From the information provided by Baron and what he had gleaned from the enemies, Zeke was certain that Ramon Siemens was in Baranaon. He headed there immediately.
To intercept Ramon Siemens, Zeke first made his way to the mansion of Hoshgar Nirvana in Baranaon.
"Master!"
Richmond and Bane, who had been staying at Hoshgarʼs mansion, greeted Zeke warmly upon his arrival.
It felt different from the usual times when they were dragged along by summons.
Zeke released Bucephalus and Raven into the front yard of the mansion, letting them roam freely.
As he surveyed Hoshgarʼs mansion after so long, Zeke was momentarily speechless at the changed appearance.
"...Richmond. What the hell happened here?"
Surprisingly, Hoshgarʼs mansion had transformed into a dwelling that screamed of a lich —gloomy, grotesque, and utterly depressing.
Monster statues were scattered everywhere, and in one corner, piles of monster byproducts, unidentified bones, and ancient relics of bizarre shapes were heaped up.
Of course, it had always been avoided by people as the "haunted mansion," but it was even more hideous than before.
At Zekeʼs words, Richmond smiled shyly.
"Hehe, isnʼt it cool, Master?"
Richmond had an aesthetic sense utterly unlike anyone elseʼs.
Zeke spoke to him coldly.
"Clear it all out. Before I burn it myself."
At those words, Richmondʼs mouth fell open in shock.
"What? Clear it out? Thereʼs nothing to clear..."
Whoosh!
As Zeke conjured white flame, Richmond finally scrambled into action.
"I-Iʼll clear it! Of course, Master!"
Richmondʼs undead and the dullahan began hurriedly removing the grotesque items piled in front of the mansion.
Zeke watched for a moment, clicked his tongue, and approached Bane.
"Bane, have you caused any trouble? If you have, spill it now." Bane shook his head.
"Iʼm fundamentally different from that monster-obsessed lich."
Unlike a typical lich, Bane was an elemental lich skilled in elemental magic, and he took great pride in himself.
As Zeke nodded, something appeared from behind.
Woof! Woof! Woof!
Over a dozen ice wolves armed with jagged ice blades prowled the front yard with fierce eyes.
Bane, despite being a skeleton, wore a pleased expression.
"Arenʼt they cute, Master?"
"..."
Zeke had momentarily forgotten that both were liches from Nirvana.
Only after ordering the threatening ice wolves to be tethered in one corner of the garden did Zeke finally lead Bane inside.
He took a box from his pocket and handed it to him.
"Whatʼs this, Master?"
"Open it."
When Bane opened the box, an intense chill poured out.
Bane looked at Zeke in surprise.
"Th-this is?"
It was an ice-attribute elemental stone created by enhancing the perennial ice crystal.
Zeke looked at Bane and said,
"Can you make an artifact with this?"
Bane examined the elemental stone closely and soon shook his head.
"Whew, a mineral containing such immense cold... To cut to the chase, I donʼt think itʼs possible with my skills."
"If the only 8th-circle ice-attribute mage canʼt do it, who can?"
"Itʼs not about circles; this doesnʼt seem like something that can be manipulated with mana in the first place."
The elemental stone held primordial cold, placing it in the realm of authorities.
Even as an arch lich, Bane couldnʼt wield authorities, so he couldnʼt craft an artifact from the elemental stone.
Zeke understood Baneʼs explanation and nodded regretfully.
Just then, as Bane looked at the elemental stone, something occurred to him, and he spoke up.
"This cold reminds me of that thing." He continued.
"Do you remember the request I mentioned before?" Zeke thought for a moment and nodded.
"The one about thawing the coffin trapped in ice. It was from Arthur Draker."
"Yes. The chill from that coffin back then felt similar to this." Zeke was surprised by Baneʼs words.
'Did that mean the coffin was frozen by someoneʼs authority?ʼ Zeke himself possessed the authority of freezing.
And that authority had been gained by absorbing the nephilim known as the Snow Queen.
'Did the Snow Queen freeze that coffin with her authority of freezing? Or was it another being...?ʼ
He couldnʼt fathom why Arthur Draker had a coffin frozen by authority or what he intended to do by thawing it.
'Perhaps Arthur Drakerʼs legacy included something about that coffin.ʼ Zeke put the elemental stone back in the box and stored it in his inventory.
At that moment, Richmond entered after clearing the mansion.
"Phew, itʼs all cleared, Master."
Zeke looked at him with pity and noticed the censer in Richmondʼs hand.
"Whatʼs that, Richmond?"
At Zekeʼs question, Richmond spoke as if it had just come to mind.
"You know that thing I mentioned last time? The ancient relic found in the natural undead dungeon."
"You still had that?"
"I had it tucked away and forgot about it, but I found it while cleaning earlier and brought it."
It was an ancient relic, yet he had piled it with monster scraps—truly astonishing.
"Bring it here."
As an ancient relic from the mansion of Nirvanaʼs founding family head, Hoshgar, it was unlikely to be ordinary.
Zeke examined the worn censer Richmond brought from all angles.
'There was something there, but...ʼ
It didnʼt reveal much at first glance.
"Richmond, was there anything special about this censer?"
"As I said then, wraiths kept popping out from inside, causing quite a headache."
"Hmm, it seems fine now?"
"Look at this."
Richmond channeled mana toward the censer.
Responding to the dark mana from the lich, a banshee wail echoed from the censer.
Kiyaaaaak—
At the same time, wraiths began surging out like smoke from the censer. Kiyaaaaak—
Indistinct wraiths poured forth, swirling chaotically around the room.
Zeke watched the pale wraiths shrieking noisily.
Richmond shook his head with a weary expression.
"These things just keep coming out."
"They donʼt seem like wraith-type monsters like reapers."
"Yes, theyʼre not really wraiths with curse powers; they just keep making that racket and being annoying."
Zeke tried to suppress the flying wraiths with the power of the blood king.
Kiyaaaaak—
Kiiiiiik—
Kaaaaak—
But the wraiths only swarmed toward Zeke, who had activated the blood kingʼs power, without being subdued. They reacted to his power like insects drawn to light.
'Not souls, not wraiths. This was a first.ʼ
Zeke examined the censer with his third eye.
Surprisingly, even the blood kingʼs authority couldnʼt properly probe its structure or interior.
It seemed the censer itself was under a powerful seal.
'Perhaps Dragonʼs Wisdom would reveal something.ʼ
If an ancient relic couldnʼt be deciphered even with the blood kingʼs power, it likely held a formidable sealed force.
Zeke slowly placed his hand on the censer.
Then he activated Dragonʼs Wisdom.
Wooooong—
Zekeʼs mind began connecting to the censer.
The wraiths flying around shrieked even louder.
Then a message appeared before Zekeʼs eyes.
[Scanning unidentified ancient relic.]
[Detected powerful sealing force in the ancient relic. Shall we release the seal?] Zeke selected yes, and a brilliant light erupted from the censer.
Wooooong!
As the seal broke with intense light, countless wraiths surged from the censer.
Kwaaakwa—
Like a fountain of lost souls, hordes of wraiths shot upward, enveloping Zeke. Kiyaaaaak—
Unlike before, the wraiths now carried strong grudges and curses.
Richmond and Bane were startled to see Zeke wrapped in wraiths.
"Master!"
"Master!"
Zeke raised his hand to signal he was fine.
At that moment, Zekeʼs shadow writhed and rose.
Kwaaakwa—
The shadow, linked to the shadow armor, enveloped Zekeʼs body, shielding him from the wraiths.
Simultaneously, the shadowʼs maw gaped wide, devouring the cascading wraiths.
Kiyaaaaak—
Sensing something ominous as they were sucked into the shadow, the wraiths tried to flee backward.
But black hands extended from the shadow, capturing and absorbing all the escaping wraiths.
Kiyaaaaak—
Thus, the countless wraiths from the censer were inexorably drawn into Zekeʼs shadow.
Another message appeared before Zeke.
[The lost souls transform into shadow spirits under your command.]
The horde of lost souls had become shadow spirits obeying Zekeʼs will.
'Hoo?ʼ
Zeke summoned the shadow spirits.
The black shadow rippled, revealing the shadow spirits in vast numbers.
They couldnʼt match the power of shadow summons, but thousands of shadows alone would exert tremendous pressure.
Combined with other shadow summons or guardians, he could form a shadow legion.
'An unexpected gain.ʼ
Zeke grew curious about the true nature of the censer that had held so many lost souls.
Using Dragonʼs Wisdom, he delved deeper into the censerʼs information via the Akashic Code.
Woooooong—
As Zeke probed further, the censer began vibrating wildly.
From the censer, now empty of lost souls, an alien energy began to rise.
Zeke realized what that alien energy was.
'This was the aura from the outsider species?ʼ
At the same time, new information flooded Zekeʼs mind.
Tszzzzz—
The memory embedded in the censer directly projected past scenes.
—Kwaaaaaak!
—Spare me!
—Aaaack!
Horrific screams and unspeakable atrocities unfolded before Zeke.
Before the palace of pointed spires stood a massive demon statue with dozens of arms, and a vast grand hall was prepared in front. Rows of soldiers lined the hall.
Yet the armor styles of the soldiers and the palace itself were unlike anything Zeke had seen.
It seemed like an ancient civilization long vanished.
Opposite the soldiers, hundreds of humans and subhumans were bound to pillories before the hall, shrieking.
Masked soldiers tortured them cruelly, executed them brutally, and impaled the corpses on spears, displaying them up front.
'What was this...?ʼ
The fresh blood from the gruesomely slain flowed along grooves carved into the hall floor, pooling in one place.
That blood gathered into a lake of blood before the demon statue, where someone sat cross-legged.
He wore a golden crown resembling a lionʼs mane and a matching golden mask over his face.
His bare upper body was adorned with bone, gem, and golden ornaments. Women surrounding him scooped blood from the lake with golden jars and poured it over his body.
The man in the golden mask bathed in blood, ceaselessly chanting ominous incantations.
Then it happened.
Kugugugu—
A massive wheeled cage was brought before the hall.
The cage stopped at the center of the hall.
Kreeeeek!
Soldiers pulled back, tautening the chains on the cage.
One side of the iron cage clanged open.
Thud!
The heavy iron wall crashed to the floor, resounding through the hall.
Soon, something burst from within.
Kiyaaaaaaaak—
A soul-shaking horrific cry.
From the cage emerged a half-human, half-bird with a human face and four pairs of wings.
Bound by soul chains, the half-human half-bird thrashed to escape.
Zeke realized the identity of the captive in the cage.
'Nephilim?ʼ
A nephilim, inheritor of a constellationʼs blood, was imprisoned inside.
And at that moment, the man in the golden mask sitting in the blood lake rose.