683
Chapter 683
Rivein, wearing armor that emitted an ominous aura, raised Zahak and pointed it at Zeke.
"Zeke Draker. Behold, my true power chosen by father."
Rivein's voice echoed from within the armor.
At the same time, massive flames erupted from Zahak in his grip.
WHOOSH!
Zeke could sense the Elemental Sword's energy in the flames Rivein created.
However, it felt different from the Hero King's Elemental Sword he used.
The crimson flames Rivein ignited carried an inexplicable sense of foreboding.
Soon, a brilliant blade light rose from Zeke's sword, contrasting with that energy.
He quickly flew towards Rivein and delivered a sword strike.
SLASH!
Rivein also swung his flame imbued sword to block Zeke's attack.
BOOM!
CRASH!
Each time their swords clashed, massive shockwaves spread across the entire abandoned continent.
The two displayed dragon slaying techniques in similar stances, as if reflected in a mirror.
SLASH!
At one point during their exchange, Zeke's blade light infused strike attempted to split Rivein's body in an instant.
However, the crimson flames rising from Rivein's sword negated his strike, and instead Zahak dove into a blind spot to attack Zeke.
WHOOSH!
A black shadow rose from Zeke's body to block Zahak's attack before launching a counterattack, which Rivein's armor immediately blocked.
Rivein was showing skills on par with Zeke.
But then.
CRACK!
A section of Rivein's armor shattered and scattered.
While it appeared he was blocking Zeke's attacks and counterattacking, in reality, Rivein was being pushed back as impacts continued to accumulate.
Even with powerful artifacts as armament, it was impossible to completely negate Zeke's attacks, who possessed divine status.
"Huff, huff."
Rivein's rough breathing could be felt from behind the helmet covering his face.
Seeing this, Zeke spoke to Rivein.
"That armor and sword. They're not things to be used carelessly. Rather, they're consuming your life force."
Despite the serious warning, Rivein paid no mind and instead drew out more power from the sword and armor.
Accordingly, the armor surrounding Rivein's entire body began to transform.
CREAK!
The armor transformed into a demon-like appearance as crimson flames flashed, and two pairs of wings made of red plasma spread behind his back.
Watching Rivein's transformation, Zeke recalled Abel who had previously worn this.
'Back then, it also transformed into a demon dragon's appearance.'
Though he couldn't identify the armor's true nature, it seemed to respond to its owner's desire for power and change shape accordingly.
The problem was that when exceeding the wearer's power limit, it consumed their soul force.
Soon fully transformed into a demon, Rivein opened his mouth filled with sharp teeth and roared at Zeke.
ROAR!
A completely different level of force emanated from Rivein as he drew power by burning his soul.
Zeke, who had been quietly watching him, summoned Ascalon from his inventory.
"I don't know what Arthur Draker is planning, but I'll deal with you first before thinking about that."
WHOOSH!
Leviathan and Ascalon flew towards Rivein, emanating brilliant light.
CRACKLE!
The two swords, wrapped in soul-binding lightning, flew at even faster speeds to attack the demon-transformed Rivein.
As the swords approached, the red wings spread behind Rivein generated lightning that negated the soul-binding lightning.
CRACKLE!
The entire sky filled with red and white lightning.
When the red lightning caught Leviathan and Ascalon, Rivein charged straight at Zeke.
He swung Zahak while flying.
BOOM!
Rivein's sword strike, which had transcended the form of flames to become crimson blade light itself, flew towards Zeke.
Zeke reached toward the shadows, and immediately shadows emerged to wrap around both his hands.
SWISH!
Shortly after, two shadow swords hidden in Zeke's shadow, Caladbolg and Caledvulgh, took form.
Zeke swung the shadow swords toward Rivein's incoming sword strike.
SWISH!
Rivein's powerful sword strike imbued with ominous power disappeared the instant it touched the two shadow swords.
It vanished without a trace as if it had never existed in the first place.
Seeing this, Rivein retreated in confusion.
'How is this possible?'
Zeke, holding two shadow swords, gave off a completely different feeling than before.
The Shadow King, enveloped in darkness, overlooking everything.
As Zeke's pupils transformed into dragon eyes glowing with golden light, the Shadow King's pressure bore down on Rivein.
"......Father?"
In that moment, the demon-like helmet disassembled, revealing Rivein's bare face.
Seeing a glimpse of Arthur Draker in Zeke, who was emanating the presence of an absolute ruler, Rivein unknowingly let his guard down.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
Zeke's form, wrapped in shadows, seemed to grow larger and larger.
Overwhelmed by this, Rivein eventually shook his head and barely managed to regain his senses.
"That is an illusion. I am father's only successor! Only I can lead the new world!"
After reassuring himself, Rivein put his helmet back on, and simultaneously returned to his demon-like form.
At that moment, Zeke noticed that Rivein's armor was gradually becoming one with him.
He could see it was no longer just metal in texture. The armor was becoming Rivein's body itself, integrating with his skin and muscles.
Seeing this, Zeke realized that the armor Rivein wore was not just a simple ancient artifact.
Moreover, as soon as he realized this, he could feel distorted causality power leaking from Rivein's body as it merged with the armor.
'Is the armor itself made of dark matter?'
Zeke's face grew serious as he observed this. He could sense a power that was on a completely different level from the dark matter he had destroyed until now.
Then the two shadow swords in Zeke's hands suddenly began to writhe.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
After a moment, the swords changed shape, forming mouths that desperately tried to devour anything.
The shadow swords, imbued with the power ofAbsorption, could swallow anything with their tremendous power, but they were also artifacts that tried to break free from Zeke's control.
Zeke gripped the shadow power more tightly to prevent the transformed swords from escaping his control.
While controlling the swords, Zeke realized something.
'After seeing Bahamut's past, my power to control shadows has grown stronger.'
Previously, even controlling two shadow swords was challenging, but now he could wield that power to some extent.
It seemed that accessing Bahamut's mental realm had strengthened the Bahamut power dwelling in his heart.
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!
With satisfaction, Zeke fully unleashed the power of the 'Ruler of Twilight' and swung the shadow swords toward the demonized Rivein.
SWOOSH!
Shadow blades erupting from the shadow swords attacked Rivein like a storm, slashing across his solid body.
In an instant, Rivein's body became tattered.
ROAR!
Letting out another demon-like roar, Rivein created two more pairs of wings and flew toward Zeke, disregarding his painful wounds.
The Zahak in his hands had transformed beyond recognition from its original form.
The Zahak, transformed into grotesque blades like a mass of monsters, tried to devour Zeke by tearing through the shadows enveloping his body.
CRUNCH!
Zeke blocked Zahak's grotesque blades by swinging his shadow swords.
CRACK! CRACKLE!
The shadow swords gradually eroded Zahak's blades, trying to devour them.
Then Rivein's breastplate surface opened, and red energy flickered inside.
This destructive energy compressed and shot straight toward Zeke.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Zeke swung his shadow swords toward the destructive light flying at him.
CRUNCH!
The shadow swords changed their form and began to swallow the destructive light that Rivein had released.
However, as the shadow swords absorbed the light and grew larger, they began to break free from Zeke's control.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The two shadow swords, Caladbolg and Caledvulgh, which had devoured Zahak's blades and absorbed the destructive light, grew uncontrollably and tried to break free from Zeke's shadows. Noticing this, Rivein seized the opportunity and combined his four pairs of wings to attack Zeke.
CRACKLE!
Red lightning became a spear and flew toward Zeke.
Zeke, who was focused on controlling the shadow swords, reflexively pulled out another sword from his inventory to block the red lightning.
What emerged from the inventory was the sun sword Gram, which had been placed in Zeke's hands across space and time by the distorted constellation.
Zeke infused divine power into Gram to block the spear made of red lightning.
CRACKLE!
However, the red lightning traveled along Gram and enveloped not only Zeke's entire body but also the shadow swords trying to break free from control.
Then the shadow swords devoured even the red lightning and naturally crept toward Gram in Zeke's grip.
That's when something amazing happened.
WHOOSH!
The characters engraved on Gram's blade began to glow, and Caladbolg and Caledvulgh, which had been moving freely, became one and were absorbed into Gram.
HISS! HISS! HISS!
Zeke couldn't help but be surprised as he looked at Gram, whose blade had partially turned black while absorbing the shadow swords.
'It absorbs shadow swords? Did it always have this ability?'
In his past life, Gram had never shown such a strange phenomenon.
While Zeke was bewildered, Gram, having absorbed all the shadow swords, steadily drew in even the red lightning that Rivein had released.
CRACKLE!
No matter how much power he poured out, when Gram absorbed it all, Rivein eventually ceased his attack and retreated.
Whether his soul had been almost completely absorbed by the armor, Rivein had now transformed into a monster, having lost his human appearance.
As Zeke watched him with sunken eyes, Rivein opened his mouth, now filled with sharp teeth, and spoke to Zeke.
[Zeke Draker... You will certainly be my...]
Before finishing his words, a strange phenomenon occurred in Rivein's body.
CRUNCH!
Suddenly Rivein's body began to bend grotesquely, and he let out a pain-filled cry.
[ARGHHHH.]
In his agony, Rivein was completely devoured by the armor.
The armor, which had taken on a demon's form, returned to its original breastplate shape from before he wore it.
As the armor, now returned to its breastplate form, floated in the air, a black hole appeared behind it, and someone emerged from within.
HISS! HISS! HISS!
One of the Apollion knights wearing a white uniform emerged from the hole and stood in front of the breastplate.
But surprisingly, his face began to squirm and transform into Rivein's face the same Rivein who had just been devoured by the armor.
Zeke frowned as he looked at the newly appeared Rivein and said,
"...How horrific. Are you Rivein or someone else?"
Then the man, whose face had completely changed to Rivein's, looked at Zeke and said,
"I am both Rivein and not Rivein. But what's certain is that I am a superior being compared to his previous self."
The new Rivein retrieved the breastplate and put it on.
The breastplate then enveloped his entire body in the form of Hersion, and he took on the appearance of a black knight wielding Zahak, just like before.
Seeing this, Zeke realized why Arthur Draker had passed such a dangerous artifact to Rivein.
'The Knights of Apollion. They're all connected as one.'
Even if he killed this Rivein before him, the memories would be transferred to another vessel, allowing for resurrection.
Then something crossed Zeke's mind.
'That means...'
He looked at the new Rivein who had donned the armor.
Rivein's eyes had changed somehow.
He grinned and said to Zeke,
"Yes, all these children are excellent arrangements and vessels for me."
It was Arthur Draker speaking through the body of the new Rivein.