522
Chapter 522
The continent's strongest warrior known as the Tyrant.
The one who had been talking with the priest was Arthur Draker disguised as Baron.
"Hmm..."
While rubbing his chin in thought, he turned his head to the side.
"Baron."
At that call, Baron immediately appeared in the empty space.
Arthur spoke to Baron.
"What do you think about Harvey West's words?"
Baron slowly opened his mouth after hearing Arthur's question.
"You mean his statement about the celestial constellations?"
Arthur shook his head.
"No, I'm curious about why he's so obsessed with Zeke."
"I believe he wants another vessel to replace Abel Draker's body. While using your body would be ideal, dealing with the Draker family is risky, so he seems to be preparing a backup plan."
Arthur nodded at Baron's words.
"Yes, that must be the reason. But something about it keeps bothering me."
"If needed, I can dig up information from within the Abyss."
Arthur waved his hand at those words.
"No, no. It's not important enough to go that far. Let's leave it be for now. Doctor West is quite sensitive despite his appearance, so we might create unnecessary trouble by prying. Instead..."
Arthur continued with a charming smile.
"I want you to stay close to Zeke for a while."
Baron showed a surprised expression at Arthur's words.
"You mean Zeke Draker?"
"Yes, it seems there's something about him that I don't know."
Arthur continued while stroking his chin.
"At first, I thought it was because of the power he obtained from Terakan Draker's ruins that he discovered by chance, but as time passes, I feel there's more to it."
Baron bowed his head toward Arthur and said.
"By your command, I will discover what secrets Zeke Draker is hiding."
"Good, I look forward to it."
CRACKLE!
Suddenly, sparks flew from Arthur's body and his form became blurry.
Baron tensed and tried to approach Arthur.
Arthur raised his hand to stop Baron and muttered while looking at his blurred body.
"Hmm, so this is how long I can hold out for now."
He raised his head and spoke to Baron.
"Nothing can be done until I fully absorb the black star."
"You'll fully awaken soon."
"Yes, it's a shame I can't watch things unfold in person when they're getting interesting."
He smiled and said.
"I look forward to seeing how Zeke will impress me next time."
As he finished speaking, strong sparks emanated from Arthur's body and he gradually disappeared.
Baron briefly looked at the spot where Arthur Draker had vanished before turning around.
Going outside, Baron spoke to the knights with gleaming eyes.
"Let's go finish the job first."
At his single command, all the Draker knights bowed their heads and moved out in perfect unison.
THUD!
Countless corpses lay scattered on the streets.
They were none other than the knights and soldiers of House Valdek.
The factory in Canus, territory of House Valdek, was burning, and the entire city was filled with screams.
As Baron came out of the building and coldly surveyed the devastation, the Draker knights brought someone forward.
"URGH!"
The man forced to kneel before Baron while spitting blood foam was none other than Wolfgang Valdek, head of House Valdek.
Following House Jiemens, Baron had personally struck against House Valdek, the Draker family's largest allied house.
Baron spoke to the kneeling Wolfgang.
"Wolfgang Valdek. Do you admit to conspiring with House Jiemens to support Howard Draker and plotting treason against House Draker?"
Wolfgang spat out the blood pooling in his mouth and burst into mad laughter at Baron.
"KEKEKEK! Like the dog you are to Arthur, you sure do bark well!"
He raised his head and spat more blood toward Baron.
SPLAT!
The Draker knights moved instantly to block the blood with their coats before it could reach Baron.
Baron looked down at Wolfgang with cold eyes.
"So you deny the act of treason?"
At those words, Wolfgang glared at Baron and said.
"You think Draker will be safe after treating House Valdek like this?! The council won't let you get away with this! Baron! I'll tear you to…….!"
SLASH!
Wolfgang's head fell and rolled on the ground.
Baron gestured to the knights after looking at Wolfgang's corpse.
"Confiscate all assets of the treasonous House Valdek and find everyone involved in the treason. Transport them to the Four Seasons Castle."
The Draker knights bowed and headed toward House Valdek's castle with murderous intent in their eyes.
Baron, watching the knights' movements, gestured to Souma beside him.
"You'll be in charge of commanding the scene."
"Are you returning to the Four Seasons Castle, Captain?"
Baron shook his head at Souma's question.
"I'm going to Mycenae."
Souma flinched at the mention of Mycenae.
But he simply bowed without asking further.
"Understood, Captain."
Baron left the Draker knights at the scene and headed to Mycenae with only the Black Corps members.
While he thought everything was going according to plan, Baron didn't know.
That there was a group watching them from within the darkness of Canus.
The vampires who had been observing everything in hiding reported the situation to their queen, Carmilla.
The continent's power balance was rapidly shifting.
* * *
CLANK!
Bound in Solomon's chains, Argidoom headed toward his master Elizabeth's stronghold.
Surprisingly, the First Princess's base was in the sky.
There was a barrier not far from the gate Zeke had destroyed, and when Argidoom approached, an entrance opened.
Inside was a floating castle summoned from the demon realm.
Zeke admired the floating castle.
'Though smaller than Anastasia's, its ability to float makes it strategically more valuable.'
After his assessment, he pulled the chains and spoke to Argidoom.
"Is your master inside that castle?"
As a proud demon realm noble, Argidoom found this humiliation by a human mortifying enough to wish for death.
But there was a reason he endured the insult and brought Zeke here.
'Human. The moment you step into that castle, you're dead.'
Elizabeth's floating castle wasn't originally designed to float.
Like Third Princess Anastasia's invasion fortress inherited from the Demon Archduke, it was originally ground-based.
But Elizabeth deliberately chose the smallest invasion fortress and modified it into a floating castle.
Her deep knowledge of magical theory, enough to establish the demon realm's magic system, made modifying the invasion fortress into a floating castle possible.
The castle interior was filled with numerous magical traps created by Elizabeth herself, along with carefully selected demon realm warriors.
Argidoom planned to lure Zeke into the castle, push him into a trap, and then capture him to bring directly to Elizabeth.
'Once we capture him, we'll quickly learn the Third Princess's location too.'
Hiding his true intentions, Argidoom spoke to Zeke.
"This way, follow me."
Still bound in Solomon's chains, he led Zeke to the lower area supporting the floating castle.
While there were no demon realm warriors guarding this secret passage known only to executives, it was still difficult for intruders to enter.
THUD!
Zeke followed Argidoom to the support area made of solid rock.
Argidoom pointed to one side.
"Release the chains. I need to touch it directly."
At those words, Zeke manipulated the chains to allow hand movement.
When Argidoom reached out, part of the rock rippled and created an entrance.
He spoke to Zeke.
"It's here."
Though the hole looked suspicious to anyone, Zeke silently followed Argidoom inside.
Befitting a secret passage used by high-ranking demons, it was vertical but had no ladder for climbing.
Zeke kept Argidoom in front and spread his dragon wings to pass through the vertical passage.
WHOOSH!
Past the vertical passage, a corridor inside the floating castle appeared.
Setting aside prejudices about demon realm architecture, it felt like an elegantly decorated palace corridor.
"Lead me to the Princess."
Argidoom gulped and nodded.
"This way."
Still in chains, Argidoom led the way down the corridor.
After walking for a while, a door appeared.
Argidoom spoke to Zeke.
"Release the chains. This too requires my direct touch to open."
Zeke released the chains without suspicion.
Argidoom reached out and touched the wall beside the door.
WOONG!
A strange magic circle appeared on the wall.
Argidoom knew this magic circle was a security device but thought the human Zeke wouldn't recognize it.
ZING!
Shortly after, vibrations emanated from the magic circle where Argidoom placed his hand.
Simultaneously, dozens of overlapping magic circles appeared on the ceiling and floor around Zeke.
Argidoom pulled his lips into a sneer.
"Foolish human! You've fallen for it!"
Abandoning his noble dignity, he mocked Zeke with a vicious expression.
CRACKLE!
Multicolored currents began flowing from the magic circles on the floor and ceiling.
CRACKLE!
Powerful magical electricity swept through the entire corridor.
Argidoom was certain Zeke couldn't escape the trap.
But then……
SCREECH!
Zeke activated Magic Reversal, causing strange sounds to emerge from the trap's magic circles.
The magical currents scattered wildly and flew toward Argidoom, who still had his hand on the magic circle.
ZAP!
"URGH!"
Argidoom was shocked when the magical current bounced toward him instead of hitting Zeke.
'H-how is this...?'
He couldn't believe that a mere human had broken through the magical trap set by his master Elizabeth.
After observing the situation briefly, Zeke spoke while gripping Solomon's chains.
"What a pointless trick."
He threw the chains into the magical current beside him.
The scattered current gathered and moved toward Argidoom along the chains.
Argidoom panicked and frantically tried to remove the chains binding him.
But the soul chains wouldn't come off.
"N-no!"
CRACKLE!
The concentrated magical current poured into Argidoom.
"URRRGH!"
Feeling his muscles contract, Argidoom clenched his teeth so hard they nearly broke.
Zeke slowly approached Argidoom, who was now paralyzed.
CRACKLE!
The currents disappeared as the Magic Reflux destroyed the magic circles themselves.
Zeke looked down at Argidoom, whose body was steaming.
"UUUGH―!
Zeke spoke deliberately to the disoriented Argidoom.
"Demon. You'd best not test my patience any further."
But then……
RUMBLE!
The tightly sealed door smoothly opened on both sides.
Zeke looked ahead.
Hundreds of demons glared at him inside the massive hall.
While they generally resembled humans, some had multiple pairs of arms and eyes, with hair and skin colors humans didn't possess.
Zeke could sense that every demon gathered there was at least mid-rank or higher.
'So the invasion fortress's power allows them to summon these beings to the material world without karma restrictions.'
Anastasia had filled her fortress with lower-ranked demons to increase numbers.
But even though the invasion fortress could summon high-ranked demons, Elizabeth's forces seemed to have an unusually high number of them.
This was undoubtedly possible because she herself was an exceptional mage.
Then Argidoom raised his trembling hand toward somewhere.
"M-master. I have lured and brought Zeke Draker as ordered."
Zeke raised his head in the direction Argidoom pointed.
A woman wearing a golden mask, seated on a throne atop a high platform.
First Princess Elizabeth had revealed herself.