Chapter 408
Chapter 408
Chapter 408
At Zeke's sudden question, Nigel frowned and glared at him.
"This bastard... Why are you curious about such a thing in the middle of eating?"
"No matter how I look at it, Master, you don't seem quite human... In fact, I can't feel the energy of a dragon at all. I was just curious."
Since his previous life, Zeke had always been curious about Nigel's true identity.
After returning, he had wondered if she was a dragon or a dragon person, but upon meeting her again, he couldn't sense any dragon energy at all.
Nigel took a large bite of bread, chewing slowly, then clicked her tongue and looked at Zeke.
"Living life, there are many things... Having a disciple like you."
"It's just pure curiosity. If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to."
Zeke spoke casually and also picked up a piece of bread to eat.
Nigel stared at him for a moment, then stood up.
"Ah, I've done all sorts of things from living so long."
She untied her hair and approached Zeke, showing him the top of her head.
"Hey, look. What do you see?"
"Huh? What suddenly?"
"Didn't you say you were curious!"
Zeke carefully examined Nigel's scalp that she was holding up.
'Huh?'
There seemed to be a trace of something cut off on her scalp.
When Zeke unconsciously reached out to touch it, Nigel was startled and shuddered.
SMACK!
Suddenly, Nigel struck Zeke's solar plexus with her fist.
"COUGH!"
Zeke grabbed his chest, barely enduring the pain from her powerful blow, and raised his head.
Nigel covered her head with her hand, slightly blushing, and looked down at Zeke with a disgusted expression.
"I told you to just look, why did you touch it, you son of a bitch. Want to die?"
She tied her hair back again to cover her scalp and returned to her seat.
As Zeke's breath slowly returned, he asked Nigel,
"Is that a horn trace?"
Nigel roughly tore into her bread and replied,
"Yeah, have you never seen a cut-off horn on the head before?"
"Of course this is the first time I've seen a horn on the head. There aren't even any species with horns in the current realm. If any, maybe the demon race..."
Zeke cautiously surveyed her as Nigel clicked her tongue.
"Damn it, this is why I didn't want to show you. Stupid guy. I'm not from the demon race."
She hesitated, then slowly spoke.
"I'm from the Unicorn Tribe."
"The Unicorn Tribe?"
Zeke had never heard of the Unicorn Tribe before, so he could only look bewildered.
She patted her now-full belly and spoke bluntly,
"A tribe from the Eastern Continent, so it wouldn't be known in this continent. I was exiled from my hometown with my horn cut off."
"So you're a Unicorn Tribe member, but not really?"
"TSK, at my level, the concept of such a tribe doesn't mean much anyway."
Zeke repeated the words ‘Unicorn Tribe’ and asked Nigel,
"So the Unicorn Tribe still exists in the Eastern Continent?"
"Well, I've been away from my hometown for too long to know. The tribe wasn't large to begin with, and I was among the youngest, so the bloodline might have already been cut off."
Zeke asked one more thing,
"So the Soul Technique is a skill passed down from the Unicorn Tribe?"
Nigel shook her head.
"This is a unique technique I developed over hundreds of years. Our tribe originally had abilities to handle transformation or hide the body, but I was expelled from the tribe and lost my power. So I researched a method of handling mana by opening the middle diantan."
"So you didn't originally have the middle diantan opened?"
"Originally, the Unicorn Tribe could freely handle mana through their horns. But since I have no horn, I found another way to handle mana."
Seeing that she was exiled from her tribe and had lost her horn, it seemed Nigel had her own circumstances.
'The Unicorn Tribe. Is it an ancient tribe that disappeared like the Three-Eye Tribe? I thought she wasn't human, but I never knew such a tribe existed.'
Zeke was learning new facts from his previous life.
After finishing their meal, Nigel drank the tea Zeke offered and continued,
"Well, you've probably learned all of the Soul Technique now. What will you do next?"
Since he would be able to grow his skill by strengthening his will and adding one letter at a time after learning the Solo Spell, she had nothing more to teach.
Zeke looked at Nigel and said,
"I still have something to do in the Forest of the Forgotten."
"Huh? What could you do in this cursed forest?"
Zeke took out a ring from his inventory with a phrase engraved by the Absolute Sword House Draker.
"Have you ever seen this phrase before?"
Nigel took the ring Zeke offered and examined it, then was suddenly surprised.
"This... why do you have it?"
Zeke was surprised by Nigel's reaction to the Absolute Sword Family's phrase.
"Have you seen the Absolute Sword House phrase before?"
Nigel made a complicated expression at Zeke's words.
After thinking for a moment, she looked at Zeke and asked,
"Do you know anything about the Sword saint?"
Sword saint Sheton Draker.
He established the Absolute Sword House Draker and left his insights in a hidden chamber containing his legacy.
Zeke had come to this forest to find that very hidden chamber.
Zeke looked at Nigel and said,
"Actually, I am the successor of the Sword Saint."
Nigel was shocked again by his words.
"You're the successor of the Sword Saint? Hmm... Ha, so that's how it goes."
Nigel muttered something to herself, then put down her teacup and stood up.
"Follow me. I have something to show you."
Nigel flew her divine form into the forest.
Zeke also spread his wind technique and followed her.
* * *
BOOM!
A massive vibration echoed from deep underground in the imperial palace of Rom.
A place where Emperor Nero used to have cultists perform suspicious rituals was now occupied by Ropocale, disguised as an apostle.
On the altar, a magic circle drawn in blood and unidentifiable bizarre organic matter were scattered about.
Ropocale gripped a dagger filled with the power of the constellation and chanted an ominous spell.
Soon, vibrations began again from the altar.
BOOM!
Black haze started to rise from the magic circle.
Ropocale took out a stone-like egg from his chest and placed it on the magic circle.
The black haze was then sucked into the egg.
TSSS!
The petrified egg, having absorbed all the black haze, had turned a dark color.
Moreover, while its surface was hard like stone just moments ago, after absorbing the haze, it had become stretchy like rubber.
SCREECH!
Strange sounds began to emerge from inside the egg, and something seemed to be squirming, trying to burst out.
Ropocale carefully picked up the black egg and placed it in a box beside him.
"It's not time to awaken yet. Stay a little longer."
After muttering softly, he closed the box's lid.
Then, gesturing to the black mages behind him, they approached and moved the sealed box to the next room.
Surprisingly, dozens of similar boxes were stacked in that room.
Ropocale was methodically preparing to lure and capture Zeke Draker on orders from the ‘Writhing Pit of Darkness’.
'The high priest seems to have noticed my identity... but since he hasn't said anything, I'll wait and see.'
Seeing that the high priest let it slide even after knowing he was from the demon race, it seemed the high priest had his own hidden intentions.
But for now, completing his master's orders was most important, so he decided to think about it later.
After completing the summoning and descending from the altar, one of the Abyss mages urgently approached Ropocale.
"Apostle. Azmund Varios, the legion commander, has arrived."
At those words, Ropocale unconsciously grabbed his head.
'What is that troublesome guy going to say now?'
While Ropocale was handling the imperial palace affairs in place of the unstable Abel, Azmund Varios, the legion commander of Crab Palace, was in charge of military matters.
As a demon, Ropocale was not very familiar with human military structures and found it burdensome to intervene.
The problem was that Azmund was not an ordinary human.
Ropocale, a subordinate of the ‘Writhing Pit of Darkness, knew very well about this type of human.
'Someone who would do anything for his own benefit. Easy to tempt because he wants a lot, but very tricky when making contracts.'
With an unsatisfied expression, Ropocale headed to the imperial palace's reception room where Azmund was waiting.
Since Abel and Jiemens took over Rom, the imperial palace's atmosphere had been heavily subdued.
People were dying in the palace daily, leaving nothing but desolation and silence.
The Rome imperial palace, boasting the largest scale on the continent, now seemed like a magnificently decorated, solemn tomb.
Disregarding this atmosphere, Ropocale entered the reception room, and Azmund, who was waiting, stood up.
"Legion Commander Azmund greets the acting regent."
Currently, Ropocale was serving as the acting regent in place of the exiled Julius.
The fact that an unidentifiable black magician was appointed as the empire's acting regent showed just how chaotic Rome's situation was.
However, Azmund was trying to use this unstable imperial situation to his advantage.
Ropocale looked at Azmund, who bowed his head without hesitation to greet him.
Rough, sprawling hair, thick eyebrows, a beard covering his face, and a massive, sturdy build.
Outwardly, he looked like an outstanding warrior, not a sinister schemer.
But this was just another element of Azmund's strategy.
Though he appeared to be a simple warrior on the surface, his inner self was coiled with more than ten snakes.
Those who didn't know Azmund would try to use his military might, only to be used and discarded themselves.
Ropocale, knowing Azmund's true nature, didn't show it but was inwardly wary as he returned the greeting and sat down.
"What brings the Legion Commander here? You must be busy handling the matters of the Crab Palace legion."
It was Azmund who suggested sending the Crab Palace knights to establish a foothold in the Northern Continent, attack Himonas from above, and pressure the Central Continent below.
However, Fritz, the captain of the Crab Palace knights Azmund sent, was killed, and most of the legion's troops were wiped out by Zeke Draker and the Barkalo citizen militia, with only a few survivors returning.
Moreover, rumors spread that the Crab Palace knights had collaborated with black magicians to summon monsters to attack Barkalo, further damaging public opinion.
As a result, Rome claimed it was an individual deviation by Captain Fritz, and the Jiemens family worked behind the scenes to divert public attention.
Ropocale started by pressing Azmund's sore spot even before hearing the reason for his visit.
Azmund scratched his head, looking somewhat embarrassed, and said,
"Ah, this has been quite a headache. Ultimately, it was due to my lack of leadership that things went wrong."
Azmund had first stepped back and bowed his head when he entered.
Seeing Azmund's reaction, Ropocale actually furrowed his brow.
'He truly is the most difficult type of human to deal with.'
As a demon, Ropocale couldn't help but be wary of a human with an even more insidious inner nature than himself.
Then Azmund said to Ropocale,
"Actually, I came to ask a favor of the acting regent."
Ropocale looked at Azmund with a displeased expression.
"Although I'm currently the acting regent, I'm just an ordinary dark mage. I'm not sure what I could do for the Legion Commander who controls all of the empire's military forces."
Azmund then said to Ropocale with a meaningful look,
"Zeke Draker. Don't you want to capture him?"
Ropocale fell silent.
'What is this human up to…?’
Azmund spoke to Ropocale with a serious expression,
"I want to avenge Captain Fritz. Please help me capture Zeke Draker."