Chapter 262
“What did you say came out?”
Zeke, who had arrived at the Agamemnon Castle, had to hear the bewildering news before even getting off his horse.
They had discovered a ‘Medusa’, something only heard of in legends, in the southern archipelago where pioneering was taking place.
Aster, who delivered the news to Zeke, spoke in an excited voice unlike his usual exhausted self due to insomnia.
“S-Sir. Could Medusa really exist?”
Diego, who was next to Aster, nodded and said.
“We have a similar legend in my hometown. A legend about an evil witch who turns people to stone just by making eye contact!”
Zeke got a headache watching Aster and Diego chattering away mindlessly.
Zeke summoned all the knight division executives to the grand conference hall.
When everyone gathered in the conference hall, Clonne slammed the round table and said.
“Captain! They say Medusa has appeared! We need to go to the archipelago right now!”
Zeke calmed down the excited Clonne and took his seat.
He asked Boris.
“Boris, summarize the situation accurately.”
Boris spoke to Zeke with a troubled expression.
“It seems Jefrik’s party discovered a dungeon while exploring an island meant to be the center of the archipelago.”
“A dungeon? There was a dungeon in the southern archipelago?”
“Yes, since it’s located in the middle of the Sea of Death, it seems it wasn’t discovered as it was an island rarely visited.”
“So they found Medusa inside that dungeon?”
Then Boris shook his head.
“They haven’t found Medusa, but they found traces of multiple stone statues.”
“Stone statues?”
“Yes, according to Jason’s report, the statues’ attire varies in era and form, and their expressions are unnaturally lifelike.”
Zeke pressed his temples.
“They determined Medusa exists just from those statues?”
“They also discovered never-before-seen patterns and ancient styles inside the dungeon.”
Boris handed Zeke the drawing of the pattern that was enclosed with the urgent report. Zeke tilted his head looking at the pattern received from Boris.
‘This pattern looks familiar from somewhere.’
As Zeke examined the drawing, Boris added.
“While we haven’t confirmed if Medusa really exists, it does seem to be an ancient ruins site with styles we’ve never seen before.”
Zeke nodded at Boris’s words.
“It could possibly be a dungeon containing ancient civilization from before the Hero King era.”
At those words, Clonne jumped up from her seat again and went into a frenzy.
“Then all the more reason we shouldn’t be here now but hurry to save the princess! What if something more dangerous than Medusa comes out!”
Zeke nodded at Clonne’s words.
“Sister Clonne is right. If there’s an ancient ruins site of unknown origin, we don’t know what else might comes out.”
He ordered the knights to prepare to head to the southern archipelago.
The plan was to take the Triangle docked at lason’s port straight to the archipelago.
After the meeting, Zeke visited Hades’ workshop.
While preparing for the voyage, he planned to ask about the pattern Jason had sent.
But when he went to the workshop, Hades was nowhere to be seen.
When he asked the servants, they said Hades had gone somewhere with Yelin and other Ishtar personnel to look for materials.
‘I wonder if Lord Hades and Lady Yelin will be okay since the central continent is unfamiliar to them.’
Fortunately, Zeke was somewhat relieved knowing that Boris had assigned Liam as a guide.
Soon the sailing preparations were complete, and Zeke led the Black Sword Knights toward Jason, leaving behind his unresolved questions about the pattern Jason had sent.
* * *
“Wow,Sir Zeke. The sea is really different from before.”
Felix marveled at the Death Sea that had become calm without a single wave from the Triangle’s deck.
After the Sea God regained his divine position, the rough Death Sea had calmed down and the ocean scenery had completely changed.
Especially since Zeke had received the Sea God’s blessing, any ship he boarded was safe from threats of storms and sea monsters.
Previously, they had to go around the incredibly rough Death Sea which made voyage times long, but now they could move to the southern continent much faster.
Moreover, since the Triangle, Captain Kidd’s treasure, was faster than normal ships, they could reach the southern archipelago in just a few days.
“I see an island!”
Zeke focused his vision to examine the coastline of the island.
He could see the Neverland, Linehart Trading Company’s ship, and Syndicate’s ship gathered ahead.
The Triangle quickly headed toward the coast.
As soon as they reached the shore, Zeke immediately jumped off the ship and landed on the island.
He could see a camp set up on the hill above the coast which was good for docking ships.
Zeke quickly climbed up the hill.
However, while there were signs of use in the camp, there wasn’t a single trace of people.
‘What’s going on here?’
Clonne’s group who had followed Zeke were also surprised to see the empty camp.
Clonne became pale as she spoke to Zeke.
“C-Captain. W-where is the princess?”
“Calm down, Clonne. You know there are only a few people in this continent who could threaten Lady Arina. For now, go secure the ships safely.”
Arina, who had achieved 7th Circle Master in light magic, was a mage who ranked in the top ten on the continent in terms of combat power.
Despite her delicate appearance, she specialized in attack spells, so even if monsters came in hordes, they couldn’t touch a single hair on Arina’s head.
Zeke opened his blood eyes to examine the traces left in the camp.
‘There’s blood everywhere but… most of it is monster blood. Seems there was a battle.’
He could see traces leading from the camp into the forest.
After closing his blood eyes, Zeke summoned Cayman, the Dragon Warrior unit, Gurab, and the Shark Dragon unit to search for traces.
[You called, master.]
“Cayman, lead Gurab’s unit and search the surroundings. Report immediately if you see anything suspicious or any humans.”
[Yes, master.]
Gurab also nodded in understanding.
After Cayman and Gurab’s unit dispersed, Zeke decided to organize the camp first.
“Richmond.”
Richmond emerged, rippling out of Zeke’s shadow.
“Great, if I just adjust this then finally success… HUK, master?”
Richmond seemed to have been in the middle of an experiment, looking bewildered at the sudden summons.
“Where is this place, master?”
“The southern archipelago. We plan to develop this place as a trading hub.”
Zeke ordered Richmond to summon bone walls to reinforce the camp’s defenses.
Richmond summoned not only bone walls but also skeletons to clean up the surroundings and rebuild the fortifications.
Aster watched the skeletons moving about and asked Diego.
“Given the sleep sand he gave me too, does our have knowledge of magic?”
Diego pondered at his words before nodding.
“Our lord’s abilities are endless. It’s easier to just accept it.”
Aster nodded at Diego’s answer.
To them, Zeke was already not seen as an ordinary human.
Under Zeke’s direct command, the camp was rapidly reinforced.
Just as the camp fortifications were completed, a signal came from Cayman.
[Master, I’ve discovered something suspicious here.]
Zeke said to Boris.
“Seems they found something. Others might return here, so keep watch on the surroundings.”
He left the fortifications and summoned ghost soldiers to patrol while running to where Cayman was.
Going into the forest, Zeke found where Cayman and the Dragon Warriors were.
The surroundings were littered with monster corpses that seemed to have been dealt with by Cayman’s unit.
[Master.]
Cayman placed his hand on his left chest respectfully toward Zeke.
“What did you find?”
Cayman pointed to a spot hidden between thick bushes.
When one of the Dragon Warriors cleared the bushes, a cave appeared inside.
“A dungeon?”
To Zeke’s question, Cayman said:
[We cannot enter this place.]
Zeke’s expression changed at Cayman’s words.
“What do you mean you cannot enter?”
[The energy flowing from inside that cave is blocking the approach of shadow spirits like myself.]
This meant that not just Cayman but other Dragon Warriors also couldn’t enter deeper into the cave.
It seemed an unprecedented force flowing from inside was blocking their approach.
Zeke tried testing once more with ghost warriors but it was still impossible.
“Richmond.”
Zeke immediately summoned Richmond toward the cave.
Richmond was startled by the sudden summons this time as well.
“HEUP! W-what’s the matter all of a sudden?”
“Take a look at what you can sense inside that cave.”
Following Zeke’s order, Richmond approached the cave to investigate but suddenly his body trembled.
“UGHK!”
He quickly retreated backwards.
“What’s wrong, Richmond?”
Richmond said while breaking out in cold sweat.
“I-I cannot approach.”
“Hmm.”
The fact that not only the ghost spirits but even Richmond couldn’t go meant there was extremely powerful ancient sorcery or magic cast inside this cave and connected dungeon.
Zeke slowly approached the cave.
WOONG WOONG!
Even as Zeke approached, there was a force from inside the cave trying to push him back.
He raised his hand and used magic sealing technique.
KEEEEEEEING!
He spread his magic sealing technique to unravel the flow of the magical field emanating from inside the cave.
CRACKLE!
Zeke twisted the magical field blocking the cave and went inside.
‘This doesn’t seem like a barrier… Is it possible for such a powerful magical field to form naturally?’
Although Zeke barely managed to enter, in that brief moment the magical field recovered, making it impossible for his summons to enter.
He sent Richmond back to his original location and assigned the other summons to search the surroundings.
Then he went deeper into the cave.
The long cave was pitch black without a single point of light, and the walls were damp.
Zeke examined the dark cave interior with his dragon eyes.
That’s when it happened.
GRRRR!
A low growl was heard from inside the cave.
Since the space was narrow, Zeke drew Anexi’s dagger.
Looking with his dragon eyes, he saw magical beasts resembling troll monsters.
The beasts with glowing red eyes slowly crawled forward, not just on the ground but also on the ceiling.
GRRRR!
The ferocious beasts charged at Zeke.
WHOOSH!
Zeke lightly dodged the beasts’ attacks and swung his dagger.
SLASH!
Mere magical beasts were no match for Zeke who had advanced to Black Knight.
Zeke pulled out chains from his left hand, connected them to the dagger, and threw it at the charging beasts.
RATTLE!
The beasts wrapped in chains had their movements sealed. Zeke grabbed the chains and used a lightning skill.
CRACKLE!
As the Lightning skill climbed up the chains, the beasts twisted their bodies around.
After a moment, when Zeke released the chains, the beasts’ bodies fell down.
GRRRR!
Zeke quickly threw his dagger repeatedly at the weakened but still living beasts to kill them.
‘It’s been a while since I gained Karma Points.’
He hadn’t properly hunted monsters on the Deep Sea people’s island, so he couldn’t collect Karma Points separately.
Zeke swallowed the dead beasts with Gluttony and made a satisfied expression.
The points were quite decent since they were magical beasts.
‘To think such beasts would appear right from the cave entrance.’
It seemed more dangerous than even a typical A-rank dungeon.
‘There’s no way Medusa is really here, right?’
Zeke continued moving while feeling uneasy. Going deeper into the cave, a large cavern soon appeared.
As he stepped into that large cavern, Zeke felt a strange sensation.
‘What is this?’
The moment he entered the cavern, he felt the mana inside his body fluctuating.
Zeke suddenly felt dizzy and stumbled, falling down.
“Phew.”
Finally getting up while holding the wall, Zeke discovered numerous pointed minerals embedded in the cavern wall.
He realized a peculiar energy was flowing from these minerals.
Zeke took out Annexi’s dagger to cut off a piece of the mineral and examined it closely, but couldn’t tell what it was.
‘I wonder if I can check its information with dragon eyes.’
Zeke concentrated and examined the mineral with his dragon eyes.
―Mineral Information―
Description: Known as black ore or fairy stone.
Unique Ability: Mana absorption
Characteristics: Fairy stone has the characteristic of continuously absorbing and trying to store natural mana inside itself.
Zeke was shocked after confirming the information.
“All of this is fairy stone?”
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