Episode 573
Swoosh!
Felix swung his sword and shield with precision, fending off the oncoming beasts and their writhing tentacles.
Behind him, the citizens of Jupiter trembled with fear as they made their way toward the city gates.
The problem was that the path to the gates was quite a distance away.
“I can’t protect them all by myself. In this situation, who knows if reinforcements will arrive.”
Despite the dire circumstances, Felix moved swiftly, his sword a blur as he tried to prevent a catastrophe. Yet, he knew he couldn’t shield every citizen.
As exhaustion crept in, the image of Zeke flashed in his mind.
“If my lord saw this, he’d surely click his tongue.”
Recalling Zeke’s stern voice, Felix quickened his pace, striking down the beasts with renewed vigor.
He tried to hold out as long as he could, but soon, even Felix reached his limit.
Rumble—
Larger beasts than before advanced toward them.
Felix shouted to the citizens, “I’ll hold them off! Hurry, get to safety!”
He gripped his shield and sword with renewed determination.
The Hercion armor drained his aura just by wearing it, but he couldn’t face the beasts spewing corrosive acid unprotected.
Roar!
Just as Felix gritted his teeth, the beasts charged with a terrifying screech.
But then, unexpectedly—
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Mercenaries and soldiers, who had been hiding among the citizens, hurled spears at the beasts.
They rushed forward, shields raised, to confront the monsters.
“Damn it, you there! Knight of Draker! Fall back!”
Seeing Felix risking his life for them, the mercenaries and soldiers, who had been hiding to save their own skins, stepped up to the fight.
With them holding the line, Felix had a moment to catch his breath.
He quickly downed a recovery potion and launched an aura-infused strike at the beasts.
Crash!
The problem was, the beasts and tentacles kept coming, relentless.
Though the soldiers and mercenaries gathered to help Felix, it wasn’t enough to stop them all.
“Damn it.”
Assessing the situation, Felix summoned his strength and unleashed a powerful strike at the beasts.
Boom!
Taking advantage of the brief retreat of the beasts, Felix shouted, “Get out of here before more of them come!”
“Damn it! You should come with us, Sir Knight!”
“I’ll hold them off! Head to the gates, my comrades will be there! Protect the citizens!”
The mercenaries and soldiers, resolute, raised their shields and escorted the citizens toward the gates.
Then it happened.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
A beast, twice the size of the others, emerged and advanced toward Felix.
“Sigh… This never ends.”
Seeing the citizens safely distanced, Felix deactivated his Hercion armor, gripped his sword, and focused his energy.
Rumble!
As his aura concentrated on his sword, all other sounds faded away.
Felix felt as if he had become one with his blade.
He sensed the beast entering his domain.
Roar—
The beast swung its sharp claws at him.
Felix stepped back, narrowly avoiding the attack, then relaxed and swung his sword.
Slash!
The beast’s arm, covered in a hard carapace, was cleanly severed and fell to the ground.
Screech—
Felix experienced a surreal clarity, seeing each drop of acidic liquid from the beast’s body, though he wasn’t fully aware of it.
Dodging them all, he stepped forward and swung his sword at the beast.
Slash—
With a light swing, his blade cleaved through the beast’s tough armor, severing three arms in an instant.
Rumble—
The beast retreated, swinging its massive tail at Felix.
The force was enough to demolish nearby houses and even the city walls.
But Felix stood calmly, waiting until the tail was almost upon him.
Then, just before it struck, he swung his sword upward.
For Felix, who had become one with his sword, slicing through the beast’s tail was effortless.
Slash—
The beast’s massive body split perfectly in half from tail to head.
Thud!
Seeing the beast fall, Felix snapped back to reality.
Unconsciously, he had reached the state of unity with his sword, yet he didn’t realize what he had done.
Trembling.
Pushed to his limits, Felix could no longer hold his sword.
As he planted his sword into the ground to steady himself, he saw smaller beasts approaching from behind the fallen ones.
Felix let out a wry smile.
“Why do you guys keep coming after me?”
Despite the threat of the beasts oozing acidic slime, he couldn’t move any further.
Yet, contrary to his grumbling, Felix shouted to draw the beasts’ attention.
“Hey, you bastards! I’m right here! Come and get me!”
With his shout, the beasts charged at Felix.
Roar!
Just as their sharp claws were about to tear him apart—
Zap!
Bolts of light erupted in all directions.
Screech—
The beasts hit by the lightning were instantly reduced to charred husks.
Felix, staggering, managed to lift his head.
“No way…”
Someone placed a hand on his shoulder, and a warm energy flowed into him, revitalizing his exhausted body.
Regaining his strength, Felix turned around.
“My lord!”
Zeke, wielding Ascalon, unleashed bolts of light at the charging beasts.
Zap!
With a single attack, dozens of beasts and tentacles in the vicinity were reduced to ashes.
After clearing the area, Zeke turned to Felix.
“Felix, you’ve shed a layer.”
He patted Felix’s shoulder and continued.
“Congratulations on your promotion to Red Knight.”
Having achieved the state of unity with his sword, Felix had broken through the barrier to becoming a Red Knight.
“A Red Knight… me?”
Feeling a surge of pride at having taken a step closer to his idol, Zeke, Felix’s heart swelled.
But only for a moment. Seeing the ashes of the beasts scattered around, he shook his head.
“Maybe in a thousand years, I might catch up to my lord.”
Whether Zeke sensed Felix’s mixed emotions or not, he spoke to him.
“I’ll handle things here. You go and get the citizens out of the city. The allied forces will send reinforcements soon.”
Snapping back to attention, Felix nodded at Zeke’s words.
“Understood, my lord!”
Watching Felix run toward the citizens, Zeke turned back.
He looked up at the cocoon fixed atop the tower.
“The presence I felt from the Sentinel of the End is even more pronounced now.”
The energy within the cocoon was steadily increasing.
As he watched the cocoon with a serious expression, more beasts approached Zeke’s position.
Roar!
Zeke swung Ascalon, unleashing another burst of lightning.
Zap!
Having absorbed the Sentinel that housed Ramiel, the power of light was now much stronger, and the beasts couldn’t withstand it, turning to ash.
Zeke rose into the air, raising Ascalon to unleash lightning in all directions.
The tentacles writhing along the walls burned and disintegrated in the electric storm.
From above, Zeke surveyed the city and saw Bathory and the Dracula Knights helping the citizens of Jupiter escape.
He directed another bolt of lightning in their direction.
Zap!
As the number of beasts dwindled rapidly under Zeke’s relentless attacks, the cocoon, accumulating power, became aware of his presence.
The beasts roaming the city in search of prey began to change.
They merged with the surrounding tentacles, sprouting wings from their backs.
Swoosh—
The beasts spread their wings and soared into the sky, converging on Zeke.
Hundreds of beasts surrounded Zeke in the air, closing in.
Seeing this, Zeke summoned Bucephalus.
The long-absent Bucephalus nuzzled Zeke’s cheek affectionately.
“Good to see you, Bucephalus. Let’s have some fun.”
After patting its head, Zeke mounted Bucephalus and summoned a surge of lightning.
Bucephalus’s horn reacted with Zeke’s lightning, sending massive bolts in all directions.
Zap—
The brilliant lightning rained down on the approaching beasts.
Roar!
Lightning split into dozens of arcs, wrapping around the monstrous creatures.
The beasts couldn’t even get close to Zeke before they were swept away by the electric storm, reduced to ashes that scattered in the wind.
Though the creatures vastly outnumbered him, they were no match for Zeke’s power, falling like leaves in a storm.
Spurring Bucephalus forward, Zeke flew straight toward the cocoon anchored to the tower.
“I’ll end this before the Guardian of the Apocalypse emerges.”
The Guardian could serve as a vessel for the Thirteen Constellations, and if it hatched, another celestial being might manifest in the world.
If that happened, the entire Jupiter Fortress would be obliterated in no time.
Zeke drew Levatein, raising it high as he charged toward the cocoon.
A deep hum resonated as the chaotic energy gathered in his sword.
Infinite Sword Technique: Special Move
Chaos Technique: Soul-Cleaving Slash
Combining the chaos energy he mastered in his battle with Ramiel with his Infinite Sword Technique, Zeke unleashed a devastating strike.
The chaos-infused slash flew toward the cocoon.
In response, tentacles rooted around the tower moved to form a protective shell.
BOOM!
The chaotic slash collided with the tentacle shell, sending shockwaves in all directions.
CRACK!
The tentacles and hidden beasts caught in the shockwave shattered from within.
Zeke gripped Levatein tighter, drawing even more power.
Cracks began to appear in the hardened shell.
RUMBLE!
The chaos energy relentlessly burrowed into the cracks, etching more fissures across the surface.
Seeing this, Zeke’s eyes gleamed as he retrieved a spear made of divine-killing stone from his inventory.
A low hum emanated from the spear, resonating with the celestial power within the cocoon.
Zeke hurled the spear with all his might at the cocoon.
CRASH!
With a sound like tearing air, the spear flew true, striking the most fractured part of the shell.
CRACKLE!
As the divine-killing spear pierced the shell, it crumbled, and the spearhead drove into the cocoon hidden within.
Simultaneously, Zeke’s chaos energy wrapped around the spear, churning the cocoon’s interior.
BOOM—
A shockwave erupted from the spear, reacting to the chaos energy.
The powerful vibrations and waves shook the cocoon violently.
The cocoon’s surface began to bulge and swell.
Zeke quickly extended his hand, casting a shadowy veil over the tower to contain the cocoon.
At that moment, the cocoon exploded.
BOOM!
Zeke’s shadow barrier absorbed the explosion’s impact, preventing the collapse of Jupiter Fortress.
However, it couldn’t completely shield against the shockwave.
The tower, directly hit, crumbled, and parts of the surrounding structures collapsed, with cracks appearing in the fortress walls.
Zeke withdrew the shadows, relieved to see most of Jupiter Fortress still intact.
“Looks like I stopped it before it hatched.”
The angel that descended in the Ramiel constellation was cultivated by Harvey West using an angelic fragment, requiring a homunculus to fully hatch.
But the cocoon Zeke just destroyed was undoubtedly a true angel planted by the Constellations in the material world.
Zeke recalled Boris’s report.
“The Emperor Nero acquired the angel’s cocoon and tried to awaken it with dark magic.”
Had it been left unchecked, not only Jupiter Fortress but the entire southern empire would have suffered catastrophic damage. It was a stroke of luck that it ended here.
Believing the threat neutralized, Zeke prepared to descend and help restore the damaged fortress.
But then, he sensed something ominous.
“What is this…?”
RUMBLE!
At the top of the ruined tower, something stirred.
The black smoke that had been rising slowly dissipated, revealing a form writhing on the ground.
It was a mysterious figure, two statues back-to-back, seemingly in prayer.
Yet, below the waist, the statues were incomplete, with black flesh writhing grotesquely.
The Guardian of the Apocalypse, not fully hatched, had emerged from the cocoon.