Episode 290
Crack! Crackle!
As Zeke soared through the ice storm, the surface of his mount, Hershion, began to freeze over. Yet, he pressed on undeterred.
His sword, imbued with the Astral Blade, tore through the very domain crafted by the Snow Queen, advancing relentlessly.
The Snow Queen, her arm partially melted by the white flames, recoiled in shock at the formidable power behind Zeke’s blade.
[Aaaaargh!]
With a flap of her wings, the Snow Queen unleashed a flurry of silver feathers, freezing everything in their path.
Even the air itself turned to ice, making it nearly impossible to breathe. Inhaling it felt like it would freeze one’s lungs solid.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
But Zeke’s sword did not falter, slicing through the realm of silver feathers as it charged toward the Snow Queen.
She raised her hand, summoning ice crystals to form a shield.
Crack!
The Bahamut, infused with the Astral Blade, shattered the shield with ease.
[Screeeeech!]
The Snow Queen let out a hideous scream, abandoning all pretense of dignity.
Zeke’s sword pierced the center of her chest.
Crack! Crackle!
The Astral Blade shattered the core of her domain, causing fine cracks to spread across her body.
Zeke drove his sword deeper into her.
In that moment, the Queen removed the cloth covering her eyes, revealing two blue gemstones where her eyes should have been.
The gems flashed with light.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Instantly, everything in the path of the gems’ gaze froze solid, creating a realm of absolute zero.
Sensing the threat, Zeke hastily withdrew his sword and retreated, activating his spirit form skill.
Sssshhh—
Zeke’s body crossed into the boundary of the spirit realm.
Yet, the realm of absolute zero seeped even into the spirit realm’s crevices.
‘Damn it!’
Zeke emerged from the spirit realm, back into the physical world, narrowly escaping with only a thin layer of frost on his armor.
Had he been a moment slower, both he and Hershion would have been frozen solid.
Hovering in the air, Zeke aimed his sword at the Queen, whose body was now riddled with cracks.
The Queen clutched her split chest with two hands, while covering her eyes with the other two.
[How dare you! How dare a mere human!]
Ice crystals fell from her body, transforming into small birds that circled around her.
Zeke raised his sword once more.
But having used both the Elemental Sword and the Astral Blade in quick succession, his mana was nearly depleted.
If these were ordinary monsters, he could have easily used his Devour skill, but the creatures the Snow Queen summoned crumbled into ice crystals too quickly, hindering his mana recovery.
Zeke steadied his breathing, gripping his sword tightly.
‘If I don’t defeat her here, she’ll only grow stronger.’
Like the other fearsome beasts, the Snow Queen seemed to expand her domain, absorbing power and growing.
Zeke summoned all his strength, gripping his sword with renewed determination.
Vroooom!
While the Astral Blade could strike at the core of existence, his ultimate technique targeted the soul.
With the Queen’s core already damaged, a soul attack could shatter her very being.
The Snow Queen shouted at the ice birds she had just created.
[Kill him!]
Thousands of ice birds with razor-sharp wings charged at Zeke.
The flock, dazzling in their white brilliance, was beautiful to behold, but the cold they carried could freeze an entire city in an instant.
Zeke drew upon his ultimate technique, entering a state of heightened power.
Rumble—
With his mana nearly exhausted, drawing on his soul’s strength took a toll on his body.
‘Grrr.’
Zeke gritted his teeth, focusing the power of his ultimate technique into his sword.
He assumed the stance of the Infinite Sword Technique, chanting the incantation of his ultimate move.
Ultimate Technique
Double Spell
Will of Breakthrough
Zeke became one with his sword, colliding with the swarm of ice birds.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
He pierced through the storm of icy blades, charging forward.
“Haaaaah!”
Like a spear cutting through a storm, Zeke left a trail of shattered ice birds in his wake.
Rumble—
Breaking through the ice storm, Zeke raised his sword and charged at the Snow Queen.
In response, she formed a seal with her remaining five hands, conjuring a round mirror before her.
The light reflected from the mirror poured toward the charging Zeke.
Sizzle!
The light from the mirror was not cold, but searingly hot.
Bahamut, absorbing the light head-on, glowed red-hot.
Had Bahamut not been indestructible, it would have melted.
Pushing through the relentless light, Bahamut shattered the mirror the Queen had created.
“Grrr!”
The tip of Bahamut’s sword barely missed the Queen.
She looked down at Zeke, speaking with disdain.
[Arrogant human. You will forever be our slaves.]
In her hand, a sharp ice blade appeared.
[Consider it an honor to die by my hand!]
As she swung the ice blade toward Zeke, a green light emanated from the green sword Arataso strapped to his back.
Vroooom!
In an instant, the light coalesced, summoning Arataso.
Crash!
Arataso swung his spear, severing the Queen’s arm that held the sword.
He shouted to Zeke.
[Nephilim must be completely destroyed to prevent regeneration!]
At Arataso’s words, Zeke dropped Bahamut and drew Roland.
With his mana depleted, he couldn’t summon his aura, but he remembered Roland was a gem sword.
Zeke activated the gem magic engraved on Roland.
Vroooom!
[A skill activates randomly.]
[The Will of the Emerald activates.]
Crackle!
Roland unleashed a massive bolt of lightning at the Snow Queen.
[Aaaaargh!]
The Queen screamed as the lightning struck her.
Seizing the moment, Zeke consumed a large quantity of mana recovery potions from his inventory.
However, with a dragon’s heart, potions couldn’t fully restore his mana.
Then, Zeke noticed an item in his inventory.
With a sudden thought, he used his restored mana to summon his aura, charging at the Snow Queen with Roland.
“Haaah!”
He drove the lightning-charged Roland into the spot where Bahamut had struck earlier.
Crackle!
The Queen, paralyzed by the electricity, barely managed to turn her head toward Zeke.
As she attempted to remove her hands from her eyes, Zeke activated another skill of the gem sword.
[A skill activates randomly.]
[The Will of Alexandrite activates.]
Explosions erupted across the Snow Queen’s face.
[Screeeeech!]
In that moment, Zeke retrieved the item he had noticed earlier from his inventory.
Vroooom!
The Godslayer’s Spear, which had pierced the heart of the divine dragon Poseidon, appeared.
The spear, made of the god-killing metal Adamantium, revealed its power.
The Snow Queen, sensing the spear’s power, panicked.
[How, how do you have that?!]
Zeke charged at the Queen with the Godslayer’s Spear.
The aura-wrapped spear plunged deep into the Queen’s side.
Crack!
As the spear embedded itself in her body, the Queen let out a different, more monstrous scream.
Screeeeech—
Her wings lost their light, and she plummeted to the ground.
Boom!
Zeke descended slowly to where the fallen Queen lay.
Her minions on the ground had already turned to crystals and scattered.
With her wings broken and her remaining arms twisted grotesquely, the Queen’s former majesty was nowhere to be seen.
White blood trickled from her mouth.
Zeke picked up Bahamut from the ground and approached the Queen slowly.
She spat curses at him.
[Cursed beings. I will not die like this. The wheel of reincarnation will call me back to this world. As long as there is cold and winter on this land, I will return…]
Slice—
Zeke swung Bahamut, severing the Queen’s head before she could finish.
White blood gushed from the severed neck like a fountain.
Zeke summoned shadows to devour the Snow Queen.
Sssshhh—
The Snow Queen, the legendary figure behind the tale of the White Witch and the avatar of a constellation, vanished into Zeke’s shadow.
As he devoured the Snow Queen, messages appeared in rapid succession.
[You have devoured a Nephilim created from corrupted holy blood.]
[Your depleted health, mental strength, and mana are restored.]
[You have devoured a being imbued with the essence of a constellation, increasing the rank of your Devour skill.]
[The skill ‘Devour’ has evolved into ‘Absorb.’]
[You have acquired the power ‘Freeze’ from the devoured being.]
[By absorbing the Dragon Heart of the Wyrm, the seal on Bahamut’s heart has partially been lifted. Current compression seal level: 45%.]
[The skill level of the Elemental Sword (SS) has increased from Beginner to Skilled.]
[Proficiency in Defense Mode has increased.]
[You have gained 1,500 Karma Points.]
[You have obtained 1 Special Random Box.]
After devouring the Ice Queen, Zeke felt his strength returning.
Finally able to relax, Zeke collapsed onto the ground with a sigh of relief.
“Why did Master Kaishir seal such a dangerous being instead of destroying it?”
The chronicles left behind offered no clear answers.
Perhaps it was because Nephilim were so rare that they were sealed away rather than killed, he speculated.
Setting aside his questions, Zeke recalled that his skill “Devour” had evolved into “Absorb” and checked the details.
―Absorb Information―
Using shadows, you can absorb anything without restriction and convert it into energy. You can acquire abilities by absorbing beings or items with bloodline powers. These absorbed abilities can be transferred to shadow spirits.
“Absorb anything through shadows without limits?”
Previously, “Devour” could only absorb monsters or artifacts containing magic.
Zeke tested the skill by tossing an ice crystal into the shadows.
Ssssh―
The ice crystal vanished into the shadows.
“With this ability, I could even absorb trees or rocks during battle to recover some strength.”
For Zeke, who used skills that consumed a lot of mana, this was an invaluable ability.
Moreover, he could transfer absorbed abilities to his shadow spirits.
“I can give unused skills to the shadow spirits. That’s pretty handy.”
As the Kaiman and Gurav units, along with his summoned creatures, grew stronger, so did Zeke’s power. It was an excellent ability.
He was quite pleased with his new absorption skill.
Just then, Arataso approached Zeke.
[It’s astonishing that you managed to kill a Nephilim. They’re not the kind to die easily.]
Zeke looked at Arataso and asked, “Arataso, why did you save me? If I died, you would have been free.”
Arataso flinched at the question, then quickly turned his head away.
[Don’t get the wrong idea. I didn’t save you; I helped kill that Nephilim. Those who aren’t even constellations acting like they are—it’s infuriating.]
Despite his words, Arataso seemed embarrassed, avoiding Zeke’s gaze.
Zeke smiled at him. “Thanks, Arataso. You saved my life.”
Arataso was taken aback by Zeke’s sincere gratitude and stepped back.
[Hearing that from someone more demonic than demons themselves gives me chills. It doesn’t suit you at all, so cut it out!]
“Really? Then maybe I should show you the taste of holy fire again?”
[Ugh. Maybe I should have just let you die. I’m regretting my earlier actions.]
As Zeke and Arataso bickered, Richmond staggered over, looking half-dead.
“Master!”
Richmond collapsed in front of Zeke.
“What now?”
Richmond struggled to his feet. “I thought I was really going to die this time.”
“You’re a summoned lich; you can’t die.”
“If you die, Master, don’t I die too?”
Zeke nodded at Richmond’s words. “True, there’s that.”
At that moment, Arataso’s form began to blur and returned to its sword state.
[It’s still too much to stay in the physical realm for long.]
“It’ll get longer over time.”
Arataso chuckled softly before his summoning was undone. Zeke then dismissed his other summons, except for Richmond, and activated his dragon eyes to scan the hall.
Richmond looked at Zeke and asked, “What are you doing, Master?”
“From my experience with dungeons, places with seals like this usually have hidden items.”
Using his dragon eyes, Zeke focused on the pedestal where the Ice Queen had stood.
He tapped it with Bahamut, then struck it with a forceful blow imbued with the power of gold.
Boom!
With his increased proficiency in the Elemental Sword, controlling his strength was much easier.
The pedestal shattered, revealing a chest inside.
“As expected, there was something here.”
Zeke approached and opened the chest.