Episode 650
A piercing screech echoed as the monstrous beasts from another realm bared their sharp teeth, charging at Zeke. Instead of fear, a smile spread across his face.
“I was waiting for you to show up.”
To Zeke, these beasts were nothing more than walking bundles of karma points, ripe for the taking.
He extended his hand, unleashing blades of shadow.
Swish!
The shadow blades spun around Zeke, slicing through the beasts in an instant.
Slash!
The dismembered bodies of the beasts were swiftly absorbed into the shadows on the ground.
As expected, a flood of karma points surged into him, and Zeke grinned with satisfaction.
“Come on, bring it!”
He retrieved Ascalon from his inventory, igniting its sacred power.
Crackle!
White lightning, charged with divine energy, erupted in all directions.
Boom!
The beasts exploded as the lightning struck them, their remains devoured by the mouths emerging from Zeke’s shadow.
A low hum filled the air as the sword hovering above vibrated, and more beasts poured from the walls and floor.
Screech!
Zeke, unfazed, raised Ascalon and invoked a new power.
“Power of the Abyssal Flame.”
Black flames erupted from his body, forming a massive ring of fire above his head.
Whoosh!
Fiery whips lashed out from the ring, ensnaring the charging beasts.
Screech!
The beasts, caught in the abyssal flames, disintegrated into ash without a sound.
Despite the destruction, the cavern remained packed with beasts, their numbers seemingly endless.
Screech!
The overwhelming horde, with their razor-sharp teeth, bore down on Zeke, a suffocating pressure in their sheer numbers.
Yet Zeke only laughed.
He reached toward the ring of black flames.
“Hela, come forth.”
From the depths of the abyss, Hela, the second beast of the apocalypse, was summoned.
Roar!
Responding to Zeke’s call, Hela emerged from the ring, a fiery creature with four lion heads, spewing flames at the oncoming beasts.
Whoosh!
The abyssal flames consumed the beasts in an instant.
Hela soared into the air, slashing at the beasts with her fiery claws.
The claws, wreathed in flame, tore through the beasts, igniting them with the abyssal fire.
Screech!
The beasts screamed as the flames spread from Hela’s claws, reducing thousands to ash.
Yet the beasts kept coming, and the ring of black flames continued to lash out with fiery whips.
Zeke wasn’t done. He summoned the Eye of the Destroyer.
Rumble!
Wherever the eye’s gaze fell, unquenchable flames of destruction erupted.
The combined might of the abyssal and destructive flames showed no mercy, turning the cavern into a fiery purgatory.
Leaving Hela to handle the beasts, Zeke approached the floating sword.
The sword, which had summoned the beasts, let out a powerful cry as Zeke neared.
—Child of Adam, your resistance is futile. You cannot escape fate.
The voice echoed in Zeke’s mind, the strange aura around the sword thickening to block his path.
In response, a golden aura radiated from Zeke, dispelling the strange energy.
Sizzle—
The aura clashed with the energy, nullifying it, leaving the sword exposed.
Zeke reached for the revealed sword.
“I don’t know what you are, but I won’t be a puppet like Arthur.”
Suddenly, a powerful wave emanated from the sword.
Whine—
The sword vibrated with a new intensity, as if making a final stand.
Then, something astonishing happened.
Crack!
The surface of the sword’s pedestal began to fracture.
Rumble!
As the cracks widened, something crawled out from within.
Crash!
What emerged resembled the tentacles of the beasts, yet Zeke sensed it was different.
‘What is that…?’
Observing it closely, Zeke realized he had felt this presence before—in the temple of the goddess Theia, where an external entity had been sealed.
A message appeared before Zeke.
[The title ‘Blessed by the Ancient Dragon’ detects traces of the ‘Indescribable Darkness.’]
[Defense systems activate against the ‘Indescribable Darkness.’]
[System Overclock is forcibly engaged.]
[Revealing the divinity of the Constellation.]
[Constellation ‘One Who Transcends the Wall’ opposes the ‘Indescribable Darkness.’]
[Constellation ‘Guide of Just Suffering’ opposes the ‘Indescribable Darkness.’]
Hum—
Zeke’s body automatically engaged Overclock, his divinity extending to counter the power of the ‘Indescribable Darkness.’
Screech—
The sword in the air wailed, causing more cracks in the pedestal.
Zeke attempted to analyze the ‘Indescribable Darkness’ with the Akashic Code but found no information.
Yet instinctively, he knew he had to stop it from emerging.
‘I must seal the pedestal’s cracks.’
Recalling how he had sealed the statue in Theia’s temple, Zeke gripped Ascalon, invoking its sacred power.
Simultaneously, he unleashed the Elemental Sword’s fiery field.
The purest flame, imbued with sacred power, became a holy fire.
Zeke swung Ascalon, unleashing the sacred fire at the pedestal.
Whoosh!
The pure, holy flames enveloped the cracking pedestal.
Screech!
The shadow sword howled, trying to draw out the ‘Indescribable Darkness’ from within.
Zeke intensified the sacred fire, halting the entity’s emergence.
He then turned, gesturing toward the Levatein, fully charged with dark matter.
Boom!
The Levatein, infused with dark energy, flew toward the shadow sword.
Crackle!
The shadow sword created a barrier of dark matter-like substance, but it was absorbed by the Levatein.
Crackle!
As the Levatein penetrated deeper, the shadow sword began to weaken.
Zeke seized the opportunity, summoning shadows.
Slash!
The shadows formed a giant hand, wrapping around the shadow sword.
Slash!
With the Levatein pressing from the front and the shadow hand from behind, the shadow sword could no longer resist.
Zeke’s shadows enveloped the sword, attempting to control its power.
Crackle!
Plasma sparked around the sword.
Zeke approached the restrained sword, reaching out despite its resistance.
—You, bound by fate, do not forget your place.
To the whisper, Zeke replied.
“Shut up. I don’t know who you are, but I’ll make sure to knock that arrogance out of you.”
With those words, Zeke grasped the hilt of the shadow sword.
Whine!
A powerful wave surged from the sword in Zeke’s hand.
Screech!
The strange power within the sword dissipated like smoke.
Simultaneously, Zeke felt the presence that had whispered to him vanish.
Hum—
The sword vibrated, and a message appeared.
[The unique power of Absolute Dominion awakens the sword’s strength.]
[The true name of the hidden sword is revealed.]
[The sword, a fragment of the Promised Liberation, the Sword of Rupture ‘Caladbolg,’ reveals its true name and power.]
With the revelation of its true name, the shadow sword began to synchronize with Zeke’s Shadow Armor, much like the Caladbolg he had acquired before.
[The power source of ‘Caledfwlch’ connects with the Shadow Armor.]
[‘Caledfwlch’ merges with the Shadow Armor.]
“Caledfwlch?”
The name was reminiscent of the previously sealed shadow sword, ‘Caladbolg,’ yet it carried a different title. While Caladbolg was known as the ‘Sword of Solid Shadow,’ Caledfwlch was called the ‘Sword of Fractures.’
Despite their similar appearances, the two swords had distinct names but shared a commonality: both were facets of the ‘Promised Sword of Liberation.’
“As I suspected, these swords are all shadows cast by a single blade.”
Zzzzzzz—
As Zeke organized his thoughts, Caledfwlch, having awakened its true name, completed its connection with the Shadow Armor. The sword, now infused with shadow, naturally aligned with Zeke’s will, much like Caladbolg had.
Zeke wanted to uncover the strange power and voice that had once resided within Caledfwlch, but any trace of them had already vanished.
“What on earth was that?”
Pondering the mysterious voice, Zeke looked up at the fractured statue of the sword.
Crack—
Despite being suppressed by divine flames, the statue continued to crack, unable to fully contain its power.
Zeke approached the statue slowly. The entity trying to emerge from the cracks seemed to writhe towards him, as if acknowledging his presence.
『Bearer of my mark…』
In that moment, Zeke sensed the entity’s intent. It communicated directly with his consciousness, much like the entity that had emerged from the statue of the saint in the past.
“An indescribable darkness. Is it his will?”
Though Zeke had faced these strange entities before, their origins remained a mystery. He speculated they might be connected to Arthur Draker, the avatar of the sun god Apollyon, who wielded such entities.
What puzzled him was that the power of these entities felt entirely different from that of the constellations. In fact, it seemed to exist in opposition to them. Yet, the idea that the sun god, who ruled over all constellations, could wield such power was beyond Zeke’s comprehension.
“Is there something I’m missing?”
Determined to learn more, Zeke decided to seal the cracks in the statue first. He floated towards the statue’s right shoulder, where the damage was most severe.
In the past, lacking divine power, he had used the relics of Hermes and elixirs to mend the cracks. But now, with the strength of a powerful constellation, such measures were unnecessary.
Zeke reached out towards the cracks.
“Authority: Recreate.”
As he invoked the power of the Arrogant Savior, the cracks in the statue began to mend rapidly.
Zzzzzzz—
The broken parts reattached, as if time itself was reversing, sealing the fractures.
『Come… Do not reject me, child of chaos.』
The indescribable darkness continued to communicate with Zeke as he used his divine power to seal the cracks. Yet, he remained unshaken, focusing on restoring the statue.
Just as the statue was nearly restored, a tentacle emerged from a gap.
The tentacle’s voice, impossible to resist, penetrated Zeke’s consciousness.
『You who have traversed the timeline… child of chaos. We are not so different…』
With these cryptic words, the tentacle split open, releasing something.
Thud!
Zeke’s eyes widened in disbelief at what the tentacle had expelled.
“Is that…?”
What emerged was a sword, a claymore with a serpent coiled around its blade.
“The Sun Sword, Gram?”
It was none other than the very sword Zeke had wielded in his past life, crafted by the soul smith, Gelion.