Episode 495

A platform towered high, seemingly piercing the sky.

Statues of ominous-faced demons supported the platform from all sides.

Ramon Jimenez ascended the hundreds of steps leading to the platform, nestled between the statues.

Reaching the top, he stood before the altar, gazing intently at the structure crafted from dark crimson bloodstone, a creation of the Abyssal Priest for the second baptism.

Suddenly, an apostle appeared across from him.

Ramon instinctively sensed the presence of the priest within the apostle’s body.

He addressed the priest, “I heard there’s a shortage of bloodstone for the altar.”

A deep, resonant voice emerged from the apostle, [We intended to add more as a precaution, but it doesn’t matter. This should suffice to open the gate and summon Azitahaka.]

Ramon frowned at the priest’s words but said nothing more, turning his gaze skyward.

In an hour, a total lunar eclipse would begin, revealing the blood moon that appeared once every five hundred years.

“I’ve waited so long for this day.”

In truth, the second baptism could have been performed at any time. The reason for aligning it with the blood moon was to fully embrace Azitahaka’s power within his body.

Once he absorbed the power of the malevolent god and consumed Abel, who bore the heart of the light dragon, he would be reborn as an entirely new being.

Neither the troublesome Zeke Draker nor, if he were alive, Arthur Draker could stand against him after the baptism.

Rumble—

The ground of Baranaon, where the altar was set, responded to the approaching blood moon with a faint tremor.

Baranaon, steeped in ancient mysteries, was once the capital of the Chronos Kingdom and, even earlier, the site of the flesh-eating emperor Azitahaka’s sacrificial rites.

Thus, it was the perfect place to harness the ominous power of the blood moon.

As Ramon contemplated the upcoming ceremony, the priest spoke again.

[Ramon Jimenez, remember our contract once the baptism is complete.]

Ramon looked at the priest with disdain. “You speak through a subordinate’s body while hiding your true form. If I fail the baptism, will you still honor the contract?”

The priest offered no reply.

Ramon narrowed his eyes. “You may not know this, but the Jimenez never break a contract. So stop the pointless chatter and prepare for the ritual.”

The priest nodded in agreement.

Snap!

With a snap of his fingers, a black portal appeared.

From it emerged other abyssal sorcerers, dragging Abel’s body, bound in chains.

Ramon reached into the air, summoning a box containing the heart of the light dragon, Zeus.

He opened the sealed box and retrieved the pulsating heart of Zeus.

At the priest’s nod, the sorcerers released the chains binding Abel.

Clang!

As soon as the chains fell away, Abel, half-transformed into a beast, lunged at the nearest sorcerer, sinking his teeth into the man’s neck.

“Aaargh!”

Abel drank deeply from the gushing blood, leaving the sorcerer a desiccated husk on the ground.

Driven by a thirst for fresh blood, Abel reached for another sorcerer.

Ramon snapped his fingers.

Snap!

Instantly, Abel was suspended in mid-air, his limbs splayed as if held by an invisible force.

The priest approached Abel, extending a hand.

Abel’s chest split open, revealing the blackened, pulsating heart of the red knight within.

Unable to withstand the potent blood of the dark dragon, the heart was losing its strength.

The priest reached into Abel’s chest and extracted the heart of the red knight.

Hiss—

The heart emitted black smoke and a foul stench as it dissolved into a toxic liquid.

Ramon placed the heart of Zeus into the now-empty chest.

The moment it settled, the heart resumed its place, beating fiercely.

Rumble!

With the heart restored, Abel’s eyes glowed with the red gaze of a dragon.

The scales that had marred his skin receded, and coherent words began to spill from his mouth.

“Zeke, Zeke Draker… I’ll kill you… kill you.”

Abel, his mind consumed by hatred for Zeke Draker, repeated the words over and over.

With a flick of Ramon’s hand, Abel’s body floated to the altar.

Pressed by an unseen force, Abel lay flat, fixed to the altar.

Ramon looked up at the sky.

The full moon hung above, resonating with the cursed land, creating a subtle vibration.

Then it began.

The moon was slowly obscured by a spreading shadow.

The priest spoke to Ramon.

[When the moon is fully swallowed by shadow, the blood moon will rise.]

A phenomenon not seen in five hundred years.

With the blood moon, the barriers between dimensions would weaken, and hidden entities would emerge from their unseen realms.

Since the constellations departed the material world, these entities had lost their physical forms, becoming “floating existences.”

These formless beings, now nameless mysteries, lay dormant across the continent.

The land of Baranaon, where the altar stood, was one such realm of forgotten mystery.

As the full moon began to glow red, the floating entities started to reveal themselves.

Around the demon statues supporting the altar, flickering black shadows appeared.

Ramon, empowered by Azitahaka, recognized these entities.

‘Maras.’

Corrupted souls that had become malevolent beings through Azitahaka’s power.

Even after Azitahaka was isolated in a sealed realm, the Maras persisted, waiting in the invisible domain for their master’s return to the material world.

The number of Maras around the demon statues was growing.

As time passed, the once-shadowy Maras became more distinct.

The blood moon’s power loosened the dimensional boundaries, allowing Azitahaka’s influence to extend from the sealed realm to the material world.

Ramon watched the Maras, chanting ominous words and dancing around the demon statues.

The Maras were part of his contract with the abyss.

With the priest’s help, once Azitahaka was summoned to the material world and Ramon became his complete avatar, he would hand over the Maras to the abyss.

Ramon believed that with Azitahaka’s power, he could dominate the entire continent, so he was willing to relinquish the Maras.

But seeing the multitude of Maras gathered beneath the demon statues, he understood why the abyss had demanded such terms.

Unlike ordinary beasts or monsters, Maras possessed both spiritual and physical attributes.

They could move stealthily in the hidden world and materialize to attack, making them highly versatile.

Though Ramon felt it was a loss to give all the Maras to the abyss, his priority was to properly summon Azitahaka, so he decided to let go of any attachment to the Maras.

‘I can create more Maras once I become the avatar.’

The moon was now half-covered by shadow.

The vibrations from the ground grew stronger.

The priest sensed it too and began preparing for the ritual.

[Bring forth the relic of the malevolent god.]

At the priest’s command, Ramon produced an ancient ceremonial dagger from his robes.

The dagger, engraved with a fearsome demon, was the relic that connected Ramon to the sealed Azitahaka and granted him power.

The Jimenez family had safeguarded this ancient relic of Azitahaka, and it was under Ramon’s leadership that its power was finally harnessed.

The dagger floated in the air, hovering over Abel’s left chest.

The priest extended his hand and spoke.

[The relic of Azitahaka and the blood of the Draker will meet the power of the blood moon to open the sealed realm of the malevolent god.]

Abel, a pureblooded Draker awakened with the heart of the light dragon.

It was King Solomon, an ancestor of the Drakers, who had sealed Azitahaka in the isolated realm.

The priest planned to use the corrupted Draker’s pure blood to create a conduit to the sealed Azitahaka.

The priest approached Abel, lying on the bloodstone altar, and extended his hand.

Vroom!

A strange symbol emerged from Abel’s left chest, where the heart of the light dragon resided.

As black energy emanated from the symbol, the priest began chanting in a sinister voice.

In response, the red bloodstones embedded in the altar glowed with a sinister energy.

Sssss—

With the priest’s eerie chant, strange whispers echoed from all directions.

It sounded like the slithering of a snake, or perhaps the devil whispering temptations right beside him.

The ominous voice grew louder, filling the air around them.

At the same time, the black aura from the altar’s bloodstone and Abel’s body merged, wrapping around the sacred relic of Azitahaka.

A crackling sound echoed as the black and red energies surged from the dagger, forming a circle that enveloped the full moon hanging in the sky.

The moon within the circle was gradually obscured by shadows, and it began to take on a reddish hue, seemingly tainted by the energy emanating from the dagger.

Ramon watched the astonishing spectacle, utterly entranced.

The priest turned to him and said, “Imbue it with the power of the dark god. Only then will the passage open.”

Snapping back to reality, Ramon reached out toward the floating relic.

A deep hum resonated as Azitahaka’s power flowed from his hand.

The dagger vibrated in response, resonating with his strength.

A gateway to the dark god began to take shape.

But then, suddenly—

A high-pitched whine filled the air as Azitahaka’s power dissipated from his grasp.

“What’s happening?”

Ramon masked his confusion and tried again, extending his hand to summon the power.

Once more, the power failed to manifest.

The priest urged him, “What are you doing? The shadow of the moon will soon create the blood moon. You must complete the gate before then.”

Ramon couldn’t fathom why his power wouldn’t activate.

Gritting his teeth, he raised both hands this time.

A deep rumble echoed as a terrifying aura of the dark god erupted from his entire body.

Even borrowing just a fraction of the power through the relic, the force was immense.

Ramon couldn’t even imagine how powerful he would become if he could wield all his strength as an avatar.

Unlike before, the power surged forth without dispersing.

Relieved, Ramon prepared to unleash his power toward the crimson ring when—

A thunderous roar erupted as a golden light spread across the sky, enveloping the entire area, including the altar and the demon statue.

It was the primordial light that purified all unholy energy.

Zeke had activated the “Will of Light” with the holy sword Ascalon.

The bloodstone’s output weakened under the influence of the light, and the black aura from Abel’s heart faded.

The Maras, who had been singing ominous songs and dancing beneath the demon statue, screamed in terror as they retreated into the statue to escape the purifying light.

Ramon gritted his teeth and looked up at the sky.

A massive golden wave emanated from a figure hovering above.

Zeke, clad in the armor of Theia’s Hersion and wielding the holy sword Ascalon, astride Bucephalus.

Ramon shouted at Zeke, his voice echoing across the entire realm.

“Zeke Draker!”

Ramon’s voice, filled with rage, reverberated throughout the land.