"Youʼll grant my wish?"
The fallen constellation made a direct offer to Zeke through the emperor, who had become its avatar body.
A message appeared before Zekeʼs eyes once more.
[The Serpent in the Black Mouth said it could grant anything you desired.]
[It claimed that omnipotent power or eternal life were possible.]
Zeke looked at the emperor, who had completely turned into a monster, and spoke.
"If you can fulfill everything I say, then why not use that power to take the holy spear from me?"
[The Serpent in the Black Mouth said there were limits to its intervention in the phenomenal world due to karmaʼs restrictions.]
[But if the immortal became its avatar body, it claimed that using its authority without regard for karma would be permitted.]
[It revealed that its authority, unlike the power of other constellations, could not be blocked even by karma.]
From the Serpent in the Black Mouthʼs words, Zeke inferred the current situation.
"The power of fallen constellations was still restricted by karma. But methods existed to circumvent those restrictions."
Summoning high-rank demonkind to the phenomenal world without karmaʼs sanctions through blood tear stones in Narak was likely a similar case.
Zeke sought to learn about the fallen constellations through the Serpent in the Black Mouth.
He opened his mouth toward the emperor, who had become its avatar body.
"If I become your avatar body, are there no disadvantages for me?" In response to Zekeʼs question, another message appeared.
[The fallen constellation Serpent in the Black Mouth said that compared to what you would gain from its authority, there would only be very minor costs.] It was a cunning statement.
It avoided specifying what the reward or the cost would be, phrasing it only in a way that could be interpreted positively.
Zeke posed another question.
"I want to know what those costs are. I canʼt make a deal without understanding them."
In response to Zekeʼs words, the Serpent in the Black Mouth fell silent for a moment before sending another message.
[It said that to become a constellationʼs avatar body, the souls must be connected through the chains of the oath.]
Hearing the Serpent in the Black Mouthʼs words, Zeke recalled something.
"You mean the chains of the oath like the ones that connect the hearts during a contract with a dragon."
[The Serpent in the Black Mouth said it was something similar.]
Looking at the message that appeared, Zeke realized the Serpent in the Black Mouth downplayed the meaning with clever phrasing.
"A contract between a dragon and its contractor connects them as equals. But a connection between a fallen constellation and its avatar body canʼt be the same." Zeke surmised that becoming a constellationʼs avatar body meant offering oneʼs soul and becoming completely subjugated to it.
Through his conversation with the Serpent in the Black Mouth, Zeke guessed what a contract with a demon entailed and how it evaded karmaʼs sanctions to influence the phenomenal world.
Zeke looked at the emperor and said,
"That offer is quite intriguing."
In response to his words, the Serpent in the Black Mouth sent another message.
[The fallen constellation Serpent in the Black Mouth promised the highest treatment if you became its avatar body.]
Zeke nodded as he read the message.
Then he pulled the holy spear from his inventory.
Seeing the holy spear, which had transformed into a form similar to Bahamut, the emperor—who had become the avatar body of the Serpent in the Black Mouth—opened his mouth.
"My master desires the holy spear."
Zeke looked at him and said,
"How can I trust a monster like you and hand this over?" Then another message appeared.
[The Serpent in the Black Mouth said that once you handed over the holy spear to its avatar body, the contract would be established, and it could immediately engrave its seal with its authority to grant the immortalʼs wish.]
Zeke felt doubt as he read the Serpent in the Black Mouthʼs message.
"Even if itʼs through an avatar body, expressing its will in the phenomenal world should still incur karmaʼs sanctions, yet itʼs awfully talkative for that."
He sensed that the Serpent in the Black Mouth was quite anxious for some reason.
Zeke spoke toward the constellation.
"If I take this deal, can I gain the power to eliminate Arthur Draker, the family head of Draker?"
A son who desired to remove his powerful father and take his place.
Humans had always advanced history through such struggles for power.
The Serpent in the Black Mouth accepted Zekeʼs stated desire as genuine, finding it a very "human" ambition.
[The fallen constellation Serpent in the Black Mouth said it was entirely possible.]
Rumble rumble—
The energy emanating from the emperorʼs body shook the entire sanctuary of the holy king.
Zeke realized this vibration wasnʼt a threat but the constellation failing to hide its joy.
Zeke nodded at the message and slowly stepped forward.
The monstrous emperor glared at Zeke with red eyes.
At the same time, serpents writhed behind his back, and changes began at his head.
His skin, wrapped in sticky fluid, split open, revealing red eyes within.
The dozens of red eyes at the tips of the tentacles glared at Zekeʼs movements as if monitoring him.
Zeke, holding the holy spear, stood before the emperor and looked up at him.
Then he aimed the holy spear he held toward the emperor.
Grrrrr—
As the spear tip pointed at him, the emperor bared sharp teeth and let out a savage growl toward Zeke.
Zeke smirked at the emperor.
"Here, take it."
Zeke spun the spear and extended the shaft forward.
The emperor, wary of Zeke, moved his tentacles toward the offered shaft.
As the tentacle wrapped around the holy spearʼs shaft to take it, Zeke—still gripping it— looked at the emperor and said,
"But you know, Emperor, thereʼs something Iʼve always wanted to ask when I see you." The monstrous emperor looked down at Zeke, his red eyes flashing.
Zeke said to him,
"What the hell is wrong with you anyway?"
At that moment, another message appeared.
[The fallen constellation Serpent in the Black Mouth said the deal sealed only when the holy spear was fully handed over.]
Ignoring it, Zeke spoke to the emperor again.
"With that pathetic old body of yours, why the fuck did you turn the entire continent into such a shitshow just to try something."
Zekeʼs past lifeʼs rough speech slipped out unbidden.
As strong killing intent flowed from Zeke, the emperor instinctively swung sharp claws at him.
Whoosh!
Before he knew it, an aura blade surged from Anexiʼs dagger in Zekeʼs hand.
Slash!
The aura blade Zeke unleashed severed the emperorʼs arm.
"Kaaak!"
The emperor let out a scream and tried to retreat.
But chains shot out from Zekeʼs hand gripping the shaft first.
Clink clink clink!
The chains wrapped around the shaft, then the emperorʼs arm and body.
Unable to retreat, the emperor faced off against Zeke with the holy spear in between.
"You insignificant worm dare!"
The emperor roared, extending the tentacles from his back.
Black mist filled with dark energy billowed from the tentacles, sprouting sharp protrusions as it flew toward Zeke.
At that moment, a golden aura flowed from Zekeʼs body as he gripped the shaft.
Sizzle sizzle sizzle—
The black mist touching the golden aura vanished in an instant.
"Haaah!"
Zeke leaped into the air while holding the shaft and twisted the emperorʼs arm backward.
Crack!
The emperorʼs arm twisted a full turn, but for the monster he had become, it was no significant damage.
Instead, his neck and limbs twisted backward, revealing the grotesque sight of his back becoming his chest with writhing tentacles.
But Zekeʼs aim wasnʼt just to dislocate a joint.
He reached toward where the tentacles writhed.
Grab!
He seized the hilt of the jeweled sword Roland embedded in the emperorʼs back.
At the same time, Zeke summoned a blade of radiant light.
Whoooong—
Powerful light burst from within the emperorʼs body.
Crackle crackle—
The emperorʼs body exploded under the force of the radiant light blade.
"Kraaaak!"
With his left upper body nearly blown away, the emperor screamed in agony.
But soon, bones and flesh sprouted from the exploded body, regenerating to its original form.
The emperor extended a new arm unbound by the soul confinement technique toward Zeke.
Slash!
Zeke dodged the emperorʼs attacks left and right while gripping the shaft.
The emperor, who had sacrificed all his knightly power for a monstrous body, might have surpassed human limits in strength, but technically he couldnʼt match Zeke, a black knight.
Zeke evaded the attacks and then unleashed the chamber of metal power from the elemental sword.
Rumble rumble rumble—
Immense pressure crushed the emperorʼs body.
Feeling Zekeʼs power beyond normal bounds, the emperor widened his eyes and said,
"Youʼve received power from a constellation too!"
Instead of answering, Zeke sheathed Anexiʼs dagger and clenched his fist.
He then infused it with metal power and began pummeling the emperor.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Zeke pulverized the monstrous emperorʼs body with fists carrying tons of force.
Crack!
The battered body regenerated under the constellationʼs power.
Zeke smashed the regenerated body back into a mass of flesh, and the emperorʼs body repeated the cycle of destruction and regeneration.
As the horrific pain repeated, the emperor felt fear toward Zekeʼs attacks.
"St-stop!"
But Zeke didnʼt stop.
His fist struck the emperorʼs face again.
Boom!
The emperorʼs face was smashed, teeth, bones, and brains splattering everywhere.
Sizzle sizzle—
But the emperorʼs body recovered without fail.
He cried out to the Serpent in the Black Mouth.
"Master! Save me! Hurry! Give me the power to kill him!"
Despite the emperorʼs pitiful plea, the Serpent in the Black Mouth showed no reaction.
Seeing this, Zeke looked at the emperor and said,
"Itʼs already abandoned you."
The emperor trembled in disbelief and said to Zeke,
"Th-that canʼt be. I-I am the immortal emperor who will rule the empire forever..."
"Instead of chasing that insane delusion and wasting your time, you shouldʼve just died quietly."
Zekeʼs punches resumed.
Pure, unadorned bare-knuckle blows, without any technique.
Zekeʼs metal power-infused fists methodically destroyed the emperorʼs flesh over and over.
As his body repeatedly shattered and regenerated, the emperorʼs will completely broke.
Trembling, he said to Zeke,
"Sp-spare... me. Iʼll give you anything you want. Money, power, beauties... A-anything..." "I donʼt need anything."
The emperor panicked at Zekeʼs firm words.
"Th-then the em-empire... Iʼll give you the empire. Become the emperor."
"I wouldnʼt take that crap even if you offered it."
The emperor felt shock and terror at Zekeʼs words.
A new kind of human he had never seen—one unmoved by any temptation, desiring nothing.
It wasnʼt just the emperor who felt fear toward him.
The constellation that had descended into the emperorʼs body, the Serpent in the Black Mouth, felt a similar emotion.
Unlike other humans filled with desire, it couldnʼt grasp what Zeke wanted at all.
The Serpent in the Black Mouth, which had obtained what it desired through deals since ancient times, couldnʼt help but question Zekeʼs very existence.
Instinctively, it felt it needed to escape this place quickly.
In its current descent into the avatar body, part of its origin was exposed in the phenomenal world.
Being well-informed, it knew that the harbinger of blood and madness had directly attacked Zeke only to have part of its origin sealed by him.
Though it hated to lose the emperorʼs body, which it had painstakingly tempted into becoming its avatar, it risked losing power like the harbinger if it stayed.
Reluctantly, after assessing the situation, it tried to withdraw from the emperorʼs body. Swish swish swish—
As a result, the emperorʼs body began to scatter like sand.
Zeke noticed the Serpent in the Black Mouth trying to abandon the emperorʼs body.
The emperor, whose soul was pledged to the Serpent in the Black Mouth, would be dragged back to the demon realm with it.
"N-no..."
At that moment, Zeke reversed the shaft he held.
Then, with all his might, he thrust the holy spear toward the emperorʼs heart, which was crumbling into dust.