Episode 558
The fundamental reason the Celestial Realm doesn’t prevent the Demon King’s descent.
Zeke glared at Ramiel, demanding answers.
Ramiel hesitated, reluctant to speak.
Seeing this, Zeke’s eyes narrowed.
“Still not thinking straight, are you?”
Zeke tightened his grip on Solomon’s Chains, channeling the power of chaos into them. This time, instead of the power of flame, he infused them with the power of decay.
A sinister hiss filled the air as the power of decay, capable of withering everything to dust, merged with chaos and seeped into Ramiel’s soul.
[Ugh!]
Ramiel trembled, his soul quaking under the assault of decay.
For an eternal being without a physical form, the concept of decay was foreign. Yet, the power Zeke wielded was not about mere phenomena; it was about essence.
As the notion of ‘decay’ infiltrated Ramiel’s soul, he felt as if his true form in the Celestial Realm was melting away.
[Aaaaargh!]
The noble being was engulfed in unbearable shame and vivid agony.
Maintaining the power of decay, Zeke spoke to Ramiel.
“A celestial soul doesn’t vanish easily. I’ll keep you like this for a long, long time.”
In some ways, eternity could be the greatest source of torment.
Ramiel knew all too well that Zeke was capable of carrying out his threats.
Struggling to endure the humiliation and pain, Ramiel finally began to speak.
[A… a pact.]
As Ramiel spoke, Zeke paused the power.
“What kind of pact? Be specific.”
Defeated by Zeke’s power, Ramiel spoke in a voice laced with disgrace.
[…There is a pact that prevents the Celestial Realm from intervening. As long as events in the mortal realm don’t exceed the bounds of karma, we cannot interfere directly.]
Zeke frowned, puzzled by Ramiel’s words.
“Weren’t the celestial beings the ones who created the constraints of karma? Why would you impose such limits on yourselves?”
Ramiel remained silent until Zeke threatened with the chains again, then slowly began to speak.
[We didn’t create it. It’s an absolute law set by the Primordial Light, beyond our control.]
Zeke was taken aback by Ramiel’s revelation.
‘The pact created by the long-vanished Primordial Light still binds the celestials.’
Once the initial shock subsided, Zeke pondered a new question and asked again.
“Even if the Primordial Light set such a pact, surely you would have found a way to intervene. Demons from the Demon Realm are breaking free of karma’s constraints and entering the mortal realm. Are you saying you can’t do the same?”
Ramiel responded with a disdainful tone.
[You foolish mortal. Even after I’ve given you the answer, you still don’t understand why we let them be.]
A realization struck Zeke.
“Could it be?”
He looked at Ramiel and spoke.
“Are you saying that allowing the demons and devils to run rampant is your way of intervening?”
Ramiel offered no reply.
In that moment, everything clicked for Zeke.
‘If the Demon Realm invades the mortal realm and resurrects the Demon King, it could disrupt the constraints of karma. That might create a loophole in the absolute pact set by the Primordial Light.’
Zeke addressed Ramiel.
“You want the Demon King to be resurrected on purpose. That way, you can reshape the mortal realm to suit your whims.”
The celestials had long played the game of building and toppling civilizations, extracting the karma they needed.
Ramiel spoke with arrogance.
[To borrow a human expression, ‘stirring the settled wine is necessary.’ Leave it too long, and it might spoil or gather unwanted elements.]
Zeke frowned at Ramiel’s words.
It was clear that the celestials viewed the mortal realm and its inhabitants as mere playthings or resources.
Zeke tightened his grip on the chains binding Ramiel.
“So you’re letting the Demon Realm run wild to justify a grand intervention, waiting for them to disrupt karma’s balance.”
[Exactly. Those filthy fallen ones think they can challenge us, but they’re gravely mistaken. To us, the creatures of the mortal realm and those wretched losers are all the same.]
Even in captivity, Ramiel maintained an air of supreme arrogance.
He sneered at Zeke, who wore a serious expression.
[You foolish, impudent creature. You may feel a crude sense of superiority now, holding a god captive, but your end will be like Solomon’s.]
Zeke chuckled at the remark.
“You’re overly confident. You survived only by hiding behind the people Solomon cherished, fearing his power.”
Ramiel flinched at Zeke’s words.
It was a long-erased history, forgotten by all creatures. For the gods, it was a memory of utmost disgrace, and Zeke’s mention of it filled Ramiel with unbearable shame.
He shouted at Zeke.
[Divine retribution will befall you! A punishment without mercy…!]
With his thoughts clear, Zeke ignored Ramiel’s outburst and retrieved Solomon’s Ring from his inventory.
Seeing the ring, Ramiel’s defiant demeanor crumbled.
[Th-that…!]
The appearance of the divine artifact capable of sealing even a celestial soul shattered Ramiel’s arrogance.
Zeke addressed Ramiel.
“You seem to know what this is.”
Ramiel spoke in a voice tinged with disbelief.
[How can that still exist…? I thought all traces were erased…]
Zeke had obtained Solomon’s Ring from a random box in the Inverted Tower, a training ground for dragons and dragonkin created by an Elder Dragon, where fragments of time erased by the celestials lingered. The Kabbalah system prioritized summoning the most lethal artifact to celestials from the random box.
Zeke showed the ring to Ramiel.
“I haven’t even fully absorbed the soul of the arrogant savior yet, so taking in your soul might be too much. Besides, your entire being isn’t even fully manifested here.”
He slowly moved his ring-bearing hand toward Ramiel.
Panicking, Ramiel struggled to retreat.
[What are you doing?!]
Zeke extended Solomon’s Ring toward Ramiel, invoking the power of sealing with a draconic incantation.
“Ramiel, Lord of the Scorpion Palace, let your soul be sealed within this ring.”
A brilliant light enveloped Ramiel as his soul, descended into an angel’s body, began to be drawn into Solomon’s Ring.
[Aaaaaaah!]
Ramiel, unable to maintain his celestial dignity, screamed and resisted as his soul was pulled in.
But the sealing power within Solomon’s Ring was something even a celestial could not withstand.
Though his true form resided in the Celestial Realm, his essence-laden soul was inexorably drawn into the ring.
A radiant glow suffused Solomon’s Ring, and a symbol representing the Scorpion Palace appeared on its surface.
The soul of Ramiel, one of the thirteen zodiac lords, was sealed within the ring.
With Ramiel’s soul extracted, the thirteenth sentinel, the angel, reawakened.
Roaring, it struggled to break free from the chains binding it.
Zeke murmured as he extended his shadow toward the angel.
“I can handle absorbing you.”
The shadow enveloped the angel, slowly consuming it.
Soon, the angel was absorbed into Zeke’s shadow.
With Ramiel sealed and the angel who had created this unique domain absorbed, the world began to collapse.
The divine city of Laocon shattered like glass.
Zeke, using the power of etherealization, entered the dimensional rift, keeping Raven close as a guide to avoid getting lost.
A tremendous roar echoed through the rift.
Like a dream, an entire city crumbled into white ash.
Once the unique domain vanished completely, Zeke emerged from the rift back to his original position in the mortal realm.
Zeke and Raven reappeared in the cavern at the lowest level of the Siemens underground labyrinth.
As Zeke stepped out of the rift, a white mist-like haze rose from his body, and countless messages that had been hidden appeared before his eyes.
Having absorbed the soul of the arrogant savior, sealed one of the thirteen zodiac souls, and absorbed the thirteenth sentinel angel, it was no surprise that system messages filled his vision.
But those messages were not Zeke’s priority.
‘I can check the messages later. What’s important now is…’
As soon as he exited the rift, Zeke opened his senses.
Harvey West might have followed him through the rift back to the mortal realm, and capturing him was the top priority.
Though Harvey West had lost the soul of the arrogant savior to Zeke, he was a creation of the great sage.
Moreover, while he wasn’t an Irregular, he was a being that had deviated from the world’s laws in a different way, making it impossible to detect him through ordinary means.
However, Zeke, whose divine senses had heightened, could perceive the slightest changes.
Gripping Levatein, Zeke swung his sword toward a specific spot.
Swoosh!
Amazingly, the space where he directed his strike shimmered, revealing the hidden Harvey West.
Whoosh!
As Harvey raised his hand, a surge of magic dispersed Zeke’s attack like mist.
Harvey West looked at Zeke and spoke.
“Zeke Draker, what exactly are you?”
He had no choice but to acknowledge that Zeke possessed something beyond his expectations.
He had always believed he was the only one worthy of reaching the final act, but now he wondered if Zeke, whom he had considered an outsider, might be the true protagonist.
Zeke met Harvey West’s gaze and replied.
“I am simply myself.”
Harvey West shook his head at this response.
“No, Zeke Draker, you too are just another tragic character ensnared in the web of fate.”
“Your constant drivel sounds like a cheap actor’s lines. I’ll end this cursed connection with the abyss by killing you today.”
Zeke raised his sword and charged at Harvey West.
But at that moment—
Boom!
The bombs Boris had set exploded, collapsing the underground labyrinth.
Rumble!
With a deafening roar, rocks rained down from the ceiling of the underground maze.
In that fleeting moment, Harvey West retreated and opened a gate.
Seeing this, Zeke immediately raised his sword.
He swung his blade toward Harvey West, aiming to strike him as he entered the gate.
Swoosh!
Just as Zeke’s attack was about to slice through Harvey West—
Crash!
Something suddenly shot out from the gate, blocking Zeke’s strike with its body, preventing the attack from fully reaching Harvey West.
Rumble!
In an instant, rocks fell where Zeke stood, and the underground labyrinth of Siemens vanished without a trace.
Whoosh!
Zeke emerged from a portal near the surface above Siemens’ underground labyrinth.
Walking out unscathed, with a furrowed brow, Zeke held something in his hand.
The one who had thrown themselves to block his attack at the last moment.
Zeke tossed the figure to the ground and uncovered its face.
He clenched his jaw tightly.
”…Master Kaisir’s homunculus.”
There were more of them beyond the one consumed by the angel’s fragment.
Zeke reached out to the inactive homunculus.
Using the wisdom of the dragon, he accessed the Akashic records to read the remaining information within.
Most of the data had been erased, but with his heightened divinity, Zeke could delve deeper than before.
Crackle—
Amidst the powerful noise, Zeke discovered something.
His eyes widened in realization.
The image hidden within Kaisir’s homunculus.
It was the face of someone Zeke knew well.
”…Arthur Draker.”
The Overlord Arthur Draker, he was the identity imprinted within the homunculus.