Episode 501
Rumble!
Duke glared at the oncoming chimeras and summoned a fierce gust of wind.
Crash!
With his sword in hand, Duke became a whirlwind, sweeping through the chimeras.
Smash!
The chimeras were caught in the storm, shattering and scattering in all directions.
Boom!
In an instant, Duke had dealt with the chimeras and was already approaching Zeke.
“Phew! It’s been a while since I’ve moved like that. I’m out of breath.”
Zeke looked at Duke, astonished.
“Master, how did you get here…?”
Duke pointed to one side.
Thud, thud, thud—
Through the dust, Zeke saw the Black Sword Knights he had summoned, battling the chimeras.
The knights, clad in newly enhanced armor, were handling the massive chimeras with ease.
“Over here, you bastards!”
Clad in armor, Clone flew around, smashing chimera heads with a mace.
Behind him, Pharrell and Felix followed, while from another direction, the Black Spirit members and the Barbarian unit led by Iron Fist, along with Zeroth’s magic unit, pushed the chimeras back.
Seeing this, Zeke finally relaxed.
Watching Zeke, who was still gripping his sword and swaying, Duke spoke.
“You’ve done well. We’ll take it from here, so you can rest easy now.”
Hearing Duke’s words, Zeke felt the tension leave his body, and he let himself drift into unconsciousness.
It was a relief he had never experienced in his previous life, where he had no comrades.
“Ugh.”
Zeke slowly regained consciousness and opened his eyes.
Struggling to sit up, he realized he was lying on a cot inside a tent.
‘This must be the Black Sword Knights’ camp.’
As Zeke got up and stepped outside, he saw the Black Sword Knights bustling around, just as he had expected.
“My lord!”
Felix and Liam rushed over as soon as they saw Zeke.
Liam quickly checked Zeke’s condition and asked, “My lord, are you alright?”
Zeke nodded.
“Yes, how long was I out?”
Felix answered immediately, “About a day!”
Liam added, “We’ve set up a base not far from the altar. We’ve dealt with the chimeras and the remnants of Siemens, and we’ve captured the prisoners.”
Zeke nodded in satisfaction at the efficient handling of the situation.
“Who’s at the site now?”
Liam replied, “Zeroth is there with other mages, inspecting the area.”
Zeke nodded. “Understood. I’ll hear the details directly. Please bring Duke here.”
Liam and Felix saluted and left.
Zeke sat in the tent, lost in thought for a moment.
Soon, Duke entered the tent.
“You should rest more. Why are you up already?”
“I’m fine. Please, have a seat. There’s something I need to tell you.”
Zeke offered Duke a seat and handed him a prepared cup of tea.
Then he got straight to the point.
“Abel Draker has been resurrected.”
“Cough!”
Duke choked on his tea, startled by Zeke’s words, and looked at him in disbelief.
“What did you say? Abel? Abel Draker has been resurrected?”
Zeke nodded.
“Ramon Siemens tried to summon the evil god Azitahaka, but instead, he ended up resurrecting Abel.”
Duke shook his head, finding it hard to believe.
“My goodness, Abel Draker. If he’s alive, things are going to get complicated.”
Though Abel had been exiled from Draker, he had been recognized for his royal lineage by Julius, the regent of the empire.
Duke frowned and said, “If Ramon Siemens uses him to rally Jupiter’s forces and persuade the empire’s nobles, it could become troublesome…”
If Abel joined forces with Castro Pollock and united the imperial army under Jupiter, the tide of war could change unpredictably.
But Zeke shook his head at Duke’s grave words.
“That won’t happen.”
“Why not? Ramon would certainly try…”
“Ramon Siemens was killed by Abel.”
Duke’s eyes widened in shock at Zeke’s revelation.
“Ramon was killed by Abel?”
“Yes, and the power of the evil god he wielded has now passed to Abel.”
Zeke gritted his teeth as he spoke.
“It was a trap from the start. They used Ramon Siemens’ ambition to resurrect Abel, who would become the vessel for the demon king, and plunge the continent into the flames of war…”
Zeke shuddered, recalling the horrors of the continental war he had witnessed in his past life.
‘I won’t let that happen this time.’
Hearing Zeke’s words, Duke massaged his temples, feeling a headache coming on, and spoke again.
“Phew, things are getting more complicated. So what happened to Abel? We’ve captured all of Siemens’ remnants here.”
Zeke’s expression darkened as he replied.
“The head of the Nostra family appeared and took him away.”
Duke’s face twisted in surprise at the sudden mention of the Nostra family.
“The mafia got involved out of nowhere?”
“They’re not just a mafia. I thought they only experimented with bloodline abilities, but they’ve been conducting chimera research. Moreover, there’s evidence that Arthur Draker was involved in the Nostra family’s chimera research through Howard Draker. I discovered this while setting a trap to capture Howard.”
Duke was taken aback by the connection between the Nostra family and Arthur Draker.
“Arthur made a deal with the Nostra family? For what?”
“I’m not sure what exactly they traded, but the fact that they had a chimera lab underground in Atlas and conducted enhancement experiments suggests Arthur Draker was protecting them.”
Duke nodded, frowning at Zeke’s words.
Arthur Draker, the head of the Draker family, couldn’t have been unaware of the Nostra family’s secret lab in Atlas.
After pondering for a moment, Duke looked at Zeke and said, “Huh… things have really gotten tangled. Why do you think the mafia took Abel?”
Zeke tapped his fingers on the table, deep in thought, before speaking slowly.
“Narak escaped midway, so I’m not sure yet. What’s clear is that the head of the Nostra family was involved in this ritual and knew about Abel’s resurrection.”
Zeke suspected that the Nostra family’s public image as a mafia organization was just a facade, and they were actually a secret organization that had existed for much longer.
‘I should ask the High Table. The head seemed to know Narak’s priest for a long time, so it’s possible the Nostra family has been around even before them.’
Having organized his thoughts, Zeke looked at Duke and said, “Master, please return to the Four Seasons Castle and monitor the elders’ council. The vote for Sister Kali’s succession as head of the family will happen soon, and we must ensure no dissent arises before then.”
Duke nodded and stood up.
“Alright, I understand. But are you sure about this? Passing the headship to Kali, I mean.”
Zeke nodded.
“Sister Kali is the right person to lead the Draker family. I believe she will erase the family’s long-standing infamy and restore it to its rightful place.”
Hearing Zeke’s words, Duke shook his head.
“Good grief. I always thought every human had desires. Most people pretend otherwise, but they usually give in at crucial moments. In that sense, Arthur was a man who was very true to his desires.”
Duke exhaled sharply and continued.
“But you, I really don’t understand. A person without desires… if such a person exists, it must be you.”
“No one is without desires. I have them too, of course. It’s just that being the head of the Draker family isn’t one of them.”
“That’s a difficult thing to say. Being the head of the Draker family means there’s almost nothing you can’t achieve.”
Zeke chuckled at that.
“Master, you’re not without desires either.”
Duke clicked his tongue at Zeke’s words.
“Ah, what a disciple who doesn’t understand his master’s heart. You fool! I’ve already achieved what I wanted. Meeting you, that is. Tsk, tsk.”
With those words, Duke left the tent.
Zeke pondered Duke’s last words.
Duke’s desire had been to find a disciple who could perfectly inherit his wind technique.
It was such a difficult skill to master that he thought it would die with him, but then Zeke, a once-in-a-lifetime genius, appeared and learned it, fulfilling Duke’s desire.
Thanks to Zeke, Duke had also overcome his trauma and regained the power of the Black Knight.
Though he hadn’t thought about it before, Zeke realized he was an extraordinary and remarkable disciple in Duke’s eyes.
Understanding Duke’s words, Zeke scratched his head awkwardly.
‘Master really has no desires. To call that a desire…’
Zeke decided he should send Duke some good liquor later and stood up.
Just then, someone entered the tent.
“Master.”
It was Zeroth and Jason, who had gone out to investigate the site.
Zeke welcomed Xeroth and gestured for him to take a seat.
“So, how are things on the ground?”
Xeroth placed the report he had brought in front of Zeke and summarized the key points.
After listening to Xeroth’s explanation, Zeke frowned.
“So, all traces of them have vanished?”
“The magical disturbances were so intense that it’s been difficult to find any remaining traces. However…”
Xeroth pointed to a section of the report.
“There was one trace we managed to find.”
“One trace, you say. What is it?”
“It’s related to spatial movement. Jason stumbled upon it by chance.”
Xeroth turned his head towards Jason, who looked slightly nervous.
“Well, Master, it’s a bit complicated to explain…”
“I don’t need the complicated version. Just give me the gist.”
“Uh, right. So, um… while examining the non-linear traces left on the ground, I applied the uncertainty principle I’ve been researching and managed to backtrack it…”
Jason struggled to simplify his explanation, then gave up and looked at Zeke.
“I discovered the trace of spatial movement caused by a bloodline ability using a rather ingenious method.”
Zeke felt that Jason’s explanation left out a lot, but he let it slide.
“Even if I don’t understand the method, it’s good news that you found a trace.”
Jason beamed with pride at Zeke’s praise.
Xeroth nodded in agreement.
“It’s undoubtedly a significant achievement. If we can formulate this into a theory, it might be possible to detect bloodline ability traces with magic.”
Zeke’s expression turned serious at Xeroth’s words.
“Are you saying we could use magic to track spatial movement traces?”
Xeroth nodded.
“Yes, boss. If we can achieve that, it would allow us to anticipate and defend against bloodline abilities with magic.”
The terrifying aspect of bloodline abilities was their unpredictability and the lack of effective countermeasures.
While only a few, like the elite bloodline users of the Nostra family, posed a real threat to knights, those enhanced by special means, including the top boss, were formidable even for Zeke.
If magic could counter these abilities, dealing with bloodline users would become much easier.
Zeke nodded at Xeroth, clearly pleased.
“This is excellent news. Jason, work with Feynan on developing the necessary formulas.”
“Understood, boss.”
With that settled, Zeke turned back to the matter at hand and addressed the mages again.
“So, where does this trace lead?”
Xeroth spoke slowly.
“To the Kingdom of Thebea, Master.”