A Dragonslayer’s Peerless Regression – 242



Episode 242

‘The Shackles of the Oath?’

After hearing Yellin’s words Zeke realized that there was some kind of connection between the Crow Tribe and the Black River Tribe.

After thinking about it for a while he put Annexy’s dagger away and said.

“I think this conversation is going to be a bit long so I think we should move.”

Zeke told Payne to clear a secure conference room set aside in the lab.

Meanwhile Himel and Yellin took the unconscious crows and moved them to the security conference room with Zeke.

Payne who had prepared the conference room approached Zeke and asked what the situation was.

“Master are those people… the mystics of Ishtar?”

In Atlas only Ishtar could attack so openly and without fear.

Zeke nodded and said to Payne.

“Things have gotten a bit complicated.”

Payne who was quick-witted closed the conference room door and went back up to the lab.

While Zeke was talking to Payne the other ravens who had been unconscious woke up took off their masks and lay down.

He had brown skin similar in appearance to Himel and resembled a dark elf.

Zeke opened his mouth.

“Don’t sit there. Sit over here.”

Then Himel shook his head.

“I dare not sit with someone who holds the Mark of the Black River.”

Just a moment ago he was holding a dagger with poison but now he suddenly came out like this and it was difficult for Zik to adapt.

Zeke had no choice but to offer the seat only to Yellin.

Yellin took off her hood and chador as she sat down.

Her emerald hair and statuesque face lit up the conference room.

Even Zeke who was the most imposing of all men felt his heart race at the sight of Yellin’s appearance.

Angelina the most beautiful woman on the continent was also beautiful but Yellin had an even greater elegance.

Yellin opened his mouth and looked at Zeke.

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“Sir Zeke Draker I am truly sorry for this indiscretion.”

Despite her appearance Yellin’s speech was quite old-fashioned and her voice was neutral.

Zeke shook his head and answered.

“It’s okay. But you broke your silent meditation. Is that okay?”

Then Yellin nodded and opened his mouth again.

“I have come to ask you this favor because the fact that the sign of the Black River has appeared is more important than the practice of silence.”

Seeing that the owner of the cow Yellin was coming out like this it seemed that breaking the shackles of the oath was a very important matter for the Ishtar family.

Zeke asked Yellin.

“What are the chains of the oath that the Lord Soga spoke of?”

Yellin thought about it and then said to Zeke.

“Sir Zeke if you don’t mind could I see the Black River sign again?”

At Yellin’s words Zeke took out Annexy’s dagger and handed it to her.

Yellin who received Annex’s dagger observed the dagger with a pious expression and then carefully examined it.

After a moment she swallowed.

“It is clear that this is a sign of the disappeared black river.”

At those words Himel who had been prostrating himself looked at Annex’s dagger with the aforementioned expression and tears in his eyes.

“After two thousand years the sign has reappeared…”

Zeke saw Yellin and Himel’s reactions and realized that Annexy’s dagger had some symbolism.

Zeke asked Yellin.

“Yelin is the oath chain you mentioned related to this dagger?”

Yellin nodded at those words.

“That’s right. May I ask where you found this dagger?”

After much thought Zeke decided to tell only half the truth.

“It was discovered at an ancient ruins site. It’s difficult to tell you the details because they are a family secret.”

Even Ishtar couldn’t delve into the secrets of the Draker family.

Yellin nodded and returned Annexi’s dagger to Zeke.

“In fact this dagger is a sacred item of the Black River Tribe a major tribe of ancient dark elves.”

Even though it was a spirit Zeke already knew this fact well because he had met Annexy in person who had this dagger.

But Zeke pretended not to know and asked Yellin.

“Dark elves… aren’t they a race that only exists in legends?”

Then Yellin shook his head.

“As you may have noticed the Ishtar family is of elven blood. Among purebloods like me there are cases where elven physical characteristics appear due to ancestral regression. Just as humans come in various races elves also come in various races. There are those with high elven blood like me as well as gray elves and dark elves.”

Zeke was surprised by Yellin’s words.

“Are you saying that Yellin is of high elf blood?”

Zeke had learned quite a bit about the elves through the chronicles left behind by the King of Heroes.

High elves were born with the most noble bloodline among the elves.

They were the longest-lived had the mystical power to communicate with nature and were a wise race that even dragons would seek help from.

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It was surprising to learn that Yellin was of high elf blood a noble race even during the era of the King of Heroes.

Then Yellin looked at Zeke and said.

“I am surprised that you know about the High Elves Master Zeke. However they are not much different from the High Elves now except for their lineage. Anyway if we talk about the oath again we have to go back to the time of the King of Heroes. It was an unbreakable covenant made between our ancestors and the Black River Tribe at that time.”

“Are you saying that the High Elves and Dark Elves made a pact?”

“Yes.”

“What kind of oath did you make?”

Yellin hesitated for a moment and then opened her mouth.

“The content of the oath was to protect the Black River.”

“Black River?”

After hearing Yellin’s words Zeke asked back in a puzzled tone.

Not only did the dark elves become sacrificial lambs for Siemens to summon the demon race but they also came to hate humans because of it and became part of the Demon King’s army engaging in fierce battles with the Kronos coalition forces.

In that situation it was not understood that an oath had been made with the elves who were part of the Allied Forces.

‘Is there something else I don’t know about after the Demon King’s invasion?’

Then Yellin slowly opened his mouth.

“It is difficult to tell you everything about the history of our family as you are an outsider. To give you the gist our Ishtar family is currently tied down in the border area because of that oath.”

Zeke felt something strange and said to Yellin.

“Wait a minute… So you’re saying that the Ishtar family settled in the border region before the Golden Age not after?”

“It is true that the clan began to venture abroad in earnest during the War of Liberation. After the War of Liberation ended the warriors who had gone abroad returned here but it was not at that time that the Ishtar clan settled in the border region.”

Zeke was surprised to learn of the history of the Ishtar family which was completely different from what was known to the world.

“I didn’t know that the reason Ishtar had its base in the closed border area was because of the oath. But why is that desert area called the Black River?”

“I heard that there used to be a huge river flowing through this place. Now it’s a desert and the river has mostly dried up but traces of it still remain.”

Zik looked at Himel who was standing straight beside him and asked.

“So the Ishtar Ravens were the name of a tribe of assassins? A tribe that lived along the Black River?”

“Yes. The Crow Tribe is a collateral tribe of the Black River Tribe and has sworn an oath of loyalty to them.”

As Zeke had expected the Crow Tribe was descended from the Dark Elves.

Zeke asked Yellin again.

“It’s been two thousand years already and you’re saying that this oath still holds true?”

“Before going to war the Black River Tribe made a pact with our ancestors asking them to protect the Black River territory which they considered their sacred ground. The high elves with their noble bloodlines could not refuse their request so they accepted the pact. However….”

Yellin trailed off and then opened her mouth again.

“The Black River Tribe that went to the battlefield was completely wiped out and never returned. They didn’t know that the entire tribe would disappear without a single person left behind so only the oath was left behind.”

Zeke thought of Annexy who had this dagger.

The unit she led was said to have been pushed back by the Allied forces and had to hide in an ancient ruins.

Since she was in a trance-like state we don’t know what her actual fate was but from what Yellin said the entire tribe met their end on the battlefield so her unit probably didn’t survive either.

‘Did Kronos retrieve this dagger and turn it into a hidden stage in the Upside Down Tower?’

Zeke asked Yellin.

“So if I have this dagger can I break free from the shackles of the oath?”

Yellin nodded at those words.

“You could say that.”

It was also the first time that Zig learned that the reason the Ishtar family had been isolated in the border region was none other than the shackles of the oath from two thousand years ago.

Zeke recalled memories from his past life.

‘According to the news at the time Arthur Draker died after falling into the trap of Ishtar and Nirvana. I always wondered how they managed to get Ishtar who was not open to negotiation or compromise involved… What if the Empire had a way to break the chains of this oath?’

In their previous life Ishtar and Nirvana did not participate in the 3rd Continental War after killing Arthur Draker and showed no particular movements.

Perhaps Ishtar had been freed from the shackles of the oath and had left the borderlands to go wherever they pleased.

Then Yellin opened his mouth.

“As I mentioned briefly earlier it has been a thousand years since the Ishtar family was able to engage in external activities.”

“Why did you start your activities then?”

“This is also one of the family secrets but I think I should tell Sir Zeke.”

She opened her mouth slowly.

“There is a record of a Terracan Draker visiting the family a thousand years ago.”

“Terracan Draker?”

An unexpected character popped out of Yellin’s mouth.

Yellin nodded.

“Terracan Draker wanted to borrow the power of House Ishtar. He used his mystical powers to loosen the chains of the oath that bound the house creating an opening for us to go outside.”

Zeke wondered if it was possible not because of Terracan’s power but because of Claudia Luverne Bahamut who was by his side.

‘With the power of the dragon it would be possible to loosen the chains of the oath that bind the House of Ishtar even if it could not be broken.’

Yellin continued.

“Terracan Draker promised to free his family from the oath if they helped him. But….

I thought I knew what he meant even without hearing the rest.

“Terracan didn’t keep his promise.”

Yellin nodded.

“Thanks to this the shackles have loosened somewhat but in any case the House of Ishtar is still bound to the realm of the Black River.”

Zeke could understand why the Ishtar family hated the Draker family so much.

‘That Terracan guy has been going around all over the place and doing all sorts of things.’

It was likely that Bahamut died before the oath could be broken leaving Terrakan unable to keep his promise.

Zeke asked Yellin.

“Lord Yellin then how can I break the chains of that oath with this dagger?”

Yellin made a slightly embarrassed expression and looked at Himel. Himel also thought about it for a while and nodded to Yellin.

She opened her mouth slowly.

“Sir Zik there is a very old labyrinth beneath the Ishtar Palace.”

“Are you saying that the main palace was built on top of an ancient ruin?”

“I heard that the Black River region is the site of ancient cities with a long history dating back to before the era of the King of Heroes. As such there are still labyrinths that have not been excavated. This includes not necessarily the underground areas of the main palace.”

Zeke wondered why Yellin was suddenly talking about the labyrinth.

Yellin slowly brought up the main topic.

“The object that is chained to the oath is located in the basement of the main palace.”

Zeke furrowed his brows at Yellin’s words.

“Wasn’t the oath to protect the Black River territory?”

“The Black River can mean a river that flows through that area but it can also mean something else. To be precise it is a covenant related to the ‘Hermit of the Black River.’”

When Zeke heard Yellin’s words something occurred to him.

He asked with a skeptical look.

“The Hermit of the Black River. Could it be…?”

Yellin nodded at Zeke’s response and said.

“That’s right. In the basement of Ishtar’s palace….”

She let out her last words with a sigh.

“There are still living dragons.”