Messages appeared before Zekeʼs eyes.
[You have absorbed an Outsider Species imbued with the Authority of a Savage Fell God.]
[Your depleted stamina, mental strength, and mana are being replenished.]
[You absorb the abilities of the Outsider Species, acquiring a portion of the Authority "Devouring."]
[The Authority of Devouring is still unstable and cannot be properly activated. Absorb more of the Fell Godʼs origin to fully manifest the Authority.]
[You absorb the abilities of the Outsider Species, increasing the proficiency of the skill "Shadow Clone."]
[You absorb the abilities of the Outsider Species, increasing the proficiency of the skill "Smokeform."]
[Absorbing a Designated Extermination Target raises the grade of the Absorption skill as a reward.]
[4,000 Karma Points are awarded as a reward.]
[You acquire one Special Random Box as a reward.]
Zeke read the floating text and was surprised to see that he had acquired a portion of the Authority of Devouring.
"Is Ajitahaka, the Flesh-Devouring Emperor, what they mean by Savage Fell God?"
Even Caligula, who ruled over the White-Face Clan, the Nightmare Demons, and the Beastmen as the king of Shambhala, had only held the title of king.
From this, Zeke could infer that Ajitahaka, bearing the title of Fell God, held a higher rank than Caligula.
"According to Lopocaleʼs memories, Ajitahaka is human, not one of the ancient races.
What kind of atrocities did he commit to earn the title of Fell God...?"
Based on the circumstances, Ramon Siemens, the head of the Siemens Family, clearly wielded the power of the Savage Fell God Ajitahaka.
Zeke pondered for a moment and then pulled something out of his inventory.
It was the helmet of Azmun Barrios that he had retrieved from the belly of the Devouring Beast.
The powerful magic imbued in it as an artifact had caused Azmunʼs flesh and armor to melt away completely, but only this helmet had remained intact inside the stomach.
"If I apply Dragonʼs Wisdom to the helmet, I might access Azmunʼs data and obtain information on Ramon and Ajitahaka."
Since Azmun had received Ajitahakaʼs sword directly from Ramon Siemens, relevant information might have remained behind.
Zeke placed his hand on the helmet and activated Dragonʼs Wisdom.
Woooong!
As expected, Zeke accessed the related Karma Data using the helmet as a medium.
As he scanned the Karma Data through the Eye of the Sage, Zeke discovered something.
"This?"
Just as he had when viewing Dukeʼs memories, sealed data appeared.
Zeke called up the sealed data and used his Curse-Lifting Treatment skill on it.
[The powerful seal rejects the userʼs Curse-Lifting Treatment.]
Even Zekeʼs Curse-Lifting Treatment skill could not break the dataʼs seal.
"Is it because my Curse-Lifting Treatment skill proficiency is still at the expert level?"
Data hidden behind such a strong seal undoubtedly contained important information connected to Ramon Siemens.
Zeke asked the system.
"System, is it possible to raise the proficiency of the Curse-Lifting Treatment skill using Karma Points?"
In response to his question, the system replied.
[15,000 points are required to increase the proficiency of this skill.] He had 19,478 points.
It was no small amount, so Zeke hesitated before he decided to spend the points to raise the proficiency.
[15,000 points are used to increase the Curse-Lifting Treatment skill proficiency.]
[The proficiency of the Curse-Lifting Treatment skill has increased.]
The Curse-Lifting Treatment skillʼs proficiency rose to the specialist level.
Zeke immediately tried to unseal the data with the Curse-Lifting Treatment skill.
Woooong!
Another message appeared.
[The Curse-Lifting Treatment skill unseals the sealed data.]
The unsealed data began to form a shape.
An enormous entity, too vast to gauge in size, revealed itself.
The colossal being wore a mask modeled after a demon, and atop both shoulders, grotesque tentacles twisted and coiled into the form of a massive serpent.
Zeke felt a sense of awe as he gazed upon the existence that transcended human limits.
"Just looking at it feels like my soul could dissipate."
The overwhelming pressure was incomparable to standing before Blood King Caligula and crushed Zekeʼs mind.
The entity looked at Zeke and opened its mouth.
[■■■ ◆◇□■■ ■■■■ ◆]
Like the form remaining in William Siemensʼs geas, the entity spoke to Zeke in an incomprehensible language.
"Ugh..."
Zeke felt as if he would vomit blood just from hearing the entityʼs "True Word" directly.
Without the passive skill "Indomitable Will," maintaining his sanity would have been impossible.
At that moment, the ominous entity slowly extended its hand toward Zeke.
As the entity reached out, Zeke felt as if his body was shattering into countless tiny pieces.
Then it happened.
Urururu!
Suddenly, Ravenʼs Phoenix Cry rang out.
Whoosh!
Along with the Phoenix Cry, someone swiftly pulled his body away, and he felt space itself stretching as he was drawn back.
Boom boom boom boom!
Zekeʼs consciousness rapidly exited the mental world and returned to the real world.
Sizzle—
White smoke rose from Zekeʼs body as he returned to reality.
"Hoo..."
Unconsciously, Zeke dropped the helmet he had been holding, and it clunked onto the floor.
The helmet he had gripped had turned completely black and charred, no longer able to maintain its original shape.
As he regained his composure, Zeke recalled the identity of the transcendent being within the sealed Karma Data.
"Fell God Ajitahaka... Did I glimpse the soul trapped in the Isolated Plane?"
Having confronted a legendary existence from the realm of transcendence that was too vast for him to handle, Zeke felt cold sweat break out involuntarily.
Ajitahaka, the only human to earn the title of Fell God.
As Zeke pondered deeply about him, a voice suddenly echoed in his mind.
[...What the hell was that just now? For a moment, I thought I was facing a Demon Archlord.]
Arataso, dormant within the Green Sword, had awakened in shock upon sensing the Fell Godʼs power.
Through Aratasoʼs words, Zeke realized that Ajitahaka was an existence comparable to the six strongest Demon Archlords among the fallen constellations.
"If a Demon Archlordʼs power is this much, then what level is the Demon King?"
Having faced Ajitahaka, Zeke could finally gauge the true extent of the constellationsʼ power.
As he recalled Ajitahakaʼs true form, Zeke reminded himself that his own power was still sorely lacking. But it was not enough to make him despair.
"If I can properly wield the Elemental Sword, Full Power Technique, and Heart-Sword— these powers dormant within me—then I can face any Fell God or Demon Archlord." Composing himself, Zeke decided to return to reality and move on to the next plan.
"Richmond, report the current situation."
He sent a message to Richmond, who was with the intelligence operatives ready to proceed with the next step, but there was no reply.
"Something must have happened."
Thinking he needed to go there himself, Zeke left the Rom Imperial Palace in the care of the Black Spirit Unit and stepped outside to summon Bucephalus.
Hiiing!
Mounting Bucephalus, Zeke soared into the skies above Rom at high speed, heading toward the Imperial Mausoleum where Abel was.
*
Roar!
Boris clicked his tongue as he watched the sacred site of Rom burn fiercely.
"I knew he was crazy, but I didnʼt expect it to be this bad..."
He had come to the Rom Imperial Mausoleum with the intelligence operatives after learning Abelʼs hiding spot from Richmond.
The Imperial Mausoleum was a sacred site passed down since the days of the Rom Kingdom, housing the spirit tablets of successive kings and emperors.
Hero King Kaisir, raised by the hand of the Sacred Wolf King.
The emperors of Rom had always claimed to be descendants of this Hero King, asserting that they had liberated humanity and built a nation for humans.
The Imperial Mausoleum served as the sacred site proving the legitimacy of the Rom Empire, which claimed descent from the Hero King, and it had never been destroyed even once over a long history.
But now, that sacred site crumbled, engulfed in black flames.
Rumble!
Amid the black flames devouring the Imperial Mausoleum stood a single man.
With red hair whipping in the wind, his body covered in black scales, and madness gleaming in his Dragon Eye.
It was Abel, awakened as a Demon-Dragonkin.
"Zeke! Zeke Drakerrrr!"
Boris, who had positioned the intelligence operatives throughout the ruins of the burning Imperial Mausoleum buildings and hid in one spot himself, watched Abel scream in madness.
Beside him were Sion, whose face had paled, and Zekeʼs Shadow Clone, flickering and on the verge of vanishing from Abelʼs attacks.
"If I send my Shadow Clone to Abel, heʼll definitely go berserk and destroy the
Imperial Mausoleum."
As Zeke had predicted, Abel, hidden in the Imperial Mausoleum, went mad upon seeing Zekeʼs Shadow Clone and began destroying the mausoleum like a maniac.
Thanks to that, the Imperial Mausoleum, which symbolized the glorious Rom Empire, was on the verge of becoming ashes.
Sion spoke to Boris as he watched the growing black flames.
"Captain, provoking him was good, but how do we get out now?"
Boris ignored Sionʼs words and racked his brain fiercely, trying to figure out how to create an escape route.
But then, something rose from the ground.
Crack crack crack!
A massive ice wall surged up, blocking the black flames.
Boris realized that Bane, who had been waiting, had summoned the ice wall.
At the same time, Zekeʼs flickering Shadow Clone stood up and drew Abelʼs gaze as Abel spewed flames.
Boris shouted to Sion.
"Get inside that ice wall and escape!"
Boris and Sion entered the ice wall and tried to flee through the labyrinthine paths of the Imperial Mausoleum.
But Abelʼs black flames quickly melted Baneʼs ice wall and infiltrated inside.
"Haat!"
Sion used psychokinesis to block the black flames pouring down from above.
At that moment, Adol and Serena appeared running from the opposite ice wall.
"Captain! This way!"
Serena, who had transformed her exterior into metal, waved at Boris and Sion.
She had detected the escape direction from signals sent by Airen and Bisco from afar and led them that way.
As they advanced a bit further, a massive roar echoed, and the ice wall shattered.
Boom boom boom boom!
Adol hurriedly raised a sand wall to barely block the collapsing ice.
Over the crumbled ice wall appeared Abel, clutching Zekeʼs Shadow Clone in his hand.
He glared down at the intelligence unit with mad eyes.
"Zeke Draker... Hand over the real Zeke Draker!"
Abel unleashed strong demonic energy from his body.
In response, Boris raised his sword and generated aura to counter Abelʼs demonic energy.
The other intelligence operatives also activated their bloodline abilities to resist Abelʼs power.
But the power of the Demon-Dragonkin was too much for them alone.
Rumble rumble rumble!
The intense pressure bore down from above, making it hard for Boris and his group even to breathe.
"Crazy... How the hell does the boss handle a monster like this?"
At that moment, Abel extended his hand, and the ominous sword Zahhak appeared.
As black flames surged from Zahhak, Borisʼs face filled with despair.
"I didnʼt expect to go out like this."
He had thought he might die on a mission someday, but he never imagined he would end up as ashes in Romʼs Imperial Mausoleum.
Boris gripped his sword and spoke to the intelligence operatives. "Adol, the moment I charge forward, get out of here as fast as you can." The operatives realized what Boris intended to do.
Before they could say anything to stop him, Boris rushed toward Abel with his sword drawn.
"Captain!"
At the same time, Adol raised sand and pulled the group into the ground.
Abel spewed black flames toward Adol and the others trying to escape underground.
Roar!
Like a beast baring its fangs, the black flames flew toward them.
At that moment, Boris lunged forward even faster, blocking Abelʼs black flames with his body. "No!"
Sion, sinking into the ground, cried out upon seeing Boris engulfed in flames.
As the black flames enveloped Boris, the other intelligence operatives slipped into the earth.
Boris, his body melting in the flames, faintly smiled upon seeing his subordinates disappear.
"Good. I hate melodrama anyway."
He felt his body disintegrating in the black flames.
With his corneas and eardrums burned away, Boris could no longer see or hear anything.
But then.
Woooong!
Suddenly, a warm sensation returned, and feeling returned to his body.
"Huh?"
When he opened his eyes, someone stood before him.
A man in the familiar Draker uniform, holding a black sword.
Zeke Draker had appeared before him at some point.