393
Chapter 393
EEEEEENG!
The hourglass floated in the air, making a strange sound near Zeke's ears.
After a moment, as the hourglass flipped, the surrounding scenery began to change.
Zeke had seen this sight before.
'Time is reversing.'
The Authority of Reversal was linked to Chronos’s Hourglass, causing the world around him to regress to the past.
The spinning hourglass suddenly stopped.
'Which era have I come to?'
Having experienced this before, Zeke calmly looked around.
The number of statues had noticeably decreased compared to when he entered earlier.
Then it happened.
"Amazing. I can't believe it worked just as Chronos said."
Turning his gaze toward the altar, Zeke discovered a woman with mysterious silver hair approaching.
At a glance, Zeke could tell she was a dragon in polymorphed form.
The silver-haired dragon asked while looking at Zeke.
"Are you Zeke Draker?"
Zeke was startled that the dragon from the past knew his name.
'Did she hear about me from Chronos?'
Chronos, being a dragon who controlled time, could know future events but couldn't freely mention them due to karma restrictions.
Nevertheless, the fact that the silver-haired dragon knew Zeke's name meant that Chronos had a message that needed to be left through her, even at the risk of breaking the timeline.
The silver-haired dragon said to Zeke:
"My name is Hyperion. I am the Lord of the Silver clan and the Dawn's Guardian."
Zeke remembered Hades mentioning that Hyperion's lair was in the Northern Continent.
Hyperion approached Zeke and continued speaking:
"First, let me give you what Chronos asked me to."
She reached her hand toward Zeke.
WOONG!
Light emanating from her hand seeped into Zeke's body.
At that moment, a message appeared before Zeke's eyes.
[Obtained 3/4 of Chronos Kingdom's Seal.]
[Coordinates of Chronos Kingdom's treasury will be activated when all remaining seals are found.]
―Main Quest Mission (Connected)―
[Take the holy relic containing the power of the beginning to the forgotten primordial temple. (No time limit / Temple coordinates automatically activated when all three holy relics are obtained.)]
[Find and restore the scattered seals of Chronos Kingdom. (No time limit / 1 seal remaining)]
[Activate the coordinates of Chronos Kingdom's treasury with the restored kingdom seal.]
[Main Quest Mission Reward: ???]
[Connected Quest Mission Reward: Title - Heir of Chronos Kingdom]
With Hyperion giving Zeke the Chronos Kingdom's seal, only one seal remained.
'The problem is that it's in the Rom Empire.'
More precisely, it was in Rom, the capital.
And currently, since Abel was occupying Rom with Siemens and the demon race, it was difficult to approach carelessly.
'I'll need to think more about how to find the last seal.'
After delivering the seal, Hyperion looked at Zeke and said:
"Chronos believes you are the savior who will eliminate the Demon King."
Zeke nodded at Hyperion's words.
"Yes. Lord Hermes also said that because I'm immortal, I uniquely have the ability to kill gods."
Hyperion exclaimed in surprise at Zeke's words:
"You met Lord Hermes? His divine position should be sealed currently. How?... Ah!"
Hyperion seemed to have found the answer herself, and Zeke nodded toward her saying:
"That's right. As you suspected, since I also have the power of an immortal, I could pull out the spear that sealed the divine dragon's divinity."
She nodded in understanding after hearing Zeke's words.
"So that's why Chronos left such a message with me."
"What message did Chronos leave?"
Hyperion said to Zeke:
"Chronos said to tell you that you must unseal the Earth God."
Zeke had already unsealed Poseidon, the Sea God, and Hermes, the Forest God.
With his immortal power, he should be able to unseal the Earth God as well.
"Where is this Earth God sealed?"
Hyperion looked at Zeke and said:
"The Earth God is sealed in the Forest of the Forgotten."
The forbidden area, the Forest of the Forgotten, was a place deeply connected to Zeke.
'The Forest of the Forgotten. Well, nothing would be strange to find there.'
Just as Zeke's face turned serious, realizing he couldn't postpone it any longer:
WOONG!
The floating hourglass began to vibrate.
It meant the time they could stay in the past was almost over.
Hyperion approached Zeke and grabbed his hand.
"There's no time. Synchronize your mana with mine."
"What? What do you mean by that?"
"You don't even know something as basic as mana synchronization? Oh... there's no time to explain. I'll guide you, so relax your body and don't resist the flow."
Hyperion tightened her grip on his hand.
WOONG!
Along with the vibration, mana began flowing into Zeke's body through his hand.
'Hmm...'
Although the foreign sensation of mana entering his body was uncomfortable at first, Zeke endured it and tried to relax and naturally accept the power as Hyperion said.
Then suddenly, a crest began appearing on Zeke's chest.
WOONG!
As more of Hyperion's mana flowed in, the crest on his chest became darker and shone intensely.
After absorbing the mana for some time, messages appeared before Zeke's eyes.
[Pure mana fills the dragon's heart.]
[Pure mana neutralizes the curse dwelling in the cursed light dragon Bahamut's heart.]
[The cursed light dragon Bahamut's heart recovers into the heart of Bahamut, Ruler of Twilight.]
'The curse on Bahamut's heart was lifted?'
The crest felt brighter and clearer than before.
More messages appeared.
[Obtained title 'Ruler of Twilight .]
[Due to the title 'Ruler of Twilight', Bahamut's power increases 1.5 times after sunset.]
[Bahamut's heart seal level has decreased to 35%.]
[Removing Level 2 restriction from user.]
[Due to restriction removal, karma requirement for dragon race skill unlocking reduced by 30%.]
[Due to restriction removal, spirit power requirement for dragon race skill rank increase reduced.]
'The heart's seal level decreased and Level 2 restriction was removed.'
Additionally, he obtained Bahamut's former title 'Ruler of Twilight'.
The title increased the power of Bahamut's dragon race control and shadow control abilities at night.
'So that's why he was called the shadow dragon.'
TZZZZZ!
After all the pure mana flowed into Zeke's body, Hyperion finally released his hand.
Her mysterious silver eyes appeared as she opened them.
"This has lifted the curse on Bahamut's heart."
"Yes, thanks to you I regained the title Ruler of Twilight."
Hyperion's expression darkened at Zeke's words.
"Yes... in the end, Bahamut met his destined fate."
He realized through Hyperion's words that this time period was before the Liberation War.
Before time completely ran out, Zeke asked Hyperion:
"Lady Hyperion, I actually came here looking for Caligula's tomb. Do you know anything about this?"
When Zeke mentioned Caligula's name, Hyperion looked surprised before nodding.
"I know. I am the caretaker of that tomb."
Hyperion continued:
"Caligula's power was so dangerous that the Elder Dragon sealed it personally. I've been guarding that tomb at the Elder Dragon's request."
"So Lady Hyperion was Caligula's tomb's caretaker."
Zeke realized why the compass pointed here.
"Looking for Caligula's tomb..."
After pondering briefly, Hyperion looked at Zeke and said:
"Immortal blessed by the Elder Dragon. Perhaps entrusting Caligula's power to you would be the better choice."
Light gathered as she extended her hand forward, creating a key.
Hyperion handed over the key and said:
"This key can enter the sealed tomb. It will guide you to the tomb."
Zeke nodded as he received it.
'There was a separate key. If I hadn't met Lady Hyperion here, it wouldn't have been easy to enter even if I found the tomb.'
After putting the key in his inventory, Zeke said to Hyperion:
"Lady Hyperion, I have one more question."
He quickly continued:
"About the Demon King's identity... is it true that he was the first God Slayer who fell and became king of all fallen constellations?"
Hyperion nodded at Zeke's words.
"Yes, the one who killed the most gods. And in the end, fell himself and became king of the fallen constellations."
"I heard the same from Battle God Tyr. But if that's true, doesn't that mean the God Slayer became the Demon King?"
Hyperion shook her head at those words.
"Strictly speaking, the Demon King was born from the fusion of the God Slayer and something that dwelled within that immortal body."
"This thing dwelling in the God Slayer..."
"No one knows its exact identity. The Elder Dragon suspects it might be something from the opposite side of the Creator God, the Primordial Light."
"The opposite of the Creator God?"
"Yes, the Primordial Light created this world. But naturally, its opposite also emerged. That's why it can be called a fragment of the Creator God. Being both a fragment and the opposite of light, it seeks to destroy what the Creator God made. So this being constantly tempts and tries to make the Creator's creatures fall."
"Temptation and corruption. That must be the essence of this being."
Hyperion nodded.
"The first Immortal and God Slayer was eventually consumed by it and became 'The First to Fall'."
"And so the First Immortal became the vessel for the Demon King."
"Immortal power itself destroys the world's balance. The Fairy King was wary of Immortals appearing in the material world."
An Immortal had the power to destroy the Demon King, yet could also make him more perfect.
This was why the Fairy King and other fairies rejected and were wary of immortal power.
'The Demon King's identity is the Creator God's fragment combined with immortal power. So to truly destroy the Demon King, that fragment must be destroyed.'
The Holy Spear was the only divine object that could eliminate that fragment.
Just as Zeke tried to ask Hyperion something more.
TZZZZZ!
Hyperion's body gradually began fading.
Her spirit body started disappearing as time ran out.
Looking down at her transparent body, she nodded as if she had expected this.
"Finally, I can enter the long-awaited eternal rest."
Surprised by her unexpected words, Zeke asked:
"You've been waiting for me?"
"It was a promise with Chronos. To pass on the key to save the future to the savior who would someday appear."
She looked at Zeke and said:
"Zeke Draker, I'm truly sorry to entrust this world's fate to you."
WOONG!
The hourglass began vibrating again.
It was time to return to the original timeline.
Zeke quickly spoke to Hyperion one last time.
"Lord Hades missed you greatly. I'll tell him about today's meeting."
She looked surprised for a moment at Hades' name.
After thinking briefly, she created a book and handed it to Zeke.
"Give this to Hades. It contains content he would like. Teaching that child was also a great joy for me."
Soon Hyperion's body scattered into silver light and the hourglass turned again.
WOONG!
The surroundings changed rapidly once more.
The missing statues began appearing one by one.
When the statues returned to their original number, the changing environment stabilized and the hourglass disappeared.
Back in the original timeline, Zeke felt severe dizziness again.
"WHEW!"
He staggered and leaned against the altar wall.
Still, he adapted to the present time much faster than before, quickly regaining his senses.
'Still can't get completely used to it though.'
Zeke slowly left the underground memorial space and came up to the castle.
Quite some time had passed as it was already dawn.
However, for some reason the castle was in chaos.
DONG! DONG! DONG!
Just then, the castle's warning bells rang frantically.
Zeke quickly ran to look outside.
'Oh no...'
A massive army of monsters and magical beasts was advancing toward Himonas Castle.