35. The beginning is the end ⑴
Neuekan South Gate Fortress was half collapsed and stood crooked.
The bridge that followed also collapsed.
There, Sadimus returned the corpse of the Scented Demon Dragon to the ground. There was no suitable way to cross the canyon.
Fortunately, there was Lakhe, so building a temporary bridge was not difficult.
Lakhe summoned vines and
connected the bridge.
Noiekan had traces of life intact.
As if time had stopped, the city where only humans had evaporated was covered in thick greenery.
It was surprisingly quiet. The only things there were insects wandering through the bushes.
Zeke stopped for a moment in front of the broken south gate.
“Mr. Lake, are these plants also monsters of mugwort?”
“…that’s right. “ Rafflesia
is a rotten monster flower.”
“It smelled like something.”
Nezar sniffed and stuck his head inside the gate.
In the distance, I could see a huge flower blooming on the dome-shaped roof above the main hall of Seonghwangcheong.
“Mr. Lake knows the fight against plants well, so please lead the way.”
Lakhe nodded.
“We hate having our roots taken away the most. Next is losing sunlight. Plants that move like animals have amazing metabolism. “If the supply of nutrients is cut off even for a moment, the leaves break off and the stems dry up
.”
“You mean to cut off the roots?”
“But only you know where your true roots are. A colony so widely distributed would no longer have a single root. “If you don’t cut off an unknown number of roots at once, they will quickly regenerate and form another colony.”
Sadimus narrowed his eyes and said.
“It means that a quick resolution is impossible.”
“Then let’s do the opposite. “Please make all the land in Mr. Lake’s castle belong to Mr. Lake
.”
Lakhe nodded.
At that time, Sadimus spoke to Zeke.
“It’s a bit of a cautionary tale… Don’t be offended, but listen.”
“Please speak comfortably.”
Sadimus nodded and opened his mouth again.
“You know that I am the Lich King, right?”
” yes.”
“The Lich King refers to a high-ranking lich who can summon lichs. Basically,
it’s the same as waking up the dead and using them as servants, but lichs are special.”
“Is that because he is a spirit who can use magic?”
“that’s right. And to make a lich… you need the body of a high-ranking wizard.”
At this point, Zeke realized what Sadimus was trying to say.
This is a saint.
It was the most spiritual city in the world, where Seonghwangcheong was located.
Of course, it has been completely destroyed now and Seonghuangcheng
has long since given up on the city and left.
“Zeek, if you’re against it, I won’t do it. Because you are the leader of this group. But if you allow me… I will dig up the tomb of the Holy Hwangcheong Parish Church.”
Tomb in the parish.
The place where past popes and cardinals rest was like a treasure trove filled with lychee ingredients.
Of course, the Joseon continent also had a culture of respect for the dead. Wouldn’t it be great
if it were the body of a former great emperor
?
Nezar suddenly intervened.
“That would be fun. Let’s do it right now. Success in history? Fuck you. “Aren’t those bastards the reason you were chased out here?”
“Do not insult Lion Nezar.”
“Master, do you still have any regrets about Seonghwangcheong? “When they don’t have the ability, they are ignored because they are class F, but when they have the ability, they try to drive them out somehow.”
“I did something wrong, so I got kicked out.”
“If you have a lump on your back, you should first think about getting it treated. You said it was an exorcism ritual
. “If you pour out divine power without any consideration, who will survive it?”
“That’s…
For some reason, Sadimus nodded at Nezar’s words.
“I can’t say it’s all in Seonghwangcheong, but there must have been some forces jealous of you. Just as Nezar said. If you respected the warrior and the saint, you would have asked much more politely before pushing them away like that. “We will investigate and treat the sword-shaped horns that have formed on his back.”
“So, that’s right. It’s the first time in a while that I’m on speaking terms with Corpse. The old saying goes, “Kyoto Sajugu Top.” After catching a cunning rabbit, the hounds boil it and eat it. “Now that we’ve hunted down the demon lord, there’s no need for a hero anymore.”
“What about in 20 years?”
Nezar shrugged his shoulders in response to Sadimus’ question.
“From what I heard, there is a separate next generation of heroes called Generation Zero?”
“That’s right.”
“Then it’s okay to have a master or not, right? I don’t know what’s going on in the world right now,
so excuse me, but will it still be like that in 20 years? “Whether you like it or not, the power gathered by the master will grow beyond the capacity of Seonghwangcheong.”
“It hurts my heart that I can’t say no.”
Zeke let out a long sigh.
It would be better if you were naive. Zeke started his career at a young age and has seen a lot of the ugly side of humanity.
Mentally, I was more inclined to agree with the conversation between Sadimus and Nezar.
Zeke said while looking at Sadimus.
“Mr. Sadimus said it before. For now
, let’s just think about survival. “I think that would be closer to the correct answer.”
I glanced at Signy.
The pain seemed to have decreased a lot, but the sword on my back was extremely cumbersome.
If it were to protect that child… I would gladly risk the world’s notoriety.
“Let’s be polite and touch the grave.”
Sadimus smiled bitterly at Zeke’s words.
Digging up the grave in the first place is the height of rudeness.
Judging from the mention of courtesy, he was a warrior to his core.
“Let’s pray to God and resurrect the body in the grave.”
Zeke nodded.
“Then Mr. Lakhe, I, and Signi will put down roots here. Mr. Sadimus and Nezhar, please go to the Holy Emperor’s tomb and make a lich.”
As Sadimus said, there were enough ingredients for lich here.
It’s been so long that even the bones
have rotted into mud and disappeared, but in the first place, necromancy was possible as long as the messenger was the medium.
This means that it is possible to create a lychee with just a piece of clothing and ashes.
All of them were high-ranking magicians, such as the Pope and cardinals.
In ten days, he created a lich who could follow Sadimus’ powerful magical power.
In the meantime, Lakhe expanded his territory considerably.
The fallen vines of deep green latkes
covered the remains of the water.
At the border of the land ruled by the Rafflesia family, a fierce war was going on between plants that cut off each other’s roots and cast shade on their leaves.
To avoid an all-out war, humans, including Zeke, did not participate in Lakhe’s war.
However, he helped her from behind the scenes by hunting animals for her, making food for her, and healing her weakened roots with divine magic.
One day, Zeke
climbed the southern castle tower with Signy.
The broken bridge and canyon came into view at a glance.
“As expected… it looks like he came.”
Zeke looked across the canyon, shading his hand over the snow.
There were signs of battle.
It seemed like it was probably a war scar from the battle between Zeke’s pursuers and the mugwort monster.
“Fortunately, it looks like not many people died.”
“The fact that you came here means that you are a person of considerable ability.”
Zeke turned his head and looked at Signy.
He looked haggard.
I couldn’t sleep lying down because of the sword on my back. Even so, I had trouble sleeping because of the pain that came out of nowhere.
There was no way it wouldn’t be painful. But he didn’t show any signs of pain.
“I will make sure you get better.”
“Brother, my heart is the same as the first time. Go back and become a warrior. “Oh, Bunny, you deserve everyone’s respect.”
“That goes for you too. “She is a saint who defeated the devil
.”
“I…
“Let’s not think too hard about it. “Right now, I’m just thinking about the present.”
At that time, a loud commotion was heard from a place hidden from view by the cliff on the other side of the bridge.
It was the sound of a large number of people clashing their flags.
This was the first large force I encountered since I came here.
A sharp cry was heard from the sky.
Bald eagles with red feathers
were seen.
“It’s Locke.”
They were huge birds with a wingspan of up to 15 meters.
It soared hundreds of meters with a single flap of its wings.
The strength of its large wings was enough to carry off even an ox in one fell swoop.
Locke’s sudden dive caused the soldiers to fall off the cliff.
The soldiers who were pushed back fell into despair when they discovered the broken bridge.
It was painful for Zeke to see that
.
The enemy was tracking them, but they couldn’t leave them alone.
“I’m resting next to Mr. Signy Rake.”
“be careful.”
“ O ” O
Zeke asked Lakhe to build a temporary bridge.
As soon as the bridge was built, I grabbed my shield and sword tightly and ran straight across the canyon.
About halfway through, Zeke
threw his sword into the sky.
As light splits the clouds, the sword flew straight and cut off the head of a monster bird.
The bird fell helplessly, fluttering countless feathers. Zeke jumped up, kicking the pylon of the bridge, and snatched the thrown sword out of the air.
A roc found Zeke and dived down.
I tried to grab his head with his strong claws, but Zeke was one step faster.
A cross of light tore through the sky, breaking Locke’s body into four pieces.
Zeke got off the bridge tower and ran into the crowd of people.
There, I found a flag lying on the ground. It was a completely unexpected sentence.
“Helios Legion?”
“Zeek!”
Terjan von Helios He happily shouted Zeke’s name.
“How did you get here… No, we’ll talk about it later. Let’s defeat Roc now!”
Zeke pulled out his sword toward the sky
.
Just by his participation in the war, the morale of the Helios Legion soared to the sky.
They already knew of Zeke’s power. There was no reason to be afraid of people like Locke anymore.
Warriors, knights, and even slave spearmen banded together to deal with Locke.
Since Zeke took the lead in eliminating difficult enemies, half an hour was enough to clear out six or seven Rocs.
Teriyan held out his hand and Zeke
held his hand.
“What’s going on here? “Have you come to catch me?”
Teriyan shook his head in response to Zeke’s question.
“Have you already forgotten?”
“What do you mean?”
“Didn’t Helios declare that the Legion would be Lord Zeke’s right wing?”
“But isn’t that a promise for 20 years?”
“Now that Lord Zeke is leaving the Holy Emperor and moving independently, if our Helios
Corps does not follow Lord Zeke, it will be meaningless to promise a later date. “Lord Zeke, the Helios Legion will be transferred to Lord Zeke immediately.”
Fallen warrior Zeke van Holybitch.
Rumors about him were already spreading all over the world.
It was such a surprising news that it was a hit, but on the other hand, Cardinal Le Sulet’s group actively spread the rumor.
“Lord Zeke’s reputation has suffered greatly. There is a story going around that after winning the
Horsetail Woods Crusader, he declared himself the last warrior and despised even the Holy Emperor. Of course, I didn’t believe it, so I brought my troops and came here.”
