Chapter 296
Chapter 296
Chapter 296
When Zeke opened his eyes again, the first thing he saw was soft fur emitting a golden radiance.
'Huh? What's this?'
When he lifted his head, he realized he was lying buried in Mountain Lord's fur.
That's when Michel approached the awakened Zeke, clinging to him with tears streaming down his face.
"WAAAHH! Sir Knight! Thank you for saving Mountain Lord! Thank you so much!"
Zeke realized that he had succeeded in the purification at the last moment.
He grabbed Michel's sobbing shoulders and barely managed to get up.
Unlike before, he could see Mountain Lord sitting while leaning against a tree.
Mountain Lord spoke to Zeke with a benevolent smile.
『Thank you so much. Thanks to you, I was able to regain my divine essence.』
Mountain Lord, a divine beast who had lived for ages, bowed his head to Zeke in gratitude.
Zeke returned the greeting while looking at Mountain Lord.
"I'm glad the purification was successful. But what exactly was that demonic energy embedded in your body, Mountain Lord? It felt different from ordinary demonic energy."
Mountain Lord nodded at Zeke's words.
『At some point, humans began driving stakes containing demonic energy throughout the mountain range. It was to cut off the spiritual energy flowing through the mountains and weaken my power. Then one day, they buried something with evil power at the core of the mountain range, causing poison to flow through my body.』
Hearing Mountain Lord's words, something occurred to Zeke.
'Those Imperial bastards. They also weakened the Barbarians' territory in the Giant Mountains with artifacts containing the power of the Herald of Blood and Madness.'
What had happened in the Barbarians' territory had also occurred here.
Zeke spoke while looking at Mountain Lord.
"Those who try to summon the power of demons to the physical world, as I mentioned earlier. They are the ones who cut off the mountain's spiritual energy and buried the evil power."
Mountain Lord slowly nodded.
『As you say, something seems about to happen in the physical world. Times of such chaos would be when the power of sacred relics is needed.』
Mountain Lord rose and placed his large hand on Zeke's head.
『Brave and pure knight. This is all I can give you as a token of gratitude. May it help you somewhat on the difficult path ahead.』
A faint green energy flowed from Mountain Lord's hand.
That energy seeped into Zeke's body.
A message appeared before Zeke's eyes.
[You have acquired the title 'Divine Beast's Blessing'.]
[Due to the effect of the title 'Divine Beast's Blessing', the skill 'Taming(B)' has changed to 'Communion(A-rank)'.]
[Due to the effect of passive skill 'Limit Break', the proficiency of Sacred Fire Technique has increased.]
[Sacred Fire Technique changes to Sacred Light Technique(S+) due to increased proficiency.]
When he received the divine beast's power, a title was created and skills changed.
'Though it was dangerous, I'm glad everything worked out well.'
That's when Mountain Lord handed something he had been holding in his palm to Zeke.
It was an old box covered in moss.
"What is this?"
『These are treasures offered by those who feared me when I ruled over the mountains long ago. They're not of much value to me, but they might be helpful to you.』
Zeke received the box from Mountain Lord and opened it.
'This is?'
Surprisingly, it was full of ancient artifacts.
Zeke examined the information of each artifact with his Dragon Eye.
Among them, Zeke found an unexpected item.
It was an old ring, and since it served as a seal, it had an engraved pattern on the top part of the ring.
However, unlike the typically elaborate family crests, this one only had a single sword engraved in the pattern.
Like the others, Zeke checked the ring's information.
―Ring Information―
Description: Seal representing the Draker family
Unique Ability: ???
Special Note: A ring made by Sethon Draker, who founded the Absolute Sword Family Draker.
Zeke was shocked when he confirmed the ring's information.
'The Absolute Sword Family Draker?'
In Zeke's mind, the Drakers had always been the Dragon Slayer family.
He had never heard the term Absolute Sword Family.
Zeke recalled that Terakan Draker had previously mentioned being driven out of the family half-dead.
'The Draker family before Terakan. At that time, they might have had completely different rules and appearances than now.'
Then a message appeared before Zeke's eyes.
[Achievement quest is updated due to the discovered Draker seal.]
―Achievement Quest(Connected)―
[Find the secret cave containing Sword Saint Sethon Draker's insights.]
[Find the last legacy of the Absolute Sword Family Draker.]
[Quest Mission Reward: Sword Saint's Final Insight]
[Quest Mission Reward: Special Bloodline Ability]
Zeke was surprised by the message that appeared.
'The last legacy of the Absolute Sword Family? A special bloodline ability as a reward?'
Seeing the connected achievement quest, it seemed the family legacy was in the secret cave containing Sethon Draker's insights.
'Sethon Draker's secret cave was in the Forest of the Forgotten. The legacy of the Absolute Sword Family.'
Zeke had never imagined the Draker family before they became Dragon Slayers.
He separately stored the Draker family seal and put the entire box in his inventory.
Mountain Lord spoke to Zeke.
『Having recovered my divine essence m, I can now open the path to the Fairy Lake. Would you like to go right now?』
Since Zeke had also fully recovered his mental energy, there was no problem going immediately. Zeke nodded toward Mountain Lord.
"Please."
At those words, Mountain Lord opened his mouth wide and exhaled golden energy.
The golden energy flowed around and gathered, soon creating a circular portal.
Zeke felt curious about the mysterious energy flowing from the golden portal.
'It seems similar to purification power.'
Then, Mountain Lord pointed to the golden portal and said.
『When you enter here, you'll find the path to the Fairy Lake. But you must remember this. If you fall for the temptations you see, you won't be able to return to the physical world.』
"I understand."
Suppressing his curiosity, Zeke slowly entered the golden portal.
WOOOONG!
As Zeke entered the portal, there was a vibration, and soon the portal created by Mountain Lord scattered into golden particles and disappeared without a trace.
Michel, who was watching from behind, asked in surprise.
"Si-Sir Knight, where did he go?"
Mountain Lord, still leaning against the tree, said.
『He has left the physical world and gone to the boundary of the fairy realm. Let us wait and hope for his safe return.』
* * *
WOOOONG!
When Zeke, who had been frowning at the burst of light while crossing the portal, opened his eyes, he saw a completely different landscape from before.
'Where is this?'
Looking around, an endless forest stretched out.
But something was strange about the forest's appearance.
The shapes were unclear, as if oil paint had been smeared around, and the colors of the leaves changed constantly.
At some point, Zeke found himself blankly staring at the ever-changing appearance of the trees, losing his consciousness.
Zeke shook his head and regained his senses.
'It feels similar to when I was in a spirit state at the boundary of dimensions. It probably isn't good for beings from the physical world to stay here long.'
When Zeke turned around, he saw a path stretching through the forest.
Zeke slowly walked up the path.
As he moved forward, the trees' colors changed more vibrantly in various colors, moving as if to tempt Zeke.
Even laughter could be heard from among the trees.
―HAHAHAHA!
Joyful and lovely laughter could be heard from various places among the trees.
―Come here, play with me.
Zeke deliberately ignored the sweet voice calling him and steadily moved forward.
After walking straight up the path between the trees, at some point, he discovered a large lake.
Zeke slowly approached the lake.
The lake's water also gave off a mysterious feeling, as if painted over with oil paint.
Moreover, the color changed beautifully every time waves rippled.
It seemed nice to just sit here and endlessly watch the waves and trees.
At that moment, Zeke realized he had almost lost consciousness again.
'Get it together.'
He quickly took out Agamemnon's Mask from his inventory.
Agamemnon's Mask, on the verge of breaking, had fine cracks all over it.
Zeke fell into contemplation while looking at Agamemnon's Mask.
'How can I fix this?'
―HAHAHAHA!
Laughter was heard from the forest again.
Zeke shouted toward where the laughter came from.
"I came here to restore the broken sacred relic! What must I do for this sacred relic to regain its power?!"
Though he shouted, only the laughter echoed back with no answer.
After contemplating, Zeke took out the Holy Grail and scabbard and placed all three sacred relics in front of the lake shore.
That's when it happened.
WOOOONG!
Suddenly the lake shore rippled, and something rose above the surface from within.
'What is it?'
Zeke picked up the sacred relics again while staying alert.
A being formed from water of various colors.
That being slowly approached Zeke.
Zeke felt powerful energy from that being whose form wasn't even properly materialized.
'A high-ranking fairy? It feels different from the spirits Nerissa summoned.'
The lake's form stood before Zeke.
A voice flowed into Zeke's mind.
『Immortal one who has traveled back through time with an irreversible promised power.』
Zeke was shocked to hear what the lake's form was saying.
'It knows that I've regressed?'
Until now, except for Chronos, no being knew about his regression.
Even Chronos only knew because he had directly embedded that power in the Elder Dragon's relic.
Zeke spoke while looking at the lake's form.
"My name is Zeke Draker. As you said, I am one who possesses the Immortal class. I came here to restore the sacred relics."
Then the lake's form continued.
『Sacred relics are power beyond the law. When an immortal who is also beyond the law possesses that power, the physical world will collapse.』
"But if we can't stop the Fall with the power of sacred relics, a Demon King might be revived in the physical world."
『The more power that exists beyond the law, the closer the Demon King's revival becomes.』
"Are you saying the power of sacred relics will hasten the Demon King's revival?"
The lake's form shook its head.
『What hastens the Demon King's revival is none other than the immortal. You.』
Suddenly the lake's form greatly expanded and wrapped around Zeke's body.
Unable to respond to the sudden attack, Zeke was entangled in the form's body and fell into the lake.
Upon falling into the lake, everything was dyed in various colors.
Zeke wondered if he had ever seen such a beautiful scene in his life.
'AHH...'
Deeply immersed in the beautiful scenery, Zeke's mind became peaceful and he forgot everything.
Things like being the continent's strongest, Abel, the Fall, Jiemens, and the Empire all felt meaningless.
Just being here like this seemed enough to be happy forever.
The form's voice flowed into his ears again.
『The immortal's power will fall asleep here. We do not wish for that power to appear in the physical world again.』
Zeke, who had been immersed in the amazingly beautiful sight, rather regained his senses upon hearing the form's dreamlike voice.
'This isn't the time.'
Feeling a sense of crisis that he might really lose his mind if he stayed like this, Zeke tried to escape somehow.
He tried to open his inventory to take out weapons, but unlike before, the inventory wasn't working.
'What's going on?'
Zeke kept trying to take weapons from his inventory, but it wouldn't work at all no matter what he did.
That's when it happened.
[The power of fate activates.]
Uniquely, something came out of the inventory and rolled into Zeke's hand.
It was the spirit beast egg obtained from the Sky Ki's nest.
'Why suddenly this?'
The spirit beast egg in Zeke's hand began absorbing the lake water swirling around.
WOOOONG!
Perhaps because it was absorbing the lake's energy through the water, the egg's surface began to be dyed in various colors.
Suddenly the form's voice flowed in again.
『Immortal one! What are you doing right now?!』
Zeke swung the spirit beast egg that was absorbing the lake's power toward where the form's voice was felt.
TSSS!
The spirit beast egg began emitting an even more brilliant light.
Then the form shouted.
『Stop this at once!』
The form created a huge wave to swallow Zeke and the egg.
Thinking it was dangerous, Zeke pulled the egg he was holding out into his chest.
The wave instantly swallowed and shook Zeke and the egg.
'Kuurgh.'
But then, the egg in Zeke's arms reacted with his danjeon.
It absorbed the mana from his danjeon and began emitting a five-colored brilliant light.
『Immortal one! Stop right now!』
Though he couldn't understand exactly what it meant, Zeke rather poured even more mana into the egg at the form's cry.
Then cracks began appearing on the surface of the spirit beast egg he was holding.
CRACK!
As the egg broke, light burst out from inside.
Along with the light, something spread its wings and came out.
A being wrapped in five-colored brilliant light flew up with Zeke.
KUGUUGU!
Zeke shot up above the lake along with the light.
Rising above the lake shore, Zeke was shocked when he finally saw the being that had emerged from the egg he was holding.
'Is that?'