535
Chapter 535
The Evil Dragon Bahamut.
This name and the history of the Liberation War were firmly embedded in the minds of the Central Continent people.
Because of this, they honor the Dragon Slayer Terakan Draker as the protagonist of the Dragon Slayer legend, worshipping him as the hero who liberated humans from the evil dragon's rule.
That's why Zeke's statement couldn't help but shock those gathered at the great hall.
The vague concept of the Demon King had approached them as the tangible concept of the Evil Dragon Bahamut.
The Evil Dragon Bahamut was known to have instantly destroyed six of the seven kingdoms except for Thebea, captured humans as slaves, and eaten beautiful virgins for each meal.
'In reality, it was an absurd fabrication of history.'
Zeke also didn't want to tarnish the name of Bahamut, who sacrificed himself to save the physical world, but it was an unavoidable choice.
Without doing this, it was clear that the key figures of the Central Continent wouldn't understand how serious the problem of the Demon King's advent was.
Indeed, after Zeke's statement, the faces of those gathered at the great hall had become notably more serious.
If the Evil Dragon Bahamut were to be resurrected and devastate the Central Continent, there would be no way to win the war without a hero like Terakan Draker.
At that moment, Kali spoke to the crowd engulfed in anxiety.
"There is an opportunity to prevent the advent of the Evil Dragon Bahamut, or rather, the Demon King."
The eyes of those gathered turned toward her again.
Kali slowly opened her mouth.
"The evil dark magess who summon demons and try to bring forth the Demon King. They have been hiding in the shadows of the Central Continent for hundreds of years under the name 'Abyss'."
The crowd began to murmur again upon hearing the name Abyss.
Ignoring the commotion, Kali continued.
"It has been revealed that this Abyss joined hands with the Rom Empire."
The crowd was shocked by her statement and spoke even louder.
"T-the Rom Empire?"
"Good heavens, how could…?"
Calming the excited crowd, Kali said.
"To be precise, they had joined hands with Emperor Nero of the Rom Empire, who was believed to be already dead."
Since many in the Central Continent had trembled at Emperor Nero's madness-filled evil deeds when he was alive, most of those gathered nodded in understanding.
"Indeed, there was a reason for the mad emperor's actions."
"That madness was ultimately because of the Demon King."
When the atmosphere had ripened sufficiently, Kali stepped forward and drove the final nail.
"That group of Abyss is now preparing to bring forth the Demon King in Jupiter."
The murmuring voices of the crowd abruptly stopped.
Jupiter, the Rom Empire's largest strategic city where Castro Pollock's imperial legion was stationed.
It was a naturally fortified stronghold, with abundant food and water supplies, making it an optimal place for siege and prolonged battles.
This was why the new heir to the Rom Empire's power, Prince Leo, had no choice but to leave the remnants occupying Jupiter undealt with.
Kali continued, looking at the crowd.
"To prevent the enormous crisis approaching the Central Continent! We must form an allied force to liberate Jupiter and eliminate the evil group of dark mages!"
As Kali drew her sword and shouted, those with knightly backgrounds became heated, raising their hands together and shouting.
"Good! Let's crush them!"
"Our family's standard-bearer will lead the vanguard! We'll smash them!"
But unlike the excited knights, the atmosphere was different on the Delpoa side, dominated by magicians.
They wore serious expressions as they discussed something.
And when the atmosphere of the great hall had somewhat calmed, the representative of Delpoa, the palace's chief magician, spoke to Kali.
"It's not that I doubt Lady Kali's words, but there's one thing I'd like to confirm."
He continued in a subdued voice.
"Where is the evidence that this dark mage group called Abyss truly intends to bring forth the Demon King? Even the claim that the Evil Dragon Bahamut is the Demon King is merely Sir Zeke Draker's assertion, not confirmed information, so it seems there should be accurate evidence presented for this."
The chief mage of Delpoa was demanding precise evidence for what Kali and Zeke had stated.
Kali could not immediately respond to the magician's words.
'Evidence...'
She could provide plenty of evidence that Abyss had summoned demons.
But it wasn't easy to prove that they would summon the Demon King, and that this Demon King had previously descended upon the Evil Dragon Bahamut.
Originally, there were hardly any remaining materials from the Liberation War era, and even official records about Dragon Slayer Terakan Draker were difficult to find.
Some materials existed in Draker's secret archives, but since it was taboo to leak them outside, even Kali, as the family head, couldn't present them as evidence.
When Kali didn't respond immediately, the chief magician spoke with a voice full of doubt.
"Lady Kali, if you cannot properly present evidence, you might be suspected of trying to incite the members of the Continental Assembly using the provocative term 'resurrection of the Evil Dragon Bahamut' and attempting to form an allied force without justification."
He looked around at the audience and continued.
"If, as Lady Kali says, an allied force is formed to invade Jupiter, the main forces of the Central Continent's major kingdoms and houses will be depleted. If all this is untrue, we can't help but suspect it's an attempt to eliminate threats to House Draker using the allied forces, while preserving their own troops."
The chief mage's words began to shake the crowd's mood.
"Could it be?"
"No, but for House Draker, it's entirely possible..."
The infamous reputation of House Draker, created by Arthur Draker who had manipulated the continent through all kinds of schemes, worked against them.
This was because distrust of House Draker resided in the subconsciousness of the continental figures.
The chief mage's words became the spark that caused the doubt in their hearts to spread like wildfire.
Seeing the reversed atmosphere, Kali clenched her molars tightly.
'The situation isn't good.'
She had laid the groundwork for a continental allied force, but with one word from the chief mage, the entire hall was engulfed in doubt.
Kali turned her head to glimpse at Zeke beside her.
Zeke seemed to be thinking about something as he looked at the crowd.
But then.
"The Holy Kingdom agrees to the formation of the Continental Allied Forces."
Pope Beatrice raised her hand and spoke amid the confusion.
As other Central Kingdom representatives showed surprised expressions at the Holy Kingdom's sudden declaration, Princess Melissa of Allensia also raised her hand.
"Allensia also agrees to the formation."
One by one, those with connections to Zeke Draker stepped forward to participate in the declaration of the allied forces.
Yellin, who had been silent, raised his hand.
"Ishtar will also participate."
When even Ishtar, known as the most reclusive house on the continent, stepped forward to participate, the atmosphere in the hall began to fluctuate again.
Zeros, observing the situation, shook awake Jorge who was dozing beside him.
"Lord, quick, we should also... Ah! Nirvana will participate too! We're in!"
When Nirvana suddenly expressed their intention to participate, the expressions of the Delpoa mages in front soured.
In the Central Continent, the sovereign state of magic was Delpoa.
But the Nirvana family, who called themselves mages while breaking away from the order of the magic academy and Magic Tower led by Delpoa, had always been a thorn in their side.
When the Nirvana side announced their participation in the allied forces, the chief magician, feeling even more resentful, raised questions with increased fervor.
"We must think rationally! This could potentially escalate into a continental war, so we need to thoroughly gather evidence and make this decision with certainty..."
BANG!
While the chief mage of Delpoa was passionately speaking, the doors of the hall opened forcefully.
And a group of knights walked into the hall.
Wild knights with armor and weapons different from those of the Central Continent.
They were none other than the knights of Himonas from the Northern Continent.
The hall momentarily fell silent at the imposing presence of the wild northern knights who appeared to have just cut off a monster's head before entering.
Then, someone walked out from among the knights of massive build.
The lord of the Northern Continent Himonas and the king of the north.
The Grand Duke of the North, Alicia Himonas, stood in the middle of the hall, her dazzling platinum blonde hair flowing.
She didn't mind the others and shouted heartily, looking at Zeke Draker on the platform with her brilliant blue eyes.
"Zeke Draker! Friend of the North! The knights of Himonas have arrived here upon your request to attend!"
Alicia spoke loudly in the rough northern language.
Her boisterous voice shook the entire hall.
The knights of Himonas behind her also let out near-monstrous cheers, seemingly delighted to see Zeke.
The Central Continent people looked with fearful eyes at the northern knights who appeared little different from barbarians.
Even Kali, who knew that Zeke had sent an attendance request to Himonas in the Northern Continent, was equally flustered seeing them in person.
Zeke stepped forward and bowed his head toward Alicia.
"Lord Alicia, thank you for attending the Continental Assembly."
Not everyone gathered in the hall understood the Northern Continent's language, but they could understand that Zeke had addressed the knight before him by the name 'Alicia'.
The audience was shocked when they realized she was Alicia Himonas.
"A-Alicia Himonas?"
"The one who beheaded the lords of the north in one stroke..."
"With such a delicate appearance?"
All that was known about Alicia in the Central Continent were ominous rumors.
However, separate from these rumors, Alicia possessed an unbelievably beautiful and delicate appearance.
Zeke recalled how his enemies in his past life had been deceived by Alicia's appearance and lost their lives pathetically.
'With that face and physique possessing the strength of a great warrior, it's no wonder they couldn't gauge her power.'
The frightening thing about Alicia wasn't her great warrior strength.
It was her unbreakable will and mental fortitude in any situation.
That solid spirit combined with her warrior strength made it impossible for tens of thousands of troops to break the north she protected.
At that moment, the chief mage of Delpoa stepped forward again with his face flushed red.
"Don't tell me the knights of the north will join the Continental Allied Forces too! How can we possibly work with such barbarians…?!"
Delpoa had always disrespected knights.
Moreover, they especially despised the northern knights and criticized the northern culture of living harmoniously with other races.
The chief mage of Delpoa spoke loudly in a strong tone.
"Why have you brought these barbarians here? What if they use the allied forces as an excuse to plunder our food and attack us from behind?!"
Several noble families also stepped forward in agreement with the chief mage's statement.
"That's right! It's disgusting to even be with such barbarians."
"I'm disappointed in House Draker! I thought the house of the Dragon Slayer, the knight of knights, understood honor!"
Kali was momentarily embarrassed by their blatant criticism.
She hadn't expected this kind of reaction toward the Northern Continent.
Just as Zeke was about to step forward, watching the situation…..
THUD!
Alicia drew the wolf-fang sword from her back.
Then she glared at the chief mage of Delpoa and the nobles who had treated the Northern Continent as barbarians, her eyes flashing.
"I see there's a bunch of blabbering bastards here too."
Surprisingly fluent Central Continent language flowed from Alicia's mouth.
At Alicia's voice full of killing intent, the chief magician of Delpoa and even the knightly nobles felt their knees weaken and couldn't dare to retort.
Alicia approached them, swinging her wolf-fang sword as big as herself.
"Let me test personally if your skills match that blabbering mouth! Step forward!"
The nobles retreated in confusion at Alicia's threat.
Looking at them, Alicia bared her teeth like a fierce wolf.
"Cowards who can't even step forward... I'll personally remove those useless heads of yours."
Just as she was about to swing her wolf-fang sword with her great warrior strength.
WHOOSH!
Zeke blocked her path.