Episode 70

Whoooosh!

Zeke led Felix toward Agamemnon Castle.

Just as the Syndicate branch leader had warned, the path to the castle was completely blocked. They had to abandon their carriage midway and continue on foot.

“Master, this place gives me the creeps,” Felix muttered.

The path was overgrown with twisted trees and tangled thorny vines, making it nearly impossible for anyone to pass. Zeke and Felix had to hack their way through with daggers, carving a path as they went.

After much struggle, they finally stood before the imposing gates of Agamemnon Castle.

At Zeke’s nod, Felix stepped forward and knocked on the door.

Thud! Thud!

Dust cascaded from the door, suggesting it hadn’t been opened in ages.

When there was no response, Felix called out, “Sir Zeke Draker, pureblood awakener of the Draker family and the youngest knight to achieve the Blue Rank on the continent, requests an audience with the Agamemnon family!”

After several more knocks, there was finally a stir from within.

Creeeeak!

The door opened to reveal an old woman in a maid’s uniform, her hair a ghostly gray and her eyes clouded with cataracts. Her skin was as gnarled as ancient bark.

“Did you say Sir Zeke Draker?” she rasped, her voice like nails on a chalkboard.

Felix shivered at the sight of the eerie old woman, but Zeke stepped forward.

“I am Zeke Draker. I wish to meet the head of the Agamemnon family.”

The old woman shuffled closer, her long, bony fingers reaching out to trace Zeke’s face. Felix moved to intervene, but Zeke held up a hand to stop him.

After a moment, the old woman let out a strange, wheezing laugh.

“Heh heh heh!”

It sounded like a donkey on the verge of collapse.

“Come in,” she said, gesturing for them to follow.

Inside, the castle was thick with dust and cobwebs, as if it hadn’t been cleaned in years. The furniture was draped in cloth, adding to the eerie atmosphere.

Felix, feeling a chill run down his spine, whispered to Zeke, “Master, something’s not right here.”

“I know,” Zeke replied. “But Felix, could you give me some space?”

The old woman lit an ancient lantern and led them up a narrow spiral staircase. Zeke followed, taking note of the castle’s age and construction.

“This place must be over a thousand years old,” he mused.

They reached a narrow hallway and were led to a room where a long dining table was set. Ghostly figures with disheveled white hair and sunken eyes sat around it, dressed in tattered noble attire.

Felix recoiled in shock. “Master, they’re ghosts!”

Zeke pressed his foot down on Felix’s to keep him from bolting.

He approached the spectral elders and bowed. “I am Zeke Draker, here to pay my respects to the elders of the Agamemnon family.”

The ghostly elders remained silent.

The maid returned, carrying a tray of soup that emitted a peculiar aroma. She placed bowls in front of the ghosts and then set two more for Zeke and Felix.

“Enjoy your meal,” she cackled.

Zeke gave Felix a look, and reluctantly, Felix sat down. He stirred the soup, its contents unidentifiable and thick.

The ghostly elders ate in silence, and Zeke followed suit, spooning the soup into his mouth.

Felix hesitated, then took a cautious sip. “Ugh!”

The taste was unbearable. Yet, beside him, Zeke ate with perfect composure.

Watching Zeke, Felix steeled himself. “This is just another trial on the path to becoming a great knight,” he thought, forcing himself to swallow.

Once they finished, the maid collected the bowls. The ghost at the head of the table fixed Zeke with a hollow stare.

Zeke addressed him, “I have a request for the head of the family.”

The ghost remained silent.

“I seek the support of the Agamemnon family as a direct descendant,” Zeke continued.

At this, the ghostly elders’ eyebrows twitched ever so slightly.

The maid’s eerie laughter echoed again. “Heh heh heh!”

Suddenly, the head ghost stood up, startling Felix with his unexpected height.

The ghost turned and walked away, and Zeke followed. Felix, trembling, trailed behind.

The tall ghost led them down a dark corridor to a room filled with books. Zeke noticed a painting on one wall.

“Felix, shine the light over there,” Zeke instructed.

Felix did as he was told, revealing a gruesome scene of people dying, blood spilling everywhere.

Felix nearly dropped the lantern in shock. “What kind of twisted taste is this?”

The tall ghost approached the painting, a long, sharp rod in hand. Felix moved to protect Zeke.

“Master, I’ll hold him off! Run!”

Zeke placed a reassuring hand on Felix’s shoulder. “It’s fine, Felix. Stand down.”

The ghost used the rod to flip the painting, revealing another image: a lakeside scene with bodies being discarded, the water a deep crimson.

Zeke studied the painting closely. “Is that…?”

The ghost turned to Zeke, his mouth opening to reveal a shriveled black tongue.

A chilling, wind-like sound escaped his lips, followed by a voice that seemed to tear from his throat.

“The family symbol! Gone! Cursed! No heir! Curse! All die here! Die!”

Felix’s legs gave out beneath him at the inhuman voice.

Zeke remained calm. “Are you saying the family symbol is missing, and thus there’s no heir?”

The ghost nodded.

Felix gaped at Zeke. “How did he understand that?”

Zeke seemed to have realized something and led Felix out of the library.

“Master, this place really is cursed. Maybe we should just go back to Atlas…”

Before Felix could finish, the maid appeared in the hallway.

“Heh heh heh!”

Zeke addressed her, “I have a question. Did the family symbol sink to the bottom of the lake?”

The maid nodded, her expression shifting from a grin to a stony mask.

Zeke reassured her, “It’s alright. Lead the way.”

The maid stared at Zeke, then a strange sound escaped her lips.

“Cough, cough! Heh heh! The child with black eyes will heh heh! restore the family!”

She turned and walked away.

“Let’s follow her,” Zeke said to Felix.

Felix, drenched in cold sweat, followed Zeke closely.

How long had they been walking through the labyrinthine corridors, following the old woman? Eventually, the three of them found themselves standing before a small door that led outside the castle.

The old woman opened the door for them.

Zeke turned to her and said, “We can find our way from here.”

The old woman nodded her head in acknowledgment.

As Zeke and Felix stepped outside, the door slammed shut behind them with a loud bang.

“Master, this place is really strange,” Felix muttered, his voice tinged with unease.

Zeke, focused on his map to find the path to the lakeside, replied calmly, “Stop complaining and follow me, Felix.”

With the map as their guide, Zeke led Felix through a landscape tangled with bizarre shrubs and thorny thickets, climbing up a steep hill.

After a long climb, a vast lake came into view.

Felix gaped at the sight. “Wow, I’ve never seen a lake this big before.”

He hadn’t expected to find such a place atop the hill.

Zeke crouched down to inspect the lake’s water. It reeked and was murky.

He recalled the painting he had seen earlier, the image of someone clutching something as they leapt into the lake.

Zeke suspected there was a connection between the painting the old man had shown him and the curse of the Agamemnon family.

“Seems like I’ll have to go in to find out,” he thought.

After a moment’s consideration, Zeke opened his item shop and purchased a potion called “Whale’s Breath,” which would allow him to breathe underwater.

He turned to Felix. “I’m going into the lake. It might take a while, so wait here.”

Felix protested, alarmed, but he couldn’t dissuade Zeke, who had already made up his mind.

Zeke handed Felix some camping gear from his inventory, drank the potion, and dove into the lake.

The lake was as deep as it was vast.

Using his Dragon’s Eye skill, Zeke enhanced his vision.

“Let’s see what’s down here.”

He swam deeper into the lake, which seemed bottomless at first.

Finally, he reached the lakebed.

“Whew, it’s deeper than I thought.”

As he began to explore the lakebed, he stumbled upon something.

“Skeletons.”

Countless skeletons lay submerged beneath the lakebed.

Zeke examined their condition.

“They’ve been here a long time. At least fifty years, I’d say.”

He carefully navigated through the skeletons, searching for anything unusual.

Then he saw it.

Amidst the bones, something white was glowing.

“What is that?”

Zeke approached the light slowly.

The glow seeped out from between the piled skeletons.

He moved the bones aside to get a better look.

To his surprise, one skeleton, unlike the others, was intact, clutching a glowing object in its hands.

It was a finely crafted golden mask.

“Is this the symbol of the Agamemnon family? It doesn’t seem like an ordinary artifact.”

He extracted the artifact from the skeleton’s grasp.

As soon as he did, the skeleton crumbled into dust, and the glow from the artifact vanished.

“What is this?”

Initially, he thought it was merely related to the Agamemnon family, but the energy it emitted felt strangely familiar.

Zeke examined the now dim mask closely and noticed a sun-shaped emblem etched on its forehead.

“It looks similar to the insignia of the Holy Kingdom.”

Just then, a rumbling sound echoed.

Something was rapidly approaching from behind Zeke.

A message window appeared before his eyes.

[You have detected an ancient dragon spawn corrupted by tainted energy.]