Episode 447
As soon as the name Zeke Draker was mentioned, Manna’s eyes lit up with interest.
“The Knight of Salvation, you say? I heard he became Nigel’s disciple.”
Nigel bristled at the comment.
“Disciple? Hardly! His skills were so abysmal, I just showed him the basics of holding a sword!”
Nabu snorted at Nigel’s outburst.
“Lost all your cards and now you’re bluffing.”
Nigel shot a murderous glare at Nabu, but Manna clapped his hands together in a gesture of peace.
Boom!
An aura radiated from Manna, instantly dispelling Nigel’s hostility. Manna, the last monk of the long-lost Dae-Ra sect, had cast an impenetrable barrier of protection.
After a brief chant, Manna spoke, “Om Aranam Arada Sabaha… So, Nabu, why do you need the power of the Knight of Salvation?”
Though the tension had dissipated, Nabu, still caught in Nigel’s grip, gasped for air.
“Ugh… It’s because… there’s a limit to karma over there.”
Hearing this, Nigel shook Nabu’s neck furiously.
“Stop beating around the bush and explain yourself, you slippery eel!”
Nabu grimaced, managing to unfurl his fan.
Swoosh—
In an instant, Nabu vanished and reappeared behind Manna, speaking from his new position.
“You’re as cranky as an old hag. Anyway, what I mean is, if we go there, karma might recognize our existence and open the path to the Peach Blossom Spring.”
Manna’s eyes widened in surprise.
“The path to the Peach Blossom Spring… That could mean the restrictions placed on us by the leader might be lifted.”
Nigel gritted her teeth and retorted, “Peach Blossom Spring? As if I’d want to go to some retirement home!”
Nabu clicked his tongue.
“Nigel, you old hag, you wouldn’t be out of place there. Honestly, it’s a wonder a monster like you is still in the mortal realm…”
Woooom!
As Nigel’s energy flared again, Manna’s protective barrier wavered. Manna quickly calmed Nigel down, preventing her from losing her temper.
Floating lazily in the air, Nabu fanned himself and said, “Anyway, if we go, it’s a direct ticket to the Peach Blossom Spring, so we need a reliable agent.”
Manna asked, “Is there a reason you can’t select suitable candidates from the Highlanders?”
Nabu looked slightly embarrassed as he replied, “Well, to put it bluntly, our guys would be dead before they even got there.”
Manna’s eyes widened in shock at Nabu’s blunt assessment. Known as the Hermit of Stories, Nabu was usually lighthearted but never wrong. His discerning eye for talent meant that anyone he acknowledged was truly exceptional.
“For Nabu to say such a thing… I’m curious about this Knight of Salvation.”
Nigel, still glaring at Nabu, grumbled, “Fine, I get it. Then hurry up and call Zeke. Once he destroys that place, we can take care of the rest of the beasts.”
Nabu looked sheepish again. “Ah, about that. I’ve been trying to reach Zeke, but I can’t seem to get through to him.”
Nigel finally exploded at Nabu’s words.
“You’ve got to be kidding me! You drag us here and now you’re playing games?”
“Hey, why are you mad at me? It’s not my fault your disciple is unreachable! Like master, like disciple, both doing whatever they please!”
As Nigel and Nabu bickered, Manna turned his attention outside the tent. In a low voice, he addressed them both.
“It seems this isn’t the time for us to be fighting.”
Nabu and Nigel focused on where Manna was looking, and both were taken aback.
“What is this? An upper-class demon… No, this is the aura of a supreme-class demon!”
Narak had devised a way to summon upper-class demons into the mortal realm using artificial bloodstones. However, it was believed that the maximum limit for these stones was upper-class demons. Yet, the aura they felt now was unmistakably that of a supreme-class demon.
Nabu’s expression turned grave. “And this… it’s been summoned with its full power intact. The energy waves are completely different.”
Nigel nodded, drawing her sword. “Those Narak bastards have gone and summoned a supreme-class demon now. Do they have nine lives or something? Manna, keep the barrier strong, and Nabu, stop messing around and keep trying to contact Zeke. Tell him to get here as soon as you reach him.”
Woooom!
As her body lifted into the air, Nigel’s powerful aura enveloped her.
“I’ll take care of that demon.”
Boom—
With a thunderous roar, Nigel shot out of the tent, heading straight for the source of the demonic energy. Feeling the storm-like force of Nigel’s aura, Nabu wiped the sweat from his brow.
“Wow, that old hag’s got some strength.”
Looking back, he saw Manna already seated in meditation, chanting to maintain the impenetrable barrier against the beasts.
Nabu pulled a mirror from his robe. “Come on, Zeke, pick up. Hurry.”
“Solomon obtained the power of immortality.”
Hearing the Elder Dragon’s words, Zeke’s eyes flickered with uncertainty. He had always wondered how the power of immortality had originated, how it had passed from Solomon to the Draker family.
“The first immortal… Was that power a remnant of a rift that defied fate?”
A small rift created by the God of Chaos, an irregularity. This rift, combined with various elements, had unexpectedly resulted in the power of immortality.
After a moment of contemplation, Zeke asked the Elder Dragon, “Did King Solomon seek the power of immortality from the start?”
“Immortality is a paradox that no mortal can possess. Not even Solomon could have intentionally created such a paradox. It was the rift created by the God of Chaos that led to this outcome.”
The fact that an immortal, capable of killing celestial beings, had emerged purely by chance was astonishing.
The Elder Dragon continued, “After becoming immortal, Solomon pondered what he could do with his newfound power. The path he chose was something even I couldn’t foresee.”
Zeke had a hunch about what that path was.
“Did he start the divine hunt back then?”
“Solomon, realizing he was an immortal, sought to save the world from the clutches of the celestials.”
It was essentially the same story, so Zeke nodded, retrieving Solomon’s ring from his inventory.
“Then, was this ring also received when he began the divine hunt?”
“Solomon used the Akashic Code to create the initial form of the system. After sharing that system, I too could manipulate karma. That ring was the first artifact I crafted while handling karma, intended to seal away malevolent beings.”
Sensing something amiss in the Elder Dragon’s explanation, Zeke asked, “So it wasn’t originally made to seal fallen celestials?”
“In the age of celestials, there were many dangerous entities on earth besides the celestials. Solomon, to protect his people, fought those entities himself, sealing their souls in the ring without relying on celestial power.”
The system’s description had stated that Solomon’s ring was for sealing fallen celestials and upper-class demons, so Zeke hadn’t considered other uses.
“It seems it could originally seal other souls as well.”
Just then, the ground and walls began to tremble.
Rumble—
Feeling the massive vibrations, Zeke asked the Elder Dragon, “What’s happening all of a sudden?”
Crackle—
The statue of the Elder Dragon on the throne flickered, its form appearing and disappearing.
“It’s them.”
Sparks flew from the dragon statue on the throne.
Crackle—
As Zeke moved toward the statue, the Elder Dragon’s voice echoed in his ear.
“It seems I’ve used too much of my remaining causality.”
The sparks intensified, electricity arcing in all directions.
The dragon statue flickered, the Elder Dragon’s words breaking up.
“This place, Carcosa… exists yet does not exist… within a fragment of space-time… causality is lacking… they can invade…”
Repeating the Elder Dragon’s fragmented words, Zeke pondered.
“A fragment of space-time? Who are ‘they’…?”
Screech—
A horrific sound reverberated throughout the hall.
“That sound?”
Something slithered through the cracks in the ceiling and walls of the hall.
From the crevices, tendrils dripping with acidic fluid revealed sharp teeth.
Zeke recognized what these tendrils were.
“External species?”
One of the tendrils swelled, splitting open to reveal an eye.
The eyes protruding from the tentacles glared at Zeke.
Suddenly, the tentacles of the alien species began to coil around the pillars of the grand hall, descending slowly.
Then, like the head of a snake, they straightened and advanced toward where Zeke stood.
As the alien species appeared, the storm of electricity swirling around the dragon statue on the throne intensified.
The voice of the Elder Dragon flickered back to life.
“Connection… Zeke Draker… to the north of the city… there’s a temple…”
With those words, the dragon statue vanished completely.
Zeke didn’t catch the full message, but he knew it was time to move.
Without hesitation, he drew Roland and equipped Hershion.
He pointed his sword at the dozens of tentacles approaching him.
“Come and get me.”
A screech echoed as the tentacles lunged at Zeke.
In an instant, a surge of holy energy erupted from Roland.
Crackling—
A white bolt of lightning shot out from the sacred weapon hovering above Zeke’s head, striking in all directions.
The tentacles, scorched by the light, quickly regenerated, multiplying into even more tentacles.
Watching this, Zeke, now wearing Agamemnon’s mask, summoned a radiant blade of light and slashed at the tentacles.
Slicing through them, acidic fluid sprayed from the severed ends.
The acid was so potent that the stone it touched corroded and crumbled away.
No matter how many times Zeke cut them down, the tentacles kept growing back, increasing in number.
“This is endless.”
To halt their advance, Zeke unleashed the power of freezing.
A chilling aura spread from his body, imbued with the power of ice.
The tentacles froze upon contact, immobilized and solidified in place.
Zeke had successfully stopped their movement with the freezing power.
“I need to head north while I can…”
Just then, one of the frozen tentacles began to glow red.
Astonishingly, it dispelled the freezing power and started moving again.
The other tentacles also turned red, one by one breaking free of the ice and baring their fangs at Zeke.
“How are they breaking free of the power on their own? I’ve never seen anything like this…”
Zeke immediately released the freezing power and swung his sword at the tentacles.
Dodging the incoming tentacles, he unleashed both his dragon skills and his full strength.
The claws of the dragon and the will of his resolve sliced through the tentacles.
Yet, the severed tentacles regenerated, multiplying even more.
Their numbers had noticeably increased since the beginning.
“Annoying creatures.”
Then, a thought flashed through Zeke’s mind.
He remembered using the elemental power of the Elemental Sword to repair the statue of the goddess Theia when the alien species first emerged.
“Maybe the Elemental Sword?”
Zeke immediately gripped Roland and summoned the power of the Elemental Sword.
“Focus…”
The Elemental Sword was so powerful that even Zeke found it difficult to control.
It was crucial to manage it carefully to avoid losing control.
Zeke summoned the most potent force of the Elemental Sword: the field of fire.
Flames erupted from his sword, pure and intense.
“I can control it up to this point. The key is when I swing the sword.”
The tentacles, eyes rolling, crawled along the walls, floor, and ceiling, closing in on Zeke.
Then, in a flash, the tentacles shot toward him.
With a swift step forward, Zeke gripped his sword.
Elemental Sword
Field of Fire
White Flame Frenzy
The blazing white flames engulfed the entire grand hall, turning it into a sea of white.