Episode 399

With a fiery burst, Zeke used his power over flames to pierce through the thick ice wall, following the light of the key that guided him.

The eternal snow, as hard as steel, was notoriously difficult to handle. Zeke couldn’t help but sigh in relief, grateful for his ability to wield the power of fire.

It was said that in ancient times, there was a technique to craft weapons from this eternal snow, but that knowledge had long been lost, surviving only as legend.

Zeke, along with Carmilla and the others, ventured deeper into the cave of eternal snow.

The ceiling and walls were studded with sharp ice formations, beautiful to behold but dangerous enough to cut or pierce if one wasn’t careful.

A wound here would mean instant necrosis from the cold, necessitating amputation, making it a perilous journey.

Yet, the light of the key continued to point them further down into the cave, leaving them no choice but to press on.

As Zeke cautiously descended into the icy depths, he soon discovered a long corridor.

“Traces of an ancient ruin,” he thought.

This was no naturally formed cave but an artificially constructed passageway.

What was remarkable was that the structure was made not of stone or wood, but of processed eternal snow, stacked like bricks—a testament to an incredible ancient technology.

“With such skill, crafting weapons from eternal snow must have been possible,” Zeke mused.

While it was uncertain how well eternal snow would hold up in warmer regions, it was certainly useful in the north.

As he marveled at the mystical sight, Zeke sensed something ahead as he continued down the ice-walled corridor.

“Is it a guardian?” he wondered.

If this was indeed the tomb of Caligula, created by an Elder Dragon, it was likely guarded against intruders.

But what appeared before Zeke was not a guardian.

Instead, delicate snowflakes began to swirl chaotically around him.

Carmilla, surprised, exclaimed, “Snow spirits… They’re rare these days. Fascinating.”

Realizing they were snow spirits, Zeke observed them closely. The spirits seemed particularly drawn to him.

Nikki, watching enviously, reached out to touch them, but the spirits deftly avoided her hand.

Carmilla shook her head. “We deal with the dead, so spirits tend not to like us. But Zeke Draker seems to be an exception. It’s rare for spirits to be so fond of a human.”

Zeke had a hunch about why this was. “It must be the Elemental Sword,” he thought. “I can wield elemental power, a force of nature.”

Without saying much, Zeke continued forward.

As they progressed, more snow spirits appeared throughout the ruins, welcoming Zeke wherever he went.

Nikki watched him with envy, but there was nothing she could do.

As they walked along the corridor, accompanied by the snow spirits, a massive door loomed before them.

Zeke could feel a powerful dragon’s aura emanating from it.

“Is this the power of the Elder Dragon?” he wondered.

Carmilla stepped forward, reaching out to the door. She murmured something in an ancient tongue, drawing upon her bloodline magic.

But the door remained firmly shut.

Carmilla frowned. “It seems this door wasn’t made by vampires.”

Bacchus looked at her. “Even with your power, you can’t open it?”

Carmilla nodded. “The magic is on a completely different level. Even if we brought all the mages from Nirvana, I’m not sure they could decipher the spell on this door.”

Bacchus’s expression hardened. “If it’s such powerful magic, it must be the work of a dragon.”

Carmilla nodded. “If, as Zeke said, the Elder Dragon sealed it, then it must be his magic.”

While Carmilla and Bacchus discussed the magic seriously, Zeke accessed the system.

“System, open that door for me.”

[The Advanced Administrator System detects the secure area ‘Caligula’s Tomb.’]

[The Advanced Administrator System attempts to connect.]

[The secure area recognizes the Advanced Administrator.]

[Access to ‘Caligula’s Tomb’ is denied.]

Seeing the rejection message, Zeke retrieved the key from his inventory.

“System, try connecting again using this.”

[The Advanced Administrator System attempts to reconnect.]

[The secure area ‘Caligula’s Tomb’ verifies the authentication key.]

[The access code for ‘Caligula’s Tomb’ is confirmed.]

[The user’s title ‘Blessed by the Ancient Dragon’ is recognized.]

[The seal on the secure area is released.]

[Access to ‘Caligula’s Tomb’ is granted.]

As the message confirmed access, the massive door began to slide open with a rumble.

A powerful chill emanated from within.

As Zeke approached, Carmilla stared in disbelief at the now-open door.

“How… how did you open that door?”

Zeke scratched his head. “I just touched it, and it opened.”

Carmilla’s eyes widened in shock. “Touched it? Could it be related to the blessing of the Fairy King? Did the door recognize the blessing and open automatically…?”

Not wanting to waste time on further speculation, Zeke gestured to her. “The door’s open, so we should go in. It might close again soon.”

At his words, the group quickly entered the tomb.

Inside, the cold was even more intense than outside.

Even the vampires, resistant to cold, shivered.

Caligula’s Tomb, like the exterior, was constructed from eternal snow.

The walls were adorned in an ancient style, reminiscent of the golden city of Blanca where Hades was imprisoned.

“Was this built during the Age of Constellations?” Zeke wondered.

If so, it made sense that they had the technology to work with eternal snow.

As they admired the crystalline beauty of Caligula’s Tomb, Zeke and his companions ventured further inside.

They soon came upon a vast chamber with a massive altar at its center.

The sight of the temple-like structure captivated everyone.

Zeke turned to Carmilla. “I think it would be best if just the two of us proceed from here.”

Carmilla nodded in agreement.

Leaving Icarus with Bacchus, Zeke and Carmilla ascended the altar’s steps.

After climbing hundreds of steps, they reached the top, where a coffin bound in chains lay.

Carmilla shivered at the sight. “Caligula’s coffin. The legend is true.”

Together, they approached the coffin.

Carmilla nodded as she sensed the vampire’s power emanating from it.

She drew a dagger from her cloak, slicing her palm and letting her blood drip onto the coffin.

Closing her eyes, she chanted in the ancient tongue, and the blood began to move, forming geometric patterns.

The patterns spread across the coffin.

As Carmilla’s incantation reached its peak, the coffin began to tremble.

The chains rattled violently.

But despite the vibrations, the coffin remained unchanged.

Sweat beaded on Carmilla’s forehead as she focused all her energy on breaking the seal.

Then, suddenly, something unexpected happened.

With a loud crack, Carmilla was thrown back by a forceful rebound.

Zeke leaped into the air, catching her before she hit the ground, and landed safely.

Bacchus and Nikki rushed over.

“Mother!”

Zeke checked Carmilla’s condition, using his healing factor to ensure she was unharmed.

Fortunately, she seemed only to have fainted from the mental shock.

Carmilla slowly opened her eyes, her voice trembling. “The being inside the coffin… it’s not the Vampire King.”

Bacchus, shocked, asked, “What do you mean, Mother? How can Caligula not be the Vampire King?”

Carmilla struggled to sit up. “It’s something beyond a vampire. I understand why it was sealed here. Just looking at it felt like my mind was being torn apart…”

With those words, she lost consciousness again.

Zeke, after ensuring she was stable, stood up slowly.

Bacchus, alarmed, addressed Zeke. “You don’t intend to break Caligula’s seal, do you?”

“We can’t just leave after coming this far,” Zeke replied.

Bacchus stood abruptly. “Even Mother, a progenitor, couldn’t withstand Caligula’s power! How can you, a human, hope to handle it?”

Zeke turned to Bacchus. “What do you think will happen if this power falls into the hands of someone like Siemens or Arthur?”

Carmilla had once glimpsed through a dream what would happen if someone else seized the power of Caligula.

The vision she saw was horrifying.

Cain, having claimed Caligula’s power, emerged in full force, massacring the humans of the central continent.

The events had been shrouded in mystery, which was why Zeke hadn’t known. But there was no doubt that the countless massacres in his past life had originated from Cain.

Bacchus couldn’t bring himself to respond to Zeke’s words.

Taking Bacchus’s silence as an answer, Zeke turned and ascended the altar once more.

The coffin lay still and silent, unlike before.

“A being beyond a vampire,” he mused.

Zeke approached the coffin slowly.

He then summoned the power of the Blood Eye.

A third eye, crimson and ominous, appeared on his forehead.

With the Blood Eye’s power, Zeke attempted to break the seal on the coffin.

The coffin began to vibrate violently, just as it had when Carmilla’s consciousness had unfolded.

Using the Blood Eye, Zeke forcibly broke the seal.

The chains rattled fiercely, more violently than before.

Realizing the chains were binding the coffin, Zeke drew Bahamut.

He poured all his strength into the sword and swung it at the chains.

The chains tightened around the coffin, resisting Zeke’s efforts, but they couldn’t withstand the power of Zeke’s sword, imbued with the energy of “Severance.”

Finally, Bahamut sliced through the chains encircling the coffin.

The severed chains were sucked into the coffin.

Moments later, the coffin began to shake even more violently.

The entire altar, and indeed the whole tomb, started to tremble.

Zeke drew more power from the Blood Eye.

And then it happened.

A black smoke billowed out from the coffin.

The smoke enveloped Zeke in an instant.

His vision went dark, and he couldn’t see a thing.

“It feels like the barrier used by the Knights of the Abyss,” he thought.

His sight was blocked, and all his senses felt stifled.

Zeke activated the Blood Eye to find a breach in the barrier.

As his consciousness pierced through the barrier, the surroundings changed.

“Where is this?”

He found himself in a grand hall, decorated in a style he had never seen before.

But it was old and crumbling, like the palace of a fallen kingdom.

A clattering sound drew his attention, and he turned to see someone sitting on a massive throne.

A man, bound by chains on his hands and feet.

A dangerous aura emanated from him.

Zeke approached the throne cautiously.

The man, with long hair cascading down, sat with his head bowed, showing no reaction as Zeke drew near.

Instinctively, Zeke felt he knew who this man was.

“Caligula.”

Zeke had entered the consciousness of the sealed vampire king.

He addressed Caligula directly.

“O King of Vampires.”

The chains clattered again.

Caligula slowly lifted his head.

Zeke was taken aback by what he saw.

“That thing on his forehead…?”

Caligula’s forehead bore another eye.

With a languid yet arrogant expression, Caligula looked down at Zeke.

Then he spoke, his voice heavy with authority.

“Do you dare to call me a mere king of the pale-faced tribe?”

Even speaking exerted a crushing pressure on Zeke.

“I am the great king of Shambhala, the ruler of all that is profane.”

Caligula’s eyes glowed red as he gazed at Zeke.

“I am Caligula, the true master of the Three-Eyed Clan, the Blood King.”