Hermann's expression grew grave as he watched the footage captured in the crystal ball Zeke had handed him.
"...You're saying a place like this exists beneath Thebea Royal Castle?" Zeke shook his head at Hermann's question.
"I can't say for certain right now. But since the Don of the Nostra Family—who built a secret lab underground in Atlas—left traces leading into Thebea Royal Palace, I believe there's some connection."
Hermann rubbed his temple, deep in thought over Zeke's words.
He soon lifted his head and looked at Zeke.
"Sir Zeke, would you mind waiting a moment? I need to inform His Majesty first."
Zeke nodded and added,
"It must be told only to His Majesty the King. If word leaks out carelessly, the culprit might catch on and go into hiding."
Hermann nodded and left the office to meet the king.
Guided by an attendant, Zeke exited the office and headed to the guest suite prepared for him.
He settled into an armchair, caught his breath, and fell into contemplation.
'I wonder how Thebea's king will respond.'
In truth, Zeke had no doubts that the king was connected to the Don.
From his memories of his past life, Thebea's king was an extremely cowardly man.
Why else would he surrender to Abel, the Knight of Slaughter, without even properly fighting the Imperial Army despite having a fine kingdom force?
So, while he likely had no direct ties to the Nostra Family, he might turn a blind eye to the matter out of fear this time as well.
'If that's the case, I'll have to search the castle secretly to find traces of the Don. But how can I get their cooperation?'
As he pondered his next plans, his pocket mirror began to vibrate.
He pulled it out and saw Nabu's face.
"Hermit?"
Nabu spoke to Zeke in an urgent tone.
—"Zeke, big trouble."
"What's wrong?"
—"Contact came from our Leader. He said a massive rift opened in the Phenomenal World not long ago."
Zeke nodded at the Hermit's words.
"It's probably because of the Fell God Ajitahaka that the Narak folks summoned." The Hermit was appalled at Zeke's nonchalant response.
—"What? Fell God Ajitahaka? That horrific Flesh-Devouring Emperor?"
"Yes. We managed to stop his descent for now... but something more troublesome happened. Ramon Siemens is dead, and Abel Draker has been revived."
Nabu asked in shock at Zeke's words.
—"Abel Draker? Didn't you say he died back then? What happened now! Sigh. Anyway, that's big trouble too, but the rift the Leader mentioned isn't that."
"Pardon? Besides the Fell God's descent, something else happened?"
—"Around that time, someone entered the Domain of the Magical Beasts beyond the Giant Mountain Range."
"No one can enter beyond the Giant Mountain Range—it's the ultimate forbidden zone."
—"Exactly. It's sealed by the Leader's Absolute Barrier. For a rift to open there means it's no ordinary matter."
Zeke sensed that something was amiss from the fact that someone had breached the
Giant Mountain Range's barrier right around the time of the Second Consecration Rite.
'Did they deliberately time it with the rising of the Red Moon?'
As he thought quietly, he asked Nabu,
"Does the Leader have a reason for sealing the Domain of the Magical Beasts with a barrier?"
After pondering Zeke's question, Nabu slowly replied.
—"Hm, well, I suppose it's fine to tell you, Zeke. There's a seal there too."
"A seal? What kind of seal?"
—"Another Black Star."
It was the term for an Elder Dragon's heart.
Zeke brought the mirror closer in surprise.
"The one you gave me wasn't all of it?"
—"It holds such immense power that it was split and sealed separately. One in the
Forest of the Forgotten, one in the Storm Sea Region, and the last in the Domain of the
Magical Beasts beyond the Giant Mountain Range."
Pieces of the Black Star were sealed in forbidden zones inaccessible to humans.
Zeke, who had absorbed a Black Star and knew its power intimately, wore a serious expression.
"Do you think the intruder went there to steal the Black Star?" Nabu clicked his tongue and shook his head.
—"I can't say for sure right now. The Black Star's seal isn't something just anyone can break, and that place is the Domain of the Magical Beasts—it's nearly impossible to even reach the seal in the first place."
"But breaking the Leader's Absolute Barrier is already beyond impossible." Nabu sighed and nodded at Zeke's point.
—"Hm, true enough."
"What will the Highlander do about it?"
—"We need to assess the situation, so we'll reach out to available High Table members for reconnaissance. That's why I contacted you. Can you go there by any chance?" Zeke shook his head at Nabu's words.
"I'm tied up with another important matter right now."
—"Tch, got it. I asked just in case. We'll look into it on our end, so keep it in mind."
"Understood. I'll contact you again once my business here wraps up." Nabu nodded and abruptly ended the communication, as if in a hurry.
As the mirror reflected his own face again, Zeke tucked it away and pondered who might have entered the Domain of the Magical Beasts beyond the Giant Mountain Range.
'At the very least, it would take someone at the Grandmaster level or higher to get in there.'
Narak and Siemens were too preoccupied with preparing the Second Consecration Rite to concern themselves with that.
The only remaining suspect was the Nostra Family, but given that the Don had fled in haste while tending to Abel, they seemed unlikely candidates too.
'Perhaps another mage faction? But since Hoshgar's ascension, no archmages beyond
9th Circle have emerged in the Phenomenal World.'
Yet there was always the possibility of a hidden transcendent Zeke didn't know about.
'An undisclosed new powerhouse...'
As he mulled over the identity of the rift's creator, an attendant knocked on the door.
"A message has arrived for Sir Zeke."
The attendant handed Zeke an elegant card.
Zeke's expression changed as he opened and read it.
'This is...?'
The sender was none other than Thebea's king.
*
It was a deep night so dark that even moonlight failed to penetrate.
Zeke cloaked himself in shadows and muffled his presence as he headed somewhere.
After passing a fork, he ventured deeper into the labyrinthine inner keep of the Royal Palace and stopped before a corridor lined with statues.
'Under the second statue.'
He raised a tendril of shadow to probe beneath it and found a hidden mechanism.
Activating it caused the statue to slide smoothly to the left.
A staircase descending underground was revealed beneath where the statue had stood.
Thebea Royal Palace was a place that harbored countless untold secrets and mysteries.
Zeke felt this keenly as he cautiously descended.
The staircase leading underground was quite long.
As Zeke muffled his presence and went down, he sensed someone's aura from below.
Even in the darkness, Zeke could see clearly that it was Hermann Solma of the Royal Guard.
Zeke revealed himself before Hermann.
Shhh—
Hermann started at Zeke's sudden appearance but quickly composed himself and watched him warily.
"I apologize for the trouble."
"No need. Where is His Majesty?"
"Come this way. I'll guide you." Zeke followed Hermann.
After they traversed the maze-like paths for some time, they stopped at a wall.
Hermann extended his hand to the wall, and a magic circle appeared, generating a portal.
'Made in ancient times, perhaps.'
"Enter through here."
As Zeke examined it closely, Hermann spoke and stepped into the portal first. Zeke followed suit.
Woooong—
As they passed through, an entirely different space unfolded before them.
'This is...?'
The high walls were adorned with taxidermied heads of various monsters and magical beasts.
After glancing around once, Zeke sensed someone seated in the center of the space.
Thud!
A man slammed a massive greatsword into the floor.
Hermann led Zeke toward the man.
The man's face, shrouded in shadow, came into view.
Seated there was an old man with an extraordinary appearance, his face covered in scars.
Hermann bowed to the old man.
"Your Majesty, I have brought the Knight of Salvation." He was Thebea's king.
'He's different from what I imagined.'
Zeke had judged Thebea's king to be weak and timid.
Yet the king before him seemed stronger than most knights.
It was hard to understand why such a tough figure had surrendered so easily in his past life.
"Hermann."
The king called out to Hermann while staring to one side.
As Hermann approached, the king grabbed his arm and rose from his seat.
Only then did Zeke realize the king's eyes were blind.
"Knight of Salvation."
The king's voice was hoarse, and even speaking seemed laborious for him.
It was as if all his energy had burned away, leaving only his sturdy frame.
Zeke approached the king and bowed.
"I am Zeke Draker, Your Majesty."
The king reached out, fumbling to grasp Zeke's shoulder.
Gazing toward Zeke with his sightless eyes, he said,
"You said something horrific has nested in this castle."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Zeke continued slowly.
"More precisely, traces left by the Don of the mafia Nostra Family connect to this place." The king stared into empty space with his unseeing eyes and nodded.
"Nostra Family. A mafia that's endured for a millennium..." The king nodded laboriously.
Hermann supported the king again, helping him back to his seat.
Propping himself up with the greatsword like a staff, the king faced forward and spoke.
"Knight of Salvation. Do you know of the curse long passed down in the Thebea royal line?"
Zeke was puzzled by the king's abrupt words but shook his head and answered honestly.
"I've never heard of such a curse." The king coughed dryly.
Hermann filled a cup with water and held it to the king's lips.
The king moistened his throat slowly and then spoke again.
"The royal line of Thebea is cursed. Cursed by the evil dragon Bahamut." Zeke's brow furrowed involuntarily at the king's words.
Evil dragon Bahamut.
He now knew it was fabricated history by the Draker Family, but it was widely accepted as fact on the Central Continent.
Zeke decided to hear the king out first.
"The evil dragon Bahamut led wicked dragons to destroy the Seven Kingdoms one by one. As six kingdoms fell, heroes from across the continent gathered in Thebea Kingdom to devise ways to resist the dragons."
It was a tale from the legend of the Dragon Slayers.
Following that, the allied forces from Thebea Kingdom and the entire continent, centered on Dragon Slayer Terakan Draker, waged a fierce war against evil dragon Bahamut and ultimately reclaimed their freedom.
As Zeke recalled the legend once more, the king coughed and continued.
"Cough, but that wasn't the end. As evil dragon Bahamut died, he cursed the royal line of Thebea."
Zeke decided to play along with the king's words for now.
"What curse did he place?"
The king paused briefly before speaking slowly.
"...The second son born to Thebea's kings will devour his mother and slay his father." Zeke frowned at the king's words.
'A curse of kin-slaying.'
Curses belonged to the realm of mystery, which made their principles hard to unravel.
The kin-slaying curse the king described was among the most horrific kinds, existing only in legends and myths.
Zeke knew Bahamut had no reason to curse the Thebea royals in such a way.
'Then who cast this curse and why?'
After a moment's thought, he said to the king,
"If the curse targets the second son, couldn't they avoid it by having only one child?" Hermann, standing behind, shook his head at Zeke's words.
"By tradition, Thebea's royals have a duty to prosper the family, so they must have as many children as possible."
Zeke's expression changed at that.
"Having children inevitably means a second son will be born. What happened to those born? Were there signs of the curse?"
The king did not answer Zeke's question.
Zeke knew what that silence meant but hoped otherwise as he spoke.
"Surely not..."
Staring straight at the king, he continued.
"You killed all the second sons born?"