Chapter 241
“The Ravens of Ishtar.”
The House of Ishtar—another transcendent lineage like the House of Draker.
A reclusive group of assassins, masters of poisons, stealth weapons, and arcane techniques.
As promised, two years later, the head of House Ishtar, Jamila, sent the Ravens their elite assassins to Zeke.
There was one key difference between the assassins of Ishtar and others like Salmak.
They did not rely on ambush.
Whether in broad daylight or in public places, their focus was solely on eliminating their target.
Only the House of Ishtar would dare to dispatch assassins into the heart of Atlas, which was essentially Draker territory.
“I had a bad feeling ever since the head of house sent that dagger…”
The House of Ishtar hadn’t sent tea and a dagger for no reason.
It had been a warning in its own right.
Four Ravens, each gripping one of Ishtar’s distinctive daggers, slowly advanced toward Zeke.
Though they wore masks, their attire unmistakably marked them as Ishtar assassins clothing reminiscent of the Eastern Empire’s garb, characteristic of their house.
Zeke addressed them.
“I think there’s been a misunderstanding. If we could just talk for a moment”
Before he could even finish, the Ravens charged at him from all directions.
Whoosh!
Even for someone who had once sparred with Yellin, Zeke had never seen movements like these.
They felt like a hybrid of the dark elves' maneuvers he'd seen in the Inverted Tower and the martial arts techniques of the Eastern Empire.
One Raven leapt into the air, twisted mid-flight, and unleashed a powerful aerial attack.
Boom!
Zeke raised his palm and blocked the strike.
As he did, another Raven lunged low, aiming a dagger at his legs.
Zeke evaded the blade using a Phantom step and, pressing forward, unleashed a Vibrating force Resonance.
Crash!
A shockwave burst out, repelling the surrounding Ravens.
As the invisible force swept over their bodies, the Ravens backed off and quickly regained their stances.
Unlike central continent knights, the Ishtar assassins didn't train with aura but instead honed their bodies using secret arts unique to their house.
Perhaps that was why Zeke’s vibrating force Resonance didn’t seem to affect them much.
“Is it because of elven blood? Or maybe… the House of Ishtar can manipulate mana like I can.”
Just as the Ravens were about to resume their assault on Zeke—
Fwoosh!
Someone leapt from behind Zeke and charged the Ravens.
Fwoooosh!
With full-body rotation, a devastating aerial technique slammed into the assassins.
KA-BOOM!
The area where the Ravens had stood was utterly demolished in a single strike.
As a cloud of dust rose from the garden floor, obscuring vision, the mysterious figure approached Zeke and handed him a slip of paper.
“You must flee. The Ravens will not stop pursuing you.”
Zeke realized who the figure was.
“Lady Yellin?”
With her face covered by a veil and her head cloaked, Yellin nodded in confirmation.
It seemed her vow of silence was still in effect.
As the dust began to settle, Yellin urgently gestured to Zeke.
But by then, the Ravens were already approaching them again.
One of the Ravens addressed Yellin.
“Young Mistress, if you continue to disobey the Head’s orders, we will be forced to act according to the law.”
At those words, Yellin silently drew her dagger and took a combat stance.
Her message was clear—she would not back down.
Seeing her resolve, the Ravens too raised their daggers once more.
Yellin nodded subtly toward Zeke, signaling for him to escape while she held them off.
“Hmm, things just got a lot more complicated.”
Zeke had suspected that the House of Ishtar might send the real Ravens, but he hadn’t anticipated Yellin would come to stop them.
And then it happened.
[The Compass is now indicating the optimal path.]
A message appeared before Zeke’s eyes.
“Why has the compass been acting strange since earlier?”
He took a moment to observe the standoff between Yellin and the Ravens before pulling out the compass.
To his surprise, the needle pointed directly at Yellin.
“So… the path to the Fairy Lake is somehow connected to her?”
He didn’t know the logic behind the compass’s direction—but since it was a legendary item, the Absolute Compass, it was worth investigating.
Just then, Zeke spotted paynun watching the situation unfold from the edge of the research lab’s garden with several knights in tow.
Gelion must’ve rushed inside and quickly explained the situation to him.
Zeke sent paynun a telepathic message.
―Lord paynun. I’ll handle things here. For now, please withdraw everyone from the garden.
Startled, paynun nodded in acknowledgment.
Once Zeke confirmed it, he stepped forward and positioned himself in front of Yellin.
Then he addressed the Ravens in the language of the Eastern Empire.
“Have the famed Ravens of Ishtar come all this way because of my engagement to Lady Yellin?”
Zeke’s question was met with silence from the Ravens.
Had Yellin not arrived, they likely wouldn’t have hesitated—or needed to speak at all.
He addressed them again.
“I had every intention of discussing the engagement with your head of house personally. There was an urgent matter in my family, so I had to postpone it temporarily.”
Zeke then glanced at Yellin and continued.
“Marriage is a sacred, life-binding union. It is among the most important of human affairs—how could I treat it lightly? The delay was only to handle things with the seriousness they deserve. I ask you to lower your blades.”
Even the fearsome Ravens of Ishtar flinched slightly at Zeke’s calm and persuasive words, hesitating in thought.
Then the one who appeared to be their leader stepped forward and spoke.
“A shameless Draker dares speak of sacred unions? How laughable.”
With a glint of his sharp Ishtar dagger, the leader roared,
“I’ll cut off your head and send it to Arthur Draker as retribution for insulting the House of Ishtar!”
Whoosh!
As the leader lunged, the other Ishtar spellblades, who had been hesitating, also charged at Zeke.
Shlak!
Daggers streaked toward Zeke from every direction, aiming to slice him to pieces.
But Zeke’s figure blurred—leaving only afterimages—and vanished.
The next instant, Zeke and Yellin reappeared behind the attackers.
Zeke spoke to Yellin via telepathy.
—Is there no way to stop the Ravens?
His voice echoed in her mind. She looked startled for a moment before shaking her head.
Unlike the Draker House, the Ishtar family was stubborn and closed off. The concept of “compromise” did not exist for them.
“Then there's no choice. I’ll have to bring them down.”
Zeke knew he needed to counter their weapons in kind. He drew Annexie’s Dagger from his robes.
He had integrated all the techniques he had mastered into the Infinite Sword Arts, allowing him to fight with any weapon.
He assumed the stance of the Infinite Chain Binding and gripped the dagger.
Yellin’s eyes widened when she saw the weapon in Zeke’s hand.
She frantically gestured, trying to communicate something.
Zeke interpreted it as a warning that facing the Ravens head-on would be unwise. He nodded in acknowledgment.
—Don’t worry, Lady Yellin.
He reassured her through telepathy and sprang forward toward the Ravens.
Fwoosh!
Zeke’s form blurred again as he slipped between the Ravens.
He swung the mana-infused dagger.
Ziiing!
A Raven blocked the attack, but the force behind it wasn’t fully neutralized.
The shock penetrated deep into the Raven’s bones.
“Gahk!”
With his organs shaken by Zeke’s strike, one of the Ravens collapsed instantly.
The remaining Ravens, now alarmed, quickly regrouped and charged again.
Zeke struck the back of one attacker’s head with the pommel of his dagger.
Thud!
Despite intense training, the Raven was knocked unconscious with a single hit.
Zeke didn’t stop. He dashed at another and slashed.
Shick—
Annexie’s dagger cleaved cleanly through the enemy’s Ishtar blade.
Seizing the brief moment of confusion, Zeke struck with a palm strike infused with aura.
BOOM!
The Raven, hit squarely by the energy burst, was hurled back and sprawled motionless on the ground.
Zeke turned and began walking toward the last one remaining—the Raven commander.
“Are you planning to continue this?”
The commander raised his dagger and responded,
“This is only the beginning. Ishtar’s blades will not stop until the target is eliminated.”
His voice dripped with unsettling madness.
Zeke knew all too well how relentless the House of Ishtar could be.
A dangerous aura began to radiate from his body.
“Do I really have to kill them all?”
He had hoped to avoid a direct confrontation with Ishtar. But if they were the ones who chose violence first, there was no reason for him to back down.
Among all the secret arts of Ishtar, their most fearsome weapon was their poison.
But Zeke’s body had the Poison Immunity. Poison posed no threat to him.
And now that he had ascended as a Black Knight, the poisonless spellblades of Ishtar were no longer enemies he feared—only nuisances.
Sensing Zeke’s shift in resolve, the Raven commander swallowed hard.
The pressure radiating from Zeke now was on a different level entirely.
‘We were wrong. This isn’t just some young Draker… this man is a monster among monsters.’
Yet even so, as a Raven of Ishtar, he could not retreat.
Even if it meant throwing away his life, he had to carry out his mission.
Suddenly, the commander’s pupils began to glow yellow.
RUMMMBLE…
A different kind of energy surged from his body—far stronger than before.
Zeke sensed the shift immediately.
‘The mana around us is swirling… Is that a Battle Rage Technique?’
Suspicious, Zeke leveled Annexie’s Dagger at the commander.
Now that he had resolved himself, the most efficient course of action was to end this quickly.
Then—
“Cease this suicidal clash at once!”
A voice echoed across the entire garden—one Zeke had never heard before.
Startled, both he and the Raven commander froze in their tracks.
The voice belonged to none other than Yellin.
She had broken her vow of silence to speak.
The commander turned to her in disbelief.
“My Lady… You’ve broken years of silence…”
“The Emblem of the Black River has revealed itself.”
At her words, the commander whipped her head around in alarm.
“T-The Emblem of the Black River? What do you mean!?”
Yellin pointed to the dagger Zeke held.
“That dagger in Sir Zeke’s hand. That is the Emblem of the Black River.”
Both the commander and Zeke were stunned by her statement.
‘The Emblem of the Black River?’
Zeke recalled the one who had left him this dagger—Annexie.
“Human… My name is Annexie, champion of the Black River Tribe. What is your name?”
The dagger Zeke now held was a weapon passed down only to the greatest warrior of the ancient Dark Elf tribe known as the Black River.
‘Is there some connection between the Black River Tribe and the House of Ishtar?’
Yellin shouted at the commander of the Ravens.
“What are you doing? The Emblem of the Black River has appeared! If you are truly of the Raven Tribe, you should be paying homage—not raising a blade!”
At her words, the Raven commander quickly removed her mask and dropped to one knee before Zeke.
Her face was that of a dark-skinned warrior woman.
Zeke immediately recognized similarities to the Dark Elves he had seen in the Inverted Tower.
The commander bowed low before him and cried out:
“Himmel, daughter of the Raven Tribe, offers her deepest respects to the bearer of the great Emblem of the Black River!”
Zeke quickly processed the shift.
‘So the Ravens are actually descendants of the Dark Elves…’
That explained the subtle differences he had sensed between Yellin’s techniques and the Ravens’.
Yellin had used Phantom Step to perform a more orthodox martial art, whereas the Ravens relied on integrated Weapon Arts centered around their armaments.
Yellin now approached Zeke and spoke solemnly.
“Sir Zeke Draker. As the acting heir of House Ishtar, I make this request to the bearer of the Emblem of the Black River.”
She slowly opened her mouth to speak.
“Please, release House Ishtar from the chains of the Oathbound Pact that binds us.”