521
Chapter 521
Arthur Draker.
When the name of the Tyrant who was believed to be dead was mentioned, the Priest spoke to Baron.
[Baron Draker, your distasteful jokes have increased.]
"Why do you think it's a joke?"
He continued speaking while looking at the Priest.
"The conditions are the same as Abel Draker. In fact, the situation is even better. Since Arthur Draker has achieved the status of a transcendent, implanting Zeus's heart would allow him to draw out all the dragon's power."
The Priest frowned at the fact that Baron knew so much about this matter.
[Arthur Draker is dead.]
"You know that's not true, Priest."
The Tyrant Arthur Draker, known to be dead throughout the continent.
But in fact, he hadn't died - he was merely hiding his presence.
As Baron Draker openly stated this fact, the Priest who had been quietly staring at him slowly opened his mouth.
[A living Arthur Draker willingly becoming a vessel for the Demon King? That's utterly unbelievable.]
"I never said Arthur Draker would willingly become a vessel."
At those words, the Priest once again emanated dark energy.
[If you're trying to deceive me, you'll pay a heavy price.]
Baron waved his hand at those words.
"Don't get excited. Why don't you first listen to what I have to say before making judgments?"
At Baron's words, the Priest contemplated before temporarily containing the surging dark energy.
[Speak.]
Baron nodded at the Priest's words.
"Right now, Arthur Draker is in a state of suspended animation."
[Suspended animation? The Tyrant?]
"Yes. He entered and returned from an extreme region where humans cannot go, believing in his own power."
[Explain more precisely.]
At those words, Baron's eyes flashed as he spoke.
"The Black Star."
Suddenly, the dark energy around the Priest wavered as if disturbed.
Baron continued slowly.
"Arthur Draker entered the land of monsters beyond the Giant Mountains and returned with the Black Star."
[...I never thought he would have gone to that place.]
Even the Priest of the Abyss knew about the existence of the Black Star beyond the Giant Mountains.
However, even for the Abyss, which could control monsters, entering the sealed site at the center of the extreme region was impossible.
They had attempted to raid the Forest of the Forgotten as it was deemed to have the highest possibility of success, but ultimately failed because of Zeke.
But according to Baron's words, Arthur Draker had entered the extreme region alone during that time and brought back the Black Star.
"Arthur Draker has long been searching for Elder Dragon relics. But he ultimately failed. So he changed his approach."
[Instead of Elder Dragon relics, he chose the heart?]
"That could be one way to look at it. But there was one problem. The Black Star cannot be implanted in an ordinary human body."
The Priest knew this as well.
To begin with, implanting a dragon's heart into a human body was impossible.
The Draker bloodline that made this possible could be considered special.
"Arthur Draker learned that to fully absorb the Black Star, he needed to first implant a dragon's heart."
[So that's why he took the Mad Dragon's heart.]
The Priest had received contact from Baron through a secret communication network a few days ago.
He had said they had Zeus's heart and wanted to meet.
Then he even sent a recorded video of directly removing the heart from Abel Draker's chest.
This was why the Priest had riskily possessed the body of an ordinary magician.
He continued speaking while glaring at Baron.
[You were waiting. Until Abel awakened the Mad Dragon's heart to neutralize the madness, and until the authority of flesh-eating held by Ramon Jiemens was inscribed on the dragon's heart.]
Baron smiled at those words.
"That's just how the situation turned out, it wasn't intentionally planned."
The Priest found Baron's words hard to believe.
This was the Black Corps that had been carrying out all sorts of schemes under Arthur Draker who sought to grasp the continent in his hands.
For Baron, the leader of the Black corps, while planning something of this level might be difficult, it wasn't impossible.
Baron continued speaking while looking at the Priest.
"Arthur Draker implanted Zeus's heart and absorbed the Black Star. Since he had the status of a transcendent, he thought he could fully digest this."
As he spoke, Baron gave a sinister smile.
The Priest opened his mouth while looking at such a Baron.
[It seems the absorption failed.]
Zeus's heart and the Black Star, a fragment of the Elder Dragon's heart.
Until now, Zeke Draker was the only one who had properly digested these.
But even he was trapped in the deep world for over two hundred years before barely escaping.
Arthur Draker, who was already a transcendent, would clearly create an even more powerful deep world than Zeke.
And Arthur Draker's soul became isolated in the deep world from which he couldn't escape unless he overcame his own limits by himself.
The Priest fell into contemplation after hearing Baron's words.
[Are you suggesting we use Arthur Draker's unconscious body as a vessel for the Demon King?]
"Wouldn't it be the most ideal vessel? The consciousness is gone, and only Zeus's and the Elder Dragon's hearts remain in a transcendent body."
If Baron's words were true, it was undoubtedly a vessel with far better conditions than Abel Draker.
Perhaps it could become an even stronger vessel than the past Jiemens Apollion.
But the problem was that Baron was the one who brought this deal.
'No one is harder to trust than the Draker people.'
Even for one who had lived so long, the cunning of the Drakers was something to be wary of.
They could backstab at any time, and even their cooperation could be part of a scheme.
Dealing with Drakers was more dangerous than dealing with demons.
That's why it was difficult to easily believe Baron's words.
[Baron, what do you want in exchange for handing over Arthur Draker as the Demon King's vessel?]
Baron responded with a serious expression to the Priest's words.
"I want the Draker family."
What he wanted wasn't gold, beautiful women, power, territory, or a throne it was the Draker family.
[Are you saying you want to become the head of the Draker family?]
"I was from a branch line of the Draker family. Although I was fortunate enough to be a pureblood awakener, I wasn't strong enough to become an official knight."
Baron suddenly grabbed his face with his hand and ripped it sideways.
The human skin mask he was wearing came off, revealing Baron's original face.
His nose was cut off, he had no eyelids, lips, or ears, and his face was covered in scars.
Baron, who looked more grotesque than a lich, continued speaking slowly.
"That's why I went to the Black corps despite being a pureblood awakener. This is the result of a lifetime of loyalty to the Drakers."
The resentment and anger that Baron Draker, the Black Corps leader, had been hiding was clearly revealed.
He had lived as the Tyrant's shadow, handling all the dirty work for the Draker family.
Though he bore the Draker name, he wasn't treated as a true Draker since he wasn't an official knight.
As if that had been a constant source of resentment, a demonic aura flowed from Baron's eyes.
"After Arthur Draker fell, I thought about it. I thought perhaps this could be my opportunity."
Baron had long shared secrets with Arthur Draker, so he knew the details about the Demon King's descent.
He also knew Arthur Draker's true intentions, he had planned to let the Abyss run wild to an extent, then clean them up before the Demon King could descend when the time was right.
That was the reason he had been quietly observing the Abyss.
The other kingdoms would depend more on the Drakers when the continent was somewhat unstable.
Since people tend to have other thoughts during stable peace, Arthur Draker had maintained that balance appropriately so the central kingdoms couldn't harbor other intentions.
But variables emerged in the process.
The first variable was Zeke Draker.
Arthur Draker's calculations began to go slightly astray due to the activities of Zeke Draker, the Knight of Salvation.
The Abyss was supposed to create chaos across the continent so Draker knights could be dispatched to infiltrate each kingdom, but Zeke resolved all the major issues.
The second variable was Ramon Jiemens.
The Jiemens family, the Drakers' greatest blood ally, betrayed them. Moreover, the head Ramon Jiemens became the avatar of the Evil God Ajitahaka and tried to facilitate his descent.
With the Abyss and Nostra Family getting involved, the situation became complicated, and with Zeke Draker at the center, controlling everything became even more difficult.
But unexpectedly, as Zeke performed well among them, Arthur Draker changed his plans instead.
He decided to step back, let Zeke handle the Abyss and Jiemens matters to divert attention, while he would use that time to raid the extreme region.
And during Arthur Draker's absence while he faked his death and went on the extreme region expedition, Baron Draker filled that void.
The Priest noticed that he had directly felt, albeit indirectly, the power of authority that Arthur had held during that short time.
That's when the desire to possess the Draker family must have grown in Baron's heart.
Or perhaps it was the trigger that awakened that desire he had been hiding all along.
Baron spoke to the Priest.
"Priest, let me ask you in return. What does the Abyss want to do by bringing the Demon King to the material world? Do you truly want to lead this world to destruction?"
The Priest couldn't easily open his mouth at Baron's words.
Depending on how he answered, he could either accept or reject the hand Baron had extended. After thinking, he slowly opened his mouth.
[Breaking the stagnant order. That is the purpose of bringing forth the King in Yellow.]
"Breaking the stagnant order. What does that mean?"
[Baron, do you think this current material world is normal?]
"I think what's normal depends on each person's standards."
[The current material world is twisted and distorted. We are living like sheep trapped in a farm, or fish in a fish farm, within a stagnant order created by someone.]
"So the purpose of reviving the Demon King is to break those cages and frameworks?"
[That could be said.]
"Hmm, then who are those who created these cages and frameworks that hold us?"
At those words, the Priest raised his finger to point at the sky.
[Those who are up there.]
Baron's eyebrow twitched.
"Could it be... you're talking about the celestial constellations? But they left this land long ago..."
[Just because they cannot be seen doesn't mean they don't influence the material world.]
The priest spoke in a low voice.
[This land is still the playground of gods, and we are merely their toys.]
After pondering those words, Baron nodded.
"Very well. As long as summoning the Demon King isn't meant to destroy this world, I don't mind."
He continued speaking to the priest.
"Here are my terms. If I hand over Arthur Draker's body, you’ll help me become the head of the Draker family and won't cross into Draker territory afterwards."
The priest thought briefly about Baron's words before nodding.
[Good. I accept those terms. However, I have one condition of my own.]
Baron grinned at those words.
"I knew you would agree to the deal. What's your condition, Doctor West?"
TSTSTSTS!
The body the priest was possessing was gradually crumbling.
Possessing a regular magician's body rather than an Apostle of the Abyss required an enormous amount of karma.
From within the crumbling body, the priest spoke while looking at Baron.
[Zeke Draker. I know he's not Arthur Draker's legitimate child.]
The priest had previously attempted to curse and kill Arthur Draker using Zeke Draker's blood.
After having his subordinates collect Zeke's blood, he tried to cast an ancient curse on his father Arthur but failed.
The curse didn't work because Zeke and Arthur had no blood relation.
The priest spoke in a sharp voice.
[I need all information about him that remains within the Draker family.]
"All information about Zeke Draker..."
After contemplating the priest's words, Baron slowly nodded.
"Fine. I accept your condition."
[Remember this, Baron Draker. There will be a heavy price to pay if you break your deal with the Abyss.]
"I'd like to say the same to you. Don't take your deal with the Drakers lightly."
The priest didn't respond to Baron's words, and soon the magician's body crumbled.
Where he had been, the magician's body had vanished without a trace, leaving only gray ashes.
Baron looked at this before slowly raising his head.
TSTSTSTS!
Baron's grotesque face rippled before transforming into a different face.
A middle-aged man with ash-gray hair swept back.
It was the Tyrant Arthur Draker, who was said to have lost consciousness after failing to absorb the black star.