Chapter 445
Chapter 445
Chapter 445
Elder Dragon.
A being known as both the beginning and end of all dragons.
Both the Mad Emperor and Arthur Draker simultaneously sought after the Elder Dragon's relic.
It was also the Elder Dragon's power that allowed Zeke's miserable life to be reversed and return to a new past.
In the end, the Elder Dragon existed at the center of everything until now.
Then something appeared on the empty throne.
TSUTSUTSU!
The black dragon statue that Zeke had retrieved before appeared on the throne.
The dragon statue on the throne vibrated, and the Elder Dragon's voice penetrated Zeke's mind.
"Zeke Draker, one who defied fate."
Zeke raised his head and spoke toward the dragon statue on the throne.
"Elder Dragon. At last we meet like this."
"One who defied fate. I have long..."
At that moment, Zeke raised his hand to cut off the Elder Dragon's words and glared at the dragon statue on the throne.
"Why did you do it?"
Zeke ground his teeth and spoke again.
"Why did you make me regress?"
Regression to the past.
Having the chance to relive a life full of only regrets could be considered an opportunity of a lifetime.
Indeed, after regressing, Zeke became incomparably stronger than his previous life and was getting closer and closer to the complete freedom he desired.
But sometimes Zeke would think:
'If I had died then in the Ice Mountains, wouldn't I have already become free?'
After regressing to the past again, he learned things he didn't know in his previous life, and somehow ended up becoming a Knight of Salvation, destined to stop the Demon King's resurrection.
It wasn't because he wanted it that way, but as he struggled to survive, he somehow ended up like this.
With the power of immortality, Zeke neither tires nor gets hurt, and his mind never breaks down.
But still, he couldn't do anything about the fatigue and skepticism that sometimes came.
It was because the weight of destiny pressing down on his shoulders felt too heavy.
If it had been someone other than Zeke, they might have felt regression as a curse rather than an opportunity.
Zeke spoke while looking at the dragon statue.
"Why me of all people? Because I brought out this relic? Or because my bloodline was special? What exactly is the reason?!"
He shouted at the Elder Dragon with the frustration he had been holding back all this time.
Then the Elder Dragon's voice penetrated Zeke's mind.
"You are the only being who holds the possibility of defying fate."
At the Elder Dragon's words, Zeke frowned and said.
"What do you mean by that? Are you saying others couldn't regress?"
KUGUGUGU!
At that moment, the scenery of the great hall changed and everything became dark like night.
Then a pattern of a huge clock arose from the direction of the throne.
"Chronos and I made many attempts over a long time to change the unchanging fate of destruction."
WOONG!
This time a screen appeared before Zeke.
Unbelievable scenes flowed from that screen.
"Who's going to kill him?"
"Let's decide with a coin toss like usual."
It showed the previous life's Zeke writhing with both arms cut off in the snow, and the hounds tossing a coin.
Soon Zeke reattached his severed right arm with healing and grabbed his sword, immediately cutting off one knight's neck.
SCHWAAAK!
Red blood sprayed onto the white snow.
The hounds rushed at Zeke.
Unlike now, the Zeke of the previous life had scars all over his face and his nose was crushed.
Zeke watched himself in the screen.
"KUHEK!"
Finally, the previous life's Zeke gasped for breath with dozens of swords stuck in his stomach and back.
Around him lay the corpses of hounds with their heads severed.
Zeke crawled through the snow and reached for the Elder Dragon's statue.
With his last strength, Zeke's fingertips finally touched the statue.
Soon an enormous light burst forth from the statue.
Along with a blinding bright light, the screen disappeared.
Though the screen before his eyes vanished, Zeke could recall the next scene.
When he opened his eyes again, he had returned to when he was twelve years old.
With memories of middle-level magic and the future.
As Zeke was immersed in memories of the past, the Elder Dragon's voice penetrated his mind again.
"At Chronos's request, I created a statue imbued with my power, and placed within it 'the power of an irreversible promise.' But even then, I did not believe this power could truly activate."
Regression was an act of defying predetermined fate. That's why even the Elder Dragon couldn't be certain.
"But that power activated, and you, Zeke Draker, came to stand here. You asked why I made you regress? The reason is clear. You wished for it to be so, and that will made it possible to defy fate."
Even an Elder Dragon or Time Dragon couldn't arbitrarily make someone regress through time.
It was only possible because there was a strong enough wish to awaken the ancient will and activate the 'irreversible power of promise.'
Zeke slowly opened his mouth while looking at the dragon statue.
"That means... I wanted all of this."
"Zeke Draker, we too do not know what kind of new life you wished for. However, what is clear is that by defying fate, you gained the possibility to change the inevitable end of the phenomenal world that was destined for destruction."
Even a tiny change can ultimately create a big difference.
When the Elder Dragon and Chronos looked at the end of the phenomenal world across timelines, it was always the same.
No matter what preparations were made, the result always ended in destruction.
However, one possibility emerged that could be different.
That was the existence called Zeke Draker. His regression was creating increasingly large ripples.
"Oh defier of fate. We have something to tell you."
"What is it?"
"It is about the Kabbalah System you possess."
The Elder Dragon paused briefly before continuing.
"The one who first created the Kabbalah System was none other than Solomon."
Zeke was shocked by the Elder Dragon's words.
"You mean Solomon - the King of Carcosa, God Slayer... and the one who became King of the Fallen?"
"Indeed."
Zeke, who had been speculating that the Elder Dragon created the system, felt confused by these words.
"If what you're saying is true... the Demon King created the Kabbalah System?"
"He created the Kabbalah System before the God Slaying. It was to save mortals from the Constellations."
"Is that possible with the Kabbalah System?"
"The Kabbalah System is what allows mortals to handle Karma, which only Constellations could handle through their authority."
Zeke recalled something after hearing the Elder Dragon's words.
The reason he could handle the Constellations' powers was ultimately possible because of the Kabbalah System.
No matter how high a level humans reached, it was impossible to directly use a Constellation's power as is.
One had to become a Constellation's kin and an avatar to use their power.
However, Zeke could use the absorbed Constellation powers without limitations, breaking this rule.
Zeke asked the Elder Dragon.
"How was King Solomon able to do such a thing? He too was mortal. Did he receive help from dragons?"
The Elder Dragon continued.
"He was the first Dragon Knight who made a contract with dragons with the help of the God of Chaos."
'Solomon was the first Dragon Knight? Not Jimens Apollion who forcibly implanted a contract dragon's heart in his body?'
Zeke pondered the Elder Dragon's words with doubt.
After organizing his thoughts, he spoke to the Elder Dragon:
"Are you saying the God of Chaos created the first Dragon Knight?"
The Elder Dragon continued:
"The God of Chaos is the universal source that made this world exist along with the Primordial Light. Because there is chaos, there is order, and because there is order, chaos exists."
"I don't want to hear such vague talk. Anyway, why did this God of Chaos create Dragon Knights?"
At Zeke's question, the scenery of the great hall changed again.
KUGUUGUGU-
Like the entire space had become a screen, memories of the past began playing in the surroundings.
Zeke looked at the ancient city from an unfathomably distant past existing within those memories.
Not only humans but various never-before-seen races mingled together, while mythical beasts flew through the air, and Constellations watched this with joy.
It was truly like a painted utopia.
"It was an age of abundance. Unlike now, the continents were connected as one. The Primordial Light cherished its creations and gave them everything so they would want for nothing. However..."
Soon the scene began to change.
The beings of the phenomenal world, bored with their prosperous lives, began to oppose and fight each other, stealing from one another and committing terrible acts.
They hunted mythical beasts, captured spirits, and enslaved other races.
The Constellations who saw this tried to stop them at first, but as time passed, they gradually began to assimilate.
Among the Constellations, those who sympathized with each race began to appear, and the world fell into chaos.
The Primordial Light, seeing the terribly changed world below, used various methods to restart everything.
It caused great floods and burned everything with an immense light.
The Constellations couldn't help but feel regret as their plaything creations quickly vanished by the Primordial Light.
Eventually, the Constellations agreed to steal the Primordial Light's power.
However, since all Constellations originated from the Primordial Light, it was impossible to oppose it with their authority alone.
So they sought the 'God of Chaos' - the only being who could resist the Primordial Light.
They found the God of Chaos sleeping in the deep abyss and borrowed its power to oppose the Primordial Light.
Eventually, the Primordial Light lost its power, torn apart by the Constellations who were like its own avatars.
Fearing the Primordial Light might return, the Constellations decided to lower its divine rank.
They sealed their ranks by limiting the Primordial Light to the name of Sun God, and the God of Chaos to the name of Moon Goddess.
While the weakened Primordial Light became the Sun God in name only, the God of Chaos was different.
Through the ages, as it was passed down as the Moon Goddess with various names, it sought to reclaim its original divine rank.
Then someone came seeking the God of Chaos trapped under the name of Moon Goddess.
"It was Solomon and I. We tried to liberate the God of Chaos trapped in the Goddess's divine rank and restore the Primordial Light. It was to stop the Constellations' atrocities of arbitrarily using Karma to disrupt the phenomenal world."
Zeke knew how Solomon the God Slayer became a fallen Constellation after fighting against the Constellations.
The Elder Dragon continued:
"But it was impossible for us to liberate the God of Chaos. Moreover, it was impossible to revive the Primordial Light whose power had been scattered and absorbed by other Constellations. That's when the God of Chaos made us a proposal."
"What kind of proposal?"
"To break the stagnant wheel of order created by the Constellations, it decided to grant Solomon the power to go against the flow."
"Is that how King Solomon became a Dragon Knight?"
"Solomon becoming a Dragon Knight was merely part of fate's process. The power the God of Chaos bestowed upon him was something entirely different."
The Elder Dragon paused briefly before penetrating Zeke's mind again.
"A small crack that deviated from the world's rules created by the God of Chaos. Those who received this power were called 'Irregulars' in the phenomenal world."