Episode 434
“Boss?”
Boris stared at Zeke, who stood blocking his path, with an expression of disbelief.
Zeke spoke as he observed Boris’s body, which had nearly been incinerated but was now regenerating thanks to his healing factor.
“Boris, I won’t allow you to retire until I say so.”
Despite himself, Boris couldn’t help but smile at Zeke’s words. Just having Zeke there made the oppressive aura that Abel exuded seem insignificant.
Turning his gaze from Boris to Abel, who was wielding Zahhak, Zeke spoke.
“It’s been a while, Abel.”
Abel glared at Zeke with eyes filled with madness.
“Zeke… Zeke Draker…”
“Yes, it’s me. Abel, you look… quite unwell.”
With the power of the Third Eye, Zeke could instantly assess Abel’s condition. Abel, who had once died by Zeke’s hand, was now nothing more than an empty shell, his soul long gone.
Zeke shook his head at the cruelty of Ramon Jimenez, who had gone to such lengths to preserve even Abel’s husk.
He raised Bahamut and fixed his gaze on Abel.
“You wouldn’t have wanted to live like this. As a brother, I’ll send you off cleanly.”
As he finished speaking, a holy light emanated from Zeke’s body. In response, black flames erupted fiercely from Zahhak, which Abel held.
“Kill! Kill! Kill!”
Engulfed in flames, Abel charged at Zeke.
Whoosh!
Zeke effortlessly swung Bahamut to block Abel’s sword.
Boom!
The powerful clash sent shockwaves rippling through the surroundings. Abel staggered back, grimacing from the recoil that coursed through his body. Yet Zeke’s expression remained unchanged.
Zeke looked at Abel with a calm demeanor and said, “Abel, you’ve really weakened.”
Though he had once reached the level of a Black Knight with the help of the baptismal power, the current Abel could only unleash unquenchable black flames, with no trace of his former prowess.
Abel raised Zahhak again, igniting the flames once more.
Fwoosh!
As the flames roared, Zeke wielded Bahamut and invoked the power of freezing.
Crackle―
The black flames that had been flying toward Zeke froze in place, their form preserved in ice. Zeke’s freezing power had turned Abel’s flames to ice.
As Zeke advanced, the area of freezing expanded with his movement. Soon, the entire vicinity was frozen, and Abel, who had ignited the flames, retreated in panic.
“Kill! Kill! Kill, Zeke Draker!”
Even as he retreated, Abel continued to repeat his murderous mantra. Zeke spoke softly as he watched him.
“Do you even remember why you want to kill me, Abel?”
Abel didn’t respond, only continuing to chant his deadly refrain.
‘He’s beyond rational thought.’
There was no point in prolonging this with a soulless shell. Having blocked Abel’s flames with his freezing power, Zeke moved slowly toward him.
The black flames were a power of Zahhak, the sword that had once belonged to Terracan Draker. If he could just take the sword, Abel would be powerless.
Whoosh!
Zeke’s sword was imbued with the full force of his will. He swung it with precision.
Slice―
Abel’s arm, clad in dragon scales, fell away effortlessly. The arm holding Zahhak tumbled to the ground.
For the first time, Abel let out a scream instead of his usual chant.
“Argh!”
It seemed less a cry of pain and more a howl of rage at the loss of his arm. Abel’s scream echoed throughout the collapsing mausoleum.
As the sword fell with the arm, the black flames Abel had wielded began to wane.
Zeke pointed his sword at Abel once more and spoke.
“The cursed dragon’s heart implanted in you… I don’t know what Ramon Jimenez intended with it, but this time, I’ll destroy it properly.”
He focused his full power into the sword aimed at Abel. Sensing the threat, Abel tried to retreat in panic.
But Zeke’s sword was faster.
Whoosh!
With unwavering resolve, Zeke’s sword pierced Abel’s heart.
Crunch!
The sound of bones breaking accompanied the gaping hole in Abel’s heart.
“Ugh!”
Abel clutched his pierced heart and fell to his knees. Yet, despite the successful attack, Zeke sensed something amiss.
‘The dragon’s heart is missing?’
To his astonishment, the cursed dragon’s heart was absent from Abel’s body. As Zeke moved to approach the kneeling Abel, something emerged from a rift in space behind him.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Four knights appeared beside Abel. Each wore armor in red, blue, black, and white hues.
Zeke was taken aback at the sight.
‘Could they be… the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?’
These knights, known as the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, had been a terror to the Northern Alliance during the Rom Empire’s expansion across the continent. Their appearance on the battlefield was synonymous with death, striking fear even into the hearts of the fierce and brave northern knights.
Zeke vividly recalled the time he had seen the Horsemen during the war as part of the Northern Alliance. They had appeared suddenly, even when the situation wasn’t dire for the Alliance, and changed the course of the battle entirely.
Within a week, the fortress, once considered impregnable, fell to the Empire, and many lives were lost. Losing that strategic stronghold opened the path for the Empire to advance toward the Alliance’s headquarters in Himonas.
Had the Horsemen not appeared on the battlefield back then, the outcome might have been different.
‘To think the Horsemen would appear here.’
Their appearance was much earlier than in his past life. As Zeke hesitated, caught off guard by their unexpected arrival, the Horsemen surrounded Abel and drew their swords.
The red knight’s sword blazed with fire, the blue knight’s with frost, the black knight’s with poison, and the white knight’s with electricity.
The Horsemen advanced toward Zeke, their eyes glinting menacingly from within their helmets, and swung their swords at him.
Boom!
Fire, frost, poison, and electricity surged toward Zeke simultaneously.
Boom!
Zeke evaded their attack with a gust of wind and immediately attempted a mana reversal technique.
Screech―
Yet, despite his efforts, the Horsemen remained unaffected.
‘At least it’s not the power of magical artifacts.’
If they had been artifacts, they would have been easier to handle, but the Horsemen of the Apocalypse were not so easily dealt with.
Proving their formidable nature, the four knights spread out around Zeke, intensifying the elemental energies imbued in their swords.
Rumble!
The white knight was the first to strike.
Crackle!
As Zeke clashed swords with the white knight, electricity coursed through his body. An ordinary knight would have been reduced to a charred husk just from facing the white knight.
But Zeke was no ordinary knight, and the electricity failed to inflict significant damage.
Crackle―
The speed of his regeneration and healing factor outpaced the rate at which the electricity seared his body. Though he felt the sharp pain, Zeke quickly adapted to the onslaught.
Determined to endure, Zeke gripped his sword with one hand and drew a hammer with the other, swinging it at the white knight with all his might.
Boom!
The white knight was sent flying by the force of the blow. With the white knight out of the way, Zeke made a move toward Abel.
But there were still four Horsemen. The blue knight swiftly blocked Zeke’s path.
Crunch!
The blue knight’s sword unleashed a powerful frost. For most knights, even a glancing blow would freeze them solid, but it was ineffective against Zeke.
Crack!
Zeke countered the blue knight’s frost with his freezing power, causing the blue knight’s legs to freeze in place.
Zeke swung his hammer at the immobilized blue knight.
Boom!
The sound of armor crumpling echoed as the blue knight was knocked aside.
“Haah!”
Zeke reached out toward Abel, unleashing a storm of lightning. But the red and black knights appeared, raising their shields to block his attack.
Crackle―
Zeke didn’t hesitate. He swung his hammer directly at the two knights.
Crash!
The shield of the black knight splintered under Zeke’s powerful blow.
But as the black knight staggered, the red knight, having dodged the attack, swung his flaming sword.
Whoosh!
A torrent of fire surged toward Zeke.
In an instant, a fierce wind erupted from Zeke’s body.
The Elemental Sword’s wind field had been unleashed.
Whirl!
A violent storm enveloped the red knight, hurling him far away.
With the knights dispatched, Zeke charged toward Abel, sword in hand.
That’s when it happened.
Vroom!
The space in front of Abel distorted, and something emerged.
A hand shot out from the warped space, deflecting Zeke’s sword.
Clang!
The force of the rebound pushed Zeke back.
Though momentarily taken aback, Zeke quickly regained his composure and focused on the figure emerging from the distortion.
A black-hooded sorcerer.
Zeke scrutinized him with wary eyes, sensing the ominous aura emanating from him.
Then, he realized who it was.
“Harvey West.”
The genius madman of Nirvana and the priest of the Abyss, Harvey West, had appeared.
From beneath the hood, yellow eyes gleamed menacingly.
The priest addressed Zeke.
“Zeke Draker. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
Instead of responding, Zeke drew his sword, Roland, and summoned its holy light.
The knights of the Apocalypse regrouped beside the priest.
‘So the knights of the Apocalypse weren’t from Siemens but from the Abyss.’
In his past life, Zeke had assumed they were secret warriors raised by the Empire. But in this life, he had uncovered the intricate web connecting the Rom Empire, Siemens, the Nostra family, and the Abyss.
The priest stepped forward and spoke to Zeke.
“I’ve been watching you for a long time, knight of salvation.”
Zeke advanced toward the priest, Roland in hand.
“Watching from the shadows, and now you decide to show yourself. What changed?”
Zeke glanced at Abel’s fallen body behind the priest.
Then he spoke slowly.
“That empty shell must be quite important, both to the Abyss and Siemens.”
Though Zeke’s words were loaded with meaning, the priest showed no emotional reaction. Instead, he calmly turned and placed a hand on Abel’s shoulder.
Amazingly, the severed arm began to bubble and regenerate.
“Ugh!”
Simultaneously, Abel’s draconic form reverted to his original human shape.
The priest removed his hand from Abel and addressed Zeke.
“Though just a shell, Abel’s body is crucial to us.”
“Because it’s the vessel to resurrect the Demon King. Without Abel’s body, infused with the dragon’s heart, the Demon King’s soul wouldn’t survive.”
For a moment, the priest’s eyes, hidden beneath the hood, flickered with surprise.
“Zeke Draker, you are truly an enigma.”
Surprisingly, there was a hint of admiration in the priest’s voice, as if he were genuinely intrigued by Zeke.
The priest continued, now with a note of regret.
“Your existence is remarkable, but if you continue to interfere with our plans, I cannot overlook it any longer.”
“That’s rich, as if you’ve been holding back all this time.”
“Do you not think so?”
With those words, the priest revealed his true power.
Rumble!
The overwhelming pressure emanating from the priest nearly forced Zeke to his knees.
‘This is…’
A power surpassing that of the black knights.
Harvey West, the priest of the Abyss, possessed at least the strength of a Grand Master.
He spoke slowly to Zeke.
“Zeke Draker, I have a proposal for you.”
The priest extended his hand toward Zeke, speaking deliberately.
“Join me, and together we can eliminate Arthur Draker.”