The four Guardians approached Zeke and extended their hands at the same time.
Their intent was to completely eliminate the intruder.
Black mist, cold air, and psychokinesis enveloped Zeke's body in an instant.
At that moment, Zeke's body began to crumble.
Srrrrk—
But the body that was collapsing wasn't Zeke's true form; it was a shadow clone.
Realizing this, the Guardians shouted urgently.
"The intruder's main body is not here."
"We must exclude the intruder."
"Find the intruder."
At that moment, something surged up from beneath the Guardians' feet.
Chrarararak!
The Chains of Solomon burst forth, wrapping around the four Guardians' bodies.
Kwaduduk!
The Guardians, bound by the chains, struggled desperately to break free.
Zeke appeared before the Guardians.
Tststst—
Zeke had used the spiritualization power stored in his scabbard. He finally emerged from the dimensional boundary and revealed his true form in front of the Guardians.
"A power that acidifies blood. This is something I've never seen before."
If Zeke hadn't possessed the immortal body and healing factor, he would have turned into a puddle of blood and vanished.
However, Zeke's powerful regenerative ability overcame the Guardians' power and restored his body.
Yet, judging that it wouldn't be easy to deal with the Guardians with that alone, he had created a shadow clone to lower their guard, then hidden his presence with spiritualization to bide his time.
The Guardians bound by the chains exerted their strength to break free, but the Chains of Solomon could not be undone.
Zeke slowly approached the Guardians and tried to remove the masks covering their faces.
Pajik!
But as he reached for the masks, a strong electric current sparked.
At the same time, eerie sounds emanated from the Guardians' mouths, just like before.
"Warning. Warning."
"For the complete exclusion of the intruder."
"Self-detonation system."
"Activated."
Kugugugu—
A strong light began to emanate from the Guardians' heart areas.
Seeing this, Zeke urgently commanded the system.
'System, connect to those Guardians and cancel the self-detonation command.ʼ
At his command, the Kabbalah system connected to the Guardians' control systems.
[Protected by a powerful security program.]
[To bypass, access and interpret karma data through Dragonʼs Wisdom is required.] Zeke saw the system's message and immediately ordered execution.
Tststst—
The system activated Dragonʼs Wisdom, connecting to the Guardians' karma data and selectively accessing the relevant records.
[Encrypted administrator access code found.]
[Shall I decrypt the code's encryption using the curse-lifting treatment skill and connect?] 'Yes, decrypt it.ʼ
At Zeke's command, the system used the curse-lifting treatment skill to breach the Guardians' security settings and cancel the self-detonation command.
"Canceling self-detonation command."
As the self-detonation command was canceled, another strong electric current sparked from the masks covering the Guardians' faces.
Pajijijik!
At the same time, the Guardians collapsed in place like puppets with cut strings.
Kung!
Zeke approached the fallen Guardians.
He tilted his head as he examined them up close.
"They seem too human to be golems... and there's no distinctive aura of the undead." Zeke grabbed one of the Guardians' hands and invoked Dragonʼs Wisdom once more.
This time, karma data about their existence surfaced.
Only then did Zeke understand what the Guardians truly were.
'Homunculi?ʼ
The Guardians' true nature was none other than homunculi.
The homunculus Zeke knew was a single entity created by the Great Sage, modeled after the Hero King, to stop the Demon King.
The Hero King's homunculus, which the dark elves feared and called a weapon of war.
Thus, Zeke looked at the four Guardians with renewed curiosity.
"Homunculi... So that's how they could wield such power."
Zeke first laid the fallen Guardians against one wall and asked the system.
'Is it possible to restart these guys?ʼ
In response to Zeke's question, the system replied with a message.
[Restart requires a power source and new system settings.] Zeke tilted his head at the message.
'A power source and new system settings...ʼ
Being unfamiliar with such matters, he doubted he could restart them right away.
Unlike previous golems, the fact that they required separate components made him ponder.
As he looked around, Zeke spotted the sarcophagi in which they had been slumbering.
'If they're not living beings but homunculi that need a power source...ʼ Zeke placed one of the Guardians into a stone coffin and closed the lid.
Then, he tried storing the entire stone coffin in his inventory.
Tststst—
Surprisingly, the stone coffin containing the Guardian entered his inventory.
"Just in case, but it actually worked. It seems the coffins are the power sources."
Zeke stored the remaining Guardians in their stone coffins and placed them in his inventory as well.
'Lord Hades would know something about this.ʼ
If he could restart them and investigate, he might uncover how the ancients had granted such powerful bloodline abilities to homunculi.
After securing the Guardians, Zeke stood before the firmly sealed stone door.
Given that such powerful Guardians had been blocking it, the interior was undoubtedly the temple of the Goddess Theia.
'But homunculi Guardians blocking the temple of the Goddess Theia. I can't quite grasp what kind of constellation this is.ʼ
Typically, ancient ruins or temples were guarded by monsters or Guardians related to the corresponding constellation.
It didn't seem likely that the constellation itself had created the homunculi as Guardians.
'Did someone else place these homunculi here? To prevent access to the interior?ʼ
Harboring these doubts, Zeke stood before the door and attempted to connect via the system.
But just like before, the connection failed.
The temple of the Goddess Theia blocked external intrusions more thoroughly than any other secure zone.
Zeke let out a sigh and drew his hammer, swinging it toward the door.
Kwang!
However, when he struck the door with a full-power hammer blow, the rebound force returned entirely to Zeke.
"Hmm."
Rubbing his tingling hand, Zeke examined the door once more. It was clear this stone door was unlike those in ordinary ancient dungeons.
After some thought, he drew his scabbard and used the spiritualization skill.
Tststst—
He entered the gap between dimensions and tried to pass through the stone door.
Surprisingly, however, he couldn't cross to the other side of the door.
Woooong—
Bounced back from the dimensional gap, Zeke looked at the stone door with a bewildered expression.
"This isn't just a simple door."
Though it took the form of a door, it seemed like a passage that connected to another dimension.
Without opening it properly, entering the temple of Theia appeared impossible.
"Hmm..."
After pondering, Zeke pulled out the Eastern Continent sword from his inventory.
Then, he summoned Nebilos, who was trapped inside it.
Chrarararak—
Along with black chains, Nebilos appeared.
[Zeke! Zeke Drakerrrr!]
Nebilos, who had been tricked into opening the Demon Realm's lock only to be resealed in the sword, wailed in rage.
Zeke looked at him and said,
"Have you been well, Nebilos?"
Seeing Zeke's brazen expression, Nebilos's ghostfire flared intensely from his eyes.
[I'd heard rumors, but you're truly more demonic than any demon, Zeke Draker.]
"I'll take that as a compliment. Since it's been a while, why don't you take a look at this?" Zeke smoothly deflected and pointed to the unyielding door.
Seeing it, Nebilos's ghostfire flared even more fiercely.
[Do you know who I am? I am the most trusted inspector of the Lord of the Abyss, a noble of the Demon Realm...!]
Clank!
Zeke pulled out a bundle of black chains from his inventory.
They were soul chains airlifted from the Eastern Continent by Lopocale in an attempt to capture Zeke.
Seeing Zeke holding more chains than those binding him, Nebilos's ghostfire wavered.
[Wh-what is that?]
"You seemed to like it in there so much. I got some extra chains." At Zeke's nonchalant voice, Nebilos's teeth chattered.
[...A human threatening a demon. The end times must be upon the Phenomenal World.]
Though he said that, whether Zeke's threat worked or not, Nebilos calmed his ghostfire and approached the door Zeke indicated.
After examining the stone door intently for a long while, he shook his head.
[I don't know this one either.]
"Indeed, that place must have been quite comfortable?"
As Zeke twirled the chains, Nebilos panicked and waved his bony hands.
[I'm not lying—it's true! This isn't Demon Realm style, nor is it enchanted with magic! It's sealed with a constellation's authority!]
Zeke narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Nebilos.
Under that gaze, Nebilos shook his head and cried out indignantly.
[Staring won't make the impossible possible! Without a strong demon's authority, this door cannot be opene—!]
At that moment, Zeke took a step toward Nebilos.
"What did you just say?"
As Zeke suddenly approached, Nebilos stammered in confusion.
[Wh-what do you mean?]
"You said something about a strong demon's authority."
At Zeke's words, Nebilos clacked his teeth and said,
[It means a door sealed with authority can only be opened with authority. But no being possesses multiple such powerful authorities, so...] Zeke shook his head at Nebilos's words.
"You can't be so certain."
[What do you mean by that?]
Zeke sat Nebilos down and explained the authorities he possessed, as well as those of the fallen constellations stored in the Ring of Solomon. He then asked if a suitable combination could open the door.
Nebilos, hearing of Zeke's authorities, gaped so wide his jawbone nearly fell off. The shock of a human possessing authorities overshadowed any thoughts of combinations.
[Ah, no. How can you... Wait, does that mean you also have the authority of the 'Serpent in the Black Mouth'?]
"That's Belial. I can use the authority of Deception."
Nebilos was startled by the mention of Belial's authority.
[My goodness, a human with that authority. The archdemons of the Demon Realm would faint upon hearing this.]
Calming his shock at Zeke's urging to devise a way to open the door, Nebilos pondered deeply. In the end, he devised a method using Zeke's authorities.
[With the authorities of Deception and spiritualization, it might be possible.]
"Oh? How so?"
As a renowned dark mage even in the Demon Realm, Nebilos calmly explained.
[That door has a structure that connects to predetermined coordinates only under specific conditions. Protected by a constellation's authority, it reflects all external impacts, making it impossible to open conventionally.] Zeke nodded at Nebilos's words.
He had sensed something amiss immediately when his full-power hammer strike rebounded.
[But with the authority of Deception, you can trick the door into believing the conditions are met. Once it opens the coordinates, use spiritualization to hide your body and slip inside.]
Nebilos's explanation sounded quite plausible.
"What if it fails?"
[You'd probably lose your body and become a dimensional stray.] Nebilos spoke the terrifying words casually.
Zeke nodded at that and raised the Eastern Continent sword.
Chrarararak!
[Kughhh!]
Before he could react, Nebilos was bound again by the soul chains and sucked back into the sword.
[Z-Zeke Drakerrrr!]
Zeke smirked at the vanishing Nebilos.
"If I become a dimensional stray, you'll end up as one too, sealed in the sword. So pray for success, Nebilos."
[Kaaaaak!]
Nebilos let out a final scream of frustration as he was resealed.
Zeke looked at the Eastern Continent sword containing Nebilos and slightly loosened the seal's intensity.
[...Wait, I can see and hear the surroundings. What's going on?]
Feeling his senses despite being trapped, Nebilos spoke in confusion.
Zeke chuckled and said to him,
"It's a reward for your efforts, so behave. Otherwise, I'll reinforce the seal."
[I-I understand.]
Nebilos was gradually being tamed by Zeke.
Zeke steadied his breath and stood before the stone door, extending the hand wearing the Ring of Solomon.
"Deception."
Activating the authority of Deception, Zeke's body was enveloped in black mist.
Tststst—
As Deception activated, surprisingly, the firmly closed door began to react.
At the same time, a message appeared before Zeke's eyes.
[$!# Verified. Conditions met. #%@$. Great Sage's @#!&@!]