Episode 596
“Commander Souma, it’s been a while.”
Zeke spoke in a low voice, directing his words at the crystal orb.
From the orb, Souma’s voice emerged.
―“What brings Sir Zeke all the way out here?”
Zeke reacted sharply to Souma’s sly tone.
“Let’s skip the pointless probing, shall we?”
His voice was laced with thorns as he continued.
“Where is Arthur Draker?”
Zeke took the initiative, prompting a brief pause from Souma before he replied.
―“If you mean the former head, he has already passed…”
Crack!
Zeke didn’t bother listening to the rest. He shattered the crystal orb, sending a clear message. He had no further use for it at the moment, and it served as a warning. Souma, the head of the Right Wing Division responsible for intelligence, was not someone to be underestimated.
Without understanding Arthur Draker’s true intentions, Zeke knew he could easily be swayed by Souma’s words.
‘The best way to deal with such situations is to cut them off before they start.’
It was a lesson Zeke had learned in his past life: silence the silver-tongued before they can speak.
He turned his sharp gaze toward the Black Stage’s ship and commanded his summoned creatures.
“Prepare for battle. We’re going to crush them all.”
Richmond and Vayne nodded, their expressions tense.
After dismissing Nahuel, Zeke retrieved something from his inventory.
Sssss—
A powerful chill emanated from the ice-elemental stone he revealed.
He cast a cold smile toward the Black Stage.
“Souma, you’ll regret opposing me.”
With the stone in hand, Zeke immediately performed a polymorph.
Sssss—
Transformed into an elf, Zeke held the elemental stone and summoned a water spirit.
Boom!
He tossed the stone toward the high-ranking water spirit.
Rumble!
The stone’s chill combined with the spirit’s power, unleashing an even stronger cold that spread in all directions.
Zeke applied his unique ability, Infinite Breakthrough, to this power.
In an instant, the cold amplified, extending across the entire sea.
Boom!
The sea froze over, capturing the turbulent waves in ice.
The intense cold expanded its reach, astonishingly reaching the Black Stage’s ship.
Crack!
From the ship Zeke stood on to the entrance of the stormy island, the entire sea was frozen solid, leaving Vayne and Richmond gaping in disbelief.
Especially Vayne, who specialized in ice magic, was stunned by Zeke’s ability to freeze the entire sea.
“How… how is this possible…?”
Barely holding back the words “brute force,” Vayne realized anew just how absurdly powerful Zeke truly was.
While the two liches were in shock, Zeke looked at the frozen sea with satisfaction.
He then addressed Richmond and Vayne.
“What are you waiting for? We have a battlefield and the enemy is right there.”
The two arch-liches, still dazed by the unbelievable sight, finally snapped back to reality.
They summoned creatures onto the thick ice sheet covering the sea.
Growl!
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Ice-formed beasts and armored skeleton troops lined up and advanced.
Simultaneously, Zeke summoned shadow spirits.
The Gurab and Kaiman units rose and charged toward the Black Stage’s ship.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
As the summoned creatures charged across the ice, something began to emerge from the frozen Black Stage ship.
Screech!
A monstrous creature, resembling a cross between a tiger and a scorpion, let out a shriek as it climbed onto the ice.
Roar!
Following its lead, other bizarre creatures—giant mantis-like beings, massive worms, and hybrids of snakes and spiders—descended from the Black Stage ship.
The external beasts, as if receiving orders, lined up and awaited the oncoming assault from Zeke’s summoned forces.
Rumble!
The skeletons and ice beasts were the first to charge at them.
Roar!
The external beasts, as terrifying as they looked, possessed immense strength.
A single swipe of a scorpion tail reduced skeletons to dust, and ice beasts shattered into icy fragments.
Screech!
Insect-like beasts spewed sticky venom as they clashed with the Gurab-led shark dragon unit.
Surprisingly, despite Gurab’s formidable power, the external beasts held their ground, even counterattacking the shark dragons behind them.
At that moment, Kaiman, leading the dragon knight unit, launched a flanking attack on the external beasts engaged with the Gurab unit.
Crack!
The Kaiman unit’s assault shattered the external beasts’ exoskeletons with a loud noise.
But it wasn’t over; from the broken shells emerged tentacles lined with sharp teeth.
Screech!
As the tentacles attempted to ensnare the shadow spirits and drain their power, a red aura descended from above.
Wooooom—
Caligula, summoned at some point, used his blood power to halt the tentacles’ movements.
Beside him, Ashvin, with four wings unfurled, poised with a black spear.
Ashvin hurled the spear at the external beasts.
Boom!
The beasts impaled by the black spear shrieked, oozing sticky fluids.
Though their wounds healed and new tentacles sprouted from severed parts, their movements were noticeably slower than before.
While the summoned creatures held off the external beasts, Zeke stealthily made his way toward the Black Stage ship.
With the ships trapped in ice, unable to move, Zeke infiltrated them.
Sssss—
Emerging on the deck of the flagship, Zeke sensed no presence aboard.
‘Could it be they’re not here?’
Given that Souma had contacted him directly, it was certain he was here, likely hiding somewhere.
Zeke intended to capture Souma to extract information about Arthur Draker.
He slowly descended below deck.
Creak—
With each step, the stairs groaned, the wood twisting underfoot.
The narrow corridor below deck was shrouded in darkness, devoid of any sign of life.
Zeke used his dragon sight to search for traces of Souma.
Then, he sensed something approaching from the end of the corridor.
Shuffle!
It staggered forward, emitting strange groans.
‘There was no presence before…’
Zeke focused his dragon sight on the approaching figure.
To his surprise, it was a Black Stage crew member, staggering toward him in a dire state.
“Groooan!”
Half of the crew member’s face was grotesquely transformed, with anemone-like tentacles sprouting from his mouth.
The staggering crew member spotted Zeke and reached out.
Simultaneously, tentacles shot from his hand, attempting to ensnare Zeke.
Boom!
Zeke raised shadows to block the crew member’s tentacles.
Then, he unleashed a burst of light energy.
Crackle!
The crew member, struck by the light, convulsed and collapsed to the floor.
Zeke frowned at the crew member, now exuding the aura of an external beast.
‘Could they have implanted external beasts into the crew?’
External beasts were entities unlike any ordinary beast.
Even the Akashic Records held scant information on these external entities.
Growl!
The crew member, hit by Zeke’s energy, slowly rose again.
More grotesque tentacles sprouted from his body.
As the crew member extended his arms, thick, tree-like tentacles, lined with sharp teeth, lunged at Zeke like snakes.
In the cramped quarters, Zeke opted not to draw his sword, instead forming a dagger from shadows.
Slash!
With the shadow-formed dagger, Zeke sliced through the oncoming tentacles.
Yet, no matter how many he severed, the tentacles continued to regenerate endlessly.
‘This won’t do.’
Zeke, while cutting with one hand, extended the other toward the severed tentacles, emitting purifying light.
Wooooom!
Golden light radiated from Zeke’s hand, touching the tentacle stumps.
The tentacles began to dissolve.
Screech!
Unlike when merely severed, the crew member-turned-beast let out a pained scream.
Zeke retracted the shadows and summoned golden light to both hands.
Wooooom!
Assuming the stance of Infinite Chain Resolution, Zeke charged directly at the crew member.
Boom!
The tentacles that had been flying toward Zeke melted away as they touched his aura, disintegrating into nothingness.
With a fierce determination, Zeke launched a powerful punch, channeling all his energy into the strike.
Crash!
The force of his blow, imbued with the energy of destruction, tore through the dark warrior’s body, leaving a massive hole. Simultaneously, the purifying power within him spread throughout the warrior’s form, halting any regeneration and causing it to dissolve completely.
“Aaaaargh!”
As the dark warrior, infused with the power of the alien beast, ceased its attack, Zeke attempted to read its memories. To his surprise, there was nothing left—no trace at all.
“Did someone deliberately erase the data?”
Just then, Zeke’s instincts flared, sensing something amiss. He quickly looked up at the ceiling, his eyes widening in shock.
“What is that?”
Hanging densely from the ceiling were cocoons, packed tightly together. One of them suddenly ripped open, and something sticky and grotesque fell to the floor with a splat.
Thud!
It was another dark warrior, fused with the alien beast, slowly rising and advancing toward Zeke. All the cocoons on the ceiling contained these demonic beings, imbued with the power of the alien species.
From the start, this ship had been a trap to lure Zeke in.
Rip, rip, rip—
The sound of tearing echoed as more cocoons began to split open, and the demonic beings started to drop one by one.
Screeeeech!
The creatures let out horrific screams as they rose and moved toward Zeke. Despite their grotesque appearance, Zeke remained calm, assuming a stance of infinite resolve.
“Come on, I’ll take you all on.”
In that moment, the demons lunged at Zeke with their tentacles, and the dark corridor was suddenly bathed in a golden light.
Deep beneath the stormy sea, a massive kraken lay dead, being devoured by something. The creature that had attacked the kraken, which had guarded the storm fortress for millennia, was an alien sea serpent.
The sea serpent had suddenly appeared, coiling around the kraken and injecting venom with its tentacles, slowly subduing it. This allowed intruders to force open a path to the storm fortress and enter the island.
Ultimately, the kraken met its end at the hands of the alien beast, and the guardian of the storm fortress was no more.
The one controlling the sea serpent was none other than Souma, the right-wing captain of the dark warriors. From within a translucent orb attached to the beast’s forehead, Souma watched the situation on the surface through a crystal ball.
“Zeke Draker, not even you can stop hundreds of mutated initiates.”
Those working for Arthur Draker were called initiates, having received the power of the alien species. However, not everyone could undergo the initiation. Only the chosen ones could be reborn as a new “race” through a perfect initiation.
Souma was one of those chosen. He had set a trap on the ship filled with failed mutants to lure Zeke in. Even a black knight couldn’t handle hundreds of endlessly regenerating, splitting mutated initiates alone.
Souma was confident he could deal with Zeke Draker here. But as he awaited Zeke’s demise, the crystal ball he was watching suddenly filled with golden light.
“What the…?”
Souma squinted and turned back to the crystal ball, but it no longer showed the surface. He frowned at the unexpected burst of golden light from the trap he had set.
“Could it be Zeke Draker?”
Harvey Draker, who had recently joined their ranks, had warned that Zeke should be considered more than just a black knight. While Souma and the other initiates hadn’t fully believed Harvey, they couldn’t ignore the possibility, which was why they had set this trap. Yet, the unexpected reaction left Souma uneasy.
“I need to see what’s happening up there.”
He considered moving but hesitated, deciding instead to use the beast he controlled to leave the battered kraken and rise to the surface.
Clunk!
As Souma tried to maneuver the beast, it felt as if something was holding it back.
“What is this?”
And then it happened.
Boom!
A massive impact struck the beast, shaking it violently.