Rumble!
Unable to contain his surging emotions at the declaration that reviving Abel was impossible, Ramon Siemens let his power slip, and it struck the sturdy walls of the stone chamber.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the walls from the force of Ramon's aura.
Undeterred by his reaction, the High Priest spoke in a calm voice.
"Ramon Siemens. You know as well as I do that fully resurrecting the dead is impossible, no matter the authority."
"Wasn't the 'Book of the Lion' you worship created for exactly that purpose?" At Ramon's words, a red glint flashed in the High Priest's eyes.
"Is that human stubbornness speaking, even knowing it's impossible? I thought you were different, Ramon Siemens."
"Cut the nonsense. With Cain gone, now Abel too. If all the vessels are lost, it won't just be my problem. Yet you're awfully composed. Have you prepared another vessel behind my back?"
"There are no more vessels. Humans capable of bearing the cursed dragon heart are rare."
"Then what do you plan to do? Abandon your goals just like that?" The High Priest shook his head.
"You're misunderstanding me. I said reviving Abel Draker is impossible, but I never said the plan itself is ruined."
"Are you playing word games with me? If you can't revive Abel, how do you intend to achieve your objective?"
"Exactly as I said. Abel Draker's soul is already gone. Even if we revived him, it wouldn't be the same Abel Draker. We can preserve the body until all preparations are complete and use it solely as a vessel at the final moment."
Ramon furrowed his brow at the High Priest's words.
"So revival itself is possible?"
"This body is now close to a demon-dragonkin's form due to the cursed dragon heart. A dragonkin's body has an affinity for absorbing soul power."
"Enough irrelevant talk. Get to the point."
"It's possible to revive this flesh using fragments of the soul embedded in the demondragonkin's body. But it won't be the previous Abel Draker." An existence that was Abel, yet no longer Abel.
After pondering the High Priest's words, Ramon asked him.
"In that case, will it affect the second consecration rite?"
"I can't guarantee it won't have any impact. But it's not impossible."
After a moment of deliberation, Ramon made his decision and spoke to the High Priest.
"Revive the body. Right now, I need Abel Draker to exist, even if only in form." The High Priest looked at Ramon and said.
"Are you sure? Once awakened, there's no turning back."
"Revive him. We can't proceed with the plan using a corpse. For your goals to succeed, my plan must as well."
The High Priest nodded.
"Understood. I'll tell you what we need. Prepare it."
Ramon glanced down at Abel's corpse on the stone dais, then turned and exited the chamber.
He addressed the mages waiting outside.
"Procure everything he mentioned."
"Y-Yes, sir."
"And the connection to the harbinger of blood and madness—still nothing?" At Ramon's question, the mages broke into cold sweats before responding.
"W-We suspect there's an issue with the constellation's source itself..."
In the end, testing the weapon had backfired, severing the connection to the harbinger of blood and madness that had been empowering it.
Ramon recalled the cause.
'Zeke Draker...'
The slippery nuisance he'd dismissed as insignificant was thwarting his plans at every turn.
He remembered the intelligence report that Zeke Draker was heading to the holy kingdom.
'That will be your grave.'
*
The warships carrying the knight orders reached the holy kingdom's port in just three days, as it wasn't far from Iason.
But as they approached, something felt off about the atmosphere.
"Everyone, prepare for battle."
At Zeke's command, not only the Black Sword Knight Order but also the White Silver Knight Order tensed and went on alert.
Despite it being midday, a thick fog blanketed the port, making it dim and eerily silent, with no signs of life.
Zeke scanned the port closely and said to Xeros.
"Xeros, can you clear that fog?"
"I'll secure visibility first."
Xeros raised his staff and focused his mana.
Whoooosh!
A massive wind arose, beginning to disperse the fog around the port.
Rumble!
But moments later, the fog swirled back, reclaiming its place around Xeros's wind.
Seeing this, Xeros shook his head.
"My lord, it seems this is fog summoned by magic."
"Given the scale, it's no ordinary spell."
"Yes, it looks like they've set up a magic circle to activate large-scale climate magic."
It meant they'd deliberately installed a massive magic circle to obscure visibility with fog, blocking incoming ships.
'Orks use magic too, but not like this. This is the Empire's doing.'
Sending the Ork legions to invade the holy kingdom was undoubtedly the Emperor's scheme.
Zeke felt the need to secure the port first.
"Don't dock yet. Hold position. Shadia, follow me. Xeros, cover me from behind." He called out to the Barbarians lounging in the corner.
"You lot, come too."
The Barbarians jumped up eagerly.
"Good. Was getting bored."
After their brainwashing was lifted and Zeke told them to return to their village, they'd complained of boredom and said they'd stick around for some fun before heading back to the mountains. In the end, they'd planted themselves with the knight order.
They'd actually seemed thrilled at Zeke's warning that staying meant constant fighting.
Since it was turning out this way, Zeke had equipped the sturdy-bodied Barbarians with tough monster-hide clothing and solid clubs forged by Gelion.
Armor was pointless for them anyway.
The Barbarians itched to test their new clubs.
Zeke led the excited Barbarians, along with Shadia and Xeros, onto a small boat and entered the fog-shrouded port.
As soon as they entered, Zeke spotted familiar traces.
'Magical beasts are here.'
The Orks captured magical beasts to use against enemies.
Sure enough, wolf-like magical beasts soon emerged from the fog, baring their fangs and charging at Zeke's group.
Kyaaak—
Before anyone else could react, the Barbarians rushed forward, swinging their fists at the beasts.
Crunch!
One punch reduced a beast to scattered chunks of flesh.
"Weren't we gonna use the clubs?"
"Oh. Right. Forgot."
Excited about their new weapons but still more comfortable with their fists, the Barbarians pressed on.
Zeke's group advanced through the port with the Barbarians in the lead, scouting the area.
This port, once bustling with hundreds of ships daily, now felt utterly deserted.
As Zeke examined the surroundings, he used his dragonʼs senses to read the memories lingering on the ground and buildings.
Fragments of memory surfaced in his mind.
'They haven't killed the people yet. Loaded them onto wagons and took them somewhere. Not hostages... probably for summoning demons as sacrifices, or making blood tear stones. Or offered up for some other vile magic.' Human souls were valuable commodities as sacrifices.
To the Emperor invading the holy kingdom for immortality, the captured humans would be nothing more than prime offerings.
He didn't know exactly how the Emperor planned to achieve immortality using relics from the first holy king's ruins, but demons were undoubtedly involved.
'Just like with the sacred relic, some demon or constellation must have ordered him to retrieve the holy king's artifacts.'
Zeke decided to head deeper into the port first and destroy the magic circle generating the fog.
Xeros sensed the flow of mana and pointed to one side.
"My lord, strong magical power is coming from over there."
"Good. Xeros and I will take the lead."
Zeke asked Shadia and the Barbarians to cover the rear, then proceeded with Xeros toward the magic circle.
At that moment, something approached through the thick fog.
Step. Step.
Clank! Clank!
It was an Ork unit clad in heavy steel armor, shields, and battle axes.
Spotting Zeke's group, the Orks let out a battle cry.
"Kill them all!"
As the Orks charged with axes raised, Zeke unleashed lightning hell.
Crackle!
In an instant, five linked skills erupted, toppling over a dozen Orks and exposing them directly to the lightning. "Grrrk!"
The Orks frothed at the mouth and collapsed. Xeros watched in surprise and admiration.
"The new technique you've learned through the blessing of the fairy king... it's incredible. It resembles draconic tongue magic."
The new linked skill was based on Xeros's theory, recreating draconic tongue magic, so it made sense.
To avoid Xeros probing deeper—which would be a headache—Zeke quickly finished off the electrocuted Orks and pressed further inward.
Using his dragon eye, he saw a massive magic circle in the central plaza deeper in the port.
The problem was the hundreds of Ork soldiers guarding it, alongside magical beasts.
Zeke scanned the area again and spotted mages managing the magic circle in various spots.
'Not Narak mages. They look like Empire ones.' Zeke said to Xeros and Shadia.
"Xeros, I'll remove my gauntlets to trigger mana interference. You stay outside the range and use magic on the Orks to lure them. Shadia, once the fog clears, help the ships land. Secure the port once the knight order disembarks."
"Understood, my lord."
Confirming Shadia's nod, Zeke positioned the Barbarians on standby, activated stealth, and approached the magic circle.
As expected, a considerable number of Orks were stationed there.
'Using summons would be easier, but if word gets out that I'm leading an undead legion, it'll cause headaches. Better hold back here.'
The holy kingdom was far more sensitive to dark magic and undead than other places.
With no choice, Zeke summoned invisible ghost troopers to scout the surroundings.
Orks were garrisoned around the magic circle, with mages managing it positioned behind them.
Zeke crept forward silently toward the Orks.
The Orks, oblivious to his approach, were grumbling among themselves while on guard.
"At least this is the rear, so it's easier. The special forces sent to the front are just arrow fodder, right?"
"Yeah, that's how it is. Thought it'd be fun leaving the forest, but no looting, just endless running around. What a drag."
Orks were a race driven by instincts of destruction.
They had a habit of seizing enemy territory, building fortresses, and leaving their mark.
They lived for endless pillaging and devastation.
Wherever they passed, only ruins and despair remained.
But human wars differed from the Orks'. To minimize losses, they subdued enemies while preserving territory as much as possible.
The Empire's forces captured holy kingdom humans for sacrifices and turned territories into strategic bases via magic circles, differing from the Orks' destructive style.
This bred various complaints within the Ork legions.
'The Orks haven't adapted to human tactics yet. I can exploit that strategically.'
Eavesdropping on the Orks' conversation, Zeke slipped past them and infiltrated the magic circle's interior, locating the managing mages.
He then gathered his energy and deployed the mana suppression technique.
Crackle!
Centered on Zeke, the technique spread, causing the magic circle's mana to backflow.
The mages maintaining it panicked at the sudden anomaly. "What the—? Damn it, trouble again. Go check the control device!" As the mages rushed to inspect the circle, it happened.
Whoosh!
The ghost troopers Zeke had hidden struck on his command.
"Gah!"
The ambushed mages cried out and fell.
Realizing the attack, the mages tried to counter with mana.
But Zeke's mana suppression technique prevented them from casting.
"Th-This!"
As Zeke dropped his stealth and revealed himself, the mages shouted.
"Z-Zeke Draker!"