Chapter 38
A completely unexpected statement came from Kali’s mouth.
“Sister, what do you mean by stopping Abel Draker?”
Kali looked around and said to Zeke.
“Follow me.”
Kali guided Zeke to her personal carriage.
It was a carriage assigned to the Four Seasons Castle guardian knights, equipped with various amenities inside.
After changing from her silver armor into casual clothes, she brewed tea and handed it to Zeke.
“I heard you like tea. This is imported from the Eastern Continent. I hope it suits your taste.”
Zeke wondered how far the knowledge of his tea preference had spread within the family.
Kali slowly began speaking while looking at Zeke.
“Abel’s knights are currently under contract with the Empire, carrying out the Emperor’s missions.”
“You mean Rom’s Emperor missions?”
“Yes. In fact, the Rom Empire is one of Draker’s major clients. From that perspective, Abel’s actions aren’t wrong.”
Kali put down her teacup and continued.
“The problem is that Abel is increasingly crossing the line. He’s actively intervening in the conflict with Allencia, which borders the Rom Empire.”
“Direct intervention in conflicts? Doesn’t that violate the family’s first principle of ‘Neutrality Pledge’?”
“Yes. Draker must exist only as a family, not a nation, and principle dictates non-intervention in conflicts between nations. Abel and Jiemens have far exceeded this principle.”
“It’s hard to believe. Are you saying the Four Seasons Castle and the family head are just watching this happen?”
Kali spoke with a solemn expression.
“Zeke, what I’m about to tell you is family confidential. You must never speak of this elsewhere.”
“Of course, Sister.”
“Currently, the Four Seasons Castle is in a state of division.”
In his previous life, Zeke had never visited the Four Seasons Castle, so he knew nothing of its internal affairs.
He only knew the overall flow he had seen in the future.
Kali continued slowly.
“Imperial supporters have emerged in the Council of Elders.”
Zeke immediately understood what Kali meant.
“Did the Empire draw in the elders?”
“The exact path is unknown, but given the situation, that seems to be the case.”
“I don’t understand. Even for an empire, they shouldn’t have anything that could tempt the Draker family’s elders.”
“I’m still investigating what methods the Emperor used.”
“So there are people among the Council of Elders and guardian knights who have turned to the Empire’s side. Though only Abel and Jiemens are openly revealed, we can’t act rashly since we don’t know how many more there are or who else might be Imperial supporters.”
Kali was surprised at how quickly Zeke grasped the complex situation at the Four Seasons Castle.
‘He’s not just exceptional in martial techniques.’
Kali nodded and said.
“Exactly. That’s why we’re gathering reliable people within the Four Seasons Castle who can stop Abel and Jiemens.”
“You mean you’re consolidating power?”
“Yes. I’m trying to gather the strength of the regular knights, who are the foundation of the Four Seasons Castle, rather than the Council of Elders or main family branches.”
The Four Seasons Castle, Draker’s core, can be considered the central point managing thousands of knights carrying out missions across the continent.
While Abel moved the Council of Elders at the center, Kali moved in a completely different direction.
No matter how strong the family head and Council of Elders were, maintaining the family without regular knights was impossible.
She looked at Zeke and said.
“When you graduate from Valhalla and become an official knight of the Four Seasons Castle, you’ll have great influence and legitimacy as a pureblood awakener. That’s how significant pureblood awakeners are in the Draker family.”
Since Kali Draker’s maternal family and supporting house, House Prana, was not as powerful as influential houses like Jiemens or Tourn, they were at a significant disadvantage in the current power struggle.
However, if Zeke, a pure-blooded awakener and direct descendant, supports Kali even without a supporting house, the scales in this power game with Abel could subtly tip in her favor.
The Four Seasons Castle is also made up of people.
If public opinion swings toward Kali, it was clear that even Abel, who controlled the Elder Council, would find it difficult to act freely.
After hearing Kali’s words, Zeke contemplated how to use the more chaotic than expected situation at the Four Seasons Castle to his advantage.
‘Seven years later, the balance of the three transcendent houses breaks, and the continent becomes embroiled in war. And Abel Draker stands at the center of it.’
Zeke looked at his elder sister Kali Draker standing before him.
In his previous life, this noble Silver Knight dies in 5 years.
She met a heroic death while facing a newly emerged Pirate King in the South Sea, which had brought her fame.
The death of Kali Draker, who maintained balance in the Four Seasons Castle, delivered a huge shock to the entire Draker family.
She was implicitly considered the heir to the family head, and when Kali Draker died, Abel Draker took that position.
Afterwards, he joins hands with the Elder Council, abolishd the Draker family’s neutrality pledge, and officially enters the continental war backed by the Empire.
Family head Arthur Draker turns a blind eye to Abel Draker’s actions before passing away from illness shortly after.
Eventually, heir Abel Draker succeeds as family head, and Draker leads the invasion of the Central Kingdom and Northern Continent.
They abandoned their role of mediating the balance of the Central Continent and degraded into a vanguard for continental invasion.
At this time, Zeke had settled in the Northern Continent for various reasons and was suddenly caught up in the continental war.
Having experienced this chaotic future firsthand, Zeke knew that Kali’s words were not just mere concerns.
As someone who directly witnessed the continent’s chaotic future situation, Zeke judged it better to help Kali abolished Abel, the Knight of Massacre, rather than take advantage of the situation immediately.
“Though I may be lacking, I will help you in any way I can.”
Kali’s eyes wavered at those words.
She hadn’t expected Zeke to make a decision so quickly.
Looking at Zeke, she said,
“I made this proposal believing that the future you will become a knight more excellent than anyone else. If you support me, this Silver Knight will always stand behind you.”
Zeke thought she was unusually pure for a Draker.
While valuing discipline more than anyone else like a true Draker, her inner heart was extremely delicate.
Zeke rose from his seat.
“I completely agree with your idea of rallying the regular knights, sister. I too will become an official knight of the Four Seasons Castle and help you.”
At those words, Kali also stood up and nodded.
“Thank you, Zeke. If you need anything, just say so. And remember. Though Drakers may seem hard to spot, they are actually everywhere. Keep in mind that Abel’s and the Empire’s eyes are always on you.”
“Yes, sister.”
Zeke greeted Kali and left the carriage.
Walking alone through Valhalla’s courtyard, Zeke pondered what benefits his alliance with Kali Draker would bring him.
‘At least it’s a million times better than letting a madman like Abel take charge of the family. The continental situation too.’
Zeke’s ultimate goal was to become the continent’s strongest and swallow the entire Draker family.
However, he didn’t want a Draker family that had lost its power through internal division and became a puppet of the Empire in tatters.
As he had organized his thoughts in the carriage, he decided to help Kali Draker stop Abel Draker and the Rom Empire’s conspiracy.
“For that, I need power indeed.”
Zeke turned on the mini-map and looked at Valhalla’s map.
The mini-map showed the location of ancestor Terakan Draker’s secure archive.
That place was none other than Valhalla’s library.
Zeke entered the library after showing his student ID.
While simply entering Valhalla didn’t require enrollment, the secure archive left by Terakan Draker was located in Valhalla’s library – specifically in the Valhalla-exclusive library that not just anyone could enter.
The exclusive library for Valhalla students was a secure area absolutely forbidden to outsiders.
This was no exception even for Zeke, a pureblood awakened one of Draker.
Zeke had to show his student ID again at the exclusive library entrance and undergo iris recognition before being allowed inside.
“Hmm.”
While the Academy’s library was large, it was nothing compared to the size of Valhalla’s library.
Located in Atlas, the greatest city of the Central Continent, Valhalla attracts people from all over the world.
Accordingly, precious resources would flow into this place.
Valhalla’s library was where all kinds of books were gathered, from precious texts from the Eastern Continent to rhythm collections from the Southern Continent and mythology storybooks from the Northern Continent.
Zeke headed toward Terakan Draker’s secure archive while looking at the minimap. He soon arrived at the marked location.
“This place?”
The destination wasn’t an archive with books but a warehouse storing unused items.
Zeke examined the dust-covered warehouse.
There was no trace of the archive left by Terakan Draker anywhere.
‘Perhaps there’s a separate entrance like at the Academy.’
He tried to find an entrance using his Dragon Eye skill, but nothing was detected in the surroundings.
Zeke broadened his search range and looked around the warehouse, but still couldn’t discover anything.
That’s when Zeke stood in the exact center of the warehouse.
[Data update point detected.]
[Accessed Terakan Draker’s secure archive.]
[Would you like to update this data?]
Zeke chose to update the data.
[Updating data.]
Soon a message appeared saying the data update was complete.
Zeke immediately opened the secure archive.
-Terakan Draker’s Secure Archive-
- Organization Operation Manual
- Dragon Slaying Technique Manual Ver. 5.21 (Final)
- Reference Materials
- Collection of Helpful Growth Maxims
‘What is this? ”
Though called a secure archive, it was closer to a collection of Terakan Draker’s personal records.
Although different from what he expected, since Zeke had made the effort to find it, he decided to check it out. What first caught Zeke’s eye was the Dragon Slaying Technique-related item.
Zeke clicked on the Dragon Slaying Technique manual.
0920_Dragon Slaying Technique Manual_Final
1012_Dragon Slaying Technique Manual_Really Final
1112_Dragon Slaying Technique Manual_Really Really Final
Dozens of manual documents marked as ‘final’ were listed.
After looking through the manuals, Zeke eventually opened the very last recorded one.
He expected hidden secret techniques to be written about, but surprisingly it was an organization of basic Dragon Slaying Technique forms.
Zeke was shocked to learn that the basic Dragon Slaying Technique textbook still passed down today was directly created by the founder Terakan Draker.
It was made as a detailed textbook about how to train in basic Dragon Slaying Techniques and which parts should be emphasized.
While examining several versions of the manual, Zeke discovered words left by Terakan Draker at the end of the manual.
[I note that this Dragon Slaying Technique manual is a revision of some forms from the Dragon-Slaying Sword Technique.]
“Dragon-Slaying Sword Technique? Is there such a sword technique?”
Zeke read more of Terakan Draker’s words.
[While the Dragon-Slaying Sword Technique is certainly an excellent sword technique and Aura training Technique, it has the drawback that it’s difficult for all knights to learn due to being complicated to master and having many parts that are hard to understand.
Sethon Draker, the founder of the Dragon-Slaying Sword Technique and the first creator of the Aura training Technique, was the only human to reach the Grand Master level.
I believed there was definitely a need to create a new sword technique that anyone could learn by inheriting Sethon Draker’s Dragon-Slaying Sword Technique, who received the title of Sword Saint, so I am trying to somehow complete this task I’ve been putting off.]
Zeke was shocked by the words Terakan Draker left.
“Sethon Draker? A secret technique left by the Knight of Nobility?”
The successor to the Hero King and the knight who first created Aura.
Zeke closed the manual and thoroughly searched through the secure archive list. And he was able to find the Dragon-Slaying Sword Technique saved in one part of the reference materials list.
Zeke turned on the Dragon-Slaying Sword Technique secret manual and read the first sentence.
[The Dragon-Slaying Sword Technique is the only way humans can kill dragons.]
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