Not long after the Intelligence Agency agents fled, the reaction Zeke had been waiting for arrived.
The Imperial Army began to move directly.
Zeke did not return to the Autonomous District. Instead, he monitored the Imperial Army's movements using Ghost Troopers and his summons.
At some point, one of the Ghost Troopers he had positioned deep inside detected unusual signs.
Through the Ghost Trooper's vision, he observed the approaching group.
Though they were cloaked in black mantles and hoods, it was clearly a Knight Order from the Imperial Army, leading a unit as they charged forward.
'They've taken the bait.'
Zeke was injured, and the intelligence indicated that both the Black Sword Knight Order and the Zoin Tribe had collapsed from Red Flower Disease. It seemed they had dispatched the Knight Order to handle the matter personally.
As Zeke examined the Knight Order more closely through the Ghost Trooper's sight, he was momentarily startled.
'Morgan Buffon?'
Morgan Buffon, the corps commander, was personally leading the knights of Sagyeon Palace.
'I didn't expect him to come out himself.'
Zeke had anticipated a few knights or some Intelligence Agency operatives, but the man had brought an entire Knight Order.
'He plans to kill them all and release monsters to clean up the bodies, letting nature take its course.'
Thinking of it in reverse, Zeke could do the same: kill them quietly and leave the cleanup to the monsters.
A cold smile spread across Zeke's face as he rose from his seat.
'Fall into the trap you yourselves set.'
His figure melted into the darkness and slowly vanished.
*
Thud thud thud thud!
Morgan Buffon led the knights of Sagyeon Palace charging through the shadows.
He clenched his teeth, his body trembling with rising fury.
'Damn it, of all times, why did the Second Prince have to come for an inspection here?'
Leonardo Crawley Constantinus, the Second Prince, seemed oblivious to his position as first in line for succession and kept visiting dangerous frontlines, making things troublesome for Morgan.
The prince's determination to gain experience on the battlefield as a future ruler was admirable, but it clashed poorly with Morgan's style.
Morgan handled the Empire's shadowy underbelly.
This mission in the Ghetto Region was meant to create a pretext for territorial incursion by deliberately releasing monsters, requiring utmost secrecy.
Yet the naive Second Prince, who believed everything could be resolved by strict adherence to principles, had always viewed Morgan's work with suspicion.
Moreover, with the recent change in the Director of the Intelligence Agency, Room 13 had been reorganized, complicating matters and dumping more responsibilities onto Sagyeon Palace. This left Morgan with far too many tasks requiring his personal attention.
In the past, he could have sent a few Intelligence Agency agents to behead the Zoin
Tribe chief and the beastman leader, then waited for the rest to collapse on their own.
But the new director was playing it safe, refusing approval for assassin deployment, forcing Morgan to step in himself.
'In any case, I need to wrap up the urgent matters before the Second Prince arrives.'
According to reports, Zeke Draker had been injured by the Six, and both the Zoin Tribe and the Black Sword Knight Order in the Autonomous District had fallen to Red Flower Disease.
For Morgan, whose many plans had been thwarted by Zeke Draker's interference, this was a golden opportunity.
He planned to rush into the Autonomous District, eliminate them, release monsters for cleanup, and return to the garrison camp immediately.
'Taking out Zeke Draker will hit Kali Draker hard too. With Helen Draker isolated, this could wipe out all the nuisances at once.'
As he organized his thoughts, Abel Draker suddenly crossed Morgan's mind.
He had always sensed something unsettling about Abel Draker.
And the Abel Draker he had encountered recently as a Black Knight carried an even more ominous aura.
'Madness, perhaps. Anyway, not someone I want to get close to.'
From the Empire's perspective, the plan was to absorb the Draker family through Abel, so Morgan had no choice but to maintain a good relationship with him.
Feeling an inexplicable unease, Morgan shook off thoughts of Abel and led the knights of Sagyeon Palace toward the Autonomous District.
But at that moment, something emerged from the darkness.
Slash!
A mysterious knight swung a massive horse-cleaving greatsword, bisecting the lead knight along with his mount.
The knights of Sagyeon Palace drew their swords in alarm.
"It's the enemy!"
Even in their panic, they spread out to either side, surrounding the knight wielding the horse-cleaving greatsword.
They ignited their aura blades and swung toward the foe.
Surprisingly, the knight with the horse-cleaving greatsword showed no intention of dodging the incoming strikes.
Gripping the sword with both hands and crouching briefly, he unleashed a full-body swing toward the charging knights.
Whoosh!
A storm erupted from the horse-cleaving greatsword.
Crunch!
The knights caught in the sword's storm were shredded, their limbs scattering in all directions.
A single swing had collapsed their formation entirely.
The knights at the rear, barely regaining their balance, spurred their mounts toward the mysterious knight once more.
Whoosh!
As over a dozen aura blades flew toward him, the knight's figure vanished in an instant.
Moments later, he reappeared in midair and swung his sword at the knights.
Whoosh!
Crunch!
He wielded the massive horse-cleaving greatsword as if it were an extension of his body, carving through the knights of Sagyeon Palace.
Seeing this, Morgan Buffon's face paled.
'A Black Knight... a Black Knight has appeared.'
He had no idea where a national asset like a Black Knight had come from.
To survive, he needed to escape this place first.
Without looking back, Morgan fled.
"C-Corps Commander!"
The other knights of Sagyeon Palace panicked at Morgan's sudden retreat.
Zeke, the knight who was slaughtering them, also spotted Morgan fleeing.
'I can't let him get away.'
He picked up a nearby spear and hurled it at the escaping Morgan.
Swoosh!
The spear pierced the air with tremendous force, embedding into Morgan's back.
Thud!
The Hercion of Sagyeon Palace prevented it from fully penetrating, but Zeke had infused it with Resonance of Strong Waves and Empty Vibration. The shockwave pierced through the armor and deep into his body.
"Gah!"
Struck by the resonance's vibrations, Morgan's body went rigid, tumbling to the ground like a slab of meat.
The surrounding knights, witnessing the scene, charged at Zeke.
"K-Kill that bastard!"
Zeke gripped the horse-cleaving greatsword again and swung at the oncoming knights of Sagyeon Palace.
Whoosh!
Another storm arose, shattering their swords and even cracking the armor protecting their bodies.
Soon after, Zeke's horse-cleaving greatsword severed their necks.
Thud!
With a heavy sound, dozens of knights collapsed to the ground.
Zeke walked slowly through the brutally fallen knights.
Morgan, sprawled on the ground, trembled as he tried to rise.
But the shockwave seemed to have shattered his spine; he could not move at all.
'D-Damn it...'
He fumbled for the potion hidden in his bosom, desperate to drink it, but his shaking hands could not even grasp the vial properly.
The footsteps approaching him grew louder.
Morgan's hands moved a bit faster.
He finally uncapped the potion vial and extended his tongue to drink, when—
Crack!
Zeke kicked the potion from Morgan's hand, shattering it.
Then he stomped on Morgan's hand.
Crunch!
"Aaagh!"
Morgan screamed in agony as his hand was crushed.
Zeke reached out, grabbing the hair at the back of Morgan's head.
"Long time no see, Morgan Buffon."
Morgan was startled by the familiar voice of the knight.
Lifting his head to look, he recognized the knight who had now revealed his face.
Morgan's expression turned ashen.
"Y-You... Z-Zeke Draker!"
He had never imagined the Black Knight could be Zeke Draker.
Zeke looked at the shocked Morgan and said,
"I didn't expect you to crawl out yourself, but this works out well."
Morgan Buffon was the sort who orchestrated brutal schemes and massacres alongside Abel in continental wars without hesitation.
It was best to eliminate him as quickly as possible.
At Zeke's words, Morgan pleaded,
"S-Sir Zeke! P-Please, give me a moment. Let's resolve this through talk." He tried desperately to sway Zeke.
But Zeke had no intention of doing so.
Sizzle...
Without responding, Zeke used Shadow Domination, Blood Eye, and Dragonʼs Senses to scour Morgan's memories thoroughly.
"Grrrk!"
Overwhelmed by the pain of his brain being turned inside out, Morgan rolled his eyes back and foamed at the mouth.
Undeterred, Zeke relentlessly extracted key Imperial intelligence from his memories.
'The Emperor's condition has deteriorated. It's touch and go. Ah, so the Intelligence Agency director switched from the Emperor's side to Consul Julius's faction. No wonder things felt sloppy—they put a retired general in charge of Room 13 instead of intelligence pros.'
Julius planned to crown Second Prince Leonardo Crawley Constantinus as emperor and rule as regent from the shadows.
Zeke confirmed the face of Leonardo Crawley Constantinus in Morgan's memories. 'That young Imperial knight in unfamiliar Hercion I saw on the Island of the Sea God.' He had been an exceptionally skilled knight, so Zeke remembered him.
From Morgan's memories, Zeke gauged Leonardo's personality.
'Hmm, in this situation, there might be an opening to infiltrate the Imperial side.' That's when he spotted someone familiar in Morgan's memories.
'Abel...'
Abel Draker had been right there.
Surprisingly, Abel had not brought his Knight Order; he was staying at the garrison camp alone with William Siemens.
'Abel is here by himself? This could be the perfect chance to take him out.'
In the current Ghetto Region, killing Abel here could be easily covered up.
"Grrrk!"
Morgan Buffon spat blood-flecked foam and soon stopped breathing as his heart gave out.
Zeke tossed Morgan's body aside and stripped him of the Hercion of Sagyeon Palace.
"A shame for trash like Morgan Buffon to carry something like this."
Zeke stored the Hercion in his inventory and summoned Richmond.
"You called, Master?"
"Yes. What's the situation at the camp?"
"Monsters come sporadically, but no major issues. Oh, as you mentioned, Imperial scouts probe around the camp."
"I see. Make sure they never realize I'm gone."
"Understood."
With the camp situation confirmed, Zeke instructed Richmond to lure monsters here.
As a necromancer who had devoted his life to monster research, even under Imperial brainwashing, this was trivial for Richmond.
"Come on, you lot! Over here! It's a full buffet!"
Richmond waved his staff, and soon nocturnal monsters with fierce eyes appeared.
Growl!
The nocturnal monsters swarmed, devouring the scattered corpses of the knights.
Morgan Buffon's body vanished entirely.
For one of the Empire's Thirteen Legions corps commanders, it was a pathetically ignoble end.
Having completely eliminated the Knight Order of Sagyeon Palace, Zeke returned to the camp.
*
"What? You plan to head to the isolated fortress alone?" Decker shook his head at Zeke's words.
"No. It's too dangerous for you to go there by yourself."
"I've spread rumors that I'm injured and can't move, so they'll likely let their guard down. The longer we delay, the worse it gets for us."
The isolated fortress held Helen, Song of the Crouched Flame, and Big Joe.
Zeke planned to rescue them and then set a trap for Abel.
Decker, realizing Zeke's mind was set, finally nodded.
"I shall obey your command."
Klone, standing nearby, tapped her mace against her palm and said,
"We'll smash all those monster heads while you're gone." Zeke shook his head.
"No, don't wipe them out completely. We need to look like we're barely holding against the monsters in isolation—that's how we'll draw out Abel, who's lurking behind the Imperial lines."
Klone smacked her lips in disappointment.
Zeke shook his head at her, gathered the Black Sword Knight Order to explain the situation, and before leaving the Autonomous District, summoned Richmond and Bane as precautions.
After finishing preparations in the Autonomous District, he slipped into the Ghetto Region teeming with berserk monsters.