Zeke opened his eyes.
'Am I back?'
He looked down to see Duke fast asleep, eyes closed.
Zeke recalled the illusory world born from Duke's memories.
'The one wrapped in bandages. Just who the hell is he?'
It could have been a fictional entity conjured from Duke's recollections, but something about it felt off—far from ordinary.
'Well, at least I got some intel on the Abandoned Continent. That's a win.' Just then, Duke, who had been lying down, snapped his eyes open.
"Huh!"
Startled, Duke bolted upright, whipping his head around. His gaze landed on Zeke, dazed and unfocused, before he clutched his head in confusion.
"Urgh... What the hell happened?"
"Are you alright?"
Zeke approached Duke, pulled a potion from his inventory, and handed it to him.
It was something he'd picked up in the naga city—effective for mental recovery.
Duke downed the entire vial and steadied his breathing.
He stared at Zeke thoughtfully, then nodded as if piecing it together.
"Whew... A forgotten memory just resurfaced." He continued slowly.
"I always thought my guilt over failing to save my comrades was the issue, but apparently not."
Duke pressed his temples and looked at Zeke.
"That bit where you entered my memory. That was you, right?" Zeke nodded.
"Yes. I released your sealed memory and went in myself." Duke let out a sigh at that.
"To dive into someone else's head and stir up all that chaos... The Fairy King really gave you one hell of a gift."
Duke caught his breath and met Zeke's eyes.
"You saw it in the memory too, right? That bandaged bastard."
"So it wasn't an illusion? It was a real memory of yours?" Duke nodded.
"Yeah. Unlike the version where you intervened, the me who barely survived kept pushing forward, chewing on my comrades' flesh and blood to complete the mission. To find the tower."
Zeke's eyes widened in surprise.
"I thought you turned the ship around right away?"
"My regret over not doing so must've shaped the memory. Back then, I figured finding the tower and finishing the job would honor their sacrifice. And I did find it, eventually." Duke cleared his throat and pressed on.
"But waiting at the tower was that guy. The one wrapped head to toe in bandages." Duke's hands began to tremble again.
But this time, he took a deep breath to steady himself and continued, facing Zeke.
"He was like an unbreakable wall—no matter what I threw at him, I couldn't get past. Even if I hadn't been exhausted, I doubt I'd have breached him to reach the tower."
"That strong?"
Zeke hadn't been able to gauge the entity's power from the memory glimpse.
Duke steadied his breathing once more.
"His voice still echoes in my ears. It didn't even sound human. He told me to warn the others not to come here."
Only then did Zeke notice Duke's hands shaking.
"When I came to, I was back on the ship I'd arrived on. While I was out, it'd already crossed the Dark Sea."
Duke rubbed his dry face with both hands.
"After that, things get hazy. I wasn't in my right mind. I'd sleep like the dead, wake to chug water, and eat just enough rations to stave off starvation. By the time I fully snapped out of it, we were in the Central Continent. It took over a year to speak normally and handle daily life again."
Zeke finally understood what had happened to Duke.
'That horrific suppressed memory scarred his soul deeply.'
The terrifying recollection had lodged like a thorn, sealing away his power.
Duke, having poured it all out, looked somewhat relieved.
"Whew, my head feels clearer already. If you hadn't come along, I'd have buried that memory forever, letting it fester inside. Thanks, Zeke."
"No need, Master. It must've been a nightmare to relive. Get some rest for now—we can talk more tomorrow."
Zeke left the room so Duke could recover.
'The final tower on the Abandoned Continent and the mysterious guardian protecting it.' Zeke suspected the entity was a guardian left by dragons to watch the tower.
'If so, it might not be much of a threat to me, blessed by the Fairy King and the ancient dragon.'
The Abandoned Continent warranted more thought.
'But the real win was that unsealing the memory let Master confront his trauma head-on.
He might even reclaim his original realm.'
If Duke, now in Zeke's Black Sword Knight Order, regained his black knight level, it would multiply Zeke's forces and influence several times over.
It was an unexpected breakthrough in solving Duke's issue.
Zeke headed back to his room to sort his thoughts on the surprise gains, but he couldn't.
Shockingly, Carus was waiting inside.
"Zeke!"
Carus pulled him into a joyful hug.
"Touching the Knight of Salvation blessed by the Fairy King means I'm blessed too, right?"
"Still talking nonsense, I see. I thought you were with Julius—when did you get here?" Carus sat down, clicking his tongue and shaking his head.
"Sigh, Julius is giving me enough headaches already. The guy who once tried to assassinate me now shows up every day preaching that I need to take the throne." Zeke looked surprised by Carus's words.
"I figured Julius would back Prince Leo as the next emperor." Carus nodded.
"That was the plan. But with things as they are, he's pushing me as the most legitimate heir to sway the other imperial nobles. Old families like them put stock in legitimacy above all."
"So Prince Leo ranks lower in succession than you?"
"Not exactly—the Rom Empire's imperial succession is more tangled than most kingdoms'. It's not just direct bloodline; prince-electors get a say too, and everyone's related by blood, so the family tree's a mess. I'm just a step ahead." Zeke thought for a moment before asking.
"What about Abel Draker—or Abel Siemens? Is that why he has a claim?" Carus nodded in confirmation.
"Yeah. I didn't know the details until Julius filled me in recently—it's a real knot." "How so?"
Carus hesitated, then explained.
"Strictly speaking... the Siemens family could be seen as the founders of the current Rom Empire."
Zeke's eyes widened.
"Siemens founded the Rom Empire? What does that mean?"
"It's a long story. You know about the Seven Kingdoms on the Central Continent before the War of Liberation?" Zeke nodded.
"Some. Thebea Kingdom is the only one that survived to this day." "Good. Most knights don't even know the Seven Kingdoms existed." Carus continued.
"The War of Liberation wiped out most human records when the dragons intervened, so almost nothing remains on the Seven Kingdoms. Thebea's the exception, carrying on from back then. But... another of those kingdoms has come to light." Zeke furrowed his brow.
"You're not saying it's Siemens, are you?" Carus shrugged.
"Bingo. The Kingdom of Siemens—one of the superpowers back then, leading the strongest magic knight orders. It was an era where mages outpowered knights. Aura training took too long and was inefficient, so they favored magic artifacts over it."
Zeke recalled peering into Terakan Draker's memory via the Holy Grail, chased by those Siemens magic knights.
'Right, those knights. Armed with magic armor and swords, each packing the power of a blue knight.'
Comparing them to modern aura blade users was unfair, of course.
No matter how potent the artifacts, matching a trained knight's reflexes was tough.
But with only basic aura methods available then, magic gear was probably more practical.
"The Kingdom of Siemens vanished after the War of Liberation, only resurfacing when the
Holy Kingdom expanded into an empire." Zeke asked in surprise.
"Did Siemens aid Holy King Gio Rubern?" Carus nodded.
"Yeah. They funneled massive funds to the Holy Kingdom, laying the groundwork for the empire's growth." Zeke caught on.
"So they pulled back once the Holy Empire formed?"
"Sharp as ever. Yeah, and that's why the new empire fractured early on. When the Rubern Dynasty got ousted, the Pope selected qualified families and had them vote for an emperor."
"Those families being the prince-elector houses with succession rights?"
"Exactly. The prince-electors agonized over the Pope's choice—they had to watch each other and the Pope's power play."
"If Siemens was among them, they'd have maneuvered to make one of their own emperor."
"The Pope knew that. Installing a Siemens emperor would've threatened papal authority. So he picked another: the current Constantinus line. With papal backing, the other electors fell in line."
"Siemens must've been furious. Weaker Constantinus snatching the throne?"
"Spot on. The Pope propped up Constantinus to control the empire. That's when Siemens faced near-extinction from the Pope and other electors' attacks. Guess what they did?" Zeke pondered, then ventured.
"Tried pulling Constantinus to their side. By blood—merging the families outright." Carus snapped his fingers.
"Siemens started hiding their name, subtly pulling strings from behind Constantinus.
Their influence deepened the rift between imperial and papal power, tearing the Holy Empire apart. It split into the Holy Kingdom and Rom Kingdom, with others gaining independence."
The Rom Kingdom absorbed other electors to become the Rom Empire. Zeke couldn't imagine that Siemens had no hand in that.
Carus nodded.
"Yet they stayed in the shadows, manipulating Constantinus without stepping forward.
And here's the kicker: they erased their own history. That's why this tale's absent from Holy Empire records."
From Carus's account, Zeke grasped the Siemens family's aim.
In his past life, Ramon Siemens used Abel to seize the Draker family, then propped up Cain with Caligula's power to claim the empire.
If successful, Siemens could've swallowed the continent whole without revealing themselves.
Zeke eyed Carus. "Julius told you all this?" Carus shook his head. "Some from him, but the deeper stuff from someone else."
"Who?"
Carus met Zeke's gaze.
"William Siemens. The heir to the Siemens family."