659
Chapter 659
"KILL THEM!"
The rough sound of battle cries and clashing weapons filled the air.
Zeke raised his head and muttered as he observed the scene.
"Damn it..."
He had returned to the original starting point.
One thing became clear from what just happened.
'Time rewinds if either I die or Alicia dies.'
He couldn't understand why the past created by the Seed of Domain was rewinding this way, but the reason wasn't important.
The problem was that they would be trapped in this time loop forever if they couldn't find a way out.
A hound lunged at Zeke from behind.
Without looking, Zeke drew his dagger and killed it by stabbing its side.
He had lost count of how many times he'd killed this one.
'I need to take down Cain who's using Shadow Armor.'
It wouldn't have been a problem if he had his original power, but with his past life's body, he couldn't think of a way to stop him.
'What techniques can I use now? Strong Wave Resonance, Soul technique Solospell, and...'
As he slowly organized his thoughts, he realized he still had his strongest power left.
Zeke gripped Gram and unleashed the power of Elemental Sword.
WOONG!
Mana concentrated in Gram causing vibrations.
Since elemental force was power that used mana to transform nature's will into the four elements, Zeke tried converting the concentrated mana into wind power.
WHOOSH!
He felt a faint wind power dwelling in Gram.
'But this past body doesn't have the dragon's heart. I can summon elemental force but it's not enough for Elemental Sword.'
Zeke tried using each of the four elements one by one. Wind and water powers seemed somewhat effective.
Though very lacking, he had to use whatever power he could muster now to stop Cain.
Zeke stealthily climbed up to the tower of Himonas Castle, avoiding the Imperial knights charging at him.
At the tower, he already saw Cain and Alicia facing off against each other.
Just then, Alicia concentrated the power of the Great Warrior and charged toward Cain.
The image of Alicia being pierced by the shadow blade moments ago flashed through Zeke's mind.
He immediately sprang forward from his hiding spot and swung his sword at Cain.
CLASH!
Zeke's sword strike came first before Alicia entered the Shadow Armor's attack range.
CRACK!
The shadow rose up and blocked Zeke's sword strike.
In that gap, Zeke ran toward Alicia.
"Grand Duke! Get back!"
Though surprised by Zeke's sudden appearance, Alicia instinctively stepped back.
Shadow blades shot out from where she had been standing.
Barely avoiding the blades, Alicia looked at Zeke and said.
"Murray? Why are you here?"
"It's a long story. For now, we need to work together to stop him."
If it was impossible to face Cain alone, they could find another way.
He thought they might find a way to kill him if they combined forces with Alicia who held the power of the Wolf King Fenrir.
Zeke said to Alicia.
"Because of a special artifact he has, shadows will either shoot out like blades when you get close or become shields to neutralize attacks."
Alicia furrowed her brow at Zeke's words.
"HMPH, surprising that such an item exists."
Gripping Gram firmly, Zeke said to Alicia.
"I'll draw his attention from the front and block the shadows. When an opening appears, Grand Duke, strike his neck in one blow. That Hersion is made of orichalcon, so you'll need to pour in all the Great Warrior's power."
Though questioning how Zeke knew so much about an enemy she was seeing for the first time, Alicia nodded.
In her past life, she had trusted Zeke Murray that much.
"Understood."
After exchanging a look with Alicia, Zeke immediately sprang forward gripping Gram.
Cain threw an Aura Blade made of whips at Zeke who was charging quickly with Wind Step.
Zeke blocked Cain's attack by creating a barrier with Soul technique .
Then he jumped into the air using the rebound force.
WHOOSH!
Using Elemental Sword's wind field to ride the wind, Zeke changed direction mid-air toward where Cain was.
Then Cain tried to catch the airborne Zeke by raising shadows.
'Now!'
Zeke concentrated elemental force in Gram to create a water field.
CRASH!
Zeke's sword changed the flow of approaching shadows and pierced through them.
After deflecting the shadow blades, Zeke swung his sword at Cain.
The Infinite Sword Technique, ultimate swordsmanship that Zeke perfected beyond Dragon Slaying and True Dragon Sword techniques, unfolded.
Infinite Sword Technique Secret Form
First Form
Sun and Moon Slash
Zeke's sword created a slash that could cut even the sun and moon.
Caught off guard, Cain strongly raised red aura and launched a sword strike at Zeke.
CLASH!
A powerful collision occurred as the sword strikes met.
In that moment, Zeke turned his body, changed direction, and thrust his sword into the ground to create Strong Wave Resonance.
WOONG!
The Strong Wave Resonance momentarily disrupted Cain's Hersion.
As the attack landed, Zeke shouted.
"Grand Duke! Now!"
Startled by his cry, Cain turned around.
His eyes caught Alicia who had approached unnoticed, raising her wolf fang Sword.
He hurriedly tried to raise Shadow Armor but Alicia's sword was faster.
"HAAAT!"
Alicia's sword imbued with the Great Warrior's power pierced Cain's neck.
CRACK!
The Goddess Theia's Hersion made of orichalcon seemed to defend against Alicia's wolf fang Sword.
But not even orichalcon could stop Alicia's power.
CRUNCH!
When she poured in more power, amazingly the Lang-ah Sword began piercing through the armor.
Cain's eyes widened inside his helmet.
"T-This...!"
SLICE!
Alicia's wolf fang Sword beheaded Cain.
THUD!
Cain's severed head fell to the ground.
HISS!
Not only was Shadow Armor dispelled, but the Goddess Theia's Hersion also returned to its breastplate form.
Having used all his power, Zeke felt relieved seeing this.
'Done. I stopped him and saved Alicia.'
He had passed the test given by the Seed of Domain.
But then.
WOONG!
Darkness filled Zeke's vision.
* * *
"KILL THEM!"
The familiar scene with battle cries and weapons clashing echoed around him again.
Seeing the familiar sight again, Zeke made an incomprehensible expression.
"Why?"
He thought the test was to resolve his lingering regret by stopping Cain and saving Alicia.
But time rewound even after killing Cain, meaning his assumption was wrong.
'Then what does it want?'
After deep thought, Zeke suspected he might need to kill Cain with his own sword instead of Alicia's for the test to end.
With this new goal, Zeke managed to kill Cain with his sword instead of Alicia's on the fifteenth try.
But time rewound again.
This meant killing Cain wasn't the way to escape this past within his subconscious.
CRACK!
After returning to the same spot and killing the same hound hundreds of times, Zeke looked up at the tower on the castle wall with a dejected expression.
And he realized the reality he wanted to deny.
'I'm trapped here now.'
Just as the Evil God Ajitahaka and Wicked God Chaos were trapped in isolation barriers, Zeke too was trapped in this endlessly repeating prison of time.
Zeke wondered if perhaps the Trace of the Distorted Constellation's had deceived him and led him to enter this prison willingly.
Lost in thought, he sat leaning against the castle wall in the middle of the battlefield, appearing exhausted.
RUMBLE!
Fierce battles of life and death raged beside him, and cannon fire collapsed the castle walls.
Zeke sat there blankly in the midst of it all, like a spectator completely detached from the chaos. Like an audience member watching an intense play unfold on stage.
Then something crossed Zeke's mind.
'Stage?'
A play always repeats with the same stage, same actors, and same content.
Zeke thought the current situation was like being on an endless theater stage.
In fact, in his past life, he was an outsider who never stepped onto this stage.
The story ended with Himonas's defeat in this war and the Northern Grand Duke taking his own life.
And Zeke wanted to change that play's ending.
'But what meaning does that have?'
His return to the past erased his previous life, making all those deaths disappear.
Zeke's gaze fell on Gram in his hand.
The unspeakable darkness had given him Gram, a weapon from his past life that shouldn't exist now.
Like passing a prop from a finished play to another stage.
A thought suddenly crossed Zeke's mind.
'Did my past life really disappear?'
He thought everything he knew had vanished since time rewound and he lived a new life.
But while time and the world changed, what existed hadn't disappeared.
The proof was Zeke himself.
As long as Zeke remembered his past life that no longer existed, the vanished stage, its existence couldn't be denied.
Though that timeline's stage was no longer visible, its existence remained in Zeke's subconscious.
The moment he realized this, a message appeared before him.
[Responding to user's realization, the Seed of Domain blooms.]
[Unique Domain 'Vanished Stage' sprouts.]
Zeke stood up seeing the message.
He had transformed from Zeke Murray's attire to Zeke Draker's.
He was never meant to be on this stage.
He merely defined himself as a fitting character wanting to be on this stage.
Another message appeared before him.
[Acquired Unique Authority 'Immutable' in connection with Unique Domain 'Vanished Stage'.]
[Through Authority 'Immutable', user can maintain self in any stage.]
While not losing oneself on any stage might seem meaningless, Zeke thought differently.
Sun God Apollion at the peak of all Constellations.
To face him, one must enter his Unique Domain.
Apollion's Unique Domain was essentially a stage he created.
The stage's master could assign roles to those who entered and move them as intended.
But by not losing oneself, one could move differently from the master's wishes.
Because he was immutable and could determine his own role.
RUMBLE!
The sound of Himonas' walls crumbling echoed again.
Seeing this, Zeke raised his hand.
Amazingly, time stopped and everything froze.
This was possible because this too was part of the 'Vanished Stage' existing in Zeke's past subconscious, moving according to its master's will.
Zeke also realized he could summon the non-existent vanished stage into his Unique Domain.
Looking at his frozen stage, he slowly spoke.
"Distorted Constellation, I permit you to step onto this stage."
As Zeke spoke, the scenery began changing.
CRASH!
The crumbling Himonas Castle vanished and a strange landscape appeared.
Pillars with unknown civilizations' patterns stood irregularly, walls carved with completely different artistic styles.
The floor bricks too showed no uniformity, everything mixed chaotically.
A truly distorted world.
Zeke had allowed the worlds of old beings that no longer existed to enter his Unique Domain.
When the scene completed, Zeke turned to face a bizarre door overlaid with countless styles.
He approached the door and reached out.
As the door slowly opened, another message appeared before Zeke.
[Discovered the Temple of Distorted Constellation.]