Chapter 466
Chapter 466
Chapter 466
When Titus hesitantly grasped that hand, Zeke reached out with his other hand and covered Titus’s blood eye.
Although Titus was extremely tense thinking something would happen, nothing particularly special occurred.
‘What is this?’
A moment later, when Zeke removed the hand that had been covering his forehead, nothing had changed.
‘What’s this, this guy was just putting on an unnecessary show…’
But then Titus realized something strange.
His body had somehow become bound by chains, making it impossible to rise from the chair.
Bound and restrained by chains, Titus struggled to break free.
“MMF! MMF! MMF!”
Just as his mouth was blocked again making muffled sounds, the surroundings around Titus darkened and suddenly tall stairs appeared, revealing a massive throne at the top.
Titus could only look up at the throne while bound and restrained by chains.
He discovered someone sitting on the throne and examined them carefully.
A man with bandages wrapped around his entire body and disheveled loose hair.
From the evil power emanating from the man, Titus felt pain as if his entire body was being torn to shreds.
‘NNNNGH…’
Just looking at the being on the throne made him feel like his mind would go insane.
All sorts of wicked thoughts filled his head, and madness surged from within his heart.
But then, the bandaged man slowly opened his eyes.
The evil being flashed his red pupils and spoke while looking at Titus bound to the chair.
[I sense the power of the clan from you, albeit faintly.]
Suddenly, a third eye appeared on the forehead visible between the bandages.
The red eye that appeared on the forehead was not a tattoo or pattern, but a real eye.
Seeing this, Titus realized he was face to face with a legendary being.
Titus looked at the man on the throne with awe and fear.
‘This person is the true master of Shambhala and king of all third-eye clan members. The ruler of all evil things.’
Blood King Caligula.
The owner of the power he had tried to recover had appeared before his eyes.
Caligula spoke while seated on the throne, looking at Titus.
[You’re too inferior to even call a clan member, but the potential dissolved in your blood is worth noticing.]
Caligula’s third eye began emitting a blood-red light.
As Titus met his gaze, he felt pain as if his forehead was being burned by fire.
‘NNNNGH’
Through this, Caligula tried to escape from Zeke’s deep world by dwelling in Titus’s flesh.
He spoke while looking at Titus.
[I shall awaken the power you possess. Do not fear, accept it!]
TSSS! TSSS! TSSS!
As the color of the blood eye that appeared on Titus’s forehead deepened, the pupil began moving on its own as if it had become a living eye.
“KEUUUUGH!”
Titus felt like his brain would burn up completely from the Blood King’s power forcefully pushing in.
His brain was about to melt even before his potential could awaken.
[You don’t need a brain. I will create a faithful puppet by breathing my soul into your body after awakening its potential. Your mission is to liberate me from this cursed immortal.]
RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
Titus’s body began shaking violently.
Even while watching Titus trembling all over, Caligula didn’t stop and continued injecting his power.
Just as light rippled from the blood eye engraved on Titus’s forehead.
“Stop. That’s enough.”
Zeke, who had appeared beside Titus, pointed the holy sword Ascalon at Caligula.
WOONG! WOONG!
As the will of light rose from Ascalon, Caligula’s evil power was blocked.
Titus, who had been trembling, went limp while still bound to the chair.
Seeing Zeke who suddenly appeared, Caligula on the throne gritted his teeth.
[Zeke Draker, hateful immortal. You interfere with me again.]
Looking at Caligula, Zeke clicked his tongue.
“You’re just a soul that got absorbed, but your mouth still works.”
Zeke slowly climbed the stairs, approaching where Caligula was.
Then Caligula, seated on the throne, spoke in panic.
[Even if you devoured my soul, the spirit of I, the great king of Shambhala, will never disappear. Someday I will take possession of your flesh.]
Despite being absorbed by Zeke, Caligula’s soul maintained its ego while occupying a corner of the deep world.
Looking at such Caligula, Zeke shook his head.
“You fool. I could have shattered your ego whenever I wanted. Why do you think I left you in a corner of the deep world?”
Having climbed all the stairs, Zeke glared at Caligula while standing before the throne.
At that moment, the holy sword Ascalon he was holding disappeared and shadows rippled from his body.
The shadows gathered to form a shape and merged with Shadow Armor, manifesting as the shadow sword Caladbolg that had been combined with it.
"I waited until I could turn your evil soul into a shadow spirit."
With those words, black shadows rose from Caladbolg pointed at Caligula.
The Shadow King authority possessed by Zeke slowly approached Caligula's soul.
"The moment you opened your power to awaken Titus's potential, I fully grasped all your abilities. Thanks to that, I can now perfectly control the Blood King's power."
At those words, Caligula realized that being able to face Titus was ultimately Zeke's scheme.
He shouted fiercely at Zeke.
[Y-You bastaaaard!]
"This is the perfect moment to turn you into a shadow spirit."
The shadows flowing from Caladbolg rippled and enveloped Caligula sitting on the throne.
[KRAAAAGH!]
Although Caligula struggled to avoid the shadows, this was Zeke's deep world.
While he had managed to maintain his ego and endure somehow until now, escaping from this place was impossible from the start.
Soon the shadows that crept up his body completely devoured Caligula.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
The shadows that swallowed the master of Shambhala surged up like flames, expanding their mass and spreading in all directions.
A moment later, as the shadow flames subsided, they transformed into a single form.
Then a message appeared before Zeke's eyes.
[The evil soul of Caligula, king of the fallen third-eye clan, has transformed into a shadow spirit.]
[Having completely absorbed Caligula's soul and power, the title 'Blood King' is fully activated.]
From within the burning black flames emerged a shadow spirit with three eyes.
The ghost of Caligula that had been sleeping in Zeke's deep world had transformed into a shadow spirit.
[Under the influence of the 'Shadow King' authority, a powerful shadow spirit is born.]
[The shadow spirit refuses the Shadow King's authority with unbelievable mental strength.]
Remarkably, Caligula, who had been the king of Shambhala, refused to submit by resisting Zeke's authority even after becoming a shadow spirit.
Zeke pointed Caladbolg at Caligula who had become a shadow spirit.
"You're making this difficult for yourself when it could be easy."
Zeke, with his strong mental power, could exert far greater strength within the deep world.
Soon, following his will, Shadow Armor enveloped his body and transformed into an even larger and more massive shadow than Caligula.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE
Zeke's shadow, which had grown massive enough to fill the entire deep world, began pressing down on Caligula.
GRAAAAAAH!
Though Caligula resisted until the end trying to break free from Zeke, it was futile.
Soon the shadow mirages enveloping his body gradually formed shapes and became black bandages wrapping around Caligula's body.
SWISH! SWISH!
Wrapped in black bandages, Caligula could no longer refuse Zeke's authority.
[Shadow spirit 'Caligula' submits to the Shadow King.]
[Due to the high rank of the submitted shadow spirit, it transcends the limits of shadow spirits.]
[Shadow spirit 'Caligula' becomes shadow guardian spirit 'Caligula' and is registered as the user's guardian.]
Zeke showed a surprised expression at the message that Caligula had become a shadow guardian spirit rather than a shadow spirit.
'To evolve from spirit to guardian spirit due to high rank. Indeed, Caligula's soul is of a different caliber than ordinary ghosts.'
The appearance of Caligula, now a guardian spirit and guardian, began to change.
TSS! TSS! TSS!
When the black bandages wrapping his face disappeared, three red eyes were revealed. At the same time, his hair rose up and transformed into burning black flames.
Around the transformed Caligula's neck hung a necklace of 108 prayer beads, and his body was draped in black kasaya robes.
Zeke realized that the attire was similar to what the High Table Mage wore.
'Was there some connection between the origins of Shambhala and the Great Ra Religion?'
Since both Shambhala and the Great Ra Religion had disappeared in the present, the exact details were unknown.
As Zeke pondered this, Caligula, now fully transformed into a shadow guardian spirit, approached Zeke and knelt down.
THUD!
Zeke spoke while looking at Caligula.
"Caligula. Will you pledge your full loyalty to me as a guardian spirit?"
Prostrated before Zeke, Caligula opened his mouth.
[Immortal one, I am bound to you and reborn as a new being. I, Caligula, will fulfill my duty as a guardian spirit and protect you.]
Once his soul was bound to Zeke, his demeanor was clearly different from when he was Blood King Caligula.
Pleased with Caligula's oath, Zeke nodded with satisfaction.
"Good. I look forward to your future contributions."
With those words, Zeke snapped his fingers.
His deep world shattered.
* * *
"GASP!"
Titus, whose consciousness had been cut off, came to his senses.
Realizing he was still holding Zeke's hand, he jerked back in shock.
Zeke spoke to Titus with a relaxed expression.
"Well, do you now understand who I am?"
At that moment, powerful Blood King energy burst forth from Zeke's body.
Having perfectly assimilated Caligula's power, Zeke had essentially become the Blood King himself.
Sensing the true nature of that power, Titus's face turned pale as he trembled, immediately standing up to kneel before Zeke and bow his head.
"I, Titus, a worthless descendant of the clan, greet the complete being of the Blood King, the pinnacle of all creatures with flowing blood."
Before Zeke, who possessed incomparably pure and powerful third-eye power, Titus could barely breathe comfortably.
Zeke spoke while looking at such Titus.
"Titus, feel the power dwelling in your body."
Trembling in fear, Titus finally noticed the changes that had occurred to him at Zeke's words.
'This is...?'
Caligula had raised the power of the blood eye several levels by awakening Titus's potential to take over his body.
Titus trembled with awe as he felt his blood eye had become incomparably stronger than before.
"T-The King's grace... I have received the true King's grace!"
Zeke looked at Titus with an indifferent face and spoke.
"Are you and your sister the only third-eye clan members here?"
With the dragon's wisdom, Zeke had discovered the existence of his younger sister Ulina.
At those words, Titus raised his head and answered.
"Yes, my King."
"I read that your original reason for cooperating with the abyss was to recover the Blood King's power, is that correct?"
Titus nodded with a slightly stiffened face.
"Y-Yes. I dared to harbor such blasphemous thoughts without recognizing the King. Please kill me!"
At Titus's words, Zeke stood up and spoke.
"What benefit would I gain from killing you over such a trivial matter?"
Zeke approached Titus, placed his hand on his shoulder, and spoke.
"Titus, can you pledge true loyalty to me?"
At his words, Titus looked up at Zeke with an expression full of awe and said.
"Of course, my King! Command anything!"
Zeke nodded at Titus's words.
"Excellent. Then Titus, you and I need to work on something together."
Zeke grinned while looking at Titus's passionate eyes, ready to do anything.
* * *
Titus went down to the basement of the stone building with Ulina, who wore a hood.
As they approached the entrance of the underground cave connected to the building, the Abyss mages guarding the place were startled to see Titus approaching and asked.
"W-What brings you here?"
Titus, with a cold expression, looked at the Abyss mages with a chilling gaze and said.
"How dare you block my path? Move aside at once!"