Chapter 154
At those words, the Abyss mage scoffed.
"You damned Draker spawn. The most painful death to you... Keugh!"
As the power of Decay activated, the mage twisted in pain from necrosis.
Zeke threw him away without hesitation and asked another mage.
The Abyss mage trembled and tried to commit suicide by taking poison.
But Zeke wouldn't let that happen. He fed him an antidote before the poison spread throughout his body and interrogated him again.
But the mage still didn't speak, and Zeke used the power of Decay without hesitation.
The remaining two mages were terrified after seeing two mages die from their bodies melting away.
One of them finally raised his hand.
"I-I'll talk! B-but we're under a restriction."
Zeke recalled that one of the Abyss mages had died after saying the words 'Lion's Book,' eaten by worms that emerged from his body.
"It seems you die the moment you say something important."
The mage nodded and said,
"T-that's right. The Apostle placed a restriction on us..."
Then, the other mage next to him lunged at the mage.
"You bastard! Are you trying to sacrifice our souls as well?!"
The mage who lunged tried to strangle the other mage to death.
Then, Zeke rushed in and cut off the mage's head.
Thud!
Zeke sheathed his sword and cast the Curse Reflection skill on the last remaining mage with Area of Effect Buff.
"It should be fine now. Tell me about the Apostle who placed the restriction."
The Abyss mage clutched his neck and stammered in fear.
"T-the Apostle is... uh? Uh?"
Suddenly, veins bulged on the mage's face.
"N-no!"
Bang!
Before he could finish answering, the mage's head suddenly exploded.
Zeke frowned as he saw the remains of the mage's head scattered everywhere.
Even Curse Reflection couldn't block the restriction placed by the Apostle of Abyss.
"Those crazy bastards. What kind of restriction is this..."
Zeke gritted his teeth as he looked at the scattered remains.
"Apostle..."
The identity of Abyss was still shrouded in mystery.
Zeke finished dealing with the Abyss mages and called Richmond.
Despite being a lich, Richmond looked exhausted.
"Ugh... I'm dying, Master."
Zeke looked at Richmond with a dumbfounded expression, then took out the artifacts he acquired after eliminating the Arch Lich and the Death Knight to examine them.
- Crown Information -
Description: The old crown worn by the Arch Lich.
Inherent Ability: Summon Skeleton Knight
Special Note: Artifact exclusive to black mages.
- Armor Information -
Description: The cursed armor of the Death Knight.
Inherent Ability: Death's Breath
Special Note: Randomly curses the wearer if they are not undead.
'What's this? I can't use these.'
They were artifacts that could only be used by undead or black mages.
Richmond's eyes sparkled as he saw the Arch Lich's crown.
"M-Master, th-that..."
"Do you want it?"
Richmond quickly nodded.
Zeke tossed the crown to Richmond. Richmond flew up and caught the crown.
"Th-thank you! Master! I will devote my loyalty to you!"
Richmond excitedly tried on the old crown.
Woooong!
In that instant, the crown on Richmond's head vibrated.
"Gasp! M-Master!"
An energy similar to when he absorbed the essence of the Harbinger of Blood and Madness emanated from the crown.
Zeke took out Bahamut and, like before, absorbed and purified the energy.
[Purified the power of an 'unidentifiable being.']
[By granting the purified power to the summon Richmond, you can unlock the summon's potential.]
[Do you wish to grant the power to Richmond?]
'An unidentifiable being.'
The black mage who turned Cardinal Verdi into an Arch Lich seemed to have made a direct contract with a demon who had a constellation name, not a demonfolk, as Richmond said.
'Is that guy the Apostle?'
Zeke, feeling the waves of power contained in the crown, could somewhat grasp the level of the unknown being called the Apostle.
He granted the purified power to Richmond.
The power emanating from Bahamut seeped into Richmond's body.
Crackle!
Richmond, who was a Demi Lich, began to transform.
[The summon Richmond, having received the purified power of the Arch Lich, has evolved from a Demi Lich to an Arch Lich.]
[The summon Richmond can now summon the undead 'Skeleton Knight' by absorbing the power of the crown.]
[The insignificant dragon-type power dormant in Richmond's body has been strengthened due to the influence of the Black Sword Bahamut.]
[The summon Richmond, with insignificant dragon bone fragments, partially awakens his traits due to the influence of the awakened dragon power.]
[Can now grant dragon-type monster traits to all summoned undead.]
[More greatly affected by the inherent power Dragon Domination.]
Richmond, who evolved from a Demi Lich to an Arch Lich, had both his eyes turn into purple gems, and the old crown he was wearing transformed into a shining crown studded with colorful jewels.
The difference from Verdi, the Arch Lich, was that two large horns sprouted from Richmond's head.
Richmond was delighted to see the horns sprouting from his head and the crown.
"Master! Look at this! H-horns! They're so cool!"
It seemed that the dragon-type traits were revived, even giving him horns.
Zeke said to the delighted Richmond,
"Richmond, can you raise these guys again?"
Although the Arch Lich had disappeared after being consumed by Zeke, the bodies of the Death Knights, created by awakening the corpses of the paladins, were still lying on the ground.
"I'll try."
As Richmond stretched out his hand and chanted a spell, the fallen Death Knights' eyes glowed again.
Screech!
The Death Knights got up and lined up in formation. At the same time, their appearances began to change.
Their appearances changed to purple bone armor, bone swords, and bone shields, and their heads transformed into dragon-type appearances like the Reptilian Skeletons.
[The Skeleton Knights have evolved into Skeleton Dragoons through the power of the summon Richmond.]
[Skeleton Dragoons are limited to 10 summons.]
'Skeleton Dragoons.'
Perhaps because they were undead created from the corpses of paladins, they felt significantly stronger.
Zeke calmed Richmond, who was flying around excitedly, and immediately unsummoned him.
When Richmond was unsummoned, the skeletons also disappeared.
Zeke, having dealt with the undead legion, finally approached the ark slowly.
He placed his hand on the ark and channeled mana into it.
Instantly, white light emanated from the ark's surface.
[Accessing administrator system]
[Code confirmation]
[Confirming the title Terakan Draker's Inheritor]
[Authorizing entry to ???'s Ark]
A message appeared, and a black hole formed on the ark's surface where Zeke touched it.
'What's this?'
He looked inside the hole, but he couldn't see what was inside.
This time, Zeke put his hand in. His hand went in smoothly.
It seemed like an entrance, but he didn't feel like entering rashly because he couldn't see inside.
'...It'll be fine.'
Zeke hesitated for a moment, then carefully entered the hole in the ark.
As soon as Zeke entered, the hole in the ark disappeared.
***
"Whoa, what is this place?"
Surprisingly, the scenery inside the ark felt familiar to Zeke.
It was similar to the Dragon Slayer's Sanctuary and Kaisir's Sanctuary.
White and clean corridors stretched out in both directions.
Zeke tried to check the map to see the path. But surprisingly, the path inside the ark wasn't marked at all.
'This is the first time this has happened.'
Zeke, puzzled, turned off the map and decided to look around himself.
Since he was granted access through the system, there shouldn't be any problems.
As he walked down the corridor, a door appeared.
Zeke was surprised to see the door.
"Huh? That emblem..."
It was the sun emblem again.
From the symbol he saw in Fab Valencia's underground catacomb, to Agamemnon's Mask, the mural in the ruins, and now the emblem engraved on the ark.
'They're definitely connected somehow.'
Zeke placed his hand on the door and channeled mana into it.
[Confirming the title Terrakan Draker's Inheritor]
[Granting access to the helm]
The tightly closed door split into four and opened.
Zeke slowly entered.
It wasn't a space right away, but after passing through a corridor, a new place appeared.
"This is...?"
The helm mentioned by the system seemed to be a literal helm.
It was a wide hall with a steering wheel to control the ship, seats for several people, and crystals of unknown purpose.
Zeke looked around the helm.
'Is this where you control the ship?'
It was definitely a helm, but it looked completely different from the ones Zeke had seen on warships.
So it was hard to even imagine how it could be controlled.
The control panel with crystals embedded here and there looked like something only mages could handle.
"A mage controlling a ship? Is that even possible?"
Filled with questions, Zeke headed towards the steering wheel in the center of the hall.
The steering wheel had a traditional helm attached to control the ship's direction.
Zeke stood in front of the helm.
"This is the only thing I recognize."
Then, he grabbed the helm with both hands.
It was then.
[Confirming the title Terakan Draker's Inheritor]
[Inheritance process initiated]
Woooong!
The helm tilted back, and a cylinder began to rise from within.
'What's this?'
Seeing the sealed box inside the cylinder, Zeke recalled what he had seen in the Zoin ruins before.
It was similar to when he inherited the chains left by Terakan Draker.
Zeke opened the sealed box without hesitation.
As he expected,
"This is the Holy Grail?"
Since it was a relic containing the power of the Elf King, Zeke had imagined a very luxurious, treasure-like cup.
But the cup in the sealed box was a crude wooden cup that looked like it would be sold in a market.
The surface was uneven, as if carved by an unskilled craftsman, and there were many scratches here and there.
Zeke picked up the Holy Grail from the box.
"The miraculous cup that grants the power of immortality."
It was then.
Suddenly, light emanated from the Holy Grail.
'What?'
Messages popped up before his eyes one after another.
['The Elf King's Cup Containing Brilliant Light' detects the title Terakan Draker's Inheritor.]
[Granting class skills according to the inheritance process.]
Zeke was flustered by the sudden messages.
'Granting class skills?'
['The Elf King's Cup Containing Brilliant Light' detects the unique class 'Immortal'.]
['The Elf King's Cup Containing Brilliant Light' grants the unique skill 'Healing Factor' exclusive to the unique class 'Immortal'.]
[Error occurred while granting skill.]
[Confirmed that you already possess the skill.]
['The Elf King's Cup Containing Brilliant Light' grants another exclusive skill.]
['The Elf King's Cup Containing Brilliant Light' grants the unique skill 'Infinite Stamina' exclusive to the unique class 'Immortal'.]
[Error occurred while granting skill.]
[Confirmed that you already possess the skill.]
'Immortal exclusive skills?'
The Healing Factor and Infinite Stamina, which the Holy Grail was trying to grant as Immortal exclusive skills, were skills he had when he was a Healer class, which changed when his class changed to Immortal.
Another message popped up.
['The Elf King's Cup Containing Brilliant Light' is creating another Immortal class exclusive skill.]
[A new skill that has never existed before has been created.]
['The Elf King's Cup Containing Brilliant Light' grants the unique skill 'Limit Break' exclusive to the unique class 'Immortal'.]
'Limit Break?'
It was an unfamiliar skill name.
The Holy Grail that granted the skill gradually dimmed and then completely disappeared, returning to its original ordinary cup form.
"What just happened?"
Since it happened so quickly, Zeke tried channeling mana into the Holy Grail, but there was no reaction.
He also examined the Holy Grail closely, but he couldn't find any other changes.
Zeke, concluding that there was nothing more to it, checked the information of the skill granted by the Holy Grail.
[The skill is currently locked.]
[It is difficult to identify the skill's information.]
[Your soul rank must increase to unlock it.]
"What?"
Zeke couldn't hide his bewilderment after checking the skill description.
He was granted a skill, but it was locked, making it impossible to even check it.
"Hmm, is this a similar situation to Word Soul before?"
He didn't quite understand what it meant by 'soul rank must increase.'
It was awkward because, in the case of draconian, even if they were locked, he could see the information and unlock them with Karma points.
'Anyway, since it's an Immortal exclusive skill, it'll be useful someday when it's unlocked.'
Zeke stopped thinking about the skill and examined the seemingly unimpressive Holy Grail, then fell into another question.
"Granting class skills according to the inheritance process. Did Terakan Draker leave the Holy Grail here as a kind of arrangement for his inheritor?"
Zeke had been growing in strength by inheriting the legacy left by Terakan Draker.
From Bahamut's Heart and fangs, to the Secure Archive, and even the Soul Sealing Technique. It seemed he had to add the Holy Grail to the list.
'What did Terakan Draker prepare these arrangements for?'
Zeke looked at the Holy Grail in his hand and suddenly recalled the information Arataso had mentioned.
"That's right, he said the Demon Lord was looking for this relic. If it's not a dragon, but another being targeting the physical world...?"
But the story about the Demon King trying to invade the world seemed too absurd.
Zeke shook his head.
"It's no use thinking about it alone. The Hermit of the Story might know something if I show him this."
Zeke secured the Holy Grail and prepared to leave the ark.
Just as he was about to put the Holy Grail into his inventory,
A message suddenly popped up before Zeke's eyes.
[Power Fluke activated.]
[Draconian skill 'Dragon's Sense' activated in conjunction with the power.]