Raguel's rage-filled roar echoed in all directions.
Woooong!
At the same time, countless rings rose from Raguel's hands and began spinning together.
Soon, the cluster of rings formed a sphere of light that radiated beams in every direction.
Woooong!
The faster the rings spun, the stronger the light grew.
In the past, Raguel had used this power to alter the continent's terrain or sink entire massive islands.
With that immense force, he intended not only to collapse Zeke's unique domain, Purgatory, but also to obliterate the entirety of Atlas and even the Midland.
That was the terrifying and cruel nature of a constellation's fury.
Rumble rumble rumble!
Raguel tried to hurl the light of annihilation from his hands toward the ground.
"Strike down that arrogant spawn of the heavens!"
Asmodi raised his bone sword and shouted at the Bone Corps.
The Bone Corps, consisting of brave but blindly loyal warriors, charged toward Raguel with reckless ferocity.
Woooong!
A wave of light emanated from Raguel's body and surged toward the Bone Corps.
The light wave formed a barrier that blocked the Bone Corps' charge.
"Break through! Break through and show our lord our loyalty!"
At Asmodi's frenzied command, the Bone Corps members—little more than fanatics— obeyed without question.
Boom boom boom!
The Bone Corps hurled their bone spears at the light wave.
Although the bone spears thrown by these beings couldn't inflict direct harm on the constellation Raguel, they still annoyed him enough that he couldn't ignore them.
"Annoying pests!"
Raguel despised demonkind from the Demon Realm even more than the inhabitants of the phenomenal world.
Because they were the vassals of the fallen constellations who had betrayed the heavens, he believed their souls were irredeemably tainted, beyond any hope of salvation.
He thought the beings of the phenomenal world could be cleansed of their lowly nature through the sacred flame of his judgment and redeemed anew, showing a measure of mercy in his own way. But he saw no value in extending even that to the spawn of the Demon Realm.
Rumble rumble rumble!
So, before unleashing the light of annihilation upon the earth, Raguel sought to eradicate the impure Bone Corps entirely.
The light waves emanating from his body grew even larger.
At the same time, a chilling gleam flashed in Raguel's amber eyes.
The ray of annihilation, capable of erasing the very essence of existence, poured toward the Bone Corps.
Ziiiiiing—
But then, the Dawn Battalion behind the Bone Corps surged forward, leaping into the path of the ray.
Intense demonic aura erupted from the swords of the Demon Realm's knights, led by Arataso.
Woooong!
The demonic auras from these renowned knights of the Demon Realm resonated with one another, forming a protective barrier of waves.
The ray from Raguel's eyes collided with the barrier of demonic aura.
Boom boom boom!
Although the wave of demonic aura created by the Dawn Battalion held formidable power, it was insufficient to block Raguel's ray that annihilated origins.
Crackle crackle crackle!
The wave of demonic aura shattered under the ray, and a powerful light of destruction swept over the entire Morning Star.
Boom boom boom!
The massive white flame generated by the ray blazed fiercely, as if to annihilate everything.
Seeing this, Raguel burst into mad laughter.
"Behold! How amusing it is to watch the insects writhe and vanish!"
Deceived by Zeke's provocation, Raguel had cast aside the dignity of a constellation and now jeered like a child, baring all his emotions.
When a constellation descended to the phenomenal world in avatar form, it incarnated as a being of that world, becoming susceptible to emotional fluctuations unlike when it resided in the heavens as an observer.
That was why they were more easily provoked when directly intervening than when merely overlooking from the heavens.
And it was precisely this vulnerability that Zeke targeted when confronting the constellations of the heavens.
Woooong!
The light of annihilation in Raguel's hands caused a deafening vibration.
From beyond the white flame that had incinerated Morning Star, Raguel, holding the light of annihilation, addressed Zeke.
"With this, all that is false shall perish, and light shall dwell upon the earth."
Raguel recited verbatim the words said to have been uttered by the constellations when Carcosa met its end, as recorded in the Apocrypha.
Zeke raised a finger toward such a Raguel.
Then, pillars of flame from Purgatory surged up, attempting to attack Raguel.
Grooooar!
But Hela, caught in one of the pillars, opened her mouth wide and began devouring the flames of Purgatory.
Whoosh!
The holy water composed of the constellation's flames chewed and swallowed Purgatory's intense fire, fueling her own blaze even stronger.
As the flames of Purgatory failed to reach Raguel and were entirely consumed by Hela, Zeke silently glared at her.
Seeing this, Raguel smiled in satisfaction and raised his hand higher.
"Behold, this is the decree of the divine."
With his final proclamation, Raguel dropped the light of annihilation toward the earth.
Woooong!
Just as the light of annihilation left Raguel's hand and began falling toward the ground—
Tzzzzz—
Time froze once more, halting the light of annihilation in midair.
Raguel's eyes blazed with fury again.
"You and your petty tricks again!"
Enraged, he commanded Hela to attack Zeke.
Having devoured all of Purgatory's flames, Hela immediately spewed white flame toward Zeke.
Whoosh!
The powerful white flame engulfed Zeke, and he vanished without a trace above the burning city.
Raguel's eyes gleamed with satisfaction at the sight.
But then—
Swoosh—
The white flame that had incinerated Morning Star yet lingered split apart, and something suddenly emerged from within.
Boom boom boom!
What burst through the flames was not Dawn Battalion Captain Arataso or Bone Corps Captain Asmodi, but one ordinary death knight.
That ordinary death knight raised a crude sword and charged toward Raguel through the white flame.
"Insolent wretch!"
Raguel felt immense rage at the mere death knight daring to invade his domain.
Raguel's amber eyes glowed, pouring the ray of annihilation toward the death knight.
Yet astonishingly, the death knight's crude sword blocked Raguel's ray.
Rumble rumble rumble!
The demonic aura bursting from the death knight's sword disrupted the ray, charging toward Raguel.
Raguel roared in disbelief.
"How dare you invade the sacred domain of a constellation!"
At his shout, intense light poured from Raguel's entire body.
The death knight was exposed to the halo enveloping the constellation's form.
Then, something astonishing happened.
Tzzzzz—
Black energy dispersed, revealing what was hidden beneath the death knight's armor.
"You, you?"
The true identity of the death knight revealed by the halo was none other than Zeke.
The Zeke battling Hela was his clone; his true body had infiltrated Raguel's domain stealthily, blending in with Morning Star.
Such tactics were familiar in human warfare but novel to constellations, so Raguel fell completely for Zeke's ploy.
Boom boom boom!
Zeke raised Laevatein, infused with the power of Full Power Technique, and charged at Raguel.
Raguel grew even more furious at Zeke's sudden appearance.
"You vermin!"
Raguel hastily tried to pour the ray toward Zeke again.
But Zeke reacted faster.
Swoosh—
Zeke's sword strike cleaved through the ray, leaving a wound on Raguel's avatar body instead.
"Kraaaah!"
It was a shallow scratch, but Raguel cried out in unfamiliar pain.
Woooong!
As Raguel screamed in agony, the rings emitting the halo blazed with even more intense light.
Swoosh!
Beams of light erupted wildly in all directions.
This accelerated the cracks in Raguel's nearly spent avatar body.
Boom boom boom!
Zeke spread Shadow Armor wide to block the halo extending toward him.
Shadow Armor formed a shadow shield, repelling Raguel's halo.
Black smoke rose where the halo touched, but Zeke advanced one step deeper toward Raguel.
Realizing Zeke had penetrated deep into his domain, Raguel panicked and raised his hands, wrapped in rings.
Even at the cost of destroying his avatar body, he intended to detonate the rings and annihilate Zeke.
But Zeke moved faster than Raguel.
Woooong!
A long sword resonance echoed from Laevatein.
Woooong!
Zeke focused all his mind on the sword.
He saw the origin of the cracks in Raguel's avatar body.
Zeke channeled Full Power Technique with his will and simultaneously unleashed the authority of Heart-Sword.
As sword and soul became one, Zeke swung at Raguel.
Full Power Technique
Triple Spell
Will of Godslaying Slash
A sword honed by will to slay gods.
The sword strike, infused with Zeke's fully awakened Heart-Sword will, flew toward the cracks in the avatar body.
Kiiiiing—
A sharp sound whistled past Raguel's ear.
But seeing no change, he assumed Zeke's attack had failed.
Relaxed after the tension, Raguel burst into mad laughter at Zeke, now defenseless in his domain.
"Foolish human! As if a wretch like you could ever—"
But then, something felt off.
Crack crack!
The cracks etched across the avatar body widened, fragments breaking away.
Raguel's ankles, elbows, and part of his head began crumbling.
"This, this can't be..."
Unbeknownst to Raguel, Zeke's sword, laden with the will to slay a god, had indeed struck true.
The cracks accelerated by the Will of Godslaying Slash could no longer be contained even by a constellation's authority
Crumble crumble—
Raguel's avatar body began collapsing at rapid speed.
Unable to believe his avatar—where his true soul had descended—was crumbling to a mere human he had scorned, Raguel screamed.
"This defies providence, the laws of existence...!"
Looking at such a Raguel, Zeke spoke in a cold voice.
"Yet you rebelled, destroyed the primordial light that created all, and now you speak of providence."
At Zeke's words, Raguel fell silent, unable to utter further divine words.
Raguel's avatar body, the flesh of the angel of the Scales Palace, was now on the verge of total collapse.
Even if the avatar shattered, Raguel's soul would return to the heavens, suffering only the loss of expended karma without harm to his true self.
However, his lofty pride as a constellation was wounded, making further intervention in the phenomenal world impossible for the time being.
From the crumbling avatar, Raguel's luminous soul body calmly addressed Zeke.
"You, only you—I will capture you and impose an annihilation more cruel than any other."
Zeke raised his hand toward Raguel's soul body, which cursed him.
The Ring of Solomon gleamed on his finger.
Raguel's soul body, puzzled by Zeke suddenly raising his hand, flinched upon spotting the Ring of Solomon.
"That is?"
Even knowing Ramiel of the Sagyeon Palace was sealed in the Ring of Solomon, Raguel had made no preparations against it.
Zeke sneered at Raguel's folly and invoked the sealing authority in divine tongue.
"Master of the Scales Palace, Raguel. Let that soul be contained within this ring."
Boom boom boom!
Raguel's soul, emerging from the cracked clone body, was sucked into the Ring of Solomon.
"Nooo!"
He tried to hastily return to the heavens, but Raguel could not escape the sealing authority infused with divinity and was absorbed into the ring.
Tzzzzz—
The emblem of the Scales Palace appeared on the Ring of Solomon that had absorbed Raguel.
Following Ramiel of the Sagyeon Palace, the constellation Raguel of the Scales Palace was now the second sealed within the ring.
Whoosh—
As Raguel was sealed, the avatar body completely crumbled away.
Then, something caught Zeke's eye.
'Dark Matter.'
It was the very substance that had distorted causality to force the constellation's descent into the phenomenal world.