Episode 328
Crash!
The news that saving Abel was impossible was too much for Ramon Jimenez to bear. His suppressed energy burst forth, striking the solid walls of the stone chamber.
Cracks spread across the walls from the force of Ramon’s energy.
Despite Ramon’s reaction, the priest spoke in a calm voice.
“Ramon Jimenez, you know as well as I do that bringing the dead back to life is beyond any power.”
“The ‘Book of the Dead’ you worship was created for that very purpose, wasn’t it?” Ramon retorted.
The priest’s eyes flashed red at Ramon’s words.
“Knowing it’s impossible and still insisting otherwise—is that the stubbornness unique to humans? I thought you were different, Ramon Jimenez.”
“Spare me the nonsense. First Cain, now Abel. If all the vessels are gone, it’s not just me who’ll be in trouble. You seem awfully calm. Have you secretly prepared another vessel?”
“There are no more vessels. Few humans can withstand the heart of the cursed dragon.”
“Then what do you plan to do? Are you giving up on your goal?”
The priest shook his head.
“You misunderstand me. I said reviving Abel Draker is impossible, not that our plan is.”
“Are you playing word games with me? If you can’t bring Abel back, how do you intend to achieve your goal?”
“Exactly as I said. Abel Draker’s soul is gone. If we were to revive him, he wouldn’t be Abel Draker. We can preserve the body until everything is ready and use it as a vessel at the final moment.”
Ramon frowned at the priest’s words.
“So, reviving him is possible?”
“This body, influenced by the cursed dragon’s heart, is close to that of a dragonkin. Dragonkin bodies tend to absorb the power of souls.”
“Enough with the useless talk. Get to the point.”
“Using a fragment of the soul within the dragonkin’s body, we can revive it. But it won’t be the Abel Draker you knew.”
A being that is Abel, yet not Abel.
Ramon pondered the priest’s words before asking, “Will that affect the second baptism?”
“I can’t guarantee it won’t, but it’s not impossible.”
After a moment of deliberation, Ramon made a swift decision and spoke to the priest.
“Awaken the body. I need the semblance of Abel Draker, at least for now.”
The priest looked at Ramon and said, “Are you sure? Once awakened, there’s no turning back.”
“Do it. We can’t proceed with a dead body. For your goals to be realized, my plan must succeed as well.”
The priest nodded. “Understood. I’ll tell you what you need. Prepare accordingly.”
Ramon glanced at Abel’s body lying on the stone altar, then turned and left the chamber. Outside, he addressed the waiting mages.
“Gather everything that’s needed.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Is there still no connection with the Rider of Blood and Madness?”
The mages, sweating nervously, replied, “It seems there might be an issue with the very source of the constellation…”
They had tried to test the weapon, only to lose connection with the Rider of Blood and Madness, who had been supplying power to it.
Ramon thought of the cause. “Zeke Draker…”
He had underestimated Zeke as a mere nuisance, but Zeke was disrupting his plans at every turn.
Ramon recalled the intelligence that Zeke Draker was heading to the Holy Kingdom.
“That will be your grave.”
The journey from Iason to the Holy Kingdom wasn’t far, so the fleet carrying the knights reached the kingdom’s port in just three days.
But as they approached the port, something felt off.
“Prepare for battle,” Zeke ordered.
Both the Black Sword Knights and the Silver Knights tensed, readying themselves.
Despite it being midday, the port was shrouded in thick fog, casting a gloomy atmosphere with no sign of life.
Zeke scrutinized the port and spoke to Xeros. “Xeros, can you clear that fog?”
“I’ll try to secure our vision first.”
Xeros raised his staff, focusing his magic.
Whoooosh!
A powerful wind began to blow, dispersing the fog around the port.
Rumble!
But soon, the fog swirled back, reclaiming its place.
Xeros shook his head. “My lord, it seems that fog is conjured by magic.”
“At that scale, it can’t be ordinary magic.”
“Indeed, it appears a large-scale climate spell was activated using a magic circle.”
The fog was intentionally summoned to obscure vision and block enemies from entering the port.
“The orcs use magic, but not like this. This is the Empire’s doing.”
Sending the orc army to invade the Holy Kingdom was undoubtedly the Emperor’s scheme.
Zeke realized they needed to secure the port first.
“Don’t dock the ships yet. Wait here. Shadia, come with me. Xeros, cover me from behind.”
He turned to the barbarians lounging nearby.
“You guys, come along.”
The barbarians jumped up eagerly. “Good. We were getting bored.”
After their minds were freed, the barbarians had been told to return to their village, but they chose to stay with the knights, preferring the constant battles.
Zeke, seeing their enthusiasm, provided them with tough monster-hide clothing and sturdy clubs made by Gelion.
Armor was pointless for the hardy barbarians, who were more excited to use their new clubs.
Zeke led the excited barbarians, Shadia, and Xeros onto a small boat, heading into the fog-covered port.
As soon as they entered the port, Zeke noticed familiar signs.
“There are beasts here.”
The orcs captured beasts to use as weapons against their enemies.
Sure enough, from beyond the fog, wolf-like beasts bared their teeth and charged at Zeke’s group.
Raaaawr—
Before anyone else could react, the barbarians rushed forward, fists flying at the beasts.
Crunch!
With a single punch, a beast was reduced to chunks.
“Weren’t we supposed to use the clubs?”
“Oh, right. Forgot.”
Despite their excitement for the new weapons, the barbarians were still more accustomed to using their fists.
Zeke’s group, with the barbarians leading, began to explore the port.
Once bustling with hundreds of ships daily, the port now felt utterly deserted.
Zeke scanned the area, using his dragon senses to read the memories imprinted on the ground and buildings.
Fragments of memories surfaced in Zeke’s mind.
“They haven’t killed the people yet. They’ve been loaded onto carts and taken somewhere. Not as hostages… likely as sacrifices for summoning demons or creating bloodstones. Or for some other dark magic.”
Human souls were valuable commodities as sacrifices.
To the Emperor, who invaded the Holy Kingdom for immortality, the captured prisoners were nothing more than prime offerings.
Zeke didn’t know how the Emperor planned to achieve immortality using the relics of the first Holy King, but it was clear demons were involved.
“Just like they tried to seize the relics, someone among the demons or constellations might have ordered the Emperor to retrieve the Holy King’s artifacts.”
Zeke decided to head deeper into the port to destroy the magic circle generating the fog.
Xeros, sensing the flow of magic, pointed in a direction. “My lord, there’s a strong magical presence over there.”
“Good, Xeros and I will lead the way.”
Zeke instructed Shadia and the barbarians to cover the rear as he and Xeros headed toward the magic circle.
Then, something approached through the thick fog.
Thud! Thud!
Clank! Clank!
An orc unit, clad in heavy steel armor and armed with shields and battle axes, emerged.
Spotting Zeke’s group, the orcs let out a battle cry.
“Kill them!”
As the orcs charged with raised axes, Zeke unleashed his Lightning Hell.
Crackle—
In an instant, five skills combined, and a dozen orcs lost their balance, falling directly into the path of the lightning.
“Ugh!”
Watching the orcs foam at the mouth and collapse, Xeros exclaimed in awe.
“The new technique you learned with the Fairy King’s blessing… it’s incredible. It resembles dragon magic.”
The new combo skill, based on Xeros’s theories, was a recreation of dragon magic, so it was no wonder it seemed similar.
Not wanting Xeros to probe further, Zeke quickly dispatched the electrocuted orcs and pressed on.
With his dragon eyes, he spotted a massive magic circle set up in the central plaza inside the port.
The problem was the hundreds of orc soldiers and beasts guarding the magic circle.
Zeke noticed mages managing the magic circle scattered around.
“They don’t seem like abyss mages. More like imperial mages.”
Zeke spoke to Xeros and Shadia.
“Xeros, I’m going to remove my gloves to disrupt the magic. You need to move beyond the range and use your spells to lure the orcs away. Shadia, once the mist clears, help the ship land. Secure the harbor as soon as the knights disembark.”
“Understood, my lord.”
After confirming Shadia’s nod, Zeke signaled the barbarians to hold their position and used stealth to approach the magic circle.
Just as he had seen from the outside, a significant number of orcs were stationed there.
‘Using summoned creatures would be easier, but if rumors spread that I’m leading an undead army, it could become a real headache. Better to avoid that here.’
The Holy Kingdom was particularly sensitive to dark magic and the undead, more so than other places.
With no other choice, Zeke summoned invisible ghost soldiers to scout the area.
Orcs were stationed around the magic circle, with mages managing it from behind.
Zeke moved silently toward the orcs, who were oblivious to his presence, grumbling among themselves.
“At least we’re in the rear. Those who went to the front with the special forces are just arrow fodder.”
“Yeah, that’s true. It was great when we left the forest, but now we can’t even raid, just running around like this. Damn it.”
Orcs were a race driven by a primal urge for destruction.
They had a habit of seizing enemy lands, building fortresses, and leaving their mark.
They thrived on endless destruction and plunder.
Wherever they passed, only ruins and despair remained.
But human warfare was different. To minimize losses, they needed to subdue the enemy while preserving as much territory as possible.
The Empire’s forces captured humans from the Holy Kingdom for sacrifices and turned the land into strategic bases with magic circles, contrasting with the orcs’ destructive warfare.
This naturally led to discontent within the orc ranks.
‘It seems the orcs haven’t adapted to human tactics yet. This could be strategically advantageous.’
Listening to the orcs’ complaints, Zeke slipped past them and infiltrated the inner circle, identifying the mages’ positions.
He then gathered his energy and unleashed a magic suppression technique.
Crackle!
As the suppression field expanded from Zeke, the magic circle’s power began to backfire.
The mages managing the circle were caught off guard by the sudden disruption.
“What the hell! Damn it, is it acting up again? Check the control devices!”
As the mages scrambled to inspect the circle, the ghost soldiers, following Zeke’s command, launched their attack.
“Ugh!”
The mages fell with cries of agony as the ghost soldiers struck.
Realizing they were under attack, the mages tried to muster their magic for a counterattack.
But Zeke’s suppression technique rendered them powerless.
“This can’t be!”
As Zeke dropped his stealth and revealed himself, the mages shouted in alarm.
“Z-Zeke Draker!”