Azmun Barrios appeared every bit the bold warrior on the surface, a stark contrast to his reputation as a sly schemer. In truth, he was also an exceptional knight whose skills surpassed those of a red knight.
He dismounted his horse and greeted Zeke with the utmost courtesy.
"I am Azmun Barrios, captain of the Knight Order of the Capricorn Palace. It is an honor to meet the Knight of Salvation in person."
Though his true thoughts remained unknowable, for a knight of an enemy nation to humble himself before Zeke—who was far his junior—represented no small feat.
But such pretenses of dignity meant little to Azmun Barrios. That was the key difference between him and Castro, who hailed from a prestigious family.
Despite Azmun's warm welcome, Zeke remained mounted. By custom, Zeke should have dismounted to reciprocate, but he simply looked down at him with a rigid posture.
The knights of the Capricorn Palace behind Azmun furrowed their brows at Zeke's demeanor. Yet they hesitated to act rashly, sensing the overwhelming presence that emanated from him.
Zeke addressed Azmun.
"Do you intend to conduct the negotiations here?"
The flat, emotionless voice carried an overpowering charisma that left even the scheming Azmun tense.
"A monster greater than the dead emperor."
The reason Emperor Nero, mad as he was, had maintained his iron grip on the throne was simple: he was strong, and no one in Rom could defy him.
Azmun sensed in Zeke an even higher aura of dominion than that of the deceased emperor. It was the innate quality of a ruler who could bring thousands of knights to their knees with a single word.
That was what he felt from Zeke now.
Regaining his composure, Azmun bowed his head to Zeke and said,
"Of course not, Sir Zeke Draker. Allow me to guide you to the negotiation site." Azmun remounted and led Zeke's group onward.
As Zeke followed, he took in the scenery of Rom as it passed by—a silent city devoid of any human shadows.
"Rom is as good as dead already."
Without its citizens, a city could not function. Under Abel's rule, Rom was little more than an empty shell.
Yet it still held immense symbolic value as the capital of the Rom Empire.
Zeke could not help but wonder at the true aim of Ramon Siemens, the root of all this chaos.
"What does he plan to do by seizing this hollow shell of Rom using the guise of the dead Abel?"
Pondering Ramon Siemens's intentions as he trailed Azmun, Zeke saw a massive temple come into view ahead.
It was none other than the Grand Temple of the Sun.
That was the headquarters of the Sun Order, which had split from the Order of Light, and the largest temple on the continent. Azmun had chosen it as the site for the negotiations. "The Grand Temple..."
A temple in Rom was an ideal place for secretive plots.
Zeke suspected the scheming Azmun had chosen this location for a reason.
Entering the Grand Temple with Azmun and the knights of the Capricorn Palace, they found priests of the Sun Order lined up in rows.
Azmun glanced back at Zeke and said,
"During the negotiations, no one will enter the Grand Temple."
Whether that was true remained to be seen until the talks concluded.
Azmun and Zeke led their respective groups into the vast interior of the temple.
Inside, a negotiation table had been set up in the central hall.
Zeke and Azmun sat facing each other, with ten pre-arranged attendants standing behind them.
Azmun removed his helmet as he sat, exhaling heavily.
"Whew, I feel like I can breathe now. My subordinates insist I wear the helmet because my face looks too fierce otherwise. It's a real ordeal."
Felix could not hold back a slight chuckle at Azmun's words.
Reina elbowed him sharply, as if to warn him to watch himself.
Azmun waved it off casually.
"No need to be so stiff. This is a fine opportunity for us to open up and talk freely. Why don't your knights relax in the lounge we've prepared at the back? Our knights are eager to mingle with the renowned members of the Black Sword Knight Order."
Despite his rough appearance, Azmun proved remarkably eloquent. With a few words, he defused the tense atmosphere.
But then—
"Do you think we've come here to rest?"
The mood snapped back to tension the moment Zeke spoke.
The relaxed air Azmun had carefully cultivated tightened like a drawn bowstring.
In response to Zeke's words, Azmun shifted his posture and changed the subject.
"Knight of Salvation, would you care to see this?"
He smoothly produced an item from the table in front of Zeke, turning the atmosphere around.
He unrolled a luxurious velvet cloth, revealing a book bound in red leather.
Azmun presented the book to Zeke.
"This is the memoirs we discovered, written by the Dragon Slayer Terakan Draker."
The mention of the legendary Dragon Slayer Terakan Draker elicited the greatest surprise from the Black Spirit Unit behind Zeke.
Zeke himself, a pureblood awakener of the Draker line, simply gazed at the memoirs impassively.
Zeke said to Azmun,
"If you're trying to blackmail the Draker family with Terakan Draker's memoirs, you've miscalculated."
Zeke seized the initiative before Azmun could even broach the negotiations.
The other knights, both from the Black Spirit Unit and the Capricorn Palace, exchanged startled glances at his words.
Revealing that the protagonist of the Dragon Slayer legend, Terakan Draker, was an illegitimate child of the Draker family could deal a severe blow to their honor.
Yet Zeke spoke without a hint of concern.
Azmun hesitated, evidently caught off guard by Zeke's reaction, before finally responding.
"...If your goal was to surprise me, you've succeeded admirably, Sir Zeke Draker."
"I didn't come here just to unsettle the corps commander."
Zeke reached out and picked up the memoirs from the table in front of him.
He flipped through it rapidly.
Scanning the contents in an instant, Zeke used the system to verify its authenticity.
"...It seems genuine. Terakan Draker's memoirs." Zeke had inherited Terakan's secure archives.
Yet those archives contained no such memoirs—only official documents like supply logs from the War of Liberation or the basic manual for the Dragon Slaying Technique.
Zeke looked at Azmun and said,
"Corps commander, there's no need for busy people like us to waste time probing each other. Tell me what you really want."
Azmun pondered for a moment, sighed, and nodded.
"Whew, I suppose I can't outmaneuver the Knight of Salvation."
Azmun leaned slightly toward Zeke and spoke slowly.
"Sir Zeke, why not clear the room first? It might make things easier."
At Azmun's suggestion, Zeke rested his chin on his hand in silence before gesturing to the Black Spirit Unit.
Azmun followed suit with a simple wave, and the knights of the Capricorn Palace moved to another room with the Black Spirit Unit members.
Seeing this, Azmun gave an awkward smile.
"Haha, I was trying to create a natural opportunity for us to talk alone, but it seems I botched the first step."
He attempted to recreate the earlier relaxed mood.
Zeke looked at him and said,
"What is it you want to say?"
Azmun's expression grew tense.
"What I want to discuss is..."
At that moment, Azmun cast message magic toward Zeke.
—In truth, Terakan's memoirs are bait.
Zeke's eyebrow twitched at Azmun's words.
It proved hard to discern Azmun's intent in openly admitting he had lured Zeke to Rom with the memoirs.
—Sir Zeke, what if we joined forces?
Azmun sent another secretive message proposing alliance.
As Zeke remained silent, Azmun continued via message magic.
—Abel Siemens. Don't you want to capture him?
Zeke's eyes flickered at Azmun's words.
If true, Azmun had used the memoirs as bait to draw Zeke to Rom for a joint strike against Abel.
Azmun's next message followed.
—I harbored a grudge against Emperor Nero. I bore the ignoble title of sly schemer for years, rising to corps commander only to seize a chance to kill him.
Zeke listened silently to Azmun's messages.
—So when the Siemens faction moved to oust the emperor, I was the first to join the revolution. As you know, the emperor died, and Abel Siemens took his place... But I never imagined a madman worse than Nero could exist.
Azmun had resolved to kill Abel before the madman fully claimed the throne.
—Abel Siemens holes up in the imperial palace, slaughtering dozens daily and drinking their blood just to maintain his sanity. The palace reeks of endless blood.
Azmun's hands clenched, trembling visibly.
He looked at Zeke and spoke aloud.
"I request that the Black Sword Knight Order withdraw from Heli." Zeke raised his head and met Azmun's gaze.
Then, playing along, he replied,
"If we withdraw from Heli, you'll hand over the memoirs?"
"It is merely a request. As I said earlier, the memoirs are a gesture of friendship to the
Draker family."
"Hmm... A gesture of friendship."
At that point, Zeke transmitted his thoughts to Azmun via telepathy.
—If you kill Abel, who do you plan to install as emperor? Ah, perhaps you aim for the throne yourself.
Azmun looked slightly startled at Zeke's telepathy but shook his head.
—Nothing of the sort. I've never aspired to be emperor. For now, we use Abel to justify Siemens control over Rom, but if we can kill him and drive out the Siemens faction, I wish to summon Consul Julius and rebuild the Rom Empire together.
Zeke's eyes deepened at Azmun's words.
"Azmun Barrios personally bringing Julius to Rom?"
In his previous life, Julius had beheaded Azmun. They were bitter enemies.
Though circumstances had changed from his past life, their natures had not, so Zeke found Azmun's claim hard to believe.
Moreover, if sincere, Azmun could still defect to Julius's side now.
Azmun sent another message to Zeke.
—A single dark mage currently manipulates Abel Siemens from the shadows, holding the imperial palace in his grip under the guise of acting consul.
He gritted his teeth and continued via message.
—Sir Zeke, I can no longer bear watching my homeland, the Rom Empire, toyed with by a dark mage and a madman.
Though conveyed through message magic, Azmun's sincerity rang true.
Zeke, who had listened quietly, finally spoke.
"We will withdraw our garrison from Heli. However..."
In that instant, blue flames erupted from Terakan Draker's memoirs before Zeke, consuming it in seconds.
Through the blaze, Zeke looked at Azmun and said,
"Keep your promise. If you don't, you'll pay the price yourself."