Episode 370
CRACK!
Bahamut cleaved Viper’s body in two with a vertical slash.
“Is it over?”
Zeke had used the clone skill he gained from absorbing the Scythe of the Ever-Hungry and Belial’s power of Deception to create another self to deal with the monsters Viper summoned.
Belial’s Deception wasn’t just about tricking the opponent; it had real-world effects. If you deceived someone into thinking something was hot, they would actually feel the heat and suffer real burns, blurring the line between reality and illusion.
While Zeke’s manifested clone fought the monsters, he used his Spirit Form skill to sneak up on Viper from behind. He combined his skills with the power of the Will of Destruction to deliver a lethal blow. It wouldn’t have been surprising if Viper had been killed instantly.
But then, steam began to rise from Viper’s split body.
HISSS—
The steam coalesced, and Viper reappeared, whole once more. He turned his head, scythe in hand, and glared at Zeke.
“You insolent human…”
Zeke didn’t give Viper a chance to recover and charged at him immediately.
WHIRR!
Switching Bahamut for a hammer, Zeke swung it with immense force, striking Viper’s body.
BOOM!
Viper’s body exploded into pieces upon impact. Zeke quickly used the power of Frost to freeze the scattered remains.
CRACKLE!
At absolute zero, Viper’s scattered body parts froze solid. Zeke, ever cautious, picked up the massive scythe that had fallen to the ground.
WHIRR!
The scythe vibrated, resisting Zeke’s touch.
“Resistance is futile.”
Ignoring the scythe’s defiance, Zeke attempted to absorb it through his shadow. But just then, something struck him from behind.
BOOM!
A massive impact hit the back of Zeke’s armor, Herseion. Turning around, he saw Viper, restored once again, glaring down at him with a furious expression, devoid of his earlier playful demeanor.
The scythe Zeke had been holding melted away and reappeared in Viper’s hand.
“You damn pest! What is that weapon of yours? How can it create so many clones…?”
Viper realized his slip of the tongue too late. Zeke, as if expecting this, looked at him and said, “I had a hunch. You’re not the high-ranking demon Viper. You’re the Ever-Hungry One himself, controlling a clone.”
Arataso, shocked, exclaimed, “A celestial being? What are you saying? That creature is Viper, his servant…”
Zeke shook his head. “That’s what everyone thought. But I told you, the Ever-Hungry One can split and multiply his soul.”
Pointing at Viper, Zeke continued, “The so-called high-ranking demon Viper is just a clone created from the Ever-Hungry One’s divided and multiplied soul.”
Arataso shook his head in disbelief. “Why would he use his soul to create a clone when he could just accept a servant?”
Zeke looked at Viper and replied, “The Ever-Hungry One is all greed, with no power to bestow upon his servants.”
“What?”
Arataso couldn’t believe it. The Ever-Hungry One he knew was indeed greedy but also possessed immense power.
Sensing Arataso’s confusion, Zeke aimed his hammer at Viper and explained, “He can only split and multiply his soul to create illusory currency. When he needs something, he uses his multiplied soul to pay for it. He wraps his abilities in transactions and instills fear in demons with his insane clones. It’s all a twisted game and a lie.”
Viper, having heard Zeke’s explanation, spun his scythe with a murderous intent, ready to tear Zeke apart.
“You pathetic human, spouting nonsense.”
Zeke tapped his hammer with his palm and said, “Let’s see if it’s nonsense. It seems you’ve put a lot of effort into this Viper clone. Let’s test how many more you can make.”
The Ever-Hungry One was using his multiplied soul to deceive karma and control his clones. If all the souls he paid with disappeared, he would face karma’s wrath again.
WHOOSH!
Viper swung his scythe and drove it into the ground.
RUMBLE—
As the scythe’s blade pierced the earth, a sinister energy seeped into it.
CRACK!
The ground split open, and from within emerged knights in red armor, skeletal knights in black, and massive beast-like warriors.
Seeing the demonic minions crawling out of the ground, Arataso was taken aback.
“My God! Those are the Blood Knights of Bloodkeep, the Abyssal Knights of Abaddon… and even the beast warriors who serve the ‘Master of the Lowest Place’?”
Arataso was shocked to see the elite minions of the demon realm emerging from the ground.
The dozens of minions that crawled out of the earth exuded a murderous intent toward Zeke. Viper, with his scythe still embedded in the ground, glared at Zeke.
Zeke observed, “Judging by the strong minions, you haven’t fully paid for them. That scythe must be the token of your transaction.”
The Ever-Hungry One, controlling the Viper clone, gritted his teeth at Zeke’s words. This human understood the principles and nature of demonic transactions too well. Each of Zeke’s words felt like an invasion of his innermost thoughts.
He shouted at the borrowed minions, “Tear him apart!”
ROAR!
The first to charge at Zeke was a beast warrior resembling a three-headed werewolf. It served the same ‘Master of the Lowest Place’ as Griessmodal, whose soul Zeke had partially absorbed before. The beast warrior was as ferocious as it was powerful.
But against Zeke’s hammer, the beast warrior’s ferocity was meaningless.
BOOM!
With a single hammer blow, the beast warrior was driven deep into the ground.
GROWL—
Other beast warriors bared their teeth and charged at Zeke menacingly.
Zeke met them head-on, swinging his hammer.
BOOM!
With each swing, the beast warriors’ bones shattered, and their sharp teeth splintered and flew in all directions.
Zeke, without hesitation, crushed the skulls of the beast warriors with his demon-hunting skills.
If the war god Tyr had witnessed Zeke’s movements, he would have nodded in approval.
WHIRR!
When Zeke’s hammer finally stopped, the ground was littered with the bloodied corpses of beast warriors.
Catching his breath, Zeke absorbed the beast warriors’ bodies into his shadow.
Rejuvenated, Zeke tapped his hammer, stained with the beast warriors’ blood, and addressed Viper.
“I don’t know how much you paid to borrow them, but it seems you didn’t get your money’s worth.”
Viper, grinding his teeth at Zeke’s taunt, shouted, “What are you doing? Kill him already!”
The playful tone was long gone.
This time, the Blood Knights and Abyssal Knights charged at Zeke.
WHIRR!
The Blood Knights created a red mist, expanding their territory, while the Abyssal Knights spread a similar black smoke.
RUSTLE—
The red mist and black smoke began to envelop Zeke.
He recalled the trouble he had with the red mist when facing the royal vampire Garin in the overturned tower.
Holding his green sword, Zeke quietly asked Arataso, “I’ve dealt with Blood Knights before, but what are these Abyssal Knights?”
Arataso replied, “Among the fallen celestials, one of the six strongest demons is the ‘Master of the Abyss.’ The Abyssal Knights are the dark knights guarding his domain, Abaddon. The darkness they emit recreates the abyss itself, swallowing any attack.”
Hearing this, Zeke realized the Abyssal Knights’ dark barrier would be more troublesome.
“The darkness of the abyss, huh.”
Zeke peered into the impenetrable darkness, trying to sense any presence.
But the surrounding darkness dulled his senses, leaving him unable to detect anything.
Then, something occurred to Zeke.
“Raven, time to earn your keep.”
As Zeke glanced at his shoulder, Raven emerged from the boundary of dimensions.
GURGLE—
Having eaten and rested well, Raven had grown significantly since hatching from its egg.
Raven turned its head this way and that, peering into the abyssal darkness before spreading its wings and taking flight.
With a long, piercing cry, it unleashed the Phoenix’s Song.
Eeeeeeeeee—
The sound, inaudible to human ears, reverberated through the depths, shaking the darkness to its core.
Moments later, astonishingly, the darkness began to recede, centered around where Raven hovered.
“What the…?”
Zeke, who had summoned Raven on a whim, was taken aback when the true Phoenix’s Song shattered the abyssal barrier.
Crackling sounds filled the air as the barrier broke, revealing a thick red mist, as if conjured by a Blood Knight.
Zeke grinned, drawing his sword, Roland.
“This is something I can handle.”
He raised Roland skyward, unleashing a burst of holy light.
Crackling!
The powerful lightning struck the red mist and the Blood Knights advancing toward Zeke.
Boom!
The Blood Knights hit by the holy light fell to the ground, drained of their strength.
But more Blood Knights and Abyssal Knights emerged, advancing toward Zeke.
As Zeke prepared to face them, Raven circled above, then landed on his helmet, ceasing its song.
Zeke reached into his inventory and tossed a piece of jerky to Raven.
Raven caught it deftly and began to nibble.
“Good job, Raven. Take a break.”
With the jerky in its beak, Raven vanished into the dimensional rift.
Zeke eyed the approaching demonic knights, attaching a chain to his hammer’s handle.
“Let’s see how tough you really are.”
Whirring!
As Zeke swung the hammer by its chain, it sliced through the air with a menacing sound.
In a swift motion, he hurled the hammer at the demonic knights.
Whoosh!
The hammer, charged with immense power, flew at incredible speed.
Crash!
One of the leading Blood Knights was struck, its body pierced through, collapsing instantly.
Zeke yanked the chain, redirecting the hammer’s path.
The hammer swung in a wide arc, the chain wrapping around the minions, and Zeke channeled holy light through the chain.
Crackling!
Lightning surged, striking the minions ensnared by the chain.
The chain acted as a barrier, reflecting the lightning back, doubling the impact on the minions.
Screech!
The minions summoned by Viper were obliterated before they could even fight back.
Viper’s expression hardened as he watched.
Zeke, noticing Viper’s reaction, taunted him.
“Judging by your face, it seems there’s a penalty if your borrowed minions get hurt. I might just bankrupt you today.”
Viper gritted his teeth, frustrated by Zeke’s infuriating knowledge of demonic dealings.
Viper drew a dagger from his cloak.
It emanated a power not from the Ever-Hungry One, but from another celestial being.
Arataso sensed the power and shouted to Zeke.
[“I sense the power of the ‘Arbiter of Endless Strife’ in that dagger!”]
The ‘Arbiter of Endless Strife’ was a formidable demon, ruler of the Tumaz and master of the Balrogs.
Viper plunged the dagger into his own heart.
Crackling—
As the dagger pierced his heart, Viper’s form began to change.
His clown mask remained, but horns sprouted from his head, his limbs elongated, and wings emerged from his back.
He now resembled a fusion of a clown and a Balrog.
Zeke realized that something unprecedented had occurred with Viper’s transformation.
The fallen celestial, the Arbiter of Endless Strife, and the Ever-Hungry One’s powers had merged, awakening Viper as an avatar.