Chapter 294
Chapter 294
Chapter 294
Zeke was flustered when he saw the rising message.
'The Fairy Forest is rejecting the Immortal?'
Michel gestured to Zeke from beyond the stone tower.
"What's wrong? Let's hurry."
Zeke hesitated while looking at the message, then stepped into the area.
Suddenly, the stone towers around him began to shake.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
Dozens of stone towers collapsed, scattering stones on the ground.
And the scattered stones began to gather and form a single shape.
"W-What is this?"
Michel rolled back, hiding himself, bewildered by the unfamiliar scene.
The clustered stones transformed into the shape of a giant.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The stone giant, made of rock piles, shouted while looking at Zeke.
『Defier of the Law! Leave this sacred land immediately!』
After speaking, the giant's body scattered into stones again, and the stones flew towards Zeke with a fierce stone wind.
BANG! BANG!
Zeke raised his cloak to block the flying stones.
CRASH!
True to the cloak of invincibility, the flying stones were deflected.
Though he wasn't hurt, Zeke made a troubled expression while looking at the fierce stone wind.
'System, is there no way to stop this?'
The system searched for information and displayed a message.
[If you hold the sacred object of the Divine Dragon Poseidon and activate the Dragon Body, the area will recognize you as a dragon.]
'Recognize me as a dragon?'
Zeke, still puzzled, took out the brilliant orb he received from Poseidon from his inventory and activated the Dragon Body.
His eyes changed to dragon eyes, and dragon scales began to sprout from his body.
Gradually, the stone wind started to subside.
[The area 'Fairy Forest' is re-recognizing the user.]
[The area 'Fairy Forest' is recognizing the dragon's power.]
[The area 'Fairy Forest' is suspending security measures.]
The stone wind retreated and returned to its original stone tower form.
After the fierce stone wind passed, Michel, who was hiding, trembled and barely came forward.
"W-What just happened?"
Zeke, ignoring Michel, carefully walked towards the stone tower.
Unlike before, he could now enter the Fairy Forest area.
'System, do I need to remain in Dragon Body state?'
[Deactivate the Dragon Body but continue to carry the Divine Dragon's sacred object.]
Zeke deactivated the Dragon Body and put Poseidon's sacred object in his pocket.
He said to Michel,
"Let's continue."
Zeke went up the stone tower path with Michel.
As they climbed the hill, a peaceful village landscape appeared in the wide clearing.
Druids wearing leather clothes had built houses of wood and soil, gathered in the village square.
Surprisingly, a spirit beast was attached to each Druids' side.
Michel raised his hand and ran to the villagers.
"I'm back!"
Unlike Michel's enthusiastic greeting, the other Druids in the square had indifferent expressions.
As the Druids showed no particular reaction, Michel looked embarrassed and approached the oldest-looking person.
He tapped his chest and shouted,
"Village Chief! Look! I've brought someone to heal the Mountain Lord!"
The elder, with his hair and beard braided with five-colored threads, was sitting under a tree trunk, leaning on a staff.
Wise eyes sat beneath his long, drooping eyebrows.
The one called the Village Chief stood up.
The Village Chief and other Druids around were mostly well-built, though not as much as Michel.
At that moment,
WHOOSH!
The Village Chief suddenly swung his staff at Michel.
WHACK!
"URGH!"
The Village Chief's staff struck Michel's head and skillfully began beating his entire body.
Simultaneously, colorful curses flew from the Village Chief's mouth.
“You little bastard! You ran off on your own, breaking the village rules, you damn brat! And now you bring an outsider into the village? Do you think our rules are a joke?!”
The Village Chief's staff moved flashily, beating Michel's entire body.
"Cough! Ch-Chief! Grandfather! W-waitJust a moment!"
“Wait, my ass, you little punk! You’re getting five years’ worth of beatings today, you worthless brat!”
Other Druids finally restrained the Village Chief after he had beaten Michel for a while.
The Village Chief still seemed unsatisfied, continuing to mumble angrily.
Zeke looked at Michel, who was crouched and grabbing her beaten parts, and clicked his tongue internally.
'Looks like he didn't get permission to leave.'
The Druids had not revealed themselves to the outside world for hundreds of years.
To achieve this, it would have been crucial to thoroughly block external contact and maintain security to prevent the village's location from leaking.
Sometimes people do find this village from the outside, but it was only through their extensive efforts to locate it themselves.
This time, however, Michel had brought an outsider he had never met before without any permission. From the Village Chief's perspective, his anger was entirely understandable.
The Village Chief, after striking Michel's head with his staff one more time, looked at Zeke and said,
"As you can see, we are not in a situation to welcome an outsider."
Zeke realized that the Druids gathered in the square had taken a battle stance and were wary of him.
He approached the Village Chief.
"I apologize for suddenly entering the village like this. My name is Zeke Draker."
At the mention of Draker, the Druids behind him were startled.
"D-Draker?"
"I heard the Drakers have horns on their heads and sharp teeth."
"Yeah, that's right. And they always laugh like demons, 'KEKEKE'."
Zeke swallowed his saliva while listening to the Druids whispering.
'Why do these Druids have such strange rumors about me?'
Unlike the other murmuring Druids, the Village Chief looked at Zeke with sharp eyes and spoke.
"Why has a Draker come here? Did you come to lure that foolish one and violate our village?"
Zeke shook his head.
"I have no such intentions. Nor did I come here as a Draker. My reason for coming here is to find the Fairy Lake."
The Druids were even more shocked by Zeke's words.
"F-Fairy Lake?"
"The Draker must be trying to destroy the Fairy Lake."
"Scary Draker!"
Once misunderstandings began, they were hard to control.
'This is troublesome.'
Zeke had no choice but to take out Agamemnon's mask from his inventory.
When the Village Chief saw the Agamemnon mask Zeke pulled out, he was surprised.
"That is..."
"It seems you know it. This is one of the three sacred relics the Fairy King bestowed upon the current realm. I came here to restore the power of this sacred relic."
The Village Chief looked at Zeke with a different gaze.
"Were you of the Light Tribe?"
"If you're referring to the Lubern bloodline, then yes."
The Druids started murmuring again.
"The Draker is from the Light Tribe?"
"Can a member of the holy Light Tribe be a scary Draker?"
"I don't know, it's scary."
The Druids were simply afraid of Zeke without understanding.
The Village Chief glanced at the fallen Michel and clicked his tongue.
Swinging his staff, he said,
"Come inside for now."
Zeke followed the Village Chief into the mud house.
The interior was more charming than he expected. There were flowers in clay vases by the window, and beautiful patterned textiles and traditional crafts were hung on the walls.
"Sit here."
Zeke sat on the floor cushion and faced the Village Chief.
The Village Chief sat down and spoke.
"How did you meet that Truishino guy?"
"Turusino? Do you mean Michel?"
He wondered why a female name was being used, but it seemed Michel was a pseudonym.
The Village Chief clicked his tongue.
"That fool, Turusino went out without permission five full years ago, saying he was looking for some legendary elixir. We hadn't heard from him, and we thought he might have died on the streets. Then suddenly, he brings an outsider back."
The Village Chief had already brought a pipe, put it in his mouth, and started smoking.
Zeke said to the Village Chief,
"Michel was trying to obtain an elixir to cure someone."
He took out the elixir from his inventory and showed it to the Village Chief.
"Unfortunately, this elixir is not a cure, so treating the illness is impossible."
The Village Chief shook his head.
"I never expected him to bring back something proper. He has unparalleled affinity with spirit beasts, but he's incredibly dim-witted in other aspects."
Zeke recalled Michel's gaze when looking at the Mountain Lord.
Originally, sensitive spirits tend to be wary when others are present.
But for some reason, he remembered that Bucephalus did not guard against Michel.
'Was it because of his exceptional affinity with spirits?'
The Village Chief looked at Zeke and said,
"I understand the circumstances that brought you here. However, you cannot go to the Fairy Lake, so go back."
"That's impossible. To revive this sacred relic, I must absolutely go to the Fairy Lake."
The Village Chief frowned at Zeke's words.
"This isn't something you can force. Just go down the mountain."
Then Zeke asked the Village Chief,
"Is this related to the person Michel said needed treatment? The Mountain Lord he mentioned earlier?"
The Village Chief took a deep draw from his pipe and blew out smoke.
Through the hazy smoke, Zeke spoke to the Village Chief.
"I am from the Lubern bloodline and a Healer class. As I told Michel, I can likely treat this Mountain Lord."
The Village Chief chuckled.
"Treating the Mountain Lord is impossible."
"Why is it impossible?"
The Village Chief frowned, put down his pipe, and snapped,
"Because the Mountain Lord is not human."
Zeke furrowed his brow.
Then slowly spoke,
"Is the Mountain Lord a spirit beast?"
The Village Chief nodded.
"Not just a spirit beast, but a divine beast. Someone who has lived here for thousands of years. Far beyond human realm. How could a human possibly treat such a being?"
Zeke realized something from the Village Chief's words.
"So without the Mountain Lord's power, I cannot go to the Fairy Lake."
The Village Chief fell silent.
Zeke stood up.
"If there's no other way, wouldn't it be fine if I just take a look? I have nothing to lose, so please take me to the Mountain Lord."
The Village Chief's eyebrows twitched.
He was contemplating whether to expose the Mountain Lord to an outsider.
Then Zeke, after some thought, said,
"I am one with the Elder Dragon's spirit etched into my soul and the successor of the Hero King. So please trust me and take me to the Mountain Lord."
At the mention of Elder Dragon, the Village Chief's eyes widened.
He looked Zeke up and down, then extended his hand.
"Put your right hand here."
Zeke placed his right hand as instructed.
The Village Chief gripped Zeke's palm and examined it closely.
Alternating between the palm and Zeke's eyes, he swallowed.
"Hmm... this is impossible."
After looking at Zeke's palm for a while, the Village Chief nodded and stood up.
"Follow me."
Zeke followed the Village Chief out of the mud house. Outside, Druids and spirit beasts were clustered around, peeking out.
The Village Chief swung his staff and shouted,
"What are you all looking at?! Go back quickly!"
At his stern command, the Druids and spirit beasts scattered quickly.
Then he called out to the fleeing Michel,
"Turusino! You, come here!"
Michel panicked,
"Why? Are you going to hit me again?"
The Village Chief shouted in an angry voice,
"You! Just shut up and come quickly! UGH, calling such a person a grandson. Geez..."
Surprisingly, Michel was his grandson.
Zeke belatedly nodded, remembering how she had called him grandfather earlier.
Zeke and Michel followed the Village Chief up a narrow path behind the village.
At the end of the path was a cave.
In front of the cave, the Village Chief and Michel bowed respectfully, putting their hands together.
Zeke mimicked their actions.
Shortly after, the Village Chief led Zeke and Michel into the cave.
Entering the cave, the surroundings brightened, revealing a space filled with beautiful grass and flowers.
Zeke realized this space felt different from the outside.
'This... feels similar to when I entered Poseidon's space.'
He followed the Village Chief into the flower field.
In the middle of the flower field stood a single tree.
"The Mountain Lord is here."
Zeke slowly approached the tree.
He was startled by the being leaning against the tree.