Chapter 496
Chapter 496
"Zeke Draker!"
RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
As Ramon's furious roar echoed, Zeke pointed Ascalon toward them.
'That was a close call.'
After discovering through Edward's memories that Ramon Jiemens was trying to create a passage connected to Ajitahaka
through divine power, he moved quickly.
Additionally, if he had waited for other troops to move, it would have been difficult to arrive here before the red moon
rose. So he had only given orders and moved here alone first.
After arriving at the extinction ground through coordinates obtained from Edward, Zeke immediately moved to where the
ritual was being held and interrupted Ramon's baptism.
Having the same divine power as Ajitahaka, Zeke was able to nullify Ramon's divine power and prevent the opening of the
passage.
If Ramon hadn't noticed something strange and kept trying to use his divine power, they could have bought more time, but
he quickly changed methods and unleashed stronger divine power that couldn't be blocked.
So if left alone, a passage connecting to Ajitahaka could have opened, which is why Zeke revealed himself to actively
prevent the baptism.
Upon realizing it was Zeke Draker who had interfered, Ramon, whose anger had reached its peak, shouted at the priest.
"Priest! As expected, Zeke Draker came to interfere! You too, keep your promise!"
The priest who heard Ramon's words slowly nodded.
If they kept getting interrupted here and missed the red moon, they could lose the chance to fully summon Ajitahaka.
As he snapped his fingers, a black portal appeared in the air.
WOONG! WOONG!
Something came through the black portal along with an ominous energy.
Standing over 2 meters tall, with black horns protruding from its forehead, gray skin, and a rock-solid body, its hands
were tightly wrapped with studded leather straps.
Zeke furrowed his brow at the unsettling energy emanating from the demon that emerged from the portal.
'This is no ordinary demon. That's... a top-tier demon.'
Although Anastasia was also a top-tier demon, her divine powers and unique abilities were exceptional, but her inherent
combat ability wasn't particularly high.
However, the demon summoned by the priest was clearly a combat demon.
The fighting spirit emanating from it even while standing still could be felt by Zeke from afar.
That's when Arataso's voice was heard.
[N-no way, isn't that Tantalos?]
Even Nebilos was shocked at Arataso's words.
[To think Tantalos, the executioner of the Abyss, would appear in the material world. I can't believe it.]
Seeing Arataso and Nebilos making such a fuss, it seemed this was no ordinary demon.
'When you say Abyss, you mean the region in the eastern part of the demon realm?'
Nebilos answered Zeke's question.
[That's right. The Abyss is a realm where many combat demons gather in the demon world. Moreover, the Abyss is where two
of the most bellicose among the Six Great Demons reside, making it the place where most battles occur.]
'Don't tell me the ‘Judge of Endless Struggle’ is also a demon from the Abyss?'
[He is the right-hand man of the ‘Ruthless Ruler’, one of the rulers of the Abyss. And Tantalos is one of the favored
executioners of another of the Six Demons, the <Ruler of Unwavering Strictness> on the opposite side.]
If this was a subordinate directly serving one of the Six Demons who rule the demon realm, it couldn't be an
ordinary powerful demon.
'I don't understand why such a demon would come to the material world and listen to these Abyss guys.'
Just as Zeke was questioning this after hearing the explanation about his opponent from Arataso and Nebilos, the
summoned Tantalos raised his head and stared intently at Zeke.
Then he raised his hand and extended his palm.
BOOM!
Though he merely pushed the air lightly with his palm, an enormous storm of fighting spirit rushed toward Zeke.
CRASH! CRASH!
'URGH!'
Zeke quickly rode Bucephalus out of the storm of fighting spirit.
That's when it happened.
SWOOSH!
Without any presence, Tantalos appeared right in front of Zeke.
He immediately threw a punch toward Zeke.
WHOOSH!
Just swinging a single fist tore through the atmosphere with a terrible sound.
Zeke quickly twisted his body to dodge Tantalos's punch.
WHOOSH!
The air became scorching hot from the friction, showing just how powerful the punch was.
Zeke glared at Tantalos, who was silently preparing to throw another punch.
He quickly swung his sword toward Tantalos.
SWOOSH!
Ascalon emitted light as it flew toward Tantalos.
BOOM!
Tantalos blocked Zeke's sword strike with his arm wrapped in studded leather straps.
The holy sword Ascalon possessed a special effect that dealt great damage to demons.
However, that special effect didn't activate.
'How is this possible?'
After blocking Zeke's sword strike, Tantalos clenched his fist and took a stance.
Then, after steadying his breath, he swung his fist rapidly.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Fists rained down toward Zeke at speeds too fast to see.
CRASH! CRASH!
BOOM!
Zeke blocked Tantalos's fists by raising shadows.
The power was so great that the shadows scattered and couldn't return to their original form.
'So this is the true power of a combat demon.'
While blocking Tantalos's attacks, Zeke glanced toward Ramon Jiemens and the priest at the altar.
Ramon Jiemens was trying to use his divine power again to connect the passage.
When Zeke looked up, the full moon was just about to be covered by shadow.
'I must stop that ritual!'
To do this, he needed to deal with Tantalos first.
He dismissed Bucephalus's summon and then released Theia's Hersion.
He thought he needed to make his body as light as possible to face Tantalos.
Then Zeke drew Leviathan instead of Ascalon.
TSSSS!
As the Shadow Armor rose, dense shadows rippled around Zeke's body.
"Come forth, Caligula."
RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
The shadows gathered to form a shape, and Caligula, a shadow guardian wearing prayer beads, appeared beside Zeke.
Caligula, created from the Blood King's soul, emitted an aura greater than a top-tier demon.
Even Tantalos showed an interested expression, perhaps feeling competitive at the sight of Caligula.
"Caligula, stop that demon."
[Yes, master.]
Answering in a deep voice, Caligula slowly approached Tantalos.
Then without warning, he opened his mouth wide and breathed flames toward Tantalos.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
Intense flames shot out from Caligula's mouth.
Tantalos threw a punch toward the flames coming from Caligula's mouth.
WHOOSH!
The powerful fist wind reversed Caligula's flames.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
As a result, Caligula was instead engulfed by his own flames.
Moments later, the flames subsided, and Caligula who had been caught in them was nowhere to be seen.
As Tantalos turned his head and tried to move toward Zeke, surprisingly, Caligula appeared behind him.
WHOOSH!
Caligula unwrapped his prayer beads and wrapped them around Tantalos's neck.
Having caught Tantalos with the prayer beads, Caligula grabbed his shoulder with his other hand.
His forehead split open and a third eye emerged from within.
ZZZZING!
The third eye made an eerie sound as it dug into Tantalos's mind.
However, the mental defense wall of Tantalos, a top-tier combat demon who had refined his fighting techniques for
thousands of years, was incredibly solid.
RUMBLE!
His mind reacted to the attack, and instead, Caligula took mental damage.
While his strength weakened from the mental impact, Tantalos immediately took a stance and threw a punch toward
Caligula's side.
WHOOSH!
With a powerful air-breaking sound, Caligula's side exploded and scattered.
RUMBLE!
Caligula, who had scattered like mist, reformed his shape a short distance away.
Having regained his form, Caligula now spread his ceremonial robe toward Tantalos. Within it, endless shadows
rippled.
And soon, something emerged from within the shadows.
A giant red eyeball.
The red eyeball created by Caligula flashed light toward Tantalos.
TSSSS!
Tantalos, who met Caligula's eyeball, momentarily closed and opened his eyes.
And when he opened his eyes, Tantalos hesitated at the situation where renowned warriors of the demon realm were
glaring at him.
And then, simultaneously, they rushed toward Tantalos.
CRASH!
BOOM!
Tantalos didn't hesitate and swung his fists toward them.
The demons' bodies were crushed by his fists and disappeared.
But soon other demons appeared.
These were illusions created by Caligula, not real entities.
The moment he met the eyeball, Tantalos had fallen into Caligula's technique.
Tantalos had to engage in fierce battle with the illusory demons trapped in Caligula's technique.
Meanwhile, Zeke had left Tantalos to Caligula and immediately flew toward the altar.
He wielded Leviathan and unleashed Elemental Sword toward the altar.
As the field of metal force spread, pressure was applied to the entire altar.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
Under the powerful pressure, cracks began to form in the demon statues supporting the platform.
That's when the four horsemen of the apocalypse appeared in the air to block Zeke's approach.
Each horseman's sword unleashed their unique abilities.
Lightning from the white horseman's sword, cold gusts from the blue horseman's, poison mist from the black
horseman's, and flames from the red horseman's poured forth.
CRASH! CRASH!
Various unique abilities were unleashed toward Zeke, but they were useless.
Zeke had raised his Shadow Armor, blocking all of their attacks.
Not only did he defend against them, but he also manipulated shadows to counterattack.
SHAAAAAK!
Razor-sharp shadow blades clashed against the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
As Zeke intensified his field of gold energy, the very platform itself began to collapse.
But then…..
BOOOOOM!
At some point, Tantalos, who had subdued Caligula, launched a powerful fist wind toward Zeke.
KWAANG!
The shockwave exploded right in front of Zeke’s face.
KUGUGUGUNG!
Zeke quickly twisted his body to evade the attack.
As soon as he dodged, he looked up and saw that Tantalos had transformed.
His muscles had swollen even further, and dark electricity crackled from his now-elongated horns.
It was no longer just the strength of martial arts—he was using the Authority of a Constellation.
‘He enhanced his body using an Authority.’
Tantalos adjusted his stance toward Zeke and then clashed his fists together.
The impact created a tremendous shockwave that surged toward Zeke.
KUUUAAAAANG!
Zeke raised his sword to block it and immediately expanded his field of gold energy once more.
KWADUDUDUK!
As he kept Tantalos in check, the pressure also affected the altar, causing the platform to tilt.
KUGUGUGU!
If the altar collapsed, the ritual could not be completed. Thus, Zeke applied even greater pressure.
But suddenly….,
The altar, which had been tilting and crumbling, began to restore itself.
‘What is this?’
Looking closely, Zeke saw the Maras, who had been suppressed by the Will of Light, crawling out of the demon effigy
and desperately holding the collapsing platform in place.
Gritting his teeth, Zeke intensified his field of gold energy.
Watching this unfold, Tantalos raised his fists once again.
Then, he slowly spoke.
“Human warrior. Strong.”
As he spoke, he clashed his fists together once more, and an intense black aura erupted from his horns.
BZZZZZZZT!
Dark lightning coiled around Tantalos’s fists.
KUGUGUGUGU!
Immediately, he hurled his lightning-wreathed fist with overwhelming force.
KWARRRRRRRG!
The electrified strike rushed toward Zeke.
Maintaining his Elemental Sword, Zeke raised his Shadow Armor to block the attack.
However, Shadow Armor alone could not fully withstand Tantalos’s strike!
KIIIIIIIIING!
The punch and dark lightning pierced through the Shadow Armor and struck Zeke’s body directly.
“KUHEUK!”
Blood gushed from his mouth, but Zeke refused to fall.
Unlike usual, his healing factor was not functioning properly.
He couldn’t quite grasp how such an attack was able to harm his immortal body.
Suppressing the pain, Zeke turned his gaze toward the altar.
‘I need to destroy that in one blow.’
Enduring the agony, he began preparing the dragon race’s skill, ‘Dragon’s Breath’.
Since releasing it in one go consumed an enormous amount of mana, he had always used it cautiously.
Zeke’s eyes transformed into dragon’s eyes, and an emblem appeared on his chest.
“HAAAAAAAAH!”
As light gathered into the emblem, it condensed into a concentrated mana cannon that shot toward the altar.
KWAKWAKWAKWAKWAKWA!
The all-destroying Dragon’s Breath surged toward the platform.
As soon as the radiant blast reached the altar, it expanded violently, swallowing everything in its path.
KWAKWAKWAKWAAANG!
A deafening explosion shook the surroundings, and a blinding light engulfed everything.
But then….
KIIIIIIIIING!
As if time itself was reversing, the erupting light began converging into a single point.
TSTSTSTSTSTS!
Then, before anyone could comprehend it, the Dragon’s Breath dissipated into nothingness.
Zeke’s expression hardened in disbelief as he stared at the sight.
The altar and platform, which had seemed moments away from destruction, reappeared in their original state.
Suppressing the exhaustion weighing on his body, Zeke raised his eyes to the sky.
The once-luminous full moon was now completely shrouded in shadow, and above it, an ominous blood-red eclipse cast
its eerie glow.