Episode 591
“Mother?”
Zeke’s face turned ashen as he saw Laura Agamemnon lying in a pool of her own blood.
“Did Arthur kill her?”
Arthur Draker, the head of the Draker family and a renowned conqueror across the continent, had killed his own wife, Laura Agamemnon, with his own hands.
Rumble!
An overwhelming surge of energy erupted from Zeke’s body.
Crackle―
The kaleidoscopic realm before him wavered, destabilized by his power.
Zeke wanted nothing more than to crush Arthur Draker, the man who had killed his mother, right then and there. But the Arthur before him was merely a fragment of the past.
Realizing that his unchecked fury could shatter the kaleidoscope’s realm, Zeke forced himself to calm down, determined to see the scene through to the end.
Sizzle―
As he reined in his energy, the kaleidoscope’s realm stabilized once more.
Arthur Draker turned away from Laura’s fallen form. His gaze shifted to a stone altar, upon which sat a single basket.
Arthur approached the basket.
“Hmm.”
He peered inside at the child within—a child with black hair and eyes.
Arthur’s expression twisted as he looked at the child.
He glanced back at Laura Agamemnon and spoke.
“Do you really think this child can break the wheel of fate, as the prophecy says?”
Arthur pointed his sword at the child.
“If I kill this child now, all your efforts will be in vain.”
Despite her life slipping away, Laura Agamemnon met Arthur’s gaze defiantly.
“Arthur, you will never… be able to kill that child.”
Arthur sneered at her words.
“Ha, how amusing! Why do you think I can’t? If it’s a threat to me, even a newborn…”
“Akashic Code.”
Laura’s quiet words stopped Arthur in his tracks.
“That child alone… can wield… the Elder Dragon’s… relic… the Akashic Code…”
Her voice faded as her eyes dimmed.
Zeke, watching from the sidelines, was stunned by Laura’s revelation.
“Mother knew about the Elder Dragon and the Akashic Code?”
He had known she received visions from Chronos, the dragon of time, but he hadn’t realized she knew about the Akashic Code.
Laura Agamemnon spoke no more.
Arthur Draker clenched his jaw as he looked at her lifeless body.
For a fleeting moment, regret flickered across his face.
But he quickly masked it and approached Laura’s body.
Suddenly, her body was enveloped in a mystical light and vanished, leaving only a scattering of luminescent particles.
Arthur watched the dispersing light with a fierce gaze.
“Laura, even in death, you make a fool of me.”
After a moment, Arthur turned his attention back to the child in the basket.
The child, with those piercing black eyes, stared back at him without crying.
Arthur’s expression grew complicated as the child reached out a hand toward him.
In the distance, a battered figure crawled into view—Decker, bloodied and broken.
Decker, seeing the scene within the cave, cried out.
“No, no!”
Realizing Laura Agamemnon was gone, he understood she had died at Arthur’s hands.
Decker coughed up blood, his voice a wail of despair.
“Why? Why would someone as powerful as you do this?”
Arthur, unmoved by Decker’s cries, continued to gaze at the child in the basket.
He picked up the basket and approached Decker.
Thud!
He set the basket down beside Decker with a cold voice.
“This is Laura’s child. She’s gone now, so you will raise him as a Draker.”
Decker, trembling, peered into the basket.
He had neither the strength nor the authority to defy Arthur Draker.
The child reached out and touched Decker’s cheek, and Decker found himself weeping.
He managed to stand, cradling the basket in his arms.
Arthur turned away.
As he was about to leave the cave, Decker called out softly.
“What should the child’s name be?”
Arthur paused.
“A name, huh…”
He slowly turned back to Decker.
“Name him Zeke, after the cursed bastard of the great Draker.”
Whoosh!
The kaleidoscope’s realm collapsed, and Zeke found himself back in the ornate room.
Sizzle―
He awoke on the bed, Mephistopheles beside him.
Feeling a dizziness akin to when he had crossed the timeline, Zeke sighed.
“Phew…”
He understood now why Mephistopheles had chosen the bed for the kaleidoscope’s display.
Once the dizziness subsided, Zeke got off the bed and looked at Mephistopheles with a hint of accusation.
“So this is the hidden truth? That Arthur Draker killed my mother?”
Mephistopheles responded with a subtle smile.
“This is the truth as I know it. Were you expecting something else?”
Zeke fell silent at Mephistopheles’ words.
He had made a pact with the arrogant savior, knowing he couldn’t predict what truth Mephistopheles would reveal.
The revelation that Arthur Draker had murdered Laura Agamemnon was enough to fill Zeke with shock and hatred.
Yet, he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to the story.
“The demon of contracts, Mephistopheles. He doesn’t lie, but he can show only parts of the truth as he pleases.”
Realizing there were complexities between Arthur Draker and Laura Agamemnon he didn’t understand, Zeke thought of someone who might know more.
“Rex Turn.”
Rex Turn, Reina’s father and head of the Turn family, had been a close friend to both Arthur and Laura.
Zeke had once sought to learn about his mother from Rex Turn, but circumstances had delayed that meeting. Now, it seemed like the right time.
He doubted Rex Turn knew everything about Laura’s knowledge of the Elder Dragon and the Akashic Code, or why Arthur spared him despite knowing he could break the wheel of fate.
But he was sure that hearing their story would provide clues.
“I need to meet Rex Turn first.”
Zeke turned to Mephistopheles.
“I’m returning to the material world now.”
Mephistopheles looked disappointed.
“Already? The banquet isn’t over, and we could have more fun…”
Zeke waved off Mephistopheles’ words, summoning Raven.
Whoosh!
Raven, now much stronger, spread its fiery wings and let out a phoenix cry.
A rift opened between the unstable dimensions.
Crackle―
Powerful plasma surged from the rift.
Mephistopheles called out urgently to Zeke as he prepared to leave.
“You’re in such a hurry! Zeke Draker, the return journey won’t be like when you came! Now that you’re a demon lord, the karma’s backlash will be stronger!”
Zeke, unfazed by Mephistopheles’ warning, entered the rift with Raven.
Rumble―
The dimensional storm engulfed him, pulling him in, and the rift closed in an instant.
Left alone in the room, Mephistopheles watched the vanished rift with a sly smile.
At that moment, someone appeared behind him.
A being of unparalleled beauty.
The arrogant savior stood beside Mephistopheles in spirit form.
He spoke to Mephistopheles.
―Your bad habits persist. Why didn’t you reveal the whole truth to Zeke Draker?
Mephistopheles replied with a grin.
“Life would be too dull without a little fun.”
The savior shook his head at Mephistopheles’ words.
―Zeke Draker isn’t someone you can toy with so easily.
Mephistopheles’ smile widened.
“I know. That’s what makes it exciting. I’m eager to see how this stage will unfold.”
With a wave of his hand, the kaleidoscope’s glass panes appeared, each showing different scenes.
Mephistopheles chuckled as he watched.
“Zeke Draker, I’m looking forward to seeing how you’ll disrupt this stage. So… don’t fall apart.”
Like a child gleefully shaking a new toy, Mephistopheles wore a smile that was both innocent and chilling.
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
Zeke followed Raven, slicing through the dimensional rift to reach the physical realm.
Yet, as Mephistopheles had warned, the resistance and backlash from karma were stronger than ever, making the journey anything but easy.
Roar!
If Raven hadn’t been leading the way, guiding them through the path to the physical realm, Zeke would have surely lost his way amidst the dimensional storms raging from all sides.
Harnessing the power of the constellations, Zeke shielded both himself and Raven, following Raven’s lead through the rift toward the entrance to the physical realm.
“Where does this path lead?”
Originally, they had opened a path from Baranaon’s mansion to Mephistopheles’s domain. But now, it seemed they were heading somewhere entirely different.
Whoosh!
Just then, a passage to the physical realm appeared before Zeke’s eyes.
He turned to Raven and said, “Raven, let’s head out through there!”
Hearing Zeke, Raven pushed forward, cutting through the plasma storm.
Zeke braced himself against the powerful karmic backlash and leaped into the blinding light.
Crackle!
A tremendous aftershock of causality surged toward Zeke.
But with his vast reserves of karma points, Zeke could withstand such a backlash.
Emerging from the rift into the physical realm, Zeke checked his condition and surveyed his surroundings.
“Where… am I?”
An ancient ruin, unlike anything he had ever seen, stretched out before him.
Moss covered the area, and the stone structures were worn and abandoned, suggesting that no one had set foot here for a long time.
“An ancient ruin, huh? Quite a unique style.”
Having explored most ancient sites on the central continent in his past life, Zeke was intrigued by the unfamiliar architecture.
He pulled up a map to pinpoint his current location.
To his surprise, he wasn’t on the central continent.
“The Eastern Continent?”
Moreover, he was not in the Murk Empire’s territory but within the mountain range beyond the Eternal Barrier.
“An ancient ruin within the Eternal Mountains.”
Zeke began to explore the ruins.
The architectural style was markedly different from the ancient sites on the central continent.
“Hmm, even considering it’s an Eastern Continent ruin, it differs from the Murk Empire’s style.”
As he examined the ruins, Zeke realized they predated the Murk Empire by a significant margin.
While scrutinizing the site, Zeke recalled a place with a similar architectural style.
“Karkosa.”
In the fragmented memories of his quest for the primordial temple, Zeke had seen the pyramids of Karkosa.
This ruin bore a striking resemblance to those pyramids.
Pondering the possible connection, Zeke continued to explore the site and discovered traces of an altar inside.
Approaching the altar, he noticed something etched into the wall.
He conjured a sphere of light, illuminating the wall.
Zeke raised his head to examine the wall of the ruin.
“What is that?”
Carved into the wall was a symbol of three eyes, clear and unmistakable.