Zeke and the Black Spirit Unit members moved into the mansion that Azmun had prepared for them.
The mansion, built in the style of the Rom Empire, was a splendid structure that boasted practicality and refined beauty.
It was a mansion personally designed and constructed by one of the imperial family members at a cost of ten million gold, but on the day Abel seized Rom, its owner had been captured and beheaded.
Azmun had taken over the vacant mansion and used it as a villa, but he had specially given it to Zeke and his group.
Zeke gave a wry smile as he looked at the guest suite Azmun had prepared.
'Rom outside is a completely dead city, but this mansion is like another world entirely.'
The guest suite, adorned with all sorts of luxury items, felt like every extravagance from across the continent had been poured into it.
Zeke sat on the plush sofa, stretched out his legs, and fell into thought.
'Taking down Abel with Azmun, huh.'
At the negotiation table, Zeke had accepted Azmun's proposal.
Azmun had been delighted with Zeke's decision and laid out his plan in detail.
He would report to Abel that he had captured Zeke in a trap and drag him to the imperial palace.
Once Zeke, disguised as a prisoner, was brought before Abel, he would break free of his restraints and kill him, at which point the knights of the Capricorn Palace, waiting in advance, would seize the palace.
It sounded utterly half-baked at first glance, but most usurpations weren't carried out with any grand schemes.
In the past, Emperor Nero had been so paranoid that meeting him required going through several stages, and even then, one could only convey intentions indirectly. But Abel was different.
Because he could approach so unguardedly, Azmun argued that a simple method would actually be better.
Agreeing with this, Zeke decided to join Azmun's plan and stay in Azmun's secret villa, where no one could approach until he disguised himself as a prisoner.
But Zeke didn't trust Azmun Barrios at all.
'A sly schemer getting angry for the Rom Empire and vowing to kill Abel? It's more believable that a dwarf would turn vegetarian.'
Having dealt with Azmun Barrios in his previous life, Zeke knew all too well that he wasn't someone moved by loyalty or affection for the empire.
On the contrary, he was the type who would sell out the empire for his own gain.
Zeke pondered Azmun's plan and reached one conclusion.
'It's a trap set with that dark mage in the imperial palace.'
The dark mage who served as acting consul and manipulated Abel from the shadows.
Zeke was certain this dark mage was connected to Narak.
And if so, there was a high probability that Azmun and the dark mage had joined hands to devise a plan to capture Zeke.
'A trap by a schemer and a dark mage.'
Zeke thought it over and then stood from his seat.
He activated the Shadow Clone Technique skill.
Tss tss tss—
Zeke's shadow rose and soon formed an exact duplicate of him.
The clone body created by the Shadow Clone Technique could exert about 40% of the original's abilities.
That alone was nearly on par with a red knight.
Moreover, unlike a regular clone, it had a physical form, making it hard to discern as unreal even with a knight's qi sense.
Zeke left the shadow clone body here and, for the first time in a while, activated the system portal.
He opened the map, checked the pre-marked coordinates, and confirmed the portal travel details.
'100 points for travel. That's a fair price.'
Since the system portal ran on karma, it couldn't be tracked by magic. So, 100 points was well worth it.
Woooong—
Zeke's body vanished with the portal's light, leaving only the shadow clone body in the room. *
"Hmm."
Boris was reading a report inside a house in Rom's abandoned city district.
Behind him, Airen and Bisco, holding magic guns, were keeping watch around the perimeter.
Sion, sitting on the sofa, was tossing an iron ball up and down with a bored expression, while Serena lay on the sofa with her eyepatch on.
At that moment, Adol, wearing a skull mask, brought something over.
"It's food."
With those words, Adol handed out mess kits one by one.
As soon as Sion opened the lid of his mess kit, he grimaced.
"Ugh, why is it Type C again? I told you I can't eat chicken." At Sion's whining, Serena chided him gently from the side.
"Sion, I told you not to complain about food. If you keep it up, I'll tell Lady Arina everything."
At the mention of Arina's name, Sion flinched.
With trembling hands, he picked up a spoon and scooped some of the Type C combat ration from the mess kit into his mouth.
"Ugh, this chicken is so annoying."
While Adol kept watch around them, Boris, Airen, and Bisco also picked up their mess kits and started eating.
Then Sion looked at Boris and said,
"Captain Boris, how long do we have to stay here?"
At Sion's whiny question, Boris looked at him and replied,
"Until the boss arrives."
At Boris's words, Sion, who still feared Zeke, shuddered once.
Regaining his composure, Sion picked out the peas from the combat ration one by one and grumbled.
"Ugh, if I'd known, I would've just stayed at the academy with Lady Arina. I heard the boss brought Masa this time too."
Masa was the only member of the Six around Sion's age.
In the past, Sion had often bullied and pranked Masa, always getting scolded by Serena for it.
While Sion reminisced sullenly over his meal, Airen finished all the food in his mess kit and said to Boris,
"Captain, can't you ask the boss to bring some snipers too? The title is sniper squad leader, but I'm the only sniper, so it feels weird."
At that, Boris looked at Airen and said,
"When the boss arrives, why don't you tell him yourself?"
At Boris's words, Airen shuddered like Sion and clamped his mouth shut.
They were all people who had been bested by Zeke at least once, so they felt an instinctive fear.
But then— Tss tss tss—
A portal appeared in midair, and someone materialized before them.
Boris and the intelligence operatives all raised their energy and went on alert.
But the moment they saw who had emerged from the portal, they all relaxed.
It was none other than Zeke.
"Everyone, it's been a while."
Zeke had left the shadow clone body in the room and made contact with the intelligence operatives he had pre-positioned in Rom.
Zeke greeted them and silently watched as they ate combat rations from their mess kits.
Then he pulled out some food from his inventory and handed it over.
Sion cheered at the sight.
"Wow! Beef stew! White bread! That's the tasty stuff!"
Even the usually taciturn Bisco and Adol swallowed hard at the food Zeke had brought out.
After distributing the food to the operatives, Zeke took Boris into the room.
Sitting down, Zeke looked at Boris and said, "You seem to be doing better than I expected." At Zeke's words, Boris gave a wry smile.
"Sometimes, I resent the boss for gathering such uniquely spirited members."
"I heard you were once voted the top agent people wanted as a partner back in Room 13.
They're capable kids, so train them hard."
Zeke chuckled and propped his chin on his hand, changing the subject as he asked Boris,
"So, what's the situation in Rom like now?"
At his question, Boris's expression darkened.
"As someone from the empire, I really... If that Abel bastard were in front of me, I'd kill him right now."
Boris was from the Rom Empire's intelligence agency and had attended the imperial university in Rom during his youth.
The Rom he remembered was one of the continent's largest cities, rivaling Atlas.
But ever since Abel and Siemens had usurped the throne and occupied the city, the once-glorious Rom had vanished without a trace.
"Most people have been rounded up by soldiers and thrown into detention camps, and even the citizens who managed to avoid danger are all huddled in basements out of fear, not daring to come out. The city itself isn't functioning at all—it's as good as dead." Zeke tilted his head curiously at that.
"That's strange. Normally, after occupying a city, you'd rule it and expand your sphere of influence somehow."
Boris nodded in agreement and replied,
"That's what puzzles me too. Abel seems to want to empty the city completely."
Zeke couldn't grasp why Abel would turn Rom—one of the continent's largest cities—into such a state.
At that moment, Boris handed Zeke a report.
"What's this?"
"It's a record of the suspicious things we discovered while staying in Rom."
Zeke quickly skimmed the report Boris handed him, his gaze lingering on one part.
"Fog settles over the city at night, and monsters crawl up from the sewers?"
It was written like some urban legend.
At Zeke's somewhat incredulous words, Boris said with a serious expression,
"It may be hard to believe, but it's true. My team and I scouted every corner of the city and confirmed that monsters really do appear in certain districts."
Zeke examined the report's description of the monsters' appearance while Boris watched with a serious expression. 'This...?'
The creatures had bizarre forms that were unlikely to exist in the natural world.
Sharp teeth, tentacles, and indeterminate shapes were their features.
Zeke had seen similar aberrant creatures before.
'Like the outsider species magical beasts in the Forest of the Forgotten. The appearance is similar.'
As Zeke pondered the outsider species, Boris provided new information.
"And boss, it seems there's a Nostra Family research laboratory here." Zeke looked up at Boris's words.
"A Nostra Family research lab. You mean the one doing human enhancement experiments."
"We haven't infiltrated deep enough to know the research details, but... I suspect it's connected to the monsters appearing here."
Zeke recalled the chimera-making drug that Rahim had brought.
'If the Nostra Family is under Siemens's protection, there's no better place for chimera experiments than here. Did they move it from somewhere else? Or has it been hidden here all along...?'
The drug Rahim brought might have been made here too.
After thinking it over, Zeke said to Boris,
"I'm going into the imperial palace tomorrow to confront Abel." At his words, Boris's mouth fell open.
"No, boss. What reckless thing are you planning now?"
"If it's reckless, then yes—it would be walking right into Azmun Barrios's trap."
"You're saying you'll do it knowing that?"
"If I don't, I can't catch Abel. I have to draw him out somehow this time."
Zeke spoke firmly, glanced around the room, and then gave Boris a telepathic command.
Boris's face paled even more at the order.
"B-Boss, what exactly are you planning in Rom?"
"If I don't shake things up, the snakes hiding away won't come out. Remember, Boris— don't expose any movements until I send the signal."
At Zeke's words, Boris nodded with a resolute expression.
"Understood, boss."
To counter the trap set by Azmun and Lopocale, Zeke meticulously laid his own snare, waiting for the prey to take the bait.
'Let's see who falls deeper into the trap.'
*
Thud thud thud thud!
A carriage raced toward Rom's imperial palace at high speed.
Capricorn Palace knights escorted the carriage, with Azmun Barrios at the forefront.
Azmun Barrios pulled a black security carriage into the imperial palace.
Thud!
The palace gates opened, and Azmun headed toward the grand audience hall, towing the mobile prison covered in black cloth.
Dozens of Capricorn Palace knights who had been escorting the carriage followed behind.
Soon, the doors to the grand audience hall opened, revealing the lined-up imperial palace guard knights and Abel seated on the throne.
Beside Abel stood Lopocale, disguised as a human in a robe.
Azmun knelt before Abel and bowed his head.
"Your Majesty! I, Azmun Barrios, have captured the empire's sinner, Zeke Draker, and brought him before you!"
At the mention of Zeke Draker, Abel suddenly jerked his head up from the throne, drooling and grinding his teeth.
"Zeke... Zeke Draker..."
Then Lopocale held a prepared bowl of fresh blood to Abel's mouth.
Abel greedily gulped down the fresh blood from the bowl.
Thanks to that, he barely suppressed his madness and calmed down, gesturing to Lopocale.
"Bring in the sinner Zeke Draker!"
At Lopocale's command, Azmun personally yanked away the cloth covering the mobile prison.
Rumble rumble rumble!
Inside the cage, Zeke knelt with his head bowed, bound head to toe in chains.
Seeing this, Abel suddenly rose from his seat and shouted excitedly.
"Zeke! Zeke Drakerrrrr!"