Episode 417
“Offering a peaceful death, are you? How very merciful of you, Zeke Draker.”
Rahim glared at Zeke as he spoke, pulling something from his coat. It was a syringe filled with a dark liquid.
“Do you know what this is?” Rahim asked, holding the syringe up for Zeke to see.
Zeke took a step closer, his eyes narrowing. “I don’t know what it is, but it doesn’t look like something you’d want in your body.”
Rahim’s lips curled into a sinister smile. “This contains the ‘power of immortality.’”
Zeke frowned at the mention of immortality. ‘Immortality?’
Before he could react, Rahim swiftly plunged the syringe into Najim’s neck.
“Gah!”
Najim shuddered violently, clearly not expecting Rahim to inject him with the liquid.
“Don’t worry, Najim,” Rahim said, watching him with a cold gaze. “Unlike what I gave to those wretches, this is a perfected formula from the lab. It will grant you new strength.”
Since surviving the corrosive power that had nearly dissolved half his body, Rahim had become a different man. Once a cautious and composed leader and strategist, he now pursued his goals with ruthless determination, making decisions devoid of emotion.
Najim, injected with the serum, clutched his shoulder, trembling in agony. Zeke watched, then turned to Rahim.
“I think I’ve given you enough time. It seems a peaceful death is out of the question.”
Rahim chuckled darkly. “Is that so?”
Suddenly, a massive black blade flew towards Zeke.
Clang!
Zeke swiftly swung his sword, deflecting the blade. But more blades followed, forcing him to retreat under the relentless assault.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
As Zeke defended himself, Najim slowly rose from the ground. Blades sprouted from his body, and his eyes turned pitch black. The mask covering half his face fell away, revealing a mouth sewn shut with stitches.
With a flick of his wrist, Najim tore the stitches from his mouth, unleashing a chilling laugh.
“Ha ha ha!”
His teeth were all blades, and his body bristled with sharp edges. Zeke tightened his grip on his sword, wary of the grotesque transformation.
‘Unlike the others, he hasn’t lost his mind completely.’
Rahim had claimed this was a perfected formula, and indeed, Najim retained his sanity and his bloodline abilities, now seemingly amplified.
Najim extended his arm, and small blades shot out from his forearm, spinning rapidly.
Whirrrrr!
The spinning blades emitted a menacing sound, and Najim grinned with satisfaction.
“Ha ha ha!”
He charged at Zeke, moving with the fluidity of a martial artist, his spinning blades turning a simple thrust into a deadly attack.
Clang!
Zeke blocked the attack with his sword, sparks flying from the impact.
“Ha ha ha!”
Najim continued his assault, his movements becoming more fluid as he incorporated kicks into his attacks, each one armed with spinning blades.
Clang!
Zeke parried the kicks, retreating to reassess his opponent.
‘I’ve never faced an attack like this before.’
Najim, with blades spinning from both hands and feet, seemed to transcend human limits. Yet, the system still recognized him as human.
Watching the battle, Rahim smirked at Zeke. “Zeke Draker, this place will be your grave.”
With that, Rahim pulled a high-compression magic bomb from his pocket. But before he could act, the bomb vanished, reappearing right in front of Zeke.
‘Damn…’
Zeke tried to dodge, but the bomb exploded before he could move.
Boom!
Thanks to his armor, Zeke wasn’t severely injured, but the explosion obscured his vision, and he lost sight of Najim.
‘Where is he?’
Another bomb appeared in front of him, exploding instantly.
Boom!
The successive explosions left Zeke momentarily disoriented. Through the dust, Najim seized the opportunity, attacking Zeke’s blind spot.
Whirrrrr!
The spinning blades targeted the joints of Zeke’s armor.
Clang!
Even the mighty armor had vulnerable spots at the joints. Najim crafted a thin blade, driving it into the gap behind Zeke’s knee.
“Ugh!”
Zeke staggered back, the blade embedded in his leg. More bombs exploded near his head, driving him into a wall.
Boom!
The wall crumbled, burying Zeke in debris. He struggled to rise, but Najim was already upon him, crafting a long, thin blade.
Najim approached the fallen Zeke, driving the blade into the gap of his helmet.
Crunch!
The blade pierced through, penetrating the top of Zeke’s head. Najim didn’t stop, embedding blades into every gap in the armor.
Rahim watched with satisfaction. “The experiment is a resounding success. To think a chimera could wield such power… I’m very pleased…”
Suddenly, Rahim’s gloating was cut short as Roland’s blade pierced his abdomen.
Rahim clutched the blade in disbelief, turning to see Zeke, unarmored, holding him with a fierce grip.
“You… you…”
Rahim turned to where Najim was, still attacking the empty armor.
“Najim! He’s here!”
Najim looked up, realizing he had been attacking a decoy.
“Ha ha ha!”
As Najim charged towards Rahim and Zeke, black smoke billowed from the fallen armor.
Zeke’s shadow clone, created with his skill, took form and intercepted Najim.
Boom!
While the shadow clone engaged Najim, Zeke unleashed Solomon’s Chains, binding Najim from behind.
Clang!
“Ha ha ha!”
Blades erupted from Najim’s body, spinning wildly to cut the chains, but to no avail. The chains, capable of binding even souls, tightened around him.
“Argh!”
Najim struggled, but the chains held firm. Rahim, realizing his escape was blocked, attempted to teleport.
Crackle!
Electricity surged through his body, his magic backfiring.
“Cough!”
Rahim spat black blood, his teleportation thwarted by Zeke’s magic disruption.
Rahim looked at Zeke in disbelief. “This… this can’t be…”
Zeke, standing over the fallen Rahim, spoke calmly. “You should have listened when I offered you a peaceful end.”
Without hesitation, he extended his hand, activating the Dragon’s Wisdom.
Vroom!
[Dragon’s Wisdom skill activated.]
[Dragon’s senses integrated with the skill.]
[Accessing target’s karma data.]
As the skill activated, Rahim’s karma data flowed into Zeke’s mind. Having practiced on inanimate objects, he was more prepared this time.
Using the Sage’s Eye, Zeke quickly sifted through the data, focusing on information related to the Nostra family.
Among the data, Zeke found details about the ‘black serum’ Rahim had used.
‘Chimera, laboratory, and… the Four Fiends?’
To his surprise, the serum was linked to the Four Fiends. Zeke delved deeper into the karma data.
Vroom!
The Sage’s Eye filtered the relevant information, revealing details about the chimera experiments.
‘One of the Four Fiends, Doal. They captured him and used his corrupted holy blood to create a serum that enhances bloodline abilities.’
The completed serum enhanced the powers of bloodline users and granted regenerative abilities. The incomplete version, when injected into humans, created mindless monsters like the assassins of Salmak.
As Zeke absorbed the information, he realized the Nostra family’s chimera experiments were a continuation of the human experiments conducted in the Join tribe’s ghetto.
“Human experimentation with the Honghwa disease, enhancement of bloodline abilities, chimera experiments… all of it connected to the Nostra family?”
Even after capturing Dario, one of the Nostra family’s top lieutenants, the identity of the elusive boss remained a mystery.
Dario himself claimed he’d never seen the boss who ruled over the entire family, a testament to the organization’s impenetrable security.
Seizing the opportunity, Zeke attempted to use the Eye of the Sage to access karma information about the Nostra family’s boss.
But a warning message flashed before him.
[Access to this karma data is restricted.]
[An access medium is required to view this karma data.]
In other words, Zeke needed an object or person linked to the Nostra family’s boss to access the data.
“Guess there’s no other way.”
Zeke closed his eyes, dismissing the Dragon’s Wisdom skill, and opened them again.
Rahim was drenched in cold sweat, his eyes lifeless as if all his energy had been drained.
He managed to lift his gaze and spoke in a strained voice.
“What have you done to me…?”
“Nothing much. Just took a peek at the information in your head.”
Rahim’s eyes widened in shock at Zeke’s words.
Glaring at Zeke, Rahim declared, “Zeke Draker… I’ll drag you to hell with me, no matter what.”
With that, Rahim injected a vial of corrupted holy blood into his thigh, a move Zeke couldn’t stop in time.
A sizzling sound filled the air as Rahim’s bloodline abilities, enhanced by the power of the Four Fiends, caused his body to shimmer and vanish.
Zeke drew Bahamut, staying on high alert.
“Has his spatial movement ability been enhanced?”
Flashes of light erupted all around as Rahim appeared and disappeared, darting across the ceiling and walls.
“Ka-ha-ha-ha!”
Like Najim before him, Rahim’s abilities had been amplified, but his sanity seemed compromised, replaced by a wild frenzy.
As Zeke assessed the situation, Rahim suddenly appeared behind him.
Thud!
Rahim’s fist shot forward, and to Zeke’s surprise, it phased through space, piercing his abdomen.
“Ugh!”
Despite the hole in his stomach, Zeke charged at Rahim, who vanished again through spatial movement.
His uniform remained intact, but blood seeped from the wound inside.
Yet, for the immortal Zeke, such injuries were trivial.
The wound had already healed, but Zeke feigned injury to lure Rahim into a false sense of security.
“Where is he?”
As Zeke scanned the area, Rahim emerged near Najim, who was bound by shadow chains.
Simultaneously, Rahim placed his hand on a blade created by Najim.
Zeke realized Rahim’s intent.
Swoosh!
In an instant, Najim’s blades erupted from Zeke’s body.
Thud!
Rahim had transported Najim’s blades into Zeke’s body through spatial movement.
With eyes darkened, Rahim looked down at the kneeling Zeke, his voice like nails on a chalkboard.
“Zeke Draker, today you die here.”