676
Chapter 676
Inside the fallen great hall of an old abandoned castle covered in dust, there was a raised platform accessible by stairs.
And atop those stairs, overlooking the great hall, sat a rusted iron throne.
On that throne sat a figure wrapped completely in bandages wearing an old black coat, completely motionless.
Then a loud vibration echoed from outside the castle.
KRRRRRRRR!
The explosion was so powerful it shook not just the entire castle but even reached the iron throne on the stairs.
After a moment, the bandaged figure on the throne began to move slightly.
CRACKKKK!
As if having not moved for a long time, just moving an arm produced sounds like breaking bones.
Starting with the right arm, he slowly moved both legs, left arm, and raised his lowered head.
CRACKKKK!
The sound of stiff joints loosening echoed loudly.
After loosening his entire body, he slowly rose from his seat.
CRACK!
Though the man’s body under the coat was dried like a mummy, his height and build were much larger than an average adult male.
As if movement wasn’t natural for him, he remained standing in place for a while even after rising.
After staying still for some time, he slowly extended his arm and the bandages in his hand formed into the shape of a sword.
Raising the bandage-formed sword, the man slowly began descending the stairs.
THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!
The entire hall shook with each step he took down the stairs.
After shaking the space and descending the stairs, the bandaged man crossed through the dust-filled hall, and as he approached, the tightly closed doors opened on their own.
Beyond the opened castle doors stretched the view of a completely destroyed city.
The bandaged man looked at this and muttered something in a low voice.
“Death is all that shall be given to those who come to this cursed place…”
With those words, the bandaged man completely left the castle and disappeared into the destroyed city.
The cursed specter of the broken continent had begun to move.
* * *
Zeke moved to where Yekaterina’s tower was, bringing Asmodeus along.
The tower stood at the mountain ridge, above the entrance leading into the valley.
They had originally planned to summon the tower inside the valley, but seeing it built in front of it suggested something was there.
At that moment, something flew toward Zeke as he was moving while pulling the Sky Fortress of Elizabeth.
“My lord!”
It was none other than Dawn Commander Arataso.
Approaching while flashing his green armor, Arataso was startled seeing Asmodeus next to Zeke.
“Could it be… ‘Master of Unrelenting Passion’?”
He was shocked to see Asmodeus, a great demon and one of the grand dukes of the demon realm, manifested in his true form in the physical realm next to Zeke.
Looking at such Arataso, Zeke shook his head.
“No need to worry. Though conditional, Asmodeus is bound in subjugation to me.”
At hearing that Zeke had subjugated Asmodeus, one of the grand dukes, following his sealing of Mephistopheles, Arataso showed an expression of disbelief.
But soon collecting himself, he reported to Zeke.
“Following your orders, we tried to erect the tower inside the valley but… entry was impossible so we had no choice but to build it at the entrance.”
From Arataso’s words, Zeke realized as expected that some problem had occurred.
“Have you identified why entry into the valley is impossible?”
“We haven’t identified the exact reason yet. We tried to approach but there was something that absolutely couldn’t be approached. Rather than explaining in words… it would be faster for you to see it yourself, my lord.”
Zeke nodded at Arataso’s words and spoke to Asmodeus.
“Enter the tower with Elizabeth and guard that place. Anastasia’s Invasion Fortress is needed to open the gate. Use your power to awaken her.”
With Zeke’s current abilities, while Anastasia’s body had recovered, he couldn’t yet awaken her shocked mind.
Asmodeus’s demon name was ‘Master of Unrelenting Passion’.
This was a title related to blood, vitality, and abundance, and perhaps because of this, among Asmodeus’s authorities was the ability of healing.
Accordingly, with Asmodeus’s authority over passion, it should be possible to heal Anastasia’s mind.
Being subjugated to Zeke, Asmodeus couldn’t disobey his words.
“Understood, my lord.”
Forcing down her bitter expression, Asmodeus headed toward Yekaterina’s tower along with the Sky Fortress.
After sending the forces to the tower, Zeke spoke to Arataso.
“Let’s go to the valley.”
Zeke flew with Arataso toward the valley they said couldn’t be approached.
And upon arriving at the valley entrance, Zeke understood what Arataso meant by saying they couldn’t enter.
As soon as they arrived at the entrance, an overwhelming force from inside was pushing away all who approached the valley.
Zeke realized why no monsters of the abandoned continent existed in this area.
‘But this force, it’s not unfamiliar.’
A force emanating an intense pressure that seemed to deny entry to anyone, yet Zeke was gradually being drawn toward the valley entrance.
Arataso asked in shock at seeing Zeke.
"My lord? Are you alright?"
Unlike his usual self who maintained composure and moved only after fully grasping situations, Zeke was approaching the dangerous valley entrance without hesitation.
In that moment, Zeke realized what this force was.
'This is dragon's energy? But... something's different.'
He tensed his expression upon feeling this dragon's energy was far from ordinary.
Ignoring Arataso trying to hold him back, Zeke moved closer to the valley.
As he extended his hand toward the valley, a dragon-like roar echoed and a fierce wind blew from inside, pulling things inward.
"My lord!"
Despite Arataso's shout, Zeke disappeared, instantly sucked into the valley.
Arataso tried following but the wind reversed strongly.
"UGH!"
The valley forcefully pushed Arataso back, as if refusing entry to anyone except Zeke.
Even with his full Dawn Commander powers restored, Arataso couldn't penetrate the mysterious force blocking the valley entrance.
"Damn it! My Loooord!"
Arataso's cry echoed emptily throughout the valley.
* * *
WHOOSH!
Pulled into the valley by strong winds, Zeke suddenly came to his senses.
'Where is this?'
He had extended his hand toward the valley entrance as if enchanted, and now found himself being carried somewhere by the wind.
'What is this place...?'
Zeke had experienced a similar place before, the Dragon's Tomb where Vlad II Bathory had lured him into a trap.
A cunning trap designed to neutralize his power by showing illusions to a dragon who fell in love with humans and steal its heart.
In this valley, Zeke could sense not only dragon's energy but also that strange power he felt in the Dragon's Tomb.
'Why is there a Dragon's Tomb in the abandoned continent?'
Questions kept piling up.
As Zeke pondered to assess the situation, he felt strange changes occurring as he was pulled deeper inside.
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
Zeke's heart was beating surprisingly fast.
'What's this suddenly?'
More precisely, it wasn't Zeke's heart beating.
The dragon's heart he had absorbed and stored in his diantan was pulsing frantically.
Zeke furrowed his brow feeling the dragon's heart suddenly showing such intense reaction.
'Just what is this place…?'
At that moment, the valley path ended and a massive space appeared before his eyes.
The strange power restricting dragon's force felt in the valley was barely traceable here.
Rather, this inner area was filled with intense dragon energy.
Zeke realized the overwhelming pressure felt at the valley entrance was this energy flowing outward.
'If the power restricted by the Dragon's Tomb is this strong, how powerful must the dragon emitting this force be.'
Zeke had met divine dragons protecting the sea, forest, and earth.
Yet this dragon force filling the area felt no weaker than those constellation-ranked divine dragons.
It even felt stronger than them.
TSSS!
Zeke slowly descended from the air and landed on the floor of the massive space.
Looking around after landing, he realized this wasn't a natural cave but an artificially created cavity.
The black stones covering the floor weren't natural but bricks processed from fairy stone.
'They filled this vast space with precious fairy stone?'
A space that would make Nirvana's magicians faint, who trembled at a single fairy stone.
Enough space to accommodate over a dozen legions of ten thousand soldiers each, all paved with fairy stone.
Clicking his tongue softly, Zeke slowly walked deeper into the cavity.
The deeper he went, the stronger the dragon's energy became, and simultaneously the pulsing in his chest quickened.
After walking some distance inside.
GRRRR!
Suddenly a fierce roar and massive presence was felt ahead.
Zeke stopped and looked straight ahead.
The darkness made it hard to see properly.
Though darkness usually meant little to Zeke.
Nothing could obstruct his dragon eye's vision, no matter how dark.
Zeke realized what was hiding the being before him was none other than 'shadow'.
'Similar to Shadow Armor... no, it is Shadow Armor itself.
The Shadow Armor that Zeke possessed was the true legacy hidden within Theia's goddess Hersion.
And since the true identity of the goddess Theia was the God of Chaos, ultimately the Shadow Armor was an artifact created by the God of Chaos.
Until now, Zeke had been the only being to possess Shadow Armor, as it was unlikely for there to be many legacies left behind by the God of Chaos who was sealed by the Sun God.
That's why Zeke couldn't believe there was a being wrapped in shadows of even greater scale than his own Shadow Armor.
Zeke spoke with divine authority toward the being concealing itself in shadows.
【You who called me here. Reveal yourself.】
Despite him conveying his will in divine language, which was of higher status than mortal speech, the shadow-wrapped being showed no reaction.
Rather, it only emanated an even greater presence and pressure from behind the shadows.
The strange thing was that despite this, no hostility toward Zeke could be felt.
'Could this be Arthur Draker's doing? No, if it were, there should have been some kind of reaction by now. It's difficult to guess their identity.'
Zeke took another step toward the mysterious being hidden behind the shadows.
Suddenly the shadows rippled and transformed into black spears that extended toward Zeke.
SWOOSH!
Toward the shadow spears that instantly stretched out, Zeke likewise raised his Shadow Armor.
Similarly, black blades sprang forth and deflected the black spears.
CLANG!
However, when the shadow spears and blades collided, they became entangled and merged into one.
WOOONG!
Just as Zeke's eyes widened, strong vibrations occurred as the Shadow Armor and mysterious shadows became one.
At the same time, a message appeared before Zeke's eyes.
[The power of the Shadow Dragon sleeping in the user's heart responds to the 'Eternal Shadow'.]
'The power of the Shadow Dragon?'
The power of the Shadow Dragon that Zeke had absorbed had a single origin.
The cursed evil dragon Bahamut.
The cursed dragon who willingly accepted the Demon King into his body and accepted the stigma of being an evil dragon, sacrificing himself for Terakan Draker who was her lover in the mortal realm.
It was Bahamut's power engraved in Zeke's heart that was responding to the shadow.
TSSSSSS!
After a moment, the shadows concealing Zeke's front slowly split apart, revealing the being hidden within.
Zeke could not help but have his pupils shake upon seeing that being.
'This cannot be...'
A massive dragon with scales as black as darkness.
That dragon was bound by chains made of light as it gazed at Zeke with yellow eyes.
Another message appeared before Zeke's eyes.
[The master of the Eternal Shadow, ruler of twilight Bahamut looks upon the user.]