Zeke gripped the control crystals that commanded the Ark and channeled his energy.
Woooong!
The golden aura poured from his body and flowed into the crystals.
At the same time, the entire Ark bathed in golden light, radiating purifying power.
Eeeeeeng—
The purifying power that emanated from the Ark spread across the skies above Atlas.
The magical beasts touched by the golden aura spewed black smoke and let out agonized screams.
Kaaaaack!
The smaller magical beasts could not withstand the aura's force; their bodies burst apart and they died, or they plummeted to the ground leaking black bodily fluids. The winged mid-sized magical beasts either fled the area to escape its range or quickly descended to the surface.
But the magical beasts that had already entered Atlas City faced attacks from the guardians waiting on the ground.
Shoosh-shoosh-shoosh!
Heracles, standing atop the walls of Atlas Castle, fired orichalcum arrows at the magical beasts.
Pew-pew-pew!
Even a mere graze from the orichalcum arrows infused with purifying power caused the magical beasts' bodies to explode and perish.
Soon, the streets of Atlas piled high with the corpses of dead magical beasts, but that did not last long.
Tss-tss-tss—
Within the range linked to defense mode, the corpses of the dead magical beasts automatically drew into the shadows.
All the slain magical beasts converted into Zeke's karma points, becoming resources that further fortified the defensive walls.
Through this, Zeke strengthened Atlas's defensive line while also considering how he could remotely reinforce the other defense zones.
The moment the idea struck him, Zeke checked the base zones that could link with defense mode.
—Base Zones List—
1. Fortress of Atrahasis
2. Tomb of the Dragon Slayer
3. Resting Place of the Hero King
4. Resting Place of the Skyfolk
5. Giantʼs Guardian Tower
6. Ark
7. Tower of Infinity
Zeke decided to reinforce the defensive lines of the Fortress of Atrahasis in Mycenae, the Giantʼs Guardian Tower in the barbarians' territory, and the Tower of Infinity in Aten within Nirvana's domain.
Soon, thick walls rose around the designated base zones linked to defense mode, and mana cannons mounted to attack enemies.
Woooong!
The mana cannons installed in the base zones decimated the swarming magical beasts, and each kill converted into Zeke's karma points.
With magical beasts massacred across multiple battlefields, he recovered a massive amount of karma points.
Zeke redistributed these points to empower his shadow legion and guardians, granting them new skills.
Judging that the situation had stabilized somewhat through defense mode, Zeke then infused the purifying power with the authority of full recovery and scattered it across all of Atlas.
The golden halo spread out, healing the injured citizens, knights, and soldiers of Atlas.
Minor wounds vanished immediately, and damaged bodies cleanly restored to their original state.
Even depleted stamina replenished, leaving everyone stunned by this sudden miracle.
"It's... a miracle."
"God has come to save us."
To those who had plunged into despair, the golden vessel that appeared out of nowhere to slay the magical beasts looked like a divine emissary sent by the heavens.
As the situation in Atlas calmed somewhat, Zeke steered the Ark straight toward the giant magical beast cradling the angel's cocoon.
Rumble-rumble-rumble!
As the Ark approached, the giant magical beast grew wary and underwent another transformation.
Groooowl!
New magical beasts burst from the giant magical beast's body.
Kaaaaack!
Huge, starfish-like magical beasts emerged, baring sharp teeth as they unfurled their bodies and flew toward the Ark's surface, attempting to latch on.
At that moment, gunports opened along the Ark's sides, extending mana cannons.
Eeeeeeng—
The mana cannons, stretched out in all directions, fired at the charging magical beasts, slicing their bodies apart.
Pew-pew-pew!
The magical beasts flying toward the Ark disintegrated into ash without even getting close.
The Ark continued firing mana cannons in every direction as it slowly advanced toward the whale-like giant magical beast.
The giant magical beast then extended long tentacles, trying to wrap around the Ark.
It seemed intent on crushing the Ark in one go with its tentacles.
Swoosh-swoosh-swoosh!
Seeing this, Zeke placed his hand on the Ark's control crystals and invoked holy spirit qi.
Crackle-crackle-crackle!
Heavenly thunder rippled across the entire Ark.
Then, fierce bolts of lightning shot toward the approaching tentacles.
Crackle-crackle-crackle!
The lightning chained together, surging along the tentacles and affecting the main body of the magical beast.
Rooooar!
The magical beast roared in agony from the direct strike of the heavenly thunder.
But Zeke's attack did not end there.
He pulled an ice-attribute elemental stone from his inventory.
Placing the stone on the control device, the Ark recognized it and a message appeared.
[The Ark has detected an elemental stone.]
[Linking the elemental stone with the Ark's main cannon.]
Woooong!
The elemental stone, now linked with the Ark, began to glow blue.
Zeke, seeing this, commanded the system.
"System, aim the main cannon."
Following Zeke's order, the Ark's prow parted, revealing a crystal cannon forged from orichalcum and fairy stones.
[Aiming the main cannon at the target.]
Whirrr!
The crystal cannon locked precisely onto the cocoon at the giant magical beast's center.
Through Zeke's vision linked to the Ark, the cocoon appeared as if within reach.
Zeke stared at it and shouted.
"Fire the main cannon!"
Woooong!
At Zeke's command, the energy from the elemental stone surged into the fairy-stoneforged crystal.
Woooong!
The stone's power, amplified through the orichalcum, concentrated at the crystal's tip.
Sensing the ominous force from the Ark, the giant magical beast began retreating from the skies above Atlas.
Rumble-rumble-rumble!
But the Ark's main cannon was faster.
Eeeeeeng!
Blue light shot from the crystal toward the giant magical beast.
Crackle-crackle-crackle!
As the blue light passed, the tentacles froze solid and shattered into pieces.
Crack-crack-crack!
The amplified power of the elemental stone, combined with the Ark, far exceeded Zeke's expectations.
The tentacles, which had extended in thousands of strands, all froze and immobilized.
The blue light froze every tentacle and still had power left, pressing onward.
Even the translucent protective barrier could not diminish the blue light's force.
Eeeeeeng—
The blue light pierced straight through the barrier without hesitation.
The main cannon's target was the cocoon attached to the giant magical beast's body.
Zeke planned to freeze and annihilate the cocoon before the apocalyptic angel could hatch.
Crunch-crunch-crunch!
The giant magical beast desperately tried to close its gaping back shell to block the blue light that froze everything it touched.
But the main cannon's projectile was faster.
Crackle-crackle-crackle!
Before the shell could fully close, the blue light froze the beast's innards completely.
Crunch-crunch-crunch!
It managed to move the shell just enough to barely shield the cocoon, but the areas directly hit by the blue light froze solid and necrotized.
The frozen shell sections broke off from the body and plummeted to the ground.
Boom-boom-boom!
The giant magical beast, now retreating from the skies above Atlas, landed amid the other magical beasts surging from the ground.
Boom-boom-bang!
The frozen shell chunks crashed onto the heads of the advancing magical beasts.
In an instant, thousands of magical beasts crushed beneath the shell.
With a single shot from the main cannon, the giant magical beast lost its protective barrier, half its shell, and even took out swathes of its own allies.
Crunch-crunch-crunch—
The giant magical beast, with half its shell gone, staggered, unable to maintain balance with its massive body.
Seeing this, Zeke prepared his second attack.
What he drew from his inventory was a drum and a horn flute.
These were items empowered by the authority of Gusheon, the powerful constellation and chieftain of the Tuma tribe, known as the Judge of Unending Strife.
Fitting for the Tuma tribe's leader who revered struggle, Gusheon's authority granted immense power.
The drum could summon earthquakes and magma, while the horn flute called down meteors.
Moreover, Zeke had enhanced them into an ark of the sacred relic.
This removed the original limitation of use only in "fierce battlefields full of hot struggle energy," changing it to "large-scale battlefields" after the upgrade.
Zeke linked the drum and horn flute to the Ark's system.
Woooong!
The constellation's authority embedded in the artifacts amplified further upon linking with the Ark.
[Execution conditions met.]
[Executing the constellation's authority.]
Soon, red energy poured from the Ark.
Rumble-rumble-rumble!
An earthquake struck the area where the magical beasts gathered, triggered by the executed authority.
Boom-boom-boom!
Then, magma erupted from the cracked earth alongside the quake.
Sizzle-sizzle-sizzle!
This was no ordinary magma.
It summoned from the Abyss, the harsh domain of the demon realm, and engulfed the magical beasts.
Kaaaaack!
Even magical beasts empowered by outsider species could not regenerate as the demon realm magma consumed them, melting them away.
Sizzle-sizzle-sizzle!
Magma sprayed like fountains in all directions, then flowed like rivers, causing the magical beasts to panic and cluster while fleeing it.
But ahead of them waited the immortal undead legion.
Clack! Clack-clack!
The undead legion swung their bone swords at the magical beasts fleeing the magma.
Thwack!
Unlike ordinary human soldiers, the undead legion could regenerate and move as long as they had mana, even if shattered.
Within defense mode's range, the immortal legion received mana from Zeke, allowing endless regeneration.
They had truly become an immortal legion.
As the magical beasts blocked by the undead legion could not advance or retreat, an ominous change occurred in the sky.
Rumble-rumble-rumble!
The sky turned red, a brilliant flash lit up, and thunderous roars echoed.
Soon, meteors wreathed in flames rained down like a meteor shower.
Boom-boom-boom!
Enormous meteors slammed into the area teeming with magical beasts.
The magical beasts struck by the falling meteors crushed without resistance.
Their fragmented forms tried to cling together and regenerate, but as they writhed, magma surged from the ground and melted them all.
Thud-thud-thud!
Even the giant magical beast hovering in the air could not evade the flaming meteors.
Crunch!
With its barrier shattered and half its shell gone, blocking the meteors was impossible.
Boom!
A meteor crashed onto the remaining half-shell, triggering a massive explosion.
Unable to endure any longer, the giant magical beast plummeted to the ground.
Boom-boom-bang!
It crashed right where magma erupted and the earth split, crushing the magical beasts below who could not escape in time.
Crunch-crunch-crunch—
The fallen giant magical beast extended tentacles again, hastily forming a temporary defensive wall to block the falling meteors.
Boom-boom-boom-bang!
But blocking the exploding, flame-wreathed meteors from all sides was no easy task.
The Ark in the air continued unleashing falling thunder, while mana cannons on the walls fired mana grenades at the magical beasts.
Magical beasts kept emerging from the massive black hole in the sky, but most disintegrated from the Ark's mana cannons before fully manifesting.
To the magical beasts invading Atlas, Zeke aboard the Ark was a calamity incarnate.
Yet even in this chaos, the giant magical beast refused to abandon its orders to protect and hatch the cocoon.
Crack! Crack!
The cocoon, now over ten meters wide, pulsed even larger than before.
It signaled that hatching was imminent.
But then— Woooong!
Two glowing swords materialized before the cocoon.
Zeke, leading with the swords in the air, emerged from the shadows.
Zeke's sharp gaze flashed toward the throbbing cocoon.
At the same moment, the two swords gleamed and flew toward the cocoon.