Episode 243

Jik was taken aback by Yellin’s words.

“Are you saying there’s still a living dragon?”

Officially, after the Liberation War, dragons had vanished from the central continent. There were rumors of a few dragons existing in the distant Eastern Empire across the sea, but their existence was uncertain.

Yet, the idea that a living dragon resided in the Ishtar family’s underground labyrinth was hard to believe.

Jik composed himself and asked Yellin, “Are you saying the pact our ancestors made wasn’t to protect the Black River tribe’s territory, but rather related to the labyrinth’s dragon?”

“To be precise, the original pact was between the Black River tribe and the labyrinth’s dragon. Our ancestors temporarily took on the responsibility, but as they never returned, we’ve been bound by the pact ever since.”

If anyone other than Yellin, the young lord of Ishtar, had said this, Jik would have dismissed it outright.

He picked up Anexi’s dagger and asked Yellin, “Does this dagger, the symbol of the Black River, mean we can break the pact with the dragon?”

Yellin hesitated before speaking. “Actually… there’s a prophecy that’s been passed down in our family.”

“A prophecy?”

Jik fiddled with the Chronos watch, a keepsake from his mother, in his pocket. ‘Surely, this isn’t something my mother predicted too.’

“150 years ago, before you, Jik, a guest invited to the Ishtar main palace was that very prophet.”

Given the timeline, it wasn’t a prophecy by Laura Agamemnon.

Yellin continued, “The prophet said that when the lost symbol of the Black River reappears, the chains of the pact binding the Ishtar family will vanish.”

“Did you just wait for the symbol to appear based on the prophet’s words?”

“We’ve waited over two thousand years; a little more patience isn’t too much to ask, is it?”

In hindsight, it made sense. Breaking a pact with a dragon wasn’t something they could afford to be picky about. The Ishtar family must have clung to the prophet’s words like a lifeline.

Jik asked Yellin again, “Is that the end of the prophecy?”

She shook her head. “This part isn’t directly related to the Ishtar family, but the prophet also said, ‘When the symbol of the Black River appears alongside a new immortal power, the time of destruction will come, and the King in Yellow will rise again.’”

Jik swallowed hard at Yellin’s words. ‘Immortal power, destruction, the King in Yellow… It seems like all these prophecies are pointing to the same thing.’

Ever since learning that Siemens Apollyon, who sealed the divine dragon, was an immortal and had summoned the demon king, Jik had been feeling uneasy.

‘Could the King in Yellow, who brings destruction, have something to do with me?’

He hoped not, but the unsettling feeling lingered.

Then Yellin spoke up. “Sir Jik, I have a request. Would you accompany us to the main palace with the symbol?”

Jik pondered for a moment, then discreetly took out his compass, pretending to check something. The needle still pointed to Yellin.

‘To reach the Fairy Lake, I need to follow Yellin’s lead.’

He wasn’t sure what connection the Fairy Lake had with the labyrinth’s dragon, but there seemed to be no other way.

‘Going to the Ishtar main palace could also be a way to negotiate and call off the engagement. Breaking the chains of a pact that has bound the family for two thousand years might even put Ishtar in my debt.’

With Abel having become a Black Knight and received the title of Guardian Knight, if Jik could bring the Ishtar family, one of the transcendent families, to his side, it might help balance the increasingly tilted scales.

Jik nodded at Yellin. “Alright. Let’s go to the Ishtar main palace together.”

Yellin beamed at his words, her smile lighting up the entire meeting room.

Jik, momentarily dazed, quickly regained his composure and suggested they head to Mycenae the next day to use the portal to reach the Ishtar main palace.

“The terminal in Mycenae is under my ownership, so if we coordinate the coordinates with Ishtar, we should be able to open the portal.”

“Understood. I’ll contact the main palace in advance.”

Jik decided to leave for Mycenae with Yellin the next day and sent them off to the hotel first.

Only then could Jik finally make his way to the research lab where Feynman was.

As Jik entered the lab, Feynman and Gelion approached him with pale faces.

“Are you alright, my lord?”

“Master! Ishtar’s mystics, how did this happen?”

Jik reassured the visibly shaken Feynman and Gelion that everything had been resolved smoothly.

Given Ishtar’s secretive nature and the many rumors surrounding them, their reaction was understandable.

‘They wouldn’t believe me if I said the Ishtar family has elven blood.’

Jik decided to gloss over the details and instead laid out the artifacts he had brought from the Reversed Tower.

From cold-weather gear made from vampire rabbit fur to various artifacts, a treasure trove of ancient items spilled out.

Feynman and Gelion’s jaws dropped at the sight of the rare ancient items.

“Master, where on earth did you find these?”

“I was fortunate enough to discover an ancient ruin.”

Gelion swallowed hard at Jik’s words.

“Finding even a small ancient ruin is said to use up a lifetime’s worth of luck, but it seems you’ve been blessed with extraordinary fortune.”

Jik grinned at Gelion and placed the initial form of the Hersion armor worn by a goblin warrior and the Empire’s Hersion, taken from the Baptists, on the research table.

“Could you take a look at these?”

As Jik activated the initial form of the Hersion, Feynman looked intrigued.

“Fascinating. It resembles the activation form of a typical Hersion but is much simpler in structure.”

Gelion nodded in agreement. “Indeed. It seems to function solely to expand the protective area from its original shell form.”

Feynman and Gelion examined the armor, occasionally nodding in admiration or frowning in concentration.

Jik asked the two, who were pondering over the elven Hersion, “If this is the initial form of Hersion, is it possible to create armor of this level with current technology?”

Feynman pondered for a moment before slowly responding. “Master, to answer your question, yes, it’s possible.”

Feynman continued, “However… to be honest, it would be highly inefficient.”

“Inefficient? Why is that?”

Feynman gestured to Gelion, who removed the backplate of the Hersion, revealing a finely engraved magical drive plate.

The reason Hersion could transform from a shell form to other armor forms was due to the magical drive formula engraved on this plate.

Feynman pointed to the drive plate. “I recently learned through the Syndicate that the drive plate is the key to Hersion. The reason the Empire’s Hersion is so expensive is not only due to the rare materials used but also because the number of these drive plates is limited.”

“What do you mean by limited?”

“Most of the drive plates used in Hersion are repaired from those found in ancient ruins and then incorporated into newly made armor.”

“Is that true? Even for the Holy Kingdom or the Empire’s Hersion?”

“Yes. However, the Empire is far more advanced in utilizing these drive plates, which is why there’s a difference between their Hersion and that of the Holy Kingdom.”

Jik nodded, then asked, puzzled, “If the secret to Hersion’s creation was the drive plates found in ancient ruins, why didn’t other countries know about it? Surely the Empire and the Holy Kingdom weren’t the only ones to discover Hersion.”

“Since they’re already incredible artifacts, most wouldn’t think to dismantle them. Only the Empire or the Holy Kingdom, with their resources, would dare to take them apart, risking damage.”

Jik finally understood and nodded.

“So, you’re saying it’s impossible to create these drive plates from scratch?”

“With current technology, we can make drive plates, but it’s far less efficient. Achieving the same level of integration as ancient technology is extremely challenging.”

“How inefficient are we talking?”

“After learning about the drive plates, I researched it… It would take a 7th-circle mage three years to produce a drive plate with even less effectiveness than this one.”

Jik understood what Feynman was saying.

“That’s… really inefficient.”

“Yes. So, with a drive plate of this level of integration, it’s more beneficial to use it to create a new armor and upgrade to a better-performing Hersion.”

Jik tilted his head at Feynman’s words. “But why did the ancients use such a drive plate to make such a simple armor?”

This time, Gelion answered.

“My lord, while modern metallurgy has advanced beyond that of ancient times, making today’s armor more effective, the magic within them, as Lord Feynan mentioned, is superior in the ancient artifacts. That’s why regular weapons are more expensive now, but ancient artifacts fetch a higher price.”

Gellion’s explanation made Zeke nod in understanding.

“A time when metalwork was less advanced, but magic was more powerful.”

“There are several theories about why that is,” Gellion continued, “but the most plausible is that many magical tools from that era were crafted by dragons.”

“Dragons made them?” Feynan nodded.

“Yes. Dragons are the ones who taught humans magic and are considered its masters. For them, creating something like these activation plates would have been a simple task.”

“Are you saying dragons sat down and inscribed mana circuits onto these plates?”

“Without their involvement, achieving such a level of integration would be difficult.”

Zeke chuckled at the thought. Imagining a dragon meticulously etching activation formulas onto a plate seemed almost comical.

‘Well, back then, there were many contract dragons, so they might have done it for their contractors,’ he mused, recalling something Kaishir had once said. After the founding of the Chronos Kingdom, it became fashionable for dragons to form contracts with humans, so much so that each noble family had its own guardian dragon.

‘Eventually, they had to limit it to one dragon per family because there were so many contractors.’

For guardian dragons, providing this level of support for their contractor’s family wouldn’t have been too difficult, even in their polymorphed state.

Feynan looked at the early Hershion activation plate with a hint of regret.

“If only we had the annotated versions of these activation formulas, reproducing such plates with current technology wouldn’t be difficult.”

“What do you mean by annotated versions?” Zeke asked.

Feynan brought a magnifying glass to the plate and explained, “If you look here, you’ll see various magical circuits intricately intertwined. They’ve compressed high-level magic circles to increase density. If we had annotations explaining each circuit’s magic circle, we could recreate these plates.”

Zeke pondered for a moment. “If a dragon were to examine these plates, could they create such annotations?”

Feynan thought for a moment before nodding. “It’s likely. Dragons are the creators of magic, after all.”

Zeke nodded at Feynan’s response and picked up the activation plate attached to the armor. “I’ll hold onto this plate for now.”

With the plate in hand, Zeke addressed Feynan and Gellion. “I’ll bring this up again at the upcoming regular meeting, but we’re planning to establish a new base on an island in the southern sea.”

Feynan looked surprised. “Isn’t it difficult to access because of the Sea of Death?”

Zeke shook his head. “The southern sea has recently stabilized due to certain events. It should be safe now.”

Turning to Gellion, he said, “Gellion, I need to recruit dwarven manpower for developing the island. Can you manage that?”

Gellion nodded. “We have plenty of manpower for construction. What scale are you envisioning, my lord?”

Zeke thought for a moment before speaking. “Think of it as building a city.”

Gellion’s mouth fell open in surprise. “Understood. I’ll contact the northern regions and gather as many people as possible.”

Zeke decided it was time to summon Kei and the syndicate members hiding in the Cusco Kingdom to the southern island. Once developed, the island would undoubtedly become a hub for trade between the central and southern continents.

After giving detailed instructions to the two, Zeke left the laboratory. Waiting for him at the mansion was a familiar and welcome face.