Chapter 478
Chapter 478
Chapter 478
'Where is this...?'
When Zeke opened his eyes, he found darkness filling every direction.
Zeke tried to get up after regaining consciousness, but he couldn't move as if his limbs were tightly bound.
'I can't even tell if I'm lying down or standing up.'
With darkness without a single point of light in all directions and no sense of orientation, it felt like floating in a space of nothingness.
Zeke remembered seeing this ominous space before.
'When King Solomon was imprisoned in the Abyss Prison.'
He had indirectly experienced this place through the memories of the Elder Dragon that was connected to Solomon in Carcosa.
King Solomon was imprisoned here for ten thousand years before becoming the Demon King.
This was possible because the flow of time was different from the physical world.
Zeke recalled why he ended up imprisoned here.
'I tried to implant the Black Star into my body, and absorbed it all...'
He had no memory after that.
Although there was a system warning, he thought it would be fine and tried to absorb the Elder Dragon's heart, but it seemed that even Zeke's body with immortal flesh couldn't fully accept it.
'I don't know why I came here, but I need to wake up quickly.'
Zeke tried to wake up by calling the system.
However, no matter how many times he called, the system didn't appear.
As time passed, Zeke grew increasingly anxious.
A world where he couldn't even move, where nothing existed.
Even Solomon the God Slayer, who was the first Irregular and Dragon-person, eventually had his will broken in this space and became the Demon King.
That's how dangerous this Abyss Prison was.
Zeke tried to use all the abilities he possessed.
But neither the shadow spirit, nor the Elemental Sword, nor any of his special skills were of any use.
'What should I do?.'
Even the power of immortality seemed meaningless here.
The thought crept into his mind that he might be reduced to drifting like cosmic dust, unable to do anything for an eternal amount of time.
As that thought grew larger, Zeke was gripped by fear.
'This absolutely cannot happen. I must escape from here.'
After that, he struggled and struggled again, but there was no way out.
A space where he couldn't even tell how much time had passed.
Zeke, who had been constantly struggling, finally gave up and let his body go limp.
'Is there really no way?'
Although he was concentrating to avoid losing himself, he felt his consciousness growing increasingly hazy.
Who he was and why he was here kept being forgotten.
Zeke constantly reminded himself to avoid forgetting who he was.
'I am Zeke Draker. I am the Knight of Salvation.'
Zeke, who kept repeating his name, went through his memories hundreds of times over and over again, from his previous life's memories through his current life after regression up to his most recent memories.
In this process, Zeke naturally got the chance to look back on what he had done and calmly contemplate it.
'How ironic. Only after being imprisoned do I get the time and leisure to reflect on myself.'
The situation where he could only think in his head actually presented Zeke with a new path.
He began to go through each and every swordsmanship technique he had learned from the beginning.
The basic forms of Dragon Slaying Technique, Agamemnon's swordsmanship, Paladin's swordsmanship, Elemental Sword, Wind Storm Technique, Black Sword Technique, True Dragon Sword Form, and Infinite Sword Technique mixed chaotically in his mind.
The legacy of the Draker family he received from Sethon Draker was mixed in as well.
Swordsmanship from the Chronos era and the lost secrets of ancient kingdoms floated dizzyingly in Zeke's mind.
Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of sword techniques kept unfolding and disappearing repeatedly.
Without proper concentration, the techniques would mix together making it impossible to properly distinguish what was what.
While maintaining his memories of himself by reviewing these sword techniques, Zeke realized something.
'Is there really a need to forcefully prevent the mixing of techniques and deliberately distinguish them?'
Letting things flow naturally according to the flow.
Swordsmanship is merely learned to master exact forms.
Moreover, when you think about it, those forms had long since merged under the name of Infinite Sword Formula.
He wondered if there was really any need to distinguish and remember those forms separately now.
Zeke changed his thinking and let the tens of thousands of techniques and formulas mix as they pleased, following their natural flow.
Then the sword techniques trapped in his mind began to break free from Zeke's control and shoot out in whatever direction they wanted.
Zeke didn't try to catch the techniques as they bounced around.
He let them extend wherever they wanted to extend.
Some went in strange directions, but that didn't matter.
They just needed to return to their original state.
Since he had plenty of time, it wasn't a problem at all to watch the direction the sword techniques wanted to go and wait for them to return.
The sword techniques that mixed together riding the flow showed Zeke a new world.
He thought these sword techniques that were constantly being created and disappearing were like stars.
Zeke observed those sword techniques carefully.
He didn't know how much time had passed, but it didn't matter. Then one day, a thought suddenly occurred to him.
'Am I really swinging the sword, or not?'
As his consciousness grew hazy, he became confused about whether he was just imagining it or actually swinging a sword.
That's when Zeke realized.
'What does it matter whether I'm actually swinging the sword or not? If it feels like I'm swinging it, then I must be swinging it.'
With this thought, Zeke swung his sword without hesitation.
Somehow, a sword had appeared in Zeke's hand.
He swung the sword again and again, following the path he had seen.
The sword that he had focused on to avoid forgetting himself now made Zeke forget himself instead. Yet strangely, his faith in himself grew stronger during this process.
As Zeke endlessly swung his sword, he began to feel a gaze watching him.
Zeke faced this gradually approaching gaze.
The gaze seemed displeased with Zeke's sword swinging.
An invisible force pressed against Zeke, preventing his body from moving.
But Zeke continued swinging his sword undaunted.
Ignoring the gaze trying to stop him, Zeke focused only on finding the path of the sword he had seen.
While swinging his sword again and again, he reached a realization.
'I can see something.'
A single path where everything converges into one.
In his trance-like state, Zeke swung his sword again to follow that path.
The sword that had scattered countless times, mixed, and become one again unfolded in Zeke's hand.
At that moment, something appeared before Zeke's eyes.
[Passive Skill Limit Break has been activated.]
[Special Skill 'Mind Sword' has been activated.]
[The true nature of the mental barrier is recognized through the mind's eye.]
It was the first time the system had activated since he was imprisoned here.
Having awakened to the Mind Sword, Zeke realized this wasn't the real Abyss Prison, but rather a similar space created by the Elder Dragon's heart.
'Cut through the prison of the mind with the sword of the mind.'
The Mind Sword in Zeke's hand emitted light and cut through the darkness before him.
The world he had been trapped in opened up.
* * *
"COUGH!"
Zeke regained consciousness, spitting out black blood that had pooled in his mouth while his breathing had stopped.
Nabu and Nigel, who had been anxiously wondering what to do with him, were startled and approached Zeke.
"Zeke!"
Nigel hurriedly examined Zeke's physical condition.
Warmth had returned to Zeke's body, which had stopped breathing and even reached rigor mortis.
Watching Zeke breathing roughly, Nabu said:
"Zeke! Get a hold of yourself! Are you alright?"
As his breathing returned, his immortal body and healing factor took effect, quickly restoring his body. After regaining his senses, he looked at Nigel and asked.
"Time... how much time has passed?"
Nigel tried to calm Zeke while answering.
"About three hours have passed since you stopped breathing."
Zeke showed a confused expression while also feeling relieved at hearing only three hours had passed.
Nigel and Nabu helped Zeke sit in an armchair, and Nabu brought him warm tea.
After drinking a cup of tea and finally calming down, Nigel asked Zeke:
"I thought... you were really dead."
From Nigel's medical expertise, Zeke had clearly been dead until just now.
Nigel should have fallen into deep despair thinking Zeke had died because of the Black Star she had implanted.
However, seeing Zeke rise again after believing him dead, she felt both relief and confusion.
Zeke put down his teacup and spoke.
"I was indeed dead until just now. If I hadn't been able to wake up while trapped in the mental barrier, I would have been effectively dead."
Nigel and Nabu's jaws dropped as they heard about the prison of complete darkness where Zeke had been trapped.
After hearing the whole story, Nabu asked Zeke:
"Good heavens, to think such a thing happened in that short time... Then how long were you trapped in there?"
Zeke thought for a moment before slowly speaking.
"I'm not exactly sure... but it must have been at least 200 years."
While it was only about three hours in reality, the mental barrier modeled after the Abyss Prison had a different flow of time, so saying 200 years had passed wasn't an exaggeration.
Nigel looked at Zeke and said:
"Then it seems your soul was pulled into that place from the shock of the Black Star being implanted."
Zeke nodded at Nigel's words.
The Black Star is a fragment of the Elder Dragon's heart.
And King Solomon, who had made a contract with the Elder Dragon in the past, was once captured by the constellations and imprisoned in that Abyss Prison.
Since the Elder Dragon shared those memories, a mental world resembling the Abyss Prison must have been created based on them.
'If it had been the real Abyss Prison where King Solomon was imprisoned, I wouldn't have been able to escape even after awakening to the Mind Sword.'
Since the Black Star's deep world was only an imitation of the Abyss Prison, he was fortunately able to return to his body after awakening to the Mind Sword.
But even so, he had nearly lost his sense of self and drifted eternally in darkness where nothing existed.
'I was really lucky this time.'
Zeke acknowledged and reflected on how he had taken the Elder Dragon's heart too lightly.
Once his body had calmed down somewhat, he got up and moved around.
Fortunately, there were no problems moving his physical body.
While Nabu and Nigel observed him while attending to their own tasks, Zeke checked his message window.
[Special Skill 'Mind Sword' has been activated.]
[Special Skill 'Mind Sword' is converted to a Unique Authority.]
[Due to Authority Mind Sword activation, physiques Battle God Body and Sword Soul Body combine to become Sword God Body.]
[Infinite Sword technique proficiency increases.]
[Soul Sword Technique proficiency increases.]
[Soul Technique proficiency increases.]
[Soul power strengthened, Soul Sealing Technique proficiency increases.]
[Soul Sealing Technique combines with Soul Sword Technique.]
[Awakened to true power of Special Skill Soul Sword Technique, grade increases from S to SS.]
His skill proficiencies had increased due to the Mind Sword activation.
But it didn't end there.
[Absorbed part of the Great Dragon's power contained in the sealing stone.]
[Current compression sealing rate of this sealing stone is 65%.]
[Absorbed Great Dragon power has transformed user's body.]
[Physique 'Dragon God Body' has changed to 'Great Dragon Body'.]
[Due to Great Dragon Body influence, Dragon Race skill proficiency increases.]
[Due to absorbed power influence, Great Dragon Race skill Spirit Technique is created.]
As his body stabilized, Zeke could feel his senses were clearly different from before.
Even though he had only absorbed about 35% of the Elder Dragon's heart fragment, his diantan was filled with infinite mana power unlike before.
'At this level, using Elemental Sword shouldn't be a problem.'
Having absorbed the Great Dragon's power, Zeke was certain he had completely transcended human limitations.
Then he looked at Nigel and Nabu before him.
While he couldn't sense the source of their power at all before, now he could feel it.
He could also sense that the covenant with the Patriarch was forcefully binding these two people here in the physical world, where they normally couldn't remain with their power.
He could also gauge just how massive the power that Nigel was suppressing was.
He could now see things that were completely invisible to him before, after crossing that wall.
'I've crossed the wall of the Black Knight.'
Zeke realized he had finally reached the realm of 'Grand Master'.
Nigel too was feeling these changes in Zeke with her whole body.
After contemplating for a moment, she seemed to make up her mind and spoke to Zeke with resolute determination.
"Zeke, come outside."
A sword had appeared in her hand.
"I'll teach you the final stage of Soul Sword Technique, Triple Spell."