Zeke, riding Spirit Beast Bucephalus, arrived at the old castle ruins where the Holy Kingʼs ruins were located a step ahead of the Emperorʼs forces.
He didnʼt know exactly where the Holy Kingʼs ruins were, but the Absolute Compass made finding the location relatively straightforward.
Unlike the time with the Fairy Lake, the Absolute Compass pointed directly to the ruinsʼ position, so he reached his destination with ease.
In the case of the Fairy Lake, it had required the Mountain Lordʼs help, so the compass had guided him all the way to prevent the meeting from going awry due to misunderstandings and distrust. But since the Holy Kingʼs ruins were something he could reach on his own, it simply indicated the direction right away.
Seeing that he had quickly found the Holy Kingʼs ruins, Zeke gained a better sense of how to make use of the Absolute Compass.
The old castle ruins that housed the Holy Kingʼs ruins were known as the site where Gio Rubern had first founded his kingdom, long before the era of the Holy Empire.
Zeke surveyed the old castle ruins, where all the buildings had collapsed, leaving only faint traces behind.
From the size of the remaining foundations, he gauged the scale of the city that had once stood there—it had been a large city, comparable to Mycenae.
A city of that size had been completely destroyed, leaving no trace of its former glory, just the foundations behind.
After taking it all in, Zeke led Spirit Beast Bucephalus deeper into the old castle ruins, toward the direction the compass indicated. "It seems to be somewhere around here."
Zeke used the mini-map and compass to search for the path leading down to the ruins.
At that moment, the phoenix, which had been dozing on his shoulder, suddenly opened its eyes wide and flew into the sky.
Kururururu—
Zeke called out to the phoenix as it flew off.
"Raven!"
It had been so finicky that he struggled to settle on a name for a long time, but with Arinaʼs help, he finally chose one.
The phoenix had taken a liking to the name "Raven," meaning "soul of the gods."
Raven ignored Zekeʼs call and flew ahead, circling a certain spot while letting out a phoenix cry.
Kururururu—
When Zeke approached the place Raven indicated, he found a pile of collapsed building debris.
Surprisingly, the Absolute Compass confirmed that this was the entrance.
He immediately cleared away the debris and examined the interior, revealing a hidden underground staircase.
"This must be the entrance."
Having discovered the way into the ruins, Raven perched proudly on Zekeʼs head with a triumphant expression.
"Good job, Raven."
Zeke pulled some jerky from his pocket and tossed it upward.
Raven, sitting atop his head, deftly caught the jerky and ate it.
Raven showed little dignity as a divine beast, perched on Zekeʼs head and happily tearing into the jerky.
Zeke chuckled at the sight, then descended the underground staircase.
There was no light at all, but with his Dragon Eye, he clearly saw the dark underground space.
"It looks similar to the path leading to the underground catacombs hidden beneath the Papal Palace."
The Papal Palace in the Principality of Vadoka had been remodeled from a grand cathedral that dated back to the Rubern Dynasty.
So, it made sense that the structure here was similar, since this was an old castle site from the Rubern Dynasty.
As he descended the underground staircase, an old, dungeon-like underground space came into view.
Before properly entering the catacombs, Zeke summoned Richmond.
"You called, Master?"
Richmond appeared with a tired expression.
"You pulled another all-nighter on research, didnʼt you?" At that, Richmond shook his head.
"Donʼt even mention it. That censer I told you about before."
"The ancient artifact you found in the naturally occurring undead dungeon?"
"Yes, I tried examining it more closely, and itʼs a real headache."
"What happened?"
"Was it cursed or something? The moment I touched it, wraiths kept popping out, turning not just the dungeon but my lab into a total mess. Luckily, Duradura could suppress the wraiths, so I managed to clean it up, but it was chaos." Zeke clicked his tongue at that.
"Itʼs a waste of Victor Nirvanaʼs reputation as a genius necromancer."
"Ugh, itʼs embarrassing when you bring up my name from five hundred years ago.
Besides, wraith shamanism isnʼt even my specialty, so I couldnʼt help it."
Necromancy was highly specialized, so handling fields outside oneʼs expertise proved difficult.
Originally, liches could instinctively command undead servants, but in Richmondʼs case, having become only half a lich through the blood tear stone, wraith shamanism eluded him.
"Enough whining. Get ready. Weʼre starting the ruins exploration." At Zekeʼs words, Richmond nodded.
"Understood. But where is this ruins site?" "Itʼs the ruins of the first Holy King, Gio Rubern." At that, Richmond jumped in surprise.
"Th-the Holy King Gio Rubern?"
Zeke looked at him curiously in response to Richmondʼs reaction.
"Why are you so surprised?"
"W-well, Gio Rubern is famous as a lich slayer and holy knight. As a lich, itʼs only natural to be scared."
Come to think of it, Gio Rubernʼs epic was full of tales of slaying liches and evil wizards.
"Maybe because the power of light is effective against dark mages and abominations."
Zeke recalled one of the sacred relics he possessed: Agamemnonʼs Mask.
"If Gio Rubern was the owner of this mask, he could have wielded the power of purification."
If he had been a healer class like Zeke, he could have fully drawn out the maskʼs power.
Moreover, though not widely known, he carried the blood of Terakan Draker, the protagonist of the dragon slayer legend.
Even if he couldnʼt use aura, he likely had talent in swordsmanship.
"I should be able to find related records once I locate the Holy Kingʼs remains." Zeke had the trembling Richmond scout the dungeon ahead.
With a tearful expression, Richmond summoned undead servants and began examining the dungeon-like catacombs.
In the meantime, Zeke summoned ghost troopers and spread them around the castle ruins to monitor for the Emperorʼs forces.
There might be another entrance somewhere else, so he kept a thorough watch.
While the undead servants scouted the paths, Zeke set up camping gear in one corner of the underground space and prepared food.
Given that the imperial army led a large force, their movement would likely be slow, and even with the system, exploring the ruins wouldnʼt be easy. So, Zekeʼs principle was to rest properly when he could.
As Zeke took a break and ate, Richmond, who was nearby, looked curiously at Raven dozing on Zekeʼs head.
"Itʼs my first time seeing a divine beast. Itʼs fascinating."
Seeing Richmond eyeing Raven with curiosity, Zeke said,
"Despite appearances, it has a really bad temper, so youʼd better be careful."
Richmond approached Zeke curiously to examine the sleeping Raven more closely.
But at that moment, Ravenʼs eyes snapped open.
Kururururu!!
Raven flew into the air and began pecking furiously at Richmond.
"Aaack! M-Master! St-stop it!"
Zeke clicked his tongue as he watched Richmond getting battered by Raven.
"I told you. It has a foul temper."
Richmond finally escaped only after being pecked for a while.
His robe was riddled with holes from the hard beak, turning it into a ragged sackcloth, and his face and body were covered in wounds.
With a tearful face, he muttered,
"Sob sob, this is lich discrimination."
"You disturbed it while it was sleeping. Thatʼs why. Stop complaining and eat this." Zeke brought out hot soup, bread, fresh vegetables, and preserved foods he had stored.
Richmond tore into the bread but kept glancing warily at Raven.
Fortunately, Raven was busy gnawing on jerky this time and ignored Richmondʼs gaze.
Looking at Raven, Richmond said,
"Iʼve heard that in the Eastern Empire, they consider phoenixes more sacred than dragons and cherish them dearly. If you take Raven to the Eastern Empire, you might even receive VIP treatment from the sultan."
"Are there phoenixes in the Eastern Empire too?"
"I heard there used to be, but Iʼm not sure now. The Eastern Continent has more mythical creatures than the Central Continent, so maybe there were more divine beasts than dragons back then?"
As expected of Richmond, who was deeply interested in monsters and various creatures, he seemed to know a fair bit about the mythical beings of the Eastern Continent.
Zekeʼs curiosity about the Eastern Continent grew from Richmondʼs words.
"Someday, if the opportunity arises, Iʼd like to visit the Eastern Continent."
At that, Richmond said excitedly,
"Oh! Master, then please take me along. Iʼve always wanted to see the mysterious creatures of the Eastern Continent!"
While travel within the Central Continent was possible via portals despite the distance, there were no portals connecting the Central and Eastern Continents, so intercontinental travel required crossing the Central Sea by ship.
Directly crossing the Central Sea was difficult distance-wise, but it was possible to go via the Dorta Republic and follow the sea route to the Murk Empire.
However, going to the Eastern Continent involved many considerations.
"I could ask Lord Hades to create an intercontinental portal later."
Most portals were remodeled from those discovered in ancient ruins.
Long-distance portals connecting continents hadnʼt been found yet, but with Hadesʼs mastery of both magical drive formulas and ancient knowledge, creating one seemed feasible.
As he rested and ate, one of the ghost troopers sent a signal.
Zeke checked the surroundings through the ghost trooperʼs vision.
"This is?"
A familiar flag came into Zekeʼs view.
A scorpion emblem.
It was the knight order of the Celestial Scorpion Palace, one of the Empireʼs Thirteen Legions.
Looking through the ghost trooperʼs eyes, Zeke estimated the number of soldiers following the knight order at around two thousand cavalry.
"I thought they arrived faster than expected, but it seems this is just the vanguard. It would take time to bring the main force along."
However, watching the Emperorʼs procession, Zeke sensed something off.
"Theyʼre not undead, but why does the legion feel like this?"
Not only the Celestial Scorpion Palace knights but also the soldiers following them lacked the vitality unique to the living.
In fact, Richmondʼs skeleton unit seemed more lively in comparison.
Zeke surmised that the Emperor had surely done something to the army.
As he stood up, he said,
"The imperial army led by the Emperor will arrive soon." Richmond jumped in surprise at his words.
"Th-the imperial army led by the Emperor? Isnʼt that dangerous?" Zeke shook his head.
"The Emperor coming out of the Empire with just this many troops is a golden opportunity. And since the main force hasnʼt joined yet, theyʼre moving with minimal numbers."
He had told Decker he would only scout and return, but Zeke wanted to take this chance to deal with the Emperor.
Black knights were commonly called one-man armies.
Because a single one held the strategic value of an entire legion.
But that didnʼt mean one black knight could truly face a whole legion alone.
However, Zeke wasnʼt an ordinary black knight either.
"If I use the terrain advantage and the power of my system before the main force arrives, I can defeat the Emperorʼs army. The ruins exploration will be tight on time, but itʼs doable."
He formulated a plan in his mind to defeat the Emperorʼs army and ultimately kill the Emperor.
"If the Emperor moves as I anticipate, I have a solid chance of winning."
And even if the plan failed, he was confident he could escape with his life, so there was no issue.
He looked up and said to Richmond,
"Richmond, how many undead can you summon right now?"
Caught off guard by the sudden question, Richmond spread his fingers and stammered before calmly counting.
"Uh, well, for summoning, I can manage up to five hundred." Zeke nodded at Richmondʼs words.
"That should be enough." He stood up.
"Prepare yourself, Richmond. Itʼs war."