"A golden opportunity to capture Abel?"
As Duke recalled those words in his mind, Zeke nodded as if he understood.
—When they open Rom to set up their trap, we infiltrate and kill Abel. Then Siemens will lose any justification for occupying Rom.
Though Siemens had the blood of a prince-elect who could become emperor of the Rom Empire, in terms of imperial succession rights, he stood quite far down the line.
However, Julius, who had been consul, sided with the Siemens faction, allowing Abel to gain recognition of his succession rights. This turned the occupation of Rom into a civil war, blocking any external intervention.
But if Abel died, there would be no one left with imperial succession rights, stripping Siemens of his basis for occupying Rom.
—That would allow Draker to intervene directly in the Rom Empire. The nobles of other empires would also turn their backs on Siemens.
Duke slowly nodded at Zeke's words.
"I get what you're saying. But how do we avoid the trap they've set, and how do we lure out Abel, who's holed up deep in the imperial palace?"
In response to Duke's concern, Zeke grinned and sent another telepathic message.
—Don't worry about that. I have a good way to draw him out.
Duke looked displeased at Zeke's confident tone.
'This kid... was he planning something reckless again?ʼ
He was the most talented disciple on the continent, but his recklessness matched that talent, so Duke always worried about him.
Figuring there was no point in saying more, Duke refilled his glass and said,
"Well, you'll handle it somehow. I'll just watch and enjoy the show."
At that moment, Zeke looked at Duke and said,
"By the way, Master, there's something I've been meaning to ask you."
"What you don't know, I probably don't know either. What is it?"
Zeke rummaged in his pocket and pulled something out, handing it to Duke.
Duke took the old parchment Zeke offered and unrolled it, nearly spitting out the liquor in his mouth.
"Huh! What... what is this?"
What Zeke had given him was none other than Captain Kidd's sea chart.
"You recognized it right away, as expected." Duke's hand trembled for a moment.
"Crazy. Where did you get this?"
Zeke leaned back on the sofa and said,
"It was in Mother's notebook."
Duke was startled by his words.
"You're saying this was in Laura's notebook?"
Zeke nodded, picked up his teacup, and took a sip.
Then he asked Duke,
"The story you mentioned before... you can tell me now, right?" Zeke was now a black knight and the family's guardian knight.
No matter how high the classification of the tale Duke had experienced beyond the Dark Sea, a guardian knight had every right to hear it.
Duke pondered for a moment, then tore at his hair.
"Ugh. Damn it."
He downed the liquor in his glass in one go and let out a deep sigh.
"Fine, today I'll spill the whole story."
Duke took a deep breath as if resolved and looked at Zeke.
He slowly opened his mouth.
"I went beyond the Dark Sea with the Draker knights on Arthur's orders."
"What orders did the family head give you?"
"...To find a tower in the new continent beyond the Dark Sea." Zeke's eyes shook as he listened to Duke.
'The Abandoned Continent beyond the Dark Sea. They said the last tower, which sealed the Book of the Lion containing the Demon King's soul, was there. Was that what he meant?ʼ
It was said that the final dragons sacrificed their bodies to create the tower sealing the Book of the Lion.
Zeke realized that Duke's mission had been to find that last tower.
Duke caught his breath and continued.
"It was a long journey. We sailed endlessly westward toward an unknown continent we'd never seen, not even sure it existed."
"How did you find the route? What about the monsters of the Dark Sea?" Duke shook his head at Zeke's question.
"I don't know the details. Arthur prepared most of it. Our mission was just to find the tower once we reached the unknown continent."
From Duke's words, Zeke realized that Arthur had already known how to reach the Abandoned Continent.
'Even Captain Kidd could only cross the Dark Sea with the indestructible ship Triangle. So
Arthur Draker knew a way to get there with a regular ship. How?ʼ
The fact that Arthur Draker knew about the last tower at all was shocking.
Duke leaned back on the sofa, recalling the horrific old memories, and barely continued.
"The long voyage ended, and we barely reached the unknown continent. That's when the nightmare began."
Before he knew it, Duke's body started trembling.
With unfocused, dazed eyes, he opened his mouth.
"Magical beasts kept pouring out without end. The knights, including me, swung our swords relentlessly without a moment's rest. Yet the beasts never thinned. It felt like the entire continent was filled with them." Duke refilled his glass with liquor.
He gulped it down in one go.
Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, Duke continued.
"They all died. Except for me, the twelve knights on the mission were all red knight grade. They were all brave and strong. But they were all torn to shreds by those horrific magical beasts. Their blood and spilled entrails rained down on my head. We ran out of food and water too. Zeke, what do you think I did then?"
Zeke, who had fought in long, grueling, and horrific wars, could guess what Duke had done, but he didn't answer.
With dead eyes, Duke spat out the words.
"I drank the blood of my comrades flowing into my mouth and chewed on their guts. You have to eat to keep your strength up. That's how I escaped that place."
Zeke now understood why Duke could no longer wield a sword in battle.
The horrific deaths of his comrades and his own dehumanized state had created a severe trauma.
There seemed to be more, but Zeke couldn't press Duke, who was already suffering.
Zeke sipped his cold tea in several gulps, set down the cup, and looked at Duke.
"Master, if it's all right, may I look directly into those memories?"
Duke, who had been clutching his head, looked up at the words and asked,
"Look into my memories? Where did you learn a spell like that?"
"It's not magic... Think of it as an ability I gained from the Fairy King's blessing." When it was hard to explain, invoking the Fairy King's blessing was the simplest way.
Duke rubbed his face with his palm, as if washing it dry.
Then he nodded soon after.
"Yeah, what more can I hide from you? If you can see it, go ahead and look."
"Understood."
Zeke stood and approached Duke.
He helped Duke lie comfortably on the sofa.
"Don't worry, just breathe normally."
Zeke covered Duke's eyes with his palm.
At the same time, he accessed Duke's karma data using Dragonʼs Wisdom, then used the Eye of the Sage to select and view data related to Duke's memories.
'Information about the Abandoned Continent... Most of it matched what he said.ʼ Then a message appeared before Zeke's eyes.
[A sealed memory data has been found among the related data. It is possible to unseal the data using the skill curse-lifting treatment. Would you like to unseal it?]
'Sealed memory?ʼ
After some thought, Zeke felt that this sealed memory was connected to Duke's trauma.
He decided to perform curse-lifting treatment on Duke's sealed memory.
[Performing curse-lifting treatment on the sealed memory.] In an instant, Zeke's view changed.
*
He closed his eyes at the sudden shift in vision and opened them to see a dense forest stretching out before him.
Trees twisted into grotesque shapes stood thickly.
They were trees unlike any in the Central Continent.
'Was this the Abandoned Continent?ʼ
Though it was said to use curse-lifting treatment, it operated differently from the usual Dragonʼs Wisdom.
'It felt similar to the hidden stage I experienced in the Inverted Tower.ʼ Zeke looked around and pulled Roland from his inventory.
He could draw the sword just like in reality.
'Good. If this was a virtual space based on Master's memories, then Master should be here too...ʼ
At that moment, something leaped out from the trees toward Zeke.
Slash!
Zeke instinctively swung his sword, slicing what flew at him.
What fell to the ground was a magical beast of a form he'd never seen before, writhing with its waist severed.
It had bat-like wings on its sides and looked like a monkey with sharp claws and teeth.
Zeke crouched to examine the grotesque magical beast.
'It's so vivid. To think karma data could create something like this.ʼ Zeke stood and opened the system window, calling up the map.
[The map is recorded limited to the scope of the viewed karma data.]
Right after the message appeared, the map, which had only shown the Central Continent, the Dorta Republic, and the Eastern Continent, expanded, revealing the shape of a new continent to the west beyond the Dark Sea.
But it wasn't the full continent—only part of the coastline appeared on the map, with the interior covered in black, making the terrain unrecognizable.
'Based on Master's memories, only this much data was available.ʼ
As Zeke tried to gauge the overall size of the Abandoned Continent from the expanded map, a roar echoed from deep in the forest.
Groooar!
Hearing the magical beast's cry, Zeke closed the system window and dashed toward the sound.
Moving like the wind with gale technique, Zeke's view soon revealed a group of magical beasts and knights fighting them off.
Among them, the knight swinging his sword most ferociously was someone familiar.
'Master!ʼ
It was Duke from his black knight days, unleashing gale technique on the magical beasts.
Slash!
Duke severed a magical beast's neck with a swift strike, his armor soaked in their blood.
Behind him, about five knights remained.
But none were in good shape.
They staggered as if they might collapse at any moment.
The five knights shouted while battling the magical beasts.
"Captain! We'll hold them off—go!"
"You're a black knight of Draker and the hope of us common knights!"
"Please become a guardian knight and change Draker!"
At the knights' words, Duke yelled,
"What nonsense is this? Get over here now!"
Suddenly, another magical beast burst from the ground.
With hundreds of sharp teeth, it swallowed one knight whole in an instant.
Crunch!
A severed arm dropped from between its teeth.
Seeing this, Duke cried out.
"No...!"
The remaining knights shouted.
"Captain! Hurry! Don't make our sacrifice meaningless!"
Tears of blood streamed from Duke's eyes as he watched his subordinates sacrifice themselves for him.
Then it happened.
Grrr!
More magical beasts appeared.
With long tails, sharp claws, and horrific forms.
Beasts that didn't seem like creatures of the phenomenal world drooled viscous saliva as they charged at Duke.
Caw!
Duke raised his sword and rushed at the magical beasts like a gale.
Clang!
The beasts' bodies were as hard as armor, causing Duke's sword to bounce back from the rebound.
"Ugh!"
Duke raised his sword again and changed his attack.
He targeted the joints, not the hard shell.
Squelch!
As Duke's sword, swift as the wind, pierced the beasts' major joints in an instant, one collapsed with a thud.
Without hesitation, Duke decapitated it.
Slice—
Green fluid sprayed like a fountain from the severed neck.
Duke retreated to avoid the acidic-looking fluid.
After dealing with the dangerous-looking beast, he turned back with a sigh of relief. But his subordinates were already torn limb from limb by the magical beasts, sprawled on the ground.
Among them, a massive-horned brute of a beast lifted a still-living knight with its four arms.
Imagining what would happen next, Duke's face paled as he screamed.
"No!!"
Just as the beast tried to tear the knight apart.
Slash!
The beast's arms holding the knight's limbs were severed in one stroke.
Zeke appeared, wielding Roland.