Episode 614
“The power of the Arrogant Savior? How is that possible?”
Originally, the power of the Arrogant Savior belonged to Harvey Drake. However, that power had already been transferred to Zeke. It made no logical sense for Harvey Drake to wield it again.
Then, a thought flashed through Zeke’s mind.
“Twisted causality.”
Though he couldn’t grasp the exact mechanism, he speculated that Harvey had somehow summoned the power he once held in the past through this twisted causality.
Whether his guess was right or wrong, the crucial fact remained: Harvey Drake had regained the power of the Arrogant Savior.
Harvey’s red eyes glinted as he glared at Zeke. “Zeke Drake, you thought you had trapped me, but it’s quite the opposite.”
As he finished speaking, a crimson aura enveloped Harvey’s hands. “This place will be your grave.”
The red energy rose into the air, forming two fiery eyes of a massive demon, staring down at Zeke.
In an instant, the demon’s eyes activated, and black flames erupted around Zeke.
Everywhere the demon’s gaze landed, black flames, hotter than the infernal fires of Gehenna, surged toward Zeke.
Zeke countered the onslaught with a barrier of elemental wind from his sword.
The gusts from his blade held back the black flames, but the demon’s eyes reignited them relentlessly.
Zeke pushed forward, aiming for the eyes, but the flames continued to rage from all sides.
Meanwhile, Harvey Drake ascended into the air, approaching the massive wall where the Elder Dragon’s statue stood. He reached for the black star clutched in the dragon’s mouth.
Seeing this, Zeke shouted, “Harvey Drake! Step back! You’ll regret it!”
Ignoring Zeke’s warning, Harvey grasped the black star with a sly grin. “Victory is mine, Zeke Drake.”
He attempted to absorb the star’s power into his body.
Trapped by the black flames, Zeke could only watch as Harvey absorbed the star’s energy.
Soon, the power of the black star flowed into Harvey.
Feeling the surge of draconic strength within him, Harvey’s face lit up with ecstasy. “This is it.”
Having received the heart of a holy dragon from Arthur Drake, Harvey had gained a complete physical form to remain in the material world. But it wasn’t enough. He craved a power greater than the Arrogant Savior’s.
“The heart of the Elder Dragon will unleash the power I desire.”
As the immense power coursed through him, Harvey smiled in satisfaction. But then, a chill crept up his spine.
“What is this?”
His survival instincts, honed from years in the shadows, suddenly kicked in.
He turned to see Zeke, still trapped in the flames, and realized something.
“Zeke Drake also possesses the power of the Arrogant Savior. In fact, he’s stronger. So why isn’t he using it and letting himself be caught so easily?”
The unnatural feeling he’d sensed earlier finally made sense.
Instinctively, he released the black star from his grip.
Crackling!
Dark currents surged from the black star.
Harvey stared at his hand, and then something astonishing happened.
A shadow wrapped around his hand, seeping into his body.
“Ugh!”
He quickly tried to use the Arrogant Savior’s power to repel the invading shadow, but it was too late.
The space where the black star had been shimmered, revealing Zeke.
The Zeke trapped below in the flames was merely a fusion of his clone and illusion.
In his haste and desperation, Harvey had failed to see through Zeke’s ruse and had fallen into his trap.
Realizing the shadow from Zeke was enveloping him, Harvey understood what had happened.
“You already seized the black star!”
Zeke didn’t respond, but Harvey’s guess was correct. Zeke had taken control of the city’s golems from Innocent and used them to block Baron and Harvey’s path.
He had reached the chamber first, intending to claim the Book of the Lion. But instead of the book, he found the black star sealed there and used it to set a trap for Harvey.
Realizing he’d been outmaneuvered, Harvey roared in frustration, “You dare!”
He tried to charge at Zeke, but the shadow tightened its grip, immobilizing him.
Simultaneously, a red eye appeared on Zeke’s forehead, linked to the shadow.
The red eye sought to invade Harvey’s mind.
Harvey desperately resisted Zeke’s mental assault, his own eyes glowing red as he summoned the Arrogant Savior’s power.
With a rumble, the power of “Recreation” activated, and a crown of bone appeared above his head.
The crown, one of the Arrogant Savior’s treasures, was made from the skull of a cursed king, imbued with centuries of resentment and curses.
Using the crown’s power, Harvey managed to block the shadow and the red eye’s assault, but Zeke’s attack wasn’t over.
From behind Harvey, Lilith emerged, unleashing her power of seduction.
Caught off guard by the sudden attack from behind, Harvey was overwhelmed.
Even demons couldn’t resist the allure of the Great Temptress, and it proved devastating for Harvey.
“Ugh!”
He hadn’t anticipated Zeke’s strategy of mental attacks, leaving him without a proper defense.
Zeke then summoned Solomon’s Chains with his left hand.
The chains wrapped around Harvey, who was already vulnerable due to Lilith’s seduction.
“Zeke Drake! You!”
Harvey struggled to free himself, even attempting to use the Arrogant Savior’s power to escape by recreating his body elsewhere. But Zeke revealed his divine power first.
With a rumble, Zeke, having absorbed the true essence of the Arrogant Savior, unleashed his power, causing Harvey’s abilities to rapidly diminish.
The twisted causality that Harvey relied on also faded, and the power of the Arrogant Savior vanished from his body.
“Argh!”
The backlash from using unnatural power caused Harvey to cough up blood in agony.
Returning to his human form, Harvey was completely bound by the chains, unable to move.
He glared at Zeke, blood dripping from his mouth. “Zeke Drake…”
Zeke approached, activating the red eye once more.
The shadow seeped into Harvey, and the red eye probed his mind, seeking information about Arthur Drake.
Despite pushing the red eye to its limits, Zeke couldn’t find any information on Arthur.
“Either he erased it intentionally, or… it’s sealed deep within.”
Realizing further attempts were futile, Zeke withdrew the red eye and secured Harvey with additional restraints.
He then turned towards the Elder Dragon’s statue, reaching for the heart rather than the black stone in its mouth.
With a surge of magical energy, Zeke’s hand plunged into the statue, retrieving a radiant black stone.
“This is the real black star.”
Though he had found the true black star, Zeke knew that absorbing another one in his current state could cause his body to explode, just as Harvey had warned.
Zeke stashed the Black Star in his inventory and descended back to where Harvey Draker was. Gripping the chains that bound Draker, Zeke slowly opened a portal to his unique dimensional barrier.
A low hum resonated as the portal materialized. Everything in Lurye was under Zeke’s control, and with a mere exertion of will, he opened a gateway to the real world.
With a heavy thud, Zeke dragged Harvey Draker through the portal and into the real world, searching the stone chamber for traces left by the High Table.
“As I suspected, the Book of the Lion has summoned Baron.”
The demon sealed within the Book of the Lion was drawn to powerful desires. Zeke had anticipated that a Baron, driven by an obsession to create his own world, would fall prey to the demon’s temptation.
Examining the remnants left by the High Table, Zeke pinpointed the direction where the Book of the Lion was hidden. He glanced down at the subdued Harvey Draker, then enveloped him in shadows, concealing him in darkness. Though securely restrained, there was no telling when Draker might regain consciousness and attempt to escape.
“I must ensure the Book of the Lion never fully falls into Baron’s hands.”
Without delay, Zeke followed the trail left by the High Table, swiftly moving toward the location where the Book of the Lion was sealed.
“What the hell is this place?”
Nabu and Nigel, encased in a protective sphere, descended into the depths of the ocean on a flying carpet. The underwater city of Lurye appeared ordinary above the tower, but below, it was completely submerged.
Baron, drawn by the call of the Book of the Lion, had descended without hesitation to the submerged lower levels of the tower. Determined not to lose him, Nabu and Nigel followed, plunging into the impenetrable depths of Lurye.
To their astonishment, beneath the tower lay an even more expansive underwater city, as if an entire metropolis had sunk into the sea ages ago. Despite their numerous visits to Lurye for High Table meetings, they had never known of this hidden expanse.
“Nabu, he’s heading that way,” Nigel pointed out.
Baron was riding a summoned beast, a creature of black substance, toward the sunken city. Momentarily captivated by the breathtaking sight, Nabu and Nigel quickly regained focus, steering their carpet in pursuit of Baron.
The ruins of the submerged city loomed like colossal sea monsters, threatening to swallow them whole. As Nabu peered into the darkness, a strange sensation washed over him.
“Come forth.”
Startled by the voice echoing in his ears, Nabu froze. “What was that?”
“It’s his voice,” Nigel said, frowning.
Nabu realized what Nigel meant. “The Book of the Lion. The voice of the demon sealed within.”
It dawned on Nabu that they were heading straight toward the demon’s prison. But then, without warning—
A massive whirlpool erupted from the depths of the underwater city, rapidly engulfing everything in its path. Nabu and Nigel’s carpet was caught in the vortex.
“Damn it! Nigel, hold on tight!”
Before they could react, the whirlpool swept through, leaving nothing in its wake. The deep sea city remained, shattered and silent, as the only testament to what had transpired.