The Red Moon had risen.
Zeke's attack was one step too late.
The authority of Ajitahaka that Ramon Siemens invoked, combined with the high priest's power, formed a blood-crimson ring that aligned perfectly with the Red Moon.
Woooong!
The Red Moon, now encased within the blood-crimson ring, began to emit a strange hum. Soon, it transformed into a swirling red vortex.
Rumble!
The red vortex expanded, morphing into a massive gate.
Zeke raised his sword again, aiming at the altar.
But Tantaros blocked his path, as if he wouldn't allow it.
"Damn it."
Richmond and Bane were drawing attention from the outside, fighting Siemens's knights alongside the shadow spirits.
It would take time for the Black Sword Knight Order he had summoned to arrive.
"I have to hold them off alone somehow."
Breathing heavily, Zeke pulled the green sword and the Eastern sword from his inventory.
Woooong!
The swords floating in the air vibrated, summoning Arataso and Nebilos.
Tantaros scowled at the demonkind summoned by Zeke. "Traitors who have abandoned their pride as demonkind." Rumble!
As an abyssal executioner, Tantaros was from the prideful Tuma Tribe and valued demonic pride above all.
To him, Arataso and Nebilos—demonkind who had betrayed the Demon Realm for humans—were enemies to be eradicated immediately.
Nebilos spoke in a displeased tone.
"As the inspector of Abaddon, to be treated like a traitor... Wouldn't it be better if we joined forces with Tantaros and took down Zeke Draker? Then we could return to the Demon Realm."
Arataso shook his head at Nebilos's words.
"Do you think that executioner would listen to us? And if we do that and he loses, we might be sealed in that sword forever."
"Ugh."
At Arataso's words, Nebilos had no choice but to muster his power.
Rumble!
Arataso's demonic qi and Nebilos's mana clashed against Tantaros's power, stirring up a chaotic storm of energy nearby.
Zeke said to the two demonkind.
"Block him while I disrupt the ritual!"
With those words, he left Tantaros to Arataso and Nebilos and flew straight toward the altar.
Around Ramon and the high priest, who were opening the gate, stood the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and dark mages.
Zeke raised his sword, aiming at them as he dove down from the air like a plummeting strike.
"Haaaaah!"
The Infinite Sword Art unfolded from Zeke's blade.
Infinite Sword Art Secret Transmission Form
Second Linked Form
Great Dragon Cleave
As the secret transmission form activated, astral swords erupted from Zeke's blade, sweeping across the entire domain.
Rumble!
The sword of a grandmaster like Zeke didn't just destroy—it annihilated the very essence.
The Great Dragon Cleave sliced mercilessly into the red gate hovering in the air. Slash—
A thin line cut through the red gate.
Like glass shattering, the red gate split, its halves shifting horizontally.
But then.
Ramon snapped his fingers.
Just as the dragon's breath had failed earlier, the split gate rewound in time, restoring itself to its original state.
Zeke gritted his teeth at the sight.
"Does Ramon also possess the authority of Rewind?" Chronos wielded authority over time.
Zeke, who had received that authority, could manipulate time, but only by fulfilling complex conditions.
It was distinctly different from ordinary authorities, so he had thought only Chronos possessed such power over time. Yet Ramon seemed to have something similar.
Zeke calmed his racing thoughts and reasoned coolly.
"It might not be authority over time that he has. After all, it's the authority of a fell god." Higher constellations possessed authorities with broad applications.
Belial's authority of Deception could produce vastly different effects depending on its use.
Zeke suspected Ramon's authority worked similarly.
"The key point now is that if he uses his authority again, I won't be able to stop the ritual."
Zeke decided to take a gamble.
He glanced at the Black Darkness Sword Laevatein in his hand.
"The unique authority of the Black Darkness Sword Laevatein, Chaos Field..." The activation effect of Chaos Field nullified the authorities of constellations.
It seemed like a highly versatile ability at first glance, but when he tested it in practice, he discovered a major drawback and had refrained from using it.
He realized that the effect of Chaos Field affected him as well.
When Chaos Field was activated, not only could he not use his own authorities, but the system's effects were also inaccessible.
He might not be able to properly counter enemy retaliation, so he had hesitated to activate Chaos Field.
But with the situation like this, he had no time to worry about the aftermath.
Zeke raised Laevatein and drew forth the power of chaos.
Rumble!
Laevatein, infused with the power of the Holy Spear Longominant, harbored the chaotic force capable of slaying constellations.
Feeling the ominous aura emanating from Zeke, Ramon shouted at the high priest.
"High Priest! Hurry and open the gate! We don't know what Zeke Draker will do!"
The high priest was connecting the dimension of Ajitahaka, trapped in the isolated plane, through the gate.
The isolated plane existed in a distant layer beyond the abyss, making it difficult even for the high priest's power to open the gate.
And then.
Crackle!
Red currents flowed from the gate, and an ominous energy began to seep out from within.
He had succeeded in connecting to Ajitahaka, confined in the isolated plane.
Whoooosh—
A bizarre wail that chilled the soul echoed from inside the gate.
It was the cry of Ajitahaka's soul-devourers.
Ramon spread his arms toward Ajitahaka beyond the gate, a mad laugh on his lips.
"Fell god who claimed the rank of constellation through your own power! Descend upon this land today, ending your long imprisonment!" Rumble!
As Ramon's words ended, something began to emerge from the gate.
Screeech—
Ajitahaka's soul-devourers, grotesque forms stitched from mismatched hides, screeched horrifically as they clawed and pushed to exit first.
Crunch!
The soul-devourers tore at each other's limbs in their frenzy, bursting out from the gate.
The severed limbs of the soul-devourers that fell around the altar and dais writhed, then regenerated, restoring their original forms.
Screeech!
The soul-devourers bared saw-like fangs, drooling viscous acidic saliva.
New mouths formed from the stitched wounds.
Their appearance was so horrific it was hard to believe they were creatures of the phenomenal world.
As the soul-devourers poured out from the gate, at one point.
Crunch!
A massive hand thrust out from the gate, grabbing a handful of soul-devourers and crushing them.
Splat!
In an instant, the soul-devourers turned into sticky blood slurry, flowing onto the dais.
Ramon immediately recognized whose arm it was.
"Fell god Ajitahaka!"
The arm retracted, and this time, red eyes appeared from within the gate.
The fell god's ominous eyes, filled with malice, shook as if peering beyond the phenomenal world.
Then the eyes receded, and both hands emerged, gripping the small gate opening and tearing it apart.
Crack!
The stabilized gate energy became unstable, unleashing backlash of causality in all directions.
For an off-limits existence like Ajitahaka to descend into the phenomenal world, deceiving the eyes of karma was crucial.
If the backlash of causality couldn't be contained, karma would not permit it and close the gate.
The high priest chanted incantations, using the power of the blood tear stone to stabilize the backlash of causality.
Crack!
As Ajitahaka tore the gate with its hands, horrific sounds echoed everywhere.
The gate had widened considerably, and now Ajitahaka's main body was attempting to push its head through.
Crackle!
As Ajitahaka's body directly tried to enter the phenomenal world, the backlash of causality surged even stronger.
high priest had thought this amount of blood tear stone would suffice, but he
realized it was a grave miscalculation.
"If the Red Moon's time ends, karma's laws will normalize, and the repulsive force could intensify dramatically."
He had to bring Ajitahaka to the surface while the Red Moon still hung in the sky.
As the high priest calculated and exerted his power, half of Ajitahaka's head had already emerged from the dimensional hole.
Screeech!
The fell god opened its maw wide and unleashed a horrific roar.
The mere sound was enough to make those lacking in aura or mana bleed from their ears and collapse dead.
But then.
Ssssh—
Suddenly, everything began to turn gray.
Ramon and the high priest, who had been pouring power into maintaining the gate, were startled by the sudden shift in the landscape's hue.
Small vortices formed in the gray-tinged area.
"What is this!"
It was the unique authority of Laevatein that Zeke had unleashed—Chaos Field— gradually eroding the domain.
Within the domain of Chaos Field, no constellation could wield their authority.
Ramon felt Ajitahaka's authority, which had been sustaining the gate, beginning to dissipate.
"High Priest! Hurry!"
high priest raised his hand.
Then, the black energy flowing from Abel's heart exploded outward.
The recumbent Abel jerked upright, spewing clumps of black energy from his eyes, nose, and mouth.
"Kraaaah!"
By using Abel as a medium, he had resonated with Solomon's power embedded within him.
The gate widened further.
Screeech—
By now, Ajitahaka was shoving one arm and its head through, forcing its body in.
But at that moment.
Crunch!
Ajitahaka's body dropped from midair to the ground like a head severed on the block.
The gate had closed abruptly, severing only the parts that had emerged into the phenomenal world.
Rumble—
Ramon, his face drained of color, looked up.
The area was filled with vortices of chaos.
Ramon realized he could no longer sense the authority he had received from Ajitahaka.
"How does Zeke Draker possess such power?"
He knew from the high priest that Zeke wielded both draconic and immortal powers.
But he hadn't expected an ability that could nullify even the power of constellations. severed arm and half-head of Ajitahaka lay grotesquely rolling beneath the dais.
As he stared blankly at it for a moment, Zeke, engulfed in the gray vortices, slowly approached them.
Zeke's eyes were not the golden dragon eye but swirling chaos itself.
Ramon shouted at Zeke.
"Zeke Draker! You dare!"
It was a long-cherished ambition he had prepared for over decades.
He had believed that once he obtained Ajitahaka's power, everything would kneel before him.
Just as that glory was about to be realized, Zeke Draker had ruined it all.
Zeke was pouring all his strength into maintaining Laevatein's Chaos Field.
If his concentration wavered even slightly, not only his body but his mind would be sucked into the vortices of chaos, so he couldn't afford the slightest lapse.
"If I release Chaos Field here, the summoning of Ajitahaka will start again." Zeke steadied his breathing, striving to maintain Chaos Field.
Then, looking at Ramon and the high priest, he said.
"Ramon Siemens, Harvey West. Your plans have all come to nothing. Stop this futile resistance and surrender."
At Zeke's words, Ramon ground his teeth and shouted.
"Even if it kills me, that will never happen!"
Whoosh!
A sword of flame appeared in Ramon's hand.
Siemens family had crafted and wielded the most powerful magical artifacts during the Seven Kingdoms era.
That legacy had been passed down to this day.
Even without Ajitahaka's authority, Ramon was no easy opponent.
Ramon swung his magic sword at Zeke.
Boom boom boom!
Dozens of fire arrows shot from the magic sword toward Zeke.
Whoosh!
As Zeke swung Laevatein, the storm of Chaos Field engulfed the fire arrows, erasing them completely.
Ramon's face twisted at the sight.
Chaos encompassed greater destruction and annihilation.
Since it could nullify even constellation authorities, it could naturally erase magic as well.
But the absolute power of Chaos Field had its drawbacks.
It required an immense amount of mental strength to maintain.
Without the passive skills of Indomitable Will and Infinite Stamina, Zeke wouldn't have been able to sustain Chaos Field properly.
As Zeke took another step forward.
The high priest, who had been watching silently, spoke to Zeke.
[You never cease to surprise me, Zeke Draker.]
"Enough with the surprises. Just die already, you Narak wraith."
high priest shook his head at those words.
[That won't do.]
In an instant, the high priest pulled out a hidden blood tear stone and tossed it upward.
Woooong!
Light emanated from the blood tear stone, soon exploding massively and bursting outward in all directions.