Chapter 178
"Oh, thank goodness! It's not that witch! Thank you, God!"
Seeing that the person who entered was Zeke, Dario shed tears of relief.
'Lady Arina, what in the world did you do...?'
Dario trembled as he clung to Zeke.
"I-I'll do anything you ask. P-please, just don't hand me over to that witch!"
Zeke looked at Dario and slowly said,
"Dario Nostra. I have a proposition. If you testify against the Nostra clan in the Darker trial, I will spare your life. Of course, you will have to spend the rest of your life in prison."
Dario's body trembled at Zeke's words, but he slowly nodded.
He was afraid of Arina's interrogation, but what he feared even more was the Nostra clan's retaliation.
They would likely know that he had broken the Oath of Silence and would try to kill him brutally.
In his current situation, even if it meant imprisonment, seeking protection from Darker to save his life was the best option.
Dario said to Zeke with tears in his eyes,
"A-alright."
Zeke looked at Dario for a moment, then left the underground prison and went up to the castle.
He intended to hand Dario over to Cali.
'If I bring Dario to trial, the mission to eradicate the human trafficking organization I was assigned will be considered complete, and the results will be recorded. And the responsibility for this matter will shift to the Darker clan.'
Even the Nostra clan wouldn't openly challenge the Darker clan. So, once he was brought to trial, the matter would be as good as settled.
At the same time, the Nostra clan would likely try to quietly assassinate Dario, operating from the shadows.
Zeke planned to exploit that opportunity to strike at the heart of the Nostra clan.
'It's almost over.'
The next day, Zeke decided to secretly transport Dario from Mycenae to Atlas for his trial.
To conceal his involvement as much as possible, he manipulated the information to make it seem like he received Dario from Red Eye and brought him to the Darker trial.
With the Syndicate's information network and Kay's influence, manipulating information wasn't difficult.
Having manipulated the information, Zeke decided to personally transport Dario in disguise.
He planned to conduct the transport operation with members of the Murderous Blade whose identities were hidden.
And to create an alibi for contacting Red Eye, he set the route to go from Mycenae to Athens via Phantas.
The problem was that he couldn't use portals during the journey.
If he used the Phantas portal, he wouldn't be able to avoid the eyes of the Nostra clan spread throughout the continent.
Zeke and his group had no choice but to transport Dario through a detour.
***
Thud, thud-
Zeke, disguised as a peddler, traveled towards Atlas with members of the Murderous Blade, pulling a specially crafted transport wagon.
Initially, he considered using the railway, but the Murderous Blade advised that it might pose a higher risk of assassination, so they decided to travel by wagon.
Since they were using a detour instead of the main road, it took quite a while.
Although they traveled by wagon for several days, fortunately, there was no sign of the Nostra clan attempting an ambush.
Nevertheless, Zeke didn't let his guard down.
Then, one of the Murderous Blade members approached Zeke.
"We'll reach the Atlas Mountains tomorrow."
The Atlas Mountains were one of the final gateways to Atlas from Phantas.
The Atlas Mountains had a rugged terrain and rough roads, so most people used tunnels or detours.
However, Zeke had to travel through the mountains to avoid attracting attention.
'If they ambush us, it'll be here.'
The next day, Zeke and his group entered the Atlas Mountains.
Creak!
The roads were narrow and poorly maintained, making it unsuitable for a heavy wagon to pass.
"Push! A little more! Now's the time!"
It took even longer as they had to pull and push the wagon.
Contrary to Zeke's expectations, there was no ambush in the Atlas Mountains, and they were able to pass through quietly.
Having safely crossed the mountains, they entered an outlying town before reaching Atlas.
It was once a prosperous city, but as Atlas and other Midland cities developed, it suffered from depopulation and became a ghost town.
Zeke sensed something as soon as he set foot there.
'This doesn't feel right.'
He pulled the wagon towards the inn he had reserved in advance.
He had chosen an inn in a secluded location to avoid attracting attention.
Zeke and the Murderous Blade members skillfully pretended to be merchants and entered the inn.
While the others paid and ordered food, Zeke guarded the wagon in the stable and remained vigilant.
That's when it happened.
Zeke's senses picked up something.
'Where is it?'
He heightened his senses and looked around, but there were no suspicious movements.
Zeke activated his dragon eyes and expanded his sensory range.
'The ground?'
Suddenly, cracks started appearing on the ground where Zeke and the wagon were.
Crack!
Zeke instantly activated the field of gravity and pulled the wagon with great force, escaping the inn's stable.
Rumble!
The stable floor split open and collapsed, sinking into the ground.
Zeke, who had pulled the wagon outside, gritted his teeth as he looked at the collapsing floor.
'Is it magic? Or is this a bloodline ability too?'
Zeke's senses detected new presences.
Enemies appeared from the buildings around the inn.
With his dragon eyes activated, Zeke immediately identified them.
'Damn it, Night Killers?'
Special snipers from the Imperial Magic Corps had appeared.
Zeke took out a shield magic scroll from his pocket and tore it.
Whoosh!
A shield unfolded around Zeke and the wagon.
Thud!
At that moment, the snipers' magic bullets flew towards Zeke and the wagon.
Although the shield magic was blocking the bullets, he didn't know how long it would hold.
Whoosh!
The assassins from the Murderous Blade, who were inside the inn, came out, climbed onto the buildings, and scattered, moving to intercept the Night Killers.
He could sense the Night Killers retreating as the Murderous Blade assassins attacked.
However, the attack didn't end with the Night Killers.
Suddenly, people rushed out from inside the buildings, seemingly hiding there, and approached the wagon.
'They're really trying to finish us off here.'
Perhaps to avoid revealing their identities, they had hired mercenaries, as they were all wearing different armor and wielding various weapons.
Since Zeke's senses didn't detect them earlier, it seemed they also had a skilled mage with them.
"Kill him and take the wagon!"
The mercenaries charged towards Zeke, shouting and wielding their weapons.
Zeke then slammed his palms against the wagon.
Rumble!
The thick wagon doors opened.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Enhanced skeletons began to emerge from within in a line.
The mercenaries were bewildered at the sight of the skeletons clad in purple bone armor.
"U-undead?"
A man who looked like a mage shouted from behind,
"They're undead summoned by vampires! They're just skeletons! Don't be afraid and attack them!"
He seemed to be a battle mage with considerable experience, calmly giving orders to the mercenaries.
Just then, purple lights flickered in the skeletons' eyes.
They immediately raised their bone shields and charged towards the mercenaries, crashing into them.
Crash!
The mercenaries were pushed back by the powerful impact.
In the meantime, the skeletons swung their weapons.
Whoosh!
Unlike ordinary skeletons, the skeletons created by Richmond boasted great power.
The mage behind them looked bewildered at their strength.
"H-how can the undead...?"
His bewilderment was short-lived. He gritted his teeth, raised his staff, and cast a spell.
Crash!
The most basic fire magic poured towards the skeleton unit.
Richmond's skeletons were infused with the power of the Harbinger of Blood and Madness.
They couldn't be stopped with fire magic weaker than the hellfire of the demon world.
Eventually, the mercenaries, overwhelmed by the power of the skeleton unit, began to retreat.
As the situation seemed to be settling down, Zeke expanded his senses and remained vigilant.
'These guys are just bait. The real ones haven't shown up yet.'
At that moment, something fell from the sky at high speed.
Crash!
A giant iron ball crashed down, engulfing Zeke, the wagon, the skeleton unit, and the mercenaries.
Crack!
"Kyaaaak!"
The mercenaries who couldn't dodge in time were crushed by the iron ball, screaming and dying.
Zeke drew his sword, activated the field of gravity, and deflected the incoming iron ball.
Crash!
Unable to withstand the force of the iron ball, which was the size of a human torso, the building collapsed.
At the same time, someone slowly descended from the sky and landed on the iron ball.
"Wow, you're the first person I've seen block my ball with a sword."
A boy in a suit and shorts.
Sion, a member of the Six, the group of special bloodline ability users, reappeared.
As Sion smirked and raised his hand, five more iron balls floated into the air and spun around him.
Zeke estimated the weight of the iron ball he had just deflected with his sword to be around one ton.
Even if knights used Aura to strengthen their bodies and swords, battles were essentially a contest of physical strength.
The heavier and faster the attack, the more powerful it was.
Sion's ability to freely control one-ton iron balls was more than enough to match the strength of a Red Knight.
'He's a tough opponent.'
It wasn't easy for Zeke, who couldn't use his full strength due to his disguised identity, to face him.
Sion spun the iron balls and said to Zeke,
"Hey, you. Try blocking this too!"
As he finished speaking, Sion opened his palm, and the iron balls spinning in the air flew towards Zeke at high speed.
Whoosh!
Zeke rolled his body to dodge the iron balls, then deflected the ones flying towards the wagon with his sword.
Crash!
Sion looked genuinely surprised as Zeke consecutively repelled the iron balls imbued with immense power.
"Huh? Are you a knight? You don't seem like those idiotic vampires. Are you perhaps a Darker Knight?"
Without answering, Zeke raised his sword and charged towards the boy at high speed.
Whoosh!
Surprised by Zeke's sudden attack, Sion quickly lifted his body into the air.
Slash!
However, Zeke's sharp attack, closing the distance rapidly, cut the front of Sion's clothes.
Sion's face, as he retreated while floating in the air, contorted.
"How dare you..."
Rumble!
A huge storm surged around Sion's body.
Crash!
The five iron balls floated into the air again and started rotating due to the storm. Sion then launched the iron balls towards Zeke.
Crash!
Zeke activated the field of water, naturally receiving the incoming iron balls with his sword and sending them back towards the boy.
Elemental Sword.
Field of Water.
Reverse Wave Sword.
Sion panicked and opened his palm as the iron balls, empowered by the Reverse Wave Sword, flew towards him.
Crack!
Sion momentarily exerted his power and forcibly stopped the incoming iron balls.
"Ugh!"
Perhaps due to overusing his ability, veins bulged on his forehead.
Zeke didn't miss that moment and immediately unleashed the lightning skill towards Sion.
Crackle!
Massive lightning bolts erupted from his sword and struck Sion directly.
"Kyaaaak!"
Sion, hit by the lightning, fell to the ground. Zeke ran towards where he had fallen.
That's when it happened.
Crack!
The ground in front of Zeke cracked open, and a huge rock abruptly emerged.
Slash!
Despite the sudden situation, Zeke didn't panic and split the rock with his sword.
But Sion, who had been lying on the ground, was nowhere to be seen.
Zeke realized that there was another member of the Six besides Sion.
'Is it an ability user who can control the earth?'
It was an ability on a different level from ordinary bloodline ability users.
It was much faster and more powerful than the magic cast by a high-ranking earth mage.
Just then, the iron balls that had fallen to the ground started moving again.
Crack!
Surprisingly, the shape of the iron balls had changed.
They were no longer ordinary spheres, but had transformed into shapes with sharp protrusions.
As the iron balls floated up and the dust cloud cleared, Sion, scorched by the lightning, glared at Zeke.
He extended his hand towards Zeke.
"Damn you. Die!"