Rumble!
Harvey Draker felt as if his entire body was being crushed under the immense pressure of the overwhelming power emanating from Zeke.
"Zeke Draker... what in the world happened to you?"
He had already anticipated that Zeke would be stronger than before, having taken the soul of the Arrogant Savior from him.
But the power radiating from Zeke was beyond imagination. It surpassed even ancient beings like the Nephilim, making it feel as if he faced a Constellation.
Harvey Draker braced his dragon scales and shouted at Zeke.
"Zeke Draker! No matter how much you struggle, the final arc will proceed as planned!" Zeke smirked at his words.
"That final arc nonsense is getting old. Whether itʼs some stage someone else made, Iʼll just smash it all to pieces."
At the same time, Zeke swung his sword toward Harvey Draker.
Whoosh!
It was a simple sword strike, but the power behind it was anything but light.
Rumble!
Harvey Draker thrust his arm forward, concentrating mana to form a protective barrier.
Boom!
The barrier he created clashed with Zekeʼs sword strike.
"Urk!"
Harvey Draker swallowed a groan as the impact seeped through the barrier and into his body.
Gritting his teeth, he activated a Draconic Tongue command toward Zeke.
"Annihilate!"
It was the most powerful Draconic Tongue he could wield.
But then, something strange happened.
"Cough!"
Harvey Draker suddenly coughed, spewing blue blood from his mouth.
"Gah!"
His dragon scales scattered like leaves, his body cracked open, and blood streamed down.
Unable to maintain his Dragonkin form, Harvey Draker reverted to human shape and plummeted from the air to the ground.
Boom!
The fallen Harvey Draker rolled across the floor, unable to steady himself.
"What... what is this...?"
Before he could even gather his wits, Zeke was upon him, pressing Laevatein against his throat.
Zeke looked down at him and said,
"If you donʼt even know how to use Draconic Tongue properly, challenging someone stronger with such a powerful Word-Binding is either foolish or brave. I canʼt tell which." , possessing the hearts of Bahamut and an Elder Dragon, could also use Draconic Tongue. But having attained Divinity, he had access to the realm of Divine Tongue as well.
Attacking Zeke with Draconic Tongue had backfired, the Word-Binding reflecting back onto Harvey Draker himself.
"That... that canʼt be."
Harvey Draker knew the backlash of a failed Draconic Tongue command could rebound on the user.
But for it to be this severe, there needed to be an insurmountable gap in rank between caster and target.
He had never imagined such a vast disparity existed between himself and Zeke Draker.
The sharp edge of Zekeʼs Laevatein touched Harvey Drakerʼs throat.
Zeke said to him,
"I thought youʼd crawl back into some hole like a mole to recover from your near-death state. But you made an unexpected choice."
Zekeʼs blade slowly dug into Harvey Drakerʼs neck.
"Harvey Draker. Taking the Draker name and allying with Arthur Draker. How should I interpret that?"
Harvey Draker watched Zekeʼs demeanor closely, searching for an opening to escape.
At that moment, something burst from the ground.
Clatter!
It was the Chains of Solomon. They shot out forcefully, wrapping around Harvey Drakerʼs wrists and ankles.
"Urk!"
Caught in the chains that bound his limbs tightly in an instant, Harvey Draker thrashed violently.
Zeke shook his head as he watched.
"Struggling wonʼt help. I picked up an interesting name on my trip to the Demon Realm.
With your power, you canʼt break free from me." Guide of Fair Suffering.
No one could inflict suffering like Zeke.
Crackle!
Faint lightning flowed from the Chains of Solomon, seeping into Harvey Drakerʼs body. "Grrraaah!"
It was a weak current, but to Harvey Draker, already gravely wounded by the backlash of the Draconic Tongue, even this was excruciating agony.
Zeke looked at him and said,
"Arthur Draker sent the Black Stage here. Did he come personally?"
Despite the pain, Harvey Draker clamped his mouth shut, refusing to answer Zekeʼs question.
Zeke shook his head again.
"Strong-willed, I see. Fine by me—that makes it easier." He increased the intensity of the current.
Crackle!
"Gaaaaah!"
Harvey Drakerʼs groans echoed through the stone chamber.
regarded the man enduring the torment and said,
"Ordinary pain wonʼt break you, huh."
He approached Harvey Draker quietly.
Then, a red Blood Eye emerged on Zekeʼs forehead.
Sss...
The light emanating from the Blood Eye was drawn into Harvey Drakerʼs Dragon Eye.
Soon, the power of the Blood King assaulted the sturdy mental barrier protecting Harvey Drakerʼs mind from multiple angles.
Even under the assault of the Blood Eye, Harvey Draker glared at Zeke and shouted,
"Itʼs useless! This level of power canʼt pierce my mind!" Zeke ignored his words and slowly extended his hand.
Sss...
As he did, shadows crept forward, flowing into Harvey Drakerʼs shadow.
Seeing Zekeʼs shadow infiltrate his own, Harvey Draker panicked.
"What are you trying to do?!"
Zeke gave a cold smile at the desperately shouting man.
"The Blood Eye alone isnʼt enough, so Iʼm trying various approaches. Why, are you scared?"
From above, the power of the Blood Eye; from below, the power of shadow—both settled into Harvey Draker, targeting and burrowing into his soul.
Harvey Draker clung desperately to his mental barrier, trying to block Zekeʼs assault.
But even as a Nephilim with the power of a dragon, he couldnʼt withstand the Authority of Zeke, who had attained Divinity.
Ziiing...
Harvey Draker felt his mental barrier crumbling bit by bit.
He ground his teeth and struggled.
"Raaargh! I wonʼt break from this! Zeke Draaaaker!"
As he screamed in defiance, changes began to ripple through his body.
Crunch!
Harvey Drakerʼs form swelled, shifting not into a half-dragon but a true dragon.
Roooar!
A dragonʼs roar erupted from his mouth.
Massive wings sprouted from his back, his neck elongated, and a tail emerged.
But the transformed Harvey Draker didnʼt take a typical dragon form; it resembled the demon dragons Zeke had seen in the Demon Realm.
Zeke sensed the power of the Outsider Species from the aberrant dragon before him.
"He used the power of the Outsider Species to mutate into a true dragon form."
Having completed the transformation, Harvey Draker shook off Zekeʼs Authority probing his mind and spread his two pairs of wings, letting out a mighty roar.
Roooaaar!
The sonic boom shook the entire stone chamber.
Smaller than a typical dragon, but the power it exuded surpassed that of an adult dragon.
calmly raised Laevatein, aiming at the aberrant dragon Harvey Draker
had become.
Then, the aberrant dragon lunged forward and swung its massive tail down from above.
Boom!
The solid stone floor shattered completely upon impact with the tail, sending debris flying everywhere.
Zeke retreated, twisting in midair to assume the Rider Form of the Dragon Slaying Technique.
Hummm!
Sword resonance rang from Laevatein.
As Zeke swung, a half-moon sword strike flew toward the aberrant dragon that was Harvey Draker.
Swoosh!
The sharp half-moon targeted the aberrant dragonʼs neck.
At that moment, a translucent barrier appeared before the aberrant dragon.
Ziiing...
The barrier successfully blocked Zekeʼs fierce sword strike.
With the aerial strike nullified and scattered, the aberrant dragon immediately opened its maw wide toward Zeke.
Rumble!
A massive mana mass gathered at the aberrant dragonʼs mouth, soon compressing into a mana cannon blast fired at Zeke.
Vroooom...
The scorching mana cannon shot out long, sweeping over Zeke and his surroundings.
Zeke activated his Shadow Armor for defense against the fast-approaching mana cannon.
Ziiing!
Surprisingly, the aberrant dragonʼs mana cannon pierced through the Shadow Armor.
Zeke hastily retreated further, donning Hercion and forming a barrier.
Boom!
The mana cannon exploded against the barrier Zeke had deployed.
Rumble!
Debris from the shattered stone chamber turned to dust and scattered around.
The aberrant dragon, unyielding amid the dust cloud, spread its wings wide.
Soon, its clear intent echoed throughout the stone chamber.
[Zeke Draker, come out. Iʼll crush you thoroughly today, you who ruined everything.] Even in aberrant dragon form, Harvey Draker retained his clear consciousness.
From within the dust cloud, Zeke emerged, clad in Hercion.
The surface was scorched by the mana cannon, but he had mostly nullified it, suffering little damage.
Seeing this, Harvey Draker bared his teeth.
[If I leave you be any longer, who knows what youʼll do. So today, Iʼll end this completely.]
Hearing those words, Zeke raised Laevatein and assumed the Rider Form of the Dragon Slaying Technique.
"Thanks for saying what I was about to." Zekeʼs demeanor shifted as he took his stance.
Hummm!
The Astral Sword unfolded, the domain of his will expanding around him from the center.
Zeke had realized the Astral Sword could produce effects similar to the Unique Domains of Constellations and was combining it with his Authority.
Rumble!
As Zekeʼs Astral Sword domain reached him, Harvey Draker scowled and invoked the power of the Outsider Species.
Crackle!
Zekeʼs Astral Sword energy clashed with Harvey Drakerʼs Outsider Species power, causing dimensional rifts to form.
Both existed beyond the causality of the Phenomenal World, so they faced no sanctions from karma, but the dimension itself destabilized, unleashing backlash.
Zeke advanced step by step, unleashing the Infinite Sword Art infused with the Authority of the Heart-Sword toward Harvey Draker.
Infinite Sword Art Secret Transmission Form
Second Linked Form Great Dragon Cleave
Ziiing...
The sword strike, empowered by the Heart-Sword Authority, flew silently and tracelessly through the dimensional boundary toward Harvey Draker.
Rumble!
Rejecting Zekeʼs domain with the power of the Outsider Species, Harvey Draker sensed the Heart-Sword and spread his wings, soaring into the air.
Whoosh!
He then used Draconic Tongue and Outsider Species power to deploy not only a barrier but all sorts of magic in every direction.
Boom!
An ice storm, a flame storm, lightning, and heavy barriers unfolded simultaneously.
Ziiing...
But the Heart-Sword couldnʼt be blocked by such things.
The strike sliced through the roots of the magic, heading straight for the dragon heart within Harvey Draker.
Realizing his heart would be cleaved if he stayed put, Harvey Draker unleashed the full power of the Outsider Species he had gained through consecration in desperation. [Roooaaar!]
His aberrant dragon body swelled, black tentacles sprouting from its surface.
Gurgle!
The black tentacles sprayed something like black ink toward Zekeʼs Heart-Sword strike.
Crunch!
The black ink-like substance clumped together and began moving on its own.
Incredibly, it devoured Zekeʼs Heart-Sword strike.
Crunch!
The aberrant entity that consumed the essence-severing Heart-Sword from the dimensional boundary grew even larger than before.
Zekeʼs expression changed as he watched.
"What... is that...?"
It wasnʼt an Authority, nor the power of the Outsider Species—something entirely different.
Zeke recalled a power similar to the black substance Harvey Draker had spewed.
"Authority: Gluttony..."
It was what he had acquired after absorbing the Fell God Ajitahaka—the power to devour anything.
"Does Harvey Draker possess Authority: Gluttony?"
It felt slightly different from his own Gluttony, making it hard to pinpoint, but he could guess its nature.
Like ink spreading in water, the aberrant power diffused, slowly approaching Zeke.
Crunch...
Anything touching the ink-like substance was devoured, leaving no trace.
Zeke tried to activate Chaos Field against the unknown material.
But then, a voice came from behind him.
"Zeke Draker."
Turning, he saw the shattered leader speaking to him.
"I know what that is."