573
Chapter 573
SLASH!
Felix blocked the approaching demonic beasts and tentacles by wielding his sword and shield.
Behind him, Jupiter's citizens moved toward the castle gate while trembling in fear.
The problem was that the path to the castle gate was quite far.
'It's impossible for me alone to protect all of them. I'm not sure if reinforcements can arrive in this situation.'
Despite the grim situation, Felix swung his sword as fast as possible to prevent tragedy, but he still couldn't protect all citizens.
As he grew more exhausted with no clear solution in mind, Zeke's image appeared in his thoughts.
'If my lord saw this, he would click his tongue in disapproval.'
Recalling Zeke's stern voice, Felix swung his sword faster and struck the demonic beasts with his shield.
Though he tried to hold out as long as possible, Felix soon reached his limit.
GROWL!
Demonic beasts, now larger than before, approached them.
Felix shouted at the citizens.
"Go quickly while I hold them back! Hurry!"
He gripped his shield and sword with renewed strength.
Though Hersion was equipment that consumed aura just by wearing it, he couldn't face the demonic beasts that sprayed strong acid bare-handed.
RAAAAR!
Just as Felix gritted his teeth, the demonic beasts charged with horrific screams.
But then……
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Mercenaries and soldiers who were hiding among the citizens threw spears at the demonic beasts.
They rushed forward with their hastily made shields in front of the beasts.
"Damn it! Sir! Draker's knight! Please fall back!"
The mercenaries and soldiers who had been hiding to preserve their lives stepped forward voluntarily after seeing Felix throw himself in harm's way for them.
Felix could catch his breath momentarily while they held back the beasts.
He quickly drank a recovery potion before launching another aura-infused sword strike at the beasts.
CRASH!
The problem was that the beasts and tentacles kept coming without end.
Though nearby soldiers and mercenaries gathered to help Felix block them, it wasn't enough to stop them all.
'Damn it.'
After assessing the situation, Felix momentarily gathered his strength and launched a powerful sword strike at the beasts.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Taking advantage of the brief moment the beasts retreated, Felix shouted.
"Get out of here quickly before more of them come!"
"Damn it! Sir Knight, come with us!"
"Go quickly while I hold them back! My companions should be near the castle gate! Please protect the citizens!"
The mercenaries and soldiers made stern expressions at Felix's words, then ran toward the castle gate while protecting the citizens with their shields.
That's when…..
THUD! THUD! THUD!
A demonic beast twice as large as the previous ones appeared and approached Felix.
‘Haa... damn, there's no end to them.’
After confirming the citizens had moved away somewhat under the protection of soldiers and mercenaries, Felix released Hercion, gripped his sword, and focused his energy.
RUMBLE!
As aura concentrated in his sword, he could no longer hear any surrounding sounds.
Felix felt as if he had become one with his sword.
Soon he sensed a demonic beast approaching the domain he had laid out.
RAAAAAAAR!
The beast was swinging its sharp claws at him.
Felix stepped back to avoid the claws.
Then he completely relaxed and swung his sword.
SLASH!
The beast's arm, covered in hard shell, was cleanly cut off by Felix's sword and fell to the ground.
SCREECH!
Felix was having the mystical experience of clearly seeing every single drop of acid spraying from the beast's body, though he wasn't even aware of it.
After avoiding all of them, he stepped forward and swung his sword at the beast.
SLASH!
The light sword strike cleanly cut through the beast's hard armor, instantly severing three arms.
GROWL!
The beast retreated and swung its massive tail at Felix.
It had enough force to instantly demolish not just the surrounding houses but even the castle walls.
But Felix calmly held his sword and waited until just before the beast's tail reached him.
And when the tail came within reach, he slowly swung his sword upward.
For Felix, who had become one with his sword, cutting the beast's tail was nothing.
SLASH!
The beast's massive body was perfectly split in half from tail to head.
THUD!
Felix suddenly came to his senses as he saw the beast collapse instantly.
Though he had unconsciously reached the state of unity between sword and mind, Felix himself didn't realize what he had done.
Felix, having pushed himself to his limit, no longer had strength to hold his sword.
As he returned to reality, barely holding himself up with his sword stuck in the ground, he saw smaller demonic beasts approaching from behind the dead ones.
Seeing this, Felix gave a bitter smile.
‘Why do you all keep chasing just me?’
Despite the threat of the approaching beasts dripping acidic slime, he couldn't move anymore.
Yet contrary to his grumbling, Felix shouted at the beasts to draw their attention until the very end.
"Come here you bastards! I'm right here!"
With his shout, the beasts charged at Felix.
RAAAAAAAR!
Just as the beasts' sharp claws were about to shred Felix's body.
CRACKLE!
Lightning of light scattered in all directions.
SCREECH!
The beasts struck by the lightning instantly turned to charcoal and collapsed.
Felix barely raised his head while staggering.
'Could it be?'
Suddenly someone placed their hand on his shoulder, and warm energy flowed from that hand into his body.
Vitality surged through Felix's exhausted body.
Felix, regaining just enough strength to move, turned around immediately.
"My lord!"
Zeke, holding Ascalon, unleashed lightning of light in all directions toward the charging beasts.
CRACKLE!
With that single attack, dozens of beasts and tentacles even at considerable distance turned to ash and vanished.
Only after somewhat clearing out the beasts did Zeke turn toward Felix.
"Felix, you've shed one layer."
He continued while patting Felix's shoulder.
"Congratulations on your promotion to Red Knight."
Having achieved unity between sword and mind, Felix had finally broken through the wall to becoming a Red Knight.
'Me, a Red Knight…?'
Felix felt overwhelmed at having taken one step closer to Zeke whom he admired.
But that was brief. Looking at the piles of ashes from the beasts scattered around, he shook his head.
'Maybe after another thousand years of training I could catch up to my lord.'
Whether aware of these complicated feelings or not, Zeke said to Felix,
"I'll hold them here, so you get the citizens out of the castle. The Allied Forces will send reinforcements soon."
Felix, snapping back to his senses, nodded at Zeke's words.
"Understood, my lord!"
Zeke turned back after watching Felix run toward where the citizens were.
He raised his head to look at the cocoon fixed atop the tower.
'The energy felt from the Guardian is even more distinct now.'
The energy within the cocoon kept increasing.
As he watched the cocoon with a serious expression, other beasts approached Zeke.
RAAAAR!
Zeke swung Ascalon to unleash another lightning of light.
CRACKLE!
Since the power of light had become much stronger after absorbing the Guardian that Ramiel had inhabited, the beasts couldn't withstand it and scattered into ashes.
Zeke rose into the air, raised Ascalon, and unleashed lightning of light in all directions.
The tentacles crawling along the walls burned and scattered into ash from Zeke's lightning.
Looking at the city view from the air, Zeke saw Bathory evacuating Jupiter's citizens along with the Dracula Knights.
He unleashed lightning in that direction again.
CRACKLE!
As the number of beasts rapidly decreased from Zeke's consecutive attacks, the cocoon accumulating power noticed his presence.
The beasts wandering the city searching for prey underwent a change.
They merged with nearby tentacles and grew wings on their backs.
SLASH!
The beasts spread their wings, flew up into the sky, and swarmed toward Zeke.
Hundreds of beasts surrounded Zeke in the air while closing in.
Seeing this, Zeke summoned Bucephalus.
Bucephalus, summoned after a long time, showed affection by rubbing his face against Zeke's cheek.
"Yeah. It's been a while, Bucephalus. Let's have some fun."
After patting its head, he mounted Bucephalus and unleashed lightning of light.
Bucephalus's horns reacted with Zeke's lightning, spreading massive lightning in all directions.
CRACKLE!
Pure white lightning poured toward the flying beasts.
RAAAAAAAR!
The lightning split into dozens of streams and enveloped the beasts' bodies.
The beasts couldn't even approach Zeke before being swept up by the lightning and scattering into ash.
Though the beasts overwhelmingly outnumbered him, they were like fallen leaves before Zeke's power.
Zeke rode Bucephalus straight toward the cocoon fixed to the tower.
'I'll end this before the Guardian emerges.'
Since the Guardian could serve as a vessel for the Thirteenth Zodiac's descent, allowing it to hatch could let another constellation manifest in the physical realm.
If that happened, Jupiter Castle's destruction would be a matter of time.
Zeke raised Leviathan and took a stance toward the cocoon.
RUMBLE!
Chaos energy concentrated in Zeke's sword.
Infinite Sword technique
Special Technique
Chaos Technique
Soul Destruction Slash
He unleashed a technique combining chaos power learned from battling Ramiel with the Infinite Sword Style.
The chaos-infused sword strike flew toward the cocoon.
The tentacles rooted around the tower moved and merged to create a hard shell, as if protecting the cocoon.
CRASH!
The chaos sword strike collided with the tentacle shell, sending shock waves everywhere.
CRACK!
Not just the struck tentacles, but even hidden beasts crumbled from within.
Zeke gripped Leviathan and drew out even stronger energy.
Cracks began forming in the hard shell.
RUMBLE!
The chaos power persistently penetrated the broken shell, etching more fine cracks on its surface.
Seeing this, Zeke's eyes gleamed as he pulled out a spear made of god-slaying stone from his inventory.
RUMBLE!
The god-slaying stone lightly vibrated, as if responding to the constellation's power felt from within the cocoon.
Zeke forcefully threw the god-slaying stone spear toward the cocoon.
CRASH!
The spear flew through the air and precisely struck where the shell was most cracked.
CRACKLE!
When the god-slaying stone spear struck, the shell crumbled, and the spear tip penetrated precisely into the hidden cocoon within.
Simultaneously, Zeke's unleashed chaos power enveloped the spear and churned inside the cocoon.
CRASH!
A shock wave erupted from the spear reacting to the chaos power.
RUMBLE!
The cocoon shook with powerful vibrations and waves.
Then the cocoon's surface began bulging and swelling.
Zeke quickly extended his hand and spread shadows.
The shadows formed a curtain enveloping the tower where the cocoon was fixed.
At that moment, the cocoon exploded.
BOOM!
Zeke's shadow curtain blocked the explosion's impact, preventing Jupiter Castle from collapsing.
However, it couldn't completely block the shock wave's aftermath.
The directly impacted tower collapsed, some surrounding buildings sank, and even the solid castle walls cracked or partially crumbled.
Withdrawing the shadows, Zeke sighed in relief seeing Jupiter Castle mostly maintaining its original form.
'Fortunately, I stopped it before it hatched.'
The angel of from the divine palace that Ramiel descended into was cultivated by Harvey West using angel fragments, so it could only fully hatch after absorbing the homunculus.
But the cocoon Zeke just destroyed was undoubtedly a real angel planted by the constellations in the physical realm.
Zeke recalled Boris's report.
'So Emperor Nero obtained the angel's cocoon and tried to awaken it with black magic.'
It was extremely fortunate to end like this, as Jupiter Castle and the Empire's southern region would have suffered great damage if left alone.
Thinking the danger was eliminated, Zeke was about to descend to the ground to deal with the damaged Jupiter Castle.
But then he felt an ominous energy.
'This is...?'
RUMBLE!
Something writhed at the very top of the collapsed tower.
HISS!
As the rising black smoke gradually subsided, the form of the writhing being on the ground was revealed.
It appeared mystical, like two divine statues standing back-to-back in prayer.
However, below the statues' waists was imperfect, with writhing black flesh.
The incompletely hatched Guardian had emerged from within the cocoon.