Episode 224
Zeke sprinted towards where Bill was.
Bill was in a frenzy, cradling a figure with water-colored hair who was bleeding and collapsed.
“Oh no, Sir Knight! What are we gonna do about our captain?”
Zeke realized from Bill’s words that the fallen figure was Peter Pan.
But what truly shocked Zeke was something else entirely.
“She’s not a merfolk?”
To his surprise, the person lying there wasn’t a merfolk at all, but a human girl who seemed to be around Zeke’s age.
Zeke knelt down to examine Peter Pan’s wounds.
The cuts and injuries weren’t too severe, but dark energy had infiltrated her body.
“Leaving it like this could be dangerous.”
Zeke tucked Agamemnon’s mask into his coat and activated his purification skill.
A golden aura radiated from Zeke’s hands, cleansing the dark energy from Peter Pan’s body.
At the same time, he used his healing factor to mend her wounds.
“Ugh…”
As her injuries healed, Peter Pan slowly regained consciousness.
When she opened her eyes, they were the same watery color as her hair.
“You… human!”
Peter Pan sprang up and backed away.
In an instant, droplets of water gathered around her.
“Death is the only fate for humans!”
A voice, deep and resonant, echoed from her, completely mismatched with her youthful appearance.
The water droplets coalesced into sharp arrows and shot towards Zeke.
Whoosh!
Zeke stepped back and unleashed a shockwave.
Boom!
The water arrows shattered into droplets against Zeke’s shockwave.
At that moment, Bill clung to Peter Pan.
“Wait a minute! Captain! Just hold on a second!”
Peter Pan was taken aback as Bill clung to her arm.
She looked at him, startled by the sincerity in his eyes.
“Bill? Are you… okay?”
Her voice, now matching her age, replaced the booming one.
Bill nodded earnestly at Peter Pan.
“That knight saved me! He even healed you, Captain!”
Peter Pan, still confused, glared at Zeke.
Zeke approached her slowly and spoke.
“Bill’s telling the truth. I broke the mind control on the merfolk pirates.”
Peter Pan’s voice returned to its deep resonance.
“A human, as wicked as they come, wouldn’t help without a reason!”
“I agree that humans can be wicked. And yes, I have my reasons for helping.”
Zeke’s agreement seemed to catch Peter Pan off guard.
“Peter Pan, I have something to ask you.”
Zeke showed her the glove on his hand.
Peter Pan’s eyes sharpened instantly.
Water swirled around her, forming the shape of a giant sea serpent.
“Cursed Draker kin! Are you allied with the Knight of Slaughter?”
Zeke remained calm, even as the sea serpent loomed threateningly.
“My name is Zeke Draker. I’m a direct descendant of Abel Draker, who attacked the merfolk, and a pureblood Draker.”
Peter Pan’s wariness intensified, and she pushed the water serpent forward.
Zeke spoke to her.
“Don’t you want to save the captured merfolk?”
Peter Pan’s eyebrows twitched at his words.
She shouted at Zeke.
“Don’t spout nonsense! I can’t trust a word from a human!”
“I’m not asking you to trust me. I’m proposing a deal for mutual benefit.”
Peter Pan hesitated at Zeke’s words.
Bill, standing nearby, spoke up.
“Captain, this knight seems trustworthy. He saved me several times on the way here. He even healed you when you were in bad shape. If he meant harm, he would’ve done it already.”
Peter Pan couldn’t refute Bill’s logic.
She turned back to Zeke and spoke.
“Damn human. Since you did save my comrades, I’ll hear you out. Speak.”
“First, Carly Draker. Is she still alive?”
Peter Pan, still suspicious, replied.
“She was alive when we were ambushed during our fight.”
“Was the ambush here in these ruins?”
“Get to the point, human! If you waste my time, I’ll drown you in the sea!”
Zeke felt a twinge of anxiety at the mention of Carly being ambushed.
“They must have attacked while you were distracted by the fight. If there was a hidden traitor like before, even Carly could be in danger.”
Especially if the attacker was a knight skilled in combat, Carly, despite being a red knight, would be at risk.
Zeke laid out his terms to Peter Pan.
“Help me rescue Carly Draker and get off this island, and I’ll ensure the safety of the captured merfolk from the Empire. I swear on my name.”
Peter Pan frowned at his words.
“You expect me to believe that?”
Zeke pulled out a pre-prepared contract from his inventory.
“This is a contract inscribed with an oath. You can write the terms as you wish. If I harbor any ill intentions, the oath will be nullified.”
Despite Zeke’s offer, Peter Pan remained skeptical.
“She’s quite distrustful.”
Zeke thought to himself, clicking his tongue inwardly, and spoke to Peter Pan.
“As merfolk, you wouldn’t want the deep-sea ruins defiled by humans, would you?”
Peter Pan was visibly startled by his words.
“How do you know about the deep-sea tribe?”
Zeke decided to fabricate a story to gain her trust.
“I inherited the legacy of the Hero King. He lamented the lost heritage of the sky and sea tribes and tasked me with ensuring their legacy continues.”
In truth, Kaishir had never mentioned the sky or sea tribes, nor did he care much about them.
He especially disliked the sea due to severe seasickness.
However, the mention of the Hero King seemed to change Peter Pan’s expression slightly.
“Are you really the successor of the Hero King?”
“Yes, I am.”
Peter Pan studied Zeke for a moment before speaking in her resonant voice again.
“If you’re truly the Hero King’s successor, you should be able to command all four elemental spirits. Prove you can control the water spirit, and I’ll believe you.”
Zeke frowned at her demand.
“Spirits? What is she talking about?”
Despite being trained by Kaishir, Zeke had never heard of spirits, nor had he ever seen a spirit user.
As Zeke hesitated, Peter Pan’s expression turned to one of expected disappointment.
“Cunning human. I knew you were trying to deceive me…”
In that moment, Zeke drew his sword and activated the Field of Hydropower.
Whoosh—
As Zeke’s sword moved like a wave, the water droplets Peter Pan had summoned began to gather around it.
Crash!
The droplets coalesced into a massive wave in the air.
When Zeke swung his sword, the sea serpent dissolved into droplets and scattered.
Peter Pan’s mouth fell open in disbelief, and she spoke in her natural voice.
“Unbelievable. Are you really the Hero King’s successor?”
Zeke sheathed his sword and looked at Peter Pan.
“Do you believe me now?”
Though he spoke calmly, Zeke was inwardly relieved.
With the Elemental Sword upgraded to SS rank, his ability to manipulate elemental forces had strengthened, allowing him to command even the water spirit.
“I didn’t know the Elemental Sword had this capability.”
Just then, Peter Pan clasped her hands over her chest and began chanting.
”●○●● ●● ●● ●●●…”
The incantation was unintelligible, and the system didn’t translate it, suggesting it was a spell rather than a language.
Soon, water droplets gathered before Peter Pan, slowly forming a shape.
It was a small, winged female figure, resembling a fairy from legends.
Peter Pan addressed the water-formed fairy.
“Undine, can he really control the water spirit?”
The spirit, called Undine, flew over to Zeke.
Whoosh!
Zeke, seeing a water spirit for the first time, found it fascinating.
The spirit circled Zeke, seemingly sniffing him, before returning to Peter Pan to whisper something.
“What is it?”
After hearing Undine, Peter Pan still looked at Zeke with suspicion.
Undine, having finished her message, perched atop Peter Pan’s head.
Peter Pan spoke to Zeke in his natural voice, not the usual hum.
“Well, since the undine says you smell nice, I’ll at least hear you out.”
Zeke looked at Peter Pan, bewildered.
“I’m glad you’ll listen, but… can we really trust just the spirit’s word?”
Peter Pan shot Zeke a sharp look.
“Don’t think I’m doing this because I want to! If a spirit finds you approachable, it means your soul is clean. That’s why I’m willing to listen. Don’t get the wrong idea!”
Zeke shrugged at Peter Pan’s words.
“A clean soul? Not sure what that’s supposed to mean.”
As their bickering subsided, Bill let out a sigh of relief.
Zeke, still curious, turned to Peter Pan, who was accompanied by the undine.
“Peter Pan, are you not a merfolk?”
“No, I am.”
“Are you one of those legendary mermaids? I heard they look human until they enter the sea.”
Peter Pan looked slightly surprised at Zeke’s comment.
“You know about that? Drakers sure know a lot.”
“There’s a lot of strange prejudice about Drakers. It’s not because I’m one.”
Peter Pan chuckled softly.
“I am a mermaid. It’s an ancestral trait that emerged.”
‘Ancestral trait,’ Zeke thought.
It referred to the phenomenon where descendants inherit strong bloodline abilities or extinct racial traits.
‘I think I understand why Peter Pan became the pirate king in a past life.’
It seemed there was some connection between her deep-sea lineage and this island of the sea god.
‘I’m curious about the relationship between the sea god and the deep-sea folk, but that’s not the priority right now.’
Zeke asked Peter Pan, “Where is Carly Draker?”
Peter Pan turned her head to look at the knight Zeke had defeated earlier. She pointed at him and said, “I had Carly Draker held with a water spirit, but those guys suddenly attacked.”
Just as Zeke suspected, spies had been planted in the Silver Knights to strike at a critical moment.
“Is Carly Draker okay?”
“She seemed as surprised as I was by their strange power. Suddenly, I felt weak and couldn’t summon the spirits. Most of those knights followed the Silver Knight… I can’t be sure.”
It meant the knights who attacked Carly could also use combat techniques.
‘How many of those guys are there?’
Seeing the night killers with magic bullets and knights skilled in combat techniques, it was clear Siemens’ true power was greater than known.
Zeke spoke to Peter Pan, “Take me to where Carly Draker was attacked. We must save her. If we don’t, not just the merfolk, but the entire continent will be drenched in blood.”
Peter Pan frowned at Zeke’s words.
She gestured for him to follow.
“This way. The Silver Knight was attacked over there. She probably fled in a different direction from me.”