Chapter 5: The Pursuit
Swish!
In a flash, the execution squad’s blades sliced through the heads of the charging ice trolls.
Thud!
The severed heads rolled across the frozen ground, leaving trails of blue troll blood oozing from their decapitated bodies. Even trolls couldn’t regenerate from such a fatal blow.
The executioners sheathed their swords and pushed the fallen trolls aside. Hidden behind a wall, Zeke gripped his sword, Gram, and steadied his breath, impressed by the executioners’ skill.
“At least a Blue Knight level,” he thought.
Though he knew the hounds were trained knights, he’d never encountered ones this formidable before.
“Could they be the Emperor’s new recruits? Maybe they even caused the avalanche in the valley,” he speculated.
Just then, one of the executioners, having cleared the trolls, began moving toward Zeke’s hiding spot, scanning the area as if searching the cave.
With all his equipment lost in the valley, Zeke had only his claymore, Gram, left.
“I need to divert their attention,” he decided.
He picked up some stones from the ground and flicked them toward the ceiling.
Clatter!
The executioner, with the reflexes of a Blue Knight, immediately reacted to the noise. Seizing the moment, Zeke sprang out and struck the nearest executioner.
Slash!
The ambush was so swift that even a Blue Knight couldn’t respond in time, falling lifelessly to the ground. But the situation was far from favorable. The other executioners quickly charged at Zeke.
Prepared for this, Zeke hurled a stone with all his might, channeling his energy into it.
Boom!
The stone collided with their swords, causing a small explosion. The unexpected blast threw the executioners off balance, allowing Zeke to slip through their defenses. He pierced one executioner’s throat and quickly picked up a fallen sword, hurling it at another.
Thud!
The sword pierced the chest of its target, taking down three Blue Knight-level executioners in an instant.
“Ugh,” Zeke groaned, feeling dizzy from the exertion of using his full strength.
“If only I could wield this power properly,” he lamented.
Though his master, Nigel, had taught him the technique, Zeke couldn’t fully control it, forcing him to endure its side effects.
After catching his breath, Zeke scavenged the fallen executioners for daggers and other necessary gear. He hid their bodies and began searching for an escape route.
But there was a problem. The cave was already crawling with hounds.
“They must have found a way around by breaking through the ice walls with magic bombs,” he realized.
The avalanche had been a stroke of luck, revealing the ancient relic before anyone else could find it. But now wasn’t the time to count his blessings. He needed to find a way out, avoiding the hounds’ watchful eyes.
After days of searching, Zeke finally found a path leading outside. But escaping the cave was just the beginning.
“Damn it…”
The entire Ice Dragon Valley was covered in a web of hounds.
“You found him?”
The hound unit’s commander jumped to his feet upon hearing the report from his lieutenant. They had barely found a way into the ruins, only to discover the relic already gone. The hounds and executioners sent to investigate had been ambushed and killed.
Knowing the intruder was Zeke Murray, the infamous Northern Ghost, the commander ordered his men to capture him at all costs. Yet, days passed without a trace of Zeke, only more dead hounds.
The commander’s frustration boiled over at Zeke’s elusive maneuvers. The problem was Abel Draker and the executioners. After sending in the initial team, they had withdrawn their forces, leaving the hounds to bear the brunt of the losses. Zeke had been spotted escaping into the snowy wilderness, thanks to their efforts.
Bang!
The commander slammed the table, shouting at his lieutenant.
“Damn it! What are the executioners doing?”
The lieutenant replied cautiously, “It seems they’re setting up a web to catch Zeke Murray.”
The commander’s eyes widened. “A web? They can’t do that with just their numbers.”
“They’ve drafted our forces and even troops from Castro’s garrison at Himonas Fortress,” the lieutenant explained.
The commander seethed at Abel Draker’s audacity to commandeer his men and Castro Pollock’s troops for the web.
“That bastard’s trying to steal my glory by catching Zeke Murray in the Ice Dragon Valley,” he fumed.
With Zeke holding the Elder Dragon relic, capturing him was crucial for recognition from the Emperor. Despite the Emperor’s orders to delegate authority, the commander couldn’t let an outsider like Abel Draker take over his mission.
He barked at his lieutenant, “We’re moving out. We must capture Zeke Murray ourselves!”
The lieutenant nodded. “Understood.”
“These imperial bastards have lost their minds,” Zeke muttered, hidden beneath the snow. Realizing the entire Ice Mountain Range was covered in a web, he gritted his teeth.
“They’re determined to catch me,” he thought.
“Who the hell orchestrated this?”
He’d never heard of such a massive operation just to recover an ancient relic. Cursing the imperial commander responsible, Zeke held his breath as knights approached.
“Damn, it’s freezing,” one knight grumbled.
Drafted from Castro Pollock’s garrison at Himonas Fortress, the knights from the warm southern Rom Empire struggled with the cold, grumbling as they trudged through the snow.
Another knight spoke up, “Rumor has it the intruder is the infamous Northern Ghost.”
The Northern Ghost was notorious among the Rom Empire’s forces. The grumbling knight smirked, “Ha, the Northern Ghost. Sounds impressive, but if he crosses me, he won’t stand a chance…”
Thud!
A sword shot up from the snow, piercing the knight’s throat. The other knight, unable to comprehend what was happening, stumbled back, only to be cut down by Zeke’s blade.
Thud!
Dispatching the two knights swiftly, Zeke used healing magic to warm his frozen body. A regular person would have succumbed to hypothermia, but as a healer, Zeke managed to keep himself alive.
He buried the knights in the snow and moved on.
“They know who I am,” he realized.
Whoever set up the web aimed not only to recover the relic but also to capture him, the Northern Ghost. Weighing his options, Zeke decided to head toward the Ice Mountain Range.
Heading north instead of south seemed the best way to evade pursuit. As he predicted, the northern garrison, part of the web, didn’t expect him to head north, allowing him to slip through their grasp.
Zeke erased his tracks, taking out any pursuers he encountered, and made his way toward the Ice Mountain Range.
But then, a problem arose. The hound unit’s commander, arriving late, accidentally crossed paths with Zeke in the north.
“Capture him!”
Whoosh!
A flare shot into the sky, drawing the entire web’s attention to Zeke’s location in the Ice Mountain Range.
“Damn it…”
Zeke knew he had to escape quickly. He charged at the hound unit’s commander.
“Stop him!” the commander shouted.
The hounds tried to block Zeke, but it was futile. The aura blade from Gram cut through the hounds and the commander in one swift motion.
Thud!
Underestimating Zeke’s skill, which surpassed that of a Red Knight, the commander fell, bleeding out on the snowy ground.
“Haah, haah,” Zeke panted.
The hound unit’s signal had drawn the northern garrison’s forces, blocking Zeke’s escape route. He evaded their pursuit, heading toward the treacherous Everlasting Snow Mountain.
The Everlasting Snow Mountain, with its solid snow and ice walls, was a challenge even for northern rangers. Without proper equipment, Zeke began his ascent.
“Haah, haah,” he breathed, each exhale freezing in the air.
Breathing was difficult, his lungs felt like they were filled with shards of glass.
If it weren’t for the healing that kept him going, Zeke would have collapsed long ago.
“Just a little further…”
Zeke had crossed the eternal snow-capped mountains once before, back when he was part of the Himonas army. From that experience, he knew of an ice cave where he could take shelter from the blizzard, and he was determined to reach it.
His plan was to recover inside the cave and then make his escape over the mountain range. Battling the storm, Zeke forced his frozen body to move, finally reaching the icy wall near the cave.
Just as he was about to head toward the entrance, his instincts screamed a warning.
Whoosh!
A sharp blade sliced through the air toward him. With numbed fingers, Zeke raised his sword, Gram, to block the attack.
Crash!
A pack of hunting dogs, an assassination squad, emerged from their hiding spots inside and around the cave entrance. They had anticipated Zeke’s arrival and lay in wait.
They charged at him with swords drawn.
Thud!
They quickly overwhelmed Zeke, stabbing his limbs with their blades.
“Ugh!”
Zeke managed to drive his sword into the back of one of the assassins, but others swarmed him, stabbing his legs and severing his arm.
Thud!
Captured by the assassins, Zeke fell to the cave floor, his arms lost.
The assassins wiped the blood from their faces, looking down at him.
“Tough bastard…”
They shook their heads at the sight of the armless Zeke.
“So much for the Northern Ghost.”
“The commander said to keep him alive for now. He’ll bleed out soon enough.”
One of the assassins sneered at this.
“Heh, how many of our comrades did he kill? Who cares if he dies resisting?”
Another assassin approached, adding, “Killing the infamous Northern Ghost so easily feels wrong. Besides, who knows what the higher-ups will say?”
“Just say he died resisting. I’d feel better tearing him apart. Anyone else?”
Several agreed, and the atmosphere shifted as they vied for the chance to kill Zeke.
One assassin pulled out a coin.
“Let’s decide with this.”
He flipped the coin, and all eyes followed it.
But in that instant, the head of the assassin who flipped the coin was severed.
“What?”
Despite losing both arms, Zeke had somehow grabbed a sword and charged at them.
“Stop him!”
Zeke attacked like a wild beast. Swords pierced his body, but he didn’t stop. He stabbed, smashed with rocks, bit throats, and strangled those who tried to flee.
He killed all the hunting dogs, but his condition was beyond recovery.
Panting heavily, he collapsed to the ground, his consciousness fading.
In front of him, half-buried in the snow, lay a dark dragon statue. Instinctively, Zeke reached out and picked it up.
Leaning against the ice wall, he awaited death.
“Damn it.”
As he waited, memories flashed through his mind—his liege Alicia Himonas, the northern knights, his mentor Nigel, his days as a southern hitman, and the moment he was expelled from the academy.
He had believed that strength would bring freedom, but he never attained the power he sought.
“This cursed life is finally over.”
Then, as his consciousness waned, letters filled his vision.
[A powerful will awakens an ancient force.]
[The spirit of the Elder Dragon imprints upon the soul of the willing.]
Zeke, bewildered, watched as more messages appeared.
[The system detects the awakener’s peril.]
[Emergency measures are activated.]
[Do you consent?]
”…It hurts like hell. Damn it… Fine, I consent…”
A deep vibration resonated through his fading awareness, and a message appeared.
[Consent from the awakener confirmed.]
[Irreversible promised power is activated.]
[Countdown begins.]
[5, 4, 3, 2, 1]