Episode 318

A faint pattern appeared on Solomon’s ring.

“Part of the Horseman of Blood and Madness has been sealed?”

It seemed that while trying to exert direct power on Zeke, the very essence of the constellation had inadvertently flowed into him.

The wizard, realizing the power of the constellation had vanished from his staff, stepped back in shock.

Zeke seized the opportunity, gripping Roland tightly and channeling more purifying energy into him.

Vroom, vroom, vroom!

The golden aura surrounding Roland flared up even more fiercely, spreading in all directions.

Without the power of the Horseman of Blood and Madness, the staff was now nothing more than an ordinary wooden stick.

Crack!

The staff, held by the black-masked figure, couldn’t withstand Zeke’s power and shattered.

“Anomaly detected. Anomaly detected.”

The wizard’s voice repeated mechanically.

Ignoring it, Zeke drove the blade of purification into the wizard’s body.

Sizzle—

The golden aura seeped into the wizard, and soon black smoke began to pour from his body.

Zeke reached out and removed the wizard’s mask.

Snap!

But the face behind the mask was nothing like Zeke had expected.

“Not human?”

The face beneath the black mask was not that of a human but a mechanical construct, with gears and magical circuits. At its center was a crimson crystal, pulsing with a dark energy.

A voice emanated from within the mechanical device.

“Target, target, eliminate, eliminate…”

Moments later, the light in the crimson crystal faded, and the entity that had taken the form of a wizard slumped lifelessly.

Simultaneously, the dimensional rift closed, cutting off the flow of dark energy and dispersing the black smoke.

The endlessly resurrecting black knights could no longer draw power from the dark energy.

The barbarians, who had been grinding their teeth behind the barrier, assessed the situation and stepped forward with a grin.

“Raaaargh!”

With a battle cry, the barbarians charged, fists flying at the black knights.

Crash!

The black knights were sent flying, armor and all, crashing into the barrier.

Without the dark energy to replenish them, they could no longer wield their black aura.

Seizing the moment, eight barbarians overwhelmed and drove back dozens of black knights.

Richmond and Vane, observing the situation, also joined the fray, attacking the black knights from within the barrier.

Soon, most of the black knights were subdued, and as Zeke deactivated defense mode, the guardians vanished.

[Defense mode level has increased.]

[Some functions of defense mode have been unlocked.]

[Fortress-scale defense settings are now available.]

After two battles using defense mode, the range of settings had expanded to a fortress scale.

“A fortress scale, huh. I’ll have to look into that when I have time.”

At that moment, Richmond and Vane approached Zeke.

“Master!”

Zeke showed Richmond the crimson gem mounted on the golem’s head and asked, “Richmond, do you know what this is?”

Richmond examined it and replied in surprise, “This is a bloodstone. And it looks… natural, not artificial. Wow, this is really hard to come by.”

“A natural bloodstone…”

Zeke pondered for a moment, then ordered the capture and relocation of the black-masked golem and black knights to the autonomous district.

“Aren’t you coming with us, Master?”

“I have something to take care of.”

Zeke’s eyes gleamed with determination.

* * *

In a tent far from the battlefield, William watched the situation unfold through a crystal orb, his hands trembling.

“No, it can’t be. The Nightgon was defeated?”

The wizard of the Abyss beside him wore a look of disbelief.

“The great Horseman of Blood and Madness himself bestowed his power upon that avatar… How could mere humans…!”

The Nightgon was the pinnacle of collaboration between Siemens and the Abyss.

Since no living being on the surface could directly receive the power of the Horseman of Blood and Madness, he had revealed a way to imbue his authority into inanimate objects.

After numerous trials and errors, they had created tokens imbued with his power, and through a golem modeled after his form, they could activate a portion of his authority.

They had secretly brought it out to test its performance in the ghetto, but to think it would be destroyed by Zeke’s hand here was unimaginable.

Even the usually composed William found his mind reeling in this situation.

“No, this isn’t the time for that. We need to get out of here quickly.”

He pulled himself together and called for Rahim.

“Rahim! We need to get out of here, fast!”

But when he looked around, Rahim was nowhere to be seen, leaving William in a panic.

“Where… where did that fool go…?”

Rahim, with his spatial manipulation abilities, was crucial for a swift escape.

Yet, even after calling for him again and scanning the surroundings, Rahim was nowhere to be found.

Then it happened.

Boom!

An explosion echoed from outside the tent.

William’s face turned pale.

“Zeke Draker… it must be him.”

He shouted to the wizard, “Go out and stop him! Quickly!”

William sent the wizard out and hurriedly retreated, intending to escape on a flying beast.

Boom!

Another massive explosion resounded.

William sprinted as fast as he could toward the flying beasts.

He climbed onto one of the creatures, resembling a wyvern, crouched by the cliff, placed his hand on the control device, and commanded, “Take off! Quickly!”

Just as the beast spread its wings to take flight—

Slash—

A blade flew from behind, severing the beast’s wing.

Screech—

The beast let out a wail as it tumbled to the ground.

William, too, was thrown to the dirt.

“Ugh!”

He quickly got to his feet, trying to reach another beast, but the weight of the fallen creature pinned him down, making it impossible to move.

As he struggled to lift the beast and free himself, someone stood before him.

“Z-Zeke Draker…”

Zeke Draker, with cold eyes, looked down at him.

“It’s been a while, William. Didn’t expect to see you here.”

William clenched his teeth, desperately searching for a way to escape.

But Zeke left no openings.

Clang!

Chains shot from Zeke’s left hand, binding William.

“Ugh!”

Bound by soul-binding magic, William struggled, but escape was impossible.

Zeke grabbed William by the scruff and said, “You’d better have a good explanation for why Siemens’ heir is here.”

He summoned Bucephalus, loaded William onto its back, and took to the skies.

As Bucephalus ascended, Zeke unleashed Bahamut, setting the tents William had occupied ablaze.

Fwoosh!

Watching the blue flames consume the tents, William’s face was a mask of disbelief.

“Zeke Draker using magic? No, an artifact, perhaps. But could an artifact alone wield such power?”

Zeke Draker was far more dangerous than William had anticipated.

Dragged along like baggage, William gritted his teeth.

“I was completely wrong. Zeke Draker has surpassed all my expectations. He’s… more of a monster than I imagined.”

By the time he realized this, it was too late.

Zeke flew toward the autonomous district with William in tow.

* * *

Zeke had William confined in an underground storage area, arranged by the White Moon’s meteorological division.

He then summoned Decker and Boris to where William was held.

Seeing Siemens’ heir, William Siemens, bound in chains and crammed into the storage like cargo, Decker and Boris were left speechless.

Boris was the first to recover, addressing Zeke.

“Boss, what do you plan to do with William Siemens?”

Zeke looked at Boris and replied, “What do you think I’ll do?”

Boris, assuming Zeke intended to interrogate William as usual, tensed up, while Decker, standing behind, shook his head.

“Master, interrogating Siemens’ heir without justification could lead to complications. Perhaps handing him over to the Draker Tribunal would be wiser.”

Zeke looked at Decker and said, “Do you think a trial would conclude that William Siemens orchestrated an attack on the ghetto using monsters and beasts?”

Decker pondered Zeke’s words before shaking his head.

“…I don’t think so.”

“That’s why I’m considering my options.”

Zeke glanced at William, who was currently blind and deaf, his senses blocked by soul-binding magic.

Moreover, before Boris and Decker arrived, Zeke had already scanned William’s memories using dragon senses and shadow control.

He turned back to Boris and Decker.

“I’m planning to use William as bait to draw out Abel.”

Decker was taken aback by Zeke’s words.

“The Red Death Sword? Wait… is he here?”

Zeke nodded.

“Yes, Abel and the Empire are behind this. I’ve already dealt with Morgan Buffon, one of the Empire’s legion commanders.”

Decker and even Boris were shocked by Zeke’s revelation.

Boris took a deep breath, trying to grasp the underlying intent in Zeke’s words.

“If it’s within the ghetto, we could pass off Morgan Buffon’s death as a monster attack, couldn’t we?”

“Exactly. Which means we could do the same with William here, and Abel Draker as well.”

Zeke’s words made Decker swallow hard.

“Are you planning to eliminate Abel Draker here, my lord?”

“Abel is plotting to invade the continent with the Empire’s backing. As you’ve seen, they’re not above using forbidden methods like brainwashing monsters to lead their charge. Imagine if such a thing happened in Atlas.”

A horrifying scenario played out in Decker’s mind, darkening his expression further.

Zeke looked at the somber faces of Decker and Boris and spoke with gravity.

“If we don’t stop Abel here, he’ll overthrow Sister Kali and become Draker’s successor, wielding unchecked power. You don’t want the Empire and Draker to join forces and plunge the entire central continent into the flames of war, do you?”

Decker shook his head.

“Of course not. But still…”

After all, Zeke and Abel were brothers by blood.

Decker hoped Zeke wouldn’t be drawn into the tragedy of fratricide.

Understanding Decker’s concerns, Zeke approached him, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

“Decker, I know what you’re worried about. But if we don’t stop Abel here, we might never get another chance.”

The ghetto had become a sort of untouchable zone, inaccessible to outsiders.

Abel had deliberately created this situation to seize control with the Empire, but it also presented a perfect opportunity to strike.

Zeke addressed Decker and Boris.

“I’ll attack the Imperial garrison to draw Abel out. Meanwhile, take the Black Sword Knights to the Alencia border. Once you join forces with Sister Kali’s army there, you’ll be safe.”

Hearing Zeke’s resolute tone, Decker realized he had already made up his mind.

“Understood, my lord.”

Boris, standing nearby, turned to Zeke.

“What about William Siemens? Should we deal with him here?”

If they were going to bury everything here, it made sense to eliminate William Siemens too.

Zeke pondered for a moment before shaking his head.

“I have other plans for William. Boris, prepare to attack the Imperial garrison with Visco.”

“Understood.”

After Decker and Boris left, Zeke summoned Richmond.

“You called for me, master!”

“Richmond, how many monsters can you gather with your abilities?”

“Hmm, I can gather about three hundred right now. Of course, the time it takes depends on the distance.”

“Is it possible to mobilize large monsters capable of siege?”

Richmond hesitated before replying.

“To do that, I’d need to prepare a ritual in advance. And I’d have to decide which monsters to move.”

At that moment, Zeke retrieved something from his inventory—a horn and teeth from a Balrog that had evolved from a dragon species, taken from the overturned tower.

“Can you create undead with these?”

Richmond was taken aback, examining the items with wide eyes before accepting them.

“Wow, how did you get your hands on something like this…?”

The genius necromancer’s curiosity was piqued, and Richmond drooled slightly as he inspected the items closely before speaking to Zeke.

“It’s possible, but… I’ll need one more ingredient.”

“What do you need?”

Richmond hesitated before finally speaking.

“The natural bloodstone we discovered recently. With that, we could create a Draco Lich.”