Episode 584
Agares hovered in the air, looking down at Zeke, and raised his hand. Instantly, the entire arena was engulfed in blue flames.
Whoosh!
The azure fire, hotter than the flames of hell, swept over Zeke and the space around him.
Boom!
The blue inferno roared, threatening to incinerate an entire army in an instant, consuming the arena in its fiery embrace. Within the swirling flames, Zeke’s form was completely obscured.
Agares watched the fierce blue blaze with a satisfied smile. But then, something unexpected happened.
Swish—
A sharp sword strike pierced through the flames, heading straight for Agares.
Slash—
The crescent-shaped attack grazed one of Agares’s wings, slicing it clean off. At the same time, a ripple in the air revealed Zeke’s presence.
Zeke emerged, shrouded in shadows, wielding the Caladbolg infused with dark energy.
Rumble!
In that state, Zeke assumed the stance of the Dragon Slayer’s technique, gathering his power.
Dragon Slayer Infinite Sword Technique
Chapter 6, Verse 1
Piercing the Dragon’s Heart
The sword style of the Draker family, known for slaying dragons, unfolded.
Boom!
The shadow-cloaked Caladbolg shot forward, aiming to pierce the heart of Agares, who had taken on the form of a dragon.
Seeing this, Agares smirked dismissively and conjured a spear of blue flame with a wave of his hand.
Boom!
Without hesitation, Agares hurled the spear of azure fire at the incoming dark strike.
Rumble!
The clash of Zeke’s dark sword strike and Agares’s blue flames sent shockwaves rippling outward.
Crack!
The immense power of their collision began to fracture the very fabric of the dimension, causing plasma to erupt and a backlash of causality to sweep through the arena.
Crack!
As the clash continued, the dimensional rift widened, and the causal backlash threatened to tear the arena apart.
From the stands, Baal leapt to his feet, turning to Mephistopheles.
“Archdemon, are you just going to watch? If this continues, this place will be torn to shreds!”
Creating a meeting place where the demon lords could gather was no easy feat.
Mephistopheles, who had been watching the battle with interest, pursed his lips at Baal’s words and stood up, acknowledging the situation.
With a snap of his fingers, he directed his power toward the site of Zeke and Agares’s clash.
Astonishingly, as if time were reversing, the plasma was sucked back into the dimensional rifts, which then sealed themselves, restoring stability.
The causal backlash that had swept the arena also vanished.
With the dimension stabilized, Zeke and Agares retreated, glaring at each other from the air.
Agares spoke first, addressing Zeke.
“Arrogant human. Had you faced my true form in my domain, your soul would have been obliterated in an instant.”
Zeke scoffed at Agares’s words.
“Neutralizing a petty demon’s power is no great feat. You should pray I never set foot in your domain, Agares.”
Agares, seething with anger, attempted to summon his blue flames again, but they vanished as quickly as they appeared. He realized Mephistopheles, the creator of this arena, had intervened and turned to the stands.
“What are you doing? Release the restriction! I will devour that human alive!”
Mephistopheles shook his head.
“Sorry, but no more. Any further, and this place will collapse.”
Agares gritted his teeth, knowing the dimension was unstable. He had intended to incinerate Zeke with his power, but Zeke had not only withstood the flames but also counterattacked.
Reluctantly, Agares withdrew his power.
Returning to his original demon form, he addressed Zeke.
“Human, I cannot acknowledge you. A lowly being like you as a demon lord is unthinkable.”
Zeke chuckled, meeting Agares’s gaze.
“That’s convenient. I didn’t want to acknowledge you either. Why not relinquish your title as a demon lord and quietly fade away? It might be better for the demon realm.”
Agares, provoked by Zeke’s taunt, nearly lost his temper again, but Mephistopheles snapped his fingers once more.
Rumble!
In an instant, the arena vanished, returning them to the original conference room.
Seated at the head of the table, Mephistopheles smiled.
“I think Zeke Draker has proven himself worthy, don’t you?”
Baal nodded in agreement, while Agares bared his teeth in frustration.
Then Asmodeus stood up, addressing Mephistopheles.
“Archdemon, I have a proposal.”
Mephistopheles furrowed his brow.
“Hmm, what kind of proposal?”
Asmodeus, the master of Gehenna, was as powerful as Mephistopheles and known for his ability to see through and counter Mephistopheles’s schemes.
If Asmodeus’s followers had understood and followed their master’s intentions even slightly better, the archdemon might have been replaced.
Asmodeus turned to Zeke.
“I want to verify if he truly possesses the qualifications of a demon lord as the successor of the Arrogant Savior.”
“Verify his qualifications? Wasn’t the battle just now enough?”
“If being good at fighting were all it took to be a demon lord, then the ‘Judicator of Endless Struggle’ or the ‘Herald of Blood and Madness’ could have been demon lords.”
Gusion and Wirynome had power and influence comparable to the demon lords, yet they were not recognized as such for a reason.
Asmodeus’s eyes gleamed.
“I want to see if Zeke Draker has fully inherited the Arrogant Savior’s power.”
A unique power befitting a demon lord. Without it, no matter how strong one was, they could not be acknowledged as a ruler of the demon realm.
Mephistopheles listened to Asmodeus and then turned to Zeke.
“Zeke Draker, what do you say? Can you prove it?”
Zeke, hearing Mephistopheles, looked at Asmodeus and then drew a sword from his inventory.
He infused the blade, reminiscent of the dawn’s light, with the essence of the Arrogant Savior.
In an instant, Arataso, sealed within the sword, appeared.
Thud!
Arataso, once the leader of the Morning Star’s first battalion, bowed silently before Zeke, displaying loyalty.
Asmodeus’s expression shifted at the sight of Arataso, restored to his prime by the Arrogant Savior’s power.
”…Captain of the Dawn.”
Arataso, who had lost his original power and status as Captain of the Dawn following a decision by the demon lords, now stood proudly, restored to his former glory.
But that wasn’t all.
Zeke retrieved another item from his inventory—a cracked, ancient bone helmet.
He imbued the helmet with the Arrogant Savior’s unique power of recreation and the domain of Purgatory.
As Zeke channeled his power, the bone helmet transformed.
Rumble!
A demon clad in bone armor with ruby eyes, the leader of the Morning Star’s second battalion, Asmodi, was resurrected by Zeke’s power.
Summoned from the forgotten fragments of time in Purgatory, Asmodi knelt before Zeke.
“At your command, my lord.”
Asmodi, seemingly unaware of his previous demise at Zeke’s hands, pledged loyalty to Zeke, the inheritor of the Arrogant Savior’s soul.
With the two captains of the Morning Star acknowledging Zeke as their master, Asmodeus shrugged, having nothing more to say.
Zeke addressed the demon lords gathered in the chamber.
“I believe this should suffice as proof.”
Even Agares, who had been scowling, found no grounds to object after witnessing Arataso and Asmodi’s allegiance.
At that moment, the silent “Master of the Abyss” turned to Zeke.
[Zeke Draker.]
Zeke recognized the voice of the Abyss’s master, recalling his true name.
‘The Lord of Abaddon, Beelzebub.’
Beelzebub, the master of undead, spirits, and incorporeal beings, had once been a celestial who loved the beings of the material world as much as the Arrogant Savior before his fall into the demon realm.
The Arrogant Savior had long speculated that Beelzebub’s love was what resurrected the souls and bodies of the dead, creating an immortal legion.
Since the Arrogant Savior had pieced together the fragments of forgotten time to form the demon realm, most of its inhabitants were the remnants of vanished civilizations.
However, Beelzebub’s followers were unique, summoned directly from the abyss by his own hand.
The beings Beelzebub gathered were undead, transcending death, and entities composed solely of spirit, giving Abaddon a distinct appearance unlike any other region in the demon realm.
Zeke gazed at the flaming skeletal knight possessed by Beelzebub.
Beelzebub’s voice echoed once more in his mind.
[You are the one who most resembles Abaddon.]
Zeke, the immortal.
As Beelzebub suggested, Zeke shared a kinship with the undying, having risen from death himself.
Before Zeke could respond, Beelzebub continued.
[Abaddon will recognize the immortal Zeke Draker as a grand lord. Moreover, I have a proposal for you.]
Mephistopheles, listening nearby, flashed a wary glance at Beelzebub’s words.
Beelzebub’s voice resonated again in Zeke’s mind.
[Immortal one, Abaddon wishes to propose an alliance with you.]
The sudden proposal from Beelzebub shocked all the grand lords present in the council.
Agares, in particular, who had been reluctant to acknowledge Zeke, leapt to his feet, shouting at Beelzebub.
“What nonsense is this! Not only do you recognize a human as a grand lord, but you propose an equal alliance! Have you lost your mind, Master of the Abyss?”
Despite the anger in Agares’s voice, Beelzebub remained unfazed and continued.
[What do you say, immortal? If you accept my proposal, I will formally request the alliance through Abaddon’s envoy, Nevilos, whom you already have with you.]
It was unexpected that Beelzebub, whom Zeke thought would be the hardest to approach, was the first to propose an alliance.
Zeke pondered why Beelzebub had approached him first, then glanced at Mephistopheles, whose expression had darkened.
‘He’s making a preemptive move to counter the Demon Lord.’
The Demon Lord had orchestrated this meeting, offering exclusive trade with the mortal realm, Zeke’s domain, as a condition.
While they anticipated elevating Zeke to a grand lord, they hadn’t expected any of the other grand lords to openly propose an alliance.
Zeke organized his thoughts and addressed Beelzebub.
“What are the terms of this alliance?”
Beelzebub replied.
[We seek to enhance the rights of necromancers in the mortal realm.]
Zeke was taken aback by Beelzebub’s unexpected condition and asked, “You want me to protect the necromancers?”
[Indeed. Currently, necromancers and the undead in the mortal realm suffer unjust persecution.]
Beelzebub spoke with earnestness.
[Immortal one, I believe you can protect them.]