"The angel who is the Trumpeter of the Apocalypse. If those things awaken, the world will be erased?"
Zuuuaaaang!
Once again, spears of light flew toward Zeke from all directions.
At that moment, Harvey West said to Zeke, "If you want to hear the details, follow me." Harvey West snapped his fingers.
Then, behind him, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse appeared.
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse flew through the air on their horses, drawing the attention of the spears of light.
Zeke couldnʼt shake his suspicious expression, but to understand the angel that had suddenly appeared, he figured he needed to hear what this man had to say first.
While the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse kept the towerʼs attention diverted, he stepped through the gate that Harvey West had created.
Woooooong!
Passing through the gate, the scene of an ordinary home came into view.
Chiiiiiik—
Steam billowed from a kettle in the kitchen, as if someone had just boiled water there moments ago.
Turning his head toward the window, Zeke saw that the angel of the Sagyeon Palace still hovered in the sky, with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse scattering its focus.
"It would be best to stay away from the windows. Iʼve set up a barrier, but this entire city is practically its domain."
Zeke watched as Harvey West casually poured tea into a cup in the kitchen.
He gestured to Zeke with his chin and sat down at the table first.
"Sit over here."
Zeke sat across from him with a face full of wariness, and Harvey West placed a cup of tea in front of him.
"I heard you like tea. This is new to me too, so Iʼm not sure if itʼll suit your taste." Zeke looked at the cup Harvey West had set down and the tea inside it.
It seemed to be some kind of herbal tea, with a fragrant aroma rising along with the steam.
Zeke picked up the teacup and took a sip.
It tasted similar to mint tea but even more subtle, soothing his mind.
Zeke savored the tea for a moment to calm himself, then set the cup down and spoke to Harvey West, who sat across from him.
"What does it mean that the world will be erased? How is it different from the apocalypse where the Demon King descends?"
In response, Harvey West took a sip of his tea and said,
"Erased means exactly that. This city right now is one that was erased by the Constellations."
Zeke thought of the fragments of forgotten time—times the Constellations had completely wiped from history.
In this Phenomenal World, countless civilizations had vanished in that way.
Zeke looked at Harvey West and asked,
"Are you saying the Constellations send angels from the Thirteen Palaces to deliberately erase civilizations? Why?"
Harvey West met Zekeʼs gaze and said,
"They do it because thatʼs how they get what they want." Zeke couldnʼt understand what Harvey West meant.
"Zeke Draker, donʼt you get it yet?"
Harvey Westʼs red eyes gleamed as he locked eyes with Zeke, who looked puzzled.
"Our world is still nothing more than a playground for the Constellations. Weʼre puppets dancing to their whims. The ones who decide our end are the Constellations of the Celestial Realm, who murdered the Primordial Light and divided its authority among themselves."
Harvey West, who seemed slightly agitated, paused for a moment before he continued.
"The Primordial Light is gone, but the apocalyptic authority it left behind still exists. The Constellations of the Celestial Realm use that authority to manipulate the Phenomenal World as they please, exploiting our karma to maintain their own 'perfect world.ʼ"
Hearing Harvey Westʼs words, Zeke realized something and wore an incredulous expression. Then he said to him,
"Harvey West... your goal is to revive the Demon King to shatter the order created by the Constellations of the Celestial Realm." Harvey West nodded.
"Thatʼs right. Only by destroying that vile order theyʼve built for themselves can the
Phenomenal World truly be free." He continued, looking at Zeke.
"King Solomon, the first Irregular and Godslayer. Why do you think that wise and enlightened king took the Demon Kingʼs power into his own body? He knew this truth, and to turn the wheel that had stagnated eternally, he sacrificed himself and accepted the Demon Kingʼs power."
Zekeʼs mind reeled from Harvey Westʼs words.
According to him, everything Zeke had believed about the worldʼs order had to be turned upside down.
'King Solomon had accepted the Demon Kingʼs power in the abyss. He had broken the wheel of fate... that was what it meant.ʼ Solomon was the abandoned savior.
Yet even so, he sought to save all mortals.
That was why he willingly accepted the Demon Kingʼs power and tried to dismantle the order created by the Constellations.
But in the end, his attempt failed. The Demon Kingʼs soul was sealed, and the
Constellations who sided with him were cast out and fell to the Demon Realm. Meanwhile, the victorious Constellations built their own perfect world in the Celestial Realm and remained there.
Zeke had thought the Celestial Realm, where the Constellations resided, was an isolated zone designed so they could no longer interfere with the Phenomenal World.
But if Harvey West told the truth, the reality was entirely different.
The Phenomenal World was the isolated zone—a kind of farm that produced the karma they needed.
While the demons of the Demon Realm tempted humans to claim their souls, the Constellations of the Celestial Realm didnʼt need to do that; they had already established the Phenomenal World as their farm, steadily exploiting karma from within it.
Under that assumption, Zeke understood why Mephistopheles had refused the Demon Kingʼs descent.
'Without destroying the farm created by the Constellations of the Celestial Realm, he had intended to seize it for himself.ʼ
By completely severing the Celestial Realm and the Phenomenal World, he planned to become the administrator and take over the karma exploitation they had been doing. It was a truly fitting thought for a Demon Archlord.
Zeke realized he had been dancing like a puppet between the demons of the Demon Realm and the Constellations of the Celestial Realm.
'Ridiculous.ʼ
Zeke let out a hollow laugh inwardly.
He had always dreamed of freedom.
But this world had never once granted freedom to mortals.
It was all invisible restraints and breeding.
Zeke felt a deep-seated rage boiling up from within at that cruel truth.
His eyes transformed into dragon eyes, glowing golden.
Zuuuaaaang!
The sound of spears of light flashing outside the window rang out.
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse flew through the air, swinging their swords to counter the spears of light.
The white halos of light, canceled out by the sword strikes, settled over the entire city.
The light halos scattered like snow, even landing on the window of the house where the two sat.
Zekeʼs dragon eyes gleamed as he said to Harvey West,
"If what you say is true, then the true enemies of the Phenomenal World are the
Constellations of the Celestial Realm." Harvey West nodded at Zekeʼs words.
"Yes. They are the ones we must truly eliminate."
His story certainly seemed close to the truth. But even so, Zeke still found it hard to fully believe him.
Reading the doubt in Zekeʼs gaze, Harvey West said,
"Youʼre still full of distrust. Fine. Iʼll tell you what the hidden truth is."
Harvey West pointed to the angel hovering in the sky and said,
"How do you think I cultivated the fragments of the angel?"
Zeke didnʼt immediately understand why Harvey West suddenly brought that up.
"Do I need to know every detail of your filthy experiments?"
"It was an unavoidable sacrifice to break the wheel. In any case, the reason I could cultivate the angelʼs fragments was because of my flesh and blood."
Zeke narrowed his eyes at Harvey Westʼs words.
"Are you saying you cultivated the angelʼs fragments using the power of the Draker progenitor you mentioned?"
At that, Harvey West shook his head and replied,
"The Draker bloodline is special. It harbors all sorts of powers, and it even allows one to accept the dragonʼs power to attain immortality."
He asked Zeke once more,
"Then let me ask you this. How do you think the Draker bloodline came to possess such special powers?"
"If youʼre just going to keep asking pointless questions, hand over your neck instead. Taking the soul of the Arrogant Savior from you might actually help the Phenomenal World."
"Youʼre impatient, Zeke Draker. Very well, listen closely. The Draker were created that way from the beginning."
Zeke frowned at the incomprehensible words.
"What does that mean?"
Harvey West chose his words carefully before he spoke again.
"The Draker are the Nephilim left behind by the Constellations in the Phenomenal World."
"What?"
Zekeʼs expression hardened even more at his words.
Nephilim were ancient beings created from sacred blood.
They served as the avatars and proxies of the Constellations. Zeke looked incredulous at that.
"...Youʼre saying the Constellations created the Draker bloodline?"
"They wanted to better control the beings of the Phenomenal World for their amusement. But the existing Nephilim werenʼt enough. So they chose humans, the race with the strongest desires in the Phenomenal World, and created Nephilim that could mingle with them."
The Constellations created those Nephilim to effectively control the beings of the Phenomenal World. In truth, their plan worked well.
Those born without knowing they were Nephilim wielded superhuman strength, formed packs among humans, became leaders, and ruled over them.
As time passed, even stronger individuals emerged. Figures revered as kings appeared, allowing them to build vast cities that encompassed not just humans but other races as well.
That city was Carcosa, the one most beloved by the Constellations. And Solomon, the king of Carcosa, was a descendant of the Nephilim with the densest sacred blood.
By nature, Nephilim could not instinctively refuse the Constellationsʼ commands.
But Solomon was different.
He met the God of Chaos sealed in the name of the Goddess Theia, became an Irregular on his own, transcended the limits of a Nephilim, contracted with an Elder Dragon to awaken the power of immortality, and walked the path of the Godslayer.
Harvey West continued.
"Solomon was the ideal proxy and avatar that the Constellations desired most. But because of that, he resembled them and broke free from fate. Just as they murdered the Primordial Light that created them."
Thus, the Draker bloodline descending from Solomon harbored both the authority of the Constellations and the power of immortality.
As Zeke listened, he realized that the Blessing of Aura and Pureblood Awakening in the Draker bloodline were rituals to unlock the Nephilim power.
Zeke looked at Harvey West and asked,
"Then youʼre saying that because youʼre one of the first Nephilim created by the Constellations, you could cultivate the angelʼs fragments with your flesh and blood."
At that, Harvey West shook his head.
"Not one of the Nephilim they directly created, but a being who fully possesses the
Nephilim power through atavism. Thatʼs how I was made."
Zekeʼs pupils dilated at Harvey Westʼs words.
'Harvey West was also a created being?ʼ
Narak had conducted all sorts of horrific experiments to create test subjects and vessels for the Demon King.
It was perhaps inevitable that Harvey West, who had led Narak for centuries, was also a created being.
Zeke frowned at Harvey West.
"...Creating test subjects, and then those created test subjects creating more test subjects. Narak... what do you even think life is?"
Harvey West looked at Zeke and gave a chilling smile.
"Youʼre misunderstanding something, Zeke Draker. Narak didnʼt create me."
Zekeʼs expression changed at his words.
"If not Narak, then who did such a thing?"
Harvey West narrowed his eyes and said,
"Who do you think is the only human capable of creating a being like me? The one beyond heaven... who could it be?"
In an instant, Zekeʼs face stiffened.
'No way?ʼ
Harvey Westʼs gaze sharpened.
"The leader of the Highlander. He created me. And he..." He paused for breath before he continued.
"...was once called the Great Sage."