[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]
Chapter 151
What Zeke found was the sun emblem engraved on Agamemnon's Mask.
"To think I'd find that emblem here."
He didn't know when this ruin was built, but it was highly likely that it was built before the Golden Age.
Zeke closely examined the part where the sun emblem was engraved.
"Hmm."
The sun emblem was floating at the top, and below it, numerous shooting stars were falling.
"What does this mean?"
Unlike the pictorial murals of the Zoin ruins, the abstract and symbolic relief mural was difficult to understand.
'I should record it and ask the Hermit of the Story later. He might know what it means...'
Zeke passed the relief mural and found a door.
"Do I have to go further?"
Zeke opened the door and went inside.
The inside looked like an old temple or a royal tomb.
Various patterns were intricately carved on the walls and pillars.
'What is this place?'
Strangely, the system didn't recognize this ruin.
Only the title Light Knight was recognized when the door first opened, but he wasn't registered as an administrator like in other Sanctuaries.
"Is this an even older temple?"
Just then, Zeke saw something moving in front of him.
'What's that?'
Rumble!
Surprisingly, a golem was approaching Zeke.
[Security system activated.]
[Administrator authentication failed.]
[Golem will eliminate unauthorized personnel.]
Message windows popped up noisily.
Rumble!
The golem, with its entire body made of gray stone, looked completely different from the Guardians that became Zeke's summons.
Its size and appearance were similar to a Barbarian.
Thud! Thud!
The golem ran towards Zeke.
As it got closer, the golem raised both fists and swung them at Zeke.
Crash!
Zeke lightly deflected the golem's fists with his palms. It was the technique from the Infinite Chain Link left by Fab Valencia.
'A golem with simple attack patterns. It's a good opponent to practice my skills.'
Woooong!
The Infinite Chain Link, which allowed him to wield swordsmanship without a sword.
Zeke decided to face the golem empty-handed, without a sword.
Rumble!
The golem emitted steam from its back.
Then, it threw punches at Zeke in rapid succession.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The heavy stone fists poured down at an invisible speed.
Zeke dodged the golem's fists with the Phantom Step, deflected them with his palms, and looked for an opening.
Whoosh!
The golem emitted a long stream of steam from its back again.
Zeke seized the opportunity.
His legs and waist formed an axis, his whole body rotating, and the power was channeled into the edge of his hand.
Infinite Chain Link
Rotating Strike
Hand Blade Slash
The edge of Zeke's hand, imbued with the power of rotation, cut off the golem's arm.
Thud!
The golem, its arm severed, hesitated for a moment and then retreated.
Zeke stepped forward again.
Infinite Chain Link
Charging Strike
Fingertip Thrust
Crack!
Zeke's fingertip pierced the golem's heart.
Crack!
Zeke's hand, piercing through, grabbed the core from the golem's heart and pulled it out.
Fizzle!
The golem, its core removed, collapsed.
Zeke, looking at the motionless golem, caught his breath.
"Whew. Infinite Chain Link... It'll be useful once I get used to it."
It was perfect for surprise attacks in one-on-one battles with knights, luring them into a false sense of security by appearing unarmed.
Zeke put the core he extracted from the golem into his inventory.
Ancient golems had much better performance than golems created by the Magic Tower. Skilled mages could use the core to create and use new golems.
'If I give this to Master Feynon, he might be able to create a new golem.'
Passing the golem and going down the corridor, he found stairs leading down to the basement of the ruins.
It got darker as he went down, but Zeke could see the darkness as if it were daytime with Dragon Eye.
Zeke felt that this ruin had a very different atmosphere from the 'Sanctuaries' he had discovered so far.
The Sanctuaries felt like they were systematically managed through the system and waiting for a new administrator.
However, this relic ruin felt like a place thoroughly guarded and defended to prevent anyone from entering.
Zeke recalled the words of the Hermit of the Story.
'He said Terakan Drake returned the relic here.'
He wondered if Terakan might have set up the system to prevent anyone from entering so that the Holy Grail wouldn't be misused.
Zeke, descending deep into the cave, found a huge open space on the map.
"What's this?"
Zeke cautiously headed towards the open space.
He was surprised when he entered the space.
"What is this?"
A crystal cave of incredible size unfolded before Zeke's eyes.
Giant crystals, the size of a person, were jutting out from the floor and filled the ceiling of the cave.
Zeke was momentarily speechless at the spectacle of the giant crystal cave.
He soon came to his senses after spacing out for a moment.
'This is not the time.'
Zeke started examining the surroundings again and found traces of waterways, as if water had flowed here long ago.
"Water in Death Valley? Was this place not a land of death in the past?"
Zeke passed between the beautiful crystals and went deeper inside.
Just then, something was detected by Zeke's Dragon Eye.
He approached the wall made of crystals.
And he found something inside.
"An ark?"
A ship several times larger than Draker's warships was embedded in the crystal wall.
The ark was stuck in the crystal wall like an avant-garde art piece, with only the bow protruding.
The fact that there was an ark in the underground cave of Death Valley, where there wasn't a single drop of water, felt extremely out of place.
Zeke stepped on the crystals and climbed towards the ark embedded in the wall.
The ark, seen up close, felt mystical.
Despite the long passage of time, the ark's surface was clean without a single scratch, as if it had just been made.
He couldn't tell what material it was made of, but he could tell it wasn't ordinary wood.
"Is the relic inside this?"
Zeke reached out his hand towards the ark.
It was then.
[Detected malice in the surroundings.]
'Malice?'
Seeing the system's warning message, Zeke hurriedly used the Stealth skill to hide himself.
Zeke, hiding among the crystals, summoned a Dragon Tooth Soldier and sent it to scout.
Looking around through the Dragon Tooth Soldier's vision, Zeke found a group approaching with an ominous aura.
'That's...'
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Dozens of skeleton knights clad in armor were marching in formation.
Behind them was a black knight riding a ghost horse with glowing blue eyes and a mane of blue flames, and next to him, a lich with a rusty crown and jewels embedded in its eyes was floating.
'What's that?'
An undead legion, clearly different from Richmond, was approaching, bringing death with it.
Then, the black knight on the ghost horse pointed towards where the Dragon Tooth Soldier was.
'I sense the power of an unholy being!'
At his shout, the skeleton knights charged towards the Dragon Tooth Soldier with gleaming eyes.
Clang!
The Dragon Tooth Soldier swung his sword at the skeleton knights rushing at a speed unbecoming of skeletons.
Just then, the lich behind them chanted a spell, and an ominous energy poured out from its robe.
Whoosh!
Black fireballs flew towards the Dragon Tooth Soldier.
Crash!
Perhaps the impact was too great, as the Dragon Tooth Soldier's summoning was forcibly canceled.
Zeke felt that a strategy was needed to face the formidable undead legion.
He took out the sword, held the handle, and summoned Arataso, who was sealed inside.
'Arataso, I have something to ask you.'
Arataso didn't answer.
Zeke clicked his tongue and infused the sword with the power of Holy Flame.
'Kyaaaak!'
Arataso's scream echoed from within the sword.
'Answer me quickly.'
Arataso shouted back,
'Damn it! You cursed bastard! How dare you do this to me, Arataso, the knight of knights in the demon world...'
'A black knight with an ominous aura is approaching with skeleton knights and a lich. What is his identity?'
Even at Zeke's question, Arataso remained silent.
As Zeke infused the sword with Holy Flame again, Arataso hurriedly opened his mouth.
'A-a Death Knight! A knight of corrupted death!'
'A Death Knight?'
Death Knights were beings that only appeared in storybooks.
They were described as beings as terrifying as plagues, as the corrupted souls of knights became Death Knights through the power of demons and eternally wandered battlefields, bringing ominous death.
'If you go to my castle in the demon world, thousands of Death Knights with powerful strength will be under my command...'
Arataso started rambling about how great the Death Knights under his command were.
Zeke, his curiosity satisfied, took his hand off the sword and put it back in his inventory.
Then, he summoned Richmond.
"Huh? Master, what's the matter?"
Zeke asked Richmond,
"Richmond, do you remember threatening to turn me into a Death Knight before?"
"D-did I do that?"
Richmond rolled his eyes and tried to deny it.
"I'm asking if you can also create Death Knights."
Richmond shook his head vigorously.
"T-that was just a bluff. There's a lot of debate among black mages about whether it's even possible to create Death Knights."
"So you're saying ordinary black mages can't create Death Knights?"
"I don't even know if there's magic to create or summon Death Knights. Maybe ancient black mages who made direct contracts with demons could..."
Zeke nodded after hearing Richmond's words.
'So it might be possible if you made a contract with a demon.'
If there were black mages in Abyss who made direct contracts with demons who had constellation names, not just subordinates, their power would likely be beyond that of a simple black magic clan.
Zeke said to Richmond,
"An undead legion led by a Death Knight will be here soon."
Richmond was surprised by Zeke's words.
"An undead legion led by a D-Death Knight?"
"Yes. We need to prepare our defenses before they get here. Summon as many undead as you can."
Despite being a Demi Lich himself, Richmond was terrified at the mention of an undead legion.
Although he was scared, he was Zeke's subordinate summon, so he couldn't disobey his orders.
Richmond transformed into his Demi Lich form.
Then, he took out a staff and looked at Zeke with a determined expression.
"Since it's come to this... I'll show you the results of my recent research."
"What do you mean by research results?"
"You told me to research the staff I brought from the Giant Mountains, right?"
"Ah."
Zeke had forgotten that he had given that order.
Richmond held one of the staffs he brought back then and gradually floated into the air.
Reaching a certain height, Richmond started waving the staff in the air.
Richmond controlled the power of the 'Harbinger of Blood and Madness' that was dormant in the staff and summoned something.
Screech!
The ground shook, and black-red skeletons started popping out from below.
About 40 skeletons lined up in formation.
Richmond had a proud expression as he looked at the skeletons summoned with the power of the Harbinger of Blood and Madness.
"How is it, Master? Isn't it reassuring?"
"Richmond, how many more times can you summon the same number of skeletons?"
Richmond was flustered by the unexpected question.
"Uh, w-well... about t-two or three more times?"
"That's too few. Work harder."
Richmond hung his head low at Zeke's firm words.
Ignoring him, Zeke took out magic bombs from his inventory one by one and handed them to the skeletons.
Then, he summoned Dragon Tooth Soldiers, gave them Flame Giant's Breath potions, and placed them throughout the crystal cave.
"Richmond, deploy the skeletons forward and hide them underground."
"Y-yes, sir."
Richmond buried the skeletons underground as Zeke ordered.
After that, Zeke summoned Gurab.
Growl!
Gurab, who had grown as large as a basilisk, rubbed his cheek against Zeke and acted cute.
"Gurab, go and lure them here."
Growl!
At Zeke's command, Gurab let out a long cry and quickly ran towards where the legion was.
Zeke and Richmond hid behind the crystals and watched the situation.
The tension gradually mounted.
It was then.
Growl!
'They're here.'
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The undead legion appeared.
[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]