[...What is this?]
Rumble...
Just before the Flame of Execution struck Atlas, time froze, halting everything.
Even Raguel, who had lived through eons, could not help but feel bewildered by this situation where time had stopped.
The authority over time was a domain forbidden even to him and the other constellations.
A black shadow rippled in front of the flustered Raguel, and Zeke revealed himself.
Sss...
Zeke had used the unique domain "Chamber of Time" he gained after absorbing Siemens Apollyon.
Activating the Chamber of Time allowed him to halt time within a fixed area for a certain duration.
Thus, everything except Zeke and Raguel, who had entered the unique domain, had come to a standstill.
Having drawn Raguel into the space of time, Zeke's eyes gleamed sharply.
He pointed Laevatein at Raguel and said,
"You called me a lowly human, didn't you?"
In that instant, Zeke consumed a massive amount of karma to activate the overclock function.
Woooong!
A prismatic light poured from his body, emanating the divinities of and
Rumble...
Raguel, possessing the avatar body of the angel, frowned at the sight of Zeke wielding an extraordinary constellation's power, his amber gem-eyes narrowing.
[How can a mere human possess the power of a constellation?]
Zeke narrowed his eyes upon hearing Raguel's words.
'As expected, Arthur Draker and the constellations of the Thirteen Palaces aren't in close communication after all.'
If Arthur Draker had been coordinating closely with the Thirteen Palaces' constellations on some plan, Raguel would not have been unaware of Zeke's existence.
But the Raguel inhabiting the angel's body saw Zeke only as a lowly human, oblivious to the fact that he had absorbed the soul of the Arrogant Savior and become a new grand lord.
Woooong!
Without responding, Zeke unleashed his divinity and infused the power of the constellation into Laevatein and Ascalon.
The two swords, concentrated with prismatic energy, swirled dynamically around Zeke's body like living beings.
Raguel spoke in a low voice as he watched Zeke.
[Impudent human. No matter how you struggle, your insignificant fate will not change.]
To him, humans were nothing more than livestock raised in the pasture called the phenomenal world.
No matter how strong their power, livestock was livestock, so Raguel did not feel particularly threatened even upon seeing Zeke's divinity.
Zeke intended to exploit that arrogance of Raguel's.
Swoosh!
The two swords infused with divinity flew swiftly toward the angel.
Boom boom boom!
Raguel then invoked a stronger authority through the avatar body.
Roar!
Flame swords materialized before the avatar.
[Foolish being! Kneel before the great authority of the divine!]
With those words, the flame swords Raguel had created shot forward rapidly.
Swoosh!
The crimson flame swords, engulfed in fire, clashed mid-air with the two swords Zeke had launched.
Boom boom boom!
Since it was a collision of swords infused with divinity, an immense shockwave radiated outward.
Rumble!
The wave was so powerful that it distorted part of the dimension within the unique domain.
Sss...
Even though time was frozen, the shockwave's influence shattered the surrounding terrain and structures.
Boom boom boom!
The crimson flame sword, carrying Raguel's authority, generated a massive storm of flames that engulfed Zeke's swords.
Rumble...
Raguel assumed Zeke's swords could not withstand his authority and had melted away entirely.
Based on that judgment, he aimed to strike Zeke's main body next—when suddenly, prismatic light flashed through the crimson flame storm.
Woooong!
Laevatein and Ascalon, emitting brilliant sword light, cleaved through the crimson flame storm and pierced forward.
Kabuuum!
The crimson flame swords were nullified and scattered, and the two swords gleaming with sword light flew toward the angel possessed by Raguel.
The startled Raguel spread his wings.
Roar!
Flames rippled from the wings, pouring toward the incoming swords.
[To dare point a blade at a constellation! Insolent!] A divine tongue filled with fury boomed.
Roar!
Flames surged with ferocious intensity, as if to incinerate the entire world.
But even within that blaze, sword light flickered, slicing through the flames as the swords emerged.
Swoosh!
In an instant, Ascalon and Laevatein pierced the angel's two wings and passed through.
Boom!
Holes gaped wide in the flame-composed wings where the swords had penetrated.
[Kraaaah!]
Though it was the avatar body that was attacked, since Raguel was directly possessing it, he too took the hit and felt the full pain.
Like most constellations, Raguel had rarely been attacked by beings of the phenomenal world.
Especially for Raguel, who wielded immense power among the Thirteen Palaces, he had never even considered being assaulted by lesser beings.
As Raguel froze in shock, Zeke looked at him and said,
"For all your grand talk of divinity, you're nothing special. The flames are just mildly warm, after all."
Roar!
Having his wings pierced and receiving direct insult from Zeke, Raguel was consumed by raging fury.
[Damnable human scum!]
Roar!
The flames from the avatar's wings, now holed, surged even larger.
The humiliation of being attacked by a human he had deemed an insect was beyond words.
Watching this, Zeke confirmed that Raguel shared a similar disposition to Ramiel, the constellation of the Sagyeon Palace he had previously sealed.
'Constellations are weak to provocation compared to humans.'
In battles between humans, schemes and psychological warfare were crucial.
But in the demon realm, aside from Mephistopheles, fallen constellations generally settled disputes through direct contests of power.
Through Ramiel, Zeke had realized that the celestial realm dominated by the Thirteen Palaces' constellations was similarly structured, so he planned to provoke Raguel with an extremely "human" method to exploit any openings.
Rumble!
Raguel's avatar ignited intense flames and reformed the flame spear he had prepared earlier to strike Atlas.
Rumble...
The authority of the constellation concentrated in the spear was so potent that the surrounding dimension visibly warped.
It might even have shattered the "Chamber of Time" Zeke had deployed.
Raguel raised the flame spear and bellowed at Zeke,
[I shall annihilate even that barbaric soul in one blow!]
With a roar of fury, the flame spear shot toward Zeke.
Boom boom boom!
Unlike before, when it had risen into the air before plummeting, this time the flame spear flew straight at Zeke.
Zeke glared at the crimson flame spear blazing fiercely, as if to incinerate even his soul.
He should have dodged or countered, but Zeke did not move at all.
Then, astonishingly, he calmly extended his hand toward the crimson flame spear approaching right before him.
Roar!
Zeke had seized the crimson flame spear—composed of the Flame of Execution—with his bare hand.
Woooong!
Prismatic divine power poured from Zeke's entire body as he gripped the flame spear.
Yet the crimson flame still enveloped him, attempting to burn him away.
Raguel felt bewilderment upon seeing Zeke catch the spear he had thrown with his bare hand.
In his eons of existence, he had never witnessed anyone seize his authority barehanded like this.
Raguel's face twisted in unprecedented rage and humiliation.
[Burn! Burn away that lowly, arrogant being's soul completely!]
At Raguel's cry, the crimson flame in Zeke's hand blazed even fiercer, flames surging wildly.
Roar!
Zeke, grasping the surging crimson flame, invoked the energy of the Elemental Sword's Chamber of Firepower.
Woooong!
He unfolded the Chamber of Firepower to accept the crimson flame trying to consume his body.
In that moment, the Third Eye emerged on his forehead, simultaneously activating his unique authorities: Absolute Dominion and Infinite Breakthrough.
Rumble...
Zeke infused his authorities into the wildly flaring flames in his hand.
Roar!
The flames rebelled against Zeke's authorities, igniting a deeper scarlet glow.
Zeke then gripped the flame spear with both hands and shouted,
"Raven!"
In response to his call, Raven manifested from his shoulder.
Grrr...
Influenced by Zeke's divinity, Raven's body shimmered with prismatic light. It let out a phoenix cry, spread its wings, and flew up, wrapping around Zeke and devouring the surging crimson flames.
Sss...
As the flames subsided under Raven's assault, the crimson flame spear in Zeke's grasp thrashed more violently.
Zeke suppressed it with his authority and unfolded the Chamber of Firepower to seize its origin, while simultaneously dissecting the flames' source with the Third Eye.
Sss...
Before long, the crimson flames that had sought to burn Zeke's body began to die down gradually.
Then, the crimson flame spear gripped in Zeke's hand rippled, gradually changing form within his grasp.
Roar!
At some point, the spear's shape vanished entirely, transforming into a sword of flames that Zeke now held.
[You have subjugated Raguel's authority "Crimson Flame" using your unique authorities "Absolute Dominion" and "Infinite Breakthrough."]
[You have restructured the subjugated authority "Crimson Flame" with the authority
"Re-Creation."]
[You have acquired the authority "Crimson Flame."]
[The authority "Flame" evolves into "Crimson Flame."]
Zeke nodded upon confirming the messages.
He had subjugated and claimed the authority of Raguel, the constellation of the Libra Palace.
Seeing the crimson flame sword blazing fiercely in Zeke's hand, Raguel stammered,
[Wha... how can this be...?]
The Flame of Execution was Raguel's unique authority, granted by the Primordial Light.
Raguel could not tolerate a lowly human mimicking that authority.
In his shock, Raguel resolved to utterly annihilate Zeke and fully possessed the avatar body of the angel with his soul.
Crackle!
Raguel, who originally could not intervene in the phenomenal world with his divine nature, was now able to descend directly thanks to the end-times angel, refined through the power of twisted causality.
Crackle!
Dark energy-laced currents crackled from the angel's body in all directions.
At the same time, changes occurred in the avatar body.
Its form grew far larger than before, and dazzling light burst from its statue-like surface, forming a ring-shaped halo above its head.
Woooong!
The divinity of Raguel, now descended into the phenomenal world, emitted intense light.
The power was so overwhelming that it warped the surrounding dimension and threatened to tear the unique domain.
Zeke sensed the presence of dark matter within the avatar body that generated twisted causality.
'The one who implanted that into the angel's body... must be Arthur Draker.'
Zeke still wondered where Arthur Draker had obtained such a thing and how he had learned the method.
But crucially, Arthur Draker could use that power to bring all the Thirteen Palaces' constellations into the phenomenal world.
Woooong!
Raguel, descended into the avatar body, gazed at Zeke with a brilliant halo.
The avatar body was no longer a statue but had transformed into a form resembling a Nephilim.
Raguel spread enormous wings of light, a ring of light floated behind his head, and flames of light blazed fiercely on both arms.
[The sin of mocking a god cannot be forgiven by anything.]
Raguel's divine tongue, now directly descended into the phenomenal world, reached Zeke.
Any ordinary human would have had their brain overwhelmed by the disparity in rank from the voice alone, rupturing and collapsing while vomiting blood.
But Zeke showed no disturbance from Raguel's divine tongue. He raised the crimson flame sword and said to him,
"The sin of mocking a god cannot be forgiven, you say."
The Flame of Execution surged fiercely from the sword in his hand.
Roar!
From within the massive flames, Zeke glared at Raguel and said,
"Then it might be better to just slay the god. Since forgiveness is off the table anyway."