641
Chapter 641
Rex Tourn, the head of the Tourn family and one of the five strongest warriors on the continent, known as the Battle King.
Zeke silently stared at Rex Tourn who stood holding his greatsword. After giving him a small bow, Zeke took out Leviathan from his inventory, gripped it, and pointed it at Rex Tourn.
The atmosphere etween the two grew tense.
Rex Tourn made the first move.
WHOOSH!
Despite the Battle King's massive frame moving, there was no sound of his feet touching the ground. He swung his greatsword at Zeke with bold yet fluid movements.
CLANG!
Zeke blocked the Battle King's sword strike that came down from above with Leviathan.
‘HMM!'
Although Zeke had far surpassed human limits, even he felt the deep resonance contained in Rex Tourn's strike.
His attack wasn't over there.
RUMBLE!
It felt as if his massive body was being compressed in an instant.
CLASH! CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!
Rex Tourn swung his sword in all directions simultaneously, attacking Zeke's vital points.
Zeke's eyes widened at the Battle King's sudden technique.
Light flashed from his Leviathan as it soared into the air.
CLANG!
The sword light that burst from Leviathan spread widely, blocking Rex Tourn's strikes.
SCREECH!
Even though the eight-directional sword strikes were blocked, the Battle King's attack didn't end.
This time, he took another step forward and pushed against Zeke with his shoulder.
BOOM!
Rex Tourn's charge carried pressure that felt like it could collapse an entire mountain range.
Zeke deployed his force field to meet Rex Tourn's charging power head-on.
CRASH!
When the two collided shoulders, the shockwave of impact spread throughout the room, shaking the entire Winterkeep.
RUMBLE!
The Four Seasons Castle, headquarters of the Draker family, and specifically the Winterkeep located in its deepest part, was designed to withstand most impacts without shaking.
However, as this was a battle between two superhumans who had transcended human limits, even Winterkeep couldn't completely escape the impact.
THUD!
Both men stepped back simultaneously after nullifying the shockwave.
Rex Tourn raised his sword and steadied his breathing.
Judging by the power of his sword strikes alone, he didn't appear at all like someone whose life force was depleted.
However, Zeke could still sense that Rex Tourn didn't have much time left.
He spoke while looking at Zeke.
"Excellent."
The Battle King straightened his greatsword and took his stance again.
RUMBLE!
A strange aura began to emanate from him.
"HAAAH......"
Rex Tourn tried to imbue his final will into his sword.
He believed Zeke would fully understand what his final sword technique would be.
RUMBLE!
Seeing the Battle King's last fight, Zeke wore his most serious expression yet.
He adjusted his grip on Leviathan and likewise prepared for the final strike.
RUMBLE!
As the Mind Sword activated, Zeke's mental sword became one with Leviathan.
At that moment, Rex Tourn took a step forward.
BOOM!
His step created a light tremor.
Simultaneously, he brought down his greatsword straight from above.
A perfect downward strike without a single unnecessary movement.
Then a completely different scene unfolded before Zeke's eyes.
RUMBLE!
In that instant, he found himself not in the Four Seasons Castle but in an unknown space where nothing else existed.
And from above, a massive greatsword that filled the entire space was descending.
It was a sword of such enormous size that it could split the world itself, coming down to cut only Zeke.
An ordinary person would have already lost consciousness from its overwhelming size and pressure.
But Zeke calmly fixed his eyes on the final strike of the Battle King, imbued with his last will.
Then he too stepped forward and swung his sword horizontally, channeling his ultimate energy into the Mind Sword.
SLICE!
Amazingly, a thin crack appeared in the Battle King's descending sword, and gradually the fissure spread.
CRACK!
The Battle King's massive sword aiming for Zeke shattered before it could reach him due to the cracks.
SCATTER!
As the sword turned to dust and disappeared, the sudden scene vanished as well, and Rex Tourn and Zeke remained standing in the Winterkeep's room.
THUD!
Rex Tourn, who had been standing upright holding his sword, soon dropped to one knee.
Zeke put Leviathan back in his inventory and immediately ran toward him.
"Lord!"
When Zeke tried to support Rex Tourn, he shook his head refusing the help.
"I'm fine."
Rex Tourn thrust his greatsword into the ground and sat cross-legged with his back against the blade. Then he steadied his breathing.
Zeke quickly examined Rex Tourn's body to heal him through perfect recovery, but it was already too late.
'The vessel of his soul is shattered.'
Even as a divine being, Zeke could only heal the physical body. There was nothing he could do about a damaged soul vessel, even with his power as a constellation.
After catching his breath, Rex Tourn lifted his head and looked at Zeke.
"Zeke Draker, do you understand why I wanted to see you for the last time?"
Zeke nodded at Rex Tourn's words.
"I will properly convey to the Tourn family the insight you gained at the end."
The final Radiance(回光返照)
It referred to the strange phenomenon of vitality returning just before death.
Rex Tourn, the Black Knight, had gained insight that could lead to the realm of Grandmaster at death's doorstep.
But knowing death was approaching soon, the Battle King showed his final sword technique to Zeke, who had reached a higher realm than himself, wanting to pass it on to the Tourn family.
Rex Tourn looked relieved at Zeke's words.
"Thank you. However, that's not the only reason I called you."
He took a deep breath and spoke again.
"Arthur Draker, and Laura Agamemnon. I have a duty to tell you the story entangled between these two people."
The reason Zeke wanted to meet Rex Tourn was ultimately to learn what secret lay between these two people.
He said to Rex Tourn.
"I already know that Arthur Draker killed my mother."
Rex Tourn was rather startled by Zeke's words.
Then he soon nodded with a grim expression.
"...I see. Did you also know that Arthur is not your birth father?"
"Yes, so you knew that fact as well, Lord?."
Zeke asked Rex Tourn.
"Do you know who my birth father is?"
Rex Tourn paused briefly at Zeke's words.
After thinking for a moment, he slowly spoke.
"This may disappoint you, but even I don't know that."
He continued speaking.
"What's certain is that Laura and Arthur never shared a bed, and that she despised him."
Zeke nodded at Rex Tourn's words.
The Laura Agamemnon he had seen in the past despised Arthur Draker more than anyone.
Yet she married him.
Even though the Agamemnon family was looked down upon by Draker's blood allies for being cursed, Laura Agamemnon firmly maintained her position as Arthur's wife.
Then she gave birth to Zeke and died at Arthur Draker's hands.
As Zeke recalled the Laura Agamemnon he had seen in the past, Rex Tourn spoke.
"Laura possessed the power of prophecy. Arthur wanted to possess that power."
Laura, who was an Irregular and could use Chronos' power, had the power of prophecy.
For Arthur Draker, who wanted to control everything, the power of prophecy was irresistibly tempting.
At that moment, something flashed through Zeke's mind.
The Vampire Queen, Jinzo Carmilla.
She originally entered the Four Seasons Castle as a maid to Zeke's mother, Laura Agamemnon.
But Carmilla fell for Arthur Draker's seduction and bore Bacchus, a vampire hybrid.
Bacchus had revealed to Zeke that Arthur Draker was experimenting to see what offspring would result from combining special powers of women with the blood of Draker's direct line.
That's why Bacchus said he too was just Arthur Draker's test subject and had never felt paternal affection from him.
'If Arthur Draker was interested in Laura Agamemnon's prophetic power...'
He might have married Laura Agamemnon for his 'special bloodline experiments'.
If Arthur Draker's characteristic persistence created a situation where Laura Agamemnon had no choice but to marry him even against her will, it was entirely possible.
He asked Rex Tourn.
"I heard Arthur Draker wanted to have children with talented women regardless of their family or race," Zeke's eyes flashed.
"Could it be he married my mother to have a child born with prophetic powers?"
Rex Tourn pressed his lips together before speaking. "It's difficult to deny what you say."
He continued with a bitter expression.
"While Arthur was my old friend, he was also someone whose true intentions were hard to understand."
Arthur Draker, Ramon Jiemens, and Rex Tourn were heads of closely allied families and childhood friends. But over time, their paths diverged dramatically. Ramon Jiemens sided with the abyss to resurrect evil gods and demon kings, while Arthur Draker was trying to bring about the apocalypse to become a god himself.
Looking at Zeke, Rex Tourn spoke.
"Listen carefully, Zeke. What I'm about to tell you, I've never told anyone before."
He caught his breath and continued.
"Forty years ago, when Arthur, Ramon and I were young, we searched for a dungeon unknown to the world."
Zeke recalled Laura Agamemnon mentioning forming a party with Arthur Draker, Ramon Jiemens, and Rex Tourn to find Elder Dragon ruins.
Zeke asked
"This dungeon, could it be the Elder Dragon ruins?."
Rex Tourn shook his head.
"Elder Dragon ruins. It's been a while since I heard that. Yes, we did spend time searching for those once."
His voice grew nostalgic.
"Laura was with us then. Looking back, those were the happiest times of my life. We fought daily, often slept outdoors after getting lost... but it was fun."
As Rex Tourn's voice weakened, Zeke approached and infused him with divine power.
RUMBLE!
Golden aura seeped into his body, revitalizing him.
Rex Tourn said, looking up at Zeke.
"...Amazing power. I'm glad I called for you last,"
"Anyway, the dungeon we searched for then wasn't the Elder Dragon ruins."
"Then what were you looking for?"
Rex Tourn caught his breath before answering slowly.
"It was an ancient unnamed temple. Arthur searched nearly the entire continent for it. But there..."
Rex Tourn hesitated momentarily.
After a pause, he continued with difficulty.
"There was an accident. An unexpected major accident."
Zeke asked.
"What kind of accident?"
Rex Tourn bit his lip and spoke in a low voice.
"Arthur... died there."