Chapter 352
Chapter 352
Chapter 352
CRACK!
The holy spear pierced the Emperor's heart.
At the same time, a message appeared before Zeke's eyes.
[The Serpent of the Black Maw of the Fallen Constellation has had its essence damaged by the power of Godslaying.]
[The Serpent of the Black Maw struggles to break free from the avatar body.]
[The power of Godslaying Seals the Constellation's essence to the avatar body.]
Zeke gripped the holy spear stuck in the Emperor's body and summoned the power of purification.
WOONG!
Golden aura seeped into the Emperor's body, and immediately the Emperor screamed in agony.
"ARGHHHHHH!"
Black energy began flowing out of his body.
Zeke summoned Solomon's Ring and activated its power toward that energy.
[Solomon's Ring's unique sealing power activates.]
The black energy flowing from the Emperor seeped into Solomon's Ring.
TSSS!
The black energy swirled around the ring before being sucked inside.
Zeke held the holy spear while bringing the ring close to the Emperor's body.
"GRRRRRR!"
The Emperor trembled as if his last breath was coming.
At that moment, several messages quickly appeared before Zeke's eyes.
[The Serpent of the Black Maw of the Fallen Constellation makes an urgent proposal to the Immortal.]
[It offers to grant a wish without any price.]
[It says a deal can be made if you just let it go, without any cost.]
Zeke ignored the appearing messages and continued absorbing the black energy with the ring.
Soon all the black energy left the Emperor's body and a symbol was engraved on Solomon's Ring.
Unlike the faint symbols of the Herald of Blood and Madness whose origins were partially sealed, the Serpent of the Black Maw's symbol was clearly engraved.
Upon confirming this, a message appeared.
[The Fallen Constellation 'Serpent of the Black Maw' has been sealed in Solomon's Ring.]
[The Serpent of the Black Maw's true name 'Belial' is engraved on Solomon's Ring.]
[You can use the Fallen Constellation 'Belial's' unique power 'Deception' once per day.]
Unlike regular demons, Fallen Constellations had their original names hidden.
But when the origin was perfectly sealed in Solomon's Ring, the Constellation's true name was revealed and its power became usable.
'The unique power of Deception...'
Then, more messages appeared.
[You achieve the remarkable feat of sealing a Fallen Constellation.]
[You acquire the title Demon Hunter.]
[Due to the title's effect, the special skill Giant Hunting is transformed into Demon Hunting (S-rank).]
[When using Demon Hunting, you deal 1.5x additional damage to Fallen Constellations and their subordinates.]
[The proficiency of active skill Blade of Brilliant Light increases.]
[You acquire 10,000 Karma Points for the achievement.]
Zeke nodded in satisfaction at the results gained from the feat of sealing a Fallen Constellation.
Then he looked at the Emperor who had lost Belial's power.
The Emperor, who had become a demon beast due to corrupted power, completely lost his strength and was barely breathing after the Fallen Constellation was sealed.
Zeke grabbed the spear stuck in the Emperor's heart and said to him.
"Come to think of it, I hadn't told you that."
He said while looking at the Emperor.
"The Elder Dragon relic you were looking for. I took it."
At that moment, Zeke felt the Emperor's pupils shake.
After quietly looking down at that, he pulled the holy spear from the heart.
TSSS!
As soon as the spear was removed, the Emperor's body began crumbling rapidly.
Zeke immediately raised shadows to absorb the Emperor's body.
SWISH!
Soon the Emperor's body was absorbed into Zeke's shadow and messages appeared.
[You have removed a corrupted avatar body completely infected by demon energy.]
[You receive 1,000 Karma Points as a reward.]
[You have devoured a corrupted avatar body completely infected by demon energy.]
[Your depleted Health, Mental Power, and Mana are restored.]
[The proficiency of Dragon clan skill 'Absorption' increases from absorbing the avatar body.]
[You absorb the bloodline ability 'Regeneration (S-rank)' from the devoured avatar body.]
[Active skill 'Regeneration (S-rank)' transforms into constitution 'Immortal Body'.]
[Due to constitution Immortal Body, mana consumption of Healing Factor decreases.]
[Due to constitution Immortal Body, proficiency of special skill Soul Sealing increases.]
'Constitution Immortal Body?'
Zeke, who was originally a Healer class, awakened the unique class Immortal after the awakening ritual.
Since becoming an Immortal, his class had never changed, and he had never heard of the constitution called Immortal Body.
Zeke checked the information for 'Immortal Body'.
―Immortal Body―
The indestructible body of an Immortal. Wounds heal quickly and one can exert powerful soul force.
Zeke could understand why Soul Sealing's proficiency increased due to the effects of Immortal Body.
'Powerful soul force...'
Looking at this, he speculated that the true power of an Immortal might not be the body's regenerative ability, but rather the powerful soul force.
This was because he thought that even the power of divine killing, which only Immortals could use, could only be manifested through powerful soul force.
Among Zeke's skills, those that used soul force were So Technique, Dragon clan skills, and Astral Sword.
'If it's my destiny to stop the resurrecting Demon King, I need to hone these skills.'
Among them, Zeke focused on the Soul Technique he had learned from his master Nigel in his past life.
In fact, among his techniques, Elemental Sword was still the one that exerted the strongest power.
However, this technique was still too inefficient for Zeke to handle, and since it used mana itself, it wasn't suitable for use against Constellations that needed to be struck with soul force.
Soul Technique was still the one that could directly damage Fallen Constellations and demons.
He felt that he needed to complete learning the Spirit Technique that he hadn't fully mastered from his master Nigel.
'Does this mean I have to go find Master on my own feet?'
Just thinking about it made his knees weak.
Even now as a Black Knight, Zeke was afraid of his master Nigel.
This was because he had suffered so much in his past life, and even if he were to compete with his master now, he still wasn't confident he could win.
He didn't know in his past life, but now that he had reached the level of Black Knight, he suspected Nigel might be at the Grand Master level.
'If I can fully learn Soul Technique and use Triple Spell, I too might reach the level of Grand Master.'
The power of a Black Knight alone wasn't enough to face the Fallen Constellations he would encounter in the future, including the Demon King.
Zeke decided he needed to go to the Forest of the Forgotten soon.
'I need to go quickly, both to prevent the Empire from taking out the sealed ones in the forest, and to find Sethon Draker's secret cave.'
After organizing his future plans and making up his mind, Zeke looked around thinking he should clean up the messy sanctuary and return to Vadoka.
He first approached Gillian who had collapsed and was sprawled to the side.
Thanks to Zeke's healing buff, fortunately his life wasn't in danger, but he still seemed unconscious.
He went outside and reached out toward the Golem Knights that had been smashed against the wall after being hit by Gillian.
[Would you like to restore the summoned Golem Knights?]
Zeke, who had gained the title of Inheritor of Radiant Light succeeding the Holy King's power, had become the master of the Golem Knights protecting the sanctuary and could register them as summons.
After confirming the message, Zeke canceled the summoning of the Golem Knights for restoration.
It seemed it would take quite some time for the broken Golem Knights to be restored.
Afterwards, while looking around to see if there were any surviving Imperial soldiers, Zeke discovered Calito hiding with his head buried in a corner.
"Come forward."
When Zeke's authority Charisma took effect, Calito couldn't refuse his words and quickly jumped forward while trembling.
Then he immediately knelt before Zeke.
"P-please spare my life!"
Calito had secretly observed everything Zeke had done while hiding.
He had single-handedly annihilated the powerful Imperial Guard, defeated the brainwashed Gillian, took down the Emperor who had become a monster, and even dissolved his body into shadow.
To Calito's eyes, Zeke was more terrifying than any monster.
Zeke used his Shadow Dominion power to read Calito's memories and find out who he was.
'Vice Commander of the Scorpion Knights.'
As Calito had risen to that position through political power and had wide connections, he knew quite a lot of information about the Empire.
After contemplating, Zeke opened his mouth toward Calito.
"Do you want to live?"
Calito desperately pleaded while hitting his forehead on the ground.
"I want to live! I-I'll do anything if you spare me!"
Though Calito was a small-minded person, he was also capable.
After considering, Zeke spoke while looking at Calito.
"Raise your head."
When Calito cautiously raised his head, Zeke activated Blood Eye while maintaining eye contact.
TSSS!
Zeke used Blood Eye's power along with his authority Charisma and Shadow Dominion ability to subjugate Calito's soul.
"KUHK!"
Calito felt his heart being bound by something and trembled in pain.
Zeke spoke while looking at Calito.
"Calito Luciano. No matter where you are, the moment you betray me, your heart will burst and you will die. You can test it if you have doubts."
At Zeke's words, Calito shook his head and spoke.
"D-doubts? How could I ever do such a thing to you, master! I will serve you with utmost loyalty for life!"
Calito immediately volunteered to be Zeke's slave.
Zeke thought that since it had come to this, he should get information about the Empire through Calito and exploit their weaknesses.
He cleanly disposed of all the dead Imperial soldiers through decay, closed the sanctuary door, and came back outside.
Calito followed behind Zeke while carrying the collapsed Gillian.
After coming outside, Zeke spoke to Calito.
"Go inform the main force about the annihilation of the advance party and the Emperor's death, but don't return to the Empire. Stall for time, and when I come leading the knights, surrender."
Calito, whose soul was captured by Zeke, had no way to resist.
As ordered by Zeke, he returned to the Imperial main force that was waiting helplessly behind the path blocked by Richmond.
Calito pulled out the Emperor's blood-stained flag as evidence and announced the Emperor's death.
The army commanders were confused by the news of the Emperor's death and didn't know what to do, falling into chaos.
As the commanders were already under the influence of the cultists' magic and awakening drugs, they couldn't make normal judgments and continued meaningless discussions.
Following Zeke's orders, Calito cleverly confused the commanders and kept them in place to prevent them from returning to their country.
And a few days later, the Black Sword Knights appeared with Zeke, and as planned, Calito thoroughly intimidated the commanders to prevent them from taking rash action.
However, the conflict of opinions was quite fierce, with many commanders insisting they should sweep away Zeke Draker's knights and return to the Empire with at least that achievement.
While there was chaos from internal conflict, Zeke led his knights in a surprise attack on the confused Imperial army.
"If any Imperial knight wishes to test their mettle against me, step forward."
At Zeke's provocation, some commanders sent out their knights to raise morale.
However, none of the Imperial knights could last more than three exchanges against Zeke's sword.
The commanders were intimidated by Zeke's reputation as the Knight of Salvation and his outstanding skill, and consequently, the argument for fighting back gradually lost strength.
Calito constantly created anxiety among them by reminding them of the Emperor's death and warning that if they fought here and were defeated, the commanders would be held responsible for both the Emperor's death and the defeat when they returned to the Empire.
Having come without supplies and only plundering along the way, they had no food to hold out longer, nor any necessary daily necessities.
Naturally, even if they decided to return now, the path would be difficult.
Finally, in a situation where any choice would be the worst, the commanders agreed with Calito that surrendering was the only path that guaranteed food and necessities, and they surrendered to the Black Sword Knights.
Zeke had achieved the surrender of an army of over 20,000 with a knight order of less than a thousand.
The Imperial soldiers, exhausted from long hunger and fatigue, seemed to rather welcome the surrender.
Zeke led the 20,000 surrendered Imperial troops toward the Holy Nation of Vadoka.
By succeeding in saving the Holy Kingdom following the Ghetto region, Zeke was once again able to spread his reputation as the Knight of Salvation across the entire continent.
And upon safely returning to the Holy Nation of Vadoka, Zeke immediately had to receive Arthur Draker's message sent from Atlas.