392
Chapter 392
KUGUGUGUGUGU!
The avalanche swept away all the magical beasts and monsters that were charging forward.
Alicia turned her head toward Zeke after observing the perfectly cleared snowy landscape.
"HA! Zeke Draker, you're different from what I imagined."
However, Zeke kept staring at the snowfield without letting his guard down.
After a moment, the snowfield stirred and magical beasts that survived the avalanche revealed themselves.
SWOOSH!
Zeke immediately swung his sword to attack the magical beasts.
Seeing this, Alicia also charged at them with her Wolf fanged sword.
"You filthy magical beast bastards!"
Thanks to Alicia swinging her sword violently, the clean snowfield was soon tainted with the mess of defeated magical beasts.
After clearing out the magical beasts, Zeke's group climbed back up the Ice Mountains.
While heading toward Himonas Castle, the group encountered Northern knights searching for Alicia who had fallen off the cliff.
"MY LAAAADY!"
Sven came running from afar making a loud noise.
He sent a cautious look when he saw Alicia with unfamiliar knights.
Then Alicia waved her hand toward Sven.
"Ah, it's fine. This is Zeke Draker, he came to help us sweep away the monsters and Imperial bastards."
Sven became more cautious after hearing the name Draker.
That's when Zeke stepped forward and spoke.
"I'm glad to see you've recovered your health."
Sven frowned and spoke roughly at Zeke's words.
"Me? I don't recall ever being acquainted with Draker folk."
"Seems you don't remember. I saved your life when you were about to die before."
When Sven made a confused expression, Zeke opened his mouth.
"Do you remember the name Zeke Murray?"
When he mentioned his former alias, Sven's eyes widened as if he finally remembered.
"Zeke Murray? Of course I remember my savior's name! But Nikolai said Zeke Murray was a Northern mercenary aiming to become a Ranger?"
Zeke smirked and said.
"Who would openly call themselves a Draker in the North? I used an alias."
Sven made a complicated expression at those words.
"Hmmmm, so a Draker saved my life......?"
While he couldn't deny that Zeke was his savior, the fact that he was a Draker kept bothering him.
As Sven stood there with a complicated expression not knowing what to do, Alicia who had approached from the side suddenly struck his back.
WHACK!
Sven shouted in a pain-filled voice.
"URGHHHH! My Lady! Are you trying to crush my spine?!"
Alicia clicked her tongue and said.
"I don't know the exact details, but if you owe your life to Zeke Draker, then you as a Northerner must repay that debt to maintain your honor."
"Even if they're a Draker?"
"Yes. Even if they're a Draker."
Sven nodded at Alicia's words and bowed to Zeke.
"I apologize for my rudeness, Zeke Draker. Thank you very much for saving my life. I was too disoriented at the time to properly thank you."
"I'm glad to see you're healthy. But I don't see Nikolai around."
"He was injured in battle and is recovering. Since the monsters keep being aggressive, only those who could move followed our lady."
It seemed they had formed a monster subjugation unit gathering only the elites among Nikolai and Sven's Thistle Knights and other knight order members.
Listening to this, Alicia who was standing nearby grinded her teeth.
"Damn, those Imperial bastards bringing these cursed monster bastards really pisses me off."
Zeke spoke to Alicia.
"To stop the monster army, we need to find the gate as quickly as possible. Otherwise, the entire North will be attacked by monsters."
That's when Sven stroked his chin and spoke.
"By gate, do you mean something like a big hole where monsters come out of?"
Zeke nodded at Sven's words.
"That's right. Have you discovered the gate?"
"One of our scouts said they saw something similar. Not up close, but from a distance."
"Could you tell me where it's located?"
Sven called over the scout and Zeke confirmed the approximate location from him.
After marking the location on his system map, Zeke surprisingly realized it was similar to where the Elder Dragon ruins used to be.
'The Black Corps should be stationed there?'
If the Black Corps had withdrawn from there and the Abyss had taken over to install the gate, it could be quite troublesome.
The Elder Dragon ruins that Zeke remembered were difficult terrain with narrow paths, similar to a natural fortress.
'Even knowing the location, attacking won't be easy.'
First, they would need to enter Himonas Castle to regroup and wait for contact from Nicki.
After organizing the plan, Zeke headed to Himonas Castle with Alicia.
* * *
"HAHAHA! Zeke Draker! Drink up! Drink more!"
As soon as they returned to Himonas Castle, Alicia hosted a banquet for the visitors, true to Northern customs.
Northerners had a tradition of treating visitors lavishly unless they were enemies, believing misfortune would come if guests weren't properly welcomed.
Zeke took the bowl of fire liquor Alicia gave him and drank it in one go.
"OHHHHH!"
The Northern knights, including Sven, marveled at Zeke's drinking capacity.
They cheered even louder when he set down the empty bowl.
"Now that's what I call drinking!"
"I like that he's not like other Drakers!"
The Tourn knights, whose ancestors were from the North, quickly became comfortable and mingled well with the Himonas knights.
In one corner of the banquet hall, Felix was performing magic tricks.
However, arm wrestling matches with the Barbarians were more popular than Felix's magic.
THUD!
None of the confident Northern knights could beat King Fist in arm wrestling.
Stimulated by this, Northern knights gathered around King Fist.
Then at some point, Alicia who was watching from behind rolled up her sleeves and stepped forward.
"Barbarian! King Fist was it? Let's have a match."
Despite having the strength of a great warrior, Alicia had a small build.
Her arms were incomparably thinner than King Fist's.
But King Fist, who hadn't feared any Northern knights, tensed up when Alicia stepped forward.
Other Barbarians watching him said.
"Scared?"
Trying to deny being scared, King Fist snorted and stood before Alicia.
Then Alicia pointed her index finger and said:
"I'll face you with just this."
Alicia was being audacious, saying she'd compete with just one finger.
King Fist gritted his teeth and also held out just his index finger.
Watching from behind, Zeke clicked his tongue.
"He's going to regret this."
Reina, who heard Zeke's words beside him, nodded.
"I know right. No matter how strong she is, doing that to a Barbarian..."
"No, I meant King Fist will regret it."
"The Barbarian will regret it?"
CRASH!
Before Reina could finish speaking, a loud noise rang out.
"URGH!"
King Fist, who had locked fingers with Alicia for arm wrestling, was slammed to the ground as soon as the match started.
Alicia raised both arms in a victory pose.
King Fist had a blank expression, seemingly unable to believe he lost to a small human woman.
Other Barbarians surrounded him and threw comments:
"OOF?"
"Got owned?"
King Fist had to endure the mockery of other Barbarians while grinding his teeth.
That's when Alicia turned to Zeke and said:
"Zeke Draker, how about it? Want to try facing me?"
Zeke, who was quietly drinking tea after the alcohol, looked up at Alicia's sudden provocation.
After briefly meeting Alicia's eyes and looking around, he saw not only the Himonas knights but also the Tourn knights and Black Sword Knights members all looking at him with expectant eyes.
'These guys...'
Though he didn't really want to participate, Zeke slowly stood up, feeling it would ruin the mood if he refused.
"OHHHHH!"
Everyone in the banquet hall got excited and gathered around the table where Zeke and Alicia would arm wrestle.
Alicia placed her hand on the table.
"If you want, I can use just a finger too."
Zeke smirked at those words.
"Seems you need an excuse ready for when you lose."
Zeke raised his arm and gripped Alicia's hand.
Alicia's expression changed when she gripped Zeke's hand that had drawn out golden power.
'He doesn't seem to be using aura though...'
She had never encountered someone who could match her with pure strength alone.
The air around Alicia and Zeke changed.
The other knights who were caught up in excitement froze silent at the aura emanating from the two.
Only Sven, acting as referee, looked back and forth before blowing the whistle.
TWEEEEET!
The whistle sound echoed through the banquet hall.
But Zeke and Alicia, gripping hands on the table, didn't move at all.
Others watching had puzzled expressions.
'What's going on?'
'The match started but...'
Those who watched them in bewilderment for a moment noticed that the table supporting Alicia and Zeke's arms was trembling slightly.
An incredible force was colliding while maintaining balance, with neither side giving an inch.
Everyone watched the motionless battle between the two people while holding their breath.
Then a drop of sweat fell from their clasped hands onto the table.
DROP!
At that moment, the table supporting their arms couldn't withstand the force and broke.
CRACK!
The table made of northern black iron wood, said to be stronger than steel, shattered into pieces.
Nevertheless, Alicia and Zeke's clasped hands remained motionless in the air, maintaining that posture.
Sven, who was watching this, looked back and forth between the two before blowing his whistle.
WHEEEEE!
Only when the whistle announcing a tie was heard did Zeke and Alicia lower their clasped hands.
For a moment, both couldn't move easily as if their hands were cramping.
Alicia pretended nothing was wrong and said to Zeke:
"Ha! You're pretty strong."
"The Grand Duke won't get beaten up anywhere with this much strength."
Both were showing off despite being unable to move their arms.
Alicia said while grinding her teeth:
"Hey, Sven, go bring the whole barrel of alcohol. Today I'll show you a Draker crawling on all fours."
In the end, Zeke was caught by Alicia and had to drink fire liquor all night long.
* * *
'I'm dizzy.'
Zeke shook his head as he left the banquet hall.
Alicia made him drink so intensely that even Zeke, with his immortal body, felt slightly tipsy toward the end.
Eventually, even Alicia got tired from drinking and passed out.
Since the other knights had passed out from the start, Zeke was the only one who remained conscious until the end.
After completely clearing away the remaining tipsiness with healing, Zeke left the banquet hall and took out the absolute compass.
'If I go this way, there are stairs leading to the castle underground.'
Zeke had stayed at Himonas Castle for quite a while in his previous life.
Therefore, he knew the location of every place in the castle.
Without hesitation, he went down to the castle underground following the compass's direction.
In the castle's underground, there was a memorial space with statues made to honor the past Northern Grand Dukes.
In his previous life, Alicia would come down here whenever her mind was troubled to organize her thoughts.
Thanks to that, this place wasn't unfamiliar to Zeke either.
The compass pointed to where the altar was made, past the statues arranged on both sides.
Unlike the Central Continent, the Northern people didn't believe in the God of Light or the Sun God.
Since each region had its indigenous gods, there wasn't particularly any common order or religion.
However, Himonas worshipped and adopted as their symbol 'Fenrir', the holy wolf king who had raised the Hero King.
The sword Alicia carried was passed down through generations of Northern Grand Dukes, and there was a legend that it was made from the teeth of the wolf king Fenrir.
The altar in the middle was where they enshrined Fenrir.
Zeke tilted his head as he approached Fenrir's altar that the compass pointed to.
'Why isn't there any reaction?'
If Caligula's tomb was here, there should have been a system response the moment Zeke realized it, but there was no change.
Zeke said to the system:
'System, are there no detectable ruins?'
Then a message appeared before Zeke's eyes.
[Scanning surroundings at user's request.]
[Scan results show no ruins information that reacts with the system.]
The system responded that nothing was detected.
'What? But why is the compass pointing here?'
Zeke approached closer and lifted his head to examine Fenrir's altar carefully.
Then something caught his eye.
There was an hourglass placed on the altar.
An unfamiliar energy could be felt from that hourglass.
'This is?'
Zeke slowly reached his hand toward the hourglass.
Then a new message appeared before his eyes.
[Power Reset synchronizes with Chronos's hourglass.]