Episode 542
Just as Zeke was about to launch another attack, something unexpected happened.
Sssshhh—
The blue blood pooled together, morphing into tentacles that resembled snakes, lunging toward Zeke.
Hissss!
The tentacles made a grotesque sound as they aimed to latch onto Zeke’s face. Instantly, he drew Ascalon, summoning the power of the holy spirit.
Vroooom—
A brilliant white light burst from Zeke’s sword, incinerating the blue tentacles that charged at him.
But it wasn’t over yet.
From the scattered blue blood on the ground, more tentacles emerged, crawling toward Zeke. At the same time, the severed arm of the creature began to regenerate, transforming into a monstrous hound with four legs.
Grrrrr—
The tail of the beast took on the form of a tentacle, born from the blood.
Zeke recalled that the creature’s power was “Blood Dominion.”
“Could it be that it can keep multiplying using blood as a medium?”
Having no prior information about the experimental subject’s abilities from the dark sorcerer who used the wisdom of dragons, Zeke could only deduce from the situation at hand.
As he assessed the situation, the experimental subject, with dozens of tentacles sprouting from its severed arm, approached Zeke.
If he simply cut it down, it seemed the creature would just keep multiplying, increasing its numbers.
Instead of slashing at it, Zeke wielded Ascalon and unleashed a powerful surge of holy energy.
Whoosh—
He then directed a strike at the tentacles crawling from the ground.
The tentacles hit by the holy energy disintegrated into black ash, confirming to Zeke that the creature was vulnerable to the power of light.
The tentacles, wary of Zeke’s holy energy, began to retreat.
At that moment, the hound-like beast, transformed from the severed arm, bared its sharp teeth and lunged at Zeke.
Raaaargh—
The beast opened its mouth wide, spewing blue blood toward Zeke.
Zeke stepped back, launching a bolt of light at the beast.
The bolt struck the beast directly, shattering it into pieces.
But from the blue blood the beast had spewed, tiny insects began to emerge.
Buzzzzz—
The insects grew rapidly, soon becoming ten times the size of ordinary wasps, buzzing around Zeke.
“This is getting ridiculous.”
The creature kept changing forms and multiplying using blood as a medium, making it a daunting opponent.
Zeke watched the swarming insects with a mix of disbelief and annoyance, then summoned Ignis, the high-level fire spirit.
Rumble—
Having acquired the skill of dragon speech and a perfect dragon heart, Zeke had advanced to an expert in spirit summoning, allowing him to call forth high-level spirits without polymorphing.
With his increased affinity for spirits, Zeke could command Ignis with mere intent.
Fwoosh!
Following Zeke’s will, Ignis unleashed flames upon the insects.
Caught in the fiery whirlwind of the spirit, the insects were reduced to ash.
Zeke communicated his intent to Ignis to capture the experimental subject wielding the power of Blood Dominion.
Thud!
Ignis, now fully manifested in the form of an armored giant, advanced toward the experimental subject.
In response, the subject lashed out with a bundle of tentacles at Ignis.
Screeeeech—
The tentacles, oozing blue blood, attempted to ensnare Ignis.
But before they could, the spirit’s flames surged, incinerating the tentacles completely.
Screeeech—
With the blood evaporated by the pure flames of the spirit, the power of Blood Dominion could not manifest.
Sensing the danger from Ignis, whose abilities were its natural enemy, the experimental subject instinctively retreated.
It dashed toward the pile of fallen knights’ bodies, grabbing and devouring them in a frenzy.
As it did, blood flowed from its charred arm, creating new tentacles, insects, and beasts.
Zeke realized how the creature’s abilities functioned.
“Blood and madness are its essence. As long as it consumes the blood of other beings, it can wield its power.”
Now that he understood the nature of its abilities, stopping it was straightforward.
Eliminate the blood, the medium, and its power would be nullified.
Instead of merely willing it, Zeke spoke clearly to Ignis.
“Burn it all so it can’t spread any more blood.”
Ignis nodded at Zeke’s command.
[Understood.]
Having ascended to a transcendent being, Zeke was akin to a dragon, and the high-level spirit Ignis followed his orders without question.
Ignis unleashed a fierce blaze toward the experimental subject.
Boom!
The subject was engulfed in Ignis’s flames.
Screeeech!
It shrieked, trying to escape the fire, but there was no evading the flames of a high-level spirit.
The subject’s body, ignited and glowing white-hot, quickly turned to ash and crumbled away.
Zeke confirmed that the power of Blood Dominion was no longer present as he surveyed the scattered remains of the subject.
He scanned the surroundings to ensure there were no other experimental subjects sealed away.
“Seems like this was the only one.”
However, the underground labyrinth was vast and complex. There could be other experimental subjects with the powers of fallen constellations.
Zeke summoned Caligula from the shadows and issued a command.
“Caligula, search the labyrinth for any experimental subjects with the power of the constellations.”
Caligula nodded and took to the air to carry out Zeke’s order.
As Caligula’s form faded into a spectral state, he began to search the underground labyrinth.
Connected to Caligula’s spirit, Zeke could sense everything he detected, ready to rush to any discovered subjects and deal with them.
Leaving the search to Caligula, Zeke ventured deeper into the labyrinth.
He hadn’t gone far when he spotted a group of dark sorcerers and knights rushing by.
“There’s an intruder in Sector C! Send reinforcements there!”
It seemed they were dispatching guards to intercept Boris and his group, who had entered through another entrance.
Zeke held his breath and stealthily moved further into the labyrinth.
As he descended, he entered a space that felt different from above.
“The air is thick with dark energy.”
The atmosphere was so saturated with dark energy that it felt like a realm of demons rather than the physical world.
A regular knight would have struggled to wield their power in such a space.
But for Zeke, this level of dark energy posed no threat.
He calmly traversed the shadowy corridors, hidden from view.
Soon, he encountered a group of armed figures.
“Demons?”
Instead of human knights, lower-ranked demon warriors guarded the door.
Zeke surmised that beyond this door lay a portal to the heart of the labyrinth.
“The presence of demon warriors suggests stronger demons might be waiting beyond.”
Knowing it would be difficult to handle higher-ranked demons quietly, Zeke decided to act swiftly and decisively.
With that decision, he propelled himself toward the lower-ranked demons, cloaked in shadows.
Whoosh—
The shadows transformed into black blades, striking the demons.
Slash—
The black blades decapitated the demons before they could react.
Aware that some demon species could survive decapitation, Zeke immediately used his holy energy to incinerate the remains.
Simultaneously, he shattered the door with a forceful burst of power.
Crash!
The door splintered, and Zeke charged inside.
Waiting for him were hundreds of black knights.
Clang!
The knights, clad in armor thicker and heavier than usual, stood with greatswords in hand.
What caught Zeke’s attention was what they carried on their backs.
Each knight was equipped with a long, rod-like device, and Zeke recognized it immediately.
“Could those be magic rifles?”
Though larger and heavier than the sniper magic rifle used by Aaron, they were unmistakably magic rifles.
Then, from behind the black knights, a figure emerged, holding a staff and wearing a sinister skull mask.
It resembled a lich more than a dark sorcerer, yet lacked the typical undead aura.
The skull mask reminded Zeke of the black mask he had seen before.
It was Siemens’ secret weapon, designed to infuse black knights with endless dark energy, creating an immortal legion.
“I thought I destroyed them all, but some survived.”
The skull mask raised its staff, releasing a dense mist of dark energy.
This was the signal for the undead army to advance.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Red glows ignited within the helmets of the black knights as they formed ranks and advanced toward Zeke.
Simultaneously, the massive magic rifles on their backs swung forward, settling onto their shoulders.
Click!
The rifles aimed at Zeke, unleashing a barrage of black bullets.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Massive, heavy bullets, larger than any sniper’s magic rounds, rained down on Zeke.
Hundreds of black knights unleashed a relentless barrage from all directions.
Zeke quickly summoned his Shadow Armor to fend off their assault.
Ratatatatat!
The force was so intense that the concentrated hits tore through, threatening to pierce the armor.
“Ramon Jimenez. So, this is what he was crafting in the labyrinth.”
Ramon Jimenez, the head of the Jimenez family, had been secretly developing these weapons to conquer the continent, hiding them within the labyrinth. But his greed led to his downfall, devoured by Abel, and the entire underground maze fell into the hands of the Abyss. The secret weapons were now further enhanced by dark magic.
Sssssss—
Even after the relentless barrage ceased, black smoke lingered where Zeke had stood. As the smoke cleared, the ground was pockmarked with craters, as if an explosion had occurred.
A skull-masked figure, holding a staff, issued new orders to the black knights.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The knights at the front, guns raised, advanced toward Zeke’s last known position, scanning the area. But they found nothing.
Just as they were about to report back—
Whirrrrr—
Zeke appeared behind the skull-masked figure on the platform, having bypassed the knights entirely. With a swift stroke of Ascalon, he severed the skull mask’s head.
Slash!
The head rolled across the floor, and in the same instant, Zeke conjured pure flames to engulf the remaining body.
Whoosh!
The white flames consumed it in an instant.
From past battles, Zeke knew that to neutralize the undead legion of black knights, he had to first eliminate the skull mask controlling them. Using the power of the Spirit Realm, he had crossed dimensions to strike from behind.
The charred remains of the skull mask crumbled into black dust.
It was a clean execution, but a new problem arose. The black knights turned their weapons back on Zeke.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Bullets rained down on the platform once more.
Zeke raised his shadows again to shield himself.
“What’s going on? Taking him out should have stopped the knights.”
As he deflected bullets and prepared to leap into the air to evade, something caught his eye.
Astonishingly, the skull-masked figure he had just slain was back, unscathed, staff in hand, directing the black knights.
Rumble!
Dark energy flowed from the staff, seemingly replenishing the knights’ ammunition. The barrage of bullets showed no sign of letting up.
“I can’t just dodge forever.”
Zeke formed a shield with his Shadow Armor, gripped Ascalon, and changed course, diving toward the black knights from above.
Rumble!
A radiant light burst from Zeke’s body, cloaked in holy energy. He focused the light into his sword, assuming the stance for the Dragon Slayer technique.
Dragon Slayer Special Technique
Holy Spirit Art
Light Burst Wave
A brilliant beam of light descended upon the black knights.
Zzzzzzzzzap—
The entire space was engulfed in a blinding light.