Episode 618
Zeke pointed his sword at Hercules and spoke with a commanding tone.
“Who’s hiding in there? Show yourself with some dignity.”
Hercules, however, didn’t bother to respond. Instead, he simply raised his massive club.
Rumble!
The vibrations emanating from the club were even more intense than before. It was as if the resonance, similar to a powerful shockwave, was being amplified through the orichalcum weapon.
Zeke, holding Ascalon, activated Theia’s Hersion.
Shing!
Clad in orichalcum armor, he mirrored Hercules, harnessing the power of the shockwave.
Vroooom!
Zeke quickly analyzed the vibrations Hercules was using and adapted them in real-time. The shockwave coursed through his orichalcum armor, amplifying and concentrating its power into his sword.
“So, orichalcum and combat techniques can be linked like this.”
Atlantis had long studied and utilized orichalcum, discovering various ways to apply its power.
Hercules, noticing Zeke’s ability to mimic his technique, narrowed his eyes. He couldn’t let someone who had stolen his technique go unchallenged. With a swift movement, Hercules leaped into the air, aiming for Zeke.
Boom!
Hercules swung his club down with both hands, aiming to crush Zeke. But Zeke raised Ascalon from below, blocking the attack.
Clang!
The clash of club and sword sent a massive shockwave rippling outward, shaking the protective barrier of the temple from within.
Rumble!
Hercules, seeing his attack thwarted, intensified the vibrations and swung his club repeatedly.
Vroooom!
Zeke retreated, countering with sword strikes imbued with waves of energy.
Crash!
The dragon-slaying technique collided directly with Hercules’s club. Though Hercules managed to neutralize the waves, the sheer force disrupted his chain of attacks.
Rumble!
Realizing that his attacks were being nullified by Zeke’s use of the shockwave, Hercules stepped back, seemingly contemplating a new strategy. He approached the orichalcum gate he had summoned earlier, where Zeke’s Levatein was still embedded.
Hercules reached for the gate, and to Zeke’s surprise, it opened, revealing another weapon inside.
Thud!
He pulled out a massive flail, also made entirely of orichalcum. Hercules swung the heavy flail above his head, creating a loud whirring sound.
Whirr!
Then, with a swift motion, he hurled the spinning flail head towards Zeke.
Whoosh!
The flail head detached, flying straight at Zeke with a deafening roar, carrying pure physical force rather than resonance.
Zeke quickly raised Ascalon, creating a field of water energy.
Ssssh—
He decided there was no need to counter raw physical force with more force. Instead, he extended his sword into the path of the incoming flail head, gently catching it with the blade.
Zeke began to spin in place, holding the flail head with his sword.
Whirl!
The flail head, caught in the vortex Zeke created, tried to break free and crush him. But Zeke spun faster, trapping the flail head within his flow and gradually altering its trajectory.
Whirl!
As the flail head’s path shifted within the vortex, Zeke’s eyes gleamed.
Whoosh!
In a sudden move, Zeke spun his body and redirected the flail head back towards Hercules.
Crash!
The flail head, now spinning in reverse and moving even faster, hurtled back at Hercules. Hercules extended the remaining flail handle in front of him.
Vroooom!
A strong vibration emanated from the handle, altering the flail head’s trajectory once more.
Vroooom!
The flail head gradually slowed its spin and returned to the handle, reattaching with a click.
Zeke realized that Hercules’s weapon was an artifact crafted by a highly advanced civilization.
“Unique items made of orichalcum, wielded by a warrior…”
Contrary to the legends Naboo had mentioned, Zeke didn’t think Hercules was a golem. Instead, he seemed to be Atlantis’s mightiest warrior, capable of wielding orichalcum armor and items with ease.
Boom!
Hercules began to spin the flail again, advancing towards Zeke. Just then, Naboo, outside the protective barrier, shouted urgently at Zeke.
“Zeke!”
Turning his head, Zeke saw something approaching from the side.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
A dozen knights exuding a sinister aura were advancing. They were the dark knights summoned by Baron through his cocoon.
Zeke immediately sensed the malevolent energy emanating from the knights and realized they were also summoned by Baron.
“This is troublesome.”
With Hercules blocking the front and Baron’s dark knights approaching from the side, Zeke faced the possibility of missing an opportunity to strike at Baron himself.
Even if Naboo and Nigel held off the dark knights, it would be difficult to quickly subdue Hercules, who was fully armored in orichalcum. If he were a golem, Zeke could have disabled him by targeting the core, but that didn’t seem feasible here.
As Zeke hesitated, wary of the approaching dark knights, a voice suddenly echoed in his mind.
[Warrior of mysterious power.]
Startled, Zeke looked at Hercules, who stood before him.
“Are you speaking to me?”
The voice responded again.
[Yes.]
Hercules’s eyes glowed blue as he continued.
[Are you the ones who summoned those twisted beings that should not exist?]
Hercules referred to the approaching dark knights as “beings that should not exist.” Zeke, still unsure of Hercules’s intentions, replied cautiously.
“They were summoned by our enemies, using forbidden power to create monsters.”
Hercules responded once more.
[If that is true, are you here to stop them? Then why do you seek to invade this sacred place?]
“We’re here to prevent them from stealing the Book of the Dead sealed here and resurrecting the Demon King. We intend to secure the book before they can.”
Hercules’s eyes flashed again.
[So, you too seek to invade the sacred ground?]
Zeke shook his head.
“Our goal is to stop the enemy from taking the book. The seal’s guardian is gone, leaving it vulnerable. We aim to move the book to a safer location.”
Hercules didn’t respond immediately, his blue eyes flickering as he stood still. Meanwhile, the dark knights began to act suspiciously.
They drew their ominous black swords and plunged them into the ground.
Rumble!
The ground split open, and soldiers infused with the power of the outsiders began to emerge.
Growl—
The soldiers, clad in various armors and weapons, were all tainted with a dark aura. Unlike the helmeted knights, the soldiers’ faces were exposed, revealing writhing tentacles within their skeletal forms, seemingly controlling their movements.
The dark soldiers summoned by the knights began to advance towards Nigel and Naboo.
Screech!
Initially slow, the soldiers soon gripped their weapons and charged with a terrifying cry. Naboo summoned arrows of light and fired them at the soldiers.
Boom!
The soldiers hit by the light arrows exploded violently. But from the scattered remains, tentacles wriggled out, reassembling the shattered limbs into their original forms.
Naboo shook his head in disbelief at the sight of the dark soldiers.
“This is insane… They’re worse than the undead. Truly the end times.”
Nigel nodded in agreement, mustering all his strength to swing his sword at the dark soldiers.
Slash!
If he had poured his entire soul into it, perhaps it would have worked. But a mere sword strike was no match for the relentless regeneration of these creatures.
Zeke watched the two struggling to hold back the advancing soldiers and turned to Hercules.
“If your duty is to protect this place, then join forces with us. Otherwise, the one who summoned them will seize the Book of the Lion.”
Hercules remained silent.
Zeke glanced at him, his expression firm.
“It doesn’t matter what you choose. But… if you remember your honor as a warrior of Atlantis, don’t hinder me from stopping them.”
With those words, Zeke extended his left hand.
Crack!
The Levatein, embedded in the orichalcum door, moved on its own and flew back to Zeke.
Thud!
Grasping the Levatein, Zeke turned and sprinted towards where Naboo and Nigel were fighting.
With Ascalon in one hand and Levatein in the other, he unleashed a flurry of strikes at the dark soldiers.
“Haaaah!”
From Zeke, both the Holy Spirit and his soul’s energy erupted simultaneously.
Rumble!
Crackle!
Lightning of light swept through the dark soldiers, and those who escaped its reach were shattered by the soul-infused blade.
Standing before Naboo and Nigel, Zeke spread shadows towards the dark soldiers.
The corpses of the beasts slain by Hercules earlier, along with the disintegrated bodies of the dark soldiers, were swallowed by the shadowy abyss Zeke had created.
Sssss—
As he absorbed the beasts and dark soldiers, Zeke gained a substantial amount of karma points.
Then, an unexpected message appeared before his eyes.
[The absorbed ‘Forgotten World Wraith Soldiers’ wish to serve the Great Overlord and seek vengeance against those who tainted their souls.]
[You can accept their will and transform them into Shadow Spirits.]
[Transforming them into Shadow Spirits will deduct karma points and consume the necessary points for conversion.]
[Would you like to proceed with the transformation?]
Zeke was taken aback by the message.
“Wraith soldiers from a forgotten world?”
These were beings from a civilization long vanished, lost to history.
Baron had twisted the laws of causality to summon these forgotten wraiths from the past.
Zeke looked at the dark knights summoning the wraith soldiers from behind.
They too were wraiths from a forgotten world, likely warriors or heroes of exceptional power.
“To awaken the heroes of the past and turn them into such monsters… Arthur Draker, how far will you go?”
The wraith soldiers, driven by their own will for revenge, deserved a chance, even if it cost Zeke karma points.
“System, transform the wraith soldiers into Shadow Spirits.”
With Zeke’s command, a message appeared.
[Transforming ‘Forgotten World Wraith Soldiers’ into Shadow Spirits.]
[Shadow Spirits, now under the Great Overlord’s influence, are evolving.]
[A new type of summon is forming under the Overlord’s influence.]
Sssss—
From the shadowy abyss, dozens of shadowy forms emerged, revealing themselves.
Zeke was astonished by the sight of the newly formed shadow warriors.
“What is that?”
They were exact replicas of Zeke’s appearance from his days as a hitman.
Another message appeared.
[The Shadow Spirits have awakened as ‘Shadow Hunters’ under the influence of the Great Overlord.]