568
Chapter 568
The surrounding area was devastated by Emperor Nero's secret weapons, and thick dust clouds rose into the air.
The Red King had planned a completely different style of combat from the ancient knights of the Central Continent who prioritized honor.
Even though he himself was an excellent Black Knight-class warrior, he did not boast of his martial prowess.
His combat philosophy was to thoroughly destroy the enemy while minimizing friendly casualties, rather than taking the lead himself.
Despite bombarding Zeke with shells, the Red King remained vigilant and raised his hand again.
The Dracula Knights reloaded their shells, waiting for the Red King's signal.
"URGHHHH."
As the dust settled, Zeke appeared, stumbling and bleeding.
He was barely managing to stand up while his sword was stabbed into the ground upside down.
Confirming he was alive, the Red King gave the signal.
Shells mercilessly flew toward where Zeke was.
BOOM! BOOM!
The Red King, wearing red Hersion, carefully observed whether Zeke had escaped the blast radius.
The dust settled again without any particular movement, revealing Zeke Draker in an even worse state than before.
"URGHHHH."
Seeing Zeke Draker still alive despite his groans, the Red King's eyes hidden behind his helmet changed.
'It's a fake.'
He recalled this pattern among the many combat tactics of Zeke Draker he had analyzed.
Using his clone as bait to divert the enemy's attention before striking from behind was one of Zeke Draker's frequent strategies.
The Red King immediately signaled to the Dracula Knights.
The Dracula Knights immediately recognized from the Red King's changed signal that the one hit by the shells was fake, and the real Zeke Draker was hiding somewhere targeting them.
SWOOSH!
Though Zeke Draker was visible before them, the Dracula Knights, without a hint of doubt in the Red King's signal, quickly changed formation and immediately descended into the ravine to stick close to the Red King.
They put their backs together holding shields and swords, watching all directions cautiously.
Some among them were preparing for Zeke Draker possibly springing up from the ground.
The Red King on his red warhorse slowly approached the fake Zeke Draker.
He swung his axe toward Zeke Draker's clone, who was still pretending to be injured while gripping the sword stuck in the ground.
WHOOSH!
The axe imbued with powerful aura attempted to cut down Zeke Draker's clone in one strike.
But then, the supposed clone suddenly stood up and swung his sword, deflecting the Red King's axe.
CLANG!
The Red King's axe was thrown into the air by an unbelievably powerful force.
The red warhorse, a truly exceptional steed, neighed strongly and retreated.
Zeke charged at the Red King wielding Leviathan.
The Dracula Knights positioned around the Red King reflexively moved to counter him.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
They formed a wall with their large, sturdy shields to create an opening for the Red King to retreat.
While admiring their remarkable loyalty and boldness, Zeke didn't stop and launched a sword strike at their shields.
BOOM! BOOM!
CRASH!
The sword strike imbued with Dragon-Slaying technique blew away the Dracula Knights' solid defensive wall in one hit.
As the knights at the front collapsed, other knights behind immediately rushed in to form the wall again.
Zeke couldn't help but admire their movements that showed not a hint of hesitation.
'Their thorough training is clearly visible.'
Although he had thoroughly trained the Black Specter Squad and Black Sword Knights as well, it wasn't to this extent. The Dracula Knights now moved in perfect unison like a single organism.
Through this, Zeke clearly felt how much these knights trusted the Red King.
'But this isn't enough.'
RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
Against the momentum of the Dracula Knights surrounding him, Zeke awakened the power of the Elemental Sword.
As the field of metal force opened, strong gravitational waves spread out around Zeke.
RUMBLE!
The Dracula Knights caught in the gravitational waves' range could no longer move due to the enormous pressure crushing their bodies.
Nevertheless, they never let go of their shields.
CRACK! CRACK!
Zeke felt a kind of reverence watching the Dracula Knights maintaining their formation without dropping their shields even as their shoulders dislocated and feet sank into the ground.
'Amazing. So this is the true strength of the Dracula Knights who held back the armies of the Muruk Empire.'
That's when it happened.
The Red King dismounted from his red warhorse and raised his massive axe.
WOONG!
Red energy gathered in the axe.
The Red King thrust down the soaring red energy directly at Zeke.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Zeke felt something strange as he watched the Red King's red energy plunging toward his head.
'This is?'
In that moment, Zeke released the metal force field and leaped skyward, swinging his sword at the energy thrust by the Red King.
CRASH!
Zeke's sword strike and the Red King's ultimate technique collided in midair, causing a massive explosion.
RUMBLE!
Within the explosion scattering red light, Zeke, now completely unharmed unlike before, looked down at the Red King and Dracula Knights while floating in the air.
He slowly descended toward the Red King and landed in the center of the knights' encirclement.
Then he spoke to the Red King.
"Red King, why do I sense dragon energy from you?"
* * *
Boris was planning infiltration with his reconnaissance team members in the ruined city near Jupiter Castle, based on information passed by Gus, who was now Dmitri.
Dmitri continued his explanation while looking at Jupiter Castle's layout.
"Although Jupiter Castle is known for its thorough defenses, there's always a gap to infiltrate."
He pointed to the north gate of the castle.
"There's an underground sewage facility here that connects to the Voltro River."
Unlike Rom or Mars where the Voltro River passes through, Jupiter was quite far from the river stream.
The high elevation and rocky surroundings made it suitable as a strategic point, but it was a difficult terrain for drawing water supply.
Therefore, Jupiter Castle drilled underground to pump groundwater for use, and created sewage facilities to the north to channel wastewater to the Voltro River.
Without the underground sewage facility, the isolated castle's terrain would likely cause sanitation issues and various epidemics.
Thus, Jupiter Castle's underground sewage facility was classified as top secret.
The problem was that Jupiter Castle's underground sewage was very complexly structured.
Like most historic cities, it was built on an ancient city predating the Holy Empire, so the underground sewage was constructed over a thousand years ago.
Over centuries of repairs and expansions, the sewage system became a maze whose entire structure couldn't even be grasped.
Even if one discovered the underground sewage facility's existence, its structure was too complex to infiltrate recklessly.
However, as Castro's adjutant in charge of managing this underground sewage facility, Dmitri knew its structure quite thoroughly.
After hearing Dmitri, Boris called Shadia aside and spoke.
"What does the Vice Commander think?"
After pondering Boris's words, Shadia spoke.
"It's hard to easily trust his words. He's from Imperial Department 13 and was Castro's aide until just now. Even his current defection could be deceiving us with false information."
She took out a dagger from her chest and spoke with a cold expression.
"Sincere information must be obtained with pain. If you permit, I'll determine its truthfulness."
To Shadia's words, Dmitri behind her clicked his teeth and said.
"Um, Miss Salmak. I can hear everything, so could you not say such scary things when I'm around."
Boris pondered Shadia's words, still suspicious of Dmitri.
Then Adol, Serena, and Zion emerged from the ground.
Serena went to Boris and Shadia and bowed.
"Commander, we checked the underground sewage facility."
"How was it?"
"We couldn't examine the entire structure, but most matched the information he provided."
Dmitri beside them watched Shadia cautiously and spoke.
"I told you it was right. There's no other way into Jupiter Castle. I know because I was there. Sure, you might have a chance with a frontal assault in the current situation. But if you're going to infiltrate, that's the best option."
Despite hearing from Serena, Shadia still seemed unable to trust Dmitri's words.
After contemplating, Boris raised his head.
"We'll enter through the northern underground waterway Dmitri mentioned."
He pointed at Dmitri.
"Let's take him along just in case. If anything seems off, we'll eliminate him and retreat immediately."
The reconnaissance unit nodded at Boris's decision and hurried to prepare for entering the underground waterway.
* * *
Jupiter Castle's north gate had surprisingly few guards.
As suspicion toward Dmitri grew due to this odd situation, they understood why after entering the underground waterway.
Boris swung his aura-imbued sword and beheaded a demon beast that charged at them.
The underground waterway was filled with not only magical beasts but also experimental chimeras released by the Abyss's dark mages.
Though they heard from Serena's advance team, it was beyond imagination.
Dmitri, following Boris, also swung his sword to block demon beast attacks.
"Commander Boris, I switched to office work long ago, so this field work is a bit tough."
Boris pointed to the side and said.
"Then we can send you to Salmak's team."
Dmitri shook his head and raised his aura, working hard to defeat demon beasts.
He was determined to stick close to Boris, thinking Shadia would likely slit his throat pretending it was an accident if he went to her side.
Dmitri guided them through the maze-like underground waterways toward Jupiter Castle.
The sewers carrying the castle's wastewater were filled with foul odors and filth.
While the reconnaissance unit was used to such conditions, regular soldiers or knights would never consider entering this way.
As Dmitri led them, he stopped at a point where the waterway split into multiple paths and spoke to Boris.
"From here, we need to go underwater."
The unit members calmly took out their equipment despite having to enter the filthy water.
They attached pre-issued crystal orbs to their chests and activated them.
Instantly, their bodies were covered in diving suits with magical devices for underwater breathing attached to their faces.
Dmitri gaped at this sight.
'Hersion? No, doesn't seem like it. To think they have dozens of such new equipment.'
Boris gave equipment to the surprised Dmitri and explained how to use it.
After he too donned the diving gear, the unit members dove into the sewage without hesitation.
Their magical devices allowed them to maintain visibility in Murky water, letting them swim upstream relatively easily.
Dmitri checked above occasionally while guiding Boris on direction beside him.
But suddenly.
RUMBLE!
Huge crocodile-like demon beasts began swarming toward the unit members.
Dmitri panicked, frantically explaining he hadn't set a trap.
Boris calmed Dmitri and signaled to Aaron behind them.
Aaron took out an underwater launcher strapped to his back and aimed at the approaching crocodile beasts.
PING!
The harpoon shot out quickly underwater.
It struck the beast precisely, causing a powerful explosion.
BOOM!
The beast's body shattered, sending explosion waves up to the water's surface.
Boris signaled the members to move during this opening.
While members moved, Aaron laid new mines where he had been and quickly moved.
Other beasts swarmed to catch the moving members.
But Aaron's mines automatically attached to their bodies and exploded simultaneously, shredding the beasts to pieces.