Chapter 251
“Damn it...”
Hades, back up in the workshop, kept grumbling to himself.
He’d barely had a moment to enjoy being freed from his binding, and now he was stuck with Zeke because of one careless promise.
Until Zeke made his wish, he had no choice but to stay by his side.
Zeke and Yellin wandered through Hades’s workshop, more relaxed than before.
“Ooh, this weapon here...?”
Yellin’s eyes sparkled as she admired the rare weapons on display.
As someone born with a talent for martial arts, she was far more interested in weapons than anything else.
Zeke, meanwhile, was studying the Black Knight—the one he’d smashed to pieces back in the labyrinth.
“Lord Hades, is this a golem by any chance?”
Floating lazily in the air, Hades snorted.
“That looks like a golem to you?”
“It’s empty inside the armor, so I was wondering. What’s making it move?”
Hades straightened up and replied.
“You sure are curious about everything, for a knight.”
“I’ve always been a bit on the curious side.”
Maybe it was Zeke’s interest in his creation, but Hades seemed a bit more upbeat as he floated over to explain.
“This isn’t just a golem.”
He pointed proudly at the armor of the Black Knight.
“What’s engraved on the surface here is something amazing—this whole thing runs on a system that absorbs physical force and converts it into magic power.”
“Does it absorb physical force?”
Zeke remembered how the patterns on the armor had glowed when he struck it.
So it takes an impact and turns it into magical energy? That’s insane.
If any ordinary mage heard that, they’d probably say it was impossible.
But this wasn’t something made by a regular mage—it was made by a dragon. That alone made it plausible.
After a moment’s thought, Zeke asked,
“Then why did you inscribe that magic formula on the armor itself? Wouldn’t it have absorbed more shock if it were engraved on a shield with higher durability?”
Hades froze. Then, with a complicated look, he replied,
“B-Because that wouldn’t look cool! The whole point is that it flashes when it absorbs impact!”
Zeke gave him a baffled look.
“What’s the point of looking cool? Practicality is more important. Besides, if the mechanism’s exposed on the armor like that, repeated strikes—like the ones I landed—could break it, right? It wouldn’t work properly after that. Wouldn’t it be better to enchant the armor for defense and put the propulsion system in a thick shield to absorb the shock...?”
As Zeke coolly analyzed his creation point by point, Hades flushed red and shouted,
“You clueless human bastard! Shut your mouth already!”
Zeke just nodded, watching the sulking Hades.
No wonder Bahamut used to mess with him. His reactions are gold.
This was Zeke—teasing one of the strongest and most revered beings in the physical world.
Then he thought of something that might catch Hades’s interest.
“Lord Hades, would you take a look at this?”
Zeke activated Hercyon, Tia's armor.
Shiiiing!
Still sulking with his back turned, Hades glanced over.
And the moment he saw the armor enveloping Zeke, his eyes widened.
He floated straight over to get a better look.
“Oh yeah. You were wearing this when you were pounding my Blackie earlier.”
Hades examined the Hercyon closely.
Then he tilted his head.
“Huh? What the...? Something about this armor’s off...”
He muttered, peering more closely, then shouted at Zeke,
“What is this? Where’d you get it?”
“It’s a magical armor imbued with the divine authority of the goddess Tia.”
Hades’s jaw dropped.
“W-Wait. Did you say the divine authority of the Moon Goddess?!”
“Yes. It hasn’t been fully activated yet, so it’s not operating at full capacity, but the armor itself is made from orichalcum. It’s durable enough to deflect aura blades.”
At that, Hades swallowed hard.
“You’d need a ridiculous amount of silver to produce this much orichalcum.”
“Silver? Why silver?”
“What do you mean ‘why’? Of course you need pure silver to make orichalcum.”
Zeke’s eyes widened at his words.
“Wait... Lord Hades, you know how to make orichalcum?”
The ancient Louverne Dynasty was said to have known the method, but that knowledge had long been lost.
Yet it sounded like Hades still knew it.
With a complicated expression, Hades muttered,
“I mean, yeah, I do know... You want to learn it? Ask for it as you wish.”
“Hm, I was actually considering asking you to protect my descendants for the next five thousand years…”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Fine, I’ll tell you! Damn humans and your scheming minds…”
Zeke pressed on.
“Besides silver, what else do you need?”
“Right. First, you melt down pure silver using a sacred fire to extract its essence. Then you mix in various materials during the processing...”
“Would you be able to teach me that method?”
At Zeke’s question, Hades scratched his cheek and replied,
“I could tell you… but you probably won’t be able to gather the materials.”
“If the materials exist in the physical realm, I can obtain them—no matter what they are.”
With the influence of House Draker and Zeke’s own wealth, there was nothing truly out of reach.
At that, Hades smirked faintly.
“The most crucial material for forging Orichalcum isn’t anything exotic. It’s the Philosopher’s Stone.”
“The Philosopher’s Stone? The one that’s said to be every alchemist’s dream?”
“Yeah, so you’ve at least heard of it. There probably aren’t any sages left who can craft one these days, so the process of making Orichalcum is practically impossible.”
Zeke recalled a similar conversation he once had with Golin.
‘So there’s no other way besides the Philosopher’s Stone?’
Then Hades added one more thing.
“Ah, actually, there is one more way besides the Philosopher’s Stone.”
“What is it?”
“If you possess a sacred relic imbued with the power of a sage, it’s possible even without the Stone.”
Zeke’s eyes widened at those words.
‘A relic imbued with a sage’s power? Don’t tell me…’
He thought of the Mask of Agamemnon, which he had carefully kept in his inventory. Tyr had referred to it as the “Mask of the Great Sage.”
Given the context, it was highly likely the mask he had was that very relic.
‘If the Lubern Dynasty once held this mask, then they must’ve used its power to produce Orichalcum.’
However, after the fall of the Lubern Dynasty—founders of the Holy Empire—the royal bloodline scattered and the mask lost its power. Though it eventually came into the hands of House Agamemnon, the secret of Orichalcum’s creation had been lost.
‘If I can find the Lake of the Faeries and restore the relic’s power, then making Orichalcum could be possible again.’
Of course, the actual process would involve trial and error.
But with Hades, who knew the method, and the genius alchemists Al and Jeff, it was far from impossible.
Realizing that Hades was surprisingly knowledgeable about the art of crafting, Zeke decided to follow through with his original plan and ask about the drive plate.
He took out a drive plate he had asked Feynun to retrieve separately.
“Hades, do you recognize this item?”
Hades looked at the drive plate and tilted his head.
“Huh? Where did you get this?”
“So you know what it is?”
“Of course I do. I designed this drive system myself.”
“…Excuse me?”
Zeke had assumed a dragon must’ve made it, but he hadn’t expected it to be Hades himself.
Hades looked over the drive plate and shook his head.
“Ugh, I made this when I was way too young. The compression is terribly inefficient. With this structure, the data density is low and mana efficiency suffers.”
“Are you saying you could create a better drive system?”
“That wouldn’t be difficult.”
Zeke grabbed Hades’s hand.
“If you make it for me, I might just come up with a very simple wish.”
“No matter how many millennia pass, humans never change. Damn brat.”
Zeke, once again, was manipulating Hades using his wish as leverage.
He decided that he and Yellin would escort Hades out of the labyrinth for now.
Floating lazily through the air, Hades was already calculating formulas for a drive system, surrounded by hovering arcane glyphs.
“Hmm… So if I do it this way… Haah… I made this two thousand years ago. Can’t remember clearly. Let’s see… this part…”
Meanwhile, Yellin wore a bright expression as she held a dagger and armor she had chosen from Hades’s workshop.
“Do you like them that much?”
Yellin nodded, eyes sparkling.
“They were crafted by a dragon himself. I’ll treasure them for the rest of my life.”
While Zeke thought the equipment seemed rather impractical, the mere fact that they were made by a dragon granted them immense value.
Zeke gave a satisfied nod, completing his preparations to depart.
Soon after, he, Yellin, and Hades arrived at the exit of the labyrinth.
Yellin banged on the large door a few times as a signal, and the massive gates of the labyrinth slowly creaked open.
RUMBLE—!
As the door opened, they saw Lady Jamila, head of the Ishtar family, and the elders gathered in front of it.
Jamila stared at Zeke and Yellin in disbelief.
“Wh-What happened in there?”
Yellin approached her and declared,
“Matriarch! At long last, our family’s long-cherished wish has been fulfilled!”
At her words, not just Jamila but the other elders behind her erupted in cheers.
Jamila bit her lower lip, tears welling up in her eyes.
“At last… the hopes of our ancestors have finally been answered.”
And then—
Hades, who had been floating behind Zeke calculating formulas, grumbled at Jamila’s words.
“‘Long-cherished wish,’ my scales. You begged me for protection, and it was annoying enough to form a pact—now you're spouting nonsense again.”
The members of House Ishtar, who had been celebrating just moments before, fell silent at Hades’ remark.
Jamila turned to Yellin with a stiff expression and asked,
“But who is that young elf?”
At her question, Yellin’s face instantly turned pale, and she shook her head.
“L-Lady Jamila, that person is not an elf…”
Just then, the elders in the back began whispering amongst themselves.
“Wait, could it be? Did those two… in the labyrinth…?”
“No way. They were there for less than a week. How could a child that big come out in such a short time?”
“The flow of time inside the labyrinth could be different from the outside! What if ten years passed in there? Look at that hair—it's the same black color as his!”
Zeke was dumbfounded as he overheard the elders.
‘Imagination really does run wild with these people…’
Even Jamila began to waver, pressing Yellin further.
“Yellin! Tell me the truth. Did you really… conceive a child there?”
Shaking with frustration, Yellin shouted,
“Does that even make sense?! Zeke and I have only been inside for a week—”
Rumble-rumble-rumble—!
Suddenly, the entire palace began to shake.
Startled, Jamila and the Ishtar elders froze.
Hades floated forward, now emitting a glowing violet light from his eyes.
“These damn elves… I’ve been patient, but you people really are something! How dare you speak about me like that!”
His entire body radiated the energy of a dragon.
Only then did Jamila realize the true nature of the one who looked like a young elf.
Thud!
She dropped to her knees and looked up at him.
“C-Could it be… are you the Great One?”
Bursting into laughter, Hades bellowed,
“Khahahaha! That’s right! I am none other than the Great Hermit of the Black River, Lord Hades! Insolent elf scum! I ought to grind your bones to dust and chew you up—!”
Right in the middle of his grand proclamation, Hades suddenly sensed a stare and turned his head.
Zeke was looking at him with an expression that could only be described as disappointed.
A look that said: Really? At your age?
‘That insolent gaze… Ugh. I can’t even scold him—what if he wishes for something weird later?’
Muttering internally, Hades grumbled and reined in his draconic aura.
“…Though I could, it’s too much trouble. Ugh, all this rage made me hungry. Someone bring me something tasty!”
At his words, Jamila sprang to her feet.
“Bring forth the finest delicacies we have, to offer the Great One at once!”