Episode 588
Vroooom!
The three who had just passed through the portal found themselves in a completely different place. As the sight of the central tower of the underwater city of R’lyeh came into view, Nabu finally let out a sigh of relief.
“Ah, we finally made it in.”
Entering the Storm Isle was never easy, but the sea had never been as tumultuous as it was this time, almost as if the security barrier had gone haywire, unable to distinguish between friend and foe.
As the trio checked themselves over, someone approached from the side.
“It’s been a while, everyone.”
A tall man in a black coat and fedora walked toward Nigel. His pale complexion and long curly hair peeking out from under his hat gave off an unsettling aura. Nigel nodded in acknowledgment.
The man’s name was Id Van Helsing, known as Ivan. He was a wizard, an assassin, and the most renowned beast hunter among the High Table.
Nabu, who had been sitting, stood up and waved at Ivan.
“Hey, Ivan! Long time no see. Has it been fifty years since we last met? You still look as lifeless as ever.”
Ivan nodded without a change in expression. “It’s hard to find vitality in one who deals with dark magic.”
Nabu gave a sheepish grin at Ivan’s calm retort. Then Nigel asked Ivan, “Have the other High Table members arrived?”
Ivan shook his head, his face still expressionless. “No, I’m the only one here. You three are the next to arrive.”
Ivan’s flat voice carried an eerie chill. Mana, fiddling with her prayer beads, commented, “It’s unusual for others not to have arrived yet. Strange things are happening.”
The High Table members were bound by an oath to come to the Storm Isle when summoned, barring exceptional circumstances. With only four of the twelve present, something was definitely amiss.
Just then, the surroundings began to shimmer.
Zzzzzzz—
The scene shifted to the top floor of R’lyeh’s central tower. The walls and even the ceiling were made of glass, offering a breathtaking view of vibrant marine life and stunning coral reefs. Yet, none of them paid any attention to the spectacle.
Seated at the round table, a symbol of the transcendent among the Highlanders, the four members exchanged tense glances. Only four of the twelve High Table members were present.
Nabu spoke with a grim expression. “Could it be that the other High Table members…?”
At that moment, the leader, cloaked in robes, appeared at the table. Nabu jumped up and shouted, “Leader! What on earth is going on?”
Nigel grabbed Nabu’s arm. “Nabu, calm down and sit.”
Though she restrained Nabu, her eyes were sharp as she addressed the leader in a low voice. “Leader, we need an explanation.”
The High Table members were not mere subordinates of the leader. They were allies bound by a pact. Though they had the stature of transcendents, they remained in this realm, avoiding the higher dimensions and the constraints of karma, thanks to the leader’s power.
After a brief silence, the leader spoke. “Those who couldn’t come here have been annihilated.”
Nigel and the others were shocked. It wasn’t that their souls had ascended to a higher dimension due to karma’s constraints; their very existence had been erased, a concept hard to grasp.
Nabu shouted at the leader, “Annihilated? What do you mean, annihilated? Who could have done such a thing…?”
Suddenly, Nabu’s face twisted in realization. “Could it be Arthur Draker?”
At the mention of Arthur Draker, the leader nodded slowly, a heavy silence following. “Yes. He absorbed the power of the malevolent god Azitahaka, summoned by Ramon Jimenez. With that power, he hunted the High Table members and devoured their souls.”
Nabu’s face turned pale. The idea of consuming a transcendent’s soul with a malevolent god’s power was beyond his imagination.
Nabu’s hands trembled as he spoke. “Why… why would he do such a thing…?”
Nigel furrowed her brow and spoke. “To elevate his own stature, perhaps. To transcend to a divine level.”
Nabu looked at Nigel and shouted, “Divine level? A celestial rank? How could a human achieve that?”
Nigel replied in a low voice, “You fool. Have you forgotten how the malevolent god Azitahaka attained divinity?”
Nabu snapped back to his senses at Nigel’s words. “The Flesh Emperor… Right, of course. Could Arthur Draker be aiming to become the new Flesh Emperor…?”
The leader, who had been listening to their conversation, spoke slowly. “Arthur Draker is targeting this place.”
At the leader’s words, Nigel, Nabu, and Mana frowned. Nigel addressed the leader, “Are you saying Arthur Draker is after the Black Star here?”
The leader nodded. “The Black Star is indeed one of his targets. But it’s not the only one.”
Nigel eyed the leader warily. “You’ve kept too many secrets from us. I’ve known you for over a thousand years. What exactly is Arthur Draker after…?”
The leader interrupted her by rising and waving a hand. Something began to materialize above the table—a book bound in black leather.
Nabu, seeing the book, stood up in alarm. “Wait, that’s…!”
As the leader gestured, a dozen books floated in the air, their pages flipping open. Nabu quickly scanned the pages, stopping at one with a look of horror.
“That’s insane! That’s the Necronomicon!”
Mana, still fiddling with her beads, asked Nabu, “What is that book, Nabu?”
The answer came from an unexpected source. “The Book of the Dead.”
Ivan, who had been silent, spoke up. “The soul of the Demon King is sealed within that book.”
Nigel muttered, frowning at Ivan’s words. “A book with the Demon King’s soul sealed inside…”
She turned to the leader. “Does showing us this mean the book is here in the Storm Isle?”
The leader nodded slowly. “To be precise, half of it is here.”
Nigel, her expression still tense, asked, “Where’s the other half?”
“I cannot say.”
Nabu slammed the table and shouted at the leader, “Damn it! So Arthur Draker is coming here for a book with half the Demon King’s soul sealed in it! And you’ve been hiding this from us all along!”
He fumed at the leader. “Damn, I should have suspected something when Zeke mentioned something was off. Leader, who exactly are you?”
As Nabu pressed the leader, Ivan stood up and pulled something from his coat, tossing it onto the table.
Thud!
Nabu turned to see what Ivan had thrown. It was a dark red stone, not a mana stone, yet it emanated a strange energy.
Ivan pointed to the stone. “This came from the bodies of the beasts that attacked me.”
Nigel reached out, and the dark red stone floated into the air. As it approached her, she could feel the alien energy more clearly.
Nigel recognized the nature of the energy. “It’s imbued with the essence of an Outsider.”
Outsiders, unlike typical beasts, were still a mystery even to the High Table. Ivan nodded at Nigel’s words and continued, “The Outsider beasts that attacked me were unlike any I’ve seen before.”
Nigel asked, “Unlike? In what way?”
“They were intelligent beings capable of communication, and they attacked me under someone’s orders.”
Nigel, Nabu, and Mana were taken aback by Ivan’s revelation. The leader, who had been listening, spoke up. “Arthur Draker is the one controlling those Outsiders. The other High Table members were also attacked by them.”
Nigel turned to the leader. “Did you know this would happen?”
The leader remained silent in response to Nigel’s question. Nabu, watching the exchange, exploded in frustration. “Damn it! After all these centuries of coming and going here, we know so little!”
He took a deep breath, calming himself. “Alright. So Arthur Draker is coming here for the Black Star and half the Demon King’s soul, with these new Outsider beasts in tow. Leader, if there’s anything else you haven’t told us, now’s the time. I’m angry you’ve kept so much from us, but we need to prepare to stop him.”
At Nabu’s words, the leader slowly began to speak.
“Asher Draker isn’t just after the Demon King’s soul.”
“Huh? What do you mean? Isn’t he trying to steal the soul to summon the Demon King?”
“Summoning the Demon King is indeed his goal.”
“Damn it, here we go again. Why can’t he just speak plainly instead of talking in riddles?”
Ivan, who was standing nearby, turned to Nabu and said, “The leader can’t speak freely because of the restrictions of karma.”
Nabu glanced at Ivan. “Ivan, do you know something?”
Instead of answering, Ivan looked over at the leader, who nodded in response.
With the leader’s permission, Ivan began to speak. “It’s true that Asher Draker wants to summon the Demon King, but his purpose is different from what you think.”
“What do you mean, different?”
Ivan paused before replying, “Asher Draker intends to use the power of the malevolent god to absorb the Demon King’s strength.”
“What?”
The malevolent god, Azitahaka, was a being that had gained divinity by consuming entities imbued with the power of the constellations, including the Nephilim.
Currently, Asher Draker had already absorbed the power of the malevolent god by transplanting the heart of the Mad Dragon Zeus into Abel’s body. He had also absorbed the Black Star, the heart of an Elder Dragon, and the souls of the transcendent beings of the High Table.
If Asher Draker were to absorb the Demon King’s soul as well, his power would become unimaginably vast.
Nabu, looking bewildered, asked Ivan, “So, is Asher Draker planning to summon the Demon King into his own body and then absorb it? Is that why he’s attacking us?”
Ivan shook his head. “The vessel for the Demon King loses its own identity and functions only as a container. No matter how powerful Asher Draker is, he can’t directly absorb the Demon King’s soul.”
“Then what?”
“His plan is to summon the Demon King into someone else and then absorb the soul. That’s Asher Draker’s ultimate goal.”
Nabu frowned, deep in thought, before turning to Ivan. “Wait a minute, that doesn’t make sense. Abel, who was supposed to be the vessel, is dead. If Asher Draker isn’t going to be the vessel himself, then who is he planning to use?”
Rumble!
Suddenly, a tremendous energy surged from behind them.
Startled, Nabu turned to see Nigel clenching her teeth, glaring at the leader.
She raised her sword, pointing it at the leader, and shouted, “You! Don’t tell me…!”
Nabu, taken aback, tried to calm her down. “Whoa, whoa! Nigel, calm down! We can’t start fighting among ourselves!”
But Nigel pushed Nabu aside and yelled, “Don’t you see, Nabu? He’s planning to use Zeke as bait to catch Asher Draker!”