703
Chapter 703
'What is this...?'
Zeke couldn't help but be shocked at the completely destroyed tower and the numerous ship debris scattered everywhere.
The Apollion Legion, as well as the Continental Alliance and Demon Realm forces that Zeke had brought through the gate, had all been annihilated.
Zeke descended from Tiamat and examined the mountain of debris.
Broken fragments were piled like mountains, with abandoned beasts from the continent rummaging through the wreckage.
They felt instinctive fear when Zeke approached and immediately fled.
Zeke blankly surveyed the debris for a moment before trying to find survivors through the system.
[Search results show no traces of survivors.]
Zeke furrowed his brow at Laura's message that there were no survivors within the search range.
'Could it mean everyone was wiped out?'
Either they were all dead or they had escaped beyond the search range, but the former was more likely.
It was hard to imagine that Arthur Draker, who had awakened Apollion's power and become the King in Yellow, would have let them escape.
Before his regression, Zeke had lost all his companions, including Alicia, in the Continental War.
Left alone, Zeke began stealing ancient artifacts that the emperor, who had started the Continental War, was collecting to exact revenge.
It was the struggle of a survivor who had lived on while leaving his companions behind.
For the first time since his regression, Zeke was feeling those same emotions again.
Zeke possessed a stronger mind and firmer will than any other constellation.
Nevertheless, despair was creeping in at the possibility that all the companions he had formed bonds with in this new life might be dead.
'No. I need to pull myself together.'
Zeke forcefully shook off the despair that was infiltrating him and steadied his breathing.
Arthur Draker and other enemies were still out there.
If he failed to pull himself together, the King in Yellow would surely bring Ragnarok again and cause the end of the phenomenal world.
'Even the corrupted primordial light has been absorbed by me. If Ragnarok occurs in the phenomenal world in this state, the restrictions placed by the primordial light might collapse.'
If that happened, a new world could be created according to the will of Arthur Draker, who possessed Apollion's power.
A new world filled only with Apollion's knights who worshipped him as a god.
Zeke didn't want such a terrible world to be created.
Having regained his composure, Zeke decided to first find out what had happened while he was gone.
He searched for the ark among the abandoned debris.
He thought that if the ark was connected to the system, it would have recorded what had happened here.
"Laura, find the ark for me."
With Zeke's words, the system widened its search range and began looking for traces of the ark among the debris.
Soon, a message appeared before his eyes.
[Search results are marked on the map.]
Zeke moved toward the location indicated by the system.
The ark was quite far from where the debris was piled.
When he arrived at the location guided by the system, he saw cracked ground, collapsed mountains, and a scorched coastline.
It certainly seemed like a fierce battle had taken place here.
'These are traces of resistance until the very end.'
Among those traces, Zeke found the half-destroyed ark, buried in the cracked earth.
WHEEEEEE!
Flying toward the half-destroyed ark, Zeke hardened his expression and surveyed the surroundings.
There was no sense of the King in Yellow or the Apollion Legion.
Zeke spoke to the system Laura.
"Laura, try connecting to the ark's system."
At Zeke's command, Laura attempted to connect with the ark's system, but the message that appeared indicated there was no response.
It seemed completely destroyed.
'I'll have to go inside and check.'
Zeke carefully examined the entrance and slowly entered the ark through a broken hole.
Going inside to check the condition, the ark seemed to have been abandoned here for several weeks.
'Was I in the void world for that long?'
The void world, which even devoured the flow of time, had a different sense of time and reality.
Although he had absorbed all the Demon King's power, it had taken too long to escape.
As guilt for failing to protect his companions began to creep up again, Zeke clenched his teeth and strengthened his resolve.
'I don't even have time to despair. I need to quickly figure out what the current situation is.'
Zeke pushed through the broken debris of the ark and headed toward the control room.
Everything else was destroyed, but the control room door was still intact.
Zeke extended his hand toward the control room door.
Having lost its function, the door didn't open despite Zeke reaching out.
Zeke had no choice but to manipulate the shadows to forcibly twist open the firmly fixed door.
CRAAAACK!
As the door opened, the scene of the control room was revealed.
After checking the control room, Zeke wore an expression of incomprehension.
"What on earth...?"
There were no traces of living beings in the cockpit, only clothing scattered around.
As if the clothes remained while the people wearing them had simply evaporated.
Zeke examined the clothes strewn throughout the cockpit.
There were remnants of the demon realm princesses, Hades and Yelin, the Hersions of the Black Sword Knights, and traces of the High Tables including his master Nigel, all perfectly preserved.
'Did they fight against those creatures until the very end while aboard the ark.'
Zeke looked at his comrades' clothing then turned toward the recording device in the cockpit.
He placed his hand on the largest crystal orb positioned in front of the recording device.
CRACKLE! CRACKLE! CRACKLE!
The crystal orb appeared intact from the outside, but like the door, it had completely lost its function and couldn't read any recordings.
"Damn it..."
The only way to find out what happened here was gone.
Zeke clutched his head in despair and gritted his teeth, but suddenly his eyes lit up as something entered his field of vision.
'A mirror?'
A mirror with a form that didn't match the cockpit was attached to the front wall.
Zeke realized that the bamboo-woven mirror frame looked familiar.
Then he immediately recalled the mirror's identity.
"That's definitely the one that was in the Hermit's house..."
Something flashed through Zeke's mind.
He approached the mirror right away.
Then he reached out his hand toward the mirror and infused it with energy.
WHOOOOOOM!
Amazingly, the surface of the mirror began to ripple in response to Zeke's energy.
At the same time, something appeared in the mirror.
[D-damn it. It's working now!]
Nabu's face appeared on the other side of the mirror.
The image was blurry and the voice wasn't clear, but there was no doubt that the person standing in front of the mirror was Nabu.
Nabu in the mirror shouted urgently.
[Damn it all, I'm leaving this recording here because I don't know what's going to happen! Zeke, I hope you can see this... though I'm not sure what you could do even if you saw it.]
Just as he finished speaking, suddenly a tremendous roar echoed from within the mirror.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
Nabu covered his ears at the reverberating roar, then continued speaking.
[The situation is the worst possible. The King in Yellow has emerged from the rift. As prophesied, he was the being who would bring about the end of the world.]
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Another massive roar thundered through.
Nabu, who had paused speaking, swallowed hard and then spoke calmly.
[Half the ship was blown away with just one swing of his sword. We hid the survivors on the ark in a place where he couldn't find us, trying to hold out until you returned, Zeke. But it was useless. The King in Yellow and those damn Knights of the Round Table persistently hunted us down no matter where we hid.]
Zeke repeated Nabu's words.
'Knights of the Round Table?'
It was a name he'd never heard before.
He didn't know there were other helpers besides Apollion's knights.
At that moment, someone else's face leaned into view beside the mirror.
[Zeke!]
It was his master, Nigel.
Nigel, appearing as a mature woman rather than a young girl, spoke with an anguished voice.
[The King in Yellow and the Knights of the Round Table... they are beings beyond our ability to handle. Zeke, I hate to say this, but... if you see this, don't fight them, run away...]
Suddenly, a blinding light poured out from the mirror.
The light soon subsided, and no more words came from within the mirror.
CRACKLE! CRACKLE! CRACKLE!
Zeke looked at the mirror that now emitted only static, then turned to look at the traces of his comrades who had disappeared leaving only their clothes behind.
Given the circumstances, it seemed that the flash of light in the mirror had vaporized his comrades.
'The King in Yellow and the Knights of the Round Table...'
Zeke clenched his fist tightly, trying somehow to suppress his rising anger.
Now was the time to plan the next move rationally rather than being swept away by emotions.
But just then.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
A thunderous noise came from outside.
Zeke immediately stepped back and assumed a defensive stance.
At the same time, one side of the cockpit wall burst open and something charged in.
THUD!
What entered the cockpit was a knight wearing bronze armor, carrying a shield and lance, mounted on a bronze-colored horse.
It was as if a bronze knight statue had come to life and was moving.
Eyes glinted from inside the bronze knight's helmet.
Then without a word, the knight thrust its lance toward Zeke.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
The lance spun fiercely as it shot toward Zeke.
Zeke immediately drew his sword that contained starlight, formed by the combination of Leviathan and Ascalon.
He stepped forward and swung his sword at the bronze lance.
KABOOM!
With a powerful explosion, the bronze lance shattered.
The impact caused the bronze knight to retreat.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
With just one strike from Zeke's sword, the ark's cockpit was completely devastated.
But having only retreated, the bronze knight regained his posture as if he hadn't been hit at all.
He raised his shield in front and stretched out his hand, recreating the lance.
Then this time, he charged directly at Zeke on horseback.
THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!
The lance, carrying a heavy weight, flew toward Zeke with enough force to impale him.
Zeke once again raised his sword, stepped forward, and swung it widely at the lance.
One of the first basic movements learned when mastering the Dragon Slaying Technique.
It was the movement Zeke had performed most often in his previous life.
Dragon Slaying Technique Basic Form
Chapter 1, Verse 1
Sky Slash
Despite being the most basic form, when wielded by Zeke, a Transcendent God class, its power was beyond imagination.
SLIIIICE!
A massive line appeared where Zeke's Sky Slash had passed through.
The line cut through not only the bronze knight holding the lance but also the half-destroyed ark.
CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!
The upper section of the ark was sliced off and collapsed sideways with a thunderous noise.
With the upper section removed, the outside was revealed, and the sky became visible.
The aftermath of the Sky Slash even drew a line across the sky, with scattered clouds split along the line.
The bronze knight holding the lance also fell to the ground, his body splitting in half after a moment's delay.
THUD!
The split bronze knight crashed to the ground with a loud noise alongside the bronze horse.
Zeke sheathed his sword and slowly approached the fallen bronze knight.
Then he was startled when he saw the cross-section of the cut body.
'It's really made of metal?'
He had felt as if a bronze statue was moving, and that turned out to be true.
And at that moment, the body of the sliced bronze knight began to writhe.
CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!
Then the severed parts of the bronze horse and bronze knight wriggled like clay and stuck together.
CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!
Watching the transforming bronze knight, Zeke realized its true identity.
"...So it was an angel."
CRUNCH!
The knight, now transformed, still maintained its bronze texture but took the form of an angel with eight pairs of wings and four arms.
RUMBLE!
The angel, holding a different type of spear in each of its four arms, looked down at Zeke.
Zeke murmured the name of the constellation residing in the angel's body.
"Raphael."
One of the four major constellations among the thirteen zodiac signs, possessing the strongest power.
One of the great constellations that served closest to Apollion and tore the body of the Primordial Light had revealed itself.