The area around them lay reduced to scorched earth by Emperor Nero's secret weapon, with thick clouds of dust rising into the air.
It marked a completely different approach to battle from that of the time-honored knights of the Central Continent, who placed honor above all else.
Even though he himself ranked as an exceptional knight comparable to a black knight, the Red King did not boast of his prowess.
Rather than charging in first, his philosophy of combat focused on minimizing damage to his own forces while thoroughly destroying the enemy.
The Red King, who had unleashed a barrage of shells on Zeke without letting his guard down, raised his hand once more.
The Dracul Knights reloaded their cannons, awaiting the Red King's signal.
"Groooan."
As the dust settled, Zeke's figure emerged from within, staggering and bleeding.
He barely held himself up with his sword plunged upside down into the ground, trying to rise.
Once he confirmed that Zeke still lived, the Red King gave the signal.
Without mercy, the shells flew straight toward Zeke's position.
Boom boom boom boom!
Clad in his red Hercion, the Red King closely observed whether Zeke had escaped the blast radius.
The dust settled again without any special movement, revealing Zeke Draker in an even more battered state than before.
"Groooan."
Seeing Zeke Draker still groaning but not dead, the Red King's eyes, hidden within his helmet, narrowed.
'It's a fake.'
He recalled that this pattern featured among the many combat styles of Zeke Draker that he had analyzed.
It was one of Zeke Draker's frequent strategies: using a clone as bait to divert the enemy's attention and then striking from behind.
The Red King immediately signaled the Dracul Knight Order.
Recognizing the change in the Red King's signal, the Dracul Knights instantly realized that the one hit by the shells was a fake and that the real Zeke Draker hid nearby, targeting them.
Whoosh!
Though Zeke Draker stood visible before them, the Dracul Knights followed the Red King's signal without a shred of doubt. They swiftly rearranged their formation and descended into the ravine to cluster around the Red King.
Holding shields and swords, they pressed their backs together and scanned all directions warily.
Some among them even prepared for the possibility of Zeke Draker bursting from the ground.
Atop his red steed, the Red King slowly approached the fake Zeke Draker.
Toward the clone of Zeke Draker, who pretended to be injured while gripping the sword plunged into the ground, the Red King swung his axe.
Whooooosh!
The axe, infused with powerful aura, aimed to cleave Zeke Draker's clone in a single stroke.
But at that moment, the Zeke Draker thought to be a clone suddenly sprang up and swung his sword to deflect the Red King's axe.
Boom!
An unbelievably powerful force flung the Red King's axe upward.
The noble steed among noble steeds, the red steed, let out a fierce cry and reared back.
Zeke, holding Laevatein, charged straight at the Red King.
In response, the Dracul Knights positioned around the Red King moved reflexively to counter him.
Rumble rumble rumble!
They formed a wall with their large, sturdy shields, creating a gap for the Red King to retreat.
Amazed by their astonishing loyalty and boldness, Zeke did not stop. He unleashed a sword strike directly at their shields.
Boom boom boom!
The sword strike, infused with the power of the dragon slaying technique, shattered the Dracul Knights' solid defensive wall in one blow.
As the front-line knights collapsed, others from behind rushed in to reform the wall.
Zeke could not help but admire their flawless movements without a hint of hesitation.
'I can clearly see how rigorously they've been trained.'
He too had thoroughly trained the black spirit unit and the black sword knight order, but not to this extent. The Dracul Knight Order moved in perfect unison, like a single living organism.
From that sight, Zeke could vividly feel how much they trusted the Red King.
'But this level won't be enough.' Rumble rumble rumble!
Matching the momentum of the Dracul Knights encircling him, Zeke invoked the power of the elemental sword.
As the chamber of metal power opened, a strong gravitational wave extended around Zeke.
Rumble rumble—
The Dracul Knights within the range of the gravitational wave could no longer move under the immense pressure crushing their bodies.
Yet they never let go of their shields.
Crack crack!
Even as shoulders dislocated and feet sank deep into the ground, the Dracul Knights maintained their formation without releasing their shields. The sight evoked a sense of awe in Zeke.
'Amazing. So this is the strength of the Dracul Knight Order that held back the Murk Empire's great army.' It was then.
The Red King, who had retreated, dismounted his red steed and lifted his massive axe.
Whooooong!
Red energy gathered into the axe.
The Red King thrust the soaring red energy high into the sky toward Zeke.
Boom boom boom boom boom!
Zeke sensed something off as he saw the red energy from the Red King descending upon his head.
'This is?'
In an instant, Zeke released the chamber of metal power, leaped into the air, and swung his sword toward the energy the Red King had unleashed.
Boom boom boom boom!
In midair, Zeke's sword strike clashed with the Red King's ultimate technique, causing a massive explosion.
Rumble rumble rumble!
Amid the scattering red halo of the explosion, Zeke hovered in the air, looking down at the Red King and the Dracul Knight Order. He remained completely unscathed, unlike before.
He slowly descended toward the Red King and landed in the midst of the knights' encirclement.
Then, he opened his mouth toward the Red King.
"Red King, why do I sense the aura of a dragon from you?"
*
Boris devised an infiltration plan with his intelligence team in the ruins of a city near Jupiter Castle, based on the information passed from Goose, who had now become Dmitri.
Dmitri continued his explanation while looking at the layout of Jupiter Castle.
"Though Jupiter Castle is known for its thorough defenses, there's always a way to infiltrate, just like anywhere else."
He pointed to the north gate of the castle.
"There's an underground sewer system here leading to the Voltro River."
Unlike Rom or Mars, which the Voltro River passed through, Jupiter lay quite far from the river's course.
The high elevation and surrounding rocky terrain made it an ideal strategic stronghold, but drawing in water sources proved challenging.
Thus, Jupiter Castle had dug underground tunnels to pump up groundwater for use as tap water, and the city's wastewater channeled through a northern sewer system to the Voltro River.
Without the underground sewer system, the isolated castle's terrain would have led to hygiene issues and a high risk of various plagues.
Therefore, Jupiter Castle's underground sewer ranked as top secret among secrets.
The problem lay in the fact that the underground sewer of Jupiter Castle structured itself in an extremely complex manner.
Like most historic cities, it had built upon an ancient city predating the Holy Empire, so the sewers dated back over a thousand years.
Over the long years, repairs and expansions had turned the sewers into a labyrinth whose full structure no one could fully grasp.
Even if one discovered the existence of the underground sewer, its intricate layout made casual infiltration impossible.
But Dmitri, as Castro's adjutant, had overseen the management of this underground sewer system and knew its structure in considerable detail.
After hearing Dmitri's words, Boris called Shadia aside and asked.
"What do you think when the deputy captain hears this?" Shadia pondered Boris's words before she spoke.
"It's hard to trust his words easily. He's from Imperial Intelligence Room 13, and until just now, he was the adjutant of Castro's legion. His current defection could be a ploy to deceive us with false information."
She drew a dagger from her bosom and spoke with a cold expression.
"True information always comes with pain. If you permit it, I'll verify its authenticity." At Shadia's words, Dmitri, standing behind, chattered his teeth and said.
"Uh, excuse me. Salmak lady. I can hear everything, so could you say those scary things when I'm not around?"
Boris pondered Shadia's words, still harboring suspicions about Dmitri.
At that moment, Adol, Serena, and Sion emerged from the ground.
Serena approached Boris and Shadia, bowing her head.
"Captain, we've checked the underground sewer system."
"What do you think?"
"We couldn't examine the entire structure, but it mostly matches what he said." Dmitri, glancing at Shadia beside him, said.
"See? It matches. There's no other way into Jupiter Castle except there. I know because I've been there. In the current situation, a frontal assault might work, but if you're infiltrating, that's the best route."
Shadia still seemed distrustful of Dmitri's words, even after hearing from Serena.
Boris pondered and then raised his head.
"We'll enter through the northern underground waterway he mentioned." He pointed at Dmitri.
"Just in case, we'll take him along. If anything suspicious happens midway, eliminate him immediately and retreat."
The intelligence team nodded at Boris's decision and hurriedly prepared to enter the underground waterway.
*
The north gate of Jupiter Castle surprisingly had few guards.
As suspicions toward Dmitri arose amid the odd situation, they entered the underground waterway and soon understood why.
Boris swung his aura-infused sword, severing the neck of a charging beast.
The underground waterway teemed not only with beasts but also with experimental chimeras unleashed by Narak's dark mages.
Though he had heard from Serena's reconnaissance team, the reality exceeded imagination.
Dmitri, following Boris, also swung his sword to block the beasts' attacks.
"Boris captain, I've been in desk work for so long that this fieldwork is a bit tough for me." At those words, Boris pointed to the side and said.
"Then I'll send you to the Salmak group."
At Boris's words, Dmitri shook his head, raised his aura, and diligently felled the beasts.
He resolved to stick close to Boris, fearing that if he went to the Salmak side, Shadia might slit his throat pretending it was an accident.
Dmitri guided the intelligence team through the maze-like underground waterways toward the path leading to Jupiter Castle.
As it was a sewer carrying the castle's wastewater, it filled with all sorts of foul odors and filth.
Fortunately, the intelligence team had grown accustomed to such conditions, allowing smooth infiltration; ordinary soldiers or knights would never have considered entering this way.
As Dmitri led the way, he stopped before a fork in the waterways splitting in several directions and said to Boris.
"From here, we have to go underwater."
Even at the mention of entering the filthy sewage, the intelligence team members nonchalantly pulled out their prepared gear.
They took out the crystal orbs issued in advance, attached them to their chests, and activated them.
In an instant, their bodies covered in diving suits, and magic devices allowing breathing underwater fitted to their faces.
Seeing this, Dmitri's mouth gaped open.
'Hercion? No, it doesn't seem like it. To have dozens of such cutting-edge devices.' Boris also gave a device to the surprised Dmitri and explained how to use it.
Once he donned the diving gear, the intelligence team plunged into the sewage without hesitation.
The magic devices they wore included spells to maintain visibility even in murky water, allowing them to swim upstream through the waterway with relative ease.
Dmitri occasionally checked upward and guided the direction beside Boris.
But at one point.
Rumble rumble rumble—
A beast in the form of a massive crocodile began charging toward the intelligence team from within the sewer.
Dmitri panicked and vehemently denied setting a trap.
Boris calmed the agitated Dmitri and signaled Airen behind him.
Airen pulled out the underwater launcher strapped to his back and aimed at the approaching crocodile beasts.
Piiiing—
Harpoons shot out rapidly underwater.
The harpoons embedded precisely into the beasts' bodies, soon causing powerful explosions.
Boom rumble rumble!
The beasts' bodies shattered, and the explosion's vibrations rippled even to the surface.
Boris signaled the team to move during this opening.
As the members advanced, Airen placed motion-triggered mines at his position and swiftly moved.
Other beasts swarmed to catch the moving members.
But the mines Airen had set attached themselves to the beasts' bodies and exploded simultaneously, tearing them to shreds.