Chapter 328
Chapter 328
Chapter 328
CRACK!
Ramon Jiemens couldn't contain his turbulent emotions at hearing it was impossible to save Abel.
The energy he had been suppressing leaked out and struck the solid wall of the stone chamber.
Cracks appeared throughout the wall from Ramon's energy.
Despite Ramon's reaction, the priest spoke in a calm voice.
"Ramon Jiemens. You must know too. It's impossible to fully resurrect the dead with any power."
"Wasn't the 'Book of the Dead' that you worship created for exactly that purpose?"
At Ramon's words, a red light flashed in the priest's eyes.
"Is this typical human stubbornness, insisting despite knowing it's impossible? Ramon Jiemens, I thought you were different, but I was wrong."
"Cut the nonsense. First Cain, now Abel is dead. It's not just me who'll be in trouble if all the vessels disappear. You seem quite calm. Have you secretly made another vessel?"
"There are no more vessels. Humans who can handle the cursed dragon's heart are rare."
"Then I don't understand what you plan to do. Are you giving up on your goals?"
The priest shook his head.
"You misunderstood me. I clearly said resurrecting Abel Draker is impossible, but I never said the plan itself is impossible."
"Are you playing word games with me? If you can't resurrect Abel, how will you achieve your goal?"
"It's exactly as I said. Abel Draker's soul has already vanished. If resurrected, that being couldn't be considered Abel Draker. We'll preserve the body until all preparations are complete, then use it as just a vessel at the final moment."
Ramon frowned at the priest's words.
"So resurrection itself is possible?"
"This body has become close to a dragon-human hybrid due to the cursed dragon's heart. Dragon-human bodies tend to absorb soul power."
"Stop the useless talk and get to the point."
"It's possible to resurrect this body with part of a soul dwelling in a dragon-human body. But it won't be the previous Abel Draker."
A being that is Abel yet no longer Abel.
After pondering the priest's words, Ramon asked him:
"Will this affect the second baptism?"
"I can't guarantee there won't be any effects. But it's not impossible."
After considering, Ramon quickly made his decision and told the priest:
"Wake the body. Right now, I need the existence of Abel Draker, even if just formally."
The priest looked at Ramon and said.
"Are you sure? Once awakened, it can't be undone."
"Wake it. We can't proceed with the plan using a dead corpse. To achieve your goals, my plan must also succeed."
The priest nodded.
"Very well. I'll tell you what's needed. Get it prepared."
Ramon looked down at Abel's corpse lying on the stone platform, then turned and went outside.
He spoke to the mages waiting outside the stone chamber:
"Get everything they say they need."
"Y-yes, understood."
"Still no connection with the Herald of Blood and Madness?"
The mages broke out in cold sweat as they spoke:
"W-well, we think there might be a problem with the constellation's source itself..."
The connection to the Herald of Blood and Madness, who had been sending power to the weapon they were trying to test, was also cut off.
Ramon recalled the cause.
' Zeke Draker...'
Zeke, whom he thought was just an annoying loach, was ruining his plans everywhere.
He remembered the intelligence that Zeke Draker had headed to the Holy Kingdom.
'That place will become your grave.'
******
Since it wasn't far from Iason to the Holy Kingdom, the warships carrying the knights were able to reach the port of the Holy Kingdom in three days.
However, as they got closer to the port, something felt strange about the atmosphere.
"Everyone prepare for battle."
At Zeke's command, both the Black Sword Knights and the Silver Knights tensed up and took defensive positions.
Despite it still being midday, the port was covered in thick fog, making the atmosphere gloomy with no signs of life to be felt.
After examining the port area carefully, Zeke spoke to Zeros.
"Zeros, can you clear that fog?"
"I'll try to secure our vision first."
Zeros concentrated his magical power while holding his staff.
WHOOOOSH!
A huge wind began to blow, starting to scatter the fog around the port.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
But moments later, the fog quickly filled back in, swirling around the wind Zeros had created.
Seeing this, Zeros shook his head and said.
"My lord, it seems that fog was summoned by magic."
"Given that scale, it doesn't seem like ordinary magic."
"Yes, it appears they've installed magic circles to activate large-scale climate magic."
This meant they had intentionally installed large magic circles to summon fog and obscure vision to block enemies entering the port.
'Orcs use magic too, but not like this. This... must be the Empire's doing.'
It was certainly the Emperor's doing to send the Orc army to invade the Holy Kingdom.
Zeke felt the need to secure the port first.
"Don't dock the ships, wait for now. Shadia, come with me. Zeros, cover me from behind."
He spoke to the Barbarians who were lounging in the corner.
"You guys come too."
The Barbarians excitedly got up at those words.
"Good. Was bored."
When told to return to their village after being freed from brainwashing, the Barbarians who said they'd play a bit before returning to the mountains had completely settled in with the knights.
They were actually pleased when Zeke told them they'd have to keep fighting if they stayed here.
Since things turned out this way, Zeke provided the Barbarians with tough clothes made of monster hide and sturdy clubs made by Gelion.
There was no point in armor anyway since the Barbarians had such robust physiques.
The Barbarians were eager to use their newly received clubs.
Zeke led the excited Barbarians, Shadia, and Zeros onto a small boat and entered the fog-filled port.
As soon as they entered the port, Zeke discovered familiar traces.
'There are magical beasts.'
Orcs used captured magical beasts as weapons to attack enemies.
Sure enough, wolf-like magical beasts soon emerged from beyond the fog, baring their fangs and charging at Zeke's group.
Grrrrowl!
Before others could step in, the Barbarians rushed forward and threw punches at the magical beasts.
Crunch!
The magical beasts were torn to pieces with just one punch.
"Weren't you going to use the clubs?"
"Ah. Right. Forgot."
Though excited about their new weapons, the Barbarians were still more comfortable with their fists than clubs.
Zeke's group explored around the port with the Barbarians in the lead.
It must have been a bustling port with hundreds of ships coming and going daily, but now there wasn't a single sign of life.
Zeke examined the surroundings, using his dragon's senses to read the memories left in the floor and buildings.
Fragments of memories preserved in objects floated into Zeke's mind.
'They haven't killed the people yet. They loaded them onto wagons and took them somewhere. Doesn't seem like they're hostages... They'll either use them as sacrifices to summon demons or make bloodstones. Or sacrifice them for other evil magic.'
Human souls were valuable commodities as sacrifices.
To the Emperor who invaded the Holy Kingdom for immortality, the captured prisoners would only be seen as good sacrifices.
Though it wasn't clear how he planned to achieve immortality using the relics at the first Holy King's ruins, demons were clearly involved here too.
'Just like they tried to claim the holy objects, someone from among the demons or constellations might have ordered them to bring the Holy King's relics.'
Zeke first planned to enter deeper into the port to destroy the magic circles creating the fog.
Zeros sensed the flow of magical power and pointed to one side.
"My lord, I sense powerful magic coming from that direction."
"Good, Zeros and I will take the lead."
Zeke asked Shadia and the Barbarians to cover the rear, then headed towards the magic circle with Zeros.
At that moment, something approached through the thick fog.
THUD! THUD!
CLANK! CLANK!
It was an Orc unit wearing thick steel armor, carrying shields and battle axes.
The Orc unit spotted Zeke's group and let out a battle cry.
"Kill them!"
Zeke used Hell Lightning against the Orcs charging with raised axes.
CRACKLE!
In an instant, five skills connected and unfolded, causing dozens of Orcs to lose balance, fall, and be directly exposed to the lightning.
"GURGLE!"
Zeros was amazed at seeing the Orcs foaming at the mouth and collapsing, and said in admiration.
"My lord's technique, newly learned through the Fairy King's blessing... it's truly remarkable. It looks similar to dragon Speech magic."
The newly learned combination skill looked that way because it was recreated based on Zeros's theory of dragon language magic.
Not wanting Zeros to ask more detailed questions that would be troublesome, Zeke quickly dealt with the lightning-fried Orcs and moved further inside.
Looking with his dragon eyes, he could see a huge magic circle installed in the central plaza inside the port.
The problem was that hundreds of Orc troops along with magical beasts were standing guard over the magic circle.
Zeke looked around the magic circle again and discovered magicians managing it in various places.
'They don't look like Abyss mages. They look more like Imperial mages.'
Zeke said to Zeros and Shadia.
"Zeros, I'll remove my gloves to cause magical interference. So you go outside the affected area and use magic to lure the Orcs. Shadia, when the fog clears, help the ships land. Once the knights come ashore, secure the port first."
"Yes, my lord."
After confirming Shadia's nod, Zeke had the Barbarians stand by while he used stealth to approach the magic circle.
As seen from the outside, quite a number of Orcs were stationed there.
'Using summons would be convenient, but if rumors spread that I lead an undead army, it would be troublesome, so I should refrain here.'
The Holy Kingdom was much more sensitive about black magic and undead than other places.
Since it couldn't be helped, Zeke first summoned invisible ghost soldiers to scout the surroundings.
Orcs were stationed around the magic circle with magicians managing it positioned behind them.
Zeke slowly approached where the Orcs were while suppressing his presence.
The Orcs, unaware of Zeke's approach, were complaining amongst themselves while guarding their posts.
"Still, it's comfortable here in the rear, you know. The guys who went to the front with the special forces are just arrow fodder."
"Well, I guess so. It felt good when we came out of the forest, but we can't even plunder, just running around endlessly, what is this, damn it."
Orcs were a race faithful to their destructive instincts.
They had a habit of taking enemy territory and building fortresses to leave their mark.
Moreover, they live for the pleasure of endless destruction and plunder.
Only ruins and despair remain where they pass.
But human warfare is different from Orcs. Subduing the enemy while preserving territory as much as possible minimizes losses.
The Imperial Army differed from the destructive warfare style of Orcs as they captured Holy Kingdom humans for sacrifices and turned territories into strategic bases through magic circles.
As a result, various complaints inevitably arose within the Orc army.
'Seems the Orcs haven't adapted to human tactics yet. This could be used strategically.'
After passing by the Orcs while listening to their conversation, Zeke infiltrated inside the magic circle and identified the positions of the managing magicians.
Then he immediately gathered energy and deployed magic sealing technique.
CRACKLE!
As the magic sealing technique spread with Zeke at its center, the magic circle's power began to backflow.
The mages managing the magic circle could only panic at the sudden anomaly.
"What! Damn, another malfunction? Go check the control device!"
That's when it happened.
WHOOSH!
The hidden ghost warriors attacked the mages on Zeke's command.
"UGH!"
The mages attacked by ghost warriors collapsed with death cries.
The mages realized they were under attack and tried to raise magical power to counterattack.
However, they couldn't use magic due to Zeke's magic sealing technique.
"Th-this!"
When Zeke revealed himself by dropping his stealth, the mages shouted.
"Z-Zeke Draker!"