Episode 606
Emerging from the shadows, Zeke gripped his Levatein tightly, his gaze fixed on Baron, who stood surrounded by his Black Squad.
With a voice as cold as ice, Zeke spoke. “Baron, I never expected to see you like this.”
Baron placed a hand over his heart and bowed respectfully. “Sir Zeke, it’s unfortunate that things have come to this.”
Zeke furrowed his brow. “Unfortunate? You swore loyalty to me, yet here you are, betraying me.”
Baron lifted his head, his expression unwavering. “I serve only one true master.”
For Baron and the Black Squad, that master was Arthur Draker, whom they revered as a god, the one who had named them Drakers and heralded a new era of humanity.
Baron continued, “Sir Zeke, our master values your abilities. If you accept the baptism and become a true Draker, you could join us in this new age.”
Zeke’s lips curled into a chilling smile. “A true Draker, you say…”
In an instant, Zeke’s presence became overwhelming, a terrifying aura emanating from him.
Rumble!
Despite having attained divinity, Zeke’s power was unrestrained by karma, surpassing even the transcendent High Tables. His mere presence exerted a crushing force on the space around him.
Baron nodded, acknowledging the power before him. “It’s a shame we can’t stand together. But we have a vision we must fulfill, and we can’t stop here.”
With a snap of his fingers, Baron set things in motion. The body of Ingel, who had fallen to Zeke’s blade, began to stir. Black smoke poured from the wound on his neck, coalescing to form a new one.
Crack!
Ingel rose, his body twisting grotesquely, his eyes blazing with malice as he glared at Zeke. “You filthy bastard!”
Ingel’s face contorted with rage as he pointed at Zeke, shouting, “Kill him! Now!”
At Ingel’s command, the Black Squad, poised to attack the High Tables, shifted their focus to Zeke.
Zeke’s gaze lingered on the Black Squad, where Nigel was struggling with the backlash of karma, her power unleashed. Though Nabua and Mana were tending to her, the storm of causality continued to grow.
Zeke turned his sword towards Ingel. “I never forgive betrayal.”
With his icy words, shadows erupted around him. The Black Squad, shrouded in dark energy, charged at Zeke.
Boom!
The shadows surged from the ground, slicing through the Black Squad with black blades.
Crash!
The squad members hit by the blades shattered and were flung aside.
Screech!
Yet some managed to break through the shadows, their hands sprouting three-pronged blades as they lunged at Zeke.
Zeke swung his Levatein, infused with all his might.
Boom!
In a single sweep, dozens of Black Squad members were obliterated, their remains scattering in all directions.
Ingel watched, a sneer on his lips, and snapped his fingers.
Sizzle—
The shattered black fragments reformed, returning to their original shapes.
Zeke realized that even his full strength couldn’t affect the Black Squad. His eyes narrowed as he understood.
‘They have no souls.’
The baptism had filled them with mysterious dark energy, leaving no trace of a soul.
As Zeke stood still, Ingel’s lips twisted into a maniacal grin. “Zeke Draker! You bastard! I’ll kill you myself for sullying the Draker name!”
Ingel, head of the Black Squad’s intelligence division, seemed to know Zeke wasn’t Arthur Draker’s true heir.
From Ingel’s limp hand, black liquid dripped, morphing into replicas of herself.
Five Ingels advanced on Zeke, their voices echoing in unison.
“We can be killed.”
“But we won’t die.”
“Behold the power of the new humanity.”
“Perish!”
The five Ingels charged, threads extending from their hands to ensnare Zeke.
Sizzle—
Zeke swung his sword to cut the threads, but they clung to his blade, wrapping around his arm and immobilizing him.
He tried to sever the threads with his energy, but they absorbed his aura, tightening their grip.
Sizzle—
The threads absorbed Zeke’s aura, climbing up his arm with greater force.
The five Ingels laughed maniacally. “Foolish bastard!”
“You’ll never break free!”
With threads still attached, the Ingels formed sharp claws and lunged at Zeke.
Slash!
The claws pierced Zeke from all sides, severing his limbs and scattering his blood.
“Hahaha!”
Ingel laughed, drenched in Zeke’s blood.
But then, “Ingel!” Baron Draker shouted, sensing something amiss.
Ingel turned, her eyes widening. The Zeke she thought she had killed was unharmed, tending to Nigel among the High Tables.
“You…!”
The Zeke she had destroyed dissolved into shadows, which spread and ensnared the five Ingels.
“Argh!”
The Ingels struggled to escape the shadows, but it was futile.
“Argh!”
Ingel, watching, grimaced and snapped her fingers, dissolving her duplicates into black liquid, which neutralized the shadows and allowed her to escape.
Panting, Ingel glared at Zeke. “Damn bastard…”
She gestured to the Black Squad, and the black substance enveloping them flowed back to her, leaving their bodies to crumble to dust.
Ingel’s power, gained through baptism, was formidable but required sacrifices. Many Black Squad members had become those sacrifices.
With eyes burning red, Ingel glared at Zeke, her breath ragged. “I’ll kill that bastard myself.”
As she muttered with madness, her body began to change.
Sizzle—
The black substance she absorbed covered her, her hair extending like living tendrils.
Ingel, now resembling a Nephilim forged from celestial blood, floated in the air, her gaze fixed on Zeke.
【Behold the true power of an awakened Draker.】
While Ingel transformed, Zeke stabilized the backlash of causality affecting Nigel through the Kabbalah system.
He believed he could counteract Nigel’s backlash with karma points, just as he had with the twisted causality before.
His assumption proved correct. As he spent karma points, the storm around Nigel subsided.
Sizzle—
With the storm calmed and her energy stabilized, Nigel reverted to her original form, a young girl.
Though the immediate danger had passed, Nigel remained unconscious. Zeke turned to Nabua. “Please take care of my master.”
Nabua nodded, and Zeke rose to face Ingel, now in her Nephilim form.
As Ingel’s hair whipped around like needles, Zeke spoke. “Is this what you call a true Draker?”
He could sense the powerful, alien energy emanating from Ingel’s body—a dangerous, corrupt force Arthur Draker had harnessed to proclaim himself a god.
Zeke felt an instinctive revulsion towards this unknown power.
Ingel glared down at Zeke, her voice ringing with disdain.
“You are nothing but a fraud! Bow before the power of the New Humanity!”
Her hair surged forward, lashing out toward Zeke. At the same moment, Zeke extended his hand.
A deep hum resonated as the divine power of the Constellation, “He Who Transcends Walls,” flowed from his body.
Crackling energy erupted around him as his divine presence manifested in the physical realm, causing a storm of causality to swirl. Yet, Zeke, immune to the constraints of karma, ignored it and continued to unleash his power.
Ingel’s hair, upon entering Zeke’s domain of power, began to disintegrate into dust. Startled, she retreated.
“How… how is this possible?”
Zeke rose into the air, mirroring Ingel’s stance, and spoke with calm authority.
“Ingel, you are a fool. You wield only the false power granted by a false god. Among pretenders, you may have seemed strong, but before the true power of a Constellation, your facade crumbles.”
A golden halo radiated from Zeke, sending waves of purifying energy in all directions.
Ingel recoiled, her body wrapped in dark matter that writhed under the cleansing light. She attempted to flee from Zeke’s radiant assault.
But Zeke was relentless. With a gesture, swords of golden light materialized, pointing toward Ingel before launching forward with blinding speed.
She tried to block them with her hair, but it was futile. The golden swords sliced through, melting and piercing her defenses, embedding themselves in her body.
Ingel screamed as the dark matter surrounding her failed to withstand the onslaught of Zeke’s golden blades.
The purifying light from the swords began to cleanse the corrupt power within her, causing the dark matter to ooze away like filthy sludge.
As the black substance sloughed off, Ingel’s true form was revealed, her skin stripped away, leaving her in agony.
“This can’t be happening! It’s impossible!”
In a desperate act, Ingel tore off her blindfold, revealing her left eye, sewn shut with thread that began to unravel with a sickening sound.
Something sealed within her eye flickered to life, an endless darkness spilling forth.
From this abyss, a shapeless black mass emerged, expanding with a foul stench as it took form.
A high-pitched wail echoed as the surface of the black mass shimmered with iridescent hues. From the amorphous, sticky flesh, sharp teeth, bizarre eyes, and the limbs of a child began to form.
As more of the entity poured from her eye, Ingel convulsed, her body trembling violently. Gradually, her form liquefied, merging with the formless mass.
Soon, Ingel was gone, leaving behind only a grotesque, stinking heap of flesh.
Zeke grimaced at the sight of the monstrous creation, recognizing the familiar aura it exuded.
“The Harbinger of the End.”
What emanated from the black mass was unmistakably the power of an angel.