Episode 643

Rex was about to rush towards Arthur, whose heart had been pierced by a tentacle.

But Ramon, standing behind him, grabbed Rex.

“It’s too late!”

Ramon held onto Rex, pulling him back as he tried to reach Arthur.

Rex, however, shook off Ramon and attempted once more to run towards Arthur.

Seeing this, Ramon gritted his teeth and pulled out another scroll from his cloak.

He quickly tore the scroll, activating its magic.

A low hum filled the air as spatial magic enveloped both Ramon and Rex in a bright light.

“So that’s how Ramon and Rex managed to escape.”

Inside Rex, Zeke instinctively resisted the light.

With a soft crackling sound, the light enveloped them, and both Rex and Ramon vanished.

But then, something unexpected happened.

“What?”

Zeke found himself standing in the cave, in his own form, not transported with Rex.

[System Akashic Code activated.]

[Power of the Sage’s Eye activated.]

[Power of Re-creation activated.]

[Reconstructing memories of the past.]

Through his powers, Zeke could now see the past that Rex had missed.

Zeke, now translucent, turned his gaze.

Arthur Draker lay motionless, his heart pierced, seemingly lifeless.

At that moment, the severed external beast began to rise.

With a growl, tentacles sprouted from its severed parts, reattaching and restoring its body.

“They didn’t know about the regenerative abilities of this external beast.”

It was understandable, as it was a creature they had never encountered before.

As Zeke clicked his tongue in frustration, the beast rose and examined the fallen Arthur Draker.

It wrapped its tentacles around Arthur’s unmoving body and lifted him.

With a low growl, the beast carried Arthur Draker away.

Zeke, puzzled, cautiously followed the beast.

The creature, with Arthur in its grasp, descended deeper into the cave.

“An external beast taking Arthur Draker, whose heart was pierced?”

Though it was a memory, Zeke’s divine powers allowed him to reconstruct it as vividly as reality.

This was indeed something that had happened in the past.

As Zeke pondered how this could have occurred, the beast continued its descent into the depths.

Then, Zeke noticed something different.

“This is an artificially created space.”

While the upper dungeon was a natural cave, the path and corridors leading downwards had been artificially constructed.

Zeke had seen similar structures before.

“The underground architecture of the Orcs. This is just like that.”

The ancient temple Arthur Draker sought was actually an Orc’s underground labyrinth.

But why an external beast was in an Orc-made labyrinth was beyond Zeke’s understanding.

“An ancient temple in an Orc’s underground dungeon, guarded by an external beast. What is this place?”

Zeke recalled how Arthur Draker hadn’t fully explained the nature of this place to his companions, Rex and Ramon.

He realized something as he remembered Arthur Draker’s expression while inside Rex.

“Arthur Draker didn’t fully understand this place either.”

Yet, Arthur Draker wasn’t reckless enough to explore a suspicious ancient temple without knowing more.

There had to be a reason he came here despite the uncertainties.

“He tried to hide it, but… Arthur Draker was clearly desperate and anxious.”

Zeke could see the hidden anxiety in Arthur Draker’s otherwise calm demeanor.

Arthur Draker must have been in a dire situation, needing to find “something” here despite not fully understanding the place.

For Zeke, it was strange to think of Arthur Draker, who was always composed and in control, as having a desperate past.

And the fact that Arthur Draker met his end, his heart pierced by a beast in this nameless dungeon, was equally hard to believe.

“Perhaps I’ll find answers at the end of this labyrinth.”

Zeke quietly followed the beast carrying Arthur Draker’s body.

After a long descent through the corridor, the beast suddenly stopped.

Zeke halted behind it, surveying the surroundings.

He soon noticed a massive door blocking the path ahead, shrouded in darkness.

To his surprise, the beast bowed its head before the door, as if in prayer.

It seemed to be showing reverence to the emblem engraved on the door.

“I’ve never seen a beast react like this.”

Zeke approached to examine the emblem the beast was bowing to.

He was taken aback by what he saw.

“The Sword Emblem?”

The door bore the emblem of the Draker family, a symbol of the legendary swordsman Shaton Draker and his lineage.

However, upon closer inspection, there was a difference: a sun-like circle surrounded the sword, unlike Shaton Draker’s emblem.

“A sword and sun emblem.”

Why this ancient temple bore a symbol so similar to the Draker family’s was a mystery to Zeke.

Moreover, the beast’s reverence for the emblem was equally baffling.

As Zeke pondered these questions, the beast moved again.

With a growl, it placed Arthur Draker’s body on the ground and extended its tentacles towards the emblem on the door.

The tentacles slipped into tiny holes around the emblem.

With a series of clicks, the tentacles manipulated the mechanisms within the door.

The emblem’s circular plate began to rotate with a grinding sound.

When the sword pointed upwards, a metallic click echoed.

Simultaneously, a crimson light spread from the emblem, illuminating the entire door.

With a soft crackling, the door split open, revealing a vast chamber beyond.

As the door opened, a cavernous space large enough to hold thousands was unveiled.

The walls of the chamber, like the door, were veined with crimson lines, pulsating like blood vessels.

Zeke’s eyes widened at the eerie sight of the chamber.

“An ancient temple like this exists.”

It was more bizarre than any dungeon, underground labyrinth, or cult temple Zeke had ever seen.

With a growl, the beast extended its tentacles, lifting Arthur Draker’s body and entering the chamber.

Zeke collected himself and followed the beast inside.

Once inside, the sheer size of the chamber was overwhelming.

Not only was it vast, but the ceiling was so high it was invisible.

“It’s hard to imagine how deep underground this is.”

Inside, the pulsating crimson lines were even more pronounced, making the entire space feel alive.

As Zeke surveyed the interior, the beast carried Arthur Draker towards the center of the chamber.

There stood a towering altar, so high it resembled a tower.

The beast began ascending the altar’s steps with Arthur Draker in tow.

Zeke observed the beast’s actions and climbed the altar alongside it.

“Is it offering the body to the altar?”

Zeke still couldn’t grasp what the beast was doing or the true nature of this place.

What mattered was that whatever happened here might be linked to Arthur Draker’s resurrection.

Zeke calmly followed the beast up the towering altar.

At the top, he discovered something standing there.

Zeke was astonished by what he saw at the altar’s center.

“Is that…?”

It was a statue.

Zeke was shocked because he had seen this statue before.

“The Sword God Statue of the Draker family.”

It was the same statue used in the Draker family’s awakening ceremonies, the class identifier Zeke had seen in the Draker family’s secret chamber with Arthur Draker.

Seeing this statue atop the ancient underground temple’s altar left Zeke bewildered.

“Arthur Draker said this statue was modeled after the Draker ancestor, the Sword Saint Shaton Draker. But why is it here? Could this be what Arthur Draker was searching for?”

Zeke recalled Arthur Draker’s words about the statue being modeled after Shaton Draker.

The statue depicted a robust figure holding a bastard sword, a knightly image.

However, Zeke knew Shaton Draker to be slender, almost androgynous, wielding a thin rapier instead of a bastard sword.

He remembered thinking how the statue didn’t match Shaton Draker’s appearance at all.

In that moment, something flickered through Zeke’s mind.

“Of course, this statue of the Sword God isn’t modeled after Shaton Draker.”

If it was ancient enough to be placed in a temple, it meant the statue was crafted long before the era of the Hero King, predating Shaton Draker’s time.

“The Draker family, known for their unparalleled swordsmanship, was established by Shaton Draker adopting the bloodline of Siemens Apollyon. But if it goes back even further…?”

Zeke knew that tracing Siemens Apollyon’s lineage led back to King Solomon, who had once become the avatar of the first Demon King.

King Solomon had emerged from the Nephilim, beings created by the constellations to dominate humanity.

Zeke finally felt he understood the true identity of the statue.

“The first Nephilim to appear in human form to rule the material world.”

Through the system, he had learned who this first being was when he absorbed Harvey Draker. Harvey Draker was a creation of the Great Sage’s homunculus, cultivated from the Draker bloodline’s progenitor.

“The first human-shaped Nephilim and the ancestor of the Draker lineage.”

Zeke lifted his head to gaze at the statue.

“Avatar Adam.”

As he uncovered the statue’s identity, an Outsider Beast placed Arthur Draker on the altar. Arthur, with his heart pierced, lay lifeless.

The Outsider Beast that had brought Arthur bowed its head toward the statue, as if in reverence.

Suddenly, the statue began to tremble.

Rumble!

The entire cavern shook, starting with the statue.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

The pulsations grew stronger, echoing like the beat of a colossal heart. From the cavern floor, something began to emerge.

Groooan!

Outsider Beasts, resembling masses of flesh, surfaced from the ground. Initially formless, they gradually took on distinct shapes over time.

In an instant, the vast cavern was filled with thousands of Outsider Beasts.

Groooan!

Screeeech!

Crack!

The beasts began to emit bizarre cries toward the altar.

Then, the statue on the altar moved back.

Sssssss—

As the statue retreated, the space it vacated shimmered, revealing something.

“What is that…?”

It was a sword—a claymore entirely black in color. It was the very sword Arthur Draker had once shown Zeke in the family’s secret chamber, claiming it to be Shaton Draker’s sword.

Zeke also possessed a sword identical to it.

“The Shadow Sword, Caladbolg.”

A sword imbued with the power of gluttony, growing stronger over time and slipping from Zeke’s control.

At that moment, an ominous energy emanated from the black sword embedded in the ground.

Sssssss—

The energy from the black sword began to coalesce, forming a peculiar, stone-like substance.

Zeke immediately recognized what the sword had created.

“Dark Matter?”