Chapter 217
'Is that the Island of the Sea God?'
The island, once they passed through the whirlpool, appeared quite large, but it was shrouded in a thick mist, giving it an eerie feel.
Zeke told the captain to approach the shore. The terrified captain, trembling and muttering prayers, steered the ship closer to the island.
Once the ship docked, Zeke ordered Nahuel to guard it.
"If you sense anything unusual, run immediately."
Rumble!
Zeke disembarked from the small boat and entered the island with his companions.
Splash!
The waves were rougher than expected, even right at the island's edge.
As the boat finally touched the island, Zeke stepped onto the sandy beach and surveyed his surroundings.
'The atmosphere is as gloomy as it looked from outside.'
It wasn't as bad as the demon territory he had seen in the inverted tower, but the dense mist surrounding them felt like a heavy weight pressing down on their bodies.
Just then, something caught his Battle God's Senses.
Grrr!
Black shadows abruptly burst out of the forest behind the sandy beach.
Zeke shouted to his party,
"Enemies! Everyone, prepare for battle!"
Zeke and his companions drew their weapons.
A moment later, something leaped out of the forest.
Screech!
Giant spider monsters approached, moving their eight long, enormous legs.
"Ugh, what are those things?"
Felix recoiled from the disgusting spider monsters, stepping back hesitantly, but a slap from Clone made him regain his posture.
The spider monsters quickly surrounded Zeke's party.
Zeke, wielding Bahamut, observed the spiders' movements.
'They're Giant Spiders. They're not a common monster... and I've never seen so many of them before.'
These were high-level monsters that could only occasionally be found deep within the Forest of the Forgotten, specifically in its watery areas.
Their outer skin was as hard as armor, and they were cunning creatures that would ensnare their targets with webs, drag them back to their nests, and save them as future food.
'Those things were definitely weak to fire.'
Zeke recalled his past life's memories and used the Field of Fire to summon flames.
Whoosh!
Flames surged around Zeke's party, making the spiders recoil.
Keeeeeek!
But it was only for a moment. Excited by the rare sight of prey, the monsters tried to break through the flames and attack.
Crackle!
One large spider, relying solely on its tough carapace, charged directly into the flames.
At that moment, Zeke concentrated his elemental power, changing the quality of the flames.
Whoosh!
White Flame, a pure fire that incinerated everything, melted the hard skin and instantly reduced the spider to ash.
Keeeeeek!
The spider let out a desperate scream and vanished.
As one of their comrades was engulfed in flames and disappeared, the other spiders suppressed their instincts and retreated.
They were intelligent creatures with excellent learning abilities.
Nevertheless, the spiders retreated, watching Zeke's party and waiting for the fire to die down.
'They're tenacious.'
Zeke couldn't maintain the pure flame indefinitely, so he had to devise a plan.
He opened his map to search for a suitable location to set up a base camp.
'Is this some kind of special mist? The terrain isn't properly marked on the map.'
He had no choice but to explore directly.
Zeke thought of a strategy and told his party,
"As you can see, those things are weak to fire. I'll imbue each of your weapons with Holy Fire, so get as close to them as possible and aim for their underside. That's their weak point."
Zeke activated his special skill, Holy Fire Imbuement.
Immediately, Holy Fire erupted from Zeke's sword, as well as from his companions' weapons.
"Wow, what is this, My Lord?"
Zeke looked at Felix and said,
"Consider it a fire that can deal several times more damage to monsters and demons. While you deal with the spiders here, I'll go deeper into the forest to find a place for a base camp. This White Flame will last for an hour, so if more monsters gather, come inside here and fire a signal flare."
After giving instructions to his party, Zeke quickly moved out of the White Flame.
Screech!
The spiders instantly swarmed Zeke as he emerged from the White Flame.
Zeke used Phantom Steps to move away from his party and dashed towards the forest.
Keeeeeek!
The spiders shot webs at Zeke as he ran.
At that moment, Zeke infused his sword with the power of Holy Fire Imbuement and swung it.
A ball of light exploded among the spider horde.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Kiiiiiii!
The spiders, engulfed by the Holy Fire, screamed in agony.
Zeke was slowly beginning to grasp the capabilities of Holy Fire Imbuement.
'The Hammer of Light and Shield of Light are also merged within this. If so...'
Zeke used Holy Fire Imbuement, imagining a Shield of Light.
The holy fire swelled and transformed into the same shape as a Shield of Light.
"So this is how it's used. Good."
Zeke hurled the Holy Fire Shield towards the approaching spider monsters.
Crackle!
The massive shield blocked the spider monsters like a wall.
Keeeeeek!
The blocked spider monsters shot webs at the Holy Fire Shield, but it was useless.
Then Zeke extended his hand towards the Holy Fire Shield.
"Explode!"
Whoosh!
The Holy Fire Shield burst into dozens of fragments, scattering in all directions.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The fragments transformed into Shield of Light, devastating the spider horde.
Keeeeeek!
The spiders hit by the Shield of Light shrieked in agony and scattered.
But that wasn't the end.
"Die!"
Clone, wielding a mace imbued with the Breath of Light and Punishment of Light, rushed towards them with maddened eyes.
Thwack!
Clone's mace effortlessly shattered the tough carapaces of the spider monsters.
The other party members, imbued with the power of Holy Fire, also calmly hunted the spider monsters.
Having relentlessly hunted monsters in Troy under the guise of training, after some time, they were able to skillfully deal with the spider monsters.
"Die! Die!"
Clone's mad shriek echoed across the beach.
The Giant Spiders, the predators of this island, involuntarily trembled at that madness.
---
Having entered the forest, Zeke quickly moved around to grasp the island's overall scale and topography.
During his reconnaissance, Zeke discovered a cave in the forest.
'That cave might be suitable as a base.'
Zeke cautiously approached the cave to check if it was a good place to use.
Just then.
Grrrrr!
He detected the presence of a monster inside.
'Spiders again?'
What appeared before Zeke, who was preparing to activate Holy Fire Imbuement, was not a Giant Spider but a different monster.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
A powerful monster with a massive body, strong jaws, and a sturdy tail.
"Huh? Isn't that a Shark Dragon?"
Its body was much larger than the ones Don Juan raised on his farm, but it definitely had the exact same appearance as a Shark Dragon.
Grrrrrrr!
Shark Dragons were incredibly aggressive and belligerent monsters.
But surprisingly, the one that spotted Zeke showed signs of fear.
'It's a Dragonkin monster, so it must be sensing my draconic aura.'
Zeke approached the Shark Dragon to confirm his suspicion.
[You have elicited fear from a Dragonkin monster.]
[Unique Authority: Dragonkin Dominion is activated.]
[Would you like to subjugate the target?]
Zeke didn't feel the need to turn the monster into a summoned creature, so instead of subjugating it, he used the skill Tame.
Grrr.
Upon using Tame, the Shark Dragon approached Zeke and rubbed its cheek against him.
"To be able to tame a Shark Dragon. Don Juan would be green with envy if he saw this."
Zeke let out a small laugh and led the tamed Shark Dragon into the cave.
The cave was surprisingly spacious and seemed to be a habitat for Shark Dragons.
The one Zeke tamed appeared to be the leader of this pack, as the other Shark Dragons also adopted a submissive attitude towards Zeke.
"Good, no other monsters will come here."
Zeke decided to establish a base camp here. Moving quickly, he set up a campsite in one corner of the cave and then summoned Richmond.
Shhh-shhh-shhh—
Richmond emerged from Zeke's shadow.
"Gah!"
Richmond was flustered by the sudden summoning and looked around.
"M-Master! Where are we?"
"An island in the Southern Sea."
"An, an island in the Southern Sea... How many months have you been here?"
—
"No, it's not. It's a bit complicated to explain, so let's save the past for later. First, we're making this place our base camp, so deploy the kids and get the area cleaned up."
"Ah, understood. But is that really a Shark Dragon?"
"Yes. It is."
Richmond's eyes gleamed as he looked at the Shark Dragons, then he muttered softly,
"The scale color and tail shape look a bit different from a regular Shark Dragon. Is it a different species from the ones on the Southern Continent? I need to observe it closely and investigate..."
"Want to taste Purification after a long time?"
"Gah! No, Master!"
Richmond finally snapped out of it and quickly summoned skeletons, ordering them to set up the campsite and scout various parts of the cave's surroundings.
While waiting for the campsite to be established, Zeke took out items he had acquired from the tower from his inventory and handed them to Richmond.
"Wh-what are these, Master?"
"These are what I obtained this time. They're from a Royal Vampire and a Balrog, so research them."
"What? A Royal Vampire and a Balrog?"
It was Zeke, simply bringing things that were practically impossible to acquire and handing them over.
Just as Richmond's eyes sparkled, examining the items Zeke had brought from every angle.
"Hm?"
He felt a signal from one of the skeletons and called out to Zeke.
"Master, it seems there's something deeper inside this cave."
Zeke took Richmond and went towards the skeleton that had sent the signal.
Upon entering, the cave branched into several paths.
Zeke found the skeleton that had sent the signal quite a distance from where the Shark Dragons were.
Before going closer, Zeke sensed something ahead with his Warrior's Senses.
'This breathing is human. More than five people, and two of them are seriously wounded.'
Zeke left Richmond and the skeletons behind and entered alone.
As he went deeper, the smell of blood grew stronger, and the sounds of ragged breathing became louder.
Zeke, hidden by his Stealth skill, assimilated into the darkness, concealing his presence as he slowly approached.
In his hand, he held Annexie's dagger.
Having approached very close, Zeke confirmed the presence of people deeper within the cave.
'Are those...?'
Surprisingly, the people hiding in the cave were members of the Silver Knights, led by Cali.
Zeke dropped his Stealth and revealed himself, approaching them.
The knights were startled by Zeke's sudden appearance.
"K-Knight Zeke Draker?"
The knight who seemed to be in the best condition among them recognized Zeke and, surprised, tried to get up.
Zeke looked at the knight and said, "Where is Lady Cali?"
The knight shook his head at Zeke's question.
"We don't know the Captain's location either. Our ship was caught in the whirlpool and shipwrecked, and everyone was scattered. We barely reached the shore but unexpectedly encountered monsters and fled this way."
"How long have you been here?"
"It's been almost over a week."
Judging by the knights' condition, they looked quite unwell, seemingly having neither eaten nor drunk properly.
Zeke first took out water from his inventory and offered it to the knights as an immediate measure. Then he examined the condition of the injured knights.
Their wounds, likely from spiders, were poisoned and had turned bluish-black, with necrosis setting in in various places, causing the flesh to rot.
Zeke took out antidotes and potions from his inventory.
"This will sting a bit."
He poured both the antidote and potion onto the wounds.
Hiss!
"Ugh!"
Bubbles foamed up from the injured areas.
He poured antidotes and potions onto the other injured individuals' wounds as well, but due to the severity of the injuries and their weakened state, it was impossible to regenerate the necrotic parts.
'It's probably not a good idea to take them to a campsite where skeletons and monsters are wandering around; I should move them to the ship.'
Zeke said to the knight,
"Treatment here will be limited, so it would be better to move you to the ship."
Even with their reduced stamina, the Silver Knights were elite knights who had joined by achieving top scores among the Draker knights.
Agreeing to Zeke's suggestion, they, despite their poor physical condition, carried their injured comrades out of the cave.
Zeke headed towards the sandy beach where the ship was docked, accompanied by the Silver Knights. Fortunately, they didn't encounter any notable monsters along the way, allowing them to reach the coast smoothly.
And when they arrived at the beach, an unbelievable sight unfolded before them.