Chapter 258
“Astonishing.”
Arthur was genuinely surprised as he unfolded the confirmation letter from Wolfgang that Zeke had brought.
Even Arthur hadn’t expected that Zeke would actually get Wolfgang Valdeck’s acknowledgement so quickly.
Having watched Wolfgang since he was young, Arthur knew well that while he pretended to be magnanimous on the outside, he was, in fact, a very petty person.
He had surely given Zeke an absurd test, yet Zeke had passed it in just half a month and had proudly brought the confirmation letter before him.
Arthur put down the confirmation letter and said, looking at Zeke,
“Congratulations. Zeke, you have now earned the qualification to become a Senior Knight.”
A Senior Knight of the Draker clan gains powerful authority.
From the right to command and summon Draker’s forces stationed across the continent, to the immunity from punishment for any crime committed in any kingdom within the Central Continent, countless benefits and powers are granted.
But among the many powers of a Senior Knight, there was only one that Zeke wanted.
‘The right to establish a knight order.’
Having become a Senior Knight, it was now possible for Zeke to register the Black Sword Knights he had created as an official knight order.
If this happened, the Black Sword Knights would be recognized not as a simple private army, but as a knight order belonging to clan Draker.
For Zeke, who stood in opposition to Abel’s faction, the larger his forces grew, the more advantageous his position would become.
Arthur looked at Zeke and said,
“I will prepare for the appointment ceremony to be held in a few days, so stay in Atlas until it is over. Ah, and.”
He handed an envelope to Zeke.
“What is this?”
“A Senior Knight of Draker is given the opportunity to learn one Dragon Slayer Arts Special Technique. Well, you have already learned Duke’s Gale Technique, but there’s no harm in learning several. This is a list of those who wish to pass on their special technique to you, so take a look and choose one.”
Zeke opened the envelope Arthur handed him and examined it.
Surprisingly, it listed over ten renowned knights, the lineage of their applied styles, and the characteristics of their signature ultimate techniques.
Seeing this, Arthur chuckled.
“Actually, there were twice as many who applied, but I trimmed it down appropriately.”
A special technique was a secret art that knights of Red Knight rank or higher referred to as an applied style containing their own deep insights.
In truth, not everyone could learn such a secret technique just by being taught.
Without sufficient talent and effort, one could not master it properly no matter how much they were taught. That was why knights who had reached a certain level were thirsty for talented individuals.
As such, everyone coveted Zeke Draker, who was a rare talent of the ages, capable of not just mastering a signature ultimate technique but even developing it further.
As Zeke looked through the names of the renowned knights who had made a name for themselves on the continent, he discovered one name that felt out of place.
‘This person is?’
Luther Zemben.
He was someone proudly included in the list despite not having received the Draker name.
Zeke felt like he had heard the name Luther Zemben somewhere before.
He soon found the name within the memories of his past life.
‘Could it be the Mage Slayer?’
During the Continental War in his past life, when clan Draker fell into Abel’s hands, quite a few knights, with Helen at the center, had deserted the clan.
And after deserting, the Draker rebels who were holding out in Troy scattered once more with the death of Helen, the Knight of Steel.
At that time, one of the former rebels had waged guerrilla warfare and slaughtered Imperial soldiers until the end of the war. He was the one with the epithet ‘Mage Slayer.’
The Mage Slayer had mainly targeted the Imperial army’s mage corps, and the high-ranking mages who died at his hands numbered in the hundreds.
The damage was so great that the Imperial army poured all its efforts into catching him, but he was eventually caught by Black Knights from the Empire, met his end, and his head was displayed in the ruined square of Atlas.
At the same time, his identity was revealed. He was the man named Luther Zemben, who had been a knight of the Draker clan.
Before then, he had not been a particularly famous knight, so some speculated that he must have been a Black Knight who had hidden his skills.
Seeing Luther Zemben’s name on the list, Zeke thought that speculation might be correct.
‘It was never revealed how he was able to break through the tight security and kill high-ranking mages.’
Zeke became interested in the man named Luther Zemben.
There were many excellent special techniques on the list, but Zeke didn’t particularly covet them. Since he had already created the Black Sword Technique, it was more important to continue developing it.
He would have to face even stronger mages while fighting the Abyss in the future, so he needed to learn a suitable combat method for it.
Zeke put down the list and said, looking at Arthur,
“I would like to be taught Sir Luther Zemben’s special technique.”
At Zeke’s choice, Arthur’s eyebrow twitched.
“This cannot be changed once decided. Will you really choose Sir Luther Zemben.”
“Yes, I will.”
At Zeke’s words, Arthur made a peculiar expression.
He had put Luther Zemben’s name on the list just in case, but he hadn't thought Zeke would actually choose him.
‘Zeke Draker and Luther Zemben. How very interesting.’
He rose from his seat and said,
“After the appointment ceremony, there will be instructions regarding the procedure for the special technique transfer. You can receive the information from the person in charge and follow the relevant instructions.”
“I understand, Lord Draker.”
Zeke rose from his seat along with him, bowed, and was about to leave the office.
“Zeke, have you ever heard of the Grand Duke of the North.”
At Arthur’s sudden words, Zeke was taken aback.
‘Why is he suddenly asking about the Grand Duke of the North.’
With as calm an expression as possible, Zeke nodded his head.
“I have heard about Himonas from Sir Golin before. However, I don’t know much in depth, only what I briefly heard.”
At his answer, Arthur spread a large map out on the desk, pointed to the region where Himonas was, and spoke.
“The master of Himonas has long been called the King of the North. That master changed last year.”
He tapped the name of Himonas with his finger.
“A girl around your age ascended to the position of Grand Duke of the North. I was keeping an eye on her, wondering how she would survive among the greedy and fierce northern lords. And a very interesting thing happened.”
There is a saying that there is nothing that happens on this continent that the head of clan Draker does not know.
And that scope included the Northern Continent as well.
Arthur looked at Himonas and the surrounding northern territories with an intrigued expression.
“What do you think the new Grand Duke of the North did to the northern lords who had lived several times longer than her.”
In truth, Zeke already knew the answer.
‘She eliminated them all.’
Arthur opened his mouth before Zeke could even answer.
“She invited all the northern lords to the castle and held a banquet. The coarse and foolish lords gladly rushed over, intending to tear the young Grand Duke apart. To take Himonas for themselves on this occasion and become the kings of the north. But the result was the exact opposite.”
Arthur spoke with an expression like that of a child who had received a toy.
“The Grand Duke of the North killed all the northern lords. It wasn't through some scheme, either. She challenged the lords to one-on-one duels and took their heads in fair fights. Very cleanly.”
An image of her was vividly drawn in Zeke’s mind.
He had always stood behind her.
Behind the Grand Duke of the North, who was like a fierce wolf charging at her enemies, Zeke had swung his sword endlessly to keep their foes from approaching.
Zeke murmured her name to himself.
‘Alicia.’
At the same time, Arthur also mentioned the Grand Duke’s name.
“Alicia Himonas. Zeke, remember this name well. That young wolf will one day grow to be as great as Fenrir, the Wolf King who raised the Hero King.”
Zeke diligently buried Alicia’s name in his heart and nodded.
“I understand, Lord Draker.”
After that, he bid Arthur farewell and finally left the office.
Zeke suppressed the memories of his past life that kept surfacing and returned to the mansion.
When he arrived at the mansion, there were faces he hadn’t seen in a while.
It was Andrei and Aoul.
They had said they often visited the mansion to learn swordsmanship from Duke, and it seemed today was one of those days.
With a pleased expression, Aoul offered Zeke a handshake.
“Sir Zeke. It’s been a while.”
“It’s been a while, Sir Aoul.”
Andrei, who was beside him, bowed his head to Zeke and said,
“I heard from Sir Duke. That you passed the Senior Knight examination. Congratulations, Sir Zeke.”
It was Andrei, immediately using formal speech and a polite attitude now that Zeke had become his superior.
“Sir Andrei. Thank you. Please continue to address me comfortably as before. I am still lacking in many ways. By the way, where has my master gone?”
At Zeke’s question, Aoul answered.
“He went to see the Sword King.”
“You mean Sir Bernas?”
Andrei nodded.
“I heard the two of them have had exchanges for some time now. Did you not know?”
Zeke shook his head.
“My master never mentioned anything to me about Sir Bernas.”
Since Duke wasn't there, Zeke was about to wrap up the conversation when he saw the Eastern-style curved sword Aoul was wearing and thought of the sword he had taken from Hook.
“Sir Aoul. There is something I would like to ask you.”
As Aoul nodded as if to say ‘go ahead,’ Zeke took out the Eastern-style sword he had taken from Hook.
“Have you ever seen a sword like this before?”
Aoul took the sword Zeke handed him and examined it from various angles.
Then, he soon nodded his head.
“This is an Eastern magic sword.”
“Yes. An evil spirit was originally sealed within it.”
Zeke drew the sword and summoned the chains of sealing.
Shlink!
Black chains immediately shot out from the sword.
Andrei, who was standing next to them, looked at the chains with fascination.
“This is the first time I’ve seen a magic sword since magic defense training.”
Magically enchanted artifacts themselves were rare, and Draker knights had a strange aversion to magic, so they rarely encountered magic swords.
Besides, unless it was a unique item on the level of the Red Dragon Sword that Abel used, a sword enhanced with aura was far more powerful, so they were just expensive and didn't have much utility value.
It was more efficient to have a few more sturdy swords or wear good armor than to enhance a sword with magic.
Aoul looked at the black chains that shot out from the sword and showed a slightly surprised expression.
A man more stoic than a statue. For Aoul ‘Willow Sword’ Draker to show this much change in expression meant he was truly surprised.
“This is a very precious magic sword, where did you get it?”
“I obtained it while subjugating pirates.”
At the word ‘pirates,’ Aoul nodded.
“Unlike the hwando I use, this sword was made in the style of the Murc Empire.”
“Is it different from your sword, Sir Aoul?”
Aoul took out his own sword to show him and said,
“This hwando was not made in the current Murc Empire, but in an era before it. In our terms, it was made around the time of the Hero King's era.”
“That’s amazing. Is this hwando also a magic sword? For such an old sword, the blade isn’t damaged at all.”
“The hwando of the ancient East is treated as a precious weapon because its blade does not dull no matter how much time passes, and its durability is outstanding. I, too, obtained this sword by a chance opportunity.”
“That means this magic sword was made in a different way than your hwando.”
“In my opinion… I think this is not an ordinary sword, but one that the Successors used in a sealing ritual.”
“You mean the Successors of the Eastern Continent?”
“Yes. I heard that the Successors seal evil spirits in swords and then control that power to use it. I also heard that some of these swords occasionally appear at Dorta's Auction. It seems the pirate attacked a ship headed there.”
Since it was the great pirate Hook, it wouldn’t be strange if he had targeted a ship heading for the Dorta Auction clan.
Zeke looked at the chains of sealing extending from the sword and said,
“So these chains serve the role of sealing the spirit.”
“That is highly likely.”
“By any chance, is there anything you know about these chains?”
Aoul thought for a moment, then opened his mouth.
“I once heard a similar story from a Successor of the East I had exchanges with when I was stationed in the Dorta Republic.”
He looked at the sword and continued.
“Among the magic weapons of the East, there are specially crafted ones. They say some contain the power to bind things that cannot be seen or grasped by hand.”
Zeke recalled how the chains from the sword had held the Genie.
‘The way I sealed Arataso in the Meteoric Iron Sword with the Soul Sealing Technique must be a similar principle.’
Zeke thought that perhaps the Soul Sealing Technique left by Terakan Draker had come from the Eastern Continent.
Just then, Aoul, who had paused for a moment, continued.
“To make such weapons, one must go through a rather complicated procedure, and I heard there is something absolutely necessary among them.”
“What is that?”
Aoul closed his mouth for a moment, then slowly opened it.
“They say the power of a dragon is needed.”
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