Episode 701

A high-pitched whine echoed in Zeke’s ears as he slowly opened his eyes.

“Where am I…?”

He found himself floating in a vast, empty void, where up, down, and sideways had no meaning.

Zeke realized he had opened his body to embrace the power of the Demon King, entering this void that connected to his own abyss.

A realm where reality and mind coexisted, their boundaries blurred.

If he lost himself here, the corrupted Primordial Light would seize his body, birthing a new Demon King.

Zeke steadied his mind and balanced his body.

He attempted to summon his divine power and unfold his unique domain.

But his domain, the Vanished Stage, refused to manifest in this void.

“It’s not just because it’s the void. This place itself… is a kind of unique domain.”

The world created by the corrupted Primordial Light prevented him from deploying his own domain.

Zeke closed his eyes, waiting for something to change.

In this void, devoid of time and space, any ordinary being would lose their mind and self.

But Zeke, with his formidable divine power, maintained his sense of self while drifting through the void.

He had no idea how much time had passed.

Sitting calmly in a meditative pose, Zeke eventually noticed a change in the void around him.

Rumble!

When he opened his eyes, he found himself at the deepest layer of the void.

There, astonishingly, stood a massive tree resembling the World Tree, inverted with its roots reaching skyward and branches hanging down.

Zeke gazed at the inverted World Tree with somber eyes.

At that moment, the corrupted Primordial Light appeared before him.

A resonant hum filled the air as the light shimmered with a radiant black glow.

For something said to be the source of all-consuming greed, it was surprisingly pure and luminous.

Facing the corrupted Primordial Light, Zeke spoke.

“Corrupted Primordial Light. Trapping me in this void won’t work. I’m not like King Solomon or the Tyrant King Siemens.”

No matter how powerful Solomon and Siemens were, they were beings of the material world without divine power.

Zeke, having transcended human limits to become a higher celestial being, would not lose himself even if he drifted in the void for millennia.

The corrupted Primordial Light whispered back to Zeke.

“Zeke Draker, you who exist beyond the stage. Only you can free me from this place.”

“King Solomon and the Tyrant King Siemens were also deemed worthy vessels for you. Are you saying I’m different from them?”

“You are one who defied fate. You created a role for yourself that wasn’t originally part of the stage I crafted. Your choices can create a new stage.”

“So, because I exist outside the stage created by the Primordial Light, I can shatter this cursed fate.”

“Indeed. My previous destruction by my creations was a destined outcome. Only one who exists outside of fate can alter it.”

Zeke understood why both the King in Yellow and the corrupted Primordial Light sought him.

He was the only one capable of breaking the existing stage and creating a new one.

Looking at the corrupted Primordial Light, Zeke spoke.

“But didn’t you, as the creator, foresee all this when you made the stage? And now you want to descend upon me to change fate. I expected as much, but was the betrayal that painful?”

The corrupted Primordial Light shimmered, whispering in Zeke’s ear.

“I love all that I have created. I only wish to prevent the meaningless disappearance of the souls and the radiant times they have crafted.”

Zeke scoffed at the response.

“Don’t spout nonsense. It was you, the corrupted one, who disrupted the material world and sought to destroy everything. You couldn’t bear the imperfections of your creations, leading to repeated world-ending events. And now you claim to love all you’ve created? Enough with the hypocrisy.”

The corrupted Primordial Light remained silent.

Zeke, frowning, continued.

“Whether it’s Apollyon or you, the so-called creator, you’re all the same to me. You only care about perfecting the stage you made, ignoring those who exist within it.”

The corrupted Primordial Light flickered intensely.

“I love all I have created and the world they inhabit. That’s why I cannot endure this imperfect world.”

The light pulsed stronger, and the whispering grew louder.

“I will return the remnants of my past mistakes and imperfections to nothingness. This time, I will make it perfect. Perfect. Perfect. Perfect…”

As the corrupted Primordial Light repeated “perfect” endlessly, Zeke shook his head.

“After being trapped here for millennia, shattered into fragments, it’s no wonder you’re not sane. Demon King, King in Yellow, I’ll shatter your damned delusions myself.”

Zeke reached out toward the corrupted Primordial Light, ready to accept the soul of the fallen creator.

The light shimmered again, emitting a black glow.

The black light coalesced, forming a dark figure.

“What is that?”

Soon, the black light took the shape of a tall man wearing an iron mask, chains wrapped around his arms.

The chains clinked ominously.

Embedded in the man’s chest was the corrupted Primordial Light.

Zeke murmured softly as he recognized him.

“Godslayer Solomon…”

The figure created by the corrupted Primordial Light was none other than the King of Carcosa, the Godslayer, and the first vessel of the Demon King, King Solomon.

Solomon, the iron-masked figure, extended his hand.

The chains wrapped around his arms merged into a black spear.

The spear vibrated with power.

Solomon raised the black spear and hurled it at Zeke with all his might.

The spear spun fiercely, hurtling toward Zeke.

It was the attack of the Godslayer who had once obliterated countless celestial beings.

Zeke drew Levatein and swung it at the incoming spear.

With a thunderous crash, Solomon’s spear collided with the sword, disintegrating into black ash.

Zeke then summoned Ascalon from his inventory, unleashing the power of the sacred union.

Electricity crackled, filling the void with its energy.

Solomon’s form shifted before Zeke’s eyes.

Now, a black knight clad in dark armor, wielding Zahhak, appeared.

Zeke recognized the black knight as the Tyrant King Siemens Apollyon.

The Tyrant King swung Zahhak at Zeke.

Astonishingly, the sword’s strike tore through space, emerging right in front of Zeke.

Zeke narrowly blocked the attack with Levatein.

The Tyrant King then crossed the spatial rift, aiming for Zeke’s back.

But Ascalon, imbued with the power of the sacred union, intercepted the attack.

While Ascalon engaged the Tyrant King, Zeke retreated to create distance.

Yet the Tyrant King crossed the rift again, appearing before Zeke.

In an instant, he transformed back into Solomon, attempting to ensnare Zeke with chains.

Zeke narrowly evaded, blocking the chains with Levatein.

The chains wrapped around Levatein, creeping up to seize Zeke’s wrist.

Solomon’s chains could bind even celestial souls, posing a grave threat to Zeke.

Sensing danger, Zeke released Levatein and stepped back.

Solomon retrieved the chained Levatein, holding it in his grasp.

Then Solomon’s form flickered, merging with the Tyrant King’s.

The combined form donned black armor, an iron mask, wielding both chains and a sword.

He swung the chained Levatein, tearing through space as the Tyrant King had done before.

Zeke, seeing the chained sword flying through the rift, gripped Ascalon and prepared his mind.

The battle in the void continued, a clash of titans in a realm beyond reality.

He sliced through the fractured space with his mind’s eye, neutralizing the attack, but the demon king’s avatar, born from the corrupted primordial light, remained unscathed.

“This place is practically his domain. Here, I can’t fully wield my divine power.”

Zeke realized he needed to establish his own domain here to exploit a weakness in the corrupted primordial light.

Then, a thought struck him.

He recalled the arrogant savior’s unique power, “Abyssal Darkness,” which he had absorbed from Mephistopheles.

“Yes, with Abyssal Darkness…”

As Zeke pieced together his plan, hesitating to advance, the corrupted primordial light stepped forward, wielding Zahhak and Laevateinn.

Ssshhh—

It attempted to slip through the cracks in space to strike Zeke from behind.

But at that moment, a darkness deeper than any other began to emanate from Zeke.

Ssshhh—

The Abyssal Darkness he unleashed started to consume the void world created by the corrupted primordial light.

The light embedded in the chest of the avatar, a fusion of Siemens and Solomon, flickered with a dark glow.

【Did you think you could encroach upon my domain so easily?】

Zeke shook his head at the whisper.

“This alone won’t be enough. But…”

He reached out towards the spreading Abyssal Darkness and summoned something.

“Beast of the Apocalypse, your true master calls you. Reveal yourself here.”

Lilith, the arrogant savior’s companion, had once commanded a beast with seven heads and ten horns, one of the apocalyptic creatures recorded alongside Hela.

Rumble!

The beast with seven heads and ten horns emerged from the Abyssal Darkness at Zeke’s call.

Grrrr—

Just as Hela had lost her divine nature when captured by the celestial constellations, the first beast of the apocalypse had not regained its true form since the arrogant savior lost his power.

Zeke bestowed the Abyssal Darkness he had taken from Mephistopheles upon the beast.

Ssshhh—

The darkness enveloped the beast with seven heads and ten horns.

As Hela had reclaimed her divinity through the flames of the abyss, the first beast of the apocalypse began to transform in response to the Abyssal Darkness.

Screeeech!

The beast’s body started to grow, its seven heads and ten horns expanding.

Crack!

Soon, a dragon of the apocalypse, with red scales and wings, emerged from the Abyssal Darkness, its seven heads spewing darkness.

Zeke smiled faintly at the sight of the fearsome true form of the first beast of the apocalypse.

“Primordial Dragon Tiamat, you’ve regained your true divinity.”

Tiamat, having reclaimed its lost divinity and name, raised its seven heads and opened its mouths wide.

Roar!

In response to Zeke’s words, Tiamat unleashed the Abyssal Darkness from its seven mouths with terrifying force.

The void world quickly filled with the Abyssal Darkness.

Ssshhh—

Seeing the surrounding filled with the Abyssal Darkness, Zeke grinned and raised Ascalon.

“Alright, now this is something I can work with.”