Episode 250
Hades was taken aback by Zeke’s words.
“What? A d-dragon heart?”
For a dragon, the dragon heart was more precious than anything else.
It was an organ that absorbed mana, stored it, and converted it into magical power, making it indispensable.
As Zeke slowly approached, Hades flinched and stepped back.
“Don’t you want to get out of here?”
“W-wait a minute. But a dragon heart is a bit…”
“Shall we just call it off then?”
Zeke’s threat left Hades flustered.
“No! That’s not what I meant!”
After a moment of hesitation, Hades squeezed his eyes shut and spoke.
“Ugh! Fine, you human scoundrel! Do whatever you must!”
Zeke nodded and opened his blood vision.
Rumble!
With the activation of his blood vision, things previously unseen became visible.
Zeke could see a powerful connection between Hades and the monolith.
A thick, sturdy chain was linked to Hades’ heart, with vein-like structures attached around it.
Every beat of Hades’ heart made the chain pulse in tandem.
‘What is this?’
Seeing the chain so intricately fused with the heart, Zeke understood why Hades couldn’t leave this place.
If he moved beyond the chain’s length, the dragon heart would be ripped out, and Hades would surely die.
Zeke examined the part of the chain connected to Hades’ heart and picked up Anexi’s dagger.
“Brace yourself. This might hurt.”
“What? What are you…?”
Crack!
Zeke channeled all his energy into Anexi’s dagger, imbuing it with his will.
He tapped the chain lightly with the dagger.
“Argh!”
Even the slightest touch made Hades scream as if in agony.
The direct connection to his heart seemed to amplify the shock.
Zeke used a wide-area healing buff on the suffering Hades.
Hum!
As the healing light enveloped Hades, his pained expression eased.
“Hey, it doesn’t hurt anymore. What did you do?”
Seeing the healing factor work on a dragon, Zeke nodded.
“Good news, Lord Hades. At least you won’t die.”
“What do you mean…?”
Crack!
Instead of answering, Zeke drove Anexi’s dagger into the chain.
“Ugh!”
He continued to sever the veins attached to the chain with the dagger, using the healing factor continuously.
Though the healing worked, the relentless pain forced Hades to crawl on the ground.
“S-stop!”
Despite the promise of breaking the seal, Hades hadn’t expected such a brute-force method.
Zeke swung the dagger tirelessly.
Finally, the chain buried in the veins became visible.
Zeke brought the body of the sea god closer to the chain.
Branches sprouted from the sea god’s body, wrapping around the chain.
Crackle―
The branches extended like veins attached to the chain.
At that moment, a message appeared before Zeke’s eyes.
[Blanca’s system recognizes the sea god’s body as a dragon species.]
[Sending control signals connected to the dragon heart to the sea god’s body.]
[Temporarily disconnecting the dragon heart from the control system.]
[Estimated disconnection time: 3 minutes.]
Crackle―
While the sea god’s body deceived Blanca’s system, Zeke had to cut the chain quickly.
He sheathed Anexi’s dagger and drew Bahamut.
Hades was alarmed at the sight.
“What are you planning to do…?”
“Clench your teeth. This will hurt.”
Zeke infused Bahamut with all his energy.
Hum!
Soul Force
Double Spell
Will of Severance
The power of the double spell imbued Bahamut.
The will to sever anything cleaved the chain embedded in Hades’ heart.
Slash!
“Argh!”
Unfortunately, the chain didn’t break with just that.
Hades writhed in agony, convulsing on the ground.
“S-stop… please…”
But Zeke didn’t stop.
He summoned his soul force once more.
‘If severance doesn’t work…’
Zeke recalled the time he freed the spirit of Genie bound to the Eastern sword.
Hum!
Soul Force
Double Spell
Will of Shattering
The soul force, imbued with the will to break the bonds, was unleashed.
Crack!
Zeke’s sword, charged with the will of shattering, clashed with the binding chain.
Rumble―
Unlike before, the chain reacted.
Zeke checked the remaining time.
‘30 seconds left.’
Hades had already fainted from the shock.
Zeke focused his energy again.
The double spell was a challenging technique even for Zeke, the black knight.
He knew he had only one more chance to swing his sword with the double spell.
Rumble―
He concentrated all his energy, spending 20 of the remaining 30 seconds. Then he took his stance and raised his sword.
Only 5 seconds remained.
He charged forward.
“Haaah!”
Zeke shouted, infusing his sword with the will of shattering.
Simultaneously, the essence of infinite swordsmanship merged with Zeke’s strike.
Hum!
The combined force of the will of shattering and infinite swordsmanship cleaved the chain.
Crack!
A sharp sound echoed from the chain connecting Hades and the monolith.
The problem was that the chain wasn’t completely severed.
‘Damn it…’
The chain was cracked, and one more impact might break it.
Only 2 seconds remained.
Having exhausted all his energy, Zeke couldn’t use his soul force anymore.
In that moment, he thought of one last method.
With 1.5 seconds left.
Zeke pulled back his sword and activated the dragon skill, “Dragon’s Breath.”
As the skill activated, Zeke’s chest glowed, and a compressed beam shot toward the cracked chain.
Zing!
1 second remained.
Zeke poured all his remaining strength into the chain.
“Argh!”
Crack!
With his shout, the compressed beam exploded, shattering the chain.
Hum!
As the disconnection ended, the branches from the sea god’s body turned to ash and scattered.
Thud!
The sea god’s body fell to the ground.
Zeke, utterly exhausted, picked up the sea god’s body.
‘I never thought it would be used like this.’
At that moment.
Hum!
The letters on the monolith began to glow intensely.
A message appeared before Zeke’s eyes.
[The system of the Golden City Blanca detects an anomaly.]
[It recognizes the absence of a signal from one registered dragon species.]
[The system is locating the missing dragon species.]
[Registration procedures are underway.]
‘What?’
Suddenly, multiple chains shot out from the monolith.
Clang!
The chains flew toward the fallen Hades.
Zeke quickly leaped forward.
“Hah!”
He struck the chains with dragon claws, barely managing to grab the fallen Hades and roll to the side.
Then, using every ounce of his remaining strength, he activated the healing factor buff.
Hum!
The healing power seeped into Hades, who lay in Zeke’s arms.
At that moment, the chains from the monolith, like snakes, raised their heads and approached Zeke.
Having used the double spell consecutively and the dragon’s breath, along with the mentally draining blood vision, Zeke felt on the verge of collapse.
‘Damn it. If only there were some monster around to recover from.’
If the chains captured Hades again, he couldn’t guarantee he could break them the same way.
Clang!
Just as the chains were about to ensnare Zeke.
Hum!
The chains suddenly halted in mid-air.
Hades, who had been in Zeke’s arms, had regained consciousness.
His eyes glowed with a brilliant violet light.
Hades extended his hand toward the chains and spoke.
“These damned things think they can bind me again.”
With a wave of his hand, the chains writhed as if in agony, then shattered completely.
Zeke watched in awe, his mouth agape.
‘Unbelievable, he just destroyed those chains?’
Whether Zeke was amazed or not, Hades floated into the air and approached the glowing monolith.
“I’ve waited three thousand years for this moment.”
As he reached out, the monolith’s light intensified.
But as if it didn’t matter, the violet aura emanating from Hades enveloped the monolith.
Crackle―
The violet aura seeped into the letters engraved on the monolith’s surface.
Then, the monolith fell silent, its light extinguished.
Hades dusted off his hands and descended from the air.
Zeke, struggling to stand, asked Hades.
“What happened, Lord Hades?”
Hades grinned widely and replied.
“I’ve sealed the control device with my own power. As much as I’d love to blow that cursed system to bits, doing so would turn this entire area into a wasteland… so I held back.”
Hades, now free from the city’s shackles, looked utterly relieved.
Suddenly, he shouted, “Woohoo! I’m free! I can finally leave this wretched place! This is amazing!”
Hades was bouncing around, causing a ruckus. Zeke watched him, a bit dazed, with an incredulous expression.
‘Where’s the dignity of a dragon in all this?’
Zeke took a potion from his inventory and drank it, finally catching his breath. He had used up so much of his power that it would take a while to recover.
Once Hades finished his outburst, he approached Zeke with a proud stance. “Human! You did well. I considered killing you because of the pain, but since you freed me, I’ll graciously forgive you.”
From start to finish, he was an unabashed dragon.
Zeke looked at Hades and said, “Please release the pact with the Ishtar family.”
Hades pondered for a moment before nodding. “Hmm, alright. As a reward for freeing me, I can do that much.”
With a snap of his fingers, Yellin reappeared beside Zeke.
“Oh? Sir Zeke, Lord Hades.”
Hades addressed the bewildered Yellin, “High Elf child, do you wish to break the pact with me?”
Yellin hesitated, then nodded firmly. “Yes! I do.”
Seeing Yellin’s resolute expression, Hades looked a bit disgruntled. “You were the one who wanted the pact in the first place. Human, bring the token.”
Zeke handed Hades the dagger of Anexi. As Hades infused it with power, various symbols appeared before his eyes. He squinted at them, scanning through.
“Why are these letters so tiny? Let’s see, where’s the clause for the pact?”
As he searched, Hades suddenly frowned and muttered, “Now that I think about it, about a thousand years ago, Bahamut came with some human and asked to change the terms. Always so capricious.”
Zeke’s suspicion that Terracan and Bahamut had visited Hades seemed to be correct.
Hades continued to examine the clauses until he stopped at one. “Ah, here it is. Why are there so many elves bound by this, not just the High Elves? Should I cancel them all?”
Yellin nodded vigorously.
Hades licked his finger and wiped away the clauses. A purple aura slowly seeped out of Yellin’s body.
“The… the binding is broken…”
The long-awaited wish of the Ishtar family, two thousand years in the making, was finally fulfilled.
Overjoyed, Yellin hugged Zeke tightly. “Sir Zeke! Thank you, thank you so much!”
Watching them, Hades turned to Zeke and asked, “Are you two a couple?”
Zeke quietly shook his head.
Hades chuckled and floated into the air. “Well, thanks for freeing me, human. I’ve repaid my debt, so I’m off. Take care.”
Just as Hades was about to teleport away, something felt off.
“Huh? What’s this? Why can’t I teleport?”
Zeke looked at Hades and said, “Lord Hades, have you heard of the Dragon’s Oath?”
Hades was taken aback. “How… how do you know about that?”
Zeke, who had diligently studied the Chronicles of Kaishir, knew quite a bit about dragons. “You mentioned earlier that if I freed you, you’d grant me a wish.”
Hades’ face turned pale. “W-wait, that was just a figure of speech. I didn’t mean to…”
Boom!
“Ugh!”
Hades clutched his chest, staggering. The Dragon’s Oath was inscribed on the dragon’s heart, and failing to uphold it would drain its power.
“D-damn it!”
Zeke grinned at the despairing Hades. “It seems the Dragon’s Oath doesn’t see it that way.”
Approaching the wobbling Hades, Zeke introduced himself. “Lord Hades, my name is Zeke Draker. I look forward to working with you.”