Chapter 268

CRACKLE!

Bucephalus's lightning, imbued with the power of purification, struck Qiongqi's body.

KEEEEEEK!

Black smoke rose from Qiongqi's body where the lightning had hit.

Seeing this, Zeke realized that the lightning of a Spirit Beast like Bucephalus was different from magically created lightning.

‘The power of a Spirit Beast can be linked with the power of purification.’

It was a technique he had discovered by chance, but the effect was tremendous.

The Qiongqi, having barely regained its senses, spread its wings and circled in the air, evading Zeke.

“Bucephalus! Let's chase it!”

Although he had the Soul Sealing technique active, fighting here could cause great harm to those in the camp.

Zeke hesitated for a moment, then decided to let the creature go for now, chasing after the Qiongqi on Bucephalus.

Having used Gluttony on all the dead monsters, his mana was more than sufficient.

The Qiongqi fled at high speed, but the speed of Bucephalus, the Dragon Demon King, was no less impressive.

As if realizing it couldn't escape this way, the Qiongqi suddenly whipped around, flapped its wings at Zeke, and created a whirlwind.

RUSH!

A massive whirlwind of sharp feathers swept over and engulfed Zeke and Bucephalus.

HIIIIIGH!

Bucephalus soared into the air as if to outrun the whirlwind.

At the same time, Zeke raised Bahamut and unleashed Elemental Sword, Field of Wind Power.

KRRRRRRRUMBLE—

He had opened the Field of Wind Power, but a sound like thunder erupted from his sword.

‘What? Was the Field of Wind Power always like this?’

As he wondered, a storm accompanied by thunder began to brew from his sword.

‘Ugh, I can't control the power...!’

One of the techniques Kaisir often used was the Storm Sword.

During his training, Zeke had been hit by this Storm Sword and had fainted hundreds of times.

He had thought it was a sword strike as strong as a storm, but he never imagined it was a sword that could literally summon one.

KRA-RRRRRRRUMBLE!

The storm Zeke had created swallowed Qiongqi's whirlwind whole.

KAAAAAAK!

As if that wasn't enough, the storm swept up the fleeing Qiongqi.

KRA-KA-BOOM!

Thunderbolts rained down mercilessly on the Qiongqi as it tried desperately to escape the raging storm.

KEEEEEEEK—

Amidst the relentless storm and thunder, the Qiongqi struggled with all its might to break free.

Zeke felt his mana being rapidly consumed, like a receding tide, as the storm raged on.

“Haaaat!”

The attack was incredibly powerful, but he couldn't afford to use up all his strength like this. He quickly gripped his sword and controlled the power.

The storm finally subsided, and the sky returned to normal.

‘Whew, a power that even I, a Black Knight, can't control. Just how strong was Master Kaisir?’

He was struck anew by how much Kaisir must have been holding back during their training.

RUMBLE...

The storm had ended, but the Qiongqi, caught in the Storm Sword, had lost its strength and was plummeting into the forest below.

Zeke guided Bucephalus toward the spot where the Qiongqi had fallen.

WHOOSH!

Leaping from Bucephalus's back, Zeke searched for any sign of the fallen Qiongqi.

However, he only saw uprooted and broken trees; the Qiongqi itself was nowhere to be found.

‘Quick bastard. Did it run away again?’

Zeke activated his Dragon eyes to find the tracks of the escaped Qiongqi.

‘Got it. It went that way.’

He quickly followed the tracks, running deeper into the forest.

Following the tracks into the forest led him to a cleverly hidden cave.

‘Is this the Qiongqi's lair?’

The beast was so cunning, there was no telling what kind of traps it might have set.

Zeke summoned a Dragon Tooth Soldiers and had it scout the inside of the cave first.

The cave, as seen through the Dragon Tooth Soldiers, did not have many branching paths, but it was considerably deep.

Still, there didn't seem to be any other traps within the cave itself.

Zeke deactivated the mana-consuming Hercyon and entered the cave.

‘The stench is awful.’

Places imbued with demonic energy always had this kind of foul odor.

Zeke took out the Sacred Brazier to defend against the demonic energy and searched for traces of the Qiongqi.

The cave was littered with the remains of petrified monsters.

It seemed this was where it had devoured the souls of monsters to increase its power.

‘It's a beast that gets stronger the more souls it eats. When it met my master in my past life, it must have come to the Central Continent, eaten more souls, and built up its strength.’

The Qiongqi that had fought his master was certainly much stronger than the one now.

If he let the Qiongqi escape here and it made its way to the Central Continent, catching it later would likely be much more difficult.

‘I have to catch it here, no matter what.’

It was then.

He felt a suspicious presence up ahead.

Zeke raised Bahamut, concealed his own presence, and peered forward.

Uuuuuuh—

A groan-like shriek flowed from up ahead.

As he drew a little closer, black shadows rushed toward Zeke.

KAAAAAAK—

Zeke charged forward toward the shadows.

To his surprise, the shadows were not monsters, but humans.

Humans in old, worn armor and holding weapons were the true identity of the shadows.

Zeke swung Bahamut to parry the humans' swords and launched a Mace of Light with the Sacred Brazier.

KRA-KA-BOOM!

The humans struck by the Mace of Light shrieked and collapsed.

Gurgle! Gurgle!

A black fluid surged up and poured from the humans' mouths.

After confirming they were all down, Zeke approached and saw that they were nothing more than empty shells, barely even describable as human.

‘Did it capture humans and infuse them with demonic energy to control them at will?’

He couldn't tell if it was a unique ability of the Qiongqi or an ability of all Abnormal Species, but the concept of using demonic energy to enhance abilities was similar to the Demonoids created by the Empire.

At that moment, a thought struck Zeke.

‘Could the Empire's experiments with demonic energy be related to the Four Perils, like Qiongqi?’

Of the Four Perils Zeke had seen with his master in his past life, there had been two, including Qiongqi.

One of them had a special ability that prevented even his master from approaching it easily, so they were waiting for an opportunity. The other had hidden somewhere and they had been continuously searching for it.

He thought that perhaps the one undiscovered member of the Four Perils could be connected to the Empire's demonic energy experiments.

‘I'll have to investigate this.’

If Zeke's hypothesis was correct, then eliminating the member of the Four Perils that the Empire was using for its experiments could put a stop to their efforts to enhance knights with demonic energy.

Zeke collected the black fluid spilled by the demonically-controlled human in an empty potion bottle and stored it in his inventory.

He planned to send it to Paynun to have it investigated.

Zeke disposed of the human corpses with his Authority of Decay and went deeper into the cave.

After going some distance, he heard a shriek that seemed to belong to the Qiongqi from within.

KAAAAAAAAA!

Following the shriek, he saw the Qiongqi writhing in agony.

Black smoke was continuously rising from the body of the Qiongqi, which had been scorched by the Storm Sword.

The beast twisted its body as if in pain and let out a scream.

It was then.

[Kuaaaak! Unforgivable, human!]

For a moment, Zeke doubted his own ears.

‘Did that thing just speak?’

To be precise, it was less like it had spoken in human language and more like it had transmitted its thoughts, like telepathy.

In all the time Zeke had been hunting monsters, nothing like this had ever happened.

‘First, I need to capture it.’

If the Qiongqi escaped now, its future strength would be a secondary problem; its wariness would increase, making it even harder to catch.

Zeke took out Annexie's Dagger, connected it to a chain, and cautiously approached the Qiongqi.

Then, he quickly threw the dagger, wrapping the Qiongqi in the chain.

SHLALALAK!

Annexie's Dagger embedded itself in its body, and the chain simultaneously coiled around its leg.

Kuaaaak!

The Qiongqi reacted quickly, attempting to instantly sever its own leg.

Zeke threw another pair of daggers he had prepared, this time wrapping the chain around its entire body.

KAAAAAAK!

Zeke grabbed the chains with both hands and held the Qiongqi's body fast. He then infused the chains with the power of purification.

WOOOOONG!

A golden aura traveled along the chains, seeking to incinerate and extinguish the Qiongqi's body.

KAAAAAAK!

The Qiongqi thrashed as if in agony and let out a shriek.

As Zeke held the Qiongqi with the chains, he sent a telepathic message.

Can you speak?

The Qiongqi glared at Zeke, who had expressed his thoughts via telepathy, and replied.

[Human cur! I'll kill you! I'll devour your soul! You things are our sustenance! You damn pests!]

A will filled with hatred and contempt was transmitted to Zeke.

He tightened his grip on the chains and said,

You're rather talkative for a harmful monster. What exactly is your kind? Why do you keep appearing?

At Zeke's words, the Qiongqi’s sharp eyes glowed as it glared at him.

[You insignificant humans… You live under the delusion that you are the masters of this land. What utter fools… The original masters of this place were us. Not you small, filthy things.]

At the Qiongqi's words, Zeke furrowed his brow and replied.

This land belongs to monsters? What are you talking about?

The Qiongqi let out a low growl as it looked at Zeke.

[We do not die. In the end, just like in the past, you humans will become our sustenance, our slaves.]

In that instant, the Qiongqi's body began to swell.

Seeing the bloating body, Zeke realized it was trying to self-destruct.

Zeke quickly unleashed Gluttony.

TSUTSUTSUTSU—

A shadow rose up and enveloped the swelling body of the Qiongqi.

Then, unlike before, the Qiongqi's eyes began to tremble violently.

As it vanished into the shadow, the Qiongqi reached out and screamed.

[H-How do you have this power?! ...N-No!]

Slowly, the Qiongqi disappeared into Zeke's shadow.

RUMBLE...

Within the shadow, Zeke felt the Qiongqi's body shatter into pieces.

At the same time, messages appeared before Zeke's eyes.

[You have consumed a completely corrupted Abnormal Species that was eroded by demonic energy.]

[Consumed stamina, mental power, and mana are replenished.]

[By absorbing the consumed Abnormal Species's bloodline ability, you have acquired the Authority ‘Charisma’.]

[By absorbing the consumed Abnormal Species's bloodline ability, the proficiency of the skill ‘Curse Reflection’ has increased.]

[You are awarded 1,500 Karma Points as a reward.]

[You are awarded one Special Random Box as a reward.]

Zeke was stunned to see that the ability he had gained from consuming the Qiongqi was an Authority.

“So it’s definitely different from an Ancient Species like Gaguk. From the Hydra, I got a constitution, but this time it's an Authority.”

He checked the information for the newly acquired Authority, ‘Charisma’.

—Authority Information—

Charisma: It is possible to inspire loyalty in and issue compulsory commands to targets with lower mental power than the user.

“An Authority that inspires loyalty?”

Zeke recalled how the Qiongqi had commanded other monsters, making them move like an army.

It was virtually impossible for monsters that move only on instinct to move in such a coordinated fashion.

It must have been possible thanks to this Charisma ability that the Qiongqi possessed.

‘It’s a fascinating ability. I’ll have to think about how I can use it.’

Mental-type abilities were highly effective, but they also had side effects, so they needed to be used with caution.

After checking the Authority's information, Zeke examined the new Special Random Box he had received.

The box opened with a flash of light, just like the ones he had seen in the Inverted Tower.

However, what came out of the box was an unexpected item.

“An egg?”

Zeke immediately checked its information.

—Egg Information—

Description: An egg in which the power of a Spirit Beast lies dormant.

Unique Ability: Undetermined.

Special Note: The egg will hatch under specific conditions. The Spirit Beast that hatches from the egg will reside in the Physical Realm, not the Spirit Realm.

“A Spirit Beast that resides in the Physical Realm.”

Zeke currently had two Spirit Beasts as his summons.

One was the Dragon Demon King, Bucephalus, and the other was the draconic Spirit Beast, Nahuel.

Bucephalus was summoned by Zeke from the Spirit Realm, while Nahuel was summoned from its residence in the lake of Agamemnon's Castle.

‘So a Spirit Beast that resides in the Physical Realm like Nahuel will be born.’

Summoning a Spirit Beast that resided in the Physical Realm certainly consumed less mana.

However, in Nahuel's case, because it was the guardian spirit of the lake, it could only be summoned for a certain period and had to be sent back to the lake after that time had passed.

It might be different if it fulfilled the conditions to become a Divine Beast, but for now, it was bound to the lake.

Zeke gathered his thoughts and picked up the Spirit Beast egg.

“If I can meet the conditions and hatch it, I might get a new summon.”

Before leaving, he purified the Qiongqi's cave with Great Purification and then returned to the camp.

And around the time Zeke arrived at the camp, a welcome guest had reached the island.

The queen of the Cusco Kingdom had come to the island, along with Simon.