Tssstsss—
As the gate opened, Harvey West was flung out.
"Ugh!"
Thick blood oozed from his side.
At the same time, blood surged up from his mouth.
"Keheok!"
The homunculus had leaped out at the critical moment to block Zeke's sword strike, so he hadn't died, but the Heart-Sword that cleaved through his essence had inflicted a fatal wound.
With his soul's core damaged, no amount of mana could heal the injury.
Harvey West desperately clutched his wound to stem the flow of blood and crawled toward the interior of his safehouse.
The agony of bleeding like this was far worse than he had imagined, but he steadied his mind.
'...I need to get to the lab and prepare a new body.ʼ
The reason he had stayed out of sight for so long, possessing the bodies of other dark mages to issue commands, was none other than the instability of his own body.
The Great Sage had sought to create a perfect "Immortal" using the soul of the Arrogant Savior, forging a new savior in the process.
The theory crafted by the Great Sage—even Hero King Kaisir himself—had been flawless.
The problem lay in the constraints of karma.
The restrictions imposed by the Primordial Light forbade the existence of an Immortal in the Phenomenal World.
Thus, though Harvey West possessed the power of immortality, he had become an unstable being unfit to linger in the Phenomenal World.
As long as he remained under the Great Sage's power, free from karma's constraints, there were no issues. But after breaking away with the intent to resurrect the Demon King, he had to stabilize his existence somehow.
That was why Harvey West had researched ways to sustain his immortal power and keep his presence anchored in the Phenomenal World.
Kudududuk!
Enduring the pain of his nails tearing free, Harvey West crawled toward his lab.
Once he reached the cultivation chamber where the sacred blood cells were grown, he could at least halt his body's collapse for now.
But then he sensed someone inside his safehouse—a man whose sturdy boots made firm steps.
It was none other than Black Stage Captain Baron Draker.
Harvey West couldn't hide his shock at finding Baron in his secret safehouse.
'How did that bastard get here...?ʼ
Beside Baron stood hooded figures, and Harvey West realized they were homunculi of Kaisir.
Only then did he understand that the one who had shielded him from Zeke's attack at the gate was also a homunculus.
In the first place, it was Baron Draker who had assigned the Hero King's homunculus to him.
One of the many secret relics left by Arthur Draker before his death, it had been gifted to him upon forging their pact.
'To think the Hero King's homunculi weren't just one...ʼ
At that moment, Baron Draker looked at the bloodied, near-death Harvey West and said,
"You look like you're in a lot of pain."
Harvey West glared up at Baron with cold eyes and said,
"...What are you doing here, Baron?"
In response, Baron crouched down, leveling his gaze with the fallen Harvey West.
"I've come to uphold the agreement. Since Arthur Draker's body is ready." Harvey West flinched at Baron's words.
The aura emanating from him felt far from ordinary.
'No way...ʼ
Ssssh—
Baron Draker's face began to slowly change.
The features of a young man with ash-gray hair slicked back emerged.
Similar to Abel Draker, but with drier, more impassive eyes.
It was the face of Overlord Arthur Draker in his youth.
Seeing this, Harvey West ground his teeth.
"...So everything was your scheme." Arthur smirked down at him.
"As if. I told Baron that if he couldn't fully assimilate the Elder Dragon's heart, he could truly hand over my body to you. I took a gamble, and I won. That's all." Arthur Draker slowly rose to his feet.
He looked down at Harvey West, whose body was crumbling from the wounds inflicted by Zeke, and shook his head.
"Impressive. Did Zeke do this to you?"
Harvey West racked his brain for ways to escape this situation.
'If I abandon this body and flee as a soul alone... it'll take an incredibly long time to regain my strength.ʼ
Like Germain, the former boss of the Nostra Family, Harvey West would have needed centuries to craft a new body and prepare for the final stage.
But even so, escaping this place came first.
Unbeknownst to Arthur Draker, Harvey West began preparing to discard his ruined body and slip away as a soul to another safehouse.
Srrrrk—
If he could slither out like a snake in soul form alone, even Zeke Draker with his divinity wouldn't detect the trace, he thought.
But then Arthur Draker gazed at him with emotionless eyes and said,
"You still don't know much about me, do you?"
Harvey West flinched, sensing Arthur's gaze pinpointing and locking onto his soul.
At the same time, he realized his soul couldn't detach from his body as intended.
'How is this possible...?ʼ
Arthur Draker, still smiling faintly with cold eyes, said,
"You've always been so slippery, wriggling away like an eel. So I made some preparations before coming."
He raised his hand, and the Kaisir homunculi behind him raised their swords.
The homunculi swords gleamed faintly, and ancient magic circles linked to them began to glow across the floor and walls of the safehouse.
Woooong!
Ancient magic circles designed to bind souls.
Relics of forgotten knowledge, long vanished from the Phenomenal World.
Tssstsss—
A misty aura leaked from Harvey West's body.
Arthur Draker murmured as he watched,
"The Great Sage's first prototype Draker. Being a copy of the original, its performance falls short. Not quite what I expected."
Harvey West's red eyes flashed as he glared at Arthur Draker.
"How did you know about that...?"
"Ah, a secret you kept to yourself? Oops. I just happened to find out."
Arthur Draker delivered the nonchalant words with an impassive face.
He gestured dismissively to the homunculi behind him, uninterested in Harvey West's rage, and they advanced slowly toward him, swords raised.
Kugugugu!
As the magic swords drew nearer, the misty aura leaking from Harvey West's body rippled, compressing his soul.
Arthur Draker grinned sardonically at him and said,
"I found them in a very ancient temple. The swords, the homunculi—everything." He patted the shoulder of the homunculus beside him and continued.
"When I first discovered them, they were sealed in an unbreakable ice coffin. I consulted everyone from Nirvana's magitech specialists, famous for ice affinities, to all sorts of experts, trying to open it. But magic couldn't do it." Harvey West's face had paled, his bleeding worsening.
Arthur Draker pressed on.
"Now I know it was frozen by the Great Sage's authority, so of course it was impossible. But back then, I didn't. Still, I found a way in the end. Using the power of dragons." Harvey West bit his lip.
Dragons were the only beings in the Phenomenal World unbound by karma's sanctions, the sole creation granted such authority.
'To think he used a dragon's authority to break the Great Sage's seal...ʼ
The Draker Family's fame as Dragon Slayers had surely played a role in devising that solution.
Arthur Draker looked at Harvey West and continued.
"I learned a great deal studying the legacies dragons left behind. It's a shame I couldn't recover the full Elder Dragon heritage, but... since Zeke has it, it'll end up in my hands eventually."
Arthur Draker had already pieced together much of the puzzle.
Reading the thought in Harvey West's expression, Arthur Draker smiled. "You must have been overwhelmed by Zeke. Isn't that right, High Priest?" Harvey West didn't want to admit it, but it was true.
He had misjudged Zeke Draker's limits and ended up losing the Arrogant Savior's soul to him.
At that moment, Arthur Draker pulled something from his pocket and held it out to Harvey West.
'...Thatʼs...ʼ
Incredibly, it was a sacred dragon's Dragon Heart.
The heart of a sacred dragon, who had lived for thousands of years, held value beyond any mineral.
Arthur handed the Dragon Heart to the astonished Harvey West and said,
"A gift to show my sincerity. With this, you should be able to heal your crumbling body and soul."
Harvey West eyed Arthur Draker's tempting offer with deep suspicion.
But in his current state, without it, his soul would surely dissipate into oblivion.
Dissolution or accepting Arthur Draker's proposal.
Harvey West couldn't tell which was the worse fate.
'Drakers—devils more devilish than devils themselves.ʼ
Though he was of progenitor status to the Draker bloodline, Harvey West harbored loathing for them.
After agonizing, he finally extended his hand and took the Dragon Heart Arthur offered.
Seeing this, Arthur grinned.
"You made the right choice. A wise decision."
At the same time, he snapped his fingers toward Harvey West.
Tssstsss—
To his astonishment, Harvey West's body began to slowly recover. Time itself rewound for his wounds.
He stared in shock.
'This is... Ramon Siemens's authority?ʼ
More precisely, it was the authority of the Fell God Ajitahaka that Ramon had wielded.
Arthur Draker's golden Dragon Eye had shifted to a crimson hue.
Holding the Dragon Heart, he looked at Harvey West and said,
"Harvey West—no, I shall bestow upon you the name Draker. Harvey Draker. Join me, and together we'll create the ultimate Demon King."