"Revenge."
It was the most common basic emotion among humans, and one that was all too easy to understand.
But Lopocale didn't believe the man before him had come seeking him out purely because of such a simple feeling.
He had never sensed any deep bond between Azmun and Frets that would warrant talk of revenge.
'He seemed to be using revenge as an excuse to pursue something else.'
Even so, Lopocale decided to hear Azmun out, knowing full well what was afoot.
After all, he himself was in a position where he had to capture Zeke Draker on his master's orders, so borrowing the hand of a scheming plotter like Azmun wasn't a bad proposition at all.
Looking at Azmun, he said,
"The Knight of Salvation Zeke Draker. It's true that he has continued to obstruct the Empire's grand undertaking."
Seeing that Lopocale wasn't rejecting the proposal outright, Azmun parted his thick lips and grinned slyly.
"If we leave him be, he'll wield even greater influence within the Draker Family. Right now, Arthur Draker isn't stepping forward directly, but if he uses the Knight of Salvation and Julius's Rebel Army to create a pretext and declares all-out war, it will become quite troublesome."
Lopocale agreed with Azmun's assessment.
'We should have eliminated that Julius fellow in Dorta. I never imagined Nebilos and Viper would both fail.'
Nebilos in particular was a demon of considerable power, even renowned in the Demon Realm.
Lopocale hadn't anticipated his failure in the invasion, and now the situation had become quite tangled.
Azmun spoke to Lopocale in a subtle tone.
"The Siemens Family isn't coming forward at the moment either. Since we don't know what Ramon Siemens is thinking, it's questionable whether they'd stand against the Draker Family if full-scale war breaks out."
Ramon Siemens, the head of the Siemens Family, had placed the mentally unstable Abel on the throne as emperor before stepping back himself.
He hadn't appeared in any official capacities, nor had he involved himself in the Empire's affairs.
As such, it was impossible to gauge his intentions.
Lopocale had assumed he'd use Abel to launch a personal campaign, but instead, he had withdrawn and adopted a stance of observation, leaving even a schemer like Azmun unable to predict what Ramon Siemens was aiming for.
Of course, Lopocale, who possessed the memories of a Narak Apostle, knew that Ramon Siemens was in seclusion preparing for the Second Consecration Rite, but there was no need to reveal that to Azmun.
'Azmun didn't know much about the situation between Narak and the Siemens Family. He decided to make active use of that.'
Lopocale nodded in agreement with Azmun's words.
"Indeed. As you say, the Siemens Family's current attitude is hard to trust."
At his response, Azmun pondered for a moment before pulling something from his bosom.
"Would the acting consul take a look at this?"
Lopocale took what Azmun offered and examined it. 'This was...?'
What Azmun had produced was a single worn book.
On the cover was engraved an emblem of a sword thrust into a shield.
Lopocale looked at Azmun and asked,
"What is this?"
"It's a forbidden tome containing the secrets of Dragon Slayer Terakan Draker." Lopocale couldn't help but be surprised at Azmun's words.
Though he was a demon, he had a keen interest in human affairs, so he was already familiar with Dragon Slayer Terakan Draker. That was why the existence of a forbidden tome holding his secrets came as a shock.
Azmun smirked at Lopocale's reaction and gazed at the forbidden tome as he continued.
"The Draker Family spent a great deal of effort over a long time fabricating history and creating the Dragon Slayer myth to hide the fact that Terakan Draker was a bastard child of the family. If we reveal that this forbidden tome remains in Rom and propose a negotiation to Zeke Draker, he will surely come here."
"Even knowing it's a trap?"
"Arthur Draker will likely order Zeke Draker to go. His commands are absolute. No matter that he's the Knight of Salvation, he won't be able to refuse." Having heard Azmun out, Lopocale found the plan plausible.
'Humans obsessed with honor and justification would absolutely make such an irrational decision.'
After some thought, Lopocale nodded.
"It seems like a good plan, corps commander. Let's use this as bait to capture Zeke
Draker and avenge Captain Frets together." Azmun grinned at his agreement.
"I look forward to working with you."
*
Whoosh!
Zeke entered deep into the Forest of the Forgotten alongside Nigel.
In the endless sea of trees, one could easily lose one's way and become lost forever, so they had to stick strictly to the designated path.
And Nigel, the caretaker of this forest, was the only one who could navigate the woods without fail.
After venturing deep into the forest for a while, Nigel stopped in front of a certain cave.
Zeke stood beside her and gazed at the cave before them.
Instinctively, upon seeing it, he realized this was the Absolute Sword House's secret cave.
Nigel gestured for Zeke to follow and entered the cave without hesitation.
The cave itself was utterly ordinary, with nothing particularly noteworthy.
There were no monsters or magical beasts in sight.
As they pressed further inside, something appeared at the end of the tunnel.
'This was...?'
A door emblazoned with the Absolute Sword House emblem.
It was identical to the one he had seen in the Draker Family's secret chamber with Arthur Draker.
'As expected, Master knew of the secret cave's existence.' As Nigel approached, the door opened on its own.
"Let's go in."
Zeke followed Nigel through the door into the secret cave.
'Ho.'
To his surprise, the interior of the secret cave featured a training ground suitable for practice, with its walls lined with an array of swords and various weapons.
There were dozens of sword types alone.
'It seemed like every kind of weapon from the continent was here.'
Turning his gaze to the opposite wall at the far end, Zeke spotted the Sword God Statue he had seen in the secret chamber.
Looking at it, he said to Nigel,
"There's a Sword God Statue here too, just like in our family."
At his words, Nigel tilted her head and replied,
"What are you talking about? This isn't a statue of the Sword Saint."
"Pardon? Our family has one just like this. I thought it was modeled after the Sword Saint."
"How absurd. To claim succession to the Sword Saint without even knowing his appearance."
Of course, Zeke knew the statue didn't match the real Sword Saint's look.
He had met the Sword Saint's spirit body in the inverted tower, so he knew his true form.
'I thought the statue was just symbolic, but... it might have been modeled after someone entirely different from Shattan.'
Harboring doubts, Zeke asked Nigel,
"Then whose image is this statue?"
In a serious tone, Nigel replied,
"It's the statue of Solomon, the unparalleled lord of swords throughout the history of the
Phenomenal World, known as the Sword God." Zeke was startled by her words.
"Solomon... you mean the king of Carcosa?"
Nigel seemed surprised that Zeke knew of Solomon.
"That's history not passed down to humans, yet you know of it."
"It just happened that way. I had no idea this Sword God Statue was of King Solomon."
Nigel nodded and said,
"I wouldn't have known either if not for the records left here."
"Records... you mean Shattan Draker's records?"
She shook her head at that.
"No. I couldn't enter the shelter where the Sword Saint's traces remain. What I read was a record left by Bahamut, the Ruler of Sunset."
"Bahamut knew of this secret cave's existence and even left records here?" At Zeke's question, Nigel nodded and answered.
"Yes. I've never met him directly, but the previous caretaker of this place before me was none other than Bahamut, so in a way, it's a deep connection."
Zeke was learning for the first time that Bahamut had managed the Forbidden Area of the Forest of the Forgotten before Nigel.
She continued,
"Under the leader's guidance, I became the caretaker of the Forest of the Forgotten that
Bahamut had vacated. It was over a thousand years ago."
"Pardon? Then you've been here for over a thousand years, Master?"
"You insolent brat. What exactly did you know about me before your regression?"
He had only ever been beaten day in and day out; he'd never heard details like this.
'Locked away in a place like this for a thousand years... no wonder her personality had turned so eccentric.'
Unaware of Zeke's thoughts, Nigel clicked her tongue and pointed to the Sword God Statue.
"Before leaving, Bahamut left many records for the new caretaker who would succeed him in managing this place. One of them was about the Sword Saint's secret cave. I spent a long time swinging swords here while creating the Full Power Technique."
"Then you don't know what's inside the secret cave?"
"Even I can't enter forbidden places. That's why I've only guarded it until the rightful master appeared."
Zeke nodded at her words.
'If it was sealed by the system, even Master couldn't enter without breaking it down, which she had no reason to do.'
There was no need for Nigel, detached from worldly affairs, to go through such trouble to destroy the secret cave.
Zeke turned toward the Sword God Statue and pulled the Absolute Sword House Ring from his inventory.
'System, find the door that leads inside the secret cave.'
[Searching the area's management system in accordance with the user's command.]
[Connecting to the management system.]
[Access code required.]
[Searching for relevant codes.]
[Title: Successor of the Sword Saint confirmed.]
[Absolute Sword House Draker Family signet confirmed. Extracting access code.]
[Entering access code.]
[Access authorization from the management system completed.]
[Opening the secure zone door.] Rumble rumble rumble!
Right after the final message appeared, the Sword God Statue slid aside, revealing a hidden entrance behind it.
'So this was the entrance to the Absolute Sword House's secret cave.'
As Zeke moved to enter, he paused and looked back. Nigel hadn't moved, standing still.
"Aren't you coming along?"
At his question, she snorted.
"Why would I go there? Guiding you this far ends my role." With those words, Nigel vanished in a flash.
It seemed she meant for him to explore on his own and return.
Zeke thought Nigel's detached reaction, even before the Sword Saint's secret manual, was just like her.
He tore his gaze from where Nigel had stood and slowly walked deeper inside.
As he proceeded, lights began to flicker on one by one along the ceiling.
Reaching the innermost part, a door emblazoned with the Absolute Sword House emblem came into view.
[Please authenticate the code on the door.]
Following the message, Zeke held the Absolute Sword House signet ring on his finger close to the door.
The door split vertically and opened.
The Sword Saint's secret cave, dormant for thousands of years, had finally opened after a long wait.
Stepping inside, Zeke was astonished.
'It was exactly like the Hero King's resting place?'
From the central altar to the gem floating above it, the entire layout was identical.
Zeke slowly ascended the altar and examined the gem atop the dais.
'The color was different. The Hero King's resting place had a sky-blue one, but this was purple.'
He slowly extended his hand toward the gem.
A magic circle rose from the dais, and suddenly, a strong light rippled from the gem.
"Urk!"
Startled by the sudden burst of intense light, Zeke recoiled.
The light gathered in one spot and soon formed a figure.
Sss...
The light coalesced into a human shape.
A small-statured swordsman who appeared to be a boy with ashen hair.
It was exactly the form of Shattan Draker that he had seen in the inverted tower.
He looked at Zeke and his eyes sparkled.
"Zeke Draker, we've met again."
Zeke was taken aback by Shattan Draker's words.
'You knew me? How?'
Shattan raised his sword.
"Let's see how much further you've come since then." With those words, Shattan's form shot toward Zeke.