512
Chapter 512
"Emergency!"
Agamemnon Castle was in turmoil as a monster army surrounded Mycenae Castle.
All the major figures of the Agamemnon family, including Hades, had gathered. The Black Sword Knights stationed at the castle, along with Tourn's knights who were in joint training, Ishtar's magicians, and Salmak's assassins, all entered emergency standby.
WOOOONG!
The portal magic circle installed in Agamemnon Castle opened, and Duke, Aul, and Andrei appeared with serious expressions.
Clonne bowed her head toward Duke.
"Welcome, Lord Duke."
"Let's save the greetings for later."
He waved his hand and went up to the central tower of Agamemnon Castle with Clonne.
In the central tower, Hades, Rufus (the head of the Agamemnon family), Farrell, Yelin, Reina, Shadia, and others were gathered.
Duke first bowed his head to Hades and Rufus.
"It's been a while."
Given the situation, Rufus and Hades didn't look pleased.
Hades spoke with a frown, grinding his teeth.
"Damn it, suddenly these demon bastards..."
In truth, Duke had somewhat predicted this situation.
Since Zeke was working to prevent the resurrection of the Demon King, it wasn't strange for those trying to resurrect the Demon King to attack Mycenae, which was essentially Zeke's headquarters, in order to stop him.
Duke asked Rufus.
"Family head, how long can Mycenae Castle hold out against those monsters?"
Rufus, already wearing full plate armor, immediately answered Duke's question.
"With an army that size, it will be difficult to last more than a week."
Though few cities were as well-fortified as Mycenae, Rufus was realistic.
It was impossible to know how many more monsters would emerge from the gate, and the power of the demons leading them was difficult to measure, so he had conservatively estimated the timeframe.
Duke nodded and then turned to Farrell.
"Have you contacted that guy Zeke?"
To this, Farrell replied with a tense expression.
"I contacted Jeffrik who went to Thebea with him, but he said Zeke went down to the underground palace for a solo mission and communication is difficult at the moment."
Hades, who was standing nearby, burst out in frustration upon hearing this.
"Damn, why is that guy always so busy?! The situation is this bad. Tell him to come quickly!"
Duke held Hades back and asked him.
"Lord Hades, when will the enhanced armor for the knights be available?"
Hades furrowed his brow at the question, calculating in his head before answering.
"Hmm, we can immediately apply the new magic circuits to the Hersions that have been supplied to the Black Legion. The standard models haven't arrived from the Southern Islands yet. They said they're almost finished, but..."
"We need to hold out here somehow until we can contact Zeke. Lord Hades, please take care of the Black Legion's armor first. I'll send word to Atlas to have the Black Legion personnel come here as quickly as possible."
"This is troublesome. Alright then."
Although his answer was tinged with annoyance, it was unusual for Hades, a dragon, to be this cooperative with Duke, a human.
Duke spoke to Clonne who was standing nearby.
"Clonne, contact the Southern Islands and relay this to Kei. Push the dwarves to quickly send the armor they're producing here."
"Understood."
Duke was planning for a long battle to hold back the monster army until Zeke arrived.
But then……
Felix rushed in urgently.
"Lord Duke! Visitors have come to the castle. They say they've come to honor an agreement with our lord!"
Duke responded with a surprised expression.
"An agreement with Zeke? Where are they from?"
"Th-they say they're from a place called Highlander that I've never heard of before."
Though Felix said he'd never heard of it, Duke had previously learned about the Highlanders from Zeke.
A secretive group that hunts monsters from behind the shadows of history and adjusts the balance of the mortal realm.
He'd been told their skills were no less than those of any knights.
"Felix, bring them inside."
"Yes, sir!"
Soon, Adnan and Bodmir appeared, guided by Felix.
Adnan took out a letter from his chest and handed it to Duke.
Zeke's seal was stamped on the outside.
Adnan slowly began to speak.
"We have come to help in accordance with the agreement between Sir Zeke Draker and the Highlanders."
Duke unfolded and read the letter that Adnan handed him.
The letter stated that the Highlanders were experts in battling demons and that he should accept their help.
Duke put the letter in his pocket and bowed, saying.
"Thank you for your assistance. I am Duke Draker."
Adnan looked at Duke and bowed.
"It's an honor to meet the Knight of the Windstorm in person. I am Adnan. This is Bodmir."
Bodmir, who was standing behind, grinned and said,
"Looking forward to working with you, knights."
Just as Adnan and Bodmir finished their greetings.
EEEEENG!
An air raid siren rang throughout the city.
Adnan's expression changed.
"This is no time for leisurely greetings, Lord Duke."
He looked at Duke and said.
"Please guide us to the most vulnerable defensive point in this city."
* * *
WOOOONG!
Zeke appeared along with a flash of light.
'This is...'
Having moved to the location of the raid boss's main body through the system portal, Zeke surveyed his surroundings.
He saw a space where giant underground waterways stretched endlessly like a maze.
Zeke gazed into the waterway with sunken eyes.
GOOOOO!
A sound like a distant howling beast echoed, as if he had entered the belly of a giant monster.
Zeke immediately summoned his shadow spirits.
TSTSTSTS!
Hundreds of shadow spirits appeared with hazy forms.
These were the very shadow spirits he had created by absorbing the lost souls that had poured out of Ajitahaka's incense burner.
Zeke gave orders to the shadow spirits.
"Search this area thoroughly."
He planned to use these ethereal shadow spirits to find where the raid boss and Abel were located.
After sending out the shadow spirits, Zeke slowly made his way inside, examining the interior as he followed the waterway.
Judging by the construction style, the brick materials, and the patterns, it seemed to be a place built during the Seven Kingdoms era, before the Golden Age.
'Amazing that a place over a thousand years old remains so intact.'
As Zeke walked along the waterway, he realized the paths were so intricately tangled like a maze that it would be meaningless for him to explore further on his own, so he stopped.
He took out a chair from his inventory, sat down, and shared vision with his shadow spirits.
The views from hundreds of shadow spirits flowed into his mind simultaneously.
The amount of information would have shattered the mind of an ordinary human, but for Zeke, who could access the Akashic Code, this was no problem.
While examining the interior through the shared vision of his shadow spirits, Zeke noticed something strange.
'There are no enemies in sight.'
If this was truly where the raid boss's main body was located, there should be subordinates guarding it, but there were no enemies guarding the waterway.
Not only were there no enemies, but he couldn't sense any life forms at all, not even mice or insects.
'Is it possible for such a vast underground waterway to have not a single mouse or insect?'
It was an extremely unnatural space, devoid of reality.
But then……
Zeke discovered something strange in the vision of a shadow spirit he had sent eastward.
Something was engraved on a huge wall at the end of the waterway.
'Is that... a magic circle?'
It looked like an ancient magic circle, not an ordinary one.
Zeke ordered the shadow spirit to approach the magic circle.
The shadow spirit that received the order slowly approached the wall.
Then suddenly, a massive plasma spark flew.
CRACKLE!
It was a powerful force that instantly annihilated the shadow spirit.
'A space that even ethereal shadow spirits cannot approach...'
Zeke rose from his seat and immediately activated the portal.
The shadow spirit had provided Zeke with the most accurate coordinates possible.
The light of the system portal flashed, and Zeke arrived directly at the wall engraved with the magic circle.
With plenty of karma points, he could use the system portal freely, making movement much more advantageous than before.
He dismissed the summoned shadow spirits and slowly approached the wall with the magic circle.
Then he reached his hand toward the wall.
CRACKLE!
Again, plasma sparks flew.
Zeke was about to call Raven to consume the barrier, when he suddenly noticed that the feeling was different from the defensive barrier from earlier.
'This feels more strongly of magic or sorcery. Tremendous magical power is emanating from here. Was this magic circle the reason for the high mana concentration in the Thebea palace?'
Zeke decided to approach the magic circle more carefully.
First, he tried to disable the barrier itself with the Curse Removal skill, but it didn't work.
After considering various methods, Zeke took out the holy sword Ascalon.
Then he used the power of spiritual manifestation.
TSTSTSTS!
Zeke's physical body became a spirit, transcending the mortal realm.
Surprisingly, when the dimensional layer changed, the wall with the magic circle appeared completely different.
'A mirror?'
What had seemed like a solid wall now appeared to have a huge mirror attached to it when viewed from a different dimensional layer.
Zeke slowly approached, but the plasma barrier didn't activate.
'Could it be that the entrance is only visible from a different dimensional layer?'
Zeke approached the mirror on the wall.
Then he placed his hand toward the mirror.
His hand sank into it as if it were a passage filled with mercury.
TSTSTS!
Soon the spiritual manifestation would end, and he would return to the mortal realm, unable to see this space.
'I have no choice but to dive in.'
Zeke pushed his body into the mirror.
WOOOOONG!
The first thing he felt in the world inside the mirror was a peculiar resonance.
A constant humming sound circled his ears as if he were submerged in water.
Zeke looked ahead with slightly furrowed brows.
'What is this?'
The world inside the mirror seemed as if time had stopped.
He could see individual dust particles floating in the air, and there was almost no air flow.
TSTSTSTS!
Then, as his spiritual manifestation state ended, the landscape changed once more.
It was as if the world had been repainted, with the colors changing.
All color seemed to have disappeared from the world, tinted with a bluish-gray light.
Simultaneously, the wall pulsated like a living organism, and a sticky organic substance displayed its presence on the floor.
'What is this place?'
Zeke felt that this space was similar to where he had encountered the raid boss's avatars.
But there was one difference.
The left and right were reversed.
Just as the world inside the mirror was reversed from reality, this world was the same.
'A world with reversed left and right... Could this be a different dimension?'
Zeke tried to summon Raven while watching his surroundings cautiously.
But unlike usual, Raven didn't appear on his shoulder.
Raven, being a phoenix, was a divine beast capable of traversing dimensional layers.
The fact that Raven didn't respond to his summons meant this place wasn't a normal dimension.
'A perfect hiding place for a cursed being.'
Zeke held Ascalon and searched the surroundings for traces of the raid boss.
Then he sensed something suspicious behind him.
Zeke immediately turned around to strike first, unleashing his holy lightning technique.
But surprisingly, the lightning of light didn't manifest.
CRACK!
The lightning sparked and then quickly disappeared.
It felt as if light itself wasn't allowed in this place.
As Zeke was confused by this unexpected situation, something shot out from the water.
KAAAAAK!
A giant arm flew toward Zeke's body.
KWAKWAKWAKWA!
Hit by the arm, Zeke crashed into the wall.
Despite flying with tremendous force, the wall didn't break.
It felt like being buried in flesh.
With a grimace at the unpleasant sensation, Zeke rose from the sticky organism.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
Looking up at the ground-shaking sound, he saw a monster with long arms revealing itself.