Episode 703
“What… is this?”
Zeke stood in shock, surveying the ruins of the tower and the countless wrecked ships scattered around him. The Apollyon Legion, along with the Continental Alliance and the Demon Realm forces he had brought through the gate, lay in utter devastation.
Descending from Tiamat, Zeke examined the mountainous piles of debris. Among the wreckage, the beasts of the abandoned continent scavenged, but they fled in terror as he approached.
Zeke, momentarily dazed, attempted to locate any survivors through the system.
[No traces of survivors detected.]
Laura’s message confirmed there were no survivors within the search range, causing Zeke to furrow his brow.
“Could they all be wiped out?”
Either they were annihilated, or they had escaped beyond the search range, but the former seemed more likely. It was hard to imagine Arthur Draker, who had awakened Apollyon’s power and become the King in Yellow, would have let them slip away.
Before his return, Zeke had lost Alicia and all his comrades in the Continental War. Alone, he had sought revenge by stealing the ancient relics the emperor had been gathering.
It was the desperate struggle of a survivor who had outlived his friends.
Now, for the first time since his return, Zeke felt the same emotions he had back then. Despite his indomitable spirit and will, stronger than any celestial being, the creeping despair of possibly losing his newfound comrades in this life began to overwhelm him.
“No, I can’t let this get to me.”
Zeke forced himself to shake off the despair and steadied his breathing. Arthur Draker and his enemies were still out there. If he didn’t pull himself together, the King in Yellow would surely bring about Ragnarok and the end of the world.
“Even the corrupted Primordial Light is within me. If Ragnarok occurs in this state, the restrictions placed by the Primordial Light could collapse.”
If that happened, a new world could be created according to Arthur Draker’s will, a world filled only with Apollyon’s knights who worshipped him as a god.
Zeke couldn’t allow such a horrific world to come into existence.
Determined, Zeke decided to find out what had happened in his absence. He began searching the wreckage for the Ark, thinking it might hold records of the events that transpired.
“Laura, locate the Ark for me.”
At Zeke’s command, the system expanded its search range, looking for traces of the Ark among the debris. Soon, a message appeared before his eyes.
[Search results have been marked on the map.]
Zeke moved towards the location indicated by the system. The Ark was situated far from the piles of wreckage. Upon arrival, he saw cracked earth, collapsed mountains, and a scorched coastline, evidence of a fierce battle.
“Signs of resistance to the very end.”
Amidst these signs, Zeke found the Ark, half-buried and cracked in the ground.
Whoosh—
Flying towards the damaged Ark, Zeke surveyed the surroundings with a hardened expression. There was no sign of the King in Yellow or the Apollyon Legion.
“Laura, try to connect with the Ark’s system.”
Despite Zeke’s command, Laura’s attempt to connect with the Ark’s system yielded no response. It seemed completely destroyed.
“I’ll have to check inside.”
Carefully, Zeke examined the entrance and slowly entered the Ark through a broken opening. Inside, it appeared the Ark had been abandoned for weeks.
“Was I in the Void World for that long?”
The Void World, which devoured even the flow of time, distorted the sense of reality and time. Though he had absorbed the Demon King’s power, escaping had taken too long.
As guilt for failing to protect his comrades began to creep in, Zeke clenched his teeth and steeled his resolve.
“There’s no time for despair. I need to understand the current situation quickly.”
Zeke made his way to the control room, pushing through the wreckage of the Ark. Everything was destroyed except for the control room door, which remained intact.
Reaching for the door, Zeke found it unresponsive, its functions lost. He had no choice but to manipulate shadows to force the tightly sealed door open.
Crash!
As the door opened, the scene inside the control room was revealed. Zeke’s expression turned to one of confusion.
“What on earth…?”
The control room was devoid of any signs of life, only scattered clothing remained, as if the people wearing them had vanished into thin air.
Zeke examined the clothes strewn about the control room. Among them were traces of the Demon Realm princesses, Hades, Yellin, the Black Sword Knights’ Hersion, and his mentor, Nigel, all left behind.
“Did they fight to the end here aboard the Ark?”
Gazing at his comrades’ clothes, Zeke turned towards the recording device in the control room. He placed his hand on the largest crystal orb in front of the device.
Crackle—
Though the orb’s exterior seemed intact, like the door, it had lost all functionality, rendering the records unreadable.
“Damn it…”
The only way to uncover what had happened here was gone. Despairing, Zeke clutched his head, gritting his teeth, when something caught his eye.
“A mirror?”
A mirror, incongruous with the control room, was affixed to the front. Zeke recognized the familiar design of the mirror, crafted from woven bamboo.
He quickly recalled its origin.
“That’s the one from the Hermit’s house…”
A thought flashed through Zeke’s mind. He approached the mirror and extended his hand, channeling energy into it.
Vroom!
To his surprise, the mirror’s surface began to ripple in response to his energy. Simultaneously, something appeared in the mirror.
[Finally, damn it! It’s working!]
The face of Nabu appeared on the other side of the mirror. Though the image was blurry and the voice unclear, it was unmistakably Nabu.
Nabu urgently shouted from within the mirror.
“Damn it, I’m recording this because I don’t know what will happen next! Zeke, I hope you can see this… though I’m not sure what you can do even if you do.”
Just as he finished speaking, a massive roar erupted from within the mirror.
Rumble!
Nabu covered his ears against the deafening noise before continuing.
“The situation is dire. The King in Yellow emerged from the rift. As foretold, he is the harbinger of the world’s end.”
Boom!
Another tremendous roar echoed. Nabu paused, swallowed hard, and spoke calmly.
“With a single swing of his sword, half the fleet was obliterated. We hid the survivors aboard the Ark, hoping to hold out until you returned, Zeke. But it was futile. The King in Yellow and those damned Knights of the Round relentlessly pursued us, no matter where we hid.”
Zeke repeated Nabu’s words to himself.
“Knights of the Round?”
It was a name he had never heard before. Perhaps there were other allies aiding Apollyon’s knights.
At that moment, someone else appeared beside Nabu in the mirror.
“Zeke!”
It was his mentor, Nigel. In the form of a mature woman rather than a girl, Nigel spoke with a voice full of longing.
“The King in Yellow and the Knights of the Round… they’re beyond what we can handle. Zeke, I hate to say this, but… if you see this, don’t fight them. Run…”
Suddenly, a blinding light burst from the mirror, nearly blinding him. The light soon faded, and no more words came from the mirror.
Static—
Zeke, staring at the mirror now filled with static, turned to look at the traces of his comrades, who had vanished, leaving only their clothes behind.
It seemed the light that flashed in the mirror had caused his comrades to disappear.
“The King in Yellow and the Knights of the Round…”
Zeke clenched his fists, struggling to quell the rising anger. Now was the time for rational planning, not emotional turmoil.
But then, a loud noise erupted from outside.
Crash—
Zeke immediately stepped back, assuming a defensive stance. At the same time, a section of the control room wall burst open, and something charged in.
Thud!
What entered the control room was a knight clad in bronze armor, mounted on a bronze horse, wielding a shield and lance. It was as if a bronze statue had come to life.
The knight’s eyes glowed from within the helmet, and without a word, he thrust the lance towards Zeke.
Boom!
The lance spun fiercely, hurtling towards Zeke.
Zeke swiftly drew his sword, a brilliant fusion of Levatein and Ascalon, shimmering with starlight.
With a decisive step forward, he swung the blade toward the bronze lance.
Boom!
A deafening explosion erupted as the bronze lance shattered.
The force of the impact sent the bronze knight staggering backward.
Rumble!
With just a single strike, Zeke had laid waste to the control room of the ark.
Yet, despite being pushed back, the bronze knight seemed unfazed, quickly regaining its stance.
Raising its shield and extending its hand, a new lance materialized.
This time, the knight charged directly at Zeke on horseback.
Thud, thud, thud!
The lance, heavy with momentum, hurtled toward Zeke with lethal intent.
Once more, Zeke raised his sword, stepping forward to meet the lance with a powerful swing.
It was one of the first basic moves taught in dragon-slaying techniques.
A move Zeke had executed countless times in his past life.
Dragon-Slaying Technique
Chapter 1, Verse 1
Sky Slash
Though a simple foundational move, when wielded by Zeke, a transcendent being, its power was beyond imagination.
Crack!
A massive line was etched into the air where Zeke’s Sky Slash had passed.
The bronze knight holding the lance, as well as the already damaged ark, bore the mark of the slash.
Crash!
The upper section of the ark was sliced cleanly, collapsing sideways with a thunderous noise.
As the upper section fell away, the sky was revealed, and even the clouds were split along the line of the slash.
The bronze knight, too, was bisected, its body falling to the ground in two halves.
Thud!
The sundered knight crashed down alongside its bronze steed with a resounding thump.
Zeke sheathed his sword and approached the fallen knight slowly.
He was taken aback by the sight of the severed cross-section.
“Is it really made of metal?”
He had thought it was merely a moving statue, but it turned out to be true.
At that moment, the bisected body of the bronze knight began to twitch.
Creak!
The severed parts of the bronze horse and knight started to writhe like clay, reattaching themselves.
Creak!
Watching the transformation, Zeke realized the true nature of the bronze knight.
“An angel…?”
Creak!
The knight, now transformed, retained its bronze texture but had taken on the form of an angel with eight pairs of wings and four arms.
Rumble!
The angel, holding a different spear in each of its four hands, gazed down at Zeke.
Zeke softly uttered the name of the celestial being inhabiting the angel’s form.
“Raphael.”
One of the four supreme constellations, the most powerful among the Zodiac Thirteen.
A great constellation that had once torn the primordial body of light, now stood revealed, having served closely alongside Apollyon.