Chapter 492
Chapter 492
Chapter 492
KUAAAAK!
The Nephilim let out a monstrous scream toward the man approaching it.
WUDUDUDUDUK!
Suddenly, the masked man's body swelled greatly.
His muscles grew larger, and blood vessels bulged prominently.
He swung his bare fist toward the screaming Nephilim.
PUEOEOK!
An explosion so loud it was hard to believe it came from a bare fist erupted from the Nephilim's body.
KIEEEEEK!
The Nephilim staggered, spitting blood after being struck by the man.
At the man's gesture, soldiers released the soul chains binding the Nephilim.
KWAKWAKWANG!
The Nephilim, which had been thrashing in the cage, spread its wings and lunged at the man as soon as the chains were removed.
KAAAAK!
The Nephilim tried to trample and bite the man in one breath.
But amazingly, an unexpected scene unfolded.
KWADEUDEUK!
The masked man grabbed the Nephilim's foot, which was as large as his own body, and tore it off with both hands.
KAAAAK!
The Nephilim shuddered in pain.
Then something even more surprising happened.
The man removed the lower part of his mask, opened his mouth, and began eating the Nephilim's torn foot.
KWADEUK!
KWADUK!
The Nephilim backed away, seemingly feeling fear as the man devoured not just flesh but bone without hesitation.
But the man's bizarre behavior didn't stop there.
HUWOONG!
He leaped up and struck the Nephilim's head with his clasped hands like a hammer.
PUEOUK!
With the sound of flesh tearing and bones breaking, the Nephilim collapsed to the floor with a thud.
The divine bloodline who inherited the constellation's power had fallen in one blow, unable to control its body.
The man climbed on top of the fallen Nephilim and grabbed its silvery shining wings.
KWADEUDEUK!
As he tore off the wings, silver blood flowed from within.
The Nephilim screamed in primordial agony unlike anything it had felt before.
But the man paid no attention to the screams and tore off all four pairs of wings.
TUK!
After gathering the torn wings to one side, he began to seriously 'devour' the living Nephilim.
KWADEUK!
KWADUK!
With all its wings torn off and unable to move, the Nephilim could only scream as the man tore apart its body, unable to resist.
Before long, the Nephilim was gasping for breath with about half its body eaten away.
The strong vitality granted by the constellation's blood wouldn't allow death even in this state.
Soon the man grabbed the Nephilim's exposed ribs and forcibly tore them open.
WUDUDUDUDUK!
The vigorously beating heart was revealed inside.
The man grasped the pulsating Nephilim heart and pulled it out.
KIIIIIK!
The Nephilim slowly closed its eyes as its heart was torn out.
Even a constellation's bloodline couldn't survive without a heart.
But the torn heart still pulsed in the man's hand.
He approached the demon statue with the heart.
The women in the blood lake knelt and held out an incense burner to the man.
Zeke realized that the incense burner the women were holding looked exactly like the one Richmond had found.
The man placed the Nephilim's heart into the burner.
KUGUGUGUGUGU!
An ominous energy flowed from the burner.
The man took the burner from the women and moved closer to the demon statue.
Strange, incomprehensible chanting continued to flow from his mouth.
He entered the blood lake and held the burner above his head.
Then the blood lake where the man was immersed began to ripple.
CHWAAAAK!
The blood in the lake moved as if alive and burrowed into the burner the man was holding.
KUGUGUGUGUGUGU!
The blood, infused with intense resentment and fear, was sucked into the burner, and soon the blood lake was completely empty.
This revealed bizarre markings that had been hidden beneath the lake.
The man continued to chant, and at some point, black energy rose from the burner.
Watching this, Zeke suddenly realized that the energy flowing from the burner was the same as what he had felt from the Outer Beings.
The man put the burner on the ground and stuck his hand inside.
A sticky black liquid filled the burner.
The man pulled something out from within.
It was the Nephilim's heart, covered in black liquid, still pulsating.
The man, still muttering something, slowly brought the heart to his mouth.
EUJEOKEUJEOUK!
The man ate the still-throbbing Nephilim heart without hesitation.
And with each bite and swallow, something amazing happened.
KUGUNG!
The man's body gradually transformed.
His swollen body grew even larger, and his skin color changed to a light gray.
KREUREURU!
From the man's mouth, sharp teeth began to grow, and his fingernails and toenails became razor-sharp.
The man was transforming into something 'other' beyond a human body.
KAAAACK!
The man who had eaten all the Nephilim hearts looked completely different from before.
Two additional pairs of arms had sprouted from his back, and his body size had doubled.
Within his disheveled hair, crazed red eyes glowed as if about to burst into flames.
He took the incense burner and drank all the black liquid contained inside.
Then he slammed the incense burner to the floor and roared.
GRAAAAAAH!
A powerful energy that could shake the earth's axis erupted from the monster.
'Good heavens...'
At that moment, Zeke realized he had felt this energy being emitted by the monster before.
The transcendent being he had encountered in the sealed karma data.
'The Flesh-Eating Emperor Ajitahaka.'
The incense burner had contained the memories of Ajitahaka when he was still human.
'To think this incense burner was the ritual vessel used in Ajitahaka's flesh-eating ceremony.'
Now he understood why so many lost souls were sealed inside it.
It contained the traces of Ajitahaka's flesh-eating—the one who had devoured not only the races of the material world but also demon race and Nephilim.
Zeke realized that what Ajitahaka had summoned through the flesh-eating ritual was the power of the Outer Beings.
He had wanted to abandon his human body and accept the power of the Outer Beings to become something greater.
The shrine maidens who had been performing the ritual began to kneel before Ajitahaka, who had become a monster, and started chanting spells.
The soldiers then also knelt and followed, chanting the spells.
At the same time, a red moon rose in the sky.
WOOOONG!
The great hall filled with an ominous energy as it received the red moonlight.
The soldiers who received this energy let out demented cries, and they too began to transform gradually.
GRRRR!
One by one, the soldiers transformed into Outer Beings with grotesque appearances.
The soldiers, having thrown off their armor and transformed into Outer Beings, howled bizarre screams toward Ajitahaka standing in the center of the hall.
Ajitahaka, in turn, screamed terrible sounds back at the transformed soldiers.
It was like witnessing a scene from hell.
Zeke remembered seeing something similar before.
'The numerous Outer Beings statues in the Theia Temple.'
The Outer Beings gathered in the hall worshipping Ajitahaka overlapped with the sleeping statues in the temple.
Seeing Ajitahaka who had transcended humanity to become an evil god under the crimson moonlight, Zeke suddenly thought of Ramon Jiemens.
'This terrible devastation must not be repeated.'
Suddenly, Zeke's vision changed.
CRACKLE!
The past memory data disappeared, and the faces of Richmond and Bane appeared before him.
"Master!"
"Master!"
The two liches looked at Zeke with serious, worried expressions as he stood dazed for a long time while holding the incense burner.
Zeke felt dizzy for a moment but soon recovered and shook his head.
Using the dragon's wisdom had become much more natural than before.
He carefully examined the old incense burner, then tossed it into his shadow.
TSSS!
While the lost souls inside became Zeke's shadow spirits, he judged it dangerous to leave the incense burner with its ominous Outer Beings energy.
Then a message appeared before Zeke's eyes.
[You have absorbed the incense burner containing the energy of the evil god.]
[A portion of the incomplete flesh-eating power has been unlocked.]
Since the incense burner was used in the ritual ceremony, absorbing it unlocked part of Ajitahaka's power.
'Actually, with the Shadow King's power that I possess, I don't really need the flesh-eating power.'
Zeke tried activating the newly unlocked flesh-eating power out of curiosity.
As soon as he unlocked the flesh-eating power, an overwhelming hunger came over him.
Simultaneously, he was seized by the urge to tear apart and devour anything with his mouth.
CRACK!
Physical changes actually occurred in his body.
Sharp fangs grew, nails lengthened, his jaw hardened, and his mouth split open wide.
Zeke hastily withdrew the power.
The desire to consume flesh was difficult to control even for Zeke with his indomitable will.
Then Zeke sensed something strange.
'This is?'
Far to the west, he could sense another being with the same flesh-eating power as his own.
Someone with Ajitahaka's power could only be Ramon Jiemens.
By unlocking the flesh-eating power, Zeke had gained the ability to detect Ramon Jiemens's location.
'Ramon Jiemens, so that's where you've been hiding.'
After confirming the location, Zeke thought for a moment and then spoke to Richmond and Bane.
"Richmond, Bane. Cancel the plan to scout them. Go outside, clear the garden, and guard the perimeter. I will gather all our forces here to attack Jiemens."
Richmond and Bane bowed their heads tensely, responding to Zeke's commanding voice which now carried the aura of a ruler, unlike before.
Zeke's eyes flashed as he spoke.
"The time has come to end this long feud with Jiemens. We'll sweep them all away with this opportunity."
* * *
Though Baranaon was a small country, it was a kingdom with a long tradition.
Throughout its territory, ancient ruins with undiscovered mysteries remained hidden, preserving age-old secrets.
Some scholars even suggested that Baranon, with its countless unexplained mysteries, should be designated as one of the continent's forbidden zones.
The 'Castle Ruins Where No Grass Grows' was one of Baranon's unsolved mysteries.
Currently, the Knight Killers of Jiemens's Special Magic Battalion and the former Imperial Hounds were hiding there as guards.
After the Emperor's death, Ramon Jiemens had extracted the Hound unit, whose position in the Empire had become ambiguous, and absorbed them into his private forces.
The reason the Knight Killers and Hounds were guarding the castle ruins was because Ramon Jiemens's long-prepared second baptism was scheduled to take place there.
The Knight Killers from the Special Magic Battalion were carefully watching for any movement through telescopes enchanted with sight-enhancement magic.
Just then, one of the Knight Killers spotted suspicious movement in the front.
CLICK!
The Knight Killer aimed his magic gun toward the movement.
He held his breath and searched for the movement again.
Through the telescope with the latest magic, he could see the surroundings as clearly as day, even in darkness.
And then something moved quickly.
TANG!
A bullet was instantly fired from the enhanced magic gun.
THUD!
Something hit by the bullet was heard falling.
The Knight Killer sent a light signal, and the waiting Hounds moved to check what had been hit.
They pushed through the reeds, searching for the suspicious object.
"What the…?"
But what had been shot was an ordinary rabbit.
As the Hounds were about to return with the dead rabbit...
At that moment, the same thought occurred to all of them.
'Could there be rabbits here?'
This place was called the 'Castle Ruins Where No Grass Grows'.
Except for the thick reed field in front of the ruins, there wasn't a single blade of grass, let alone animals, ahead.
It was strange that a rabbit suddenly appeared.
Just as they were about to send a warning signal...
SWISH!
Someone emerged from the darkness and snatched them away in an instant.
"MMPH!"
A gray-haired man laid them down in the reed forest and immediately stabbed their chests with a dagger.
He was none other than Bacchus Draker.
Bacchus led the Red Eye vampires through the reed forest, carefully heading toward the castle ruins.
The Knight Killer who was watching the situation from afar with his telescope felt something was wrong when the Hounds didn't return.
'What's going on? Could there really be an intruder?'
He stood up to send a warning signal.
PLOP!
But at that moment, the Knight Killer's body suddenly sank into the ground below.
The Knight Killer disappeared without a sound or trace.
Soon a hole appeared in the ground, and from it emerged Boris, Zion, Serena, Adol, Visco, and finally Aaron.
Boris spoke to the intelligence unit members.
"Aaron will watch their movements from here. Visco, prepare the illusions. We're going to distract them."
The preemptive strike by Zeke Draker's side had begun with the intelligence unit leading the way.