[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]
Chapter 108
'Oh no...'
While he was distracted by the murals, the monsters must have sensed his presence.
Zeke drew his sword and pointed it at the monsters.
Kyaaaa!
The monsters charged towards Zeke.
Crash!
Zeke swung his sword,
Sparks flew as Zeke's sword clashed with the monster's iron club.
Although he wasn't completely defenseless, he wasn't fully prepared either, so Zeke was pushed back by the monster's monstrous strength.
Zeke adjusted his stance with his sword.
He was thinking of using Soul-Transference against the monsters.
'Sever'
As he activated Soul-Transference along with Language of the Dragons, an auspicious energy gathered in Zeke's sword.
Woooong!
The will to sever was imbued in Zeke's sword.
Perhaps sensing the unusual energy, the monsters charged at Zeke all at once, wielding their iron clubs.
Kaaaagh!
Zeke swung his sword at the three monsters.
Slice!
The power of Soul-Transference enhanced by Language of the Dragons was astonishing.
With a single strike, he cut not only the monsters' iron clubs but also their bodies in half.
Thud!
The upper bodies of the monsters, severed at the waist, fell to the ground.
Zeke, having performed a complete Soul-Transference, was momentarily stunned by the sight he had created.
'Huh, to think a single spell could unleash this much power. It's certainly different from aura.'
If Kaisir had seen this complete Soul-Transference, he wouldn't have called it a cult's technique like he did back then.
The demons, struck by Zeke's sword, bled black blood and died.
And the moment they died, their bodies began to rot rapidly.
Sizzle!
Their skin and flesh rotted, and their bones crumbled.
Zeke frowned as he watched the demons decomposing at an incredible speed.
He ventured deeper into the dungeon to find evidence that would expose the Empire's atrocities.
As he concealed himself with the Stealth skill and observed his surroundings, he heard a sound coming from within.
'What's that?'
He heard the clinking of chains and the sounds of people carrying heavy objects.
Zeke carefully concealed his presence once again and looked inside.
'What's that?'
To his surprise, dozens of people were chained inside the dungeon, digging the ground and carrying piles of dirt.
"Move it, quickly!"
Zeke looked towards the person who shouted.
'Those hounds.'
As he had expected, this dungeon was being excavated by the Empire's hounds.
It was clear that they were desperately trying to take over the beastmen ghetto to gain complete control of this underground dungeon.
The hounds whipped the slaves, urging them to speed up the excavation.
Just then, one of the slaves carrying a pile of dirt stumbled and collapsed.
Thud!
One of the hounds checked the collapsed slave and raised his hand towards someone.
Then, people in robes rushed out, took the slave, and disappeared somewhere.
'Where are they taking him?'
Those wearing robes were likely mages.
Moreover, considering the Southern dungeon, there was probably a secret laboratory here as well.
Zeke stealthily followed them.
As he passed by, he saw that this wasn't the only excavation site.
It seemed that they were dividing the slaves into groups and excavating this vast dungeon in sections.
Zeke followed them past the excavation site and into a chamber located deeper within the dungeon.
"Another one has arrived!"
When those who had brought the slave shouted towards the inside, another person approached and checked the slave's condition.
They checked his eyes and skeletal structure.
"His condition is better than expected. We'll use him as an experimental subject. Put him in."
The robed figures carried the slave and placed him inside an iron cage.
Not only him, but other slaves were also lying on the floor inside the cage.
Zeke, hidden with Stealth, realized that this was also a human experimentation lab like the Southern dungeon.
'What on earth are those imperial bastards doing here?'
It was then.
"Uaaaagh!"
A terrible scream echoed from within the chamber.
The screaming continued for a while, then suddenly fell silent.
Soon, a corpse covered in blood was carried out, along with mages similarly covered in blood.
The oldest-looking mage among them threw off his blood-soaked robe and said,
"Damn it, the test subjects these days are useless. We're not getting proper results."
Another mage next to him said,
"Indeed, Master. Because of that damn Red Flower Disease cure, the number of test subjects has decreased, so the experiment itself isn't progressing."
The old mage gritted his teeth and said,
"How did those Alencia bastards even create the cure? Damn it. At this rate, the entire project will be scrapped."
"We're sending low-level modified ones to block the transport of the cure, so the number of test subjects will increase soon."
"Damn it, that damn Lion Sword bastard came and messed everything up, and nothing's going right."
Zeke clenched his fists as he listened to the conversation between the two mages.
'It was indeed the Empire that spread the Red Flower Disease. Not only that, they kidnapped people infected with Red Flower Disease and used them as test subjects. Modified ones, is that what those monsters are? And the Lion Sword... It seems Abel is involved somehow.'
If he could prove that Abel was involved in these inhumane experiments of the Empire, it would be possible to expel him from the Draker clan.
'System, can you save this too?'
[Video recording can be saved in the secure archive in conjunction with the unlocked Dragon Eye function.]
He wasn't sure if he could transfer the video saved in the system to a video recording device, but he decided to save it for now.
Dragon Eye activated, and every scene Zeke saw was recorded.
After recording the experiment scene, Zeke decided to sneak further inside and find any evidence he could.
Zeke, while securing a few documents, was able to figure out the identity of the modified ones through them.
'Experimental subjects whose bodies were strengthened by transplanting monsters blood into humans?'
It was as crazy as it sounded.
Not to mention monster blood, even the blood of ordinary monsters was like poison to humans.
Only troll blood, a raw material for making recovery potions, could be used after various processing stages. So, it was natural that humans couldn't accept the blood of monsters contaminated with demonic energy.
Zeke could understand why the monsters' bodies rotted so quickly.
'To think they're conducting such crazy experiments. I knew the Emperor was crazy, but I didn't know it was to this extent.'
Zeke put all the documents into his inventory and searched the surroundings further.
Then, in a corner of the laboratory, he found ancient artifacts that seemed to have been excavated here.
There were many artifacts with bird head decorations, perhaps relics of the ancient beastmen.
He examined them with Dragon Eye, but they didn't seem to have any special functions.
'The artifacts don't seem like much either, so what are they trying to find here?'
Zeke turned to the other side and started to examine the interior further. Then he found a picture attached to one of the walls of the laboratory and looked at it.
It was a picture of a giant beastman warrior wearing thick armor, but it looked very different from the traditional beastmen attire Zeke knew.
'Is this the attire of an ancient beastman warrior?'
Even so, something felt strange.
This was because the picture looked as if the beastman had been turned into a bronze statue.
Since there was nothing special about the picture even with Dragon Eye, Zeke looked away from the picture and examined other places.
After collecting all the data, Zeke, convinced that there was nothing else special, decided to leave this place for now.
Just as he was about to leave the laboratory using the Stealth skill, he heard a strange sound.
Creak!
It sounded like space was being torn apart.
Then, the empty space was suddenly split, and a person in a black robe walked out with someone in black armor.
Then, pointing a finger at Zeke, who was disguised with the Stealth skill, he shouted,
"An intruder! Catch him quickly!"
At the mage's shout, the knight in black armor charged towards Zeke.
Whoosh!
He swung his sword, accurately aiming at Zeke, who was hidden with the Stealth skill.
Clang!
Zeke blocked the black knight's sword with his Bahamut.
The black-robed mage, watching this, said in a sinister voice,
"We need to find out where he came from. Cut off his limbs and keep him alive."
Then, the black knight's eyes glowed red.
Zeke felt a similar energy to the knight in black armor who was guarding the dungeon door earlier.
Whoosh!
The black knight swiftly swung his sword at Zeke.
Unlike the monster that swung its club haphazardly, the black knight's movements were disciplined and powerful, like a trained knight.
Clang!
Even with strengthening his defense, Zeke's wrist tingled as he blocked the black knight's sword.
The strength was as monstrous as the monster's, but the technique and movements were comparable to a trained knight.
He wasn't quite at the Blue Knight level, but he definitely surpassed the Purple Knight level.
Zeke channeled the power of Soul-Transference into his sword.
Woooong!
The sword, imbued with the will to sever, clashed with the black knight's sword.
Clang!
Against the sword that was sharper than any aura, brute strength was meaningless.
Zeke's sword cleanly cut through the black knight's sword.
Clang!
The severed sword fell to the floor.
The mage in the black robe, watching from behind, said in a sinister voice,
"He's no ordinary guy."
Then, he swung the staff he was holding.
Screech!
With a terrible sound, space was torn apart.
Three black knights emerged from the rift in space.
A total of four black knights surrounded Zeke and began to close in.
Zeke, undaunted, pointed his sword at the black knights.
'Even if it's a bit reckless, I need to defeat these guys and capture that mage.'
It seemed that the mage in the black robe was the key to this experiment.
Zeke swung his sword, imbued with the will to sever.
Crack!
Anything that came into contact with Zeke's sword, be it sword or armor, was cut down.
The black knights, struck by Zeke's sword, collapsed, bleeding black blood as if they were already dead.
They, too, seemed to be modified with monster blood, as the areas where they were cut began to rot rapidly.
The mage, watching from behind, examined Zeke's sword with surprise.
"Does he have a magic sword? To cut down the modified ones with skin tougher than an ogre's so easily... Amazing."
Zeke, having defeated the black knights in an instant, immediately charged towards the mage.
Whoosh!
The mage tore space apart again and hid himself within it.
Zeke swung his sword, but the mage had already disappeared.
'Damn it. I should have caught him before he escaped.'
The magic used by the mage in the black robe felt different from the magic used by ordinary mages.
Above all, there was no mana fluctuation that should be felt before casting magic.
'What on earth is his identity?'
Zeke felt that he was somehow similar to the mysterious necromancer he had seen at Don Juan's mansion before.
Having missed the mage, Zeke thought he should get out of here first.
Beep!
It was a familiar sound.
The whistle of the hounds. The moment it rang, escaping easily became impossible.
'I've stalled for too long.'
Zeke used Stealth to conceal himself and tried to find an opening to escape.
But as the hounds stormed into the lab, the mage who had been hiding reappeared.
And he pointed exactly at the spot where Zeke was hiding with Stealth.
"He's there! Catch him!"
He couldn't understand how the mage could pinpoint his location, concealed by the Stealth skill obtained after consuming the chameleon.
The hounds rushed in the direction the mage had indicated.
Zeke concentrated the power of fire into his sword.
Whoosh!
And he unleashed flames towards the charging hounds.
"Kyagh!"
The hounds, caught off guard as they rushed in, were engulfed in flames, screaming in pain and rolling on the ground.
Zeke seized the opportunity, activated the Mana Reflection skill, and charged towards the mage.
Screech!
Perhaps due to Zeke's Mana Reflection, the mage couldn't tear space and escape as quickly as before.
Zeke swung his sword at the mage.
Slice!
The mage's arm was severed by Zeke's sword.
"Ugh!"
The mage clutched his severed shoulder and stumbled back.
Then, glaring at Zeke, he said in a sinister voice,
"How dare you touch Narak..."
The word 'Narak' that the mage uttered caught Zeke's attention.
'Narak? Is it the same Narak that Dario Totlino mentioned?'
The mage brought his staff to his severed shoulder.
Then, red organisms wriggled out from his shoulder.
The organisms gathered and grew, forming the shape of an arm.
He had regenerated his arm in an instant.
He glared at Zeke and said,
"I'll turn you into something neither dead nor alive and display you in my lab."
Black energy gathered in the mage's staff.
[Detected condensed demonic energy.]
Crash!
Black energy poured down towards Zeke.
At the same time, Zeke used the Flashbang skill on the mage.
Flash!
The lab was filled with white light.
[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]