390
Chapter 390
Zeke's group left the city of Barkal after preparing to climb the Ice Mountains.
Thanks to stopping the monster legion and uncovering the Empire's plot, they received expensive cold weather gear for free.
Zeke led the Black Specter Squad, Barbarian unit, and Knights of Tourn toward the highway leading to Himonas.
The march went smoothly at first as the road was no different from regular highways.
However, things changed once the road entered the Ice Mountains.
The cold penetrated their armor and enveloped their entire bodies.
"Everyone remove your armor and put on the cold weather gear."
Both the Black Specter squad and Knights of Tourn removed their cold armor and put on equipment to block the freezing air.
The group understood why northern mercenaries weren't used to wearing armor after feeling the cold of the Ice Mountains.
It was obvious they would quickly freeze to death wearing Central Continent style armor in a place like this.
Unlike other knights, Reina wearing the Draker uniform only needed to put on winter clothes over it.
The Barbarians who originally lived in high mountain regions were resistant to cold and didn't need heavy protective gear.
Zeke could block the cold without heavy winter clothing thanks to Jerome's cloak with cold resistance ability.
After preparing for the cold, he observed the surroundings while moving up the Ice Mountains.
'Looks like the monsters haven't come down this far yet.'
If possible, he wanted to find and destroy the gate summoning the monster legion first.
However, since the Ice Mountains were so vast, it seemed difficult to find the gate at the mountain's entrance.
As night fell and temperatures dropped further, Zeke found a nearby cave to set up camp for his troops to rest.
They could escape the cold somewhat after lighting magical heaters in the cave and filling their stomachs with hot soup and preserved food.
Zeke slipped out of camp saying he would scout the surroundings.
He then tracked vampire traces he had discovered while coming up the highway.
Following the traces led to an abandoned house not far from where his troops were, where he sensed the presence of a vampire group.
Vampires were more resistant to cold than humans, so they were less affected by the northern chill.
Perhaps because of this, the Red Eye vampires guarding the snow-covered house only wore leather coats, gloves, and boots.
'A human would freeze to death dressed like that.'
The Red Eye vampires were startled by Zeke's sudden appearance.
But they soon recognized him and quietly stepped aside.
Shortly after, Nicky approached Zeke from afar.
"You're late."
Zeke shook his head in response to Nicky's words.
"Had some business in Barkal."
Nicky nodded in understanding and led him to where Bacchus and Carmilla were.
Following her into one of the snow-buried houses, Zeke found Bacchus and a coffin he was guarding inside.
Bacchus briefly raised his hand in greeting when he spotted Zeke.
"Welcome. I'm boiling water for tea, please wait a moment."
He seemed to be gathering snow to make tea after hearing Zeke coming.
Zeke asked while looking at the coffin in front.
"Is that Carmilla's coffin?"
Bacchus nodded while pouring just-boiled water into a teapot.
"Yes, since mother is still in her growth period, she needs lots of sleep. It's better to sleep in a coffin at times like this."
Though he couldn't understand the difference between sleeping in a coffin versus a bed, he just accepted it as vampire culture.
While drinking the tea Bacchus poured, Zeke said to him:
"The Crab palace knights were holding out near Barkal. Did you see them?"
Bacchus nodded.
"Yes, the scouts told me. I just passed by since it seemed troublesome to get involved."
"I see. I was late because I eliminated the Crab Palace Knights."
Bacchus nearly spat out his tea at Zeke's casual statement.
"Are you saying you just eliminated one of the Roman Empire's 13 legions, the Crab Palace Knights?"
Zeke spoke of something terrifying so casually, as if mentioning picking up something while running errands.
Zeke said while looking at Bacchus:
"They were working with Jiemens' side, so I just eliminated them when I saw the opportunity."
Bacchus shook his head at Zeke's words.
Even to him from the Black Corps, Zeke's mindset was extraordinary.
Trying to use half-hearted schemes against someone like Zeke would likely result in a counterattack.
Ignoring Bacchus' exasperated look, Zeke continued:
"They were with dark mages who control monsters."
He put down his teacup and said to Bacchus.
"Can you send scouts to find the gate summoning monsters? We can pinpoint its rough location and terrain."
Bacchus turned his head toward Nicky.
Nicky pretended to be preoccupied filing her nails while sitting askew in her chair.
Bacchus pressed his temples and said:
"Nicky, you heard him. Can you do it?"
Nicky nodded. Seeing this, Bacchus looked at Zeke and said:
"The scout leader says it's possible."
"Good, then please handle the scouting. If we don't stop them now, things will clearly become quite troublesome."
The vampires' goal was Caligula's tomb in the north.
Having monsters spread throughout the mountains wasn't good for them either, as they needed to find a tomb whose location was unknown.
Zeke said to Bacchus.
"Send out the scouts separately, but first let's head to Himonas."
Bacchus replied:
"Is there really a need to enter Himonas? If we can roughly pinpoint the tomb's location, we could set up a base camp nearby and search from there."
Bacchus wanted Carmilla, his mother, to awaken the true power of the Ancient Race by finding Caligula's tomb as soon as possible.
Carmilla was at her most vulnerable now, weakened after her body became younger due to the resurrection ritual.
But Zeke shook his head.
"Staying outside is more dangerous with monsters and Abyss dark mages around. Let's go to Himonas first to assess the situation, then look for the tomb."
In truth, Zeke had a different reason for wanting to go to Himonas.
'The compass points to Himonas, specifically Himonas Castle.'
Whether Caligula's tomb was in Himonas Castle or someone there knew its location was unclear, but they needed to go there first to find the tomb.
Since Zeke, who held the compass, had decided this, Bacchus had no choice but to follow.
"Understood."
When the conversation ended, Zeke stood up and approached Nicky.
He took out a necklace and handed it to her.
"A courtship gift?"
Though Zeke found her words absurd, his expression remained unchanged as he spoke:
"If you find the gate's location while searching, don't approach it. Break this necklace's jewel and run without looking back. Demons are likely nearby."
The necklace was made of fairy stone.
Designed by Hades himself, it was enchanted to record its coordinates on Zeke's map when broken.
Nicky took the necklace and put it around her neck.
"How is it?"
Zeke ignored Nicky's question, said goodbye to Bacchus, and left.
Nicky watched the door Zeke left through, then asked Bacchus:
"Don't you think Zeke Draker has feelings for me?"
"..."
Though puzzled about what made her think that, Bacchus didn't ask.
Nicky was a powerful vampire created decades ago when Carmilla fed an ancient race her own blood.
As a Red Eye executive and skilled illusionist assassin, Nicky often made such odd remarks.
As Bacchus was internally shaking his head, wondering when he'd get used to this...
"AHHH!"
A scream came from Carmilla's coffin.
Bacchus quickly opened the lid and tended to her.
"Mother, are you alright?"
A slightly more grown Carmilla trembled with a tearful expression.
She said to Bacchus:
"I-I had a dream. A terrible dream..."
"A nightmare? Don't worry. Arthur Draker can never catch you now."
But Carmilla shook her head.
"No! Not Arthur Draker! Something terrible will happen to Zeke, Zeke Draker!"
Bacchus was shocked by Carmilla's words.
"Mother, something terrible... what do you mean?"
But Carmilla couldn't answer and trembled with convulsions.
Nicky, watching from behind, quickly approached and cast an illusion on her.
"Hush, hush. Sleep well, our baby. Sleep well, our baby."
Under Nicky's illusion, the convulsing Carmilla gradually fell asleep.
Bacchus laid the sleeping Carmilla back in her coffin.
She looked at Bacchus and said:
"Queen Carmilla hasn't grown enough to handle prophecies yet."
Bacchus nodded at Nicky's words.
"You're right, Nicky. But if mother's prophecy is true, something will happen to Zeke."
Dream prophecies were the most uncertain yet accurate of all prophecies, as their interpretation could lead to completely different outcomes.
After contemplating, Bacchus told Nicky:
"Let's not tell Zeke about this for now. Only telling him the outcome without knowing the prophecy's content could cause greater danger."
Nicky nodded in agreement.
They looked worriedly at the sleeping Carmilla before closing the coffin lid.
* * *
'A terrible thing will come.'
Contrary to Bacchus's intentions, Zeke had already heard their entire conversation.
The necklace given to Nicky also contained an eavesdropping device.
Bacchus, from the Black Corps, tended to control information and only share facts.
Moreover, Zeke understood Bacchus to be an extreme perfectionist and logician.
Such personalities distrusted uncertain causalities and tried to interpret information to make sense to themselves.
Usually, this tendency made information more perfect, but could miss unexpected things.
The Pirate King incident, which had nearly led to Kali’s death, was a prime example of this case.
'Not everything in the world runs on logic.'
In reality, many events happened for truly absurd reasons.
In this case too, without the eavesdropping device, he would have missed this information since Bacchus chose not to share it.
Zeke couldn't take this lightly since he knew Carmilla's previous dream was about part of his past life.
'It would be good to know what terrible thing happens. That's unfortunate.'
He should ask Carmilla for details next time they meet.
After organizing his thoughts, Zeke returned to the cave.
But something felt strange about the atmosphere inside.
'What's this?'
Entering cautiously, he found both the Knights of Tourn and Black Specter Squad holding weapons, confronting someone.
Looking where their swords pointed, an intruder sat on a rock eating soup straight from the pot.
A frozen bear's foreleg lay on the magical heater.
Having finished the soup, the intruder set down the pot.
"Ahh. Now I feel alive."
After wiping their mouth, the intruder took out a dagger and began eating the thawed bear meat.
From Reina to the Black Specter Squads, even the strong Knights of Tourn and Barbarians could only watch with weapons drawn, unable to speak.
There was only one reason they couldn't move.
Their instincts told them they would die if they did.
The intruder spoke while continuing to eat the bear leg.
"You seem to be the leader of this group. Come sit."
It was a voice that dominated the crowd.
Zeke slowly walked over and sat opposite the intruder.
Only then did the intruder eating bear meat look up.
The neatly braided blonde hair, delicate white face, and small frame created a stark contrast with the overwhelming presence that pressed down on everyone.
Zeke met her piercingly blue eyes.
It was the very face he first recalled after his regression.
Looking at her alive and moving again, Zeke unconsciously spoke:
"Alicia."