[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]
Chapter 123
"Richmond! Drop the staff!"
The staff vibrated with increasing intensity.
Richmond tried to let go of the staff as Zeke instructed, but his hand wouldn't budge.
"Ugh!"
Black energy emanated from the staff and was sucked into Richmond's nose and mouth.
Zeke drew Bahamut and rushed towards Richmond.
Then, he activated the Purification Blade and cut the staff.
Snap!
The vibration stopped as soon as the staff was cut.
Fizzle!
The staff completely lost its power and turned into gray ash, disappearing.
Richmond's eyes turned black after inhaling the black energy.
"Uggggh!"
Richmond started to tremble.
Then, his human form began to revert to its original lich form.
At the same time, black energy enveloped Richmond's body.
Zeke took a deep breath, held up Bahamut, and thrust it towards Richmond.
"Bear with it, Richmond!"
Bahamut absorbed the black energy coiling around Richmond's body.
[Bahamut is absorbing the power of the 'Harbinger of Blood and Madness'.]
"Keeek!"
Richmond, in his lich form, screamed in agony.
The black energy enveloping his body was completely sucked into Bahamut.
Then, a message popped up again.
[Purified the power of the 'Harbinger of Blood and Madness'.]
[By granting the purified power of the 'Harbinger of Blood and Madness' to the summon Richmond, you can unlock the summon's potential.]
[Do you wish to grant the power to Richmond?]
'Unlock the summon's potential?'
Zeke recalled the message he saw earlier about evolving spirit beasts into divine beasts using Karma points. He wondered if it was a similar situation.
Zeke looked at Richmond, who was in pain, and then shouted that he would grant him the power.
Blackish-red energy surged from Bahamut and seeped back into Richmond.
Crackle!
Richmond, who was an ordinary lich, received the power Zeke granted him, and the color of his bones turned blackish-red.
At the same time, a purple gem appeared in his empty eye socket.
"Kyaaaaa!"
[Richmond, having received the purified power of the 'Harbinger of Blood and Madness,' has evolved from a Lich to a Demi Lich.]
[Due to absorbing the purified power of the 'Harbinger of Blood and Madness,' Richmond has acquired the ability 'Monster Transformation.']
[Subordinates of the 'Harbinger of Blood and Madness' will recognize Richmond as an ally.]
Surprisingly, Richmond, who was an ordinary lich, had evolved into a Demi Lich, a high-ranking undead.
"Gasp... Gasp..."
Although he regained his human form, a distinctly different aura and presence emanated from Richmond, who had become a Demi Lich.
"Are you alright, Richmond?"
"Y-yes, Master."
Richmond was surprised to see himself as a Demi Lich.
Zeke asked Richmond,
"How does it feel to be a Demi Lich?"
"D-Demi Lich? I lived as an ordinary Lich for five hundred years, and now I'm a Demi Lich...? It's amazing!"
Zeke was surprised by a different part.
"Five hundred years...? Come to think of it, you said you were active since the Holy Empire era. You're better at survival than I thought."
Even though liches gained immortality, it was difficult for them to live past a hundred years.
No matter how much they hid, adventurers and knights would kill them as soon as they were discovered.
Unlike ordinary liches, Richmond didn't attack humans and quietly collected monster bones or researched his specialized magic, which was why he was able to survive for such a long time.
'But five hundred years... Isn't that enough time to become an Arch Lich, not just a Demi Lich?'
He wondered if Richmond could evolve into an Arch Lich if he purified and granted him the power of other demons.
While Zeke was thinking about how to evolve him, Richmond, who had become a Demi Lich, was excited because he could fly around freely, unlike when he was a lich.
"Master! Look at this!"
Zeke, watching Richmond playfully flying around the stone chamber, said,
"Richmond, try the monster Transformation."
At Zeke's words, Richmond landed on the ground and activated his monster Transformation ability.
Crackle!
Richmond's body transformed, and surprisingly, he became an undead-type monster.
Krrrk!
It was a dragon-type form with skeletal wings, but being a monster, it was much fiercer and more menacing than ordinary dragon-types like drakes.
"Oh? Did it take this form because of the dragon bone fragments mixed in?"
Since the subordinates of the 'Harbinger of Blood and Madness' would recognize it as an ally, it seemed like it could be useful when infiltrating Abyss.
Richmond returned to his original human form from the monster form.
Zeke exited the purified cave and returned to King Fist and his group.
Then, he followed King Fist and the Barbarians towards the isolated village.
***
"Brother Zeke! It's here!"
The fortress village where the Rock tribe resided and the village where Golin was staying were quite far apart.
He could understand why it was isolated when the monsters were showing strange signs.
This village was also a fortress village made of giant rocks with magic cast on them, similar to the Rock tribe's fortress.
The Barbarians cleared the rocks at the entrance and guided them into the village.
Boooooo!
As soon as they entered, the villagers blew horns to welcome them.
"Thank you for your help!"
"Welcome!"
The young Barbarian warriors smiled brightly at the villagers' welcome.
Although reclusive, the Barbarians were simple and honest with their emotions.
The villagers prepared a whole roasted minotaur for the heroes who defeated the monsters.
King Fist seated Zeke at the head of the table and diligently explained his heroic deeds in the Barbarian language.
"Brother Zeke! Super strong! Cut off the Nine-Headed Dragon's heads, snip snip!"
"Ooh! Snip snip!"
"Amazing, amazing!"
The Barbarians praised Zeke's prowess and brought a bowl almost the size of a washbasin, filled with liquor.
Of course, it was Barbarian liquor, so it was incomparably stronger than human liquor.
Zeke, who understood Barbarian culture to some extent, drank all the strong liquor in the bowl in large gulps.
Seeing this, the Barbarians cheered.
"Zeke! Amazing, amazing!"
"A true warrior! So cool!"
Since Zeke didn't get drunk due to his Healing Factor, he only felt full.
The Barbarians, wanting to become closer to Zeke, constantly offered him drinks.
'I'm not going to die from a burst stomach, am I?'
Just as he was having such absurd thoughts, an old man approached Zeke.
"Thank you for saving the village."
Surprisingly, it was an elderly Barbarian.
It was rare for outsiders to see an elderly Barbarian.
Zeke guessed his status from the fact that the old man spoke Common Tongue.
"Are you the village headman?"
It had a slightly different meaning from how humans generally referred to the head of a small village as a headman.
The old man nodded.
"Indeed. It is customary for the former chieftain to spend their old age as the headman in this sacred village where the breath of our ancestors dwells."
The headman pointed to a giant obelisk standing at the back of the village.
"That is a guardian tower built by our ancestors long ago. Each tribe has such a guardian tower. Our people live to protect that guardian tower and this land imbued with the breath of our ancestors. Thanks to you, we were able to safely protect both the tower and the land. As much as we are grateful to you, our benefactor, we felt it was our duty to let you know what you have saved."
The story about the Barbarians' guardian tower was new to Zeke.
Looking at the guardian tower with Dragon Eye, he felt an unprecedented power within it that even he couldn't discern.
'Is it ancient magic?'
Perhaps it was magic imbued by dragons during the Hero King era.
After all, Kaiser had said that the dragons of that time left magic imbued with their power in various places to protect the physical realm.
Zeke looked away from the guardian tower and told the headman his purpose.
"Headman, I came all the way here looking for a dwarf named Golin."
At Zeke's words, the headman stroked his beard and nodded.
"Golin, a very stubborn and skilled dwarf. It was hard to stop him when he said he was going to catch the Nine-Headed Dragon with the weapon he made."
The headman chuckled as he talked about Golin.
"Where is Golin now?"
The headman pointed towards the guardian tower.
"He'll be working in the smithy he built around there. If you're going, be prepared. There are all sorts of strange things lying around."
Golin was probably the only dwarf who would be described like that by a Barbarian.
Zeke nodded at the headman's words.
The Barbarians' welcoming feast continued throughout the night.
After fully participating in the feast, Zeke headed towards the place the headman had told him about as soon as the sun rose the next day, leaving the exhausted Barbarians asleep.
Before going to Golin's smithy, he took a look around the guardian tower that the headman had mentioned.
As he approached, the mystical power within it felt even stronger.
The surface of the stone obelisk was covered in unknown runes.
Passing by it, Zeke suddenly felt like he had seen these runes somewhere before.
'Wait, they're similar to the ones engraved on my chest?'
Zeke opened his clothes and checked the inscription and diagram engraved on his chest after absorbing Bahamut's Heart.
Seeing that they were indeed similar to the ones on the Barbarian guardian tower, Zeke became convinced that dragons were the ones who created this tower.
Zeke reached out his hand towards the guardian tower.
Just then, a message suddenly popped up.
[Detected administrator system of the 1st Protective Base 'Guardian Tower of Giants']
[Accessing administrator system]
[Code confirmation]
[Code mismatch. System access denied]
"1st Protective Base?"
The Sky's Sanctuary he found in the Zoin ghetto was the 4th Protective Base.
Zeke realized from the message that this place also served as a protective base against the invasion of monsters during the Liberation War.
'By the way, this is the first time I've been denied access to an administrator system.'
Thanks to the titles he had been granted so far, he had been able to access the administrator systems of most ruins. However, it seemed that an access code wasn't assigned for this place.
'It's a bit disappointing that I can't access it, unlike usual.'
When the system didn't react any further, Zeke passed the guardian tower and went up the hill.
But the higher he climbed, the more strange things he saw.
"What is this?"
There were strange structures made by piling up scrap metal like towers all over the hill.
Zeke frowned at the sight of the bizarre structures.
'Did Golin make these?'
Despite his frown, Zeke passed the strange structures and continued up the hill.
As he climbed, he saw a dwarf-style house on top of the hill.
It seemed to be Golin's smithy.
But there were fearsome things placed in the front yard of the house.
'Why are siege weapons in front of the house?'
High-speed catapults and large ballistae, used to destroy walls and gates, were placed here and there.
Zeke had only heard that Golin had an eccentric personality, but he had never actually met him or experienced his personality firsthand, so the scene in front of his house was both curious and absurd.
It was then.
Creak!
Suddenly, the ballistae placed in the yard moved on their own and aimed at Zeke.
"What?"
In an instant, the arrows loaded in the ballistae were fired.
Whoosh!
Zeke drew Bahamut and deflected the ballista arrows.
Crack!
They were less like arrows and more like spears.
This time, the high-speed catapult moved.
Creak!
A hard rock was loaded into the catapult, aimed at Zeke, and launched.
Rumble!
Seeing the rock flying towards him, Zeke activated his aura.
Slice!
The rock, cut by the aura blade, split in half and rolled down the hill.
Zeke shouted towards the house.
"Golin Yober! I've come to find you on a request from the Guild Federation!"
Zeke shouted, but there was no response from inside the house.
Zeke approached the door of the house, deflecting the flying rocks and arrows.
Then, a flamethrower installed in front of the door spewed out a huge flame.
Whoosh!
Zeke blocked the flames with Golin's shield.
It was then.
Bang!
The door of the smithy burst open, and a dwarf with a red beard shouted at Zeke.
"Hey! Where did you get that!"
Zeke changed the shield back into a scabbard and looked at the dwarf who shouted at him.
"Are you Golin Yober?"
Ignoring Zeke's question, Golin charged at him.
"I said, where did you get that, you punk!"
Golin was holding a giant hammer in his hand.
He looked ready to swing the hammer at Zeke at any moment.
Zeke calmly said,
"Your disciple, Gelion, gave it to me as a gift."
Golin was surprised at those words.
"What? Gelion! That brat gave that to you?"
Zeke held out Bahamut, which he was carrying.
"Gelion made this sword too."
Golin looked at Zeke's sword and fell silent.
Then, he started trembling all over.
"Gelion! That rascal! How dare he handle a whole dragon fang when I haven't even touched one!"
Golin fumed and swung his hammer.
Zeke said to Golin,
"The Guild Federation requested I search for you since you've been out of contact..."
"Shut up! I'm not going!"
The dwarf was even more eccentric than rumored.
'Pushing this type will only backfire.'
Since bringing Golin back wasn't his goal anyway, Zeke decided to get to the main point.
Besides, since it was something Golin would be interested in, the conversation was likely to go smoothly.
"Hercyon equip."
Click!
The ancient Hercyon was equipped on Zeke's body in an instant.
Golin, who had been agitated, stared blankly at the Hercyon Zeke was wearing.
Then, he let out a scream.
"O-Orichalcum?!"
[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]