[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]
Chapter 117
Zeke's sword halted abruptly.
"Treasure?"
The lich hurriedly replied,
"Y-yes! A precious artifact!"
"What use would I have for a black magic artifact? I suppose it's better to just kill you..."
"N-no! It's not a black magic artifact! It's something you can use as well, sir knight!"
The lich said desperately.
Zeke withdrew his blade once more.
"Let me see it first and then decide."
Zeke adjusted the chains to bind the lich's hands, feet, and neck, allowing him to move.
The lich trembled as he slowly got up.
Then, he went deeper into the cave.
Zeke followed the lich, holding onto the chains while observing the surroundings with Dragon Eye.
"Try anything funny, and your head will be rolling, you understand?"
The lich shuddered at Zeke's chilling voice and opened a hidden passage at the back of the cave.
Stairs leading underground appeared.
"T-this way, sir."
After confirming there were no other traps, Zeke followed the lich down the stairs.
Down in the basement, the lich's laboratory came into view.
Various monster bones were hung on the walls, and bookshelves on one side were filled with what appeared to be magic books.
"For a lich, you keep things quite tidy."
"Hehe, thank you, sir."
"Where's the treasure?"
Zeke was openly trying to rob the lich of his treasure, but the lich had no choice.
The lich went to one side of the laboratory and placed his hand on a wall disguised with magic.
A hidden safe was revealed.
The lich took out a sealed box from the safe.
"H-here it is, sir."
"How do I know what's inside and just open it? Open it yourself."
Grumbling inwardly about the troublesome knight, the lich opened the sealed box.
Zeke was surprised to see the artifact inside.
"A crown?"
The lich nodded.
"I-isn't it magnificent? It will surely accentuate your dignity... Eek!"
The lich flinched as Zeke brandished his purifying blade again.
"As expected, only annihilated undead are good undead."
"W-why are you doing this?! You promised to spare me if I gave you the treasure!"
"Don't try to deceive me by calling it an artifact."
"I-it is an artifact! There's definitely a tremendous magical power hidden inside! It's just that my magic skills are lacking, so I couldn't figure out what it is!"
Zeke looked back at the crown, watching the lich desperately making excuses.
This time, he examined the crown closely with Dragon Eye.
—Crown Information—
Description: A precious crown crafted during the Lubern dynasty.
Inherent Abilities: [Shield of Light], [Mace of Light]
Special Note: When used against undead or demonic creatures, the effects are amplified by 1.5 times.
'Huh, it really is an artifact.'
It wasn't just a simple magic item but a high-grade artifact with offensive and defensive skills.
Despite being a splendid artifact, Zeke put on the crown with a somewhat displeased expression because it had been in the possession of a lich.
[You can now use the skills Shield of Light (B-grade) and Mace of Light (B-grade).]
Zeke checked the message and shouted towards the lich,
"Mace of Light."
Instantly, a giant hammer of light appeared and struck the lich.
'Kyaaaak!'
Crash!
A tremendous aura of light filled the laboratory.
With a single blow from the Mace of Light, the lich, a high-ranking undead, was nearly annihilated.
'Ugh...'
Zeke felt a little sorry for the lich, who was dying after honestly handing over the artifact.
Just then, a system message appeared.
[You have instilled fear in a lich with insignificant dragon bone fragments.]
[Inherent ability Dragon Domination activated.]
[Do you wish to subjugate the target?]
Seeing the system message, Zeke looked at the lich with a dumbfounded expression.
"Did you, by any chance, create your body using dragon bones?"
The lich, trembling with fear, said,
"H-how could I possibly obtain something as precious as dragon bones? I used a mixture of basilisk, wyvern, and draker bone powder."
It seemed that, like with Gurab, if a being had dragon-type traits mixed in, they would be designated as a target for subjugation.
Zeke pondered how he could use an undead summon.
'Well, it can't hurt to have one.'
Following Gurab, Zeke also subjugated the lich.
[You have subjugated a lich with insignificant dragon bone fragments.]
Woooong!
Zeke's shadow stretched out and enveloped the lich's body.
'Gasp!'
Then, the lich's appearance began to change.
Instead of a skeletal undead form, he transformed into a gloomy man with deathly pale skin.
However, with scales on his skin and snake-like eyes, he looked like a snake beastman at first glance.
"Oh?"
The lich, seeing his transformed body, had an expression of disbelief.
"H-how can this be...!?"
He had been transformed from a lich into a humanoid summon by the dragon's power.
He immediately knelt before Zeke and bowed.
"Master! As expected, you are no ordinary person! You have saved me with your great power! Thank you! Thank you! I will serve you until my soul wears away!"
[Do you wish to name the subjugated lich with insignificant dragon bone fragments? A named summon can be summoned at any time by the possessor of the power.]
"What was your name?"
"The insignificant name I used in my lifetime doesn't matter. Please bestow one upon me, great master."
Zeke considered it for a moment, but then decided to give him a random name out of laziness.
"Then, let's call you Richmond."
"Ah..."
[You have acquired the summon Richmond.]
Richmond, the lich who gained the name Richmond because he was a lich, regretted not just saying his old name.
Whether Richmond regretted it or not, Zeke held the crown in his hand and pondered.
'Hmm, this is good, but do I have to wear it and use the skills every time I fight?'
As if answering Zeke's question, a system message appeared.
[You can acquire skills by consuming items with Gluttony.]
'Oh?'
He had forgotten that he could consume items now that his Gluttony level had reached Expert.
He used the Gluttony skill on the crown.
Shadows surged and absorbed the crown.
[Crown consumed.]
[Acquired the skills Shield of Light (B-grade) and Mace of Light (B-grade).]
"Oh, so it's possible this way as well."
Zeke immediately checked his active skills.
Active Skills:Precise Stab [E-grade (Expert)], Lightning Strike [A-grade (Beginner)], Flashbang [C-grade (Expert)], Discord [C-grade (Expert)], Mana Reflection [A-grade (Beginner)], Area of Effect Buff [A-grade (Beginner)], Curse Reflection [A-grade (Beginner)], Stealth [A-grade (Beginner)], Shield of Light [B-grade (Beginner)], Mace of Light [B-grade (Beginner)]
His skills had increased considerably compared to before.
Zeke suddenly thought of Agamemnon's Mask.
'Should I consume this too and acquire the Purification skill?'
After much deliberation, as it was sure to be useful, Zeke decided to postpone consuming the mask.
Agamemnon's Mask wasn't an ordinary artifact but a sacred object of the Agamemnon family, so it wasn't something he could dispose of as he pleased.
He was only entrusted with the sacred object because he was the clan's successor, so it was difficult to say he had complete ownership of it.
After deciding on whether to consume the golden mask, he asked Richmond,
"Are the monsters outside the ones you released?"
Richmond nodded.
"Yes, yes. It's because my specialty is monsters."
"That's interesting. I haven't seen many black mages who specialize in handling monsters."
Richmond scratched his head and said,
"Even during the Holy Empire era when I was around, there were very few mages who specialized in monsters because it was quite an unpopular field of study."
"It's certainly a unique skill. So, is it possible for you to summon monsters?"
"I can summon those within my sphere of influence."
"Oh, really?"
It seemed like he could gain a large number of points if he utilized Richmond's ability well.
***
"Huff! Huff!"
Outside Richmond's cave, the adventurer party was still struggling against the monsters.
Although the black magic controlling the monsters had been lifted when Zeke dealt with Richmond, wild monsters continued to swarm in, keeping the attack relentless.
The archer had already used up all his arrows, the knight was exhausted, and the mages were out of mana.
Yet, the surrounding monsters still glared at them with ferocious intent.
The knight said to his companions,
"Damn it, this is it, isn't it?"
Then, the young mage next to him said to the knight,
"So Rick dies a virgin after all."
The archer woman next to him nodded.
"Yeah. I should have at least taken his virginity."
The female mage across from them blushed and said,
"C-Claire!"
The young mage grinned and said,
"The romance of the virgin boy Rick and the virgin girl Arin will be remembered forever, even after we die."
Rick chuckled at Jason's joke even at the last moment.
Then, Rick suddenly charged forward with his sword.
"It was fun being with you guys!"
Arin shouted in surprise,
"Rick!"
Rick intended to sacrifice himself to create an opening for his companions to escape.
"Haaaat!"
Rick's sword instantly cut down the neck of the monster in front of him.
He shouted towards his companions,
"Go quickly!"
Just then, a minotaur charged towards Rick, wielding an axe as tall as a man.
Roar!
Rick charged towards the minotaur, prepared to die.
Clang!
With a single blow from the minotaur's axe, Rick lost his grip on his sword.
Roar!
The minotaur raised its axe again.
Rick froze, seeing death approaching.
At the moment the axe was about to fall on Rick's head,
Slice!
With a flash of light, the minotaur was split in half.
"Huh?"
Rick, who was closest, had a dumbfounded expression at the unbelievable sight.
A mage with a gloomy face had appeared beside them.
The young man who had split the minotaur in half said to him,
"Richmond, do well. If you don't, it's instant annihilation."
"D-don't worry, Master!"
The mage raised his staff and chanted a spell. For some reason, monsters from afar, as well as those nearby, started to swarm towards them.
Rick and his companions shouted in surprise,
"M-more monsters...! W-we have to run!"
But the young man, instead of retreating at the sight of the monsters, grabbed a seemingly unfinished black sword and dashed forward again.
Then, he began to cut down all the monsters at an invisible speed.
Slice!
Thud!
Slash!
Rick and his companions turned pale as they witnessed dozens of monsters being dismembered and annihilated in an instant.
Zeke, having defeated all the monsters, said to Richmond behind him,
"Not bad. Richmond, summon some more."
Richmond chanted a spell again and drew in more monsters.
After summoning and defeating hordes of monsters ten times in this way, Zeke was able to collect over 2,000 points.
***
After defeating all the monsters, Zeke camped with Rick and his companions.
His purpose was to gather information about the Giant Mountains from the adventurer party.
"Thank you so much for saving our lives."
Having witnessed Zeke's tremendous power, Rick and his companions treated him with caution.
They were convinced that he was a knight from a prestigious family, despite his young appearance.
Zeke looked at Rick and said
,
"Don't mention it. Rather, you all seem to have been adventurers for quite a while despite your young age. I was impressed by your party's synergy."
At those words, Jason stepped forward.
"Well, it's because our party has a pure virgin boy and a virgin girl, so the harmony... Mmmph!"
Rick and Arin hurriedly covered Jason's mouth.
Zeke smiled, watching the cheerful party.
Claire, the archer, looked at Zeke and asked,
"Sir Knight, which order do you belong to?"
Zeke shook his head and denied it.
"A knight? Not at all. I'm an adventurer too."
Zeke showed them his adventurer ID card.
Rick was surprised to see the ID card.
"N-no way. Then how did you learn such amazing swordsmanship? I naturally assumed you were a knight from a prestigious clan."
"I'm from the north. I grew up with rangers and mercenaries, so I was able to learn various swordsmanship techniques from them."
He was too strong to have just learned by observation, but since he said so himself, they couldn't ask further and just accepted it.
Arin nodded and changed the subject, pointing to Richmond behind them.
"By the way, is it okay to leave him like that?"
Richmond was huddled in a corner of the cave, unable to come near the fire.
Zeke nodded.
"Yes, don't mind him. He has social phobia and is afraid of crowds."
Jason nodded at those words.
There were quite a few mages with mental problems.
As the soup came to a boil, Zeke ladled it into bowls and handed them to Rick and his companions.
Rick and his companions were very surprised by the excellent taste, which was beyond what they expected from camping food.
"Wow, this is delicious."
It was a taste made possible by ingredients kept fresh in his inventory.
While eating the soup, Zeke asked Rick and his companions,
"But why did you all come here?"
Rick carefully opened his mouth.
"We can't hide anything from our lifesaver. To be honest, we came here on a request from Duke Graham."
Zeke was surprised by Rick's words.
'Wait? Could these people be...?'
Rick continued,
"To find the warlock who cursed Lady Angelina."
[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]