694
Chapter 694
Hades, who was sitting at the control seat in the command room controlling the ark, urgently shouted toward the crystal ball.
"Zeke, Zeke! Hey, you!"
Hades sent a message through the ark, but there was no answer.
"Damn it."
Hades frowned in irritation after confirming that the message with Zeke had been cut off.
Nigel and Nabu beside him were likewise furrowing their brows.
Nabu shook his head and said,
"It seems like this guy is trying to shoulder the burden alone again."
Then Ivan, who was behind them, shook his head.
"Rather than that, it's probably because Zeke himself is the only one qualified to enter that place."
Ivan, with his cool-headed personality, was accurately assessing the situation.
Manna nodded and continued,
"That's what this humble one thinks too. Beyond there is the domain of the constellations. Although we are transcendents who refused the Mythicization and remained in the physical realm, we have limitations in our power to face the constellations."
Ivan nodded in agreement with Manna's words.
"Unless we break free from karma's restrictions and exert our true powers, we would only hinder Zeke at this point."
Even the High Table, who transcended human power, fell far short of the constellations' power with their current limitations.
Nabu and Nigel had nothing more to say to that and just sighed without expressing further complaints.
Looking at the High Table members, Hades muttered thoughtfully,
"Hmm, does that mean if we could overcome karma's restrictions and exert our true powers, we could fight?"
At Hades' words, Nigel's eyes widened.
"Black Dragon, are you saying there's a way to remove the power restrictions placed on us?"
Hades scratched his head, pondering, then slowly opened his mouth.
"Hmmmm, I did create something just in case. That might possibly work..."
Nabu exclaimed in surprise at what Hades said after his pause.
"What? Are you saying there's really a way to escape karma's restrictions?"
Seeing Nabu's aggressive response, Hades replied in an uncertain tone.
"There is one... but I haven't exactly tested it properly. There might be side effects at this point."
At Hades' words, Nigel, who was behind them, pushed past Nabu and said with gleaming eyes,
"That doesn't matter. As long as we can break free from karma's restrictions and exert our true powers, that's all we need."
At her words, Hades scratched his cheek and then stood up.
"I'm not one to bring out imperfect things normally... hmm, well, let's take a look at it first."
When Hades snapped his fingers, space split open and a suit of armor popped out.
What Hades brought out looked similar to the Hersion worn by the Black Sword Knights, but something about it felt different.
Nabu examined the armor Hades had produced and soon gasped as if sensing something.
"I can feel faint traces of constellation here?"
Hades nodded with a surprised expression at his words.
"Oh, you can feel that?. You know your stuff."
The armor Hades had brought out was none other than one modified from the Hersion of the thirteen zodiac constellations excavated from the Rom Empire.
He had been conducting research with the Hersion imbued with the power of the Snake palace that Zeke had given him.
As a result of his research, it was impossible to recreate the Snake palace's power itself through the Hersion, but surprisingly, he discovered another function.
And through that function, wearing the Hersion modified by Hades would make it possible to escape karma's restrictions and exert power for a certain period of time.
Since Hades was very interested in researching and creating things themselves, he had just made it without thinking deeply about where to use it.
He had modified not only the Snake Palace’s Hersion but also other powerless Hersions recovered from the Rom Empire in the same way, but even Hades himself hadn't expected it to be used like this.
"But this is a bit tricky to handle..."
Hades tried to explain about the Hersion, but Nigel ignored his words and immediately approached the armor.
As she extended her hand and activated her will, the Hersion responded, opening the helmet, breastplate, and lower parts.
Nigel immediately put her body into the Hersion.
Then the armor attached to her body quickly transformed to fit her perfectly.
Nabu, Ivan, and Manna looked at Nigel in the Hersion with tense expressions.
After a moment of no reaction from the transformed Hersion, a powerful wave soon erupted from it.
WOOOOOONG!
Her comrades could feel that this energy was Nigel's true power.
Seeing this, even Hades was surprised and murmured,
"What? Why is this actually working?"
Nigel, who was emitting her true power without restrictions through Hades' Hersion, spoke to the High Table members.
[Everyone prepare yourselves.]
As the light in her eyes flashed inside the helmet, Nigel's voice continued.
[To prevent the Demon King's resurrection, we will enter the Final Tower.]
* * *
CRACKLE!
Zeke, who entered through the hole leading to the Final Tower, passed through a powerful plasma storm and entered the isolated dimensional plane.
RUMBLE!
With his divine status, Zeke could easily penetrate the plasma storm and enter the dimension where the true Final Tower existed.
THUD!
Zeke looked around after landing on the ground. The sight of an abandoned city with everything in ruins entered his vision.
'This is...?'
Zeke thought he should first figure out what this ruined city was.
"Laura, what is this city?"
In response to his words, System Laura answered with a message.
[This is Eden, the first city created by the Primordial Light.]
Zeke showed a surprised expression at Laura's answer.
"The primordial city, Eden."
The Elder Dragon had hidden the Demon King's soul inside a fragment of the primordial city that disappeared long ago.
After looking around the primordial city of Eden, which was destroyed beyond any trace of civilization, Zeke turned his attention away from his surroundings and tried to track Arthur Draker.
That's when something caught his eye.
He discovered a structure towering in the middle of the ruined city.
It had a similar form to the obelisk he had seen in the Forest of Nagas long ago, but its size was incomparably larger.
Zeke realized that the Demon King's soul was sealed in that obelisk.
'Arthur Draker must have headed there too.'
He immediately lifted his body to fly toward the obelisk.
But then he felt something pulling at his body.
"Laura, what's happening?"
System Laura answered Zeke's question with a message.
[This space is designed by the Elder Dragon to absorb constellation power.]
It meant there were limitations on using constellation power here.
Since the entire city was designed to absorb power as soon as constellation abilities were unleashed, Zeke put away his divine status.
He summoned his familiar, the Dragon Horse King Bucephalus.
WHOOSH!
With a flash of light, Bucephalus appeared before Zeke.
"It's been a while, Bucephalus."
Bucephalus seemed happy to see his master after so long, snorting and rubbing his cheek against him.
Zeke stroked Bucephalus's head, then mounted him and took the reins.
"Let's go there."
At his words, Bucephalus kicked the ground powerfully, soared into the air, and rapidly advanced toward the obelisk erected in the center of Eden.
As Zeke approached the obelisk riding Bucephalus, he sensed an eerie energy flying toward him.
BOOM!
When he identified what was coming with intense energy, surprisingly, they were Nephilim that looked similar to the Angels of the Apocalypse.
The Nephilim, wearing identical sets of armor, spread their wings made of light and charged toward Zeke with spears in hand.
WHOOSH!
Strong vibrations occurred from the spears they held, and simultaneously they launched shockwaves toward Zeke.
Zeke rode Bucephalus higher into the sky to avoid the shockwaves.
CRASH! CRASH!
The power of the shockwaves was considerable, shaking the entire atmosphere.
Even Bucephalus, the Dragon Horse King, was affected by those shockwaves to the point of losing balance.
The Nephilim immediately circled in the air and aimed their spears at Zeke again.
Seeing this, Zeke immediately summoned Leviathan and launched it straight toward the Nephilim.
WHOOSH!
Leviathan, wrapped in a flash of light, pierced through the shockwaves shot by the Nephilim's spears and flew at high speed.
At the same time, lightning burst from Bucephalus's horn.
CRACKLE!
Bucephalus's lightning spread in all directions, distracting the Nephilim.
During that time, Leviathan penetrated through the body of the leftmost Nephilim.
HISS!
The Nephilim pierced by Leviathan turned to dust and scattered.
Seeing this, the other Nephilim gripped their spears tighter, and at that moment, light surged from the spear tips.
WHOOSH!
Zeke felt that the energy surging from the Nephilim's spears was similar to the fighting spirit of high-ranking demon clan members.
They threw their spears, surrounded by energy, toward Zeke while avoiding Bucephalus's lightning.
CRASH CRASH!
Spears wrapped in light flew from all directions to pierce through Zeke.
Zeke summoned Gram and raised shadows.
The shadows rose and transformed into a shield form, blocking the spears flying toward Zeke.
Meanwhile, Leviathan, flying from behind, pierced through the Nephilim's bodies in one go, turning them to dust.
Zeke looked at the scattered Nephilim and turned his head toward the obelisk.
'The primordial city Eden... Are these beings remaining in its memory trying to protect that obelisk?'
But that's when it happened.
From the direction of the obelisk, something pitch-black could be seen flying toward them.
Surprisingly, the Nephilim that had just attacked Zeke had formed a legion and were flying toward him.
Zeke furrowed his brow at the Nephilim legion that appeared to number in the hundreds at a glance.
'If I waste more time here, Arthur Draker will claim the Demon King's soul first.'
Even considering that some of his power would be absorbed by Eden, he needed to defeat them quickly to pursue Arthur Draker.
Just as Zeke was about to activate Overclock to unleash his divine status,
Suddenly, meteors wrapped in flames began pouring down from the sky.
CRASH! CRASH!
The meteors attacked the approaching Nephilim, and simultaneously, a massive barrier formed, blocking his path.
'This power?'
When Zeke looked back, he saw Nabu, Manna, and Ivan on a magic carpet.
They were all wearing the armor made by Hades.
They were using the armor designed to hold constellation power to bypass karma's restrictions and exert their true transcendent powers.
Remembering what he had heard from Hades about his research results, Zeke's eyes lit up.
While Manna blocked the enemies' approach with a barrier, Ivan was using a magic cannon modified by Hades to snipe the approaching Nephilim.
Nabu, clumsily wearing armor with exposed magic circuits due to unfinished exterior work, shouted excitedly.
"Hahaha! To be able to use power without worrying about karma! This is absolutely thrilling!"
Nabu opened a book and began reciting stories that were previously difficult to use due to karma's restrictions.
Shortly after, a massive tsunami suddenly rose from the other side of the city and crashed into the flying Nephilim.
CRASH! CRASH!
The powerful tsunami swept away part of the Nephilim legion, erasing quite a number of them, but the Nephilim legion still remained strong.
The Nephilim holding spears wrapped in light flew in with a threatening momentum.
CRASH! CRASH!
Just then, something rushed toward them from the opposite direction, and a powerful slash filled with will instantly swept through the Nephilim legion.
Zeke recognized that slash as Nigel's soul technique.
"Master?"
Nigel, wearing the armor modified by Hades, exerted her true power and began slaughtering the incoming Nephilim.
The Nephilim struck by her slashes invariably turned to ashes and scattered.
Thanks to the High Table members exerting their true powers, they could quickly dispatch the Nephilim, but even more Nephilim flew from the obelisk than they had defeated.
That's when Nigel opened her helmet and shouted toward Zeke.
"Zeke! We'll handle this! Quickly go down and stop Arthur Draker!"
Zeke looked at each High Table member one by one, starting with Nigel, who had transformed into a woman rather than a girl after unleashing her true power.
He decided to trust in his master and the High Table members' strength.
"Understood, Master."
Zeke nodded in response to Nigel's words and immediately rode Bucephalus toward the obelisk.
Watching Zeke, Nigel smiled faintly before closing her helmet again.
"Come as much as you want, forgotten beings from the fragments."
WHOOSH!
Powerful will surged from her sword, and an enormous light swept across the sky.