'That bastard's the one who summoned these monsters.'
From the memories he had read from the Wizard of Narak, Zeke knew the man had pulled the monsters through a Black Portal, had created a Red Portal, and had fled before the Hermit of the Forest, Nigel, could arrive.
If the man bolted again this time, he might pull off something similar, so Zeke had to approach carefully and capture him.
Zeke landed near the Gate while cloaked in stealth.
He then slowly made his way toward the Gate Altar.
The Wizard of Narak stood atop the Gate Altar and continuously chanted an eerie incantation, while other mages around him channeled their energy in support.
Zeke asked Arataso.
'Arataso, do you recognize which Fallen Constellation is empowering that guy?'
In response to his question, the sealed Green Sword vibrated lightly and replied through a spiritual link, just as Zeke had.
'Hmm, it's hard to tell from here. Based on that sticky, humid aura, it could be "The
Irresistible Gaze," or maybe the "Squelching Pit of Darkness."' Either way, it wasn't a pleasant-sounding Constellation title.
With no other choice, he would have to clash with it head-on for now.
Zeke steadied his breathing and prepared to strike the mage.
But then, something suddenly emerged behind him.
"Hmm, how intriguing."
Startled, Zeke whipped around to see a figure in a bizarre clown mask floating in the air, holding a large scythe.
'This guy's...'
Zeke instinctively realized the clown wasn't human.
At that moment, the Green Sword vibrated strongly.
Arataso spoke in an urgent tone.
'Th-this...! Run, kid! Now!'
Hearing Arataso's desperate voice, Zeke immediately leaped backward.
Kwaduk—
In an instant, the space where Zeke had been crumpled, and the surrounding trees twisted into grotesque shapes.
Zeke glared at the clown-masked figure, wary of his bizarre power.
'Is this guy a high-rank demon?'
'Damn it, I said fall back, not run for your life! Of all the things to summon, it had to be him!'
Instead of replying, Zeke stored the Green Sword in his Inventory and drew Bahamut.
Just then, the spot where Zeke had stood began to crumple again.
Papat!
Zeke rolled to the side, dodging the attack.
At the same time, he unleashed an Aura Blade at the figure.
Kwakwakwang!
The Aura Blade Zeke fired exploded right in front of the clown.
The clown tilted his head, looking at Zeke.
"How intriguing? I sensed demonic energy from that sword you were holding earlier. Now it's dragon energy?"
The figure's drawn-out speech carried a languid, eerie tone.
He straightened his grip on the large scythe and landed on the ground.
Then, looking at Zeke, he said.
"You look like a lot of fun. Want to play with me?"
At that moment, Arataso, now in the Inventory, shouted to Zeke.
'Don't respond to him! He's Viper, a high-rank demon and vassal of "The Endlessly
Devouring One"!'
'Viper?'
'He's infamous for his vicious pranks and lies! Nothing good comes from tangling with him!'
Zeke pondered Arataso's words.
Retreating now would mean losing the chance to catch the Gate-opening mage.
After a moment's thought, Zeke raised his sword toward Viper.
Viper spoke to Zeke.
"You're a human from somewhere, huh? Bold enough to come here alone?" Zeke looked at Viper and asked.
"Did your kind summon these monsters?"
Viper burst into delighted laughter at Zeke's words.
"Oh ho, so you can talk after all?" It was then.
The Wizards of Narak, having noticed Zeke's infiltration, came rushing with monsters in tow.
"There's an intruder over there!"
If they surrounded him on all sides, reaching the Gate would be difficult, so Zeke prepared to pull back.
But at that moment, Viper swung his scythe toward the mages.
Whoosh!
As the scythe swept through the space, the charging monsters were bisected without warning and collapsed to the ground.
What was astonishing was that the monsters, severed at the waist, didn't die—they writhed with their upper and lower bodies separated.
Viper bounced around excitedly at the sight.
"Kakakaka! What are those guys? Totally hilarious!"
Zeke found it hard to comprehend this demon called Viper's behavior.
'He seems different from the demons I've encountered so far.'
The Wizards of Narak charging toward Zeke finally spotted Viper and paled, stumbling backward.
"V-Viper, sir. W-We apologize for interrupting your amusement." Viper, who had been laughing heartily, suddenly stopped.
He floated through the air toward the mage who had spoken.
"Apologize? Apologize?"
He thrust his masked face close to the mage and poured out words.
"Why would you do something to apologize for? Why did you? You shouldn't have done it in the first place, right? Right? Right?"
The Wizard of Narak trembled, his face drained of color, sweat pouring down.
"V-Viper, sir. P-Please, f-forgive..."
"Forgive? What's that?"
In an instant, Viper swung his scythe.
The mage's body shattered into pieces—arms, legs, torso, and head scattering in dozens of fragments.
Yet, like the earlier monsters, he didn't die; the pieces continued to move.
"Heek!"
With his body in fragments but his senses intact and consciousness preserved, the mage felt even greater terror.
Viper laughed as he grabbed the mage's body parts with his hands and began reassembling them haphazardly.
"Here, this goes here. And this like this."
He attached an arm to the rear, a leg to the head, ears to the torso.
Assembled in such a mismatched way, the mage ended up as a horrific, inhuman form.
Viper looked at his creation and laughed again. "Heehee! Perfect, perfect! This is way better, yeah!" Satisfied with his new shape, Viper nodded.
Then he turned to Zeke and said.
"What do you think? Fun, right? I'll make you one too..."
He clearly turned toward where Zeke had been, but Zeke was already gone.
Realizing this, Viper's laughter cut off abruptly.
Viper snapped his fingers.
Suddenly, the bisected monsters and the grotesquely reassembled mage thrashed in agony.
"Kieeeek!"
Unlike before, the split monsters bled out and died.
The mage, with his body strangely fused, regained his senses.
"Kuhuhuhuk!"
Twisting his bizarre form, he vomited blood and collapsed dead.
Seeing this, Viper floated back into the air.
He looked at the now-frozen other mages and said.
"You lot."
The mages replied tensely.
"Y-Yes!"
"P-Please, speak!"
Viper spun his scythe and said.
"Find that guy from earlier. If you don't, you'll have to play with me instead. It'll be really fun."
At the words "play with me," the mages' faces drained of all color.
"L-Let's go! Hurry and catch that intruder!" The mages scattered in a panic.
*
While Viper toyed with the mage, Zeke used the Scabbard Spiritualization Skill to approach the Gate.
'That guy earlier didn't seem right.'
At Zeke's words, Arataso clicked his tongue.
'Most vassals of "The Endlessly Devouring One" are like that. They have no sense of limits and react only to their own whims.'
Viper was dangerous enough, but the Gate took priority.
Zeke cautiously approached the Gate Altar from the dimensional boundary.
Fortunately, the mage—whether unaware of the situation or unconcerned—remained atop the Gate Altar.
'Good. This should do it.'
Zeke slowly prepared to deploy the Mana Suppression Technique.
To counter if the mage tried to flee with sorcery instead of magic, he also drew his Chains in advance.
'Here we go!'
As Zeke released the Spiritualization Skill and revealed himself, he immediately spread the Mana Suppression Technique around the Gate.
Pajijijijik!
With the Mana Suppression Technique activated, the Gate Altar and even the Gate began showing anomalous reactions.
Zeke followed up by slamming Bahamut into the ground, unleashing Resonance of Strong Waves and Empty Vibration.
Woooooong!
The barrier of Resonance of Strong Waves and Empty Vibration expanded outward, repelling the mages approaching to block Zeke.
They reached out to cast spells, channeling mana, but the Mana Suppression Technique distorted their magic upon activation.
"The mana won't move!"
"What's going on?!"
Zeke wouldn't miss that opening.
He drew his sword and swung an Aura Blade at the mages.
Seokeok—
The mages struck by Zeke's blade couldn't even scream as their heads were severed.
He invoked the Authority of Flame to incinerate their bodies entirely.
Then he advanced toward the black-robed mage on the Gate Altar.
The mage continued chanting, showing no reaction to Zeke's movements.
'What the hell is with this guy?'
As Zeke grew suspicious, he noticed something off.
He immediately fired an Aura Blade at the mage.
Kwabang!
An explosion erupted atop the Gate Altar.
The mage's robe tore away in the blast.
Zeke confirmed the identity hidden beneath the robe.
'It's a Nightgon made by the Siemens.'
It was a golem infused with the power of the Harbinger of Blood and Madness, which allowed it to wield a Fallen Constellation's strength.
Zeke had learned some of its nature while interrogating William Siemens.
The Siemens had created artificial avatar bodies capable of containing a Fallen Constellation's power, turning them into weapons that could wield it.
Zeke drew the Green Sword and asked Arataso.
'Can you sense the power of "The Endlessly Devouring One" from that thing?' The Green Sword glowed green and vibrated.
'Hmm, yeah, it seems so... but what a mess of tangled, crude energies. Anyway, it matches.'
From Arataso's reaction, "The Endlessly Devouring One" was a dangerous Constellation even demons avoided.
Narak and Siemens surely knew this, but in their desperation, they'd played their riskiest card.
At that moment, the Nightgon's eyes gleamed beneath its black mask.
It drew a small scythe and began chanting an incantation.
Zeke realized it was using sorcery, not magic.
He immediately unleashed Dragonʼs Claw at it.
Chwaaak!
The Dragonʼs Claw struck, forcing the Nightgon back.
But its incantation didn't stop.
Tszutszutszutsu—
Black smoke soon billowed from the Nightgon's body, coalescing and taking form.
Something popped out from within.
Zeke watched warily.
'What is that?'
What emerged was a colorful ball.
The ball rolled toward Zeke with a degururu.
'Is it a bomb?'
Eyeing it suspiciously, Zeke slashed at the ball with his sword.
Kwabang!
The ball exploded upon impact and bounced away.
But suddenly, it split into three, rolling back toward Zeke.
Degurururu!
Zeke swung again, exploding it, but this time it multiplied into nine.
The same thing repeated several times, leaving Zeke feeling trapped in a childish prank.
'Is this an illusion like that Nightmare Demon Pan's?'
Even if not, repeating this pointless action was a waste; better to test it directly.
As the balls rushed at him again, Zeke didn't swing his sword this time—he collided with them head-on.
Kwakwakwakwang!
The balls that hit Zeke's body weren't illusions; they detonated for real.
As the dust cleared after the explosion, Zeke was gone without a trace, and the surroundings lay in ruins.
"Intruder elimination confirmed."
The Nightgon turned back toward the Gate after verifying Zeke's destruction.
It swung its scythe at the Mana Suppression Technique disrupting the Gate.
Whoosh!
The Mana Suppression Technique's field tore under the scythe, and the Gate resumed operation.
Woooooong!
As the Gate reactivated, the Nightgon began chanting to summon another monster horde.
But then— Chwarururuk!
In an instant, Chains wrapped around the Nightgon's ankle like a living serpent, climbing up to the hand holding the scythe.
The Nightgon turned to see Zeke, now clad in Hercion and wielding Roland, standing there.
He yanked hard on the Chains binding the Nightgon.
Whoosh!
The Nightgon's body was pulled away from the Gate toward Zeke.
And in that moment, a golden aura erupted from Zeke's form.
A blade of radiant light enveloped Roland.
"Haaaat!"
Zeke thrust Roland straight into the Nightgon's body.