Chapter 297
Chapter 297
Chapter 297
A mysterious being he had never seen before spread its wings before him.
It looked at Zeke with elegantly raised eyes while swaying its beautifully colored feathers in five colors and long extended tail.
Zeke remembered something when he saw this mysterious being.
'A chicken?'
At that moment, the mysterious being pecked Zeke's forehead hard.
"URGH!"
The beak was so hard that even Zeke, who possessed immortal power, thought his forehead would split open for a moment.
After recovering his forehead wound with his healing factor, Zeke got up and this time looked at the mysterious being through his Dragon Eyes.
―Divine Beast Information―
Description: A mysterious and beautiful rare fantasy creature
Unique Ability: Phoenix Nature
Special Note: From ancient times, the phoenix has been considered an auspicious sign. Fortune follows those near it.
'An auspicious sign that brings fortune?'
Zeke put it down and watched the phoenix walk elegantly while showing off its brilliantly shining feathers in five colors.
The phoenix spread its wings again and flew up towards Zeke, landing on his shoulder.
WOOOOO!
It was a cry that seemed to strangely mix five different notes.
Zeke felt his mind becoming peaceful as he heard the phoenix's cry.
And at that moment, the beautiful scenery that had been chaotically spread before Zeke's eyes slowly settled down.
Though the mysterious energy still remained, it had changed into the appearance of an ordinary forest and lake.
'It said the unique ability was Phoenix Nature, so I guess there must be some power contained in its cry.'
At that time, a beautiful being like a statue with water-colored hair appeared from the lake, wrapped in lake water like a dress.
Zeke realized this being was a lake fairy, seeing its appearance resembling Kaisir and Chronos.
The lake fairy glared at Zeke with mysterious eyes and said:
『One with immortal power is dangerous. Karma will not leave you be.』
Zeke realized the lake fairy would never resurrect the sacred relic.
'Damn, if I can't resurrect the sacred relic, I won't be able to progress the quest further.'
He thought about it and made a decision.
'Then I'll just call the person who made it.'
He wasn't sure if calling the Fairy King would make them resurrect the sacred relic, but it seemed better than trying to persuade the lake fairy.
He took out the Fairy King's Tears from his inventory and immediately opened the bottle cap.
The lake fairy trembled at the power felt from inside the bottle.
『Y-you, don't tell me that's...!』
A bright light burst forth from the bottle Zeke opened. Then suddenly the lake fairy's body began to ripple.
[Fairy King's Tears has been activated.]
[Receiving correction effect from the power of the Fairy Lake.]
[Communication with the fairy realm is now possible.]
Suddenly light flashed in the lake fairy's eyes.
Zeke felt an overwhelmingly powerful presence from the lake fairy that was incomparable to before.
A message appeared before Zeke's eyes.
[The Fairy King looks upon the immortal.]
Zeke felt pressure that made his knees want to buckle from the Fairy King's power that had possessed the lake fairy.
He barely managed to open his mouth towards the possessed Fairy King.
"Oh Fairy King. Please resurrect the sacred relic."
Light burst forth from the lake fairy's eyes at Zeke's words.
[The Fairy King says the immortal's power is too strong and there is a risk of disturbing the physical realm if they also possess a sacred relic.]
"The Demon King's army is trying to resurrect. Without the sacred relic, can we not stop them?"
[The Fairy King contemplates the immortal's words.]
[The Hero King expresses their opinion.]
'Hero King? Could it be Master Kaisir?'
[The Hero King says that though this immortal is clumsy and stupid, they will not misuse the sacred relic's power.]
Zeke felt like he could hear Kaisir's voice as he watched the rising messages.
[The Fairy King contemplates the Hero King's words.]
[The Hero King chides the Fairy King asking how long they will just contemplate.]
[The Fairy King tells the Hero King to be quiet.]
Zeke was flustered watching the continuously rising messages.
'Why are the two of them fighting?'
That's when it happened.
As the lake fairy containing the Fairy King's will trembled, messages urgently rose up.
[The Fairy King finishes contemplating and decides to restore the sacred relic.]
[The Hero King criticizes why they're only doing it now if they were going to restore it anyway.]
Zeke felt relieved seeing the risen messages.
'That's a relief. I didn't know fairies would be this wary of immortal power... Is it because of Jiemens Apollion who summoned the Demon King?'
That's when Kaisir chided Zeke through a message.
[The Hero King tells the immortal to stop learning trivial techniques and instead focus more on mastering the Elemental Sword to make his achievements known to the world.]
'This person hasn't changed at all even in the fairy realm.'
Though Zeke knew the power of the Elemental Sword, as a human, the mana consumption was too great and it was too difficult to control for him to freely use it alone against enemies.
Not knowing Zeke's circumstances, Kaisir continued nagging through messages.
And then, the lake fairy's eyes shone and that light flew towards the sacred relic that Zeke had put down on the ground.
WOOOONG!
The holy grail, scabbard, and Agamemnon's mask connected with each other and the broken mask began to return to its original form.
THUD THUD THUD!
At that moment, the sun emblem attached to the mask's head fell off and another pattern that existed underneath was revealed.
'That pattern...?'
A pattern of a snake biting its own tail.
Zeke felt like he had seen this pattern somewhere before.
And the moment he realized the identity of this déjà vu, he got goosebumps.
'Jiemens' crest!'
The Jiemens family crest showed two snakes biting each other's tails.
Zeke couldn't understand why a pattern similar to the Jiemens family crest was engraved on the sacred relic mask.
[The name of ???'s mask has been confirmed.]
[The Great Sage Atrahasis's mask has been restored.]
The mask emitted a mystical light and floated up along with the other sacred relics.
Only now could Zeke know this mask's true identity.
'A mask made by the Great Sage. So the sage's name is Atrahasis.'
Even in the Hero King's stories, the Great Sage's name never appears.
Everyone in the physical realm, including Zeke, only knew him as the 'Great Sage'.
Messages appeared again.
[The Fairy King warns the immortal not to be swallowed by monsters in the abyss.]
[The Hero King chides the Fairy King to stop saying useless things and give one more good item instead.]
[The Fairy King contemplates the Hero King's words and bestows a gift to the immortal.]
[You have acquired a special random box containing the Fairy King's gift.]
[You have acquired a special random box containing the Hero King's gift.]
Before Zeke could express his gratitude to the Hero King and Fairy King, the energy dwelling in the lake fairy disappeared.
『HUFF!』
The lake fairy, where the Fairy King's energy had dwelled, trembled and looked at Zeke.
『How could the Fairy King give a sacred relic to an immortal…?』
Zeke quickly put the sacred relic and random boxes in his inventory and said to the lake fairy.
"Hey, I'm done here, so how about showing me the way out?"
The lake water wrapping the lake fairy's body rippled violently.
The fairy trembled while controlling the lake water and created a mirror-shaped portal.
They shouted at Zeke.
『Immortal, heed my words! Those who break the laws will surely pay the price...』
Zeke jumped straight into the portal without even listening to what the lake fairy was saying.
The forest spirits watching this scene laughed ‘Hehehe’.
The lake fairy caused one violent water spray and returned to the lake while trembling.
* * *
WOOOONG!
When Zeke emerged from the portal, water filled his vision.
'HUP!'
As soon as he grasped the situation, Zeke quickly activated his Amphibious skill, allowing him to breathe underwater.
Looking to the side, the phoenix also seemed to have no problem breathing underwater as it sat elegantly on his shoulder.
'It looks like a pretty chicken but it's actually a divine beast.'
As if reading Zeke's thoughts, the phoenix pecked his head hard with its beak again.
'OUCH, you!'
Zeke blocked the phoenix's beak while swimming upward.
"PUHOO!"
Looking around, surprisingly it was a lakeside.
Zeke swam out of the lake and checked his location on the map to find he was at a lakeside not far from the Druid village.
Zeke came down from the lakeside and entered the Druid village.
When he appeared, the villagers cheered.
"The Knight has returned!"
It was a completely different attitude from when they first regarded Zeke with suspicion.
All the Druids rushed towards Zeke.
'What's going on?'
The Druids gathered around Zeke, extending their hands palm-up towards him before closing their eyes and lowering their heads.
Seeing the Druids' serious behavior, Zeke quietly watched them.
When nothing else happened, Zeke slowly walked forward, and every Druid he encountered took the same pose.
Thinking it must be some kind of Druid gesture, he kept walking until he reached the plaza where the village chief waited with his staff.
When they met, the chief also bowed his head and showed his palm to Zeke.
The chief soon raised his head and said to Zeke:
"Thank you for saving the Mountain Lord."
His attitude was so polite it was hard to imagine this was the same chief who had cursed and beat Michel when they first met.
Zeke shook his head and said:
"It was my duty as a knight."
For once, Zeke was making an exemplary knight's statement.
The chief smiled warmly and, pointing to the Druids bowing to Zeke, said:
"That's a ritual meaning they want to share their blessings with you as thanks."
That's when it happened.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
The Mountain Lord and Michel could be seen coming down to the village carrying large barrels.
The Druids and mystical beasts ran smiling towards the Mountain Lord.
"Mountain Lord's honey wine!"
"A festival after so long!"
The Mountain Lord came to the plaza and put down several large barrels.
When he opened the barrel lids, an unbelievably sweet fragrance spread throughout the village.
Michel scooped a large cup of honey wine and brought it to Zeke.
"Sir Knight! Try this. Mountain Lord's honey wine is truly the best!"
All the village Druids looked at Zeke.
Zeke didn't refuse and took the cup from Michel.
A deep amber liquid was visible inside the cup.
The fragrance was sweet and the color beautiful.
Just as Zeke was about to drink, suddenly his clothes bulged and the phoenix stuck its head out and plunged it into the cup.
WOOOOO!
The phoenix drank all the honey wine while making mysterious cries.
Then, seemingly excited, it came fully out and spread all its five-colored feathers as it flew up into the sky.
WOOOORURUUU!
The phoenix sang excitedly while flying around the entire village.
The Mountain Lord, sitting in one corner, spoke in a surprised voice watching the phoenix flying overhead:
『My my, a phoenix. What a precious divine beast to behold.』
The Druids were shocked at the Mountain Lord's words.
"A phoenix - you mean that legendary good omen?"
"My goodness, it really exists!"
The Druids' reactions were intense. Among them, Michel was so delighted seeing the flying phoenix that he nearly fainted.
Zeke asked the Mountain Lord:
"When I fell into the Fairy Lake, the spirit beast egg absorbed its power and this divine beast emerged."
At those words, the Mountain Lord took a drink of honey wine and made an interested expression.
『A spirit beast egg is also precious. The Fairy Lake likely did awaken the egg, but what determined the divine beast born from it was your power.』
"You mean my power caused that phoenix to be born?"
『It's said that spirit beast eggs produce spirit beasts fitting the soul of their keeper. Zeke, that phoenix is like your soul's match, so treat it preciously.』
Zeke made a disgruntled expression looking at the drunk phoenix crying out in excitement.
'No matter how I look at it, it's like a pretty chicken...'
Then the phoenix seemed to read Zeke's thoughts and descended from the air to peck at him with its beak.
The Druids could finally laugh freely watching the phoenix and Zeke.
Zeke also enjoyed the village feast comfortably while mingling with the villagers.
After the feast ended and everyone was asleep, Zeke covered the sleeping phoenix with his cloak and opened his inventory.
Three sacred relics were placed before him.
As Zeke looked at them, he infused them with power with a somewhat determined expression. At that moment, white light burst forth.