324
Chapter 324
"We express regret over the damage caused to both the Ghetto region and the Empire's peacekeeping forces due to the sudden monster attacks..."
The news spread instantly across the continent through newsletters.
The massive monster outbreak was treated as an anomaly, announcing that the Ghetto region and Imperial garrison suffered damage, resulting in multiple disappearances while trying to stop it.
Among the missing were Imperial Commander Morgan Buffon, Abel Draker who received the Draker Guardian Knight title, and William Jiemens, heir to the Jiemens family.
Kali Draker, who received an alliance proposal from the Birdmen in the Ghetto region, officially recognized and agreed to support the independence of the Western Alliance consisting of Birdmen and Beastmen.
Kali also stated that she sent knights to exterminate monsters and safely 'protect' the isolated Imperial garrison.
This protection included Second Prince Leonardo Crawley Constantine and Imperial Knight Daria Calvi.
While the Empire demanded the handover of these two individuals, access and transfer were being denied due to the regional lockdown implemented because of the mutant Hong-hwa disease outbreak.
Zeke read through the newsletter's contents and smirked.
'You reap what you sow, I suppose.'
If the Empire had taken over the autonomous district and dealt with Zeke and the Black Sword Knights, they would have certainly released a similar newsletter.
Zeke passed the newsletter to Daria Calvi sitting across from him.
"Lighten up. I brought breakfast myself."
An Imperial-style breakfast of eggs, bacon, properly toasted bread, and baked beans was prepared before Daria.
The fortress previously occupied by the Imperial garrison was now under the Black Sword Knights' management.
Both Daria Calvi and Second Prince Leo were in a state of informal detention within the fortress.
Daria Calvi glared at Zeke and said,
"How long do you plan to keep us here?"
Zeke took a sip of properly brewed tea and replied,
"I told you. We'll let you go once the mutant Hong-hwa disease screening is complete."
At those words, Daria Calvi stood up abruptly, unable to contain herself.
"Drop the nonsense excuses! Do you think such ridiculous claims can keep the great Imperial army confined?! The atrocities of you Drakers, who manipulated the truth through dirty methods, will be revealed to the entire continent!"
Zeke looked at Daria and said,
"Didn't we show you all the evidence that it was the Empire's doing, not ours? I think the evidence is too clear to deny."
Daria momentarily lost words at Zeke's statement.
Even to her, the evidence Zeke brought clearly showed the atrocities committed by the Empire.
While her heart, long loyal to the Empire, refused to accept this, her mind acknowledged that Zeke's words were true.
Zeke offered a cup of brewed tea to Daria.
"Why don't you have some tea instead of getting so worked up?"
Daria bit her lip firmly, then slumped back into her seat.
She gulped down the tea Zeke offered in one go and slammed the cup down.
Like someone who had made up their mind about something, she grabbed her fork and knife and began eating breakfast ferociously.
Zeke spoke while watching Daria,
"Don't think too negatively. In the current situation, if we simply send everyone here back to the Empire, the regents will certainly shift all responsibility to you all. Daria Calvi, you might end up with just a dismissal, but the Imperial Knights from common backgrounds might lose their heads immediately."
Daria's hand holding the fork with bacon trembled slightly.
Knowing the Empire's way of handling things, she was well aware that Zeke's words were entirely possible.
Zeke, having finished his tea, slowly rose from his seat.
"Both the prince and you, Daria Calvi, will be sent back to the Empire when the time comes. However, whether you return or stay here will be your choice."
Daria Calvi looked up and glared at Zeke.
"Are you trying to persuade me to join the Draker side?"
"That would be nice if possible. Though your choice is what matters."
"You'd let me go if I say I'll return to the Empire? Even though it's obvious I'll become Imperial forces again? How ridiculous."
"Becoming Imperial forces... I wonder if that's really possible. I know you have many enemies within the Empire. When you return, can you maintain your current position? Even if you rely on Duke Craven's protection, you're not his official heir. Unless you reach the Black Knight level through your own power, I'm not sure if the Empire will wait that long."
Daria couldn't refute Zeke's words.
'How does he know all this?'
Zeke Draker possessed more than just exceptional knight talents.
The insight to read and deeply penetrate the complex Imperial politics at a glance.
Very few people possessed such ability.
Zeke spoke while looking at Daria,
"You have plenty of time, so think it over carefully. The Imperial Knights are good companions you've been with for a long time."
After he closed the door and left, Daria trembled with clenched fists.
'...Damn it.'
None of Zeke's words were wrong.
If she returned to the Empire now as a defeated commander, she would be dismissed under the pretext of failing to protect the prince, and the Imperial Knights would certainly be executed as an example or imprisoned.
The weakening of Imperial forces was not at all a consideration in the regents' power struggles.
They only cared about maintaining their private armies anyway.
'Zeke Draker...'
Daria Calvi's face was filled with deep concern.
******
Zeke had been visiting Daria every morning and saying similar things.
Even Daria, who initially strongly refused, was beginning to waver at Zeke's words as she recognized her situation.
'Daria Calvi has an upright personality that values her comrades dearly. She knows best that returning to the Empire means she won't be able to protect them, so she must be troubled.'
Zeke was planning to persuade Daria to create a mounted archer unit.
When combined with Claire's archer unit and Daria's mounted archer unit, they would clearly provide strong rear defense on the battlefield.
'I'll have to wait and see for now.'
In the afternoon, he had to visit the Second Prince Leo.
Unlike Daria, whom he conversed with for persuasion, with the Second Prince, he led conversations to understand the Empire's current situation.
Above all, he needed to find out the Emperor's current condition.
'There seems to be something more than just dismissing him as an old man obsessed with immortality.'
In his previous life, the Emperor didn't die but maintained his throne, dedicating all his efforts to finding the Elder Dragon's relic.
As history changed due to Zeke's regression, the Emperor's situation seemed to have changed as well, and thus there was a need to examine what results these changes brought.
Zeke checked that he had some time before meeting Leo and returned to his room.
He took out Solomon's Ring from his inventory.
Though he sealed part of the source of the Herald of Blood and Madness, he couldn't use its authority like the High-rank Demon Judge.
'Can't use the authority unless it's completely sealed.'
While there were some regrettable aspects, ultimately, just sealing the power of the Herald of Blood and Madness, which empowered Jiemens and the Abyss faction, was a significant blow to them.
He put the ring back and sat in the chair, opening the system window.
"Hmm."
Zeke fell into contemplation while looking at the system window.
For several days, Zeke had been wrestling with the system window.
This was because of the reward obtained from the special random box that appeared after absorbing the body of the Colossus warrior."
'Skillbook. I didn't expect something like this to appear.'
It was a newly acquired system function.
'Skillbook' was exactly that - a feature that allowed purchasing recorded active skills using karma points, and selling possessed skills to gain karma points.
Zeke had been racking his brain for several days while staying at the base, researching ways to find and combine new skills.
He had been trying to combine skills useful in combat by referring to the word magic combination formulas brought from Nirvana.
Zeke checked his status window that was displayed along with the skill list.
[Advanced Administrator Status Window]
Name: Zeke Drake
Class: Immortal (Unique Grade)
Titles: One Blessed by the Great Dragon, Heir of Terakan Drake, Successor of the Sword Saint, Radiant Knight of Light, Blessing of the War God, Conqueror of the Tower, Successor of the Hero King, Glory of the Sea God, Grace of the Divine Beast, Protection of the Great Sorcerer, Blessing of the Fairy
Powers: Dragon kind domination, Corruption, Fortune, Shadow Control, Charisma, Rewind, Freeze, Flame
Constitution: War God Body, All-Poison Immunity, Sword Spirit Body, Dragon God Body
System Functions: Inventory(1,000 slots) / Mini-map / Portal Movement(1 companion) / Advanced Quest Book / Skill Shortcut Slots / Potion Shortcut Slots / Item Creation / Defense Mode
Passive Skills: Healing Factor / Indomitable Will / Infinite Stamina / War God's Sense / Limit Break
Special Skills: Elemental Sword [SS-rank (Proficient)] / Infinite Sword Technique [SS-rank (Beginner)] / Soul Sealing Technique [A-rank (Beginner)] / Soul Force [S-rank (Proficient)] / Holy Light Technique [S-rank+ (Beginner)] / Divine Beast Hunting Technique [A-rank (Expert)]
Active Skills: Lightning [A-rank(Beginner)], Lion's Roar[A-rank(Proficient)] Magic Reflection[A-rank(Proficient)] / Area Buff[A-rank(Proficient)] / Stealth[A-rank(Beginner)] / Curse Reflection[A-rank(Expert)] / Purification Blade [A-rank(Proficient)] / Resonance [A-rank(Beginner)] / Blood Eye [S-rank (Proficient)] / Amphibious[B-rank(Beginner)]
Dragon Race Skills(4th Stage Released): Absorption (Beginner) / Dragon speech(Proficient) / Dragon's Breath (Proficient) / Dragon Warrior (Proficient+) / Dragon Wings(Beginner) / Dragon kin Summoning(Beginner)
Available Karma Points: 27,856
He could see that he had gained many abilities compared to when he first opened his status window.
'This means I've gained quite a lot of karma from large-scale monster hunting.'
Zeke contemplated whether to use this karma to reorganize active skills and create new skill combinations, or to prioritize unlocking the 5th stage of dragon race skills.
'The 5th stage release requires 8,000 points, so even with a 20% reduction due to the Dragon God Body effect, it still needs 6,400 points. If I want to unlock skills too, I'll have to use almost all the karma I have...'
Dragon race skills were powerful enough to justify their high karma point cost.
The problem was the scale of spirit power required for dragon race skills.
From the 3rd stage onwards, the amount of required spirit power increased significantly, causing a great burden even on Zeke who possessed a dragon's heart.
In the case of Dragon kin Summoning obtained at the 4th stage, the spirit power consumption for maintaining the summon was so high that he couldn't properly use it.
'Initially, I wanted to summon the Tyrant with this skill, but it was impossible to handle.'
These were skills that would be difficult to use fully without completely opening Bahamut's heart.
Even if he unlocked the 5th stage dragon race skills, they would be useless if he couldn't properly use them.
After much consideration, Zeke decided to use the karma points for active skill combinations.
He decided to prepare for human combat by clearing unnecessary skills and composing only those useful in battle.
Like the Ghetto situation, there was a high possibility of facing more knights and magicians once the Imperial Army began moving in earnest.
Zeke first dealt with the Amphibious skill that he rarely used.
'This can be sufficiently handled with potions, so let's sell it.'
To gauge the approximate trading price, he gained 1,500 points from disposing of the Amphibious skill.
Comparing through the Skillbook's contents, unlike items, skills didn't have much difference between purchase and sale prices.
'Only bloodline abilities or ancient artifacts can absorb skills, but there were no low-level attack spells remaining in artifacts, making it impossible to create linked skills.'
After visiting Nirvana, Zeke realized that simply absorbing magic items didn't register them as skills.
He could only absorb skills through ancient artifacts, but there were hardly any artifacts with remaining low-circle magic needed for combination links.
However, the Skillbook contained skills with effects similar to basic magic, making it possible to create combination links.
Zeke created a combination link matching his Lightning skill by referring to the Dragon speech link skill chart received from Zeros.
"Done."
It was a combination of water-based magic that worked well with lightning-based magic.
'A water bomb that replicates a Water Ball effect, Confusion to create disorientation, Friction Reduction to mimic a grease effect, and then linking them with the Lightning Strike skill should reproduce the Dragon Speech Magic effects that Zeros showed me..'
Just as Zeke finished organizing and purchasing these skills with karma points, a new message window appeared.
[Successfully purchased skills from the Skillbook.]
[New category 'Combo Skills' has been unlocked.]
[You can use linked skills with commands only by configuring up to 5 skill combinations and saving them to slots.]