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Side Story Episode 5
SWOOOSH!
The extermination squad's sword strikes instantly sliced off the heads of the charging ice trolls.
THUD!
The ice trolls' heads rolled across the frozen ground.
The trolls' characteristic blue blood gushed from their severed bodies.
Even for trolls, regeneration was impossible once their heads were cut off.
The extermination squad sheathed their swords and pushed aside the fallen ice trolls.
Zeke, hidden behind the wall, gripped Gram and steadied his breathing, impressed by the skill of the extermination squad who took down the ice trolls with a single stroke.
'At least Blue Knight level or higher.'
While the Hounds had received knight training, this was the first time he had seen ones this strong.
'Perhaps they're new ones sent by the Emperor. It's possible they were also behind the avalanche in the valley.'
At that moment, the extermination squad members who had cleared away the ice trolls approached Zeke's location.
Seeing them look around as they came, they seemed to be exploring the cave.
After losing all his equipment in the valley, Zeke had only the claymore Gram left.
'I need to draw their attention.'
Zeke picked up stones from the ground and bounced them off the ceiling.
CLACK!
The extermination squad, with Blue Knight-level skills, immediately reacted to the sound.
In that moment, Zeke leaped out and struck the neck of the one in front.
SWOOOSH!
The attack was so swift that even a Blue Knight couldn't properly respond and died instantly.
But the situation wasn't good. Other extermination squad members nearby immediately rushed toward Zeke.
Zeke, who had planned for this, infused the stones in his hand with Soul technique and threw them at his enemies.
BOOM!
The stones, imbued with the Will of Destruction, collided with their swords and caused a small explosion.
The extermination squad members, startled by the sudden explosion, staggered and lost track of Zeke.
Taking advantage of the opening, Zeke dove in, pierced one squad member's neck, then immediately picked up a fallen sword and threw it at another.
THUNK!
The sword pierced through the targeted squad member's chest.
Zeke had dealt with three Blue Knight-level extermination squad members in an instant.
"URGH."
However, due to the side effects of using Soul force, Zeke felt dizzy and had to gather himself.
'If only I could properly use Soul technique.'
Although he had received training from his master Nigel, Zeke couldn't properly control this power, so he was in a situation where he had to accept the side effects when using it.
After catching his breath, Zeke searched the dead squad members' bodies and gathered necessary equipment including daggers.
He then hid their bodies and resumed looking for an escape route out.
But there was a problem. The Hounds were already spread throughout the cave.
'So they found a detour by breaking through the walls.'
It seemed they had made slaves search the entire Ice Dragon Valley, found potential detours, and collapsed ice walls with magic bombs.
Zeke could consider himself lucky that the resulting avalanche and cracks in the ice cliff had allowed him to discover the artifact first.
However, now was not the time for self-congratulation. He needed to find an escape route while avoiding the Hounds' eyes. He explored the cave while suppressing his presence as much as possible.
After days of struggling to find an escape route, Zeke finally found a way out.
But finding a way out didn't mean everything was over.
'Damn it...'
The Hounds had already set up a vast surveillance network throughout the Ice Dragon Valley.
* * *
"You found him?"
The commander of the Hound Unit jumped up from his seat upon receiving the report from his deputy.
They had barely found a detour into the ruins, but when they entered, someone had already taken the artifact.
Additionally, they discovered traces of scouts and extermination squad members who had been ambushed and killed by the intruder.
The commander knew the intruder was Zeke Murray, the Ghost of the North, so he ordered his subordinates to use full force to capture him.
But even after several days, they couldn't find so much as a strand of Zeke Murray's hair.
Instead, they only discovered additional bodies of Hounds who had been stationed in the cave.
The commander was furious at the elusive movements of Zeke Murray.
The problem was Abel Draker and his extermination squad.
After initially sending an advance team into the cave, they seemed to step back, withdrawing their forces.
In the end, only the Hounds suffered losses, and it was through their efforts that Zeke Murray was spotted escaping from the cave into the snow fields.
SLAM!
The commander struck the table and shouted at his deputy.
"Damn it! We need to catch him, so what is the extermination squad doing?!"
The deputy carefully replied.
"It seems they're spreading a dragnet to catch Zeke Murray."
The commander's eyes widened at his deputy's words.
"A dragnet? That would be impossible with just the extermination squad's personnel."
"...They've filled the gaps by drafting our personnel as well as troops from Legion Commander Castro's forces stationed at Himonas Castle."
The commander was furious that Abel Draker had arbitrarily deployed not only his own subordinates but also Castro Pollock's troops in a dragnet operation.
"GRRR, that bastard is acting completely on his own. If I miss capturing Zeke Murray at the ruins, he's probably planning to catch him in Ice Dragon Valley to increase his achievement."
As long as Zeke Murray had the Elder Dragon's relic, they needed to capture him somehow.
That was the only way to gain recognition from the Emperor.
Even though the Emperor had ordered him to delegate full authority, he couldn't let Abel Draker, an outsider, take over the mission he had worked on for so long.
The commander shouted toward his aide.
"We'll depart immediately. We must be the ones to capture Zeke Murray!"
The aide nodded at the commander's words.
"Understood."
* * *
'These imperial bastards have completely lost their minds.'
Hiding with his body buried under the snow, Zeke gritted his teeth as he realized that the dragnet was spread across not just Ice Dragon Valley but the entire Ice Mountains.
He could feel their determination to capture him by any means.
'Who the hell is behind this?'
He had never heard of such a large-scale dragnet operation just to find one ancient relic.
Zeke cursed the imperial commander responsible for this madness and held his breath.
He could sense knights approaching.
‘Shit, it's fucking cold for real.’
Even Castro Pollock's knights stationed at Himonas Fortress had been deployed as part of the dragnet.
Knights from the southern region of the Rom Empire were particularly weak against cold, so complaints naturally burst out.
Though following orders from superiors, they were clearly unhappy about being dragged to the harsh north.
Then another knight said to the complaining one,
"Rumor has it that the intruder is the famous Northern Ghost."
The Northern Ghost was notorious among the Rom Imperial Army.
At those words, the complaining knight grinned and said:
"Ha, the Northern Ghost. The name sounds impressive but if he runs into me, he won't even leave behind bon….."
SWOOSH!
At that moment, a sword sprang from the snow and pierced the knight's neck.
The other knight, not even realizing what was happening, backed away only to have his neck sliced by Zeke's sword rising from the snow.
THUD!
After quickly dispatching both knights, Zeke immediately used Healing to thaw his frozen body.
An ordinary person would have already died from hypothermia, but Zeke, being a Healer, was barely hanging on by treating himself.
Zeke buried the dead knights in the snow and moved immediately.
'They know who I am.'
He realized that whoever had spread the dragnet was not only aiming to recover the relic but also to capture him, known as the Northern Ghost.
After some consideration, Zeke changed direction again and headed toward the Ice Mountains.
He judged that going north rather than south would allow him to shake off their pursuit.
As he expected, the northern garrison troops mobilized for the dragnet hadn't anticipated him heading back north, so they couldn't properly pursue Zeke.
Zeke eliminated enemies he encountered along the way, erasing his traces as he headed for the Ice Mountains.
Then a problem arose.
The commander of the Hound Unit, who had joined late, happened to encounter Zeke in the north.
"Capture him!"
WHOOSH!
As the flare went off, all personnel in the dragnet rushed toward the Ice Mountains where Zeke was located.
'Damn it...'
Zeke realized he needed to escape from here quickly.
He immediately charged toward the Hound Unit commander who had discovered him.
"S-stop him!"
The Hound Unit members tried to block Zeke, but it was useless.
The Aura Blade that surged from Gram cut down not only the Hound Unit members but also their commander in one stroke.
THUMP!
Not expecting Zeke's skills to be above those of a Red Knight, the commander couldn't even respond properly and met his death bleeding on the snow.
"HUFF, HUFF."
With the Hound Unit's signal, the northern garrison troops moved up north to block Zeke's escape route.
Zeke evaded their pursuit and moved toward the Eternal Snow Mountain, known for being the highest and most treacherous part of the Ice Mountains.
The Eternal Snow Mountain, made entirely of hard snow and ice walls, was difficult to climb even for northern rangers.
Without proper equipment, Zeke began climbing this Eternal Snow Mountain.
"HUFF, HUFF."
With each exhaled breath, his breath froze white.
It was hard to breathe properly, and his lungs hurt as if filled with glass.
If he hadn't been recovering his body with Healing as he went, he would have collapsed long ago.
'Just a little further...'
When Zeke had served in the Himonas army, he had already crossed the Eternal Snow Mountain once.
From that experience, he knew there was an ice cave where he could shelter from the blizzard, so he was trying to reach it by any means.
His plan was to recover in the cave, then cross the mountain range to escape.
Fighting through the blizzard and forcing his frozen body to move, Zeke finally managed to reach the ice wall near the cave.
Just as he headed toward the cave entrance, Zeke's senses sent him a warning signal.
WHISH!
A sharp sword strike flew toward Zeke.
He raised Gram with his frozen hands and blocked the attack.
BOOM!
The extermination squad of hunting dogs that had been hiding inside the cave and near the entrance revealed themselves.
They had somehow known Zeke would come here and were waiting for him, prepared in advance.
They immediately rushed toward Zeke with their swords drawn.
THWACK!
They quickly pushed Zeke back, stabbing swords into his arms and legs.
"UGH!"
Zeke stabbed a knife into the back of one of the charging exterminators.
But the others swarmed him, stabbing his legs and cutting off his arms with their swords.
THUD!
Captured by the exterminators, Zeke fell to the cave floor having lost both arms.
The extermination squad wiped the blood from their faces as they looked down at the fallen Zeke.
"Tough bastard..."
They stuck out their tongues as they looked down at Zeke whose arms had been cut off.
"The Ghost of the North turns out to be nothing special after all."
"The captain ordered us to keep him alive for now. If we leave him like this, he'll soon die from blood loss."
At those words, another exterminator sneered and said:
"Heheh, how many of our comrades have died because of this bastard? Who cares about that? We'll just say he died while resisting."
Another exterminator approached and said:
"It doesn't seem right to kill the infamous Ghost of the North so easily. Besides, we don't know what the higher-ups might say."
"We'll just say we killed him because he was resisting too much. I won't feel satisfied until I tear this bastard limb from limb. Anyone else feel the same?"
When several others agreed with his words, he proudly pushed the atmosphere toward killing Zeke, saying he would take responsibility.
This led to others getting caught up in the mood, each stepping forward claiming they would be the one to kill the Ghost of the North.
One of the exterminators took out a coin from his pocket.
"Let's decide who kills him with this."
He flipped the coin upward, and everyone's eyes followed it.
But at that moment, the head of the exterminator who flipped the coin was cut off.
"Huh?"
Even though they had clearly cut off both his arms, somehow Zeke was now holding a sword with one arm and charging at them.
"B-block him!"
Zeke pounced on the exterminators like a beast.
Dozens of swords pierced his stomach and back.
Nevertheless, Zeke did not stop.
He stabbed with his sword, smashed down with rocks, tore throats with his teeth, and caught those trying to escape, strangling them with his legs.
He killed all the hunting dogs, but Zeke's condition was far beyond recovery.
“HAA, HAA."
He staggered and collapsed with a thud.
His consciousness was fading away.
At that moment, his eyes caught sight of a dark dragon statue that had fallen into a pile of snow.
Zeke instinctively reached out toward the statue and picked it up.
Then, leaning against an ice wall, he painfully awaited death.
'Damn it.'
As Zeke waited for death, his past flashed before his eyes like a slideshow.
His lord Alicia Himonas and the Northern Knights, his master Nigel, his time as a Southern hitman, and even the moment he was expelled from the academy.
Although he had lived chasing only power, believing that becoming stronger would make him free, he ultimately failed to obtain the power he desired.
'This damn life is finally ending.'
At that moment, amid his fading consciousness, letters appeared before his eyes, filling his vision.
[A powerful will awakens the ancient power.]
[The spirit of the Elder Dragon is imprinted on the soul of one with will.]
As Zeke remained dazed, unable to comprehend what this meant, more characters continued to appear before his eyes.
[The system detects danger to the awakened one.]
[Emergency measures are activated.]
[Do you agree?]
'...It hurts so much. Damn it... Yes, I agree...'
WOOOOONG!
As his consciousness faded, a vibration sounded and a message appeared.
[The awakened one's consent has been confirmed.]
[The irreversible promised power activates.]
[Entering countdown.]
[5, 4, 3, 2, 1]