Episode 571
Bathory Basarab.
She was none other than the daughter of the Red King, Count Vlad Basarab.
Bathory glared at Zeke, gripping her axe tightly.
“Zeke Draker… you…”
“Let me ask again. Why did you get involved in this war? Was it truly under the Red King’s orders?”
Zeke spoke in a low voice, attempting to step closer to Bathory.
At that moment, the knights bound by a spell behind her struggled to break free, desperate to protect her.
“We must protect the Count!”
“Your Excellency! Let us handle this!”
They strained against their bonds, seemingly unconcerned about their own well-being, determined to free her.
Zeke clicked his tongue at the sight.
“The loyalty of your knights is impressive. I almost want to show them to my own order as an example.”
At his words, Bathory bit her red lips, then spoke in a low voice.
“You filthy Draker scum. You may intend to disgrace and kill me, but it won’t go as you plan.”
A sharp blade emerged from her wrist.
With eyes full of hatred and disdain, Bathory shouted at Zeke.
“I’ll curse you even from hell, Zeke Draker!”
She attempted to plunge the blade into her own neck.
Clang!
But before the blade could reach her throat, shadows conjured by Zeke wrapped around her neck and arms.
The power of the shadows prevented Bathory from harming herself.
“Ugh…”
The blade protruding from her wrist was consumed by the shadows, slowly disintegrating and vanishing.
Seeing this, Bathory’s face twisted in despair.
“Not even death is allowed… you intend to humiliate me further?”
Zeke looked at her, bewildered.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
He had never shown mercy to his enemies, but he had never slaughtered innocents or disgraced others.
Yet Bathory treated him as if he were the vilest of demons.
Bound by the shadows, she cried out.
“Do you think the atrocities committed by the Drakers will remain hidden forever? You killed my father, kidnapped our guardian dragon, and slaughtered innocent people! Then you erased it all with Draker’s power!”
Zeke furrowed his brow at her accusations.
“Look, I’m sorry, but I’ve never done such things. Why would I invade Basarab’s lands and kill the Red King? And a guardian dragon? Was there really a living dragon in Basarab’s territory?”
The words spilling from Bathory’s mouth were completely unexpected.
Her fierce voice cut through Zeke’s disbelief.
“You filthy Draker! I saw you with my own eyes, driving a sword into my father’s heart and chaining our guardian dragon! Denying it won’t erase the truth!”
Feeling the intensity of Bathory’s anger, Zeke realized something was amiss.
“Could it be?”
With a gesture, the shadows holding Bathory moved her closer to him.
She struggled, looking up at Zeke defiantly.
“No matter how you try to disgrace me, the spirit of Basarab and the Dracul Knights will never yield!”
“You’re saying things that could easily be misunderstood. Hold still for a moment.”
Zeke removed his glove and placed a finger on Bathory’s forehead.
The Dracul Knights, witnessing this, cried out with tears of blood.
“The demon Draker is using his vile power on Her Excellency!”
“We must stop him!”
“Your Excellency! Hold on! We’ll find a way…!”
Hearing their desperate voices, Zeke felt like the villain and clicked his tongue inwardly.
“I need to find out what’s really going on here.”
Suppressing his irritation, Zeke used the wisdom of the dragon to delve into Bathory’s memories.
A hum resonated as her memories flowed into his mind.
“Father!”
In front of Bathory, the Red King collapsed, a sword piercing his heart.
The one holding the sword turned to look at her.
It was none other than Zeke, his eyes gleaming with a dragon’s gaze.
“The bloodline of the Red King, is it?”
As Zeke pulled on the chains in his hand, a red-haired girl was dragged forward.
Bathory cried out at the sight of her.
“Eos!”
The girl was Eos, the guardian dragon of the Basarab family.
With chains around her neck, Eos spoke to Bathory.
“Bathory… run, run away!”
Watching them, Zeke sent a jolt of electricity through the chains.
Crackle!
Eos couldn’t withstand the power and collapsed with a groan.
Turning his cold gaze to Bathory, Zeke spoke.
“Bathory Basarab. My name is Zeke Draker. Remember this day well. And fear this power.”
Simultaneously, a dark aura surged from Zeke, seeping into Eos.
Her eyes turned black, and her body began to transform.
Rumble!
Eos returned to her true dragon form, exuding a powerful aura.
Even in her true form, the chains Zeke had wrapped around her neck remained.
As he mounted Eos, Bathory screamed in fury.
“Zeke Draker, I will have my revenge on you!”
“Amusing. I’ll be waiting for that day.”
With a mocking laugh, Zeke commanded Eos to unleash a devastating breath, obliterating the fortress walls.
Rumble!
Riding the dragon, Zeke vanished into the distance, leaving behind a scene of utter devastation. The Basarab people’s homes were completely destroyed that day.
As Zeke read through Bathory’s memories, he frowned.
“Has someone tampered with her memories?”
He examined them closely, noticing a subtle intrusion.
He immediately addressed the system.
“System, analyze the overlay in these memories.”
[Proceeding with analysis as per user’s request.]
The system completed its analysis and displayed a message before Zeke.
[Analysis complete. Contamination points in the memory have been identified. Would you like to purify them?]
Zeke promptly commanded purification through his authority.
[Using the power of purification to cleanse the contamination and restore the memories.]
A golden aura emanated from Zeke, spreading over Bathory and the Dracul Knights, who were weeping behind her.
The golden light washed over them, altering the atmosphere.
”…What is this?”
Bathory’s memories replayed rapidly.
The figure who had driven a sword into the Red King’s heart.
The face overlaid with Zeke’s began to change.
A man dressed like a Draker, wielding a black sword similar to Zeke’s.
Zeke, reviewing Bathory’s restored memories, clenched his jaw.
“Arthur Draker.”
Arthur Draker, presumed dead, had been the one to pierce the Red King’s heart, abduct the guardian dragon, and commit a brutal massacre.
He had then manipulated events to direct Bathory’s wrath towards Zeke.
Despite knowing how Arthur had maintained power within the Draker family, Zeke was appalled by his treachery.
At that moment, Bathory, having regained her true memories through purification, opened her eyes in shock.
“How… how is this possible?”
The sudden return of her real memories left her understandably bewildered.
Zeke released the shadows binding Bathory and extended a hand to her.
“Count, it seems we have much to discuss.”
Zeke entered the Dracul Knights’ camp set up within the canyon.
Sitting inside a tent, he waited for Bathory, admiring the meticulous plans and maps posted around.
“All this preparation just to capture me?”
With the Red King, Count Vlad, and the guardian dragon gone, the Dracul Knights, though renowned across the central continent, struggled to protect the autonomous city of Basarab without their leader.
Rebuilding the ruined city was challenging enough, and they couldn’t afford further chaos.
Thus, Bathory had no choice but to conceal the Red King’s death and use the dragon-infused artifact, Hersion, to impersonate him and protect the territory.
“And it worked to some extent.”
Even Zeke hadn’t suspected she wasn’t the Red King until he faced her directly.
Bathory’s mastery of the dragon’s power was formidable, making it difficult for others to discern the truth. However, Zeke, possessing the heart of an Elder Dragon, had sensed it.
“The Hersion Bathory wore… if it has such power, it likely came from a dragon that survived the Liberation War.”
It was probably a dragon as old as, or older than, Hades.
The fact that Arthur Draker had captured such a dragon was not a good sign.
“He killed the Red King but kept the dragon alive. He must have plans for it elsewhere.”
In the labyrinth of Siemens, traces of Arthur Draker were found even in the homunculus that attacked Zeke.
A homunculus of the Hero King, the heart of an Elder Dragon, and even a living guardian dragon.
No one knew exactly what Arthur Draker was planning, but it was clear it wouldn’t bode well for the continent.
As Zeke sighed and tried to organize his thoughts amidst the troubling situation, Bathory entered the tent.
The damage to Hershion from Zeke’s attack seemed to have healed over time, restoring it to its original state.
Though Bathory had regained her memories, she sat across from Zeke with a wary expression, as if she couldn’t fully trust him.
She looked at Zeke and spoke.
“I still can’t trust the Draker lineage.”
Zeke nodded in agreement.
“I’m glad we see eye to eye on that.”
He, too, found it hard to trust the Draker bloodline, so he responded without hesitation.
Bathory seemed momentarily taken aback by his candid reply but soon continued.
“Zeke Draker, if you haven’t tampered with my memories again, then the one who killed my father, kidnapped the guardian dragon, and massacred the people of Basarab must be Arthur Draker.”
“Yes, I only purified the corrupted memories. I didn’t alter anything.”
Zeke was telling the truth, but Bathory found it hard to accept.
He shrugged, acknowledging the seeds of distrust Arthur Draker had sown, and got to the point.
“Why did Arthur Draker kill the Red King and abduct the guardian dragon?”
Bathory furrowed her brow and replied.
“That’s what I want to ask. My father always maintained neutrality and declared he wouldn’t interfere as long as the autonomy of our lands was respected. We can’t understand why the Drakers would launch a surprise attack. Are you hiding something, deceiving everyone?”
Zeke shook his head.
“You know Arthur Draker is officially dead. The current head of the Draker family, Kali Draker, is trying to rectify the past wrongs committed by the Drakers.”
Bathory looked skeptical.
“The first thing Kali Draker did as head was to rally an alliance and attack Jupiter. It’s a different approach from Arthur Draker, but it’s similar to what the Drakers have always done—conquer and subjugate.”
Zeke found it momentarily difficult to counter her argument.
Despite the complex circumstances, Bathory’s words held some truth on the surface.
”…I can’t deny that. But you must understand, the former emperor of Rom and Siemens caused many problems. We chose the lesser evil to prevent the worst outcome.”
Bathory looked at Zeke and said.
“The lesser evil, huh? A convenient excuse for conquerors.”
Zeke shook his head at her scoffing remark.
“No, if we don’t stop them, even more terrifying conquerors will rise from below.”
Bathory frowned at his words.
“What do you mean?”
“The Demon King. The lords of the demon realm are trying to resurrect the Demon King. If that happens, there will be a war between the demon realm and the current world. And…”
Zeke met Bathory’s gaze and said.
“The one trying to start that horrific war is none other than Arthur Draker.”