653
Chapter 653
Zeke emanated an even stronger killing intent as he glared at Arthur Draker who had possessed Rivein's body.
At Zeke's reaction, Arthur Draker wore an expression of disappointment.
"It seems you're not at all pleased to see your father alive."
Zeke felt sick just hearing Arthur Draker's characteristically hypocritical way of speaking.
His anger intensified as he vividly recalled how his mother, Laura Agamemnon, had died at Arthur Draker's hands in his past memories.
Though he could no longer be certain if Laura was his birth mother after learning she had faked her pregnancy, Zeke still felt strong attachment to Laura Agamemnon.
He didn't know exactly how, but she had tried to protect him until the very end from something.
And Arthur Draker had cruelly murdered her.
RUMBLE!
Divine power emanated even more strongly from Zeke's body.
Seeing this, Arthur Draker's eyes widened in surprise.
"The soul of the arrogant savior! To absorb that with a human body. Zeke, you truly are... special."
Arthur Draker emphasized the word ‘special’ in particular.
But as if there was no need to hear more of Arthur Draker's words, Zeke launched abyssal flames toward him.
BOOM!
Spears of fire burst forth from the ring of flames and flew toward Arthur Draker who had possessed Rivein's body.
Seeing this, Arthur Draker swung Caliburn with a grin.
WHOOSH!
But when Caliburn's slash collided with the fire spears, an amazing phenomenon occurred.
Rather than exploding and canceling each other out, their very existence seemed to be erased.
Zeke realized the identity of the power Arthur Draker had used.
'Distorted causality.'
He had completely erased the abyssal flames using distorted causality.
As Zeke silently glared at him, Arthur Draker spoke.
"Zeke, I don't want to fight you. You are my son. If we could create a new era together, this world could become much more perfect."
Zeke shouted with anger at Arthur Draker's words.
"Cut out that disgusting nonsense!"
WOONG WOONG!
Suddenly Leviathan and Ascalon floated before Zeke, emanating sword light.
Pointing the sword tips at Arthur Draker, Zeke spoke.
"You must have rushed here to prevent all these experimental subjects you painstakingly created from turning to ash."
The Apollion knights who could wield Elemental Swords.
Arthur Draker must have invested an unimaginable amount of money and time to create them.
If he were to lose such expensive experimental subjects without even properly showcasing them, he would inevitably suffer tremendous losses.
At Zeke's words, Arthur Draker laughed while holding his head.
"Hahaha! Yes, I'm no match for you. Right. Rivein, I told you to watch him, but you couldn't wait and led your brothers to attack him."
Arthur Draker's eyes suddenly flashed.
"So. What did you think of these children, Zeke? These children are the culmination of the true pure blood I dreamed of."
Zeke only wore a disgusted expression at Arthur Draker's words without answering.
Looking at Zeke like this, Arthur Draker shook his head.
"Hmm, I thought you would understand my feelings. How disappointing."
After finishing his words, he raised Caliburn again and pointed it at Zeke.
"In any case, it's true that I consider you special. If I didn't, I would have killed you the moment I first saw you as a baby."
Zeke felt his head grow colder at Arthur Draker's words.
'I'll capture Arthur Draker's soul here and completely annihilate it.'
Until now, Zeke had captured and sealed constellations that had descended into avatar bodies or annihilated their soul's main body.
Though Arthur Draker wielded power beyond mere distorted causality, he still had Karma Points and Leviathan's unique authority, Dark Twilight.
Since he could nullify distorted causality with these abilities, this was the perfect opportunity to capture Arthur Draker.
"Hera. Come forth."
Though it consumed a lot of divine power, Zeke summoned Hera again to ensure capturing Arthur.
Since most guardians and summons were stationed at major strongholds across the continent, he had no other options right now.
The ring of fire parted as Hela emerged.
The Sacred Beast of the Abyss blocked Arthur Draker's rear while burning with black flames.
Arthur Draker smiled with interest, showing no tension.
"The second beast of the apocalypse, Hera the Sacred Beast of the Abyss... you're keeping an interesting pet."
WOONG!
Strong vibrations emanated from Caliburn in Arthur Draker's hand.
The space around Arthur Draker began to distort.
CRACKLE!
It was as if only the space where he existed was transforming into a different dimension.
Thinking he was trying to escape, Zeke immediately unleashed his attack.
BOOM! BOOM!
Two swords imbued with the Abyss power and abyssal flames flew simultaneously toward Arthur Draker.
WHOOSH!
First, Hera's abyssal flames enveloped Arthur Draker's surroundings.
But the abyssal flames that entered the distorted space appeared to warp into completely different forms and colors, breaking into fragments.
Arthur Draker smiled amusedly at the distorted abyssal flames trapped like pieces of glass.
"Zeke, this isn’t enough."
As he spoke leisurely, Leviathan and Ascalon fell toward Arthur Draker's head.
BOOM! BOOM!
Wrapped in sword light, Leviathan and Ascalon dove into the rippling spatial domain as if to cut Arthur Draker in half.
When Arthur Draker moved Caliburn, a barrier like shattered mirror fragments enveloped his body.
Leviathan and Ascalon were blocked by that barrier, unable to penetrate inside.
"Swords that cut the source. You've grown brilliantly."
But then plasma began sparking from Rivein's body that Arthur Draker had possessed.
CRACKLE! CRACKLE!
Seeing this, Arthur Draker furrowed his brow.
Looking at Zeke, he said.
"I didn’t intend to meet like this... But let’s consider today’s encounter as a light tea time. A proper meeting is still to come."
Just as Arthur Draker tried to retreat after leaving those words, the shadow beneath his feet revealed itself.
BOOM! BOOM!
Suddenly, Solomon's Chains burst forth from the shadow, trying to ensnare Arthur Draker's body.
CRACK! CRACK!
Mirror fragments blocked Solomon's Chains, protecting Arthur Draker's surroundings.
Then two more swords appeared from the shadow.
Caladbolg and Caledvulgh.
The two shadow swords emerged and rushed to attack Arthur Draker.
BOOM! BOOM!
When the shadow swords tried to pierce through the barrier, Arthur Draker's expression finally changed.
"You..."
Arthur Draker, his previous composure gone, glared at Zeke while gritting his teeth.
After briefly assessing the situation, he soon lit up his gray eyes and said to Zeke:
"Next time we meet won't be like today."
With those words, Arthur Draker pulled something from his chest.
A mirror shard containing strange energy.
When he grabbed the mirror shard with both hands and split it, intense light burst forth from within.
WHOOSH!
The light flowing from the mirror shard spread in all directions, expanding throughout the entire space.
And beyond the spreading light, Rivein and the Apollion knights began to disappear.
"ARTHUR DRAKER!"
When Zeke sensed something wrong and tried to rush toward him, the space itself began to change.
WOONG!
Zeke felt the energy of distorted causality in the space transformed by light.
'I'm being pulled in.'
Though he hurriedly tried to retreat and escape the domain, the spatial change was faster.
Soon Zeke was completely engulfed by the light that exploded outward.
SWOOSH! SWOOSH!
A moment later, when Zeke finally opened his eyes after being wrapped in dazzling light, his surroundings had completely changed.
Instead of the cavity where he had just been, a completely different space stretched before his eyes.
Zeke looked around at the changed spatial scenery and soon wore a surprised expression.
'This place is...'
It was the 'Cradle', the training facility where the young bloodkin of the Draker family grew up.
But there was something different from the Cradle he knew. While the appearance of the long corridor was unmistakably the Cradle, everything was made of white.
Zeke was quite taken aback when this unexpectedly familiar space appeared before his eyes.
This Cradle was where Zeke had stayed as a child, and the space that had implanted trauma in him.
And just as he tried to raise his power to assess the situation, an even more disconcerting thing unfolded.
'I can't feel my divine power and authority.'
The numerous powers that Zeke possessed seemed to be blocked by something and couldn't be properly unleashed.
As Zeke noticed the problem, a message appeared before his eyes.
[You have entered the domain of the Distorted Constellation.]
Zeke's eyes trembled upon seeing the message.
'This place is the domain of the Distorted Constellation?'
He had entered a space he couldn't find even using the Akashic Code, led here by the light created by Arthur Draker.
Feeling bewildered by the sudden restriction of his powers, Zeke first tried to recall Levathan and Ascalon.
However, even the two swords did not respond to Zeke's call.
Since the Shadow Armor also wasn't working properly, Zeke had no choice but to pull out another weapon from his inventory.
"Should I be thankful that at least I have this?"
He gripped Gram, the Sun Sword he had used in his previous life.
Feeling Gram's weight in his hand made him feel like he had returned to his previous life.
Holding Gram, Zeke passed through the Cradle's corridor and cautiously entered inside while surveying his surroundings.
'If this is the Distorted Constellation's unique domain, there should be a temple where he resides at its center.'
He decided to head to the center of the Cradle first and moved toward where the Pankration training ground was located.
While trying to find his way through a split corridor, he sensed something strange.
'The direction is different?'
Only then did Zeke realize the source of the inexplicable sense of discomfort.
Not just the colors, but like a mirror reflection, the left and right sides were reversed from the original Cradle.
‘This is the reverse world, the mirror world...’
Zeke recalled entering such a reverse world when facing the overall boss of the Nostra Family.
That place was also a reverse world where reality was flipped left and right, and the boss's true form was hidden inside.
Zeke speculated that the Distorted Constellation might also be an alien existence existing outside the dimension of reality.
Recalling the paths of the past Cradle in his mind, Zeke carefully advanced toward the Pankration training ground.
THUD!
Opening the training ground door, he found a scene almost identical to his memories, though left and right were reversed.
'I was beaten up a lot by others here.'
The Zeke of his previous life couldn't properly exert his strength or had weak stamina because he couldn't open his lower energy center.
Without anyone to protect him, Zeke was often bullied by others from powerful bloodlines who possessed strong authority.
He especially hated Pankration, which involved fighting with bare hands.
Ironically, after being expelled from Draker and becoming a hitman for the Southern Continent Cartel, Zeke grew into an expert in lethal bare-handed combat techniques.
'During my time at the Cradle, I just avoided everything without knowing my talent.'
While looking around with a bitter smile, Zeke noticed white sand piled up in a spot unlike the real Cradle and approached it.
When he reached out and grabbed a handful of white sand, suddenly something burst out from underneath.
THUMP!
A hand that shot up from under the sand firmly grabbed Zeke's wrist.
Reflexively, Zeke gripped Gram in reverse and thrust it down toward the sand training ground.
STAB!
He felt something being pierced by Gram.
Soon the hand gripping Zeke's wrist loosened and disappeared back into the sand.
Realizing he could no longer catch it, Zeke slowly backed away.
Currently, since there was nothing recorded in the Akashic Code about the Distorted Constellation's domain, he couldn't properly identify the enemy's true nature.
'I need to find a way to locate the entity that created this domain.'
Though he had reached the center of the Cradle, this didn't seem to be the right place.
He pondered once more about where the Distorted Constellation's temple might be.
'If my thinking is correct, the Distorted Constellation's temple should be...'
Zeke's eyes flashed sharply as he raised Gram and headed somewhere.