly chubby middle-aged merchant dressed in Inazuman attire, prostrating himself on the ground. His forehead was pressed firmly against the polished marble floor, and his body was shaking violently like a sieve.
"Spare... Spare my life! Lord King! Spare my life!"
He cried out, using clumsy pleas for mercy, his voice distorted and out of tune due to extreme terror:
"I confess! I confess everything!!"
"I was possessed by a moment of madness! I was blinded by greed!"
"I shouldn't have taken that low-quality crystallized bone marrow contaminated by the tatarigami, secretly mined from Yashiori Island, and passed it off as high-quality mineral ore to sell in Fontaine!!"
"I know I was wrong! I truly know I was wrong!!"
"I beg of you! Please, seeing as it's my first offense and I haven't had time to cause too much harm, spare my life!!"
"I'll return all the payments! No! I'll pay double compensation! Ten times compensation!!"
"I only ask that you stay your hand and let me go!"
"I'm still young! I don't want to die!"
"Waaaah..."
By the time he finished, he was a mess of tears and snot, slumped on the floor.
"..."
Silence.
A silence even deeper than before.
Only the merchant's sobbing and the heavy roar of the emperor engine sounded in alternation.