Chapter 276
Zeke stared intently at Richmond.
At that, Richmond grew flustered and raised his voice.
“I-It’s true, I swear!”
“Hmm.”
At Zeke's reaction, Richmond spoke as if he had been wronged.
“Normally, to become a lich, one must turn oneself into an undead through a ritual and then place their soul in a ‘Life Vessel,’ correct?”
Zeke, who had been a Highlander, had caught many liches, so he knew the basic principles.
There were cases where they used an item on their person as a Life Vessel, like the Arch Lich he had caught before, and others where they would hide it somewhere else and flee with only the vessel in an emergency.
Zeke looked at Richmond and said,
“Come to think of it, you never had one to begin with? I thought it disappeared after you became my summoner.”
“I was able to become a lich in a unique way because I performed the ritual using a Blood Tear Stone that I created myself. Actually, my goal was to become a draconic monster…”
Zeke looked dumbfounded at Richmond’s words.
“Is that why you mixed the bones of a draconic monster into your body?”
“In conclusion, it was a failure, and I ended up half-human, half-lich.”
“You’re peculiar in many ways.”
“Hehe, thank you for the compliment.”
It wasn't exactly a compliment, but since Richmond seemed happy, Zeke didn't deny it. He asked Richmond,
“Then should I assume that the bastards of the Abyss found out the manufacturing method for the artificial Blood Tear Stone you created and are now making them?”
“That's what's a bit puzzling. I researched the Blood Tear Stone 500 years ago, so I have no idea how they found out.”
“Is it difficult to make an artificial Blood Tear Stone?”
“Well, first of all, you need Fairy Stones, so there’s an entry barrier right from the material procurement stage.”
“So it’s possible as long as you have Fairy Stones?”
“You need several other things along with that. The method I applied was the Mandragora Cultivation Method. You have to bury a Fairy Stone in a place where death row prisoners, filled with resentment, are about to bleed out and die, and then set up a magical device around it to make that resentment seep in.”
“It sounds like a way to forcibly imbue a Fairy Stone with a grudge.”
“That’s right. Actually, the important part here is the Magic Circle Drive Formula that I created. I have no idea how they figured that out.”
Zeke listened to Richmond and thought deeply.
‘Assuming they know Richmond's drive formula, if they gather sacrifices, make them die with a grudge, and then proceed with the work of changing Fairy Stones into Blood Tear Stones…’
The Abyss, which already practiced forbidden arts without hesitation, seemed more than capable of creating artificial Blood Tear Stones.
‘As long as they have a good supply of sacrifices and Fairy Stones, they can produce as many as they want.’
Zeke’s expression turned serious.
If high-ranking demons like the Dream Demon, Pan, could freely incarnate in the Physical Realm, it would be impossible to stop Siemens and Abel, who were controlling them.
‘I have to stop this before the mass production of Blood Tear Stones becomes possible.’
Through the mages of the Abyss, Zeke had found out that they were conducting experiments to resurrect the demons who had died during the First and Second Invasions.
Now that he knew that places for these baptismal rituals and laboratories existed all over the continent, he couldn't just leave them be.
‘I’ll find every last one and destroy them all.’
Zeke unsummoned Richmond, then held Bahamut in a reverse grip and plunged the blade into the ground.
“The Elemental Sword that was said to raise storms and split the earth… Let’s see its power.”
Zeke gripped the sword and deployed the Field of Metal Power.
DR-DR-DR-DR-DR—
Traveling through the sword plunged into the ground, Zeke's metal power began to resonate with the earth.
WOOOOONG!
With the resonance, he felt the mana in his middle dantian being rapidly drained.
RUMBLE!
The metal power and the entire salt mine began to react.
And at a certain moment, the metal power went beyond Zeke's control, and the vibrations grew even stronger.
‘This is…’
The Field of Metal Power was even harder to control than the Field of Fire Power.
KUUUNG!
The ceiling collapsed and the floor cracked.
Zeke immediately pulled out his sword and ran forward, dodging the collapsing ceiling.
He deployed his Dragon's Wings and Flight Step simultaneously, ascending to the top of the mine in an instant, but the mine entrance was blocked by fallen rocks. Seeing this, Zeke raised Bahamut and aimed forward.
WOOOOONG!
He activated his Soul Relic and unleashed the ‘Will of Breakthrough’.
KRA-KA-KA-KA-KOW!
The Will of Breakthrough imbued in the sword pierced through the blocked rocks, and Zeke rolled his body out of the mine.
KRA-RRRRRRUMBLE!
The moment Zeke got out of the mine, the ground around it collapsed, and the underground space was completely buried.
Having consumed all his mana, Zeke let out a sigh as he looked at the natural disaster created by the Field of Metal Power.
“Whew, after becoming an SS-rank, it's gotten too hard to control the Elemental Sword…”
Using even a little bit of power consumed a huge chunk of mana and laid waste to the surroundings. Plus, it left Zeke completely drained, so it wasn't easy to use in battle.
‘I need to find a way to control my power.’
As Zeke was slowly pulling himself together, Shadia, who had appeared at some point, approached his side.
Shadia, who had come after evacuating the villagers, looked at the collapsed salt mine with a dumbfounded expression.
“B-Boss? Don't tell me you did that?”
Zeke nodded and said,
“There won't be any traces left to find.”
“It’s not the traces I’m worried about… Never mind. I’ve evacuated the villagers, but what should be done now?”
“I’ve already spoken to Simon, so he’ll send people to handle the cleanup. For now, we need to deal with the cultist problem spreading across the Southern Continent, one step at a time.”
Shadia, having watched Zeke up close for some time, now felt a sense of awe that went beyond fear.
‘If I were to assume that the entirety of Salmak fought Zeke Draker with all their strength…’
Even if they used every trick and assassination method they knew, the result would be the same.
Certain defeat.
A cold sweat trickled down Shadia’s back.
‘Did the Master know the truth of Zeke Draker’s power when he gave me that order?’
In fact, before she had followed Zeke, Shadia had received a secret order from the Master of Salmak.
If Zeke Draker ever showed an opening, she was to assassinate him and return.
Shadia, known as the Flower of the Desert, had thought that if she stayed by Zeke's side, she would someday be able to find an opportunity to assassinate him.
But the longer she stayed by his side, the more she realized that it was impossible.
Zeke looked at the dazed Shadia and said,
“Shadia, are you alright?”
At his call, Shadia snapped to her senses and nodded.
“I’m fine.”
Zeke took a potion from his pouch and tossed it to her.
“You look tired. We’ll be returning soon, so just hang in there a little longer.”
Shadia stared blankly at Zeke, who had casually tossed her a valuable potion and now showed her his back.
He was a man of a completely different caliber from the Master of Salmak, who was so suspicious that he couldn't even trust his own disciples.
‘Or is it just the confidence that he can handle it, even if he’s stabbed in the back?’
Shadia gripped the potion Zeke had thrown her and tried to calm her chaotic thoughts.
***
After sorting things out at the salt mine, Zeke returned to Atlas.
Having found a clue about the Abyss, Zeke decided to first track down the baptismal sites they had created and the places where the artificial Blood Tear Stones were being made.
Shadia was assigned to join Boris’s side to find related information, so they parted ways midway.
Atlas and Iason, along with most of the eastern region of Midland, was Cali's territory.
There was a summer villa palace there, said to have been built by the Pope of the old Holy Empire. Cali had named it the ‘Silver Palace’ and spent most of her time there.
The carriage Zeke was riding in entered the grounds of that Silver Palace.
He was in awe as he saw the elegant form of the Silver Palace, made of refined white marble.
‘They said it was the most beautiful palace on the continent. It’s no different from a work of art.’
As he passed through the gardens of the Silver Palace and entered the palace itself, a welcome face greeted Zeke.
“Zeke!”
Karus, the 4th Imperial Prince of the Empire, currently in exile, had heard that Zeke was coming and had come out to wait for him.
Zeke also greeted Karus warmly.
“Karus. It’s really been a long time.”
Karus had changed his style of dress and hair from the Imperial style to that of the Central Continent.
He hugged Zeke and said, “Welcome. You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting since I heard you were coming.”
“I’m glad to see you’re looking well.”
At those words, Karus nodded and smiled.
“I may not have any power, but this is better than being in that suffocating Imperial Palace. There’s lots of delicious food, and the women are much prett… well, anyway. Let’s go inside.”
Karus took Zeke to his room.
The room was filled with all sorts of paintings.
Zeke looked at the paintings leaning against the wall and was impressed.
“Amazing. Karus, did you paint these yourself?”
The subjects of the paintings were varied.
There were landscape paintings, and there were also abstract paintings where it was hard to tell what was depicted.
Karus nodded with a proud expression.
“Yes, in this beautiful Silver Palace, I was finally able to make my artistic talent bloom.”
Zeke had known that he was very interested in art, but he hadn't known it was to this extent. The paintings were all extraordinary, suggesting he actually had talent in the arts.
As Zeke showed interest in the paintings, an excited Karus explained them to him one by one.
As he listened to the explanations and appreciated the works, Zeke noticed a painting in the corner, covered with a cloth and turned to face the wall.
“What’s that one?”
At Zeke's question, Karus looked slightly troubled and hesitated.
“Umm. That is.”
“Is it okay to look?”
Karus thought for a moment, then nodded.
Surprisingly, there was nothing drawn on the canvas.
No, to be more precise, the canvas was painted over everywhere with black.
“What kind of painting is this?”
Karus hesitated for a moment, then slowly opened his mouth.
“Actually, when I heard you were coming, Zeke, I was trying to paint you to give you a gift.”
Zeke was surprised by Karus’s words.
“Me?”
“Yes, I was going to paint your portrait and give it to you as a gift. But…”
Zeke looked at the painting, with its canvas painted over entirely in black, and said, “So you’re saying this painting is me.”
“Hah, well. This is a first for me. Normally, when I think of painting someone, their features come to my mind very clearly, you see? So I wanted to paint you looking very cool, Zeke… but before I knew it, my paintbrush had gone and done that.”
Zeke stared intently at the black-painted canvas.
Then, he nodded.
“I like it a lot.”
At those words, Karus asked in surprise, “Huh? Really?”
“Yes, you’re the first person to give me a painted gift, Karus. Thank you so much.”
In both his past and current life, Zeke had almost no one he could call a true friend, aside from Kay.
He thought that if he had a friend his own age, they might feel something like Karus.
As Zeke was looking at Karus's painting with a satisfied expression, an attendant entered the room.
“Sir Zeke, Lady Cali has arrived.”
Zeke said his goodbyes to Karus, then left the room and went up to Cali's office.
When he opened the door and entered, Cali and Helen were waiting for him together.
“Sister Cali, Sister Helen.”
Helen, who had returned from her mission, stood up with a stiff expression.
She then handed something to Zeke with a swish.
Seeing the crude box, Zeke tilted his head.
“What is this?”
Even at Zeke's question, Helen sat down wordlessly with a stiff expression.
At that, Cali grinned and said,
“Helen bought a specialty from the East, saying she was going to give it to you, Zeke.”
At those words, Zeke sat down and opened the crude box Helen had brought. Inside, it was filled with delicious-looking pies.
Zeke was shocked to see it.
‘Why pies all of a sudden?’
Since she had said it was a specialty, he had naturally assumed it would be one of the region's weapons.
Helen watched Zeke without a word.
Feeling an unspoken pressure, he picked up a pie and took a large bite.
Zeke didn't particularly like sweets, but he did his best to eat it all as if it were delicious.
After he had gulped down the last piece, he said to Helen,
“It’s very delicious, Sister.”
At Zeke's words, Helen smiled as if in relief and said,
“I'm glad you like it. I bought a lot, so eat up.”
Something about Helen's words seemed strange. Zeke turned around and saw dozens of similar-looking boxes piled up.
‘Oh my god.’
Cali, who had been smiling while watching the proud expression on Helen's face, suddenly changed her expression and looked at Zeke.
“Zeke, Abel has started to move.”
Zeke, who was taking a bite of another pie while hiding his mixed feelings, looked at Cali and said,
“So he’s making his official move after his promotion to Black Knight. Where did he go?”
Cali said with a heavy expression,
“The Birdfolk Ghetto. The Empire is targeting that place again.”