Episode 627
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The blade of Levatein sliced through the storm of thorns, its light cutting a path through the chaos.
The sword’s radiance shattered the crystallized thorns into countless fragments, scattering them in all directions.
Crash!
With the thorns obliterated, Levatein changed course, hurtling towards the monstrous angel.
The creature let out a hideous screech, swinging the tentacles that sprouted from its back in a desperate attempt to fend off the approaching sword.
The tentacles morphed into sharp blades, aiming to strike down Levatein.
But enveloped in its own light, Levatein shattered the tentacle blades just as it had the thorns, pressing forward relentlessly.
It drove straight towards the heart of the monstrous angel.
Screech!
In a futile attempt to stop Levatein, the creature opened its mouth, unleashing a wave of dark energy. But it was no match.
Guided by Zeke’s will, Levatein pierced through the darkness, striking the heart of the beast.
Crash!
Embedded deep within the heart, Levatein began to vibrate subtly.
In response, Ascalon, lodged in the creature’s back, resonated with the same vibration.
Hum!
The two swords, vibrating in unison within the creature’s body, sent ripples of energy outward.
Screech!
The monstrous angel writhed in agony, clawing at its own body as if to tear itself apart.
The black crystals covering its surface began to fall away, like iron filings drawn to a magnet, flowing towards Zeke.
Whisper…
The black crystals were absorbed into the shadows surrounding Zeke.
Below, Baron struggled to his feet, raising his voice in alarm.
“He’s stealing the Demon King’s soul! Stop him!”
But the monstrous angel was in no condition to heed Baron’s warning.
With the black crystals gone, its grotesque, amorphous form was laid bare, its red flesh and writhing tentacles losing vitality, drying up.
Whisper…
As the last of the black crystals were absorbed by Zeke, the two swords embedded in the creature ceased their vibration.
With the waves of energy subsiding, the creature finally regained control of its body.
Flap!
Unfurling its tentacle wings, it descended rapidly towards the gate where Baron stood.
Boom!
Crashing to the ground, the creature reached out towards Baron.
Baron, barely standing, approached the creature, cutting his hand to let his black blood flow into it.
Whisper…
The blood was quickly absorbed into the creature’s skin, triggering a violent convulsion.
Screech!
The creature howled, twisting its body in pain, struggling to remove the swords embedded in its back and chest.
And then, it happened.
Crash—
A hand burst through the creature’s belly, seizing Baron’s throat.
Baron glared at the hand gripping his neck with fierce eyes.
“Harvey Draker!”
Crash!
Harvey Draker, buried within the creature, emerged, clutching Baron’s throat.
With his arms and torso now free, Harvey Draker glared at Baron.
“You pawn of Arthur Draker. Was it your plan all along to sacrifice me?”
Dragged to this point, Harvey Draker realized that Arthur Draker had used him as a vessel for the Demon King’s soul by implanting a corrupted dragon heart, and his rage was palpable.
Crash!
Harvey Draker’s eyes transformed into those of a dragon, fixing Baron with a fierce gaze.
“You will not have your way!”
Baron, eyes wild with fanaticism, shouted back.
“It is the will of the gods! You, a mere imitation, must follow the divine plan!”
Arthur Draker’s most devoted zealot.
Baron’s eyes burned with the heat of blind madness.
Watching him, Harvey Draker shook his head.
“The one truly chosen to stand on this stage is not Arthur Draker, but me.”
In an instant, Harvey Draker’s mouth opened impossibly wide, engulfing Baron’s head and beginning to chew.
Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!
Thus ended the hollow life of Baron Draker, Arthur Draker’s most loyal follower and blind zealot.
Having devoured Baron’s head, Harvey Draker’s aura shifted dramatically.
Rumble!
Now exuding a dark, ominous energy, Harvey Draker could control the creature’s body at will.
At his command, a massive mouth opened in the creature’s lower body, swallowing the rest of Baron’s form.
Crunch!
With Baron completely consumed, Harvey Draker’s dark energy intensified.
Immediately, he manipulated the tentacles extending from his body to ensnare the dark sorcerers near the gate.
Crash!
He devoured the sorcerers as well, leaving only his upper body in its original form, while the rest was a mass of writhing tentacles, with barely a trace of legs remaining.
”…Still not enough.”
Harvey Draker turned his gaze to the monstrous gate behind him.
Without hesitation, he extended his tentacles to wrap around the gate.
Crash!
As the gate and tentacles merged, Harvey Draker began to consume it.
Rumble!
In an instant, he devoured the gate, his body growing even larger.
Crash!
But it wasn’t just his size that changed. Absorbing the gate, Harvey Draker’s form began to transform.
Growl!
The tentacles coalesced and fused, and soon Harvey Draker was morphing into a massive dragon.
But it was no ordinary dragon; it was a grotesque dragon, with tentacles sprouting all over its body.
Harvey Draker’s upper body was perched atop the dragon’s head like a grotesque crown.
He lifted his gaze to Zeke Draker, who hovered in the air, and unfurled his wings, rising slowly into the sky.
Whoosh!
The monstrous dragon that was Harvey Draker flew swiftly towards Zeke.
“Zeke Draker!”
His roar was filled with hatred and fury.
Whisper…
The shadows surrounding Zeke surged, forming a circular barrier around him.
Hum!
The translucent barrier expanded rapidly, encompassing the entire domain of the Infinite Library.
Astonishingly, everything the barrier touched turned black and white, freezing in place.
‘What is this?’
Turning his head, Zeke saw that even the monstrous dragon that was Harvey Draker had stopped mid-air.
The Innocents and High Tables below were similarly frozen.
Realizing that time itself had halted around him, Zeke was taken aback.
‘Time has stopped?’
While Harvey Draker had been consuming everything around him, Zeke had not been idle.
He had absorbed the black crystals from the monstrous angel, purifying them into karma points.
To his knowledge, the power to manipulate time belonged solely to Chronos, the Dragon of Time.
‘Could it be?’
Zeke retrieved Chronos’s pocket watch from his inventory to check.
But the watch remained unresponsive.
This meant that the time-stopping phenomenon was not the work of Chronos’s power.
At that moment, a message appeared before Zeke.
[Corrupted karma data has been restored.]
[The sealed memories of ‘Siemens Apollyon’ recorded in the karma data are being unlocked.]
Zeke furrowed his brow at the message.
‘Siemens Apollyon.’
He recalled that after absorbing part of the Demon King’s soul and purifying the corrupted karma data, the memories of Siemens Apollyon had been restored, and Chronos’s voice had emerged.
‘Is there a connection between restoring Siemens Apollyon’s memories and Chronos’s power?’
Still pondering the mystery, Zeke suddenly heard a voice echoing in his ears.
【Zeke Draker.】
A voice, unfamiliar yet distinct, called his name.
It was different from the voice of the Demon King that had guided Zeke and the High Tables here.
‘What is this…?’
The voice continued.
【I am Siemens Apollyon.】
Zeke’s eyes widened at the words.
The restoration of Siemens Apollyon’s memories had allowed him to communicate directly with Zeke.
‘Siemens Apollyon, the second person after King Solomon to summon the Demon King, a disciple of the Great Sage, and the adopted son of the Hero King.’
Zeke had encountered the Demon King’s army led by Siemens Apollyon indirectly through the Inverted Tower.
Siemens Apollyon, who had summoned the Demon King’s soul into his own body, had his ambitions thwarted by the Great Sage and the Knights of the Clock Tower.
Defeated, his soul was absorbed by the Demon King and sealed within the Book of the Dead, erasing his existence from history.
It was hard for Zeke to wrap his head around the fact that Siemens Apollyon was speaking to him in his own voice, rather than the voice of the Demon King.
As Zeke grappled with his confusion, the voice echoed again.
“Zeke Draker, my distant descendant. I have waited for you for a long time.”
The voice was so filled with authority and presence that Zeke momentarily doubted whether this was truly Siemens Apollyon, the one who had supposedly summoned the Demon King into his own body.
Sensing his skepticism, Siemens Apollyon spoke again.
“You have many questions about my existence. And rightly so.”
Siemens Apollyon continued, his words deliberate and measured.
“You might think only Chronos, the Keeper of Time, can meddle with the timeline. But Zeke Draker, Chronos is not the only one. I, too, can interfere with the timeline, though in a manner different from Chronos.”
Zeke listened, growing more wary with each word.
“Siemens Apollyon can meddle with time like Chronos? That can’t be. No human should be able to do that. Is it the power of the Demon King? Can the Demon King’s authority really alter the timeline?”
Doubts swirled in his mind, one after another.
The voice resonated once more.
“Yes, I see you need convincing.”
There was something unsettling about Siemens Apollyon’s strangely gentle and kind tone.
“Is this really the same Siemens Apollyon who sought to dominate the world by summoning the Demon King’s spirit?”
Perhaps this was all a ruse to deceive Zeke.
“Zeke Draker. Hard as it may be to believe, I am indeed Siemens Apollyon. But I am not quite the same as the one you know.”
This time, Zeke didn’t just think his question; he asked it directly.
“So, you’re Siemens Apollyon, but different. Does that mean you’re some kind of duplicate?”
The response came swiftly.
“Not in that sense.”
“Then are you merely a memory, a construct of karma data mimicking Siemens Apollyon?”
“Neither. I am conversing with you, a potential future that exists because of my interference with time.”
“A future possibility? Are you saying… you’re speaking to me from the past?”
A dialogue across time, between the past Siemens Apollyon and the future Zeke. Zeke had traveled to the past before, thanks to Chronos’s power, but this was the first time he communicated with a past entity in such a way.
“Yes, it’s difficult, but not impossible. I’ve awaited this moment to meet you.”
Without waiting for Zeke’s response, he continued.
“I am a knight who inherited the sword of the Hero King, a wizard who carries on the legacy of the Great Sage, and a seeker of the world’s truths.”
Something felt off to Zeke as he listened.
“Inheriting the Hero King’s sword, the Great Sage’s legacy, and being a sage…?”
This didn’t align with the history of Siemens Apollyon that Zeke knew.
Just as Zeke was about to voice his questions, Siemens Apollyon’s voice rang out again.
“My distant descendant, Zeke Draker, who has crossed the barriers by his own will. There is something I must tell you.”
He spoke slowly, deliberately.
“Like you, I am one who has traversed time.”