312
Chapter 312
'The fact that these guys are here means there must be an ancient ruin site in this place.'
It seemed they were excavating something here.
Zeke, surveying the situation, decided to go outside and draw the attention of the Empire’s hunting dogs as he had promised Adnan and Bodmir.
He said to Helen.
"Sister, as I mentioned yesterday, find your way out of the canyon and head directly to the autonomous district. I will follow you quickly."
Helen had initially opposed Zeke's plan to attract the enemies' attention alone.
But there was no other way for them all to escape safely.
Helen nodded with a resolute gaze while looking at Zeke.
"Do not worry about this place."
To reassure the Bird Tribe and Beastkin Tribe, Zeke moved the drowsy Phoenix to Helen's shoulder.
Then he said to the Barbarians:
"Follow me."
He took the Barbarians straight out of the canyon.
Zeke moved up the cliff to the top of the canyon.
Looking down into the canyon, he saw monsters who had gone berserk setting up camp.
'The number of monsters seems to have increased.'
Whether they were brought from the Forest of the Forgotten or unleashed here through their own excavation, it was certain that their numbers had grown compared to before.
The Barbarians with him asked Zeke:
"What are we doing, Brother Zeke?"
"Hunting monsters?"
"That pink orc looks tasty."
Zeke calmed the Barbarians who were licking their lips at the monster horde.
'First, I need to divert their attention somewhat.'
Zeke summoned Gurab and Shark Dragons.
ROOOAAAR!
Gurab and the Shark Dragons, summoned after a long time, rushed to Zeke with affection.
Zeke stroked the heads of his summons and said:
"Go and run wild to your heart's content."
Hearing that, Gurab led the Shark Dragons charging into the canyon.
The Barbarians watched with wide eyes as the Shark Dragon squad rushed out with Gurab.
"Amazing."
"Brother Zeke is so skilled."
"We'll brag about this in the village."
Zeke looked at the Barbarians with a stern face.
"No unnecessary chatter is allowed."
The Gurab and Shark Dragon group charged along the canyon walls towards the monsters.
SCREEEEECH!
Gurab was the first to attack, spewing toxic mist, with the Shark Dragons following behind.
GRRRR!
The monsters responded to the suddenly appearing Gurab squad.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A massive Cyclops tried to strike Gurab with its club.
But Gurab quickly dodged to the side and then wrapped its tail around the Cyclops's leg, throwing it off balance.
As the Cyclops fell, the surrounding Shark Dragons rushed in and instantly tore it apart with their hard jaws and sharp teeth.
They were gentle lizards in front of Zeke, but technically, they were a group of dozens of high-risk monsters.
As the Gurab squad pushed into the canyon, the berserk monsters became excited and began to rampage, creating chaos.
Zeke and the Barbarians hid and observed the surroundings.
Soon, a secret passage in the middle of the canyon cliff opened, and several Black Race individuals came out and surveyed the area.
Zeke captured their movements with his Dragon Eye.
'Are those hunting dogs and a mage of the Abyss?'
He had thought there might be a mage of the Abyss since a camp was set up.
Zeke enhanced his hearing to eavesdrop on the conversation between the hunting dogs and the mage.
"What is that? Why are the monsters fighting each other?"
"Perhaps the stimulant effect has worn off?"
"Nonsense! At least in this canyon, the divine object's correction effect would prevent that."
The Abyss mage ground his teeth and then spoke to the hunting dogs:
"Have the beasts sent to those Bird Tribe and Beast Tribe guys not returned yet?"
"No, not yet."
"The higher-ups specifically ordered to collect their corpses separately when they're dealt with, so collect them as soon as they're processed."
"Understood."
"Damn... The excavation isn't finished yet, and it would be troublesome if the outside becomes noisy. Send a few people down to deal with the rampaging monsters!"
The Abyss mage shouted at the hunting dogs and then returned inside the cliff.
Zeke felt something strange from the conversation.
'The Abyss mage is giving orders to the Empire's hunting dogs? Previously, it seemed they were secretly conducting experiments on the Abyss side, but now they're openly joining hands?'
There had been talk of something happening to the Emperor, and it seemed the relationship with the Abyss had also changed.
Seeing their more urgent movements, he wondered if the Emperor's condition had worsened.
'In my previous life, I remember he maintained his life until I obtained the artifact. At that time, he didn't really gain the power of immortality.'
Thinking that far, he realized they might be excavating the artifact the Emperor wanted here.
'I'll need to take a look.'
At that moment, the hunting dogs appeared from the canyon side.
They were trying to climb down the ladder from the cliff.
It seemed they were trying to kill the Gurab squad fighting the monsters.
Zeke asked the Barbarians.
"Can you throw rocks that far?"
The Barbarians immediately picked up a nearby rock lightly and grinned.
"Throwing game?"
Zeke shook his head.
"Not a game. After these guys, if anyone else comes out, kill them by throwing rocks."
The Barbarians nodded:
"Understood."
"Very easy."
"Confident."
Zeke left the vigilance to the Barbarians and descended to the canyon below while staying hidden.
Although the Gurab squad was fighting monsters, there was no particular reaction since it seemed like a fight between monsters after the hunting dogs received orders.
Zeke hid himself in the surrounding darkness and waited for the hunting dogs.
Soon, hunting dogs who came down from the cliff approached with drawn swords.
The hunting dog at the very back grumbled with an irritated voice:
"Ugh. Am I supposed to be doing this kind of work at my age?"
A hunting dog next to him said:
"Please be patient. The squad's atmosphere hasn't been good lately. You'll return to the center soon."
From their conversation, Zeke could sense that the hunting dog squad had also undergone personnel changes.
'Seems like there's been a major shake-up here too. If even the hunting dogs, who are the Emperor's direct unit, are affected to this extent...'
It was suspicious enough to seem like a near coup in the Empire's power structure.
'Did Consul Julius push out the Emperor and seize power?'
Julius held the position of a general commanding the Empire's army.
While he controlled the Emperor, he wasn't the type to covet that position.
Since the heir he was supporting would become Emperor and serve as regent when the current Emperor died, there was no need to take such risks.
'Or if not that, did the Emperor do this himself... but why?'
If the Emperor wasn't being ousted, it meant he had purged his long-time close associates.
Zeke approached the hunting dogs with various questions.
The hunting dogs drew their swords and approached the Shark Dragons, yawning while raising their swords.
"Ugh, annoying things. The skin is so thick the sword won't even go in."
At the moment one hunting dog was trying to stab a Shark Dragon's belly.
WHOOSH!
One of the Shark Dragons swept its tail towards the hunting dog.
The hunting dog, hit by the Shark Dragon's tail with tremendous force while off guard, was sent flying.
The other hunting dogs jumped back in surprise.
"That's a summoned beast called from outside! Quickly light the signal fla…….!"
The hunting dog couldn't finish his sentence due to the cold feeling of a dagger on his neck.
The other hunting dogs had been beheaded by ghost soldiers who sprang from the shadows.
Zeke asked the hunting dog.
"What are you excavating here?"
The hunting dog tried to bite the suicide pill in his mouth to kill himself instantly.
But as long as Zeke was holding him back, suicide was impossible.
Zeke quickly recovered him with recovery and healing magic.
"How...?"
With no time for leisurely interrogation, Zeke subdued the hunting dog using his Blood Eye and decided to use him.
The hunting dog, with a red eye pattern appearing on his forehead, was no different from a slave following Zeke's commands.
While extracting memories was impossible in this state, Zeke judged it better to infiltrate the camp's interior with the hunting dog.
He donned a perception transformation cloak and disguised himself as one of the dead hunting dogs.
Then he climbed the ladder stretched across the cliff and secretly entered the canyon's camp.
* * *
Zeke, disguised as a hunting dog, entered the secret space inside the cliff.
Other hunting dogs were standing guard, thoroughly maintaining their perimeter.
The hunting dog controlled by the Blood Eye said to the other hunting dogs:
"Damn, I got hit while dealing with those damn monsters."
The other hunting dogs mocked him:
"For someone who came from the center, your skills seem a bit lacking. Getting beaten by those dirty monster bastards."
The hunting dog controlled by Zeke approached and grabbed the other dog's collar.
"What? How dare you?! Do you know who I am?!"
Zeke, playing along, pretended to intervene, naturally blending in as they moved deeper into the camp..
The mind-controlled hunting dog went deeper into the camp to report with Zeke discreetly following m.
As they went further into the cave, a massive cavity appeared.
'What is this smell?'
Suddenly, Zeke frowned at the pungent odor that pierced his nose.
Looking around, he saw giant, neatly cut ice blocks stacked in layers in the massive cavity below the cave.
Using his Dragon Eye to look inside the ice, he was surprised to find ancient monsters trapped within.
'As I thought. They weren't brought from the Forest of the Forgotten. They excavated monsters frozen in ice here and then thawed them.'
Workers with their nose and mouth covered were repeatedly moving monster ice blocks to an inner space connected to the cavity.
The unbearable stench was flowing from that inner space.
Zeke realized he couldn't go further in his current hunting dog disguise, so he hid himself and completely concealed his presence using the will of Silver.
The mind-controlled hunting dog continued moving inward, and Zeke carefully followed behind.
The inner space where the ice blocks were moving was extremely busy.
On one side, mages were thawing the ice blocks with magic and sorting the monsters they extracted into dead and living categories.
The terrible smell came from the putrid odor of dead monsters piled up on one side.
For the living monsters, they seemed to be injecting mind-control drugs and casting black magic to keep them in a berserk state, with additional control magic.
Zeke felt a familiar energy from the dark mages' magic.
'The energy of the Herald of Blood and Madness.'
The Herald of Blood and Madness, who enjoyed war and massacre, would have more than enough power to contribute to such work.
At that moment, the Abyss mage from earlier appeared on the cliff revealed himself.
"Move quickly! Not much time left until the deadline!"
A hunting dog approached the mage.
The mage glared at him with an irritated expression.
"What?"
Following Zeke's instructions, the hunting dog spoke to the mage.
"There's a problem with the monsters."
The mage ground his teeth and shouted.
"I'm going crazy. There are problems everywhere, both here and there!"
He gestured to the hunting dog.
The mage took the hunting dog deeper into the inner space.
Zeke, hidden, followed the mage and hunting dog deeper inside.
Surprisingly, the inner space continued underground, with an entire wall serving as an excavation site.
Enormous ice blocks, larger than a building, were embedded in the wall, with slaves chipping away at the ice.
Zeke examined the ice block in the wall using his Dragon Eye.
'What is this?'
It seemed to be a monster like those seen from outside, but he couldn't make any definitive guess.
Suddenly, a message appeared before Zeke's eyes.
[Designated assassination target detected.]
'Designated assassination target?'
Just as Zeke was bewildered by the sudden message
BOOM! BOOM!
A massive explosion was heard.
The Abyss mage, who had been descending with the hunting dog, cried out in surprise:
"Enemy! Enemy attack!"