Chapter 427
Chapter 427
Chapter 427
Despite his nature as a scheming strategist, Azmund Varios outwardly appeared like a very generous warrior.
In reality, Azmund was also an exceptional knight with martial prowess beyond that of a Red Knight.
He dismounted his horse and greeted Zeke with the most courteous posture possible.
"I am Azmund Varios, leading the Knights of the Crab palace. It is an honor to meet the Knight of Salvation in person."
Regardless of his true feelings, it was no easy task for an enemy knight to lower himself before Zeke, who was much younger.
However, such face—saving gestures weren't particularly important to Azmund Varios.
This was the crucial difference between Castro from a noble family and Azmund.
Despite Azmund's warm welcome, Zeke did not dismount.
Conventionally, Zeke should have dismounted to respond to Azmund's hospitality, but he merely looked down at him with a rigid posture.
The Crab Castle knights behind Azmund gradually frowned at Zeke's attitude.
However, they couldn't move rashly due to the different level of pressure emanating from Zeke's body.
Zeke spoke while looking at Azmund.
"Do you intend to negotiate here?"
Even Azmund the schemer felt tension from the emotionless, dry voice filled with overwhelming charisma.
'He's an even greater monster than the dead emperor.'
The reason Emperor Nero could maintain imperial authority despite being a madman wasn't complicated.
It was possible because he was strong, and there was no one in Rom who could defy his words.
Azmund sensed an even higher sovereign dignity from Zeke than the dead emperor.
The qualification of a natural ruler who could make thousands of knights kneel with just one word.
That's what he felt from Zeke right now.
Barely regaining his composure, Azmund bowed his head to Zeke and said:
"Of course not, Sir Zeke Draker. I will guide you to the negotiation venue."
Azmund mounted his horse again and led Zeke's party.
Following behind Azmund, Zeke observed the passing scenery of Rom.
A city of silence without a single human shadow.
'Rom is practically dead already.'
Without citizens, a city couldn't function.
The current Rom under Abel's control was merely an empty shell.
However, Rom still held great symbolic significance as the capital of the Roman Empire.
Zeke couldn't help but wonder about the true objectives of Ramon Jiemens, the root cause of all this.
'What does he intend to do after taking an empty Rom using the shell of dead Abel?'
As Zeke followed Azmund while pondering Ramon Jiemens's intentions, a massive temple appeared before him.
It was none other than the Grand Temple of the Sun.
It was the headquarters of the Sun Order that had split from the Order of Light, and the largest temple on the continent. Azmund had chosen this very place for negotiations.
'The Grand Temple...'
If it was Rom's temple, not elsewhere, it would be an ideal place for secret conspiracies.
Zeke thought there must be a reason why Azmund the schemer chose this place for negotiations.
Following Azmund and the crab palace knights into the Grand Temple, they found priests of the Sun Order lined up.
Azmund spoke to Zeke who was following behind:
"No one will enter the Grand Temple while negotiations are ongoing."
Though he said this, whether it was truly so would only be known once negotiations ended.
Azmund and Zeke entered the massive temple with their respective parties.
Going inside, a negotiation table was prepared in the temple's central hall.
Zeke and Azmund sat facing each other, with ten pre—arranged personnel lined up behind them.
Seated, Azmund removed his helmet and exhaled heavily.
"WHEW, now I can breathe. Since I have a fierce appearance, my lieutenants insist I wear a helmet to look better, but it's absolutely suffocating."
At Azmund's words, Felix couldn't help but crack a slight smile.
Reina jabbed his side as if telling him to mind his manners.
Azmund waved his hand as if it was fine.
"There's no need to be so formal. Isn't this a good opportunity to have an open discussion? Instead, why don't the knights rest in the prepared space in the back while enjoying some cool drinks? Our knights also wish to interact with the famous Black Sword Knights."
Unlike his rough appearance, Azmund was incredibly eloquent.
He instantly dissolved the tense atmosphere with just a few words.
But then.
"Do you think we came here to rest?"
As soon as Zeke spoke, the atmosphere instantly returned to a state of tension.
The relaxed mood Azmund had carefully created became taut again like a drawn bowstring.
In response to Zeke's words, Azmund also changed his posture and threw out a different topic.
"Knight of Salvation. Would you take a look at this?"
He naturally pulled something out in front of Zeke, reversing the atmosphere.
As he slowly unfolded an elegant velvet cloth, it revealed a book bound in red leather.
Azmund showed the book to Zeke and said:
"This is the memoir of the Dragon Slayer Terakan Draker that we discovered."
At the mention of the legendary Dragon Slayer Terakan Draker, the Black Specter Squad behind Zeke showed the most surprise.
Zeke, the pure awakened Draker himself, silently observed Terakan Draker's memoir without any particular expression.
Zeke said to Azmund:
"If you planned to blackmail the Draker family using Terakan Draker's memoir, you thought wrong."
Zeke was making the first move before Azmund could speak about negotiations.
At his words, Azmund shook his head and said:
"HAHA, how could that be possible? Dragon Slayer Terakan Draker is a hero and knight honored by everyone across the continent. But surprisingly, besides the myths about the Liberation War, little is known about Terakan Draker."
Azmund continued speaking playfully:
"This memoir contains untold truths about Terakan Draker. I wanted to present this memoir to the Draker family as a gesture of friendship."
After quietly listening to Azmund's words, Zeke slowly spoke:
"You won't publicly announce that Terakan Draker was an illegitimate child of the Draker family, and instead offer that book to the Draker family. Hard to believe."
At Zeke's casual revelation of Terakan's secret, the other knights standing behind were startled and exchanged glances.
This was true for both the Black Specter Squad members and Crab Palace knights.
If it became known that Dragon Slayer Terakan Draker was an illegitimate child of the Draker family, it could greatly damage the family's honor.
Yet Zeke spoke without hesitation, showing no concern about this.
Even Azmund seemed unprepared for Zeke's response, hesitating before finally speaking:
"...If you wanted to surprise me, you've certainly succeeded, Sir Zeke Draker."
"I didn't come here specifically to surprise the you ."
Zeke reached out and picked up the memoir placed before him.
Then he quickly flipped through it.
After instantly scanning the book's contents, Zeke used his system to verify its authenticity.
'...It seems genuine. Terakan Draker's memoir.'
Zeke had inherited Terakan's secure archives.
However, no such memoir existed in the secure archives.
It only contained official documents like supply records from the Liberation War and basic Dragon Slaying technique manuals.
Zeke looked at Azmund and said:
"Commander, we're both busy people. There's no need to waste time probing each other. Tell me what you really want to say."
At his words, Azmund contemplated, then sighed and nodded.
"WHEW, the Knight of Salvation is indeed formidable."
Azmund leaned closer to Zeke and slowly spoke:
"Sir Zeke, how about we first dismiss the people around us?"
At Azmund's suggestion, Zeke remained silent while resting his chin, then eventually gestured to the Black Specter Squad.
Azmund also made a simple gesture, and the Crab Palace knights moved to another room with the Black Specter Squad members.
Seeing this, Azmund said with an awkward expression:
"HAHA, I tried to create a natural opportunity to talk with Sir Zeke alone, but I suppose I started off wrong."
He was trying to create a comfortable atmosphere like before.
Zeke looked at him and said:
"What do you want to say?"
Azmund wore quite a tense expression.
"What I want to say is..."
Simultaneously, Azmund used telepathy to communicate with Zeke.
—Actually, Terakan's memoir is just bait.
Zeke's eyebrows twitched at Azmund's words.
It was difficult to understand Azmund's intentions as he openly admitted using Terakan's memoir to lure him here.
—Sir Zeke, how about joining hands with me?
Azmund secretly proposed cooperation to Zeke once again through Telepathy .
When Zeke remained silent, Azmund conveyed his thoughts through Telepathy again.
—Abel Jiemens. Don't you want to catch him?
At Azmund's words, Zeke's eyes wavered for a moment.
According to him, he had deliberately used the memoir as bait to lure Zeke to Rom in order to strike at Abel together.
Azmund's message continued to reach Zeke.
—Actually, I had a grudge against Emperor Nero. Taking the Corps Commander position despite bearing the dishonorable name of a schemer for many years was to gain an opportunity to kill the emperor somehow.
Zeke silently listened to Azmund's message.
—So when the Jiemens side said they would overthrow the emperor, I was the first to join hands and participate in the revolution. As you know, after the emperor died and Abel Jiemens took his place... I never imagined there could be a greater madman than Emperor Nero.
He had decided to kill Abel before he fully ascended to the throne, as he was worse than the mad Emperor Nero.
—Abel Jiemens now locks himself in the imperial palace, killing dozens daily and drinking their blood just to maintain some semblance of sanity. Because of this, the blood never dries in the palace.
By now, Azmund was trembling with clenched fists.
He looked at Zeke and spoke:
"I request the Black Sword Knights withdraw from Heli."
Zeke raised his head and looked at Azmund.
Then he played along with Azmund's rhythm:
"You'll hand over the memoir if we withdraw from Heli?"
"It's merely a request. As I said before, I'll give the memoir to the Draker family as a gesture of friendship."
"Hmm... a gesture of friendship."
Then Zeke conveyed his thoughts to Azmund through telepathy:
—Who do you plan to make emperor after killing Abel? Ah, perhaps the Corps Commander himself plans to become emperor.
At Zeke's telepathy, Azmund showed a slightly surprised expression before shaking his head.
—That's impossible. I've never thought of becoming emperor. Currently, through Abel, Jiemens has justification to control Rom, but if we can kill Abel and drive Jiemens out of Rom, I want to bring in Consul Julius to rebuild the Rom Empire together.
Zeke's gaze deepened at Azmund's words.
'Azmund Varios directly bringing Julius to Rom?'
In his past life, it was Julius who beheaded Azmund.
They were complete opposites of each other.
Although the situation had changed significantly from his past life, Zeke couldn't readily believe Azmund's words since their personalities hadn't changed.
Moreover, if this was sincere, he could defect to Julius's side even now.
Then Azmund looked at Zeke and sent a message:
—Currently, a dark mage with the status of Acting Consul is controlling Abel Jiemens from behind and manipulating the imperial palace.
He clenched his teeth and sent another message to Zeke:
—Sir Zeke, I can no longer watch my homeland, the Roman Empire, being toyed with by a dark mage and a madman.
Though conveyed through message magic, Azmund's sincerity was evident.
Zeke, who had been silently listening to Azmund, looked at him and spoke.
"I'll withdraw the garrison from Heli. However..."
Suddenly, blue flames erupted from Terakan Draker's memoir in front of Zeke, instantly burning it.
Through the flames, Zeke looked at Azmund and said:
"Keep your promise well. If not, you will pay the price."