571
Chapter 571
Bathory Basarab.
She was none other than the daughter of the Red king, Count Vlad Basarab.
Bathory glared at Zeke, gripping her axe tightly.
"......Zeke Draker. You......"
"I'll ask again. Why did you get involved in this war? Were there really orders from the Red king?"
Zeke spoke in a low voice and tried to take another step toward Bathory.
Then the knights behind him, bound by dragon magic, struggled desperately to step forward.
"URGH! We must protect the Count!"
"Count! We will come to you!"
They were trying to forcibly break free from the dragon magic without any thought for their own bodies breaking, all for her sake.
Seeing this, Zeke clicked his tongue.
"The loyalty of these knights is impressive. I'd like to show this to our knights as an example to follow."
At Zeke's words, Bathory bit her red lips hard, then spoke in a low voice.
"You filthy Draker. You intend to humiliate and kill me, but your wishes won't come true."
A sharp blade protruded from her wrist.
Bathory glared at Zeke with eyes full of hatred and disgust and shouted.
"I will curse you even in hell, Zeke Draker!"
Simultaneously, she tried to stab her own neck with the blade.
CLANG!
But before the blade could reach her neck, a shadow summoned by Zeke wrapped around her neck and arms.
Due to the shadow's power, Bathory couldn't stab her own neck.
"URGH."
The blade that had protruded from her wrist was consumed by the shadow, gradually decomposing and disappearing.
Seeing this, Bathory's expression turned desperate.
"......You won't even permit me death, intent on humiliating me instead?"
Zeke listened to Bathory's words with a bewildered expression.
"I really don't understand what you've been saying."
Although he had never shown mercy to enemies, he had never massacred the innocent or humiliated others even once.
Yet Bathory was treating Zeke like an unparalleled demon.
Restrained by the shadow, she screamed.
"Did you think the evil deeds of the Drakers would remain hidden forever? You killed my father, kidnapped our family's guardian dragon, and even killed innocent citizens! Then you used Draker power to erase these facts completely!"
Zeke furrowed his brow at Bathory's words.
"Look, I'm sorry, but I never did such things. Why would I invade Basarab territory and kill the Red king? And guardian dragon? Are you saying there was still a living dragon in Basarab territory?"
The words pouring from Bathory's mouth were completely unexpected.
At Zeke's incredulous reaction, Bathory glared at him and spoke in a fierce voice.
"You filthy Draker. You deny it even though I saw with my own eyes how you stabbed a sword through my father's heart and chained our guardian dragon? Denying it won't make those facts disappear!"
Feeling Bathory's vivid anger, Zeke realized something was wrong.
'Could it be?'
With a gesture of his hand, the shadows holding Bathory moved her forward while still restraining her.
Bathory struggled as Zeke looked down at her.
"No matter how much you humiliate me! The spirit of Basarab! The spirit of the Dracula Knights will never be subjugated!"
"You're saying things that could be misunderstood. Hold still."
Zeke removed his glove and placed his finger on Bathory's forehead.
Seeing this, the Dracula Knights cried out with tears of blood.
"The demonic Draker is trying to use evil powers on our Count!"
"We must stop him!"
"Count! Please hold on a little longer! We will somehow...!"
Hearing the desperate voices of the Dracula Knights made Zeke feel like he had truly become the villain, and he inwardly clicked his tongue.
'First, I need to find out what's going on.'
Putting aside his unpleasant feelings, Zeke used dragon wisdom to examine Bathory's memories.
WOONG!
Her memories flowed into his mind.
"Father!"
Before Bathory, the Red king collapsed to the ground with his heart pierced by a sword.
The sword-wielder turned his head to look at Bathory.
It was none other than Zeke, his dragon eyes gleaming.
"A bloodline of the Red king?"
As Zeke stared at Bathory and pulled the iron chains in his hand, a red-haired girl who had collapsed behind him was dragged out.
Bathory shouted upon seeing her.
"Lady Eos!"
She was Eos, the guardian dragon of the Basarab family.
With chains around her neck, Eos said to Bathory.
"Bathory... run, run away!"
Zeke, who had been watching the two, sent an electric shock through the chain.
CRACKLE!
Eos collapsed to the floor with a groan, unable to withstand the power.
Zeke turned his head and spoke to Bathory with cold eyes.
"Bathory Basarab. My name is Zeke Draker. Remember this day well. And you should fear this power."
Simultaneously, black energy surged from Zeke's body and seeped into Eos, the guardian dragon.
Eos's pupils turned black, and her body began to change.
RUMBLE!
Emitting powerful dragon energy, Eos returned to her true form.
ROOOAARR!
Though returned to her dragon form, Eos still had the chains Zeke had wrapped around her neck.
As he mounted Eos's body, Bathory screamed furiously.
"Zeke Draker, I will absolutely have my revenge on you!"
"Interesting. I'll look forward to that day."
With Zeke's sneer, Eos opened her mouth wide and unleashed a powerful breath that blew away the castle walls.
RUMBLE!
Zeke leisurely disappeared riding the dragon, leaving devastation in his wake. That day, all the homes of the Basarab people were completely destroyed.
Zeke frowned as he read Bathory's memories.
'Has someone manipulated her memories?'
He examined Bathory's memories closely.
Then he discovered something subtle but definitely embedded within the memories.
He immediately spoke to the System.
'System, analyze what's been superimposed on these memories.'
[Processing interpretation according to user request.]
Soon the System completed its analysis and displayed a message before Zeke's eyes.
[Analysis complete. Found memory contamination points. Do you wish to purify them?]
Zeke immediately commanded purification through resolution.
[Will use purification authority to cleanse contamination and normalize memories.]
WOONG!
A great purification aura flowed from Zeke's body.
Golden waves spread out, sweeping over not only Bathory in front of him but also the Dracula Knights behind her who were shedding tears of blood.
SIZZLE!
As the golden light passed through Bathory and the Dracula Knights, purifying them, the atmosphere changed.
"...What's this?"
Bathory's memories rapidly replayed.
The person holding the sword that pierced the Red king's heart.
The memory that had been overlaid with Zeke's face slowly changed.
A man in Draker attire holding a black sword similar to Zeke's.
Zeke also reviewed Bathory's restored memories and clenched his teeth.
'Arthur Draker.'
Arthur Draker, who was believed dead, had stabbed the Red king's heart, kidnapped the Basarab guardian dragon, and committed merciless massacres.
Simultaneously, he had manipulated Bathory to direct her anger toward Zeke by framing him for these atrocities.
Despite knowing how Arthur Draker had maintained the Draker family's power all this time, Zeke trembled with disgust at his vileness.
At that moment, Bathory, having found her true memories through the purification power, opened her eyes in surprise.
"H-how is this possible...?"
She couldn't help but be confused by the sudden return of her normal memories.
Zeke released the shadows restraining Bathory and extended his hand toward her.
"Count, it seems we have some things to discuss."
* * *
Zeke entered the Dracula Knights' base inside the ravine.
Sitting in the tent waiting for Bathory to enter, Zeke admired the meticulous plan charts and battle maps posted everywhere.
'They prepared all this to capture me?'
With Count Vlad, known as the Red king, and the guardian dragon that protected the territory gone.
Although the Dracula Knights were among the most elite in the central continent, it was unreasonable for them alone to protect Basarab, an autonomous city, without the black knight Red king.
It was already challenging enough to restore the ruined city, so they couldn't afford to cause more confusion.
In the end, Bathory had no choice but to hide the Red king's death and use Hersion imbued with dragon power to imitate the Red king while protecting the territory.
'And that method worked to some extent.'
Even Zeke didn't think she wasn't the Red king until he directly confronted her.
Bathory's power, fully utilizing dragon strength, was so powerful that others couldn't tell the difference. However, Zeke could notice this because he possessed an Elder Dragon's heart.
'The Hersion that Bathory was wearing if it has the power to create such a powerful artifact, it's likely a dragon that survived the Liberation War.'
It seemed like a dragon similar in age to Hades or even older.
The fact that Arthur Draker had captured such a dragon was not a good sign.
'He killed the Red king but kept the dragon alive and took it. That means he has another use for it.'
Traces of Arthur Draker could also be found in the homunculus that attacked Zeke in Siemens' labyrinth.
A homunculus of the Hero King, an Elder Dragon's heart, and now a living guardian dragon.
Though Zeke couldn't tell what Arthur Draker was planning, it certainly didn't seem beneficial for the continent.
As he sighed and organized his thoughts about this troubling situation, Bathory entered the tent.
The Hersion that had been damaged by Zeke's attack seemed to have regenerated over time, returning to its original form.
Although Bathory's memories had returned, she sat across from him with a cautious expression, as if she couldn't fully trust Zeke.
She looked at Zeke and said,
"I still cannot trust any Draker."
Zeke nodded at her words,
"I'm glad we think alike."
He responded naturally, agreeing that he too couldn't easily trust those of Draker blood.
Slightly taken aback by his frank response, Bathory hesitated before speaking.
"Zeke Draker, if you haven't manipulated my memories again, then the one who killed my father, kidnapped our guardian dragon, and massacred the Basarab people was Arthur Draker."
"Yes, I merely purified contaminated memories; I didn't manipulate anything."
While Zeke had revealed the truth, it was still difficult for Bathory to believe.
Shrugging as if helpless against the seeds of distrust Arthur Draker had sown, he got to the main point.
"Why did Arthur Draker kill the Red king and kidnap the guardian dragon?"
Bathory frowned and answered,
"That's what I want to ask. My father always advocated neutrality and declared that he wouldn't interfere anywhere as long as our territory's autonomy was respected. Even we couldn't understand why the Drakers attacked us first. Aren't you people deceiving everyone with some scheme?"
Zeke shook his head at Bathory's words.
"As you know, Arthur Draker is officially dead. The current head of the Draker family, Kali Draker, seeks to correct the wrongs committed by the Drakers of the past."
Bathory made a disbelieving expression.
"The first thing Kali Draker did after becoming head was to gather allied forces and attack Jupiter. Though different in style, it's similar to what the Drakers have always done. Conquering and subjugating."
Zeke momentarily found it difficult to refute Bathory's words. Though various circumstances were intricately intertwined, on the surface, what she said was correct.
"...When you put it that way, I don't have much to say. But you can't deny that the previous emperor of Rome and Siemens caused many problems. In any case, we chose the lesser evil to prevent the worst outcome, and I hope you understand that."
Bathory looked at Zeke and said,
"The lesser evil. A good excuse for conquerors."
Zeke shook his head at her cynical remark.
"No, if we don't stop them, more terrifying conquerors will rise from below."
Bathory frowned at his words.
"What do you mean?"
"The Demon King. The lords of the demon realm are trying to resurrect the Demon King. If that happens, war will break out between the demon realm and our world. And..."
Zeke looked into Bathory's eyes and said,
"The one trying to start this terrible war is none other than Arthur Draker."