Episode 519
“Abel?”
Abel lay sprawled on the ground, motionless, like a puppet with its strings cut.
Zeke approached cautiously, keeping his guard up.
There was no sign of life in Abel’s body, which lay face down and still.
Fearing that this might be another one of Narak’s tricks, Zeke remained vigilant as he lifted Abel’s body with his shadow.
Upon closer inspection, Zeke was horrified.
”…His heart is missing.”
Abel was already dead, and his chest was gruesomely hollowed out where his heart should have been.
In the past, Abel had carried the heart of the Light Dragon Zeus, a contract beast of Siemens Apollyon, and had inherited the powers of the fiend Azitahaka by consuming Ramon Siemens.
Yet here lay Abel Dreiker, his heart ripped out while he was still alive.
“What on earth happened?”
Zeke struggled to accept the situation and examined Abel’s body more closely.
He attempted to use the wisdom of the dragon to read the past.
Crackle!
A strong backlash repelled Zeke’s hand.
He realized that no trace of Abel’s karma remained.
“To erase all the karma data tied to this place…”
Whoever had intruded here likely understood the concept of karma.
The only thing Zeke could ascertain was that the body before him was not a fake or an illusion.
Abel Dreiker had truly died with his heart torn out.
Zeke stared at Abel’s body.
A long-standing enmity from past lives.
The mad knight Abel Dreiker had met a pitiful end here, stripped of both honor and power.
Zeke slowly raised his hand, invoking the power of decay.
Abel’s body began to crumble and dissolve.
In a short while, Abel’s form had completely disintegrated.
The long-standing enmity with Abel ended so anticlimactically.
Yet one question lingered in Zeke’s mind.
“Who killed Abel? And why take his heart?”
Though Abel was dead, Zeke felt this was not the end.
He searched the area for any remaining traces.
Most of the karma data had been erased, making it impossible to read past information even with the wisdom of the dragon.
Just as he was about to give up, something caught Zeke’s attention.
“What is this…?”
The newly acquired power of infinite breakthrough had detected a faint trace.
Zeke noticed a tiny cluster of light floating in the air.
Before it disappeared, he activated the wisdom of the dragon.
Vrrrrr!
The damaged karma data flooded Zeke’s mind with overwhelming noise.
“Ugh.”
He filtered out the noise as best as he could, focusing on the surviving information.
There was so little data left that even reading it was difficult.
Crackle—
A powerful spark forced the wisdom of the dragon to shut down.
Zeke managed to gather the remaining karma data.
As he organized the data, a message appeared before him.
[The damage to the karma data is severe.]
[Data recovery is required to read the information.]
Fortunately, the system could assist with the recovery.
“System, begin recovery.”
Whirrr—
As the system repaired the damaged data, an image appeared before him.
Initially, the image was too distorted to make out.
“Can you make it clearer?”
As the recovery continued, the image gradually became clearer.
After several attempts, it was finally recognizable.
The image showed someone cloaked in a deep blue robe.
Zeke scrutinized the image.
But the hood was pulled so low that the face was obscured.
“The one who took Abel’s heart.”
Zeke addressed the system.
“System, is there an image where this person’s face is visible?”
[The damage to the data is too severe for complete recovery. Full restoration will take time.]
“So it can be done eventually. Fine, take as long as you need, but make sure it’s restored.”
Zeke instructed the system and examined the image once more.
For some reason, the figure seemed familiar.
As he pondered, a mirror in his pocket began to vibrate intensely.
He pulled it out.
“Master?”
Nabu’s urgent voice came through.
“Zeke! Damn it, it’s urgent! Get to Mycenae, now!”
“What? What do you mean?”
“The demon princesses are invading Mycenae!”
Zeke’s face showed his surprise at Nabu’s words.
He had intended to lure them with Anastasia, but he hadn’t expected such a direct assault on Mycenae.
He spoke urgently into the mirror.
“Understood. I’ll contact you again, Master.”
Putting the mirror away, Zeke quickly set the coordinates for Mycenae.
With a burst of light, a portal enveloped Zeke’s body.
Rumble—
The tightly shut southern gate began to open slowly.
As the pulley lowered, a battalion of barbarians clad in thick armor emerged.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The barbarians wielded massive shields and hammers.
They were a barbarian unit that had stayed in Mycenae, learning human combat techniques under the leadership of King Fist.
Adnan and Bodmir stood at the forefront.
Adnan spoke to King Fist beside him.
“Just follow my lead.”
“Got it. But when’s Zeke coming?”
“He’ll be here soon if we hold out.”
Adnan drew his twin swords and charged forward.
He ran to the side of the southern gate and signaled to Xerxes.
Whistle—
Xerxes, receiving the signal, directed the Three-Eyed Clan.
“Over there!”
Led by Titus and Yulina, the captured Three-Eyed Clan used their blood vision to subdue the monsters in the direction Xerxes indicated.
Whirrr—
The eyes of the subdued monsters turned a blood-red hue.
Roar!
Screech!
The frenzied monsters began attacking each other, causing their formation to break.
Rumble!
Seeing the disrupted formation, Adnan spoke to King Fist.
“Over there! We need to drive them to the center!”
King Fist swung his hammer with a flourish.
“Understood!”
With their target set, the barbarians charged fiercely at the monsters.
Crash!
They swung their massive shields, sending bodies flying, then smashed the heads of fallen monsters with their hammers.
Thud!
Even the resilient and regenerative monsters of the demon realm couldn’t withstand the barbarians’ formidable strength.
The flank of the monster formation collapsed, redirecting the advance toward the center.
Watching the situation, Adnan signaled again.
Whistle!
This time, it was a signal to cast blood vision on the central monsters.
Following Xerxes’ orders, the Three-Eyed Clan diligently subdued the monsters, making them fight each other.
“Ugh!”
Using blood vision continuously made them dizzy, but they pushed their limits, recalling their vow of loyalty to Zeke.
Roar!
Under the influence of the Three-Eyed Clan, the monsters advancing from the center toward the southern gate began fighting among themselves, their formation in disarray.
When leading an army of tens of thousands, the most crucial aspect was maintaining formation.
Even a slight deviation could severely disrupt their path.
Following the demon princess’s orders, the monsters had been advancing in a set direction, but as the front lines broke, they began to entangle with each other.
Unlike the other gates, the southern gate’s terrain was rugged and sloped, making it impossible to charge in from multiple directions like the others.
This was precisely what Adnan had aimed for.
Roar!
The barbarian unit, following Adnan’s lead, weaved through the monsters, smashing enemy heads.
Amidst the chaos, it was hard to distinguish between monsters and barbarians.
King Fist swung his hammer, then punched a nearby monster.
Thud!
The monster hit by his fist crumpled more than those struck by the hammer.
Reading the battlefield, Adnan called out to the barbarian unit.
“That’s enough! Fall back!”
The barbarians swung their shields, carving a path through the monsters for retreat.
Whoosh!
Even as the barbarians withdrew, the monsters, now entangled and directionless, continued to tear into each other.
Adnan, Bodmir, and the barbarian unit moved to the perimeter, dealing with any stragglers.
At this rate, the monsters seemed likely to self-destruct.
But then it happened.
Whoosh!
A gate opened in the sky.
Simultaneously, a fierce snowstorm erupted around them.
Adnan looked up at the figure emerging from the gate.
Everything about the figure, from hair to clothing, was pure white.
The snowstorm intensified around him.
Adnan recognized the figure’s identity.
“A demon. And a high-ranking one at that.”
The high-ranking demon surveyed the chaotic state of the monsters.
Then, he aimed his white staff at them.
Whoosh—
A white light shot from the staff, instantly freezing the battling monsters.
Rumble—
The once chaotic formation turned eerily still.
The Three-Eyed Clan, who had been controlling the monsters from atop the fortress wall, recoiled in shock.
Titus and Yulina, who had been channeling their power with their eyes closed, suddenly opened them as their connection to the monsters was severed.
“The link just broke?”
A blizzard, fiercer than before, raged in front of the fortress, making it impossible to see.
Caught in the storm below, Adnan and the Barbarian unit found themselves nearly immobilized.
Adnan was taken aback; he hadn’t expected a high-ranking demon to intervene so soon.
“We need to carve out an escape route again.”
The high-ranking demon had frozen the frenzied monsters, creating a natural ice wall.
They had to retreat back into the fortress before the next wave of monsters broke through the ice.
As Bodmir and Adnan began to pull back with the Barbarian unit, they heard a heavy thudding sound.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Something was approaching them.
Adnan held his breath for a moment.
“Ice golems?”
Dozens of ice golems, each towering at least four meters tall, were advancing toward them.
The monsters had been sent to break through the ice wall, with the ice golems leading the charge.
Bodmir observed the scene and remarked, “Looks like it’s not going to be easy.”
Adnan nodded in agreement, drawing his twin swords.
At that moment, the leader of the Barbarians, known as Kingfist, tossed aside his shield and hefted a hammer with both hands.
“How about a little wager on who can smash them faster?”
The other Barbarians followed suit, grabbing their hammers.
“Sounds good.”
“I’m winning this.”
“Get lost. I’m the winner.”
With playful banter, the Barbarians charged at the ice golems, hammers raised.
Wham!
They swung their hammers with force, and to everyone’s surprise, cracks appeared on the surface of an ice golem with a single blow.
Kingfist chuckled, “See that? One hit.”
Another Barbarian swung his hammer, shattering one of the golem’s legs.
Adnan and Bodmir watched, mouths agape, as the Barbarians’ combat prowess far exceeded their expectations.
The dozens of ice golems quickly became nothing more than chunks of ice scattered on the ground.
Kingfist planted his foot triumphantly on a fallen golem. “I’m first.”
Another Barbarian shouted, “No way, I’m first!”
Adnan, watching the Barbarians bicker over their victory, signaled to them.
“Enough, let’s move!”
Grumbling, the Barbarians turned to follow.
But then it happened.
A piercing beam of light shot through the blizzard, striking one of the Barbarians.
Crack!
The Barbarian, who had just been smashing ice golems, was instantly frozen into an ice statue.
Adnan and Bodmir recoiled in shock, shouting in alarm.
“Take cover!”
Beams of light shot out from beyond the blizzard in all directions.
Adnan and Bodmir managed to dodge by hiding behind the shattered remains of the ice golems.
But wherever the light touched, massive ice pillars erupted from the ground.
“This is insane…”
Adnan held his breath, peering through the blizzard.
Amidst the swirling snow, the high-ranking demon, clad in pure white, emerged once more.