"As expected."
Just as Zeke had seen in the Akashic Code, the source of the curse wasnʼt Bahamut, but the sacrificed princes of the fallen kingdoms.
The king, trembling in fear, said to Zeke, "The... the curse of the princes of the fallen kingdoms... itʼs tightening its grip on the Thebea royal house more and more." He stared into the flames with distant eyes and covered his ears.
"I can hear it. The voice of the cursed child..."
The kingʼs mental state didnʼt seem entirely sound.
It appeared that decades of constant fear—that the curse could threaten him at any moment—had pushed his anxiety to its peak.
'All seeds sown by the Thebea royal house.ʼ
Zeke clicked his tongue inwardly and approached the king.
He then applied the passive skill Indomitable Will to the king through the authority of amplification.
Woooong—
Mental skills like this often had side effects later, so he rarely used them, but right now, the situation didnʼt allow for such luxuries.
Once Indomitable Will took effect, a change came over the kingʼs eyes.
The unfocused gaze sharpened, and his slumped posture straightened.
"This is...?"
The king felt his foggy mind clear and realized he could see ahead properly again for the first time in ages, his face twisting in disbelief.
Zeke looked at him and said, "Some sage once said that illnesses of the mind affect the body as well. The king, terrified of the curse and turning away from reality, blinded himself."
The king turned his head to look at Zeke.
In a voice far stronger and more solemn than before, he said, "You did this." Zeke nodded.
"Yes, though itʼs only temporary."
"...Incredible. So the Knight of Salvation can wield such magic as well."
"Think of it as the blessing of the Fairy King." The king slowly rose to his feet.
A powerful aura emanated from his over-two-meter frame, nothing ordinary.
It alone proved he was a descendant of the legendary Lion King.
The king looked at Zeke and said, "There must be a reason you restored my mind."
"Iʼm curious what the Thebea kingdom summoned a thousand years ago by sacrificing the princes of the fallen kingdoms."
At Zekeʼs words, the king let out a shallow sigh.
The true nature of the curse he had feared enough to blind himself.
He soon nodded and spoke.
"At the time, the king of Thebea and the surviving nobles feared that dragons would wipe out their kingdom and families. So they sought to open what should never be opened, sacrificing noble blood."
"What was it?"
"The gate of chaos."
Zekeʼs eyes widened at the Thebea kingʼs words.
'This wasnʼt in the Akashic Code.ʼ
It meant this was hidden information, unreachable through the materials Hermann had prepared.
The Thebea king continued.
"They opened the gate of chaos and tried to summon the chaotic entities within to fend off the evil dragons."
"Did it actually work?"
The king shook his head at the question.
"In the end, they failed to open the gate of chaos itself. The six princes of the kingdoms were sacrificed in vain."
In the end, the plan failed, and it was the Dragon Slayer Terakan Draker who stopped the dragons.
Zeke looked at the king and said, "Then the curse came from one of those six princes?" The Thebea king pondered before speaking.
"According to the records, something bizarre happened the moment the gate of chaos began to open. The six princesʼ bodies melted and fused into one, becoming an entity the size of a carriage."
The princes of the fallen kingdoms, merged into one by the power of chaos.
Zeke understood that this grotesque being had cursed the Thebea royal house.
'Their grudge birthed the curse, and it grew stronger by absorbing vengeful spirits.ʼ Zeke asked the king again.
"How did they learn to open the gate of chaos?" The king shook his head.
"I donʼt know that either. The records donʼt go that far. But one more thing was written...
They sought to open the gate of chaos to call forth 'power from beyond.ʼ" Zekeʼs expression shifted as he processed the kingʼs words.
'Power from beyond? Could it have meant the Outsider Species?ʼ
Zeke had seen numerous statues of Outsider Species in the temple of the Thebea goddess.
He also knew that the power of chaos was linked to the Outsider Species.
'Then, what the Thebea kingdom tried to summon a thousand years ago was none other than the Outsider Species.ʼ
Zeke recalled the massive Outsider Species that had engulfed the entire city of fallen Carcosa in his past memories.
In their desperation to stop the dragons, they had invited an even greater threat upon their kingdom without realizing it.
Fortunately, they failed to open the gate fully, preventing a complete summoning, but the power of the Outsider Species had absorbed the sacrificed princes of the fallen kingdoms, possibly birthing the curse.
At that moment, the king clutched his head and staggered.
"Ugh, my head..."
He looked at Zeke and said, "Knight of Salvation. Cast your magic on me once more. I canʼt remember the last time my mind was this clear, or when I could face my fears like this."
Zeke shook his head.
"The more you flee from fear, the greater the pain will grow. Remember this feeling now,
Your Majesty, and overcome it yourself." With that, Zeke melted back into the shadows.
As he vanished, the king cried out.
"No! Come back! Come back!"
Feeling his eyes cloud over again with the sudden shift in mood, the Thebea king let out a scream.
*
Having realized how to track the traces, Zeke returned underground.
'The underground waterway where the cursed second son was released.ʼ
Zeke approached the waterway, steadied his breathing, and activated Dragonʼs Wisdom.
Woooong!
Connecting to the Akashic Code, scenes of what had happened there flooded into Zekeʼs mind.
Then, one fragment of the past sharpened into focus.
A young Hermann, carrying a basket with a baby inside, headed toward the waterway.
He was about to set the basket adrift in the waterway.
Before placing it in the water, he looked at the struggling infant and shed tears.
But with no choice but to carry out the kingʼs orders, he soon let the basket drift into the current.
The basket with the child floated along the water.
Zeke followed in the memory to see where the child went.
At one point while tracking, something appeared.
A figure in a mask and suit.
'The Don?ʼ
The Don reached out toward the basket with the child.
Tssst—
A vengeful spirit emerged from the childʼs body and was absorbed into him.
The Don reacted with satisfaction and vanished again.
Soon, bubbles rose from the water, and tentacles of an Outsider Species shot out, wrapping around the basket and dragging it underwater.
Woooong—
Zeke opened his eyes.
The past memory viewed through Dragonʼs Wisdom had ended, and he was back in the present reality.
'The Don absorbed the vengeful spirit of the cursed second son. As expected, their true nature was...ʼ
With a hardened expression, he gazed toward the waterway.
Zeke pulled two bent metal rods at right angles from his inventory.
Made by Jason, they were magical tools that detected where a spatial movement had originated and led.
'If I went to where the Don absorbed the childʼs spirit, I could use the Akashic Code to trace the remnants from then.ʼ
Zeke held the artifact and slowly walked deeper into the waterway.
Recalling the memory he had just seen, he stood at the spot where the Don had appeared.
He activated Jasonʼs artifact and once more invoked Dragonʼs Wisdom.
Woooong—
Using the eye of the sage to access past karma data, Zeke found the trace of the Donʼs movement.
He then activated Jasonʼs artifact on that trace.
Eeeeeeng—
As the artifact activated, it pointed in the direction of the trace left by the Don.
Zeke headed in that direction.
As he ventured deeper into the complex waterways, he hit a dead end at one point. Pzzzt—
A transparent barrier blocked his path.
When he brought his hand close, plasma sparks flew everywhere.
For others, it would have been a tricky obstacle, but Zeke immediately summoned Raven upon seeing it.
Zeke pointed at the barrier right in front of him and said, "Raven, devour it all."
Ever since discovering that Raven, the phoenix, could consume energy like plasma, Zeke had put it to good use like this from time to time.
Raven flapped its wings and flew toward the transparent barrier.
Pzzzt—
Plasma sparked wildly again, but Raven ignored it and voraciously consumed the energy forming the barrier.
Rumble—
Once Raven had devoured the entire plasma barrier, the defense automatically dissolved.
Jasonʼs artifact now pointed further inside.
'There was more ahead.ʼ
Cautiously proceeding inward, a corridor appeared. But the scenery was utterly different from outside.
Moss and root-like things clung to the walls everywhere, pulsating like living creatures.
'Similar to the tentacles of the Outsider Species.ʼ
It looked as if root-shaped tentacles were burrowing into the walls, steadily expanding their domain.
Moreover, with each pulse, a sticky fluid oozed from the roots.
The more he looked, the more the passage itself felt like the belly of some massive monster.
Rumble—
Raven, sensing something off, landed on Zekeʼs shoulder.
Zeke drew Laevatein and slowly advanced deeper.
As he went further, the root-like things clinging to the walls grew thicker, and their pulsing intensified.
But then, a suspicious presence came from ahead.
Grrr—
A savage growl echoed off the walls.
Peering ahead with his Dragon Eye, Zeke saw over a dozen aberrant monsters approaching in threatening poses.
'Monsters?ʼ
At first, their visible features seemed familiar, leading him to think they were monsters, but upon closer inspection, their forms were off.
It was as if monsters had been disassembled haphazardly, their bodies rearranged at random, with Outsider Species tentacles grafted on.
Grrr—
While he tried to discern their nature, the unknown aberrant monsters charged at Zeke.
Kaaak—
Zeke gripped Laevatein and stepped forward.
An aura blade surged forth, instantly shredding the aberrant monstersʼ bodies. Thud thud thud—
The bisected aberrant monsters collapsed to the floor from Zekeʼs single stroke. 'Not as threatening as I thought.ʼ But then.
Tssst—
Tentacles crawled out from the monstersʼ bodies and began latching onto nearby body parts.
Crack crack—
Even parts from different individuals stuck together like magnets, reforming their shapes.
Grrrr—
Zeke realized why these monstersʼ forms were so erratic.
'The Nostra Familyʼs handiwork had been applied here too.ʼ
As he watched the monsters approaching him, one idea struck him.
'There might have been a more effective way to deal with them.ʼ
Zeke took a step back and invoked the dragon race skill polymorph.
Woooong—
With a flash of light, Zekeʼs ears elongated, transforming his body into that of an elf.
As an elf, Zeke summoned one of his contracted spirits.
"Ignis."
At Zekeʼs call, a high elemental in the form of Ignis appeared.
Fwoosh—
Ignis, composed of pure fire power, looked at Zeke and said,
[Contractor. Why have you summoned me?]
Zeke pointed at the aberrant entities and said, "These things. They keep regenerating even when I slash them with my sword. Can you burn them away with a spiritʼs power?" Ignis regarded the aberrant entities at Zekeʼs words.
[Ominous creations infused with the power of chaos.]
Zeke recalled the Thebea kingʼs words at Ignisʼs remark.
'They originally planned to sacrifice the princes of the fallen kingdoms to open the gate of chaos. Did the power of chaos leak out from inside that gate?ʼ
Kaaaak—
The aberrant entities, which had recoiled from Ignisʼs flames, let out savage roars again and closed in.
Ignis unleashed a blast of spirit flames toward the charging aberrant entities.
Fwooooosh—
The pure spirit flames engulfed the chaos-infused aberrant entities.
Tssst—
Moments later, the aberrant entities were completely reduced to ash by Ignisʼs flames and vanished.
Zeke nodded upon seeing this.
'As expected... Just like the power of Elemental Sword, a spiritʼs power worked on them too. They were essentially the same as the Outsider Species.ʼ
He had recalled restoring the goddess statue in the Thebea temple with Elemental Sword and decided to test it, but it seemed correct to view them as Outsider Species despite the different appearance.
Zeke looked at Ignis and said, "Good. No risk of rampage like with Elemental Sword.
Letʼs sweep them clean."