Chapter 118
‘They were people sent by Duke Graham.’
Zeke thought about how he had given Duke Graham information about the ancient mage who had cursed Angelina.
However, after hearing the story, there was one problem – the ancient mage wasn’t in the dungeon he had told them about.
The timing didn’t match up with when Zeke had caught him.
Duke Graham mobilized not only his knights but also experienced adventurers familiar with dungeons to catch the ancient mage.
Rick continued speaking.
“We came to check if the evil black mage in this area might be the mage Duke Graham is looking for.”
At those words, Richmond, who was standing behind, trembled as if insulted.
He had been quietly doing research with monster bones in his dungeon when an adventurer party barged in, mistaking him for an evil mage who cast curses – it hurt his pride.
‘Master! I am certainly not such a low-class mage who casts evil curses!’
Unable to say it out loud, Richmond protested so only Zeke could hear.
‘Yes, I know, so stay quiet.’
Zeke said to Rick.
“Unfortunately, there was no such mage here. The mage Richmond searched everywhere but found no such traces.”
Rick’s party showed disappointed expressions at Zeke’s words.
“I see. We’ve searched all sorts of dungeons to find that guy, but we can’t figure out where he went.”
Zeke pondered Rick’s words carefully.
‘Hmm, they seem like quite skilled adventurers, could be useful if utilized well.’
“Rick, come to think of it, I have some information about an evil mage. I’m not sure if it’s the same one you’re looking for, but there’s a possibility.”
Zeke shared information that adventurers could use to track the ancient mage, selected from what he had gathered before catching him in his previous life.
Jason, the mage, eagerly wrote down Zeke’s words.
After hearing Zeke’s words, Jason nodded.
“Ah, so there’s a possibility they’re in the northern region rather than the barbarian territory.”
“I heard that unlike dark mages, mages mainly search for traces of forgotten ancient gods or evil spirits. To find the sinister power that remains there.”
Rick nodded at Zeke’s words.
“That makes sense. We’ll go to the place you mentioned and look for traces of the mage.”
“If you find traces of the mage, absolutely do not try to confront them,make sure to contact Duke Graham. You could end up cursed with an evil ancient curse if you’re not careful.”
Rick’s party nodded at Zeke’s firm words.
They spent one night at the campsite and descended the mountain range as soon as the sun rose.
“Thank you for your help, Sir Zeke. Next time we meet, we’ll surely repay your kindness.”
“I hope you find traces of the mage.”
After Rick’s party descended the mountain range, Zeke watched them briefly before heading up to the barbarian territory with Richmond.
While climbing the mountain, Zeke suddenly asked Richmond as if he just remembered something.
“Richmond, have you ever heard of a place called the Abyss?”
Richmond shook his head at those words.
“No, Master. What is it?”
“Nothing. Just asking in case. Then I suppose you wouldn’t know what the ‘Book of Death’ is either.”
“Ah, I know about that.”
Zeke was shocked at those words.
“What? You really know?”
Richmond was rather dumbfounded by Zeke’s reaction.
“Yes, I know about it… was I not supposed to?”
“No, there’s no reason you shouldn’t. Tell me what the Book of Death is.”
Richmond put on a proud expression when Zeke asked him something he knew about.
“Most ordinary people probably wouldn’t know about the Book of Death.”
“Skip the unnecessary parts and summarize briefly.”
“Yes. Simply put, the Book of Death refers to the book the Demon King left for humans.”
“A book written by the Demon King? Tell me more details.”
Richmond grumbled internally while looking at Zeke who told him to summarize briefly but then asked for more details.
“I can hear everything you’re grumbling about.”
“EEK! I’m sorry, Master.”
Richmond began explaining again.
“You know the legend of Hero King Kaisir, right?”
He wasn’t just familiar with it – he had actually received swordsmanship training directly from that Hero King.
Zeke nodded without showing any reaction.
Richmond quickly opened his mouth.
“Do you perhaps also know the story of Hero King Kaisir sealing away the Demon King?”
Zeke shook his head at those words.
“No, I haven’t heard that story.”
Though he had heard various stories while training with Kaisir’s spirit, he had never heard anything about the Demon King.
Richmond nodded and said.
“It’s not a well-known story. Actually, to be precise, it wasn’t Hero King Kaisir but rather his father figure, the ‘Sage’ who accomplished this feat.”
“The Sage?”
“Yes. You probably know that Kaisir was half-human half-fairy, born between the Sage and the Fairy King.”
“Yes, though he wasn’t too happy about it.”
Richmond tilted his head at Zeke’s words before continuing.
“The Fairy King created Kaisir with the Sage for the sole purpose of stopping the Demon King.”
“What? They didn’t have Kaisir out of love, but created him?”
“How could fairies, beings not of this world, share love with humans? The Fairy King created a being infused with power, borrowing the Sage’s strength. The Sage then entrusted Kaisir, who received both his and the Fairy King’s power, to the fire-breathing Wolf King to raise him as a hero.”
“In the storybook I read, he was abandoned as a baby because of an evil mage and raised by wolves.”
“What? As if the Sage would lose the Hero King so foolishly.”
It made sense when he heard it.
This was complex family history he couldn’t ask Kaisir himself about, which is probably why such content wasn’t in the chronicles Kaisir left behind.
The chronicles mostly contained how Kaisir established the Chronos Kingdom and how he met and gathered his subordinates.
The story about the Demon King that Richmond spoke of wasn’t in there.
“Anyway, when the Hero King established the Chronos Kingdom and human kingdoms were formed, the Demon King attacked this world, leading the demon race.”
“Wait, demon race? Aren’t those just imaginary beings adults use to scare children?”
Richmond looked at Zeke incredulously.
“How could the demon race be imaginary? Then how would dark mages learn dark magic?”
“They probably used corrupted souls and forbidden techniques.”
“Those are methods taught by the demon race.”
“What?”
Hearing this for the first time, Zeke looked even more incredulous than Richmond.
“Anyway, the Demon King created all methods of handling corrupted souls, including the dark magic I just mentioned, and the demons, as the Demon King’s subordinates, tempted humans and spread that dark magic throughout the world.”
“Why humans specifically?”
“Well, perhaps because humans are the easiest to tempt?”
“That makes sense.”
“If you offer your soul to demons, you can easily gain strong power, so dark mages rapidly increased in the world. And eventually, they even performed rituals to summon demons to this world.”
“They’re insane.”
“The demons who descended to this world through dark mages created evil beasts with their wicked power and brought chaos to the world. When the Hero King tried to stop this, it was already too late. Eventually, the Demon King descended to this world.”
“Why wasn’t this passed down to later generations?”
“Well… When I was in the world, this content wasn’t hidden…”
“Anyway, what happened then?”
“The Demon King was too powerful to come to this world directly. He needed a strong body that could handle his power. There was only one body in this world that could handle the Demon King.”
“What was it?”
“A dragon.”
“What?”
“Only the body of a corrupted dragon could withstand the Demon King’s power.”
Richmond continued.
“Even with a dragon’s body, it was difficult to withstand all of the Demon King’s power. Eventually, the Demon King created a book containing his power – that’s the Book of Death, actually called the ‘Book of Death’.”
“Are you saying this book really exists?”
“Since it’s a story from the Hero King’s era, there must be additions and omissions. It’s a legendary tale, but even if not everything, some parts must be true, right?”
“Hmm…”
Having received sword training directly from the legendary Hero King Kaisir, Zeke knew that not all legends were made-up stories.
Zeke asked Richmond again.
“Were there people who searched for this Book of Death?”
“While it’s an interesting legend, no one believed the book actually existed. Even if it did exist, it would be something impossible to handle. Among dark mages, it was secretly passed down as a legend along with the King in Yellow…”
“Enough, so did the Sage seal away the descended Demon King?”
“Yes. The Sage, Hero King, and Knights of the Clock Tower joined forces to seal the Demon King, and in the process, the Sage sacrificed his soul.”
“Where did they seal the Demon King?”
“Where else but in the Book of Death? It’s said both the Sage’s and Demon King’s souls are sealed together in it.”
Thanks to Richmond, Zeke unexpectedly found clues about the Book of Death.
‘Is the Abyss trying to find this book themselves and break the Demon King’s seal?’
The very mention of sealing a Demon King seemed too much like an ancient legend to be believable.
What would they do by releasing the Demon King in today’s world?
‘Unlike the Hero King, is this just a legend?’
Not all legends could be based on real events, so it was possible.
‘I’ll have to catch those Abyss guys to find out what’s going on.’
At least he had found a lead to track them down.
Zeke continued various conversations while climbing diligently toward the barbarian territory with Richmond.
Perhaps because Zeke had killed so many monsters the day before, monsters wouldn’t approach even when Richmond used magic.
Zeke licked his lips at the massive points he’d missed.
Richmond cautiously asked Zeke.
“Master, do you have some vendetta against monsters? Why are you so desperate to catch monsters……”
At that moment, something caught Zeke’s senses.
‘This energy…… demon beast?’
He left Richmond behind and flew towards where he sensed the demon beast’s energy.
SWOOSH!
Richmond’s jaw dropped as he watched Zeke running across tree branches.
“W-wait for me, Master!”
* * *
Grrrrowl!
Massive demon beasts charged toward the barbarians.
“GRAAAAAH!”
The barbarians let out even louder battle cries than the demon beasts as they charged with their giant hammers.
BANG!
The hammers struck the demon beasts’ bodies with tremendous force.
BOOM!
The demon beasts hit by the hammers were sent flying into rocks.
Unlike normal monsters that would have their brains splattered and bodies shattered, the demon beasts were different.
CRACK!
Their broken bodies and heads reattached themselves, and they once again opened their massive jaws to reveal sharp fangs.
Among the barbarians, one particularly large and well-built warrior stepped forward.
“King Fist!”
The warrior King Fist of the Rock tribe had appeared.
King Fist stood before the demon beasts with fists as large as a normal barbarian warrior’s head.
“Die!”
He unleashed a barrage of punches at the demon beasts.
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
The demon beasts collapsed, spilling black fluid, in an even worse state than when hit by hammers.
Though they were regenerating, it was slower than before.
King Fist spoke to the other barbarian warriors.
“Demon beast many, Retreat.”
The other warriors exclaimed excitedly.
“Scared?”
King Fist glared at the other barbarian warrior and gritted his teeth.
“Wanna die?”
While the barbarians were arguing, the demon beasts recovered and stood up again.
King Fist and the barbarians once again let out battle cries toward the demon beasts.
It was a roar that would make even ogres flee, but it had no effect on the demon beasts.
King Fist thought this might be their final battle.
King Fist and the barbarians charged at the demon beasts, prepared to die.
RAAAAAWR!
As the demon beasts and barbarians were locked in combat.
Suddenly, a powerful light poured down from the sky behind them.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Zeke’s Light Mace had directly hit the demon beasts.
RAAAAAWR!
When their demonic energy dispersed from the Light Mace, the demon beasts retreated in confusion.
WHOOSH!
Zeke swung his Aura Blade toward the demon beasts.
SCREECH!
The barbarians watched Zeke, who suddenly appeared and was devastating the demon beasts, with bewildered looks.
Then King Fist, who was assessing the situation, raised his fist and shouted.
“Zeke!”
Zeke turned around and recognized King Fist with his raised fist.
“King Fist?”
King Fist spread his arms wide and ran toward Zeke with a delighted expression.
After beheading a demon beast, Zeke spoke to the approaching King Fist.
“Forgot? I’m your big brother.”
“Ah.”
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