551
Chapter 551
"Wh-What is that?"
Nebilos stepped back, startled by the ominous sound coming from the far end of the corridor.
When he first came to the mortal realm, he thought it would be like a buffet of defenseless souls gathered together.
But after being caught by Zeke and staying with him, he encountered more strange beings that he had never seen or heard of, even in the demon realm.
Whatever was appearing now was likely to be another entity he couldn't have anticipated.
SPLASH! SPLASH!
Along with the wet sounds, a strange being emerged from the corridor.
A mass of flesh writhing like a giant caterpillar.
Hundreds of human-like hands sprouted from its bottom, supporting and moving its massive body.
Nebilos was horrified at the grotesque monster approaching him.
"Wh-What in the world is that thing?!"
Even as a demon, Nebilos felt instinctive fear and revulsion as this bizarre monster, unlike anything he'd seen in the demon realm, approached.
GROOOOOOAN!
The flesh mass made an eerie sound as it moved toward Nebilos.
Then part of the flesh mass stretched like rubber, trying to snatch Nebilos.
"Ugh!"
Nebilos, the overseer of the Abyss, immediately stepped back to avoid the flesh mass's attack.
'D-Damn it.'
Having failed to return to the demon realm immediately, Nebilos had no choice but to summon more power again.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
The undead he summoned emerged from the floor.
Blue glow blazed in Nebilos's eyes.
"Attack it!"
The undead charged at the flesh mass with weapons in hand.
But surprisingly, dozens of long arms suddenly shot out from within the flesh mass, wrapping around the approaching undead and pulling them in.
CRASH!
Nebilos helplessly watched as the undead he summoned were absorbed into the flesh, as if being sucked in.
'What the hell is that…?'
Though bewildering, seeing how it instantly absorbed his summoned undead suggested it wasn't a simple organism.
Nebilos pulled out his staff and gathered power.
HISS! HISS!
Green smoke rose from his staff, spreading poisonous mist throughout the space occupied by the flesh mass.
Any organic being made of blood and flesh would be vulnerable to poison.
Nebilos's assumption proved correct as the flesh mass showed an unusual reaction to the poisonous mist.
GURGLE! GURGLE!
It suddenly stopped approaching Nebilos and began twisting its massive body in place.
Seeing the reaction, Nebilos released even stronger poison.
"You hideous, grotesque creature. Die quietly."
GURGLE! GURGLE! GURGLE!
The flesh mass's form twisted violently.
Like mud being trampled and crushed, it couldn't maintain its proper form and became distorted.
ROAAAAAR!
A horrible cry emerged from the distorted flesh mass.
Simultaneously, the flesh mass split open.
SPLASH! SPLASH! SPLASH!
Black bodily fluid full of bubbles and foul stench began spewing from the split.
Nebilos was caught off guard when the flesh mass showed a different reaction than expected, as he thought it would cough up blood and collapse dead soon.
"Damn, you're full of surprises."
After expelling the black fluid, the flesh mass's body had shrunk from its previous size.
Then dozens of long arms shot out from its body again and began moving toward Nebilos.
GROOOOOOAN!
The dozens of elongated arms tried to grab Nebilos.
The terrified Nebilos fired magic bullets at it while continuing to spray poison mist.
But the creature only kept spewing black fluid without stopping its advance.
"Ugh!"
As Nebilos backed away, he failed to dodge one arm that flew at him from behind.
WHOOSH!
Wrapped in the arm, Nebilos instantly felt his magical power being drained.
'I can't move.'
He now understood why the undead he summoned were helplessly captured and pulled into the flesh mass.
Unable to use his magic, he was dragged toward the flesh mass that was still leaking black fluid.
Just as Nebilos was about to be buried in the flesh mass.
BOOM! BOOM!
Green lightning flashed from the opposite direction.
It was a green energy strike thrust by Arataso's lance from behind.
SQUELCH!
Arataso's attack properly pierced the flesh mass's body, which was defenseless while focused on Nebilos.
ROAAAAAR!
The flesh mass screamed in pain.
In that moment, Zion appeared from the ceiling and forcefully opened the hand holding Nebilos using psychic power.
"UGH!"
After breaking free from the hand's restraint, Nebilos could finally use his magic again.
As Nebilos escaped from the flesh mass, Arataso attacked from behind while Zion attacked from the front.
BOOM! BOOM!
The flesh mass, which had been spewing black fluid, trembled as it couldn't withstand attacks from both sides.
SCREECH!
Suddenly, the flesh mass stretched its body, extending like a long branch and quickly passed through a gap in space.
HISS! HISS!
The elongated flesh mass vanished instantly.
Arataso approached Nebilos from behind.
"I wondered where you went. Seems you were caught by that thing."
Though he had actually tried to escape back to the demon realm, Nebilos quickly agreed with Arataso's words, fearing what revenge Zeke might take if he told the truth.
"Y-Yes. That unidentified monster attacked me from behind."
Boris and his group, who had come up from the floor with Adol, spoke while looking at Arataso and Nebilos.
"It seems to be an experiment created by the Abyss, though I'm not sure what it is exactly. It grabs and devours anything... but it won't matter once we blow this place up anyway."
Arataso and Nebilos nodded at Boris's words.
Then Shadia, who was next to Boris, spoke up.
"But did our lord really order to blow this place up first?"
Arataso nodded at her question.
"Yes. He said it's necessary to contain the High Priest of the Abyss."
Shadia realized Zeke intended to end things here.
Boris nodded and said.
"Better do as the boss says. We've set all the bombs, so let's get outside. No point getting caught up and dying here needlessly."
Arataso and Nebilos also nodded at Boris's words and headed up to the surface.
While they were escaping the labyrinth, the fled flesh mass was searching for something to devour to satisfy its hunger.
And at some point, the flesh mass discovered something that smelled delicious.
It had found something nutritious enough to satisfy its hunger and provide the energy it needed in one go.
Its body quickly moved in that direction.
* * *
Zeke spoke while looking at Harvey West.
"The power of recreation that brings back what once existed. That is the power held by the Arrogant Savior."
The ability to recall vanished legions, use the power of lost artifacts.
And beings that seemed about to be annihilated by the Spirit Sword returning to their original state.
All were the power of recreation possessed by the Arrogant Savior.
Zeke spoke again while looking at Harvey West.
WHOOSH!
Chaos energy gradually surged from the Leviathan in Zeke's hand.
He pointed his sword at Harvey West and spoke.
"But your power seems to have a weakness. It seems impossible to create something new. It's a power limited to recreating only what once existed."
Harvey West's eyebrows twitched at Zeke's words.
"Stop your useless struggling and follow me, Zeke Draker. Otherwise, all that awaits you is eternal despair and annihilation."
"Even the strongest power is useless if you can't use it."
Until now, Harvey West had been able to achieve complete recovery in a different way from Zeke through the Arrogant Savior's power.
The power of recreation made it possible to reconstruct even broken souls.
Zeke realized that if Harvey West's inability to be annihilated was due to the Arrogant Savior's power, he could attack using chaos energy.
Though Zeke would lose his immortal body's power, Harvey West would also lose his power, making a head-on battle possible.
Previously, there had been various preparations set up to strike Zeke, but all of those had been defeated.
So this time, the chaos energy should be able to properly exert its power.
Harvey West, who had been quietly listening to his words, slowly shook his head.
"Zeke Draker, you've forgotten how to see the truth amidst all the distrust and lies."
Zeke didn't answer and released chaos energy from Leviathan.
Harvey West furrowed his brow at this sight.
He spoke while looking at Zeke.
"It's futile. No matter what you do, my existence cannot be erased."
"We'll see about that."
At that moment, the homunculus in front of Harvey West moved again.
WHOOSH!
The homunculus rushed at Zeke like the wind and deployed a field of water power.
Swords crashed down toward Zeke like surging waves.
Zeke, now somewhat familiar with the homunculus's movements, also deployed a water field and countered the sword strikes.
CRASH!
The elemental swords collided and cancelled each other out.
Harvey West, who was behind, formed hand seals and raised the Arrogant Savior's power again.
RUMBLE! RUMBLEl! RUMBLE!
Along with the energy he released, the space began to change.
Zeke noticed that Harvey West was deploying his unique barrier to draw him into his domain.
'He's avoiding being eroded by the chaos energy.'
The situation was definitely different from before.
Judging he had a chance, Zeke gritted his teeth and raised chaos energy against Harvey West's unique barrier, spreading his domain.
WHOOSH!
Zeke's domain and Harvey West's domain collided, each trying to pull the other in.
A dimensional storm arose at the sharply colliding boundary between domains.
BOOM! BOOM!
There was a risk that the dimensional boundary could open and cause the space itself to collapse.
But neither could yield. As this fierce domain battle raged, something intervened between them.
GROOOOAN!
The monstrous being that had jumped in searching for nutritious prey revealed itself through the dimensional storm.
Zeke frowned at the grotesque being that suddenly appeared.
'Is this an experiment created by the Abyss?'
Just as Zeke was about to raise shadows while maintaining his chaos domain, expecting it to attack him.
Surprisingly, the monster moved toward the opposite side instead of Zeke.
The monster with its tree branch-like elongated body suddenly swelled up and wrapped around Kaisir's homunculus that was in front of Harvey West.
WHOOSH!
Kaisir's homunculus couldn't avoid the monster's sudden attack and was absorbed.
Harvey West's expression changed strangely at this sight.
"...An angel's fragment? Why is it here now?"
He too showed a bewildered expression, as if this was unexpected.
The flesh mass that swallowed the homunculus was very satisfied.
Though it had devoured many knights and mages, none had provided the nutrients it needed.
But the being it just swallowed had all the nutrients it required.
This alone seemed enough to fulfill its desires.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
In the dimensional storm arising from the domain collision, the flesh mass that had swallowed the homunculus began to change.
CRACK!
Arms and legs sprouted from what had been just a mass of flesh.
As the flesh mass came together and gradually took proper form, huge wings spread from its back.
GROOOOAN!
A head began to grow from the body of the flesh mass as it transformed with an inhuman cry.
Bewilderment flashed across Harvey West's eyes as he watched this.
‘The fragment is awakening now?’
Though he had possessed it, it was an unknown being he had sealed away first since he didn't know how to awaken it.
It had shown power, but only in the strange way it absorbed living beings.
He hadn't thought Kaisir's homunculus would be the key to its awakening, since all previous attempted methods for proper awakening had failed, making him think the spiritual nature within had vanished.
Opposite him, Zeke furrowed his brow at the suddenly appearing new being.
'Seeing his surprise, this doesn't seem to be something he anticipated.'
Zeke couldn't help but be shocked by the energy he felt from the unknown being taking form.
A being with new energy different from everything he had seen before.
But Zeke recalled beings he had encountered before with the most similar energy to this.
'Nephilim?'
The ancient beings created with the blood of constellations.
But now this unknown being was emanating constellation energy stronger than the Nephilim.