674
Chapter 674
KUGUGUGUGUGU!
Black flames poured down like rain in all directions, and a storm of heat swept across the entire beach.
“Good heavens…”
Elizabeth and the mages watching this scene from the sand fortress built by Zeke couldn’t close their mouths.
They had never seen such a collision between Demon Lords unleashing all their power, even in the demon realm.
This was because if Demon Lords were to seriously clash in the unstable demon realm, the territory itself would collapse.
Therefore, Demon Lords had always avoided direct confrontation with each other.
Even Baal and Agares, despite their aggressive tendencies, had rarely clashed directly despite their growling at each other.
Yet here on this abandoned continent, two Demon Lords of the demon realm were displaying their true divine powers without holding back.
KURURURURURU!
As the rain of fire and storm raged, an ominous phenomenon occurred in the sky.
KUGUGUGUGUGU!
Suddenly, light flashed from the black clouds in the sky, and a massive whirlwind began churning within.
KURURURURURUNG!
Then, a thunderous sound that seemed to split heaven and earth echoed in all directions.
KUGUGUGUGUGU!
Simultaneously, two massive fireballs appeared in the sky and descended to the ground.
The mages who saw this cried out in terror.
“Ru-Run away!”
“We’ll all die at this rate!”
But before they could escape from the sand fortress, the fireballs instantly plunged into the ground.
A massive shockwave spread out in concentric circles, sweeping over the sand fortress like a tidal wave.
At that moment, a translucent barrier formed around the sand fortress.
UWUWUWUWUNG!
The Defense Mode activated by Zeke had protected them from the shockwave.
KWARURURURURURU!
The mage demons wore shell-shocked expressions as they watched the massive shockwave surge pass through them.
Two shadows emerged from the rising sandstorm.
KRURURURU!
Asmodeus, whose body was scorched all over by the flames of the abyss summoned by Zeke, glared at him.
Dozens of pairs of eyes resembling those of beasts stared at Zeke while exhaling rough breaths mixed with acid.
Zeke noticed that Asmodeus had already expended considerable power while manifesting in the physical realm.
‘Wait, Arthur Draker must have known this would happen. Then why did he use the Dark Mage’s of the Abyss to summon Asmodeus to the physical realm?’
In this state, Asmodeus’s soul would only serve to strengthen Zeke’s divinity by being absorbed by him.
While he was thinking, Asmodeus, who had not regained his sanity, raised his head again and let out a long howl.
And at that moment, Zeke realized why Arthur Draker had forcibly summoned Asmodeus.
KUGUGUGUGUGU!
Just then, the ground split open and something began to surge up from underground.
‘This is?’
Surprisingly, three massive chimeras similar in form to Asmodeus emerged from the ground.
KAAAAAAK!
While all three were basically dragons, each was mixed with different creatures.
The one in front appeared to be a mix of tiger and snake, the one beside it eagle and bear, and the one behind lion and ox.
The power emanating from these roaring beings was clearly different from ordinary demon beasts.
Each one possessed at least the power of a demon realm corps commander.
Zeke could tell what these beings were.
‘A thousand years ago during the Liberation War, when the demon realm’s army descended to the physical realm. They said those above highest-grade demons borrowed dragons’ bodies…’
The chimeras before him were Asmodeus’s corps commanders who had descended to the physical realm by borrowing dragons’ bodies during the Liberation War a thousand years ago.
Arthur Draker had summoned Asmodeus to the physical realm to call forth the corps commanders who were sealed with the Demon King in this abandoned continent.
Realizing this situation, Zeke also understood the identity of the demon beasts that Elizabeth had said were rushing this way.
‘The Demon King’s army that participated in the Liberation War with these beings. They still remained intact in this abandoned continent.’
The most commonly summoned demon realm species during the Liberation War were the Gehenna demons who craved blood and slaughter.
Since Asmodeus was their Demon Lord, he would be able to call forth many subordinates under his command.
Just as Zeke’s eyes flashed, the three corps commanders took positions as if to protect Asmodeus.
They too seemed to have lost their sanity, showing fierce aggression while instinctively opposing Zeke.
Just then, a massive vibration echoed from behind.
DUDUDUDU!
When he turned his head, as Zeke had guessed, the demon realm’s army was revealing itself.
While they might have been mistaken for demon beasts on the surface, Zeke, who possessed the rank of constellation, could see through their true identity.
They were clearly elite demons with powerful bodies that had adapted and survived in Gehenna’s harsh environment.
They were the most feral and instinctively aggressive of all demons, making them the most preferred type by summoning dark mages.
As a result, they were frequently summoned to the physical realm, including demons like Mammon the ‘Endless Devourer’, Belial the ‘Serpent of the black maw’, and Wirinom the ‘Herald of Blood and Madness’ all sealed by Zeke were Gehenna demons.
And following them, Arthur Draker had also chosen to summon these beings.
KUEOOOOO!
The Gehenna soldiers recognized Asmodeus as their master and charged fiercely.
Caligula, who was controlling the monsters on standby under Zeke's orders, detected the approaching demons.
He activated Blood Eye and ordered the monsters to attack them.
KWAAAAA!
Thousands of monsters under Caligula's command charged toward the Gehenna soldiers.
KWAKWAKWAKWAKWANG!
A brutal massacre unfolded as monsters and demons collided.
When the feral Gehenna soldiers clashed with monsters driven only by attack instincts, a hellish slaughter began.
KWADDDDK!
Dozens of monsters pounced on a demon soldier at once, grabbing and tearing at their body.
Proving their elite status, the Gehenna soldiers tore apart monsters with sharp claws and ripped off heads with their teeth.
Asmodeus and the corps commanders remained motionless watching the massacre.
Zeke sensed something strange about this.
'Could it be?'
He activated Blood Eye and scanned the battlefield again.
Something he hadn't seen before came into view.
Everything was tinged with red energy.
GULP! GULP! GULP!
The corps commanders were channeling the power of death flowing from the brutal massacre to Asmodeus.
Zeke recalled seeing such a scene before.
'Wirinom, Herald of Blood and Madness.'
Wirinom was a demon who granted his authority to orc armies and continuously caused slaughter to gain karma from the negative energy flowing from those scenes.
Asmodeus, a higher-ranking demon than Wirinom, was also recovering his depleted karma through the power of death flowing from scenes of brutal slaughter.
KUGUGUGUGUGU!
As the slaughter accelerated, Asmodeus's eyes grew increasingly alive.
Seeing this, Zeke raised Ascalon, glaring at the three corps commanders channeling death power to Asmodeus.
"Playing tricks, are we?"
UWUWUWUNG!
Sacred soul energy flowed from his sword, bathing the surroundings in brilliant light.
TSUTSUTSUTU!
The red energy flowing from the battlefield began to subside in the light of the sacred soul energy.
The corps commanders who had been focused on channeling power to Asmodeus now glared at the light-emitting Zeke.
Their top priority was recovering their master, so they had a duty to eliminate Zeke who was interfering.
PAJIJIJIK!
White lightning surged from Zeke's body.
He shouted at the corps commanders glaring at him.
"Ghosts of a failed cause! There is no place for you here! Begone at once!"
With his words, Leviathan and Ascalon, wrapped in brilliant sword light, soared into the air.
The two swords flew freely through the air toward the corps commanders.
KAAAAAA!
The Gehenna corps commanders dwelling in corrupted dragon bodies opened their mouths toward Zeke's swords and breathed out dragon's breath.
KWAKWAKWAKWAKWA!
All three corps commanders had different breaths - acid breath, lava breath, and petrification breath.
TSUTSUTSUTUSU!
The first to fly toward the swords was the petrification breath.
The breath containing a terrible curse that turns everything it touches to stone enveloped Leviathan and Ascalon.
KWADDDDDD!
The surfaces of the two swords touched by the breath gradually transformed into stone, losing their sword light.
The acid breath wrapped around the petrified swords, and immediately after, the lava breath swallowed them.
JURURURURURU!
The liquified lava dripped to the ground, soon hardening into stone pillars.
Zeke's Leviathan and Ascalon were trapped inside the stone pillars.
The corps commanders who had breathed out approached Zeke, who had lost his swords, with confident attitudes as if they had already won, despite their mindless state.
Zeke spoke to the corps commanders:
"Foolish ones."
With his words, the firmly hardened stone pillars began to vibrate.
KUGUGUGUGU!
Soon after, bright light began streaming out from within the shaking stone pillars.
The stone pillars cracked while emitting light, then collapsed as two swords wrapped in sword light emerged and flew back toward the corps commanders.
KAAAK!
Not expecting the swords to emerge intact, the corps commanders roared and retreated.
But the swords' speed was far faster than they anticipated.
PUEOOOOK!
With a loud noise, the swords pierced straight through the corps commanders' bodies.
KUEOOOOO!
The corps commanders pierced by the swords screamed in agony as they tried desperately to maintain their balance.
Staggering from the sword strikes, they barely managed to turn their heads to glare at Zeke controlling the swords.
Then they simultaneously opened their mouths to shoot their three breaths toward Zeke.
KWAKWAKWAKWAKWA!
The acid, lava, and petrification breaths engulfed Zeke.
Zeke withstood all three breaths with his bare body and mockingly said,
"Is this all the power Gehenna corps commanders possess?"
Then he reached toward the breaths enveloping his body and unleashed his power of great purification.
WOOOOOOO!
Golden aura wrapped around his body.
The three breaths were instantly purified, transforming into clear water droplets that fell like rain.
Simultaneously, the negative energy flowing from the battlefield was also purified by the great purification aura.
KRURURURUK!
Asmodeus, who had been recovering through negative energy, felt repulsed by Zeke's purification power and retreated.
The corps commanders whose bodies were pierced by Zeke's swords were equally uncomfortable with the purification power.
As Gehenna demons who gained power from madness and slaughter, they were most affected by the power of great purification.
Watching the corps commanders who feared him, Zeke pulled out Solomon's Chain.
"You must not have known my constellation name as a Demon Lord."
The 'Guide of Fair Pain' ,Zeke was a being who impartially delivered pain to both constellations and demons alike.
The corps commanders realized something was wrong as they watched Zeke approach them holding chains of light while emitting golden aura.
The corps commanders, who were gradually regaining their sanity by absorbing the power of slaughter and madness from the battlefield, recalled their invasion of the physical realm a thousand years ago.
They remembered a human knight who rode a winged horse wielding such weapons, and a human woman who used golden power.
Though that knight and woman also possessed immense power, they were incomparable to this inhuman human before them.
They felt instinctive fear from this human who emitted an even more overwhelming presence than their lord Asmodeus.
KAAAK!
Though they were Gehenna demons who knew no fear or retreat, they all turned simultaneously to flee from Zeke.
CHWARALARAK!
But it was already too late to escape.
Solomon's Chain infused with golden aura had already wrapped around the three corps commanders' bodies.
Zeke looked into the souls of the demons possessing the dragons' bodies and said:
"Feel the pain that pierces the soul."
TSUTSUTSUTSUTSU!
Golden aura was directly transmitted to their souls through the chains.
The corps commanders let out soul-piercing screams at pain they had never felt in their long lives.
Zeke listened to those screams as he forcibly extracted the corps commanders' souls from the dragon bodies.
[AAAAK!]
[IT HURTS! IT HURTS!]
[HOW COULD A HUMAN?! THIS CAN'T BE!]
The true corps commanders' screams echoed in Zeke's ears.
Ignoring them all, he raised shadows to envelop their souls.
SUSUSUSUSU!
The souls of the corps commanders that had been bound to the abandoned continent for so long were absorbed into Zeke's shadows.
He threw their corrupted souls as food for the shadow spirits.
He had no desire to turn the souls of those who had defiled dragon bodies and invaded the physical realm into guardians.
Soon he could feel the shadow spirits growing stronger after absorbing the corps commanders' souls.
After swiftly dealing with the corps commanders, Zeke, still wrapped in golden aura, turned his head to look at Asmodeus.
Then he opened his mouth toward him:
"Asmodeus, drop the act of pretending to have lost your sanity."