Chapter 461
Chapter 461
Chapter 461
"Master has been captured?"
Zeke asked in disbelief after hearing the words of Nabu, the Hermit of stories.
In the physical realm, there were virtually no beings who could threaten his master Nigel.
Unless perhaps all the Black Knights of the continent joined forces to trap her and launch an all-out attack, it was difficult to even imagine Nigel being captured.
To Zeke's question, Nabu hastily replied.
CRACKLE!
—Demons! And high-ranking ones at that!
CRACKLE!
Nabu's words kept cutting out due to poor connection.
Zeke maintained his amplification ability and shouted at the mirror.
"Are you saying high-ranking demons captured Master?"
BZZZZT
—The Abyss.
BZZT!
—Ritual during the lunar eclipse.
CRACKLE! CRACKLE!
The noise grew worse and soon Nabu's face disappeared from the mirror.
Zeke tried using his Augmentation ability again to reconnect, but the signal wouldn't return.
'The Abyss performing a ritual during the lunar eclipse? Could this mean Ramon Jiemens's second baptism…?'
Though he couldn't be certain, he could fully understand that the situation was developing urgently.
Zeke rose from his seat.
'I must return to the Central Continent immediately and stop them. Otherwise... the signs of the end will resurrect the Demon King.'
* * *
The next day, Zeke explained the situation to Shahrazad and arranged to use the palace portal to travel to the Dorta Republic.
Thanks to her understanding of the urgent situation, Zeke, Hades, Yellin, and the Raven tribe unit led by Himel were able to stand before the royal portal shortly after.
Shahrazad saw them off with a regretful expression.
"I had planned to hold joyous feasts for you all month long. How cold of you to leave."
"Thank you for your gracious hospitality, Your Majesty. Once I finish this urgent matter, I will return to the palace to share the stories we couldn't complete."
Shahrazad nodded at Zeke's words.
"I shall look forward to it. These are gifts I bestow upon you all, so please accept them without burden."
At her words, slaves appeared immediately and began stacking dozens of boxes inside the portal.
The boxes were filled with precious Eastern silk, pottery, and crafted items.
Zeke was surprised at this and waved his hands.
"Your Majesty, your hospitality alone has been more than enough."
"It is customary to take gifts, even if just formally, after meeting with the Sultan. Though these items hold little interest for me, I hear they are of great value in your continent. Take them to convey the dignity and prosperity of the Muruk Empire."
Zeke nodded at Shahrazad's words.
"Thank you, Your Majesty. Though insufficient as a return gift, please accept this."
Zeke took out a small box and handed it to Shahrazad.
Shahrazad opened the box with a puzzled expression. Inside was a bundle of Raven feathers.
"I heard that in the Eastern Continent, phoenix feathers drive away impurities and bring good fortune. I've included my wishes for Your Majesty's and the Empire's well-being."
Shahrazad looked very satisfied with the Raven feathers Zeke had given her.
"You've given me something quite precious. Thank you. Perhaps you should stay here and marry me..."
Zeke pretended not to hear Shahrazad's words and hurriedly stepped onto the portal with his companions.
Soon, light rose from the portal's magic circle.
Though the format was different from the Central Continent's portals, the operating principle seemed similar.
Soon intense light burst forth from the portal, and Zeke and his companions' figures disappeared in its radiance.
And so, Zeke's group left the Eastern Continent with an enthusiastic send-off from the Muruk Empire's Sultan and ministers.
* * *
WHOOSH!
With the portal's light, Zeke's group arrived at the Dorta Republic's portal terminal.
"Phew..."
Perhaps because it was a long-distance portal connecting continents, everyone except Zeke was pale with motion sickness.
Even Hades, who was a dragon, was struggling to hold back nausea, but Zeke was perfectly fine.
"UURGH... whew. Zeke, are you feeling alright?"
To Hades's question, Zeke replied with a calm expression.
"Yes, I'm fine. Everyone else seems to have severe motion sickness."
For someone who had crossed timelines into the past and even traversed different dimensions, a long-distance portal was actually nothing.
Zeke booked a luxury hotel in the Dorta Republic for his motion-sick companions to rest.
He planned to have them return via portal to Mekein once they had recovered somewhat.
After sending the others away, Zeke stayed at the terminal, went to the VIP lounge, took out his mirror, and tried to reconnect using his amplification ability.
—BZZZT
Perhaps because they were closer than the Eastern Continent, the mirror's screen began to ripple.
Then the communication reconnected and Nabu's face appeared.
—Damn it! Oh, it worked!
Nabu also shouted in joy when communication with Zeke was restored.
—Where on earth have you been?! Why does the connection keep breaking?!
To Nabu's reproachful words, Zeke held the mirror and said.
"I was in the Eastern Continent. I just arrived in the Dorta Republic by portal."
At Zeke's words, Nabu smacked his forehead with a loud sound.
—The Eastern Continent? Good heavens. No wonder it was impossible. Huh? Wait, even the Dorta Republic shouldn't be easy to connect to, how did you...?
"I'll explain that later. First, please tell me about the situation. Is it true that demons summoned by the Abyss captured Master Nigel?"
To Zeke's question, Nabu briefly explained the current battlefield situation.
A legion of magical beasts and monsters had appeared west of the Forest of the Forgotten, and the Highlanders had been dispatched to stop them.
During this, when a high-ranking demon appeared and Nigel went to stop it, she disappeared leaving only a mysterious message behind.
"No matter how high-ranking the demon was, for Master to be defeated... it's hard to believe."
At those words, Nabu frowned and said,
—They precisely targeted our High Table's weakness. Right now, if we use our power properly, we could be drawn into the Peach Blossom Spring through transcendence.
Zeke remembered learning about transcendence through Hoshgar's spirit body, the founder of Nirvana.
"So what you're saying is... if the High Table reveals their true power there, they could become spirit beings due to causality limits and ascend to a higher dimension?"
—Oh, as expected. You understand right away. Yes, that's right. The Abyss somehow knew and lowered the karma ceiling to remove the restrictions of the covenant placed by the leader.
The High Table members who had transcended human limits were those who possessed power that originally couldn't remain in the physical realm.
Like Hero King Kaisir who realized his power disrupted the physical realm's balance and went to the fairy realm, or Hoshgar who transcended to a higher dimension, the High Table too should have left the physical realm.
This is because the laws of karma are designed to guide the souls of excessively powerful beings to higher dimensions to maintain balance in the physical realm.
For this reason, the High Table made a covenant with the Highlander leader to avoid the eyes of karma's law, while having to live only as mediators without revealing their power to the world.
The Hermits of the High Table who had maintained this way were now in danger of all transcending to Peach Blossom Spring if something went wrong.
Zeke looked at Nabu in the mirror and said.
"We need someone who can exert power within the bounds of karma's law."
—Yes, that's why I kept trying to contact you.
"But why are they attacking the forbidden Forest of the Forgotten? I remember they only took out monsters from there to create their legion."
—The magical beasts that invaded this time were kinds we've never seen before. They seem to have been brought from outside.
At Nabu's words, Zeke tilted his head.
"Are you saying there's a reason they need to attack the Forest of the Forgotten even while bringing in magical beasts from outside?"
BZZT!
The screen rippled with noise as the connection weakened again.
CRACKLE!
—The Abyss are……..
BZZT!
looking for something here…….
CRACKLE!
Before finishing his words, Nabu's face disappeared from the mirror.
Zeke stared at the mirror reflecting his face before biting his lip firmly.
'The Abyss folks are invading to look for something... It seems something needed for the second baptism during the lunar eclipse is in the Forest of the Forgotten.'
The fact that they were attacking the Forest of the Forgotten guarded by the Highlanders and even mobilizing high-ranking demons ahead of the second baptism meant there must be something extremely important inside.
Zeke rose from his seat.
'Whatever you're looking for. You will never get your hands on it.'
* * *
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Strong impacts spreading across the stone walls shook the entire temple.
The Abyss apostles watched with fearful eyes as Abel, who had become a dragon humanoid, roared while wildly punching the walls.
"RAAAAAAAH!"
After swinging his fists with monstrous screams for a while, Abel turned his head and glared at the watching Abyss apostles with eyes full of madness.
GROWL!
Due to the crystallized scales attached to his body, Abel looked like a grotesque monster.
When Abel tried to charge at them, the apostles simultaneously stretched out their hands.
HISS!
Black haze rose from their hands and wrapped around Abel's charging body.
"RAAAAAAAGH!"
Abel writhed and struggled against the black haze restraining his body.
The apostles barely endured while breaking into cold sweat, finding it difficult to handle Abel's power.
GROWL!
Abel, who had been fighting against the apostles, suddenly broke free from the haze restraining him and lunged at them with sharp claws extended.
RAAAAAAAH
Suddenly, Abel's body froze in mid-air.
WHOOSH
A massive vibration occurred around Abel's body, completely restraining him from moving.
The sweating apostles finally stepped back.
Between them, a priest wearing a faded, old, thick ceremonial robe approached the airborne Abel slowly with his hand extended.
He thrust his other hand into Abel's left chest.
CRUNCH
The priest who had dug into Abel's left chest pulled out the beating heart.
However, that heart connected to Abel was stained black.
"It seems this is the limit of enduring with a Blue Knight's heart."
The priest tore out the blackened heart and burned it.
Then he gestured to the apostles behind him.
Following his gesture, the Abyss apostles brought someone in.
A knight covered in full plate armor followed the apostles with vacant eyes.
One of the apostles said to the priest.
"This is the Captain of the Imperial Guard of the Rom Empire. We acquired him after making a deal with Castro Pollock."
Castro Pollock, who had concentrated his forces in Jupiter, had reached out to the Abyss to counter Leo and Carus's side.
The priest nodded at those words and approached the Guard Captain brought by the apostle.
His hand passed right through the Guard Captain's armor and dug into his left chest.
"UNNNGH"
Though the Guard Captain's mind was suppressed by the Abyss apostle, he groaned as if trying to resist, perhaps sensing the danger.
But there was nothing he could do, and soon when the priest withdrew his hand from the chest, there was a pulsing heart.
"A Red Knight's heart."
He slowly approached Abel with the Guard Captain's heart.
Then he placed the Guard Captain's heart in the empty left chest.
As the beating heart settled in, Abel's chest wound began to heal rapidly.
When the heart entered Abel's body, the Guard Captain's limbs began to tremble.
Soon after, he collapsed to the floor like a puppet with cut strings.
Black blood flowed from his eyes, ears, and nose.
Meanwhile, Abel's flesh, covered in crystallized scales, began to stabilize.
CRUNCH!
The crystals covering his body fell to the floor in a shower.
Abel's madness-filled eyes also gradually found stability before he lost consciousness.
When the priest withdrew his hand, Abel floating in the air dropped to the floor, and the apostles supported and lifted the fallen Abel.
Then one of the apostles approached the priest.
"We have received word from the unit dispatched to the forest."
The priest's eyes hidden in the ceremonial robe flashed.
The apostle continued slowly.
"They say they found traces of the Black Star in the forest."