Five armies swarmed the unfortunate Faction all at once, though only one broke through the walls. Jaded Woman’s strategy was practical with just enough deception to outperform the enemy. She allowed the target to think victory was possible just long enough for her Assassins to plunder the Lieges.

  For their efforts, she gained several hundred new Vassals and over 25,000 Prestige once her Assassins returned within a large group.

  Jaded Woman - [ 34,058 Prestige ]

  Aristocrat Woman chose an equally unremarkable target and gained a similar amount of new Vassals, although only about 15,000 Prestige as one of the Lieges teleported away.

  Aristocrat Woman - [ 27,831 Prestige ]

  As for Stoic Man, he chose a target directly behind Gilgamesh. At that location, it would be obvious if he or Jaded Woman tried to act against Ambitious Man instead of fulfilling their obligations. Not that Gilgamesh intended to in the first place. This attack went as well as the others.

  Stoic Man - [ 31,694 Prestige ]

  Finally, it was Gilgamesh’s turn, and he chose the largest Faction within sight. Gilgamesh sent most of his Soldiers, a number that required Ambitious Man to send roughly half of his own.

  Gilgamesh gathered his forces around part of the enemy Faction’s Guard Wall and began to gather Prestige. He made sporadic attempts to push in through the Wall, not in a fully committed assault, but to test the quality of the Guard Walls and the Liege’s responses.

  [ Purple: Now. ]

  “Do not give any orders or send any messages.” Sycophant stepped in right behind Aristocrat Woman.

  “...What are you-”

  “This is for your best.” Sycophant cut her off. “You must trust me, I’m doing this for you, do not read the Messages.”

  Aristocrat Woman’s jolted her eyes back up at his last sharp words. “I won’t. I won’t… What is the matter? You’re not acting like yourself…”

  “He is only using you, deceiving you.” Traces of fervor crept into Sycophant’s tone.” I alone will support you unconditionally. Don’t. Read the Messages.”

  Sycophant spoke a bit more forcefully as Aristocrat Woman’s sight drifted down again.

  “Just… Stay still. It’ll all be over soon. Then it will just be us, together as it was before. Don’t look at them!”

  Aristocrat Woman flinched, her veil of composure fell away at once as distress coursed through her body.

  “...why can you not see that I am the one who is looking out for you?” Sycophant’s tone grew more deranged with each word. “He’s just using you. I’m the only one who understands!”

  “I know, I know!” Aristocrat Woman blurted out. “I know that. You’ve been good to me. You’ve protected me all this time. I know how much you care-”

  “No, you don’t! You don’t know how much! What I would do for you!” Sycophant’s outburst earned the uneasy attention of their Guards.

  “I…” Aristocrat Woman stammered as she forced herself to resist the urge to read her messages. She sent more Messages of distress but nothing about her situation changed, and that fueled even more terror. Eventually, she could resist no longer.

  [ Liege: Just stay calm. ]

  “I told you not to look!”

  “Traitor!” Aristocrat Woman screamed at Sycophant as he moved closer.

  Together, they were whisked away before the King, and the light of judgement fell upon Sycophant. But it found nothing. He had given away the Dagger Gilgamesh planted on him long ago. Aristocrat Woman barely registered the meaning of it before the Executioner took her head.

  When Sycophant returned alone, he merely stood in silent feelings of regret and resentment. Several Guards suddenly rushed towards him, but before they could draw close enough for their Daggers, every last one of them was killed by another Guard.

  “Did you think I just sat here doing nothing?!” Sycophant roared in Ambitious Man’s direction as his hands clenched into fists. “This is your fault! You messed with her head, filled it with lies! You did this to her! On me! We attack!”

  Sycophant took full control of his Faction and directed all of his wrath at Ambitious Man. Jaded Woman moved at the same time to reinforce him and the two crashed into Ambitious Man’s base.

  The moment Jaded Woman started to move, so too did Gilgamesh. He left all of his Soldiers to continue harassing the target Faction as he led his Base to charge towards Stoic Man’s Faction.

  Stoic Man’s own base was nothing less than a fortress. Even if Gilgamesh had all his Soldiers, it would be difficult to break through. But as Gilgamesh drew closer, dozens of enemy Guards suddenly abandoned their posts, and Gilgamesh’s forces slipped cleanly through the gaps.

  At that same time, a half dozen of Stoic Man’s closest Guards broke from their ranks and made a rush towards their own Liege. And every last one of them was assassinated before they took more than a few steps.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “You’re too full of yourself, just like the boy.” Stoic Man thought, as he watched Gilgamesh’s charge gradually slow. “You used yourself as a distraction for the assassins, but that has failed and now you will be trapped in my base.”

  “Surrounded him in rows.” Stoic Man ordered. “Do not let him es-”

  To the shock of all around, one of Stoic Man’s Allies plunged a Dagger into his back and teleported away.

  “Your Liege is dead by my scheme!” Gilgamesh shouted the moment it happened, and gave an offer of Vassalage to all around. “If you want to survive this Trial and reach the higher ranks of Nobility, then become my Vassals. I am the one who will rise!”

  His words were no lies. He was the one who had given that traitor Ally the Dagger and stoked his ambitions for advancement. Using himself as a distraction and spurring on their traitor assassins were both nothing more than ploys to lower Stoic Man’s Guard against this one move.

  He did lose out on Stoic Man’s Prestige, the price of luring that Ally into his conspiracy, but that was a small matter as he had now obtained the means to gain far more.

  Most of Stoic Man’s Vassals accepted, and Gilgamesh reorganized his ranks as quickly as possible. But he did not aim for Ambitious Man. Instead, he led a full assault on the large Faction he chose as his target.

  [ Gray: What are you doing? ]

  [ Purple: Securing victory. ]

  Gilgamesh personally charged into the enemy Liege’s center alongside Sereth, and baited him into a False Accusation.

  [ Gained 32,358 Prestige. ]

  [ 57,998 Prestige. ]

  “Join me, and you shall rise as I rise!” Gilgamesh declared, as he added the ranks of the newly conquered Faction to his own.

  With his numbers bolstered fourfold from two conquests, Gilgamesh at last set his sights on Ambitious Man. A veritable horde of Vassals swept through Ambitious Man’s Guard Wall as Gilgamesh led a relentless charge to reach its center with greater speed than either Jaded Woman or Sycophant could manage.

  “Leave him for me! He is mine to kill!” Sycophant shouted out at Gilgamesh, lacking any of his prior composure.

  However, as he spoke, a small detachment of Outer Guards broke through his Inner Guard Wall and rushed for Sycophant.

  “Have you learned nothing, you bastard!” Sycophant roared at Gilgamesh.

  He wrenched his sight to the attackers, and froze in place. Standing in the short distance was a Noblewoman in her usual elegant and haughty pose.

  “Selena…” As Sycophant muttered Aristocrat Woman’s name in a daze, a Dagger plunged into his back, and his form broke into fading shadows.

  And Gilgamesh’s smile widened.

  At the sight of Sycophant perishing into black wisps, Jaded Woman teleported away without hesitation and her Faction fled for the Hallway.

  “Smart choice.” Gilgamesh thought.

  It was more than obvious by now that the extent of Gilgamesh’s ambitions did not stop at Ambitious Man. Remaining in their sham alliance would bring no reward and far too much risk. Leaving was the right decision.

  Sycophant’s Faction was in disarray and Jaded Woman’s Faction deserted the battle, but Gilgamesh did not mind the loss of Soldiers. As far as he was concerned, they had already played their role. The last Guard Wall collapsed, and Gilgamesh pushed into the center with Sereth by his side.

  The display of servants, the mangled web of schemes, the false alliances. All of it was a facade. Nothing more than a distraction to get to this point. Now, it was a contest between him and Ambitious Man. This Trial, stripped of all its masks and trinkets, was just a simple game.

  “The same ploy…” Ambitious Man recognized their gambit as the same one they had used against the Old Man. “His ally had the Scepter that time, while Purple had the Dagger with a Ring. He is not stupid enough to try the same trick twice. Or is this a bluff to trick me into a false conviction?”

  [ Liege: Challenge them. ]

  At his command, his two Ally Lieges stepped forward and challenged both Gilgamesh and Sereth, to reveal their Crown and Scepter.

  [ Liege: Accuse them.]

  They just as obediently accused both Gilgamesh and Sereth at once, but succeeded only in giving them more Prestige. And they rushed ever closer.

  “No Daggers…” Ambitious Man sends another Message to have two of his Guards intercept them, one with a Dagger sent to Gilgamesh, and one without sent to his Sereth.

  Ambitious Man glanced to the side. “Why would he take the risk of pushing into my base when he knows I have countless Assassins in my Guard? What is his plan?” To Ambitious Man, Gilgamesh just seemed like a madman rushing to his death.

  “There must be something else, something I’ve missed.” Ambitious Man’s mind swirled with speculation and deduction.

  As Ambitious Man contemplated, the Assassin Guards suddenly stopped and shook their hands as the duo passed by. Gilgamesh then stretched out his hand and shook Sereth’s.

  “He turned them? How?” Ambitious Man barely concealed his shock. “No, that’s not important. They could both have Daggers and Scepters now. Or is it all a trick to bait another False Accusation?”

  Ambitious Man’s mind raced as time quickly ran out.

  “Is he really mad enough to risk carrying a Dagger under the feeble protection of the possibility that he might not have one? No, he can’t be. He’s bluffing. He must have given it to his pawn.”

  Ambitious Man’s eyes sharpened. “Traitor.”

  At his accusation, Ambitious Man and Sereth were brought before the King. Sereth turned towards him with her smiling mask as the light of judgement fell upon her to reveal nothing.

  “He says you’re not bold enough to play this game~” She smiled wide.

  “Don’t fuck with me!” Ambitious Man lost his composure entirely. “Are you insane?! This is madness! How could you take that risk?! No, No! This is wron-”

  The Executioner’s axe ended his rant, and Sereth returned to hold Gilgamesh’s hand.

  “I am yours~”

  [ Gained 37,281 Prestige. ]

  [ 100,000 Prestige. ]

  Her sweet words drifted through the air as his garments changed to those of an illustrious Duke and his mask turned as green as the finest Jade. Though none of it mattered nearly as much to Gilgamesh as the thrill of the game that coursed through his body.

  [ Some gods are paying attention to you. ]

  [ Some gods are entertained by your reckless wiles. ]

  [ Twice-Born Hedonist ] is amused by your form of revelry.

  “Ah… How much more can I get from this Trial?” Gilgamesh sank deeper into the throes of pleasure. “That reminds me… It’s almost time to retrieve my other pawn.”

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