Episode 110
“What on earth is this?”
Before Zeke could even use his purification power on the insects, hundreds of them burst out from the mage’s body.
Chitter-chitter-chitter—
In an instant, the insects swarmed over the mage, devouring him alive.
Zeke quickly unleashed his purification power on the insects.
Vroooom!
The insects caught in the golden light shrieked, spewing black liquid before their bodies exploded and died.
Screeeech!
But it was too late. All that remained of the mage was a sticky pool of black ichor.
Through the mage’s death, Zeke realized that the place called Narak was somehow connected to the “Book of the Dead.”
“Narak, Book of the Dead. I never heard of these in my past life.”
With the mage dead, Zeke had no immediate way to find more clues about Narak. His only option was to investigate its connection through the ancient shaman and Dario Totlino.
“I should get out of here for now.”
Zeke approached the motionless Guardian.
[Emergency energy supply to the Guardian has been terminated.]
[Activity will cease until self-recharging is complete.]
[Would you like to register the Guardian as a summon?]
“The Guardian can be registered as a summon?”
[Intermediate administrators have restrictions on using the Guardian’s functions.]
“What kind of restrictions?”
The system displayed a list of restrictions.
Zeke read through them, frowning.
“With these limitations, it can barely walk.”
[Would you like to register the Guardian as a summon?]
After some thought, Zeke decided that having it around might still be useful and registered it as a summon.
[The Guardian has been registered as a summon. Please assign a name.]
After a moment of consideration, Zeke named the Guardian.
“Let’s call it Horus.”
Horus was the name of a legendary warrior from the stories told by Kaishir.
[Guardian Horus has been registered. Entering hibernation for self-recovery. Cannot be summoned during hibernation.]
As the message appeared, Horus was absorbed into Zeke’s shadow.
“Where do they go, like Gurav?” Zeke wondered, tilting his head in curiosity.
He had no idea where the items stored in his inventory or the summons went and came from. The only exception was Nahuel, whose location was known when not summoned, but even Nahuel’s summoning method was a mystery.
The system itself was beyond Zeke’s understanding, leaving many questions unanswered.
“There’s no one to ask about this.”
Even if he wanted to ask, no one came to mind who might know.
Then, a thought crossed Zeke’s mind.
His master from his past life, who had taught him the art of soul resonance.
If anyone knew about the system, it might be that person, well-versed in ancient knowledge.
“Still, I don’t want to meet him again.”
Zeke had a trauma from the harsh training he endured in his past life. Moreover, he felt guilty for breaking the vow he made with his master. Although the vow was nullified by his reincarnation, the unease lingered in Zeke’s heart.
“If it’s fate, we’ll meet again someday.”
Shaking off thoughts of his master, Zeke slowly walked toward the temple entrance.
A massive door stood firmly shut before him, its appearance strangely familiar.
“Could it be?”
Zeke reached out to the door and channeled his mana.
[Opening the Sanctuary of the Sky People.]
With the system message, the tightly closed door began to open slowly.
“The Sky People?”
Zeke recalled the dead mage referring to the Guardian as a golem of the sky.
“Is there a connection?”
Pondering this, Zeke stepped inside the door.
Unlike the outside, the interior of the temple was brightly illuminated.
The walls and pillars were adorned with the unique patterns and carvings of the Sky People.
Yet, the structure and layout of this space felt oddly familiar.
“It resembles the Sanctuary of the Dragon Slayer.”
Zeke continued deeper inside.
The inner space, like the Sanctuary of the Dragon Slayer, was lined with coffins stacked in a wall over twenty stories high.
Zeke approached and opened one of the coffins.
Inside, instead of a corpse, there were armor, a spear, and a shield.
[Sky People exclusive equipment discovered.]
Reading the message, Zeke examined the armor.
It was distinctly different from the equipment labeled as Dragon Slayer exclusive.
Zeke inspected the two holes on the back of the Sky People exclusive armor.
“What comes out of here?”
He still had no idea.
Just in case, Zeke stored a piece of the Sky People exclusive equipment in his inventory and continued inward.
Surprisingly, the interior was structured similarly to the Hero King’s Sanctuary he had seen before.
The only difference was that there were no separate storage rooms or chambers like in the Hero King’s Sanctuary.
Zeke ascended the altar at the center of the circular space.
A bright light shone down from the ceiling onto the altar.
Zeke slowly approached the altar.
As he did, a message window appeared.
[Administrator system access]
[Code verification]
[Title of Heir of Terrakan Draker confirmed]
[Acquired administrator rights for the 4th Defense Base ‘Sanctuary of the Sky People’]
[One administrator record video available for viewing]
[Playing the record video.]
As the video played, new images overlaid the space where Zeke stood.
What he had thought was merely a tomb was bustling with hundreds of people.
“What is this?”
People wearing Dragon Slayer exclusive equipment, Sky People exclusive equipment, as well as elves, dwarves, and beastfolk, all clad in gear, were preparing for battle.
The space was filled with weapons for war, supplies, and magical armaments.
Only then did Zeke understand the term “defense base.”
As he looked around in bewilderment, Zeke noticed a chaotic display of screens and text on the altar where he stood.
It resembled the magical video devices used by Delpoa mages but was far more detailed and three-dimensional.
At that moment, someone approached Zeke.
Judging by the robe, it seemed to be a mage.
The mage spoke to Zeke.
“Commander, the scouts have spotted the enemy.”
Caught off guard by the sudden address, Zeke was momentarily confused.
Then, a different voice emerged from him.
“The size of the enemy?”
“Ten large, twenty medium, four hundred small. As for the monsters… we can’t count them accurately.”
“No dragons?”
“Fortunately, no dragons.”
The man on Zeke’s side paused briefly before speaking again.
“Divide the red ten, blue fifty, and purple hundred into five units and deploy them to key points. The mages will support the knights with long-range weapons from within the base.”
The mage nodded.
“Understood.”
Just then, an elf in full armor rushed over.
“Commander! A dragon, a dragon has appeared!”
The mage asked in shock.
“Damn it! Size and color?”
The elf shouted loudly.
“Red, adult size, with a single pair of wings.”
The mage gritted his teeth and spoke.
“Commander, if it’s an adult red dragon, then…”
“It seems to be Leto.”
Zeke, moving without his own will, spoke.
“I’ll handle Leto. The rest of the team should focus on the beasts as instructed.”
The mage nodded at his words.
“Understood.”
Boom! Boom!
Suddenly, a tremendous impact shook the entire temple.
The mage shouted to the team.
“The enemy is attacking! Everyone to your positions! Heine! Select the troops for deployment! Red ten, blue fifty, purple hundred! I’ll personally lead the mages!”
The elf beside him responded.
“Understood!”
As the mage and elf moved away, the man Zeke was inhabiting raised his wrist.
A bracelet glowed, summoning a spirit beast.
Vroooom!
A winged horse appeared before the man.
A message appeared before Zeke’s eyes.
[Summoned the spirit beast Pegasus.]
“Pegasus, let’s go.”
The man mounted the spirit beast called Pegasus.
Riding the winged horse, the man ascended to the temple ceiling.
[Opening the ceiling of the 4th Defense Base.]
Whirrr!
The ceiling opened, and Pegasus soared outside at high speed.
Zeke, inhabiting the man’s body, experienced the scene as if it were reality.
And the sight outside the temple was unbelievable.
The sky was filled with red clouds, blocking the sun, and countless monsters swarmed the ground like an army.
Amidst them, massive beasts appeared.
Rooooar!
Ten colossal beasts, each like a moving mountain, advanced toward the base.
Then, Zeke noticed two enormous flames floating in the sky.
At first, he thought there were two suns.
But upon closer inspection, they were the eyes of a gigantic dragon.
Rooooar!
The dragon’s roar was so terrifying that even the monsters and beasts halted in fear.
Yet, the man on Pegasus remained unfazed, drawing the sword at his side.
He then unraveled the chains wrapped around his wrist.
He urged Pegasus toward the dragon.
“Charge!”
The man unleashed a powerful sword strike at the dragon.
Zeke recognized the technique.
“It’s the Dragon Slayer Art. And it contains the essence of the True Dragon Sword Technique…”
In the world, only one person besides Zeke had mastered the True Dragon Sword Technique.
“Terrakan Draker?”
It was only then that Zeke realized he was inhabiting the body of Terrakan Draker, the legendary dragon slayer.
Terrakan Draker extended his left hand toward the dragon.
Chains wrapped around his arm began to stretch infinitely.
The elongated chains coiled tightly around the dragon’s body.
The dragon twisted and writhed, trying to free itself from the chains.
“Kaaargh!”
Frustrated, the dragon opened its mouth wide, aiming at Terrakan Draker.
A massive blaze erupted from its maw.
Whoooosh!
The dragon unleashed a fiery breath that seemed capable of incinerating the entire world.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Even Zeke, who was within Terrakan, felt as if he might be consumed by the flames.
“Ugh!”
Just as Zeke turned his body, trying to escape the searing pain, everything changed.
“Huh?”
The fiery dragon vanished, and Zeke found himself back in his original surroundings.
“Phew…”
The vividness of the encounter left him utterly drained, as if he had truly battled a dragon.
Zeke realized he was in the defensive base once led by Terrakan Draker’s allied forces.
He was bewildered by the discrepancies between the legendary tales of the dragon slayer and the historical records he was now uncovering.
“I only knew that the evil dragon Bahamut led monsters to invade the human kingdom. I never imagined such a massive war took place.”
There were too many secrets hidden within the legend of the dragon slayer.
Zeke resolved once more to uncover the secrets the Draker family had kept hidden.
“Wait a minute, when I was Terrakan Draker, I saw a system window too, didn’t I?”
Whether it was due to his influence or because Terrakan Draker was also a system administrator, Zeke wasn’t sure, but the records clearly showed a system message.
“Does that mean I’m not the only system administrator?”
If there were other administrators who could use Karma Points, perhaps he could uncover the true nature of the system.
‘Let’s hope they’re not an enemy,’ he thought.
Zeke scanned the altar, just as Terrakan Draker had done.
In the records, screens floated chaotically like magical projection devices, but now it was just an ordinary round table.
With a sense of curiosity, Zeke placed his hand on the table and channeled his mana. The table responded.
[Terrakan Draker’s Heir Title Confirmed]
[Initiating Inheritance Procedure]
Vroooom!
The table split into four sections.
From within, a sealed box emerged.
“What is this?”
Zeke slowly opened the sealed box.
What he saw inside left him utterly astonished.