23. Facing the Ruins (4)
“Anyway, now is not the time to talk about such things. Not only here but the whole world is full of monsters. “Not long ago, I was in Neuekan, where the Seonghwangcheong Palace is located, and it was a mess with many monsters running around there too.”
“When did you get there? Anyway, let’s hurry to the summer house. Because Dad and Uncle Mondogne are taking action. “Everyone will feel confident
that Zeke has become this strong .”
“yes.”
Zeke nodded, but another thought occurred to him.
Not long ago, I defeated an underground monster and was given a white-eyed look.
Mr. Cadenza described it as jealousy of the powerful.
Lexia didn’t seem to know what an aura was.
That’s why it was said to be G-class, but judging from the reactions of the knights of Deus and Yulgeum Neuekan, there was a high possibility that it was stronger than that.
I have become stronger…
Now that I have even acquired the aura that is said to be used by Generation Zero heroes…
Will they acknowledge me?
As I turned a curved path into the forest, I stopped my horse.
Lexia’s expression also hardened.
she shouted, raising her fist.
“Stop!”
The adventurers hired by the Holyoke family, Deus’ carriage, and
even the residents of the northern village of Zoryx who were struggling to walk behind them.
Everyone stopped and looked up wondering what was going on.
Jorick’s summer villa, a manor standing with the lake in the background, lost its beauty everywhere.
The crescent-shaped lake surrounding the castle had dried up like a swamp, with not a drop of water left.
The castle itself was more than half destroyed and was practically a ruin.
What destroyed the castle was a strange sand tower. A tower with many holes
rose sharply to a height of
about 30 meters .
When I looked closely, I saw a dark red creature moving in and out of the hole.
“Red ants…
Zeke muttered lowly and shuddered.
This is because it reminded me of the Giant Ant I fought not long ago.
“Lexia, please wait here for a moment.”
Zeke turned his horse’s head and approached Scatul.
“Mr. Scatul!”
“that’s right. It is a type of giant ant
. “It looks like we were attacked.”
“Are people going to be okay?”
“I feel like I’m still fighting. “The square south of the forest is filled with the smell of death.”
In the direction Scatul beckoned, there was a path that was difficult for a carriage to pass.
“Then I should go and see.”
Deus opened the carriage window.
“Come with me. “It seems like the scale itself is different from the last ants.”
Skatul said.
“The last queen didn’t seem to have been on her wedding flight that long
… but this time, it seems like the clan established the kingdom a long time ago. Moreover, they are a family of even more ferocious giant red ants.”
Zeke nodded with a nervous expression.
“yes. “Then I will inform my senior.”
“Leave it there. “As time goes by, the ant food only increases.”
“Still…
Zeke trailed off and returned to Lexia.
“It looks like there is a fight going on in the forest south of the villa
. “I will go there.”
“We’ll go together too.”
“Deus says that the enemy is not easy. It is better to protect the residents here…
“How can I be here when the Holyoke family is there?”
Zeke couldn’t stop her any longer.
“Then let’s go together.” Lexia
ordered
the Holyoke family’s guests to slowly follow along with the residents .
Meanwhile, Skatul and Sadimus separated the horses from the carriage and prepared for Deus and Yulgeum to ride.
The whole group rode along the trail.
Skatul and Sadimus Raque, who were silent, suddenly became distant from the other four people.
But right after that, he used flight magic. We arrived at the southern square at almost the same time.
The southern square was filled with chaos. While
hundreds of giant ants
were hunting humans, the castle’s knights and warriors formed a phalanx to block them.
The number of dead bodies lying around was impossible to count.
I couldn’t bear to open my eyes and see myself being dragged away as food by ants with my eyes closed.
Zeke’s eyes widened.
Lexia, who was riding alongside her, almost flinched.
Zeke turned the shield on his back forward and pulled the sword from the horse’s back.
Then
he ran straight towards the enemy.
Lexia shouted in surprise.
“Zeke! “It’s reckless!”
But he had already jumped off the horse.
“God gave me the feeling of anger for this moment! You will have to pay for my feelings!”
As he shouted, a brilliant light rose from his body.
The Holy Cross rose up in the midst of the enemy, and dozens of ants were instantly annihilated.
The corpse gushed out terrible bodily fluids.
The ants were shaken by Zeke’s intrusion.
There was no law saying that animals were foolish.
In particular, although the intelligence of ants as an individual was low, their judgment ability as a group was greater than that of a fairly clever animal.
As soon as they realized that Zeke was strong, some of the ants retreated and widened the distance.
The ant flashed its red eyes and shot formic acid from a distance.
But Zeke had an aura.
The hemispherical protective barrier created by the shield did not allow even a single drop of formic acid.
Zeke turned the tip of his sword in the direction where the allies were concentrated.
With every step, the Holy Cross radiated brilliant light.
The ants retreated again due to Zeke’s power.
Taking advantage of that gap, Zoryx’s warriors and soldiers began to advance.
Among them
were two particularly outstanding people.
Cadenza van Holypeach and Oridon van Hollywig were the two Zodiac Knights.
If it weren’t for those two, Joryx Castle would have been destroyed a long time ago.
What was left here would not have been those fighting, but rather a few bone fragments that had been eaten by ants.
The strongest warriors in the human world, who were also the benefactors of Joryx Castle, were feeling thrilled when they saw Zeke.
That’s Aura.
It’s definitely an aura. I’ve never seen it in person
, but that’s all I could think about.
Zeke has awakened the ultimate power that can only be used by heroes of Generation Zero.
Cadenza swung his holy sword, Juven Eshamari, and approached Zeke at high speed.
Oridon also had the same feelings as Cadenza.
Bastard Sword – Holy Sword Antares The crimson storm instantly crushed the ants.
The ants between Zeke and the two paladins decreased rapidly.
The ants had no choice but to retreat once again.
At that moment, an explosion sounded from a distant part of the forest.
“It looks like it was successful.”
Oridon said, placing the Bastard Sword on his shoulder for a moment.
A loud sound that shook the forest echoed from afar.
Only after Zeke got quite close did he realize that it was the sound of water.
The dried up lake began to fill with water again. It seemed that
a water blockage somewhere upstream
had been cleared through magic.
The ants were embarrassed when the water rose.
Eventually, they began to retreat to a place where the water was still shallow.
In the midst of all this, ants were seen refusing to let go of human corpses.
Zeke got angry and attacked the ants, destroying them.
It seemed like human life was being made a mockery and it was hard to bear.
The battle has come to an end.
The lake filled with water and began to overflow through the channel on the other side.
Originally, there was a sturdy wooden bridge between the open space to the south of this place and the summer house, but it was completely destroyed during the two-day battle.
Zeke looked around.
The first people to see were the residents of Zoryk Castle, helplessly hiding behind the dense forest in the distance as a barrier.
Soldiers and knights were seen covered in blood, exhausted from the battle.
And I could feel the miserable disappointment of the warriors who fought most valiantly but were unable to protect anything.
Cadenza took a step closer to Zeke.
“Zeke, no… Mr. Zeke. I beg you again. There is no one to take charge of the empty Leo except you. “Please become our captain and sort out this chaotic world.”
Zeke almost answered yes to Cadenza’s words.
“ I said,
“Don’t take people away. “You’ve invested so far and it’s finally worth it, so are you planning on cutting in?”
Deus spoke on behalf of Zeke
.
Cadenza and Oridon looked at Deus.
Deus ignored them and looked around.
“I messed up. Zodiac Night is nothing special. “I can’t believe this happens to a few ants.”
Oridon took a step forward.
“Would you like to check and see if it’s not a big deal?”
“I don’t think it would work with Zeke, but you’re going to attack this body?”
Deus snorted.
Cadenza said, stopping Oridon.
“If I were to make an excuse, it’s not that I don’t have anything to say, but it’s okay to be laughed at. “Do you even know about Zeke’s powers?”
“Oh, you mean? “They say it’s the power of Generation Zero?”
“As expected, I know. Even in Generation Zero, only the Last Man and the Zodiac Knights can use aura at most. “Zeek gained that power.”
“It probably means that the investment I made paid off.”
Cadenza felt contempt for Deus as he used slang among merchants.
How did such a lowly merchant get involved in the warrior’s noble war?
A businessman from an insignificant family whose name I had never even heard of suddenly became rich and monopolized Zeke.
“Mr. Zeke is an asset to humanity.”
“No, it’s my property.”
“The hero is under the management of the Holy Emperor…
“Management? Do you want to talk about a monopoly just because you gave half a silver coin a month as a pension? “ At least
to someone who had been working part-time jobs before he even entered elementary school to pay off his father’s debt?”
“That’s…”
“Aren’t the warriors descendants of people who have been a blessing to mankind? Every 100 years, everyone with the Holly surname is taken to the battlefield. How many of them will survive? What percentage is the zero generation survival rate? “Didn’t almost everyone die?”
“Then what? Are you saying that the family, which naturally dies for humanity,
lives such a miserable life and is managing it simply because they lack the talent for making money or because their genes are a bit poorly assigned? “Are we supposed to pay a week’s worth of living expenses for an average family once a month?”
“The amount of the pension is not our business…
“Don’t talk nonsense. I’m talking about respect, not money. If you are truly grateful, don’t divide by grade and be polite to everyone. What about F grade? If you perform a minor feat in a small battlefield, doesn’t that mean you’re not a hero?
What happens to his mind? “Is the willingness to die for humanity cheap because it’s part-time?”
Deus put his hand on Zeke’s shoulder.
“I would have liked it better if he was just B-level. Because I have no intention of getting involved in a big fight or anything like that. But I will never hand it over to you as a gimmick that has come to this. Come? Good big power. With great power comes great responsibility, right? And with great responsibility comes a great price. “If you want to take Zeke away, at least give up your position as emperor of the world.”
“Lord Deus, I think that’s a bit too much.”
“shut up. Leave the business to the merchant. “If your family had any talent for business in the first place, would you have lived in such dire straits?”
“That’s true, though.”
