578
Chapter 578
THUD! THUD! THUD!
Surprisingly, it wasn't just Kane's head that fell.
Both his sword-wielding arm and other arm fell to the ground in several pieces.
In that brief moment as they passed by each other, he had mockingly cut Kane down with his swift blade.
Despite clashing with Kane's powerful sword strikes, Liam remained completely unscathed.
The Breaker Mercenaries, as well as Kalam and the Brothers Mercenary Group watching from behind, were shocked to see the head of Kane, who was considered the strongest among mercenaries, fall in an instant.
Zeina's face, who hadn't properly accepted her defeat against Liam, turned pale.
'He wasn't using his full strength in the battle against us.'
Zeina and Fein realized that Liam's skills surpassed that of a Blue Knight and were at the level of a Red Knight.
Liam slowly approached the vice commander of the Breaker Mercenary Group who was standing at the front of the crowd.
Then he spoke in a low voice.
"Would you like to continue?"
At Liam's words, the vice commander's face turned blue as he shook his head vigorously.
He immediately dismounted and knelt before Liam with his head bowed.
"The Breaker Mercenary Group will follow the Stone Mercenary Group's orders."
Along with the vice commander's words, the other mercenaries also immediately knelt before Liam.
Liam silently looked down at the Breaker Mercenary Group prostrating before him.
It was the birth of the Mercenary King who had unified the continent's three great mercenary groups.
* * *
"Hmm."
Zeke was sitting leisurely in his office at Terra, the headquarters located in Atlas, drinking tea and looking at documents after a long time.
Boris was standing at attention in front of him.
While scanning through the documents Boris had brought, Zeke spoke.
"So Liam has unified the three mercenary groups... That's good."
Boris nodded at those words.
"The news outlets are already making a huge fuss about the continent's first Mercenary King emerging."
As Boris said, the continent was buzzing with articles about the emergence of the first Mercenary King along with the fall of Jupiter Castle.
In fact, this was the result of Zeke intentionally spreading press releases.
It was to prevent his own movements from being exposed to the outside and to divert attention elsewhere.
'Liam made a name for himself as the Mercenary King in his previous life. This time, perhaps because he received proper training as a knight, he gained fame even faster.'
Zeke smiled with satisfaction at Liam's growth.
With a pleased heart, he put down the documents and asked Boris.
"How is the situation at Jupiter Castle?"
"The urgent matters have been mostly sorted out. The citizens were actually welcoming the allied forces, likely due to Castro's very poor reputation."
"That's fortunate. Is Lady Helen commanding on site? I wonder if those Central Kingdom nobles are behaving themselves."
"Yes, and speaking of the Central Kingdom nobles, they had stayed behind trying to find an opportunity to seize the imperial treasures discovered in the castle basement. But after nearly losing their heads to the Northern Grand Duke, they've quieted down."
Zeke smiled slightly at Boris's words and said.
"That's just like the Grand Duke. Is the Himonas Knight Order still remaining in Jupiter?"
Boris shook his head at Zeke's question.
"No. The Northern Grand Duke, who had been growling at Count Bathory several times, said they would settle things later once the situation was resolved, then promptly left for the north with the Himonas Knight Order."
"The Northern Grand Duke and Count Vlad... They certainly don't match well in personality. No, looking at personalities alone, they're the worst combination."
However, looking at their abilities rather than personalities, the Grand Duke and Count Vlad seemed like they would work well together.
After all, if Alicia, who had awakened the power of the Wolf King Fenrir through the wolf fang Sword, joined forces with Count Vlad, an excellent strategist, unpredictable results could emerge.
'This should be interesting. I'll have to arrange a meeting with those two.'
Boris continued his report to Zeke.
"The Commander-in-Chief said she would send the allied forces toward the Thermo Gateway after reorganizing the army in Jupiter."
Zeke nodded at his words.
"The Thermo Gateway must have entered something of a stalemate by now."
Boris nodded and said.
"Yes, with the gate closed, they seem to be maintaining their position only with the summoned monsters and magical beasts."
The forces of the Abyss that needed to maintain the gate seemed to have collapsed due to Zeke, making it impossible to receive additional reinforcements. In such a situation, it would be easier for the allied forces to join and resolve the situation.
Zeke stood up from his seat after hearing Boris's words.
"Good. Boris, you lead the Intelligence Division forces to help Lady Helen with matters at the Thermo Gateway."
"Yes,Boss."
"Ah, and. Have you decided on a name for the Intelligence Division?"
Zeke had left it to Boris, the division commander, to name the organization directly as he planned to officially establish the intelligence division.
Boris, who had been unable to decide on a name, finally nodded as if he had made up his mind.
"Yes, we decided after discussing it with the members."
"Good that you finally decided. What did you name it?"
Boris's eyes lit up as he spoke.
"Nemesis."
Zeke gave a lukewarm expression at Boris's meaningful words.
"That's quite ordinary considering how long you thought about it."
At those words, Boris protested with fired up eyes.
"What do you mean, boss? Let me explain in detail why we chose this name. In Thebea, Nemesis is an ancient word referring to the goddess symbolizing revenge, and it has a symbolic system of cause and effect and retribution..."
Zeke furrowed his brow at Boris's lengthening explanation and waved his hand.
"Alright, I get it. You worked very hard on it."
Despite the dismissive response, Boris spoke with a satisfied expression.
"We put a lot of thought into it since it's a newly established organization."
"Fine, we'll go with that name for the intelligence division. By the way, what about the new agent Dmitri from the 13th Department? Can he be trusted?"
"Yes, he was voted second place for most wanted colleague while at the thirteenth Department."
"I believe you were first place."
"You remembered."
"...Anyway. So you plan to draw former thirteenth Department agents into Nemesis through Dmitri?"
Boris nodded.
"Currently our organization is focused on combat personnel, mainly from Salmak and Six. While the information from the Thieves Guild and Red Eye is excellent, they're still external sources. Relying solely on their intelligence has limitations for espionage activities, so we need experienced people in this field."
Zeke nodded at Boris's words.
"Understood. Handle this matter as you see fit."
"Yes, sir."
"Good. You may go."
After finishing his report, Boris bowed and left the office. Zeke sat there thinking for a moment before taking out a mirror from his breast pocket.
WHOOSH!
When he held the mirror and let his energy flow, the reflected light projected onto the glass wall of the office, creating a magical image.
After digesting Satan's power and knowledge, he had become more familiar with handling karma than before, allowing him to use power in various ways.
Soon, the face of Nabu, the hermit of the story, appeared on the glass wall.
―"Hey! Zeke!"
The hermit greeted Zeke in a somewhat more cheerful voice than usual.
"You seem to be in a good mood?"
At those words, the hermit spoke while leisurely fanning himself.
―"Heh, I finally escaped from Nigel's grasp and returned home."
It seemed he had finally finished helping Nigel clean up the Forest of the Forgotten.
Nabu spoke while gently waving his fan.
―"It looks like things have been wrapped up on your end too. The Abyss has been destroyed now, hasn't it?"
"We lost Harvey West, but that's about right. We're still tracking the remaining forces."
―"Hoho, then we can rest easy now. There shouldn't be any fools harboring delusional fantasies about summoning a demon lord besides those Abyss fellows."
Zeke shook his head at those words.
"That doesn't seem to be the case."
Sensing something ominous from Zeke's words, Nabu asked in a low voice.
―"What do you mean that's not the case?"
"Do you remember when the Black Star was stolen from beyond the Giant Mountains?"
―"I remember. Wasn't that the Abyss's doing?"
"It was Arthur Draker's doing."
Nabu's eyes widened at Zeke's words.
―"You're saying your dead father came back to life and took the Black Star?"
"It's complicated to explain... but Arthur Draker neither died nor is he my father."
―What?
Nabu's jaw dropped at suddenly hearing this unexpected information.
He straightened his posture and brought his face closer to the mirror to ask Zeke.
―"It sounds like... you're saying the destruction of the Abyss isn't the end."
Zeke nodded.
"Harvey West wasn't the problem. At the center of all these conspiracies was none other than Arthur Draker."
Nabu let out a sigh through the image.
With a serious expression, he said to Zeke.
―"Who else knows about this?"
"For now, only I know. The lords of the demon realm might know."
―"The demon realm lords. If Arthur Draker's goal is to summon a demon lord like the Abyss, that's certainly possible."
Nabu frowned as if things had become complicated.
Observing his reaction, Zeke asked Nabu.
"Hermit, how much do you know about the leader of the Highlanders?"
Nabu's expression changed subtly at Zeke's question.
―"The leader... Well, though I've watched for hundreds of years, I don't know much."
"How did you first meet the leader?"
―"Hmm, it was long ago. When I achieved enlightenment as a sage and was about to ascend, the leader appeared before me."
"As a spirit form?"
―"Yes. The leader asked if I could help maintain the world's balance before ascending to a higher dimension."
"Why did you accept?"
―"Highlanders who remained in this realm, including myself, have transcendent status but lingering attachments. Otherwise, we would have ascended already."
Zeke thought of Archmage Hoshgar. She left her spirit in the mansion out of concern for the future, and her message reached Zeke a thousand years later.
The High Tables must have had their reasons for remaining in this realm through contracts with the leader, accepting karma's restrictions.
Nabu spoke while looking at Zeke.
―"Are you doubting the leader's identity?"
Zeke shook his head.
"No. I'm concerned that trust issues may arise if the leader maintains such mystery, especially when we need the Highlanders' help against Arthur Draker."
Nabu nodded in understanding.
―"The leader is certainly suspicious in many ways. But... from what I've observed over the years, they can be trusted."
"You believe their intentions are good?"
―"Yes. Not all good intentions lead to good results, but the leader definitely wants to protect this realm."
Nabu tapped his fan against his palm.
―"I understand your concerns. I'll gather the other High Tables to discuss this with the leader. If the intruder is really Arthur Draker, he might target the last Black Star."
"Thank you, Hermit."
―"No need for thanks. Be careful, Zeke."
After ending the communication, Zeke stared at the glass wall. He took out the drawing Carus had made of him and placed it next to his reflection.
Looking at the canvas filled with endless black shadows, Zeke was filled with indescribable emotions.
'What lies within that darkness?'
Zeke spent a long time studying both his reflection and the shadowy figure in the canvas.