Zeke looked at the grotesque avatar body, which possessed the powers of two constellations, and asked Arataso.
"Arataso, what the hell is that thing?"
Arataso responded in a voice full of disbelief.
[A vassal of one constellation accepting the power of another... No, if it's Viper as you said, a clone of the Endlessly Devouring One, then it's possible.]
The fallen constellations traded for what they needed, using souls as currency.
The Endlessly Devouring One, capable of splitting and proliferating souls, had devised a scheme using these trades.
He had previously conducted deals, borrowing vassals from other constellations in exchange for souls.
And now he had gone even further, testing whether fallen constellations could trade abilities among themselves.
The Endlessly Devouring One had proposed a deal to the Judge of Unending Strife, borrowing his power.
Any other demon would have rejected the offer outright, but the Judge of Unending Strife was endlessly curious.
He accepted the trade, allowing the Endlessly Devouring One's clone to fully wield that power.
As the ruler of balrogs and lord of the Tuma Tribe, the Judge of Unending Strife's power enabled the creation of an avatar body enhanced with formidable combat ability.
Viper, now transformed into the avatar body, spread his wings and looked down at Zeke.
[The fallen constellation "The Endlessly Devouring One" glares at the Undying.] As expected, the Endlessly Devouring One seemed thoroughly enraged at Zeke. But then, a new message appeared.
[The fallen constellation "Judge of Unending Strife" takes interest in the power's reaction and observes the Undying.]
Thanks to lending his power to the Endlessly Devouring One's avatar body, the Judge of Unending Strife could now witness this situation as well.
Black smoke billowed thickly from Viper's mouth in his avatar form.
Soon, the smoke coalesced into clown-like demons smaller than Viper's main body.
Karakarakarak!
They let out a chilling laugh before charging at Zeke.
Zeke swung his hammer toward them.
Kwa-kwang!
But before they could even reach the hammer, the small demons' bodies exploded.
The force of the powerful blasts forced Zeke to step back.
At that moment, Viper burst through the dust cloud and charged at Zeke.
Kwa-kwa-kwa!
Viper swung a massive scythe conjured from demonic qi art, attacking Zeke.
Paching!
Zeke drew Bahamut and blocked Viper's scythe.
Holding the hammer in one hand and Bahamut in the other, he glared at Viper with sunken eyes.
[The fallen constellation "Judge of Unending Strife" shows interest in the Undying's combat style.]
True to his nature as a constellation obsessed with strife, he seemed pleased by Zeke's fierce battle.
Zeke blocked the scythe with one hand and swung the hammer with the other.
Kwa-kwang!
The hammer struck Viper's side.
But a barrier conjured from demonic qi art blocked the hammer.
Satisfied with the immense power borrowed from the Judge of Unending Strife, Viper let out a grotesque laugh.
[The fallen constellation "The Endlessly Devouring One" makes a proposal to the Undying.]
[He says that if you offer your soul now, he can lessen your suffering somewhat.] Zeke smirked at the Endlessly Devouring One's proposal.
"Even more pathetic than the Serpent in the Black Mouth. Now I get why you only drag around clones without a single decent vassal."
Viper snarled in fury at Zeke's words, letting out a roar as he conjured twelve black scythes with demonic qi art and hurled them at Zeke.
Saa-a-a-ak!
Each one carried power as potent as a condensed aura blade.
Zeke set the hammer down and raised his energy while gripping Bahamut.
Tsu-tsu-tsu—
The energy of the astral sword gathered on Zeke's blade.
The source-severing astral sword held power strong enough to affect even the constellation inhabiting the avatar body.
Sensing the source power from Zeke's sword, the Endlessly Devouring One panicked and tried to retreat.
But Zeke's sword was faster.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!
He charged at Viper, swinging the astral sword with a style different from his usual one.
It was not infinite sword art, but the elemental sword's chamber of water power.
'Completely release the power.'
When learning swordsmanship from Kaisir, Zeke had struggled most with this chamber of water power.
But the Endlessly Devouring One was a constellation capable of soul fission and proliferation.
To strike effectively, Zeke needed to delve into the source and sever the flow itself.
Zeke focused his mind, envisioning a clear stream of water and relaxing his entire body to achieve a state of power drain.
[Passive skill limit break activates.]
Sensing the ominous energy from Zeke, Viper thrashed wildly, unleashing a barrage of attacks.
Kaa-a-a-ak!
Dozens of black scythes erupted from his body, and Zeke could see the flow of the scythes hurtling toward him.
'Sever the flow.'
Zeke's sword moved like rippling waves.
Elemental Sword
Chamber of Water Power
Flow-Severing Sword Chwa-a-a-ak!
Like water flowing and cascading, Zeke's sword followed the flow.
The black scythes had their flow severed by Zeke's sword, which canceled out and scattered.
Seeing this, Viper cried out in disbelief.
"Aaaak! Judge of Unending Strife! This isn't what we agreed on! Lend more power, now!"
Zeke's sword did not stop and advanced toward Viper.
The power of the astral sword flew toward the Endlessly Devouring One's source embedded in Viper's body.
At the same time, the sword's flow shifted.
Elemental Sword
Chamber of Water Power
Reverse Flow Sword
The water's flow reversed, wrapping around and slicing Viper's source.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!
The reversing current even engulfed the Endlessly Devouring One's power attempting fission and proliferation.
Overwhelmed by the sensation of sinking into deep waters, Viper in his avatar body lost his composure.
Zeke calmly pressed the attack.
Chwarururuk!
Pulling the chain to retrieve the hammer into his hand, he infused it with the power of curse-lifting treatment, chamber of metal power, and full power technique before swinging it at Viper with all his might.
Full Power Technique
Double Spell
Will of Shattering
The hammer, laden with the full power technique's might, crashed into Viper's body.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
Struck by the hammer infused with the will of shattering, Viper's avatar body shattered into pieces despite its form.
Already damaged at the source by the reverse flow sword, it could not properly use fission and proliferation and merely twitched.
Zeke drew the ring of Solomon and approached Viper.
Then, a frantic message appeared.
["The Endlessly Devouring One" makes a proposal to the Undying.] [He says that if you end the fight now, he will grant a satisfactory wish.] Zeke looked at the message with an incredulous expression.
'Both the Serpent in the Black Mouth and the Endlessly Devouring One pull this crap whenever they're at a disadvantage.'
Just looking at the deceased Emperor Nero showed how the wishes proposed by fallen constellations were fulfilled.
Without further hesitation, Zeke approached the scythe Viper held.
He then drew the ring of Solomon.
As he brought the ring toward the scythe, he felt the Endlessly Devouring One's energy draining out and seeping into the ring.
Tsu-tsu-tsu-tsu—
Black miasma flowed out and was absorbed into the ring of Solomon.
Moments later, a coin-shaped emblem engraved itself on the ring, and a message appeared.
[The ring of Solomon seals the fallen constellation "The Endlessly Devouring One."]
[The Endlessly Devouring One's true name "Mammon" is engraved on the ring of Solomon.]
[You can now use the fallen constellation "Mammon"'s unique authority "Proliferation" once per day.]
With the sealing in the ring of Solomon, the Endlessly Devouring One's true name, Mammon, was revealed.
Then, messages related to the Judge of Unending Strife appeared.
["Judge of Unending Strife" is impressed by the Undying's strife.]
["Judge of Unending Strife" says he will continue to watch the Undying's battles.]
True to his constellation title, the Judge of Unending Strife seemed purely interested in the act of strife itself.
'Interest from a demon, huh.'
As Zeke's face soured at the thought, messages regarding rewards followed.
[You achieve the astonishing feat of sealing a fallen constellation.]
[The proficiency of dragon race skill word magic increases.]
[The proficiency of special skill soul confinement technique increases.]
[The proficiency of active skill blood eye increases.]
[The proficiency of active skill stealth increases.]
[The proficiency of active skill clone increases.]
[You obtain a special random box as a reward.]
[You gain 10,000 karma points according to the achievement.] Mammon was a constellation capable of soul fission and proliferation.
Thus, the proficiencies of soul-related skills had risen.
'It's been a while since I got a special random box.'
All artifacts from special random boxes so far had been unique items, so Zeke felt expectant.
He took the special random box from his inventory.
Seeing its distinctive golden glow, a pleased smile formed on his face.
'I wonder what it'll be this time.'
At that moment, Arataso, holding his spear and approaching Zeke's side, widened his eyes at the random box.
[The constellation's chest again...! Even vassals rarely get such a precious item. The world is truly unfair.]
In the current phenomenal world, only Zeke could receive artifacts infused with constellation power so directly.
Without the system's power, it would have been impossible.
From Arataso's reaction, Zeke once again felt the nature of the power he wielded and thought.
'The Kabbalah System engraved on my soul through the elder dragon's blessing. Lord
Hades said that only the elder dragon knows the true nature of this system...' But the elder dragon had vanished long before the war of liberation.
'If I gather all the seals of Chronos and reach the primordial temple, I might find information on the Kabbalah System.'
Zeke pushed thoughts of the Kabbalah System aside and opened the random box first.
Whoooong!
A brilliant multicolored light flashed, and an artifact emerged from the random box.
Zeke picked up the artifact from the box and tilted his head.
"What is this?"
What came out of the special random box this time was none other than a small drum.
Zeke picked up the drum and checked its information.
—Drum Info—
Description: A drum infused with the power of the "Judge of Unending Strife," ruler of the Tuma Tribe
Unique Ability: Earthquake and Magma Summon
Special Notes: Can only be used in battlefields filled with the hot energy of strife.
"Earthquake and Magma Summon?"
Zeke read the drum's information with a bewildered expression.
It seemed to be related to the Judge of Unending Strife, whom he had just defeated.
Previously, an artifact infused with the Judge of Unending Strife's power had appeared —a horn flute.
That horn flute's ability was meteor summon, while this drum held the power to summon earthquakes and magma.
Arataso nodded upon hearing the drum's ability.
[A drum that summons earthquakes and magma. A valuable artifact. Demons would go mad for it.]
Zeke shook his head gravely as he examined the drum.
"If I use this on a battlefield, it'd sweep away allies and enemies alike. How am I supposed to use it?"
[In the Demon Realm, that's everyday occurrence.]
Arataso wore an expression as if wondering what the problem was.
Not particularly interested in what happened in the Demon Realm, Zeke ignored Arataso's words and stored the artifact infused with the Judge of Unending Strife's authority in his inventory.
In any case, having successfully blocked the gate, Zeke invoked the authority of flame to sweep away all traces around him. He then mounted Bucephalus and ascended into the air to survey the situation of the monster horde advancing on the city.
Zeke asked Arataso, who had returned inside the green sword.
"I took down Viper, a high-rank demonkind. Why are the monsters still advancing?" Arataso replied in a troubled voice.
[It seems there's another one controlling that monster legion.]
Arataso added that someone as foul-tempered as Viper wouldn't obediently lead monsters at a human's command.
Zeke frowned at his words.
"That means there could be another high-rank demonkind over there."
[Given the current situation, that's highly likely.]
'I should have scouted more thoroughly earlier. I focused too much on the gate.'
Zeke hardened his expression and, without delay, gripped Bucephalus's reins tightly and soared across the sky toward the monster legion.