Episode 494
Edward Siemens emerged from the portal, exuding an overwhelming presence.
A high-ranking mage spotted him and rushed over.
“Sir Edward! What brings you here?”
Edward glared at the mage, his eyes full of reprimand, as if to say, “How dare someone like you question my purpose?”
The mage quickly shut his mouth and bowed his head.
Still displeased, Edward addressed him.
“The production of the bloodstones has been delayed, so I came to collect them myself.”
The mage stammered, flustered by Edward’s words.
“Th-the thing is… we’ve been having trouble sourcing materials lately…”
Edward’s eyes flashed dangerously.
The mage suddenly found himself lifted into the air.
“I don’t want to hear your pathetic excuses. Your sole purpose is to produce these bloodstones. Fail in that, and you have no value.”
“S-sorry, Sir Edward. We’ll try to increase production as much as possible!”
Edward, still unsatisfied, tossed the mage to the ground.
As he continued to glare at the mage, Edward suddenly tilted his head, puzzled.
“Hmm?”
And in that instant, he vanished.
Boris, who had been watching from the shadows, was taken aback by Edward’s sudden disappearance.
‘Where did he go?’
Then, a cold voice pierced the air.
“So, rats have crawled in.”
Edward’s voice sent a chill down Boris and his team’s spines, freezing them in place.
An indescribable power emanated from Edward, making it impossible for Boris to move under his cold gaze.
Edward looked down at them and spoke.
“Tell me where you’re from.”
With a wave of his hand, the team was slammed against the wall.
“Ugh!”
It was a force similar to Zion’s telekinesis.
They were completely immobilized.
Zion tried to counter Edward’s power with his own, but it was futile.
Edward sensed Zion’s attempt and sneered.
“Trying to oppose me with such a trivial bloodline ability? Foolish.”
The pressure on their bodies intensified.
Boris glared at Edward and spoke.
“Looks like Siemens’ fool sold his soul to demons for some half-baked power.”
Edward turned his head towards Boris, the pressure on him increasing.
He approached Boris, leaning in close.
“Say that again.”
“Siemens’ fool.”
Thud!
Edward’s gauntleted fist slammed into Boris’s stomach.
“Ugh…”
With a single blow, Boris’s ribs cracked, and his insides ruptured, blood gushing from his mouth.
“Say it again.”
“How much did you… suck up to the demons…”
Thud!
This time, Edward’s fist struck Boris’s face.
His face was shattered in an instant.
Teeth scattered across the floor, and his jaw hung loosely.
It was a wonder he was still alive.
Edward grabbed Boris by the hair and shook him.
“I won’t kill you. I’ll throw you into my torture chamber, where you’ll neither live nor die.”
Boris, struggling, looked at Edward and spoke.
“Screw… you…”
Edward raised his hand.
Crack!
An invisible force crushed Boris’s limbs.
Yet Boris still managed to smirk at Edward.
“Heh… Siemens’ idiot… throwing a tantrum…”
Edward, about to strike again, suddenly paused, sensing something amiss.
‘Could it be?’
As he turned his head, a loud explosion erupted.
The machinery producing the bloodstones shattered with a deafening roar.
Debris flew everywhere, and the mages nearby were caught in the blast.
The bloodstone production site descended into chaos.
Edward gritted his teeth and shouted.
“Who dares!”
Through the dust, something flew swiftly towards him.
Thud!
A sword embedded itself in Edward’s shoulder.
The white cross-shaped sword, the holy sword Ascalon, crackled with white electricity.
Zzzzt!
The powerful current enveloped Edward’s body.
“Argh!”
Edward gritted his teeth, trying to fend off the holy energy with his aura.
But he couldn’t stop the light’s electric charge from invading his body.
“Aaaagh!”
With a pained groan, Edward staggered back.
Whirrr—
Ascalon emitted a strange sound, then floated into the air, flying off somewhere.
Moments later, from the shadows shrouded in dust, a figure with golden eyes emerged.
A man clad in a dark Drake uniform.
Edward recognized him instantly, feeling a primal fear.
‘Z-Zeke Draker.’
Zeke, holding the returned Ascalon, glared at Edward.
“Edward Siemens. It’s been a while.”
Their enmity had persisted since the Draker martial arts tournament.
Zeke extended his hand towards Boris and the intelligence team.
A golden light enveloped them, healing their bodies.
Even Boris, who had been gravely injured, was restored to his original state.
“Whew… I thought I was a goner this time, boss.”
Boris had already reported to Zeke via communication devices that this was a bloodstone production facility and that Edward Siemens had appeared, sending coordinates immediately.
Zeke, upon receiving the coordinates, had used the system portal to arrive and destroy the bloodstone machinery first.
Edward clutched his wounded shoulder, glaring at Zeke.
“Zeke Draker, how dare you…!”
“Looks like you’ve received a filthy baptism from the Abyss, Edward.”
Edward’s talent had been, at best, slightly above average.
For him to suddenly appear so powerful meant he had been strengthened by a baptism from the Abyss.
Edward gritted his teeth at Zeke’s words.
“No one can stop me now, Edward Siemens. I’ve been reborn!”
With that, he reached out, and a lavishly adorned spear appeared in the air.
Fwoosh!
Black flames from the demon realm blazed along the spear’s blade.
It was clearly an artifact from the demon realm, not the physical world.
Edward charged at Zeke with the spear.
“Haaah!”
Black flames shot from the spear, hurtling towards Zeke.
Boom!
The flames split into dozens of tendrils, wrapping around Zeke from all sides.
Fwoosh!
The demon realm’s black flames were incomparably hotter than any earthly fire.
Edward was certain Zeke would be reduced to ashes.
‘Damn Zeke Draker. Finally, I can kill you with my own hands…’
But then, the raging flames flickered differently.
Thud!
From within, Zeke emerged, clad in the armor of Teia’s Hersion.
Holding the holy sword Ascalon, with the moonlit aura of Hersion, Zeke looked like a knight from legend.
Zeke brushed off Edward’s black flames as he approached.
“Doesn’t seem like you’ve improved much since your baptism, Edward.”
Edward, who had been taken aback, gritted his teeth and raised his spear again.
“Arrogant fool! Today, you’ll die with your heart pierced by my spear!”
Boom!
The black flames from the spear and the aura emanating from Edward’s body combined, spreading fire in all directions.
For ordinary knights, Edward’s flames would have melted them armor and all.
But for Zeke, these flames were of no consequence.
Fwoosh!
White flames flickered from Zeke’s sword.
A pure fire, created in the realm of fire, combined with the holy energy.
The pure white flames grew, reaching for the demon realm’s black flames.
Boom!
The black flames, which would burn anything to ash, faltered before Zeke’s white flames.
Before long, Zeke’s white flames consumed the black flames, surrounding Edward.
Edward stared in disbelief at the white flames closing in on him.
“H-how is this possible…”
After receiving the baptism, and the black flame spear from his father, Ramon Siemens, he felt as if he owned the world.
Originally, this spear was meant for his brother, William, the heir to the Siemens family.
But after William was captured by the Drakers and left in a vegetative state, the artifact became his.
The black flames, which burned everything, suited Edward’s cruel nature perfectly.
He was confident that even Zeke Draker, the black knight, couldn’t withstand his black flames.
And now, that confidence was revealed to be nothing more than Edward’s delusion.
Fwoosh!
The white flames clung to Edward’s Hersion.
This too was a top-tier item meant for William.
The latest model of the Hershion, crafted with mithril, fairy stones, and even a touch of orichalcum, was the pinnacle of Siemens magical engineering.
This state-of-the-art armor was designed to withstand both physical and magical attacks, yet it melted away under Zeke’s white flames.
“Aaargh!”
The melted Hershion was no longer worthy of being called armor.
He quickly discarded the burning remains of the Hershion.
Thud!
The half-melted armor landed on the ground in a disgraceful heap.
Grabbing his black flame spear, he attempted to escape the reach of the white flames.
Whoosh!
His plan was to open a portal and flee to the altar.
But Zeke had no intention of letting Edward go so easily.
Clang!
Chains of Solomon shot out from Zeke’s arm.
The chains wrapped around Edward’s ankle as he tried to flee.
Crash!
Bound by the chains, Edward was slammed against the wall, unable to resist Zeke’s strength.
Rumble!
Part of the sturdy stone wall crumbled.
Edward struggled desperately to free himself from the chains of Solomon, but the soul-binding chains held fast.
As Edward fought, Zeke approached him, hovering in the air.
“Edward, even after all this time, you haven’t changed a bit.”
It was true that Edward had gained immense power through the baptism.
However, no matter how powerful one might be, the true strength depended on how it was wielded.
In Zeke’s eyes, Edward wasn’t even using a tenth of the black flame spear’s true potential.
Edward gritted his teeth, glaring up at Zeke.
“Zeke Draker… I swore I’d be the one to kill you.”
“A dream that won’t come true.”
With a tug of the chain, Edward was left dangling in the air.
Zeke approached, meeting Edward’s eyes as he hung upside down.
He reached out and placed a finger on Edward’s forehead.
Hum!
Through the wisdom of the dragon, Zeke accessed the information in Edward’s mind, filtering it through the Akashic Code and the Sage’s Eye.
Some information was protected by security measures, but he easily bypassed them with his unlocking skill.
Zeke obtained the precise ‘coordinates’ to the altar from Edward.
‘Perfect. I only sensed Ramon Siemens’ presence, but now I have the exact coordinates. I can launch a surprise attack and catch them off guard.’
While Zeke could sense Ramon Siemens’ location through the power of the Flesh Emperor Azitahaka, it was too risky to storm the baptism site with just that.
Zeke had planned to send spies and Red Eyes to other locations where Ramon’s presence lingered, gather intelligence, and devise an infiltration strategy.
Fortunately, Edward Siemens appeared first, allowing Zeke to quickly acquire the coordinates to the second baptism site.
Additionally, he managed to destroy one of the factories producing bloodstones, achieving two goals at once.
“Ughhh—”
Edward’s mind was in turmoil from the dragon’s wisdom, causing him to foam at the mouth and roll his eyes back.
Zeke tossed Edward to where the spies were waiting.
Hovering in the air, he addressed Boris.
“Boris, restrain him and lock him in Terra’s underground prison.”
After dealing with Ramon Siemens, Zeke planned to use Edward to lure out and eliminate the remaining Siemens faction.
Boris nodded.
“Understood. Will you be returning with us, boss?”
Zeke shook his head.
“No, I won’t be returning.”
His eyes gleamed with determination.
“I’m going to catch Ramon Siemens off guard.”