Chapter 249
Hades suddenly sat upright and shouted,
“That’s insane! Who the hell started that ridiculous rumor?!”
“Isn’t it true?” Zamilah asked.
“Of course not! If I ever find the bastard spreading that nonsense, I’ll rip out their tongue!”
Zamilah had sounded so confident that Zeke had assumed it was true—but clearly, it wasn’t.
Zeke turned to the fuming Hades and asked,
“Then why exactly are you bound here?”
Hades took a deep breath and finally spoke.
“It’s not for killing my own kind... but yes, I committed a crime.”
“Attempted kin-slaying, then?”
“What?! Who are you trying to paint as a monstrous traitor? It wasn’t anything like that!”
Letting out a deep sigh, Hades muttered,
“Ah... who else can I blame? I was told not to enter, and I did anyway. It’s my own fault.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Straightening up, Hades pointed at the ground beneath them.
“Here. This place.”
“You mean this labyrinth?”
“Exactly. This place was one of the restricted zones—strictly off-limits. But I came in anyway and set up a personal workshop. Some of the things here seemed fascinating, so I started experimenting with them.”
Zeke was stunned by the unexpected revelation and asked,
“So you're bound here because you entered a restricted area?”
Hades shook his head.
“Don’t think of dragons as you would humans. You think we start punishing each other over rules?”
He sighed again and continued,
“I’m not stuck here because of a punishment. I accidentally tampered with the core of the Forbidden, and it ended up binding my soul to this place.”
“Your soul was bound?”
“Yeah. I’m anchored to this domain—I can’t leave.”
“My god... What kind of force could possibly bind a dragon like that?”
Hades responded irritably,
“Exactly what I’m saying! Damn it all. I’ve tried everything for three thousand years, and this cursed binding still won’t break.”
It meant Hades had been trapped here even longer than Ishtar, who had been bound for two thousand years.
Yellin, who had been listening quietly, was visibly shaken by how the conversation had taken such an unexpected turn.
“L-Lord Hades… Then does that mean you can’t release the binding on our clan?”
Hades frowned and snapped,
“What, are you trying to throw oil on the fire now? I’ve been stuck for three thousand years—you’ve only dealt with two!”
Chastised, Yellin immediately fell silent.
Zeke turned to Hades and said,
“If I can break your binding, would you agree to release the Ishtar clan?”
At that, Hades burst into laughter, holding his stomach.
“You’re going to break my binding? Ha! If you can do that, not only will I let them go, I’ll even grant you a wish!”
Zeke stood up straight.
Then he looked Hades in the eye and said,
“Please guide me to the core of the Forbidden.”
Hades flinched slightly at Zeke’s boldness.
Clicking his tongue, he muttered,
“You’re no mage, just a knight... and you think you can do something? What a laugh. Fine, kid. I don’t know what you’re planning, but go ahead and try.”
With that, Hades snapped his fingers.
"Whoosh!"
The scenery shifted once more.
"Wooooom...!"
In the center of a massive cavern stood a towering monolith, glowing and trembling, etched with countless ancient symbols.
Yellin’s jaw dropped at the sight of it.
“My goodness, Lord Zeke... I’ve never seen a monolith this huge.”
Zeke looked up at Hades, who now floated in the air, and asked,
“Lord Hades, what was this ruin originally used for?”
“I don’t know exactly. All I know is that the monolith used to control the city that once stood here.”
“You mean a city from before the Age of the Hero King?”
“Yeah. It was a city built during the so-called Age of the Constellations—long before I was born, before even the dragons.”
It was incredible that a core from a city older than dragons was still functioning.
Zeke slowly stepped toward the monolith.
Just then, a message appeared before him:
\[Warning: Proceeding further may trigger a severe Karma Distortion. Do not approach.]
“Karma Distortion?”
Zeke realized then that the monolith was tied to karma itself.
He quickly stepped back, heeding the system’s warning—afraid that, like Hades, his own soul might end up trapped here.
He turned to Hades and asked,
“Lord Hades, could you relocate Lady Yellin to a safer place?”
Hades glanced at Yellin.
Startled, she looked at Zeke and said—
"Lord Zeke! What do you mean by—"
Before Yellin could finish, Hades snapped his fingers, sending her elsewhere.
"I've briefly put her back in that workshop. Was it because you shouldn't show that high elf girl your full abilities?"
"You noticed."
"You've been hinting at it all along. Now that the high elf girl is gone, speak your mind freely."
Zeke nodded and asked Hades,
"Do you know about Karma?"
At that, Hades looked at Zeke with a surprised expression.
"How do you know about that, you rascal?"
"The spirit of an Elder Dragon is imprinted on my soul. Thanks to that, I can use the Administrator System even though I'm not a Dragon Contractor."
Hades looked even more astonished. "Administrator System? Good heavens. Did Chronos really create that?"
"You know about the Administrator System?"
"Of course I do. I laid its groundwork."
"Excuse me? You mean you created the system, Lord Hades?"
"Rather than creating the system... I'll just show you."
Hades spread his palm and casually swept it through the air. Suddenly, unfamiliar characters appeared floating in the air.
Zeke found the arrangement of those characters familiar.
"Isn't that the Administrator System?"
Hades shook his head.
"No, this is the system used in the city of this ruin. I researched these systems and created the framework for the Administrator System, which I then gave to Chronos. He said he'd try applying it to that 'Inverted Tower' you mentioned earlier."
"So, that system borrowed its method from what was used in the ancient cities?"
"Yes, it seems ancient cities achieved incredibly advanced civilizations, unimaginable by today's standards. What's remarkable about them is that they researched how to efficiently use the power of this world."
"And that's what the system is, then?"
"I know I shouldn't have entered this place, but even as a hatchling, I was very interested in those ancient civilizations. Black Dragons, once they get hooked on something, tend to delve deep into it. I got hooked on that."
"So you've been continuously researching this core?"
"Yes. As I kept delving into what 'the system' was, the term 'Karma' kept reappearing. That was the core of the ancient civilization."
Zeke recalled how the Hermit of the story manipulated Karma.
'So, those who lived in the hyper-ancient civilization had already realized how to control this Karma.'
If one could control Karma, they could exert power that transcends the laws of the phenomenal world.
Zeke, too, knew its power well, having keenly felt the strength of Karma through using the system.
'The power to control Karma...'
Trying to forcibly control an excessively great power could, ironically, lead to being consumed by it.
The miserable end of black mages who gained immense power by summoning demonic forces, only to have their souls devoured, was beyond tragic.
Perhaps the reason these ancient civilizations vanished, leaving only traces, was that they overused the vast power of Karma and were consumed by it themselves.
Zeke looked at the still glowing monument and decided to try connecting to the system first.
'System. Can I access that control system?'
A message soon appeared.
[Attempting to access the Advanced Administrator System.]
[Access denied: Recognition Code differs.]
Zeke shook his head and said,
"The recognition code is different, so I can't access the system."
At that, Hades looked at Zeke and said, "Recognition code? I know that."
"What? Really?"
"Yeah. Did you think I was just playing around for three thousand years? I tried everything to break free from this bondage, deciphering the system and causing all sorts of ruckus. Just a moment."
Hades made something float in the air and then flung it towards Zeke with a flick of his hand.
Following his gesture, a message appeared before Zeke's eyes.
[A new system requests access permission to the Administrator System.]
Zeke granted Hades's access.
[Access granted.]
[Updating new information.]
[A new recognition code is being input into the Kabbalah System.]
[Through this code, the undecipherable region of the Sephiroth Dimension Server has been opened.]
[Retrying connection to the Administrator System.]
[Connection successful.]
Thanks to the recognition code Hades sent, Zeke was able to connect to the control system.
[Welcome, Administrator. You are welcome to the Golden City, Blanca, beloved by the Constellation, 'Anomaly of Stained Breath'. How may I assist you?]
"The Golden City, Blanca?"
It was a name he had never heard before.
Zeke asked the connected Blanca system,
'How do I free the being bound to this city?'
The Blanca system stated it would find an answer to Zeke's question, and a message soon appeared.
[Currently, there is 1 mature Dragonkin registered and managed in the city.]
'Managed entities?'
Zeke felt something odd about the system's phrasing.
'Is it possible for a city to manage Dragonkin as if they're possessions?'
Another message appeared in response to his thought.
[The Golden City, Blanca, is a high-quality city equipped with the latest facilities, capable of registering more than five adult Dragonkin. Registered entities are thoroughly managed to protect citizens from external dangers and provide enjoyable recreation.]
Zeke was shocked by the system message.
'Could it be that the city subjugated dragons and used them as they pleased?'
It seemed unbelievable, but the circumstances suggested it was true.
Zeke continued to question the system.
'How do I unregister a registered Dragonkin?'
A message then appeared from the system.
[Due to a system error, the currently registered Dragonkin cannot be unregistered.]
'System error? What does that mean?'
[The Dragonkin's Dragon Heart is currently bound to the Karma Control Device, making it impossible to sever the connection.]
Zeke understood the situation after hearing the system's explanation.
'So the Dragon Heart is completely fused with this control device.'
It seemed something went wrong when Hades touched the control device, which was experiencing a Karma distortion.
Zeke asked the system again.
'Find a way to sever the connection between the Dragon Heart and the control device.'
The Blanca system then displayed a message.
[I apologize, Administrator. I could not find a method to separate the Dragonkin and the Dragon Heart.]
At this rate, Hades would be trapped here forever.
Just then, a message appeared, not from the Blanca system, but from the original Kabbalah System.
[Searching for a method to resolve the issue on the Sephiroth Dimension Server.]
[Search scope is too broad; narrowing scope.]
[Searching for feasible methods by combining Administrator skill information and inventory information.]
[Search results: One solution found.]
'What? Is there a solution?'
Zeke urgently checked the solution.
[Use the Dragon-Eye special skill, owned by the Advanced Administrator, to identify the control connections between the subjugated Dragonkin and the city.]
[Temporarily block the connection between the Dragonkin and the control system using the Sea God's Body special skill, owned by the Advanced Administrator.]
[Use the Spirit Fusion special skill to sever the control system's connection to the Dragon Heart.]
The method was quite detailed. Zeke calmly read it and then pulled out the Sea God's Body, which he had received from Poseidon, from his inventory.
He then looked at Hades.
"Lord Hades."
"Why? It won't work, will it? I knew—"
"I think I've found a way."
"What?"
Hades stammered, surprised by Zeke's unexpected answer.
"W-what do you mean... R-really, you found a way?"
"Yes. But... the method might be a bit rough."
"R-rough isn't the problem, is it? Is it really, truly possible? How do we do it?"
Zeke suddenly pulled out Bahamut, which he had been wearing.
"I apologize, Lord Hades. But you'll have to hand over your Dragon Heart."