611
Chapter 611
Zeke looked at the darkness appearing on the screen and the being whispering to him.
'A new king?'
The voice spoke again.
【Do not fear me. Just entrust everything to me.】
That voice penetrating his mind carried an inexplicable comfort.
Zeke felt a strong impulse to let go of everything and rely on that voice without knowing why.
At that moment, a message appeared before Zeke's eyes.
[Untrustworthy external access detected.]
[User's Sturdy mental defenses confirmed to be partially collapsed.]
[Blocking this access for user's safety.]
With the system message, the voice ringing in Zeke's ears disappeared.
'Huh?'
Coming to his senses, Zeke realized he had momentarily been entranced by the voice from the being in the screen.
'It broke through my mental defenses?'
Zeke's mental strength was so solid that even Blood King Caligula and the Evil God Chaos couldn't penetrate it.
The fact that it broke through such defenses with just a few words suggested how powerful the being in the screen was.
'Could that be…?'
Zeke's expression changed.
He seemed to recognize the identity of that being submerged in darkness.
The being's voice was heard again.
【King, we shall meet again soon.】
With those words, the screen turned off, and Zeke finally opened his eyes.
"Zeke."
When he looked up, Nigel had already awakened and was standing before him.
She looked at Zeke with a worried expression and said.
"Zeke? Are you alright?"
Feeling Nigel's hand gripping his arm, Zeke looked at her and answered.
"Yes, I'm fine, Master."
When Zeke responded normally, Nigel nodded as if finally relieved.
Nabu, who was beside them, also sighed with relief and said.
"PHEW, that's a relief. You were just standing there silently for a few minutes, so I wondered what was happening."
Zeke furrowed his brows at Nabu's words.
'It felt longer, but only a few minutes passed?'
The message Chronos left wasn't particularly special.
Though he couldn't hear exactly what Chronos was trying to convey because the latter part was damaged, he could understand that Chronos was trying to warn something about the Demon King.
What remained strongly in Zeke's mind was the being that interfered with Chronos's message afterward.
Although Zeke had only faced that being for a short time, he had to feel a creepiness he'd never experienced before.
He guessed the identity of that incomprehensible being submerged in darkness.
'The Demon King.'
The source and pinnacle of all evil sealed in the Book of the Dead.
He had seen it tempting Solomon in past memories, but this was the first time he had faced it so directly.
Zeke recalled how his mental defenses momentarily collapsed at the Demon King's whisper.
'The Demon King... felt different from what I imagined, but dangerous in a different way.'
Zeke turned his head and looked at the tightly closed door.
Shaking off the remnants of the Demon King in his mind, he raised his hand toward the door.
Then he used the control authority handed over from Innocent to open the door.
[Opening the highest grade security zone of the deep-sea city Rue according to user command.]
RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
The door opened with a loud noise.
Seeing this, Nabu let out a light exclamation.
"WHOO! The door really opened."
He spat on his palm, rolled up his sleeve, and gritted his teeth.
"Now that I've recovered some strength, I'll teach them a lesson this time!"
Nigel clicked her tongue at Nabu.
"They interfered with the Leader's authority and even opened the security zone. If we rush in recklessly, we might be the ones who get hurt."
Nabu scratched his head in embarrassment at Nigel's sharp words.
"Hmm, that's true. But it's not like we have any other options. The Leader has already ended up like that."
Nabu looked at Leader Innocent with a fresh expression.
Although it was said to be a homunculus following the traces of the Great Sage, the Leader had led the Highlanders for over a thousand years.
Having lost the center of the Highlanders, the High Table members couldn't help but fall into confusion.
Then Nigel turned toward Zeke, approached him, and said.
"Zeke, you lead us."
Zeke's face filled with bewilderment at Nigel's words.
"What do you mean, Master?"
"Exactly what I said. The Highlanders have lost their Leader. Regardless of whether his beliefs were blind or distorted, the Leader was the center of the Highlanders who protected the physical world. In the current situation, only you, Zeke, can succeed his position."
Nabu also nodded at Nigel's words.
"That's right. You're the one who received Rue's authority from the Leader, Zeke."
Nabu looked around at Manna and Ivan and said.
"Anyway, there are only four of us High Table members left. If we all agree, you become the leader of the Highlanders."
Zeke looked around at Nigel, Nabu, Manna, and Ivan.
Manna also nodded, seeming to agree with Nigel and Nabu's words.
Nabu spoke to Ivan who was standing silently.
"Ivan, you agree too, right? We don't have any other options."
Ivan slowly raised his head and looked at Zeke.
Then he slowly opened his mouth.
"Long ago, the Leader promised to help me eliminate all monsters in the physical world."
Ivan had lost his family to monsters hundreds of years ago.
To avenge them, he learned magic and how to hunt monsters.
He had lived with the sole determination to eliminate all monsters in the world.
He met the Leader when he was facing death while fighting a monster alone, as usual.
The Leader offered him a contract, and he became a High Table member, hunting monsters for hundreds of years.
Ivan looked at Zeke and said.
"Zeke Draker, if you make the same promise, I will follow your orders more faithfully than anyone."
Unlike other independent High Table members, Ivan was the most loyal follower of the Leader. Although they had just met, Zeke could feel his sincerity.
Zeke looked at Ivan and slowly extended his hand.
WHOOSH!
Light seeped into his body, and his severed arm was restored.
Ivan looked at his regenerated arm with surprise.
Then Zeke said to Ivan.
"I will completely annihilate not only monsters, but everything that disrupts the physical world."
Ivan could feel that Zeke's words were not a lie.
He bowed his head toward Zeke.
"I acknowledge and will follow you as the leader of the Highlanders."
With Ivan's approval, all High Table members unanimously recognized Zeke as the Highlanders' leader.
Zeke looked at the High Table members standing before him and said.
"As Master said, Baron Draker and Harvey Draker are not opponents we can easily handle."
Zeke turned his head to look inside the opened door and continued.
"But they probably don't know that I've received control authority of Rue. We need to exploit that opening."
All the High Table members, including Nigel, nodded at Zeke's words.
"I have a plan."
Zeke's eyes flashed as he explained the plan to the High Table members.
* * *
Thermo Fortress, the final gateway to Rom, the capital of the Rom Empire.
The fortress surroundings, where fierce battles had taken place until recently, were eerily quiet.
Legion Commander Daria, who commanded the fortress garrison, climbed up to the fortress wall.
She approached Leo, who was standing on the wall looking at the horizon.
"Your Highness."
At Daria's call, Leo, the prince and commander of the fortress, opened his mouth while looking outside the wall.
"Legion Commander."
Daria approached Leo's side and said.
"There seem to be no more enemy attacks. I think it would be best for Your Highness to return to Rom and leave this place to us."
The Immortal Legion that had attacked Thermo Fortress suddenly stopped attacking and disappeared.
The attacks ceased when Zeke formed an alliance with Beelzebub, the ruler of Abaddon, in the demon realm.
With the Abyss collapsed and Jupiter, which was occupied by Castro Pollock, also liberated, the Continental Allied Forces came to Thermo Fortress, the last battlefield.
The Allied Forces and the garrison defended the fortress and fought several battles with the Immortal Legion, and soon the tide of war changed.
After the Immortal Legion attacking Thermo Fortress stopped their assault and vanished, they only needed to defeat remnants of the old Imperial army or mercenary groups that had turned into bandit gangs.
Nevertheless, Leo couldn't easily leave Thermo Fortress and kept guarding the place every day in case other enemies might come.
Daria could feel from Leo the power shown by a true knight, not one who merely spoke of justice.
Leo silently gazed at the horizon before turning his head toward Daria.
"Do you think the war is over, Legion Commander?"
Daria shook her head at Leo's question.
"Not entirely. But the enemy forces have retreated, and I believe there will be no more large-scale battles."
After pondering for a moment, Leo spoke.
"A few days ago, I heard something unsettling while communicating with Carus."
"Something unsettling? What do you mean?"
Leo broke his silence and continued speaking.
"Though each kingdom is keeping quiet... I hear the black knights of the continent have been mysteriously disappearing."
Daria was shocked at Leo's words.
"The black knights are disappearing? How is that possible...?"
Black knights were beings powerful enough to be called one-man armies. Kingdoms went to great lengths to protect and retain them. Their numbers and locations were mostly classified except for a few known ones.
Leo spoke again.
"According to Carus, while not confirmed... the prevailing theory is they're being ambushed and killed."
Daria showed disbelief.
"Ambushing black knights? Who could possibly do such a thing?"
Attacking a black knight meant facing an entire kingdom's forces. An assassin would need to breach heavy security, defeat hundreds of knights and mages, then somehow ambush the black knight undetected - practically impossible.
As someone who learned spearmanship from Imperial Black Knight Duke Craven, Daria knew their immense power firsthand.
Leo furrowed his brow.
"It should be impossible. But if it's really happening... something unimaginable is occurring on this continent."
Daria realized why Leo couldn't leave Thermo Fortress despite the war's apparent end. His instincts told him the war wasn't over - that greater enemies were targeting the continent.
Just then...
BWOOOOO!
The horn signaling an enemy attack sounded.
Leo immediately leaped to the fortress watchtower.
He gripped the railing and enhanced his vision.
'What's that?'
These weren't undead legions approaching.
A completely new type of enemy was advancing toward the fortress.
As they drew closer and their forms became clearer, Leo's eyes widened.
He shouted to the fortress soldiers,
"Magical beasts! Different from any we've faced before!"
GROWL!
Thousands of outer beings magical beasts advanced toward Thermo Fortress with monstrous roars.