Episode 206
“Siemens?”
Zeke was taken aback by Reyes’ unexpected mention of the name.
“Could it really be the Siemens I know?”
When Zeke had delved into the memories of the Holy Grail, he recalled the magical knights of Siemens who had pursued Terracan Draker. The name Siemens had intrigued him even then, but he never imagined it would have existed during the era of the Hero King as well.
“Draker and Siemens. Are these two families more deeply connected than I thought?”
Zeke asked Reyes in a calm voice, “Why do you think Siemens summoned the demons?”
Reyes clicked his tongue in response. “Shaton, are you seriously asking me that now? You’re acting really strange today.”
Ignoring Zeke’s question, Reyes slowly stood up. “Anyway, let’s get going. Once we enter the castle, we’ll find the demon who created this domain. We need to eliminate him to restore this forest to its original state.”
Zeke suddenly realized that this place was a point on the continent from the past. He opened his map to examine the terrain and asked the system, “System, compared to the current continental map, where does this place most closely resemble?”
[Initiating terrain search.]
The system soon completed its search, and the terrain it identified was surprisingly familiar to Zeke.
“The Forest of the Forgotten? Is this really that place?”
The Forest of the Forgotten, as Zeke remembered it, was an endless sea of trees. Ancient magic had run amok, cursing the forest with an eternal spell. Anyone who set foot there was doomed to wander until death. It was a haven for powerful ancient beasts, malevolent sorcerers, and those who harbored ancient mysteries.
Zeke’s mentor, Nigel, lived in the Forest of the Forgotten, serving as a kind of overseer as a Highlander. Without his mentor, the unholy entities hidden within the forest would have surely spilled out into the continent, causing untold chaos.
“So this is what it looked like two thousand years ago. The curse of the endless sea of trees must have come later.”
Zeke wasn’t sure how accurately the hidden stage created by the Inverted Tower reflected the past, but it was enough to give him a rough idea of the situation.
While Reyes prepared to leave, Zeke gathered the magic stones and artifacts left behind by the demon they had dealt with earlier.
“Is this the weapon that demon was using?”
It resembled a “katar,” a weapon used by assassins, but the demon’s weapon was broader and longer, more akin to a regular sword.
Zeke checked the weapon’s information.
―Weapon Information―
Description: A weapon designed for the Six Demon Martial Arts.
Unique Ability: Self-repair
Special Note: This weapon, used exclusively by demon warriors trained in the Six Demon Martial Arts, can repair itself over time even if damaged.
“Self-repair, huh? That’s an interesting feature.”
Weapons naturally wear down with use. Without timely repairs, they eventually break and become unusable. Zeke recalled how he had meticulously maintained the Sun Sword Gram in his past life, fearing it might break. Unlike Bahamut, which had an indestructible attribute, Gram required constant care.
Having gathered his thoughts and the artifacts, Zeke followed Reyes through the forest toward the castle. The demon’s castle bore a resemblance to the cursed Castle of Agamemnon. It was dark and overgrown with thorny vines, making it difficult to approach. Yet Reyes strode confidently to the castle gate and kicked it open.
Bang!
As the door swung open, a foreboding corridor stretched out before them, filled with an eerie presence. Shadows flitted about in the darkness.
“Let’s go, noble knight!”
Zeke grabbed Reyes by the scruff of his neck, stopping him from charging in recklessly. He chided Reyes, “You’re not seriously thinking of going in without any precautions, are you?”
Reyes thumped his chest and declared, “With a noble knight by my side, what demon could I possibly fear? The blessing of the Hero King is with us!”
Zeke rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. “Stop with the nonsense and follow me. The one controlling this castle is bound to be at the top.”
As a former hitman, Zeke was a specialist in high-profile assassinations. Power-holders always positioned themselves in the highest places within buildings. Consequently, Zeke had become adept at finding ways to reach such heights.
He pulled Reyes back from the open castle gate and searched for the best spot to climb the exterior. He then took out a chain and connected it to Anexi’s dagger.
Whirr!
Thwack!
After a few swings, Zeke hurled the dagger, embedding it into the castle wall. He wrapped the chain around Reyes’ waist.
“Hold on tight.”
Zeke shortened the chain, pulling both of them up to dangle in the middle of the castle wall.
“Whoa!”
Reyes looked down in shock from the high wall, then turned to Zeke. “Shaton, I didn’t know you had such skills.”
Zeke didn’t respond. Instead, he took out another dagger, connected it with the chain, and embedded it into the wall. Repeating this process several times, Zeke eventually reached the top of the wall.
That’s when it happened.
Screech!
A harpy-like demon with black wings swooped down at Zeke and Reyes.
Whoosh!
The creature aimed its sharp talons at the two, clinging to the wall.
“Get lost, you beast!”
Reyes swung his spear at the demon while hanging on, but the creature easily dodged by circling in the air. Moments later, it returned with a flock of its kind, all heading toward Zeke and Reyes.
“Reyes, can’t you use that scale attack from before?”
“Did you forget? I can only use the Azure Scale Bombardment once a day!”
Reyes was proving to be of little help. Zeke secured himself to the wall with another dagger and took out the Dark Elf’s bow from his inventory.
“An artifact with piercing ability. Let’s see how it performs.”
Magical weapons were rare, and enchanted bows even more so. Zeke retrieved arrows he had crafted using the item creation system and nocked one on the bowstring. He drew the string taut and fired at the approaching demons.
Thwip!
The arrow flew with incredible speed, piercing through the demon’s body.
Screech!
The demon hit by Zeke’s arrow staggered and plummeted to the ground.
“Not bad.”
Shooting a bow accurately was no easy feat. On the battlefield, even the most skilled blue knights often fell to the arrows of adept archers when their stamina waned. Archers capable of piercing through armor and exploiting weak points were as valuable as knights.
If such archers wielded this bow with its piercing magic, they could easily penetrate knights’ armor and take them down.
“This is quite the artifact.”
Zeke nocked another arrow and aimed at the demons.
Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!
As Zeke fired, the demons fell one by one, pierced by his arrows. With only a few left, the remaining demons, frightened, attempted to flee. But Zeke didn’t let them escape, shooting them down until none remained.
With the demons gone, Zeke put away his bow and resumed climbing the wall with Reyes.
Thud!
After a while, Zeke and Reyes finally reached the top of the wall. From up there, the height was dizzying. Zeke quickly assessed the structure of the wall and set his sights on the tower across the bridge.
“Power-holders always want to be in the place with the best view.”
In the castle’s layout, that place was the tower to the east. As Zeke and Reyes crossed the bridge to enter the tower, someone blocked their path.
Growl!
A lower demon, accompanied by several Cerberus hounds, awaited them on the bridge.
[How dare humans try to enter our sacred castle! Die!]
The unleashed Cerberus hounds charged at Zeke and Reyes.
Bark! Bark! Bark!
With bared fangs, a Cerberus lunged at Zeke, ready to bite.
At that moment—
Whoosh!
Reyes unfurled a net he had slung over his shoulder.
Swish!
He caught the Cerberus mid-air and swung the net, flinging the hound off the bridge.
Yelp!
The Cerberus howled as it plummeted below. The remaining hounds on the bridge hesitated, retreating slightly.
Growl!
Zeke brandished his sword at the Cerberus hounds. “I don’t have time to deal with you.”
He flipped his sword downward and drove it into the bridge.
The Bahamut sword sank into the stone bridge, and Zeke unleashed a resonant wave.
Rumble!
Cracks began to form on the bridge, spreading toward the Cerberus hounds.
Yelp!
Sensing danger, the hounds tried to retreat, but the bridge crumbled faster.
Crash!
As the cracks widened, the bridge collapsed, sending the Cerberus hounds tumbling down with the debris.
Crash!
As the ground beneath them threatened to collapse, Zeke quickly hurled a chain with a dagger attached to the opposite wall.
Whirr!
With Reyes in tow, Zeke leaped over the crumbling bridge, charging toward the demon with fierce determination.
Zeke unleashed a powerful kick imbued with energy at the demon.
Boom!
The demon staggered back, caught off guard by the force of Zeke’s attack.
[How can a mere human wield such power?]
Without missing a beat, Zeke reached the opposite tower and shouted to Reyes, sword in hand.
“Reyes! The net!”
At Zeke’s command, Reyes swiftly cast a net toward the demon.
Whoosh!
The demon rolled to evade the sudden assault, but Zeke’s relentless chain was unavoidable.
Whirr!
The chain wrapped tightly around the demon’s body.
“Ugh!”
As Reyes prepared to thrust his spear at the demon, Zeke stopped him.
“Hold on, let’s see if we can get some information out of this one.”
Reyes looked at him in surprise.
“Zeke, you interrogating someone? If Kaishir saw this, he’d fall over in shock.”
“People change over time, you know,” Zeke replied nonchalantly, approaching the demon bound by his chain.
“How many of you are in the tower?” Zeke demanded.
The demon glared at Zeke with fiery red eyes and spat.
[Curse you humans! I’ll skin you alive and tear you to pieces!]
Reyes clicked his tongue in annoyance.
“I don’t know what it’s saying, but I can tell it’s not friendly.”
Having grown somewhat accustomed to dealing with demons, Zeke calmly retrieved Agamemnon’s Mask from his inventory. He had previously avoided using it due to its high mana cost, but now, with his infinite stamina skill deactivated, he could recover quickly even after using the purification skill.
‘I can’t use skills directly, but there’s no rule against using skills embedded in items.’
Zeke donned Agamemnon’s Mask, gripped the chain around the demon, and activated the ‘Purification’ skill.
Hum!
As Zeke anticipated, the purification skill activated, sending a golden aura through the chain to the demon.
He carefully controlled the power, wary of accidentally obliterating the demon with the purification.
[Aaaargh!]
The demon screamed as the golden aura seared into its body.
Zeke watched the demon writhe in pain and asked, “Feeling more talkative now?”
[Ugh…]
The demon remained defiant, so Zeke intensified the purification aura.
[Stop! Stop!]
If he could use the incineration skill, the demon would have yielded faster, but this was enough for a low-level demon.
Zeke grabbed the demon by the collar and demanded again, “Tell me the number of troops in the tower and where the lord of the castle is. Also, what abilities does your boss have? The longer you stall, the worse it will get.”
The demon’s face turned pale at Zeke’s words.