'If those guys are here, it must mean there's an ancient ruins site in this place.'
It seemed like they were excavating something there.
While surveying the situation, Zeke decided to first go outside as promised with Adnan and Bodmir, drawing the attention of the Imperial forces.
He turned to Helen.
"Sister, just as I mentioned yesterday, find a way out from here and head straight to the autonomous district. I'll catch up with you soon."
Helen had initially opposed Zeke's plan to draw the enemies' attention alone.
But to ensure everyone escaped safely, there was no other choice.
Helen looked at Zeke with resolute eyes and nodded.
"Don't worry about this place."
To reassure the Zoin tribe and the beastmen, Zeke moved the sleeping phoenix from his shoulder to Helen's.
Then he addressed the barbarians.
"You guys, follow me."
He led the barbarians straight out of the ravine.
Zeke climbed the cliff, moving toward the upper part of the ravine.
Looking down into the ravine from above, he saw berserk monsters encamped there.
'It looks like the number of monsters has increased.'
Whether they were airlifting monsters from the Forest of the Forgotten or excavating and releasing them locally, it was clear their numbers had grown compared to before.
The barbarians who came with him looked at Zeke and asked.
"Zeke bro, what are we doing?"
"Hunting monsters?"
"That pink orc looks tasty."
Zeke calmed the barbarians who were licking their lips at the sight of the monster horde.
'First, I need to draw their attention a bit.'
Zeke summoned Gurab and the shark dragons.
Kaaaa—
The Gurab and shark dragons, summoned after a long time, ran toward Zeke, acting affectionate.
Zeke stroked their heads and said.
"Go on, run wild to your heart's content."
Upon hearing that, Gurab led the shark dragons and charged into the ravine.
The barbarians watched with wide eyes as the shark dragon unit followed Gurab and rushed out.
"Amazing."
"Zeke bro has so many tricks."
"Gonna brag about this back at the village."
Zeke looked sternly at the barbarians and said.
"No pointless chatter."
The Gurab unit and shark dragons scaled the ravine walls and charged toward the monsters.
Kaaaaak!
Gurab was the first to spew poison miasma and lunge in, followed by the shark dragons.
Krrruk—
The monsters responded to the sudden appearance of the Gurab unit.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
A massive cyclops raised its club to smash Gurab.
But Gurab swiftly twisted its body to dodge, then wrapped its tail around the cyclops's leg, toppling it off balance.
As the cyclops fell, nearby shark dragons swarmed it, tearing into it with their sturdy jaws and sharp teeth in an instant.
They were like tame lizards in front of Zeke, but strictly speaking, this was a group of dozens of high-risk monsters.
As the Gurab unit pushed into the ravine, the berserk monsters grew excited and rampaged, turning the area chaotic.
Zeke hid with the barbarians and observed the surroundings.
Soon, a secret passage midway up the ravine cliff opened, and several men in black emerged to scout the area.
Zeke captured their movements with his dragon eye.
'Imperial hunting dogs and a dark mage of Narak.'
Since there was a camp set up, he had expected a dark mage of Narak to be present.
Zeke heightened his hearing to eavesdrop on the conversation between the hunting dogs and the mage.
"What the hell is that? Why are the monsters fighting each other?"
"Has the awakening effect worn off?"
"Idiot! At least inside this ravine, that's impossible due to the sacred relic's stabilizing effect."
The dark mage of Narak ground his teeth and said to the hunting dogs.
"The magical beasts sent after those Zoin tribe and beastman riffraff haven't returned yet?"
"Yes, not yet."
"The higher-ups specifically ordered to preserve their corpses separately, so collect them as soon as they're dealt with."
"Understood."
"Damn it... The excavation isn't finished yet, and this commotion outside is a problem.
Send a few down to handle the rampaging monsters!"
The dark mage yelled at the hunting dogs and retreated back into the cliff.
Zeke sensed something off from the conversation he'd just overheard.
'A dark mage of Narak giving orders to the Imperial hunting dogs? Previously, it seemed like Narak was secretly conducting experiments, but now they're openly allied?'
There had been rumors of something happening to the emperor, and it appeared their relationship with Narak had changed as well.
Given their more urgent movements than before, it seemed his condition had worsened. 'In my previous life, I remember he held on until I claimed the relic. He didn't actually gain true immortality back then, did he?'
Thinking that far, it occurred to him that the emperor might be excavating the relic he desired right here.
'I should take a look and see what it is.'
At that moment, hunting dogs appeared from the ravine side.
They were trying to descend the cliff using ladders.
They seemed intent on killing the Gurab unit fighting the monsters.
Zeke asked the barbarians.
"Can you throw rocks that far?"
The barbarians immediately picked up a nearby rock with ease and grinned.
"Long-throw game?"
Zeke shook his head and said.
"Not a game. After these guys, if any more come out, just throw rocks at them and kill them."
The barbarians nodded at Zeke's words.
"Got it."
"Super easy." "Confident."
Zeke left the barbarians to watch and descended into the ravine under cover of stealth.
The Gurab unit was fighting the monsters, but since they saw it as infighting among monsters, there was no particular reaction from the hunting dogs after their orders.
Zeke hid in the surrounding shadows and waited for the hunting dogs to arrive.
Soon, the hunting dogs descending the cliff drew their swords and approached.
The one at the rear grumbled in a bored tone. "Damn it. Why do I have to do this crap on my shift?" The hunting dog beside him said.
"Just hang in there a bit. The unit's mood has been off lately. You'll be back at central soon enough."
From their conversation, Zeke realized the hunting dog unit had undergone a reorganization as well.
'Looks like a purge happened here too. The hunting dogs are directly under the emperor, so if even they're affected...'
It was to the point where he suspected the power structure in the Empire had shifted almost like a coup.
'Did Consul Julius oust the emperor and seize power?'
Julius held the position of grand marshal, commanding the Empire's armies.
Though he controlled the emperor, he wasn't the type to covet that seat.
After all, once the emperor died, the second prince he backed could ascend and act as regent, so there was no need to take such risks.
'If not, then the emperor did this himself... Why on earth?'
If the emperor hadn't been ousted, it meant he had purged dozens of longtime aides himself.
Zeke approached the hunting dogs slowly, pondering various questions.
The hunting dogs, swords drawn and advancing on the shark dragons, yawned and raised their blades.
"Ugh, these annoying bastards. Their hides are so thick, swords won't even penetrate properly."
As one hunting dog thrust his sword toward a shark dragon's belly, it happened.
Thwack!
One of the shark dragons whipped its tail toward the hunting dog.
Caught off guard, the hunting dog was sent flying by the powerful strike.
The other hunting dogs recoiled in surprise.
"That's a summoned beast from outside! Quickly fire the signal fla—!"
The hunting dog couldn't finish his words, feeling the cold edge of a dagger at his throat.
The others had all been decapitated by ghost troopers emerging from the shadows and collapsed.
Zeke asked the hunting dog.
"What are you excavating here?"
The hunting dog quickly assessed the situation and tried to bite down on the suicide pill hidden in his mouth.
But with Zeke holding him back, suicide was impossible.
Zeke quickly used recovery and healing to revive him.
"How...?"
With no time for a leisurely interrogation, Zeke subdued him with the blood eye and decided to use him.
The hunting dog, now with a red eye pattern on his forehead, was little more than Zeke's slave, obeying his commands.
In this state, reading memories was impossible, but Zeke judged it better to infiltrate the camp with him and scout the interior.
He donned a perception-shift cloak and disguised himself as one of the dead hunting dogs.
Then he climbed the ladder draped over the cliff and entered the secret camp in the ravine.
*
Disguised as a hunting dog, Zeke entered the secret space inside the cliff.
Other hunting dogs stood guard there, vigilantly.
The hunting dog under mental suppression said to the others.
"Damn it, those accursed monsters took out a few of us." The other hunting dogs sneered at him.
"For someone who came from central, your skills seem a bit lacking. Getting done in by filthy monster scum."
The suppressed hunting dog approached one and grabbed his collar.
"What? You bastard! Do you know who I am?!"
Zeke pretended to intervene, naturally entering the camp.
The suppressed hunting dog headed deeper into the camp to report.
Deeper into the cave, a vast cavern appeared.
'What is this smell?'
At some point, Zeke wrinkled his nose at the pungent, nose-stinging odor.
Looking around, he peered down at the massive cavern below the cave, where enormous blocks of ice were stacked in layers, neatly cut into squares.
Using his dragon eye to examine the ice closely, he was astonished to see ancient monsters trapped inside.
'As expected. They weren't retrieved from the Forest of the Forgotten. They were excavating monsters frozen in ice here and thawing them out.'
Workers with covered noses and mouths were repeatedly moving the monster ice blocks to an inner space connected to the cavern.
The acrid stench was emanating from that inner space.
Realizing he couldn't go deeper as this disguised hunting dog, Zeke vanished under stealth and concealed his presence even further with the full power technique's will of concealment.
The suppressed hunting dog continued onward, and Zeke cautiously followed.
The inner space where the ice blocks were being moved was bustling intensely.
On one side, mages were thawing the ice blocks with magic, then sorting the extracted monsters into dead and alive piles.
The foul smell came from the rotting corpses of the dead monsters piled up.
For the surviving monsters, they injected drugs needed for brainwashing, cast dark magic to induce berserk state, and added control spells.
Zeke sensed a familiar energy in the dark magic used by the dark mages.
'It's the energy of the harbinger of blood and madness.'
The harbinger of blood and madness, who reveled in war and slaughter, was just the type to lend his power to such deeds.
At that moment, the dark mage of Narak from earlier appeared.
"Hurry up! The deadline is approaching!"
Then a hunting dog approached the mage.
The mage glared at him irritably.
"What is it?"
As instructed by Zeke, the hunting dog said to the mage.
"There's a problem with the monsters." The mage ground his teeth and yelled.
"This is driving me insane. Problems everywhere, nothing goes right!" He beckoned the hunting dog.
The mage led the hunting dog deeper into the space.
Zeke followed them stealthily, staying hidden.
Surprisingly, the inner space led underground, with one entire vast wall serving as the excavation site.
A massive ice block, larger than a building, was embedded in the wall, and slaves were chipping away at it.
Zeke examined the ice block in the wall with his dragon eye.
'What is that?'
It should be a monster like the ones outside, but he couldn't guess what it was.
Then a message appeared before Zeke's eyes.
[Designated extermination target detected.]
'Designated extermination target?'
As Zeke was startled by the sudden message.
Boom!
A massive explosion rang out.
The dark mage of Narak descending with the hunting dog shouted in alarm at the blast.
"Enemy! It's an enemy raid!"