Chapter 74

In the deepest part of the Zesum ruins, Eberheid placed his hand on the crystal embedded in the pedestal.

Responding to Eberheid’s magic as a descendant of Zesum, the crystal emitted a deep blue light.

At the same time, the entire ruin began to shake violently.

Excitement made Eberheid’s hand tremble.

Finally, the time had come to fulfill his lifelong wish, the revival of Zesum.

Eberheid was only worried that Abel might reach him before the Zesum ruins were fully activated.

However, it seemed that Abel had not managed to break through the Zesum Beast Golems on the way, as he did not appear before Eberheid.

Eberheid knew that no human could stand against the magical weapons, but he still felt relieved.

When the Zesum Golems were activated simultaneously, he had despaired at the unfairness. The common sense he had cultivated over two hundred years had completely collapsed within him. He had been convinced that a boy like Abel could do anything.

Soon, the runes carved on the walls began to glow, and the walls parted, revealing a staircase.

Eberheid looked at the back of his hand, which he had placed over the crystal.

A shadow of a griffin spreading its wings appeared. It was the emblem of Zesum.

This was proof of his dominion over the ruins and, at the same time, proof of his dominion over the entire world.

Eberheid ran up the stairs.

At the top of the stairs was the roof of the ruins, the best vantage point to overlook the world.

"Phasa"

In response to Eberheid’s words, the Zesum ruins—Zesum’s floating fortress, the 'Bow of the Gods'—began to rise.

Eberheid then moved the floating fortress eastward.

First, he would fire the Arrow of the Gods at the city of Romane. The scale of that city meant that a single shot could turn it into a wasteland. It would be the perfect performance.

He would demonstrate his power to the surrounding areas, intimidate them, and gather magic stones to store the magic power needed to fire the Arrow of the Gods. That was his immediate goal.

Eberheid gripped the edge of the roof and looked down at the ground.

The view was shrouded in mist because they were above the clouds.

Endless grasslands, distant cities, and mountains. All of this, everything, would soon be his. No, it wasn’t just these insignificant things. The sky kingdom that the descendants of Zesum had hated, envied, and yearned for over generations would be within his grasp.

The thought made his head hot, and a smile escaped his lips.

"Father, ancestors of Zesum! Watch me! Finally, the time has come to fulfill our two-thousand-year-old wish! I will become the absolute ruler of the sky kingdom... no, the entire world!"

After shouting, Eberheid burst into laughter and then glared at the sky.

The sky kingdom was at the end of this vast sky.

"Wait for me... I have come to a height where I can touch the clouds. Your necks are within reach."

Just as Eberheid extended his hand beyond the edge, the surrounding space began to distort.

It was a sign that the barrier automatically deployed around the floating fortress upon activation was about to collapse.

A moment later, a loud destruction sound echoed. The transparent magical barrier shattered and vaporized. The floating fortress shook violently.

It had been attacked. The idea that the barrier of the floating fortress could be shattered in one blow was impossible, unthinkable.

Eberheid felt his blood run cold.

He looked down at the ground, thinking it couldn’t be.

He could see two humans riding a Zesum Beast Golem running on the ground.

One of them had skin so pale it seemed almost lifeless, and eyes that glowed with intense magic. His appearance resembled that of a lich, an undead king who retained magic even in death. It was a characteristic of the Maren race, known as the reaper of the battlefield during wars. It had to be Abel.

The Golem was running parallel to the floating fortress.

It was fast. Unbelievably fast.

Clearly, it was much faster than the traditional Zesum Beast Golems.

In fact, the robust body made of alchemically created minerals was groaning under the strain of the speed.

It was definitely wrong.

The space around the floating fortress distorted again, and a barrier covered it.

It was the automatic barrier repair function of the floating fortress.

Noticing this, Eberheid wiped the sweat from his forehead.

It was fine.

The automatic barrier repair function would not stop unless the flow of magic was interfered with or all the barrier images around the floating fortress were destroyed.

Both required careful analysis.

"Hmph, if you had run away, I wouldn’t have had to chase you..."

The floating fortress was equipped with various magical weapons.

There was no need to use the Arrow of the Gods.

Originally, the Arrow of the Gods consumed too much magic. Firing even one shot would make the subsequent plans much more difficult.

"Ranajja"

In response to these words, various parts of the floating fortress opened, revealing cannons.

"I didn’t think you intended to bring down this floating fortress with just one Golem. Indeed, you are a monster, I’ll give you that."

A lesser fortress might have been sunk by Abel alone.

Eberheid genuinely believed that.

But unfortunately, the floating fortress was a weapon designed to suppress entire countries of monstrous beings.

The scale was clearly different.

The previous blow was probably Abel’s best shot.

It was powerful, but the barrier had already been completely repaired.

As long as the automatic barrier repair function existed, it was impossible for the floating fortress to be brought down.

As Eberheid pointed his hand at Abel, all the cannons aimed at him.

"Abel, farewell!"

As Eberheid shouted, huge metal spheres flew from the direction of Abel.

Not just one, but many.

The metal spheres absorbed and neutralized the magical projectiles, yet their power did not diminish.

The leading shot shattered the floating fortress’s barrier.

"..."

Without waiting for the barrier to be re-deployed, more metal spheres kept coming. They embedded themselves into the floating fortress, gouging, piercing, and destroying it.

Armor was stripped from walls that had not been scratched in two thousand years, cannons were shattered one after another, and large holes appeared in the walls.

Black smoke rose from various parts of the floating fortress, the result of weapon malfunctions.

"St, stop... I, I will, with the floating fortress, rule the world... the sky kingdom..."

The pinnacle of Zesum technology, the floating fortress that the clan had hoped for over two thousand years and that Eberheid had devoted his entire long elven life to, was decaying before it had been active for ten minutes.

A salty taste rose in the back of Eberheid’s throat.

He staggered, pressing his hand to his mouth, and fell to his knees.

"...I, it’s a dream. This is just a dream. It must be."

When did it start? When did he start dreaming?

From the moment he activated the floating fortress? Or from the time he met that Maren mage, who could be called a demon?

No, it was not the time to escape into fantasy.

The Arrow of the Gods.

He would use the Arrow of the Gods to turn this area, including Abel, into a wasteland.

Eberheid knew he was doing something ridiculous.

Using a weapon designed to bring down a country against an individual was a complete waste.

But he had no other options left.

If he fired the Arrow of the Gods now, his subsequent plans would be severely disrupted.

With most of the magical weapons destroyed, in the worst case, he would have to rely entirely on bluffs to gather magic stones from cities and countries.

Such a pitiful ruler had never been heard of, and it was hard to imagine it would succeed.

But he had to remove the obstacle in front of him, no matter what.

"Debataar"

Eberheid stood up and shouted.