397
Chapter 397
'A curse to bring down House Draker? How?'
Zeke was momentarily taken aback by these unexpected words.
As he pondered deeply, he suddenly recalled something from his previous life.
'The reason Draker fell in my previous life... Arthur Draker suddenly died of illness. But there's no way a Grand Master would die so simply from illness.'
Zeke thought that perhaps the curse Taotie mentioned might be targeting Arthur Draker.
'If the Abyss is really targeting Arthur Draker with a curse...'
If Arthur Draker were to fall to a curse in the current situation, it would certainly cause major changes in the war between Rom and Draker.
This was because Arthur Draker, the current head of the Draker family, held more power and influence than any other family head in history.
Conversely, this meant that if he fell, the Draker family would weaken, and other blood alliances would seize the opportunity to strike.
In such a case, some blood alliances might side with Jiemens, and in the worst case, rebellion could break out within Midland.
'If it escalates to civil war, House Draker will definitely be at a disadvantage.'
In the event of civil war, they would have to face not only Jiemens ' powerful secret weapons but also the demon realm's legion summoned by the Abyss, creating double or triple the burden.
Even the central kingdoms currently favorable to Draker would obviously switch to neutrality once the great pillar that was Arthur Draker fell.
'If the head dies according to that priest's intentions, the problem will grow larger.'
Taotie, watching Zeke lost in thought, quietly searched for an escape route.
His gaze soon turned toward the shed skin lying nearby.
'Being trapped in the skin again would be terrible, but better than complete annihilation.'
One of Taotie's horns melted away and slithered like a snake toward the discarded skin on the ground.
The horn, containing his soul, slowly moved and burrowed into the brain of the skin.
TSUTSUTSU!
Taotie's consciousness had already transferred back to the skin.
'Success.'
Taotie, opening his eyes again in the skin, tried to escape while Zeke wasn't paying attention to him.
He very slowly sank the skin into the ground so Zeke wouldn't notice.
Most of his body had already entered the ground.
'Now if I can just hide my body...'
But then….
PIIING!
A holy spear flew and struck the ground where Taotie's skin had sunk.
[KUHEK!]
The holy spear completely penetrated through the ground and Taotie's body.
SRURURUK!
Taotie, who had tried to escape, rose back above ground.
Zeke was already standing right in front of him.
"That's just like you lot. Too bad. You couldn't escape."
[W-wait!]
As the startled Taotie tried desperately to struggle, Zeke's shadow grew larger and enveloped Taotie's tattered body.
Feeling an ominous energy wrapping around his body, Taotie cried out in terror.
[P-please spare me! P-please!]
But despite Taotie's desperate cries, his body slowly sank into the shadow.
As Zeke's Absorption consumed his body, Taotie screamed.
[N-no! Rather! With that spear! Give me a clean death...!]
Taotie's screaming body soon completely disappeared into the shadow.
KUGUGUGUNG!
Zeke felt that Taotie too had been completely absorbed.
At the same time, messages appeared before Zeke's eyes.
[You have consumed a completely corrupted aberration infected by demon energy through Absorption .]
[Depleted health, mental power, and mana are being restored.]
[Absorbed the blood ability of the consumed aberration to gain the authority 'Control'.]
[Rewarded with 1,500 Karma points.]
[Rewarded with one special random box.]
'The authority of Control. What a sinister ability.'
Zeke opened his status window to check the information on the authority 'Control'.
―Authority Information―
Control: Able to give commands to forcibly control targets with lower mental power than the user. However, the effect does not work on opponents with higher mental power than oneself.
After confirming the authority's information, he understood why Taotie had tried to control him like a subordinate.
'I guess he didn't think a human like me would have higher mental power than a Nephilim.'
After completely dealing with Taotie, Zeke turned around to assess the situation behind him.
It seemed the golem knights had dealt with most of the demon beasts, while Cayman and the shadow knights were in a standoff with the enemy knights.
'If the Cayman unit still hasn't finished dealing with them, the enemy knights must be stronger than expected.'
Zeke picked up his hammer again and approached where the enemy knights were.
KWABANG!
The shadow knights could be seen rising and regenerating immediately even after being knocked down by the enemy knights.
The shadow knights too could maintain their form as long as Zeke kept providing them with mana.
As a result, the battle between the enemy knights and shadow knights kept going in circles without much progress.
'How on earth did those Jiemens bastards create something like this?'
Immortal knights that rise again even after being destroyed.
He was curious about which constellation's authority they had used.
Then, thinking of a way to solve this curiosity, Zeke took out the green sword from his inventory and summoned Arataso.
TSUTSUTSUTSUTSU!
Arataso appeared in the form of an armored centaur.
"Arataso, can you figure out which constellation's authority dwells within those creatures?"
Seeing Zeke summon him suddenly and ask questions right away, Arataso spoke with a sulky voice.
[You, aren't you treating me too casually now?]
Zeke nodded at Arataso's words.
"I suppose so? Then should I brand you with the holy light first like before, then ask?"
Arataso shook his head in alarm at those words.
[I was joking. If we're going to be together anyway, it's better not to have distance between us. A constellation's authority, you say. Let me see.]
Arataso looked in the direction Zeke pointed and sensed the energy coming from the enemy knights.
After a moment, Arataso's expression became subtle and he tilted his head.
[Hmm?]
"What is it, Arataso?"
[No, this is...]
Arataso hesitated before shaking his head.
[Honestly, I'm not sure.]
"You mean it's not strong enough for you to recognize?"
[That's what's strange about it. The energy I sense from them is as powerful as what you'd feel from greater demons.]
"And?"
[But among the greater demons I know, none have this kind of power.]
"So it's from a greater demon you don't know?"
[That's hard to say too, as I'm a noble with a title in the demon realm. Even if it's just formal, all greater demons participate when titles are bestowed. I shouldn't be unaware of a greater demon with this level of power.]
Looking at the confused Arataso, Zeke's thoughts started becoming complicated as well.
'Greater than a greater demon's power but not a greater demon.'
Then something crossed Zeke's mind.
"Arataso, is it possible for a regular constellation, not a fallen one, to grant authority to humans like this?"
Arataso shook his head at those words.
[If that were possible, all constellations would have lent their authority to humans. The more followers constellations have, the stronger they become after all.]
After pondering Arataso's words, Zeke soon came to a conclusion.
"If thinking about it won't give us an answer, there's no need to dwell on it too long. The fact that they're enemies hasn't changed."
Zeke decided to deal with the enemy knights first and think about their background later.
Having made his decision, Zeke immediately charged toward the enemy knights facing off against the shadow knights.
WHOOOONG!
As he swung his hammer threateningly, the enemy knights backed away.
From that position, Zeke used the authority of freezing against the enemy knights.
JJEOJEOJEOJEOJEOK!
The powerful cold instantly froze the enemy knights' bodies.
KKIGIGIGIK!
Even the enemy knights who had been immediately regenerating when destroyed couldn't withstand the freezing authority and became solid in that state.
'As expected, this isn't simple magic. Seeing that it can be countered with authority, they must be using authority.'
But then, unlike the other enemy knights, Bishop Castic broke free from the freezing authority and moved his body.
WHIIIK!
He charged at Zeke with his sword.
KWACHING!
Though it was an unexpected attack, Zeke easily blocked the Bishop's sword with his hammer.
The Bishop's eyes inside his helmet were completely black.
'He doesn't seem to be in a normal state.'
Zeke first tried to subdue the Bishop's mind using Blood Eye.
WOOOONG!
The red eye that appeared on his forehead pierced into the Bishop's consciousness.
However, the power of Blood Eye seemed to hit a wall and couldn't reach the Bishop's mental state.
'Is it because of the authority that skills can't subdue him?'
After considering, Zeke decided to try using the Authority of Control he had gained from absorbing Taotie.
WOOOONG!
This time, Zeke's eyes glowed red.
As the Authority of Control activated, the Bishop's eyes also glowed red.
Soon after, unlike before, the Bishop withdrew his sword and stepped back.
He stood still as if on standby, holding his sword.
Looking at the Bishop, Zeke spoke.
"Bishop Castic, do you remember who you are?"
When Zeke spoke, the Bishop slowly opened his mouth.
"Hail, Jiemens. I am an honorable knight who has earned the right to pledge loyalty for the glory of Jiemens."
Though the Authority of Control could command his actions, his mind still seemed trapped in Jiemens’ brainwashing.
'Were all the Five Star Knights like this in my previous life?'
In his previous life, he had only briefly encountered the Five Star Knights on the battlefield and never had a chance to meet them separately, so he couldn't know their condition.
However, seeing Bishop Castic , one of the Five Star Knights, in this state, he could reasonably deduce that Jiemens had brainwashed talented knights and injected them with authority to turn them into excellent war machines.
Zeke pondered as he looked at Bishop Castic.
'I wonder if Recovery would work.'
He took out Roland and cast Recovery magic on the Bishop while also infusing purification power.
TSUTSUTSUTSUTSU!
Black smoke escaped from the Bishop's body.
However, the problem was that his life force was being stripped away along with it.
'The demon energy has completely infiltrated to the bone marrow, making recovery impossible.'
KKIGIGIGIK!
As the power of the freezing authority gradually weakened, the other enemy knights began to move as well.
'What should I do?’
While he could control them using the Authority of Control, maintaining the authority continuously wasn't an easy task.
'For now, I'll keep them on standby with the authority and think about what to do separately.'
Zeke ordered the enemy knights to stand by using the Authority of Control and bound them with Solomon's chains.
Then, after dismissing all his summons, he checked the situation below the cliff.
Alicia's side had already finished dealing with the monsters and the gate.
Zeke went down and left the cleanup to the others, then took the captured high-rank demon Icarus inside to begin questioning again.
"Explain what you mentioned earlier in more detail."
Icarus trembled as he answered Zeke's words.
"W-what do you mean?"
"About Caligula."
"I told you everything."
"Why are you lot looking for the Vampire King's tomb?"
"I-I don't know that either. I just do as I'm told."
"Just do as you're told. Who ordered it?"
Though Icarus trembled at Zeke's words, he remained silent.
Zeke shook his head and infused the chains binding him with holy light again.
PAJIJIJIJIK!
"KUAAAGH!"
"I'll ask again. Who ordered you to find Caligula's tomb?"
At Zeke's question, Icarus looked around nervously before slowly opening his mouth.
"R-Ramon Jiemens !"
At Icarus's answer of Ramon Jiemens, Zeke's thoughts became complicated.
'Ramon Jiemens knows about Caligula's tomb?'
Emperor Nero had been obsessed with immortality and even formed a hound unit to find ancient ruins.
It bothered him that Ramon Jiemens was now acting similarly after the Emperor had disappeared.
'The Elder Dragon was worried about Caligula's power being released into the material world again. Perhaps that power is connected to the Demon King's resurrection.'
Thinking he needed to find Caligula's tomb as quickly as possible without further delay, Zeke took out the key Hyperion had given him.
JIIIING!
Light extended from the key and pointed toward one direction deep in the Ice Mountains.
'I should go for now.'
Zeke spoke as he lifted up the panting Icarus.
"Since I don't know what you'll do if I let you go, you'll have to come with me."
At those words, Icarus's face turned pale.
'I should have just stayed in the demon realm.'
Icarus was suffering all sorts of hardships and humiliation after being needlessly summoned to the material world.