A Dragonslayer’s Peerless Regression

Chapter 72

"Grandfather."

Sieg tightly grasped Rufus's remaining hand.

Rufus then embraced Sieg.

"Finally, I get to hold you."

Because of the curse, Rufus had suppressed his emotions and couldn't embrace Sieg properly when they first met, worried he might harm Sieg.

Other elders from the Agamemnon family approached and surrounded Sieg, embracing him.

With all of them being large in stature, Sieg soon found himself buried among them.

However, the affectionate looks they all gave Sieg ensured that he didn't feel the slightest discomfort.

Finally, Rufus ended the embrace with Sieg and spoke.

"This isn't the time for this. Let's go to the castle quickly. We must properly treat the benefactor of our family."

One of the other elders next to him shouted joyfully.

"No more of that dreadful herb soup!"

"Curse that wretched curse, making us eat that for fifty years, damn it."

Felix, hearing that, sighed in relief.

'So it wasn't just me who thought the soup was strange.'

And so, Sieg and Felix headed to the castle with the elders of the Agamemnon family.

The castle's atmosphere had completely transformed.

What was once a narrow and old castle was now adorned with wide hallways and a timeless, elegant decor.

Felix stood agape at the sight of the castle.

"No, master. H-How did the castle...?"

Sieg and Felix had witnessed a legendary phenomenon, as the curse was lifted and the castle returned to its original magnificent state.

While Felix marveled at the changed castle, Sieg recalled the message window that had popped up earlier.

'It mentioned deactivating the emergency defense mode.'

It seemed possible to use various functions through a system link, much like the Sanctuaries of the Dragonslayer and Kaiser.

Sieg speculated that the abilities of his system were likely related to the Elder Dragon artifact he'd discovered in his past life.

'Could Cain's Hersion and this mask also be tied to the Elder Dragon?'

Lost in such thoughts, Sieg arrived at the place where they had eaten the soup the previous day.

Like other parts of the castle, the dining hall looked completely different from yesterday.

Beautiful stained glass adorned the walls, and sunlight pouring through the windows gave the entire dining hall a refreshing ambiance.

Once Sieg, Felix, and the elders sat down, the maids began to bring out food.

"Master Sieg with the black eyes! We've finally been able to express our culinary skills for the family's savior after fifty years."

Instead of an old bent woman, an elegant lady in a neat maid outfit spoke in a gracious voice.

Felix was astonished again.

"Is she the same one from yesterday?"

"Hehe! Yes, indeed."

The playful head maid started serving the food.

With their bodies previously collapsing due to the contamination by demonic energy, they had regained their original appearances through Sieg's Greater Purification.

This time, instead of a thick soup, the table was lavishly filled with sophisticated and elegant noble-style dishes.

Rufus looked at the food and spoke.

"Those of us cursed could neither see sunlight nor eat proper food. As a result, our condition worsened, and even our tongues and voices became stiff."

The elders nodded in agreement with his statement.

They could finally eat warm, nourishing food after fifty long years.

Observing etiquette, Sieg ate without speaking.

The elders also savored the carefully prepared dishes by the maid with delight.

After the meal, they moved to the garden to enjoy tea.

Sitting across from Rufus, Sieg took out a golden mask from his bosom.

Rufus's face lit up with emotion upon seeing the mask.

"The golden mask of Agamemnon. To think that the symbol of our family would return."

Sieg asked Rufus.

"Family head, could you explain what happened?"

Rufus nodded.

"Indeed. Sieg, you have the right to hear all the secrets of our family."

He spoke while caressing the golden mask.

"Fifty years ago, a great plague spread in Mycenae."

"I've never heard of a plague occurring fifty years ago."

Rufus nodded.

"That's right. We used every means and method at our disposal to prevent the plague from leaving Mycenae. At that time, I was just a young initiate who had just come of age."

Recalling the past, Rufus gazed into the air.

He continued,

"The family elders wanted to quarantine those infected separately and bring those not infected into the castle for thorough protection. But the plague spread so rapidly that it couldn't be contained."

"Do you remember what kind of disease it was?"

Rufus nodded.

"It was dreadful. Sufferers were tormented with high fevers, red spots appeared on their faces, and most coughed up blood and died within three days."

Hearing Rufus's description, Sieg was startled.

'Could the plague be the Crimson Bloom Disease?'

Although the lethal duration was different, it bore striking similarities to the Crimson Bloom Disease spreading in the border of Alessia.

In his past life, when the Crimson Bloom Disease spread, the central continent nations had to pay a huge price.

Fortunately, due to the development of a cure, it was contained before spreading further. Without it, calamity would have ensued.

Rufus continued,

"However, the plague wasn't the real problem. Dreadful things happened at night."

"What do you mean by that?"

Rufus's hands trembled slightly.

"At night, those who died from the plague would rise and start attacking the living."

Hearing the unbelievable story, Sieg's expression turned stiff.

"They turned into zombies?"

"It was different from the zombies controlled by dark mages. When the dead rose and bit the living, they would also rise and turn to attack."

"So, it spread like an infection, just like the plague."

"Yes. To us, it appeared as if Mycenae was cursed. People died of disease during the day, and the dead rose to attack the living at night."

Imagining the scene Rufus described was indeed horrifying.

"So what happened?"

"After completely isolating Mycenae from the outside, we fortified the castle and waited with the living, hoping for the plague to pass. But only more dead began to rise."

Rufus's voice trembled.

He continued, fondling the golden mask.

"Sieg, this mask is a divine relic passed down through our family from time immemorial. From the ancestors of the ancestors of Agamemnon. It's passed down from the oldest forebearers."

"Do you know who made the mask?"

Rufus shook his head.

"That much hasn't been preserved. Most records from before the Golden Age have been lost."

Sieg felt a sense of regret at Rufus's answer.

He thought he might have been able to get a clue about the Orichalcum Hersion.

Rufus went on with the story.

"The castle and the golden mask have always symbolized the Agamemnon family. With divine power imbued, even the dead couldn't come inside. But enduring within the castle had its limits. Eventually, my aunt, the family head at the time, made a decision."

"What decision did she make?"

Rufus swallowed and answered.

"We decided to submerge the dead in the Holy Lake to purify their corrupted energy. The family head and the elders willingly became the bait."

"The painting you showed me earlier depicted that event, then."

"Yes. Thanks to the sacrifice of the family head and elders, we successfully lured the dead into the lake. But then we faced a problem."

Sieg was beginning to guess what it was.

"The dead's corrupted energy contaminated even the Holy Lake, didn't it?"

Rufus nodded.

"You're correct. The Holy Lake transformed into a swamp, and even its guardian spirit turned into a monster from the corrupt power."

Sieg now understood why the spirit beast Nahuel had turned into a demonic beast.

Rufus spoke with tears brimming in his eyes.

"So the family head embraced the golden mask imbued with holy power and plunged into the corrupt lake themselves. No matter how long it took, to purify the corrupted energy."

Sieg recalled the golden mask that had been glowing as it sank to the bottom of the lake.

'They had used the mask's purification skill, to cleanse the demonic energy.'

Even after death, for fifty years, the family head of Agamemnon had been continuously purifying the demonic energy at the lake using the divine relic's power.

Yet, the demonic power was so overwhelming that it outpaced the purification, spreading to the surrounding territories.

Had Sieg not come, the Agamemnon family may have been entirely overrun by dark magic, rendering the land barren and uninhabitable.

Sieg looked at Rufus and spoke.

"The curse rumors were meant to protect the civilians, weren't they?"

Rufus nodded.

"Yes. We expected possible remnants of the plague, and that was our measure to safeguard them."

"The curse causing children to die was also likely due to the foul influence."

"Exactly. The power that corroded even our trained bodies would've been too much for delicate children."

The moment revealed the true nature of the curse cast on the Agamemnon family.

Bearing the stigma of a curse and making noble sacrifices for the people within their territory and countless others across the continent, the Agamemnon family deserved admiration.

Sieg found solace in knowing this about his maternal family.

He sincerely bowed to Rufus.

"I express my respect and admiration for the honorable sacrifice of the Agamemnon family."

Sieg's genuine salute was warmly received by Rufus and the other elders, who looked at him proudly.

Rufus gazed at Sieg, saying,

"The more I see you, the more you resemble your mother."

Sieg raised his head to look at Rufus, asking,

"Grandfather. I'd like to hear about my mother."

Rufus's expression hardened.

"Didn't Arthur tell you about your mother?"

Sieg nodded.

"I don't even know my mother's name. Everyone at Draker avoided speaking about her."

At those words, Rufus clenched his fists, trembling with anger.

He shouted with a face full of wrath.

"That Arthur. We should have stopped Laura from marrying him!"

'Laura Agamemnon.'

For the first time, Sieg learned his mother's name.

He asked Rufus,

"I heard the Agamemnon family once allied with the powerful Draker family."

Rufus scoffed.

"The Draker family was our ally, not vice versa."

"It was an alliance, not a blood pact?"

"During the Holy Empire, Draker was just a rural knight family with influence limited to the continent's west. Their spread to the central continent alongside the legend of the Dragonslayer would've been impossible without the support of Agamemnon, the reigning power of central continent and holding traditional influence since the Holy Empire."

Rufus continued with more details.

"Central Continent originated from a city alliance centered around Mycenae after the Holy Empire's fall. Draker took advantage of Mycenae's collapse from the plague to absorb its allied families and expand."

Rufus's words did not seem to be lies or boasts.

Knowing the inherently political nature of Draker, who feigned to be merely a knightly family, Sieg found Rufus's words to be more credible.

'Those Draker bastards would do that and more.'

Sieg asked Rufus,

"Knowing these things, why did my mother marry Arthur Draker and have me?"

Rufus sighed deeply,

"Laura, though my daughter, was always a mysterious child. When the cursed power kept causing the deaths of our children, neither my late wife nor I had any hope left. Yet, miraculously, Laura was born."

"It's remarkable that Mother was the only one unaffected by the corrupt power and could grow up."

Rufus nodded and spoke.

"There is a reason for that."

He lowered his voice and said,

"Sieg, your mother was of the healer class."