"Where... am I?"
Zeke opened his eyes to find himself surrounded by complete darkness all around.
He tried to sit up after regaining his senses, but his limbs felt tightly bound and refused to move.
"I can't even tell if I'm lying down or standing up."
With no light anywhere and no sense of direction, he felt as if he floated in a void of nothingness.
Zeke recalled that he had seen this ominous space before.
"When King Solomon was imprisoned in the Abyssal Prison."
He had indirectly experienced it through the memories of the Elder Dragon connected to Solomon in Carcosa.
Before becoming the Demon King, King Solomon had been trapped here for millennia.
It was possible because the flow of time here differed from the Phenomenal World.
Zeke remembered why he had ended up imprisoned here.
"I tried implanting the Black Star into my body and absorbed it all..."
After that, his memory cut off.
There had been a system warning, but he thought it would be fine and proceeded to absorb the Elder Dragon's heart. Even his Immortal Body had seemed unable to fully accommodate it.
"I don't know why I ended up here, but I need to wake up quickly." Zeke called for the System to rouse his consciousness.
But no matter how much he called, the System did not appear.
As time passed, Zeke grew increasingly anxious.
He could not move, and nothing existed in this world.
Even the first Irregular and Dragonkin, the Godslayer Solomon, had endured this space until his mind broke, turning him into the Demon King.
This Abyssal Prison was that dangerous.
Zeke tried using every ability he possessed.
But neither his Shadow Spirits, Elemental Sword, nor his special skills had any effect.
"What should I do?"
Even the power of immortality had seemed meaningless here.
The thought crept in that he might drift eternally like cosmic dust, doing nothing.
As that fear grew, terror gripped Zeke.
"No. I have to get out of here."
After that, he struggled desperately, over and over, but there was no way out.
In this space where even the passage of time was unknowable, Zeke thrashed endlessly before finally giving up and letting his body go limp.
"Is there really no way?"
He focused his mind to avoid losing himself, but he felt his consciousness fading.
He kept forgetting who he was and why he was there.
To avoid forgetting himself, Zeke repeated his identity endlessly.
"I am Zeke Draker. The Knight of Salvation."
Reciting his name, he reviewed his memories from his previous life through his regression to the most recent events, repeating the entire process dozens, hundreds of times.
In doing so, Zeke naturally reflected on what he had done and gained time to ponder it calmly.
"Funny. Only when imprisoned do I find the time and leisure to reflect on myself." The situation, where he could only think in his mind, ironically showed him a new path.
He began reviewing all the swordsmanship he had learned, starting from the beginning.
From the basic forms of the Dragon Slaying Technique to Agamemnon's swordsmanship,
Paladin swordsmanship, Elemental Sword, Gale Technique, Black Sword Qi, True Dragon Sword Technique, and Infinite Sword Art, they swirled chaotically in his mind.
Mixed in were the legacies of the Draker Family passed down from Shattan Draker.
Sword techniques from the Chronos era and lost secrets from ancient kingdoms flooded his thoughts in disarray.
Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of sword forms unfolded and vanished repeatedly.
Without full focus, the techniques blended, making it impossible to distinguish them.
As he reviewed his swordsmanship to maintain his memories, Zeke realized something. "Do I really need to force them apart and distinguish the sword techniques when they blend?"
He let them flow naturally with the current.
Swordsmanship had been learned to master precise forms.
Moreover, those forms had long since merged under the name Infinite Sword Art.
Now, was there any need to separate and remember them again?
Zeke changed his thinking and let the tens of thousands of forms and mnemonics blend as they would, following their flow.
Then, the sword techniques trapped in his mind began to break free from his control, leaping out in directions of their own.
Zeke did not try to restrain the swords as they darted about.
He let them extend as they wished.
Some veered in strange directions, but it did not matter.
As long as they returned to their original path.
With plenty of time, waiting for the swordsmanship to find its way and return posed no problem.
The sword techniques, blending and intertwining along the flow, revealed a new world to Zeke.
Watching them constantly form and dissolve, he thought of them as stars.
Zeke observed them closely.
He did not know how much time had passed, but it did not matter. Then, one day, a thought struck him.
"Am I wielding the sword, or not?"
As his consciousness blurred, he could not tell if he merely imagined it or actually swung a sword.
At that moment, Zeke realized.
"Whether I am wielding the sword or not, what does it matter? If it feels like I am, then I am."
With that thought, Zeke swung the sword without hesitation.
Somehow, a sword was now in his hand.
He swung it along the path he had seen, again and again.
The sword, which he had focused on to avoid forgetting himself, now ironically made him forget himself. Yet, amid it all, his faith in himself grew stronger in this strange occurrence.
As Zeke swung endlessly, he began to feel a gaze watching him.
He faced the gaze drawing closer.
It seemed displeased with his sword swings.
An intangible energy pressed on Zeke, trying to halt his movements.
But Zeke did not yield and continued swinging.
Ignoring the gaze trying to stop him, he focused solely on finding the path of the sword he had seen.
In the midst of swinging again and again, he gained an insight.
"Something is visible."
A single path where everything converged.
In his trance, Zeke swung the sword to step onto that path.
The sword, scattered countless times, blended, and unified again, unfolded from his hand.
At that moment, something appeared before Zeke's eyes.
[Passive Skill Limit Break activates.]
[Special Skill 'Heart-Sword' activates.]
[With the eye of the mind, you perceive the essence of the mental barrier.] For the first time since being trapped, the System activated.
Having awakened the Heart-Sword, Zeke realized this was not the true Abyssal Prison but a simulated space created by the Elder Dragon's heart.
"Sever the prison of the mind with the sword of the mind."
The Heart-Sword in Zeke's hand glowed, cleaving the darkness before him.
The imprisoned world opened.
*
"Cough!"
Zeke, whose breath had stopped, spewed out the black blood pooled in his mouth and regained consciousness.
Nabu and Nigel, who had been anxiously debating what to do, rushed to his side in surprise.
"Zeke!"
Nigel quickly checked Zeke's condition.
Warmth had returned to Zeke's body, which had stopped breathing and even reached rigor mortis.
Nabu, seeing Zeke breathing raggedly, said,
"Zeke! Pull yourself together! Are you okay?"
As his breathing resumed, the Immortal Body and Healing Factor activated, rapidly repairing his body. Once he came to his senses, Zeke looked at Nigel and asked,
"How much... how much time has passed?"
Nigel soothed him as she replied,
"Your breathing stopped about three hours ago."
Zeke felt relieved at the mention of three hours, but his expression was also confused.
Nabu and Nigel helped Zeke to an armchair, and Nabu brought him a warm cup of tea.
After drinking a cup and finally calming down, Zeke looked at Nigel as she asked,
"I thought you... really died."
From Nigel's expert medical perspective, Zeke had clearly been dead until moments ago.
Thinking Zeke had died because of the Black Star she implanted, she had been on the verge of deep despair.
Seeing Zeke, whom she thought dead, rise again filled her with relief and confusion. Zeke set down his teacup and spoke.
"You were right; I was dead until just now. If I hadn't awakened while trapped in that mental barrier, it would have been as good as death."
Nabu and Nigel gaped as Zeke described the complete darkness of the prison he had been trapped in.
After hearing the full story, Nabu asked Zeke,
"My god, all that in such a short time... How long were you trapped there?"
Zeke pondered before slowly replying,
"It's not exact, but... at least 200 years, I think."
In reality, only about three hours had passed, but the mental barrier, modeled after the Abyssal Prison, had a different time flow, so 200 years was not an exaggeration.
Nigel looked at Zeke and said,
"Then, the moment the Black Star was implanted, the shock must have drawn your soul into that place."
Zeke nodded at Nigel's words.
The Black Star was a fragment of the Elder Dragon's heart.
And King Solomon, who had once contracted with the Elder Dragon, had been captured by the Constellations and imprisoned in the Abyssal Prison.
Since the Elder Dragon had shared those memories, it must have created a mental world mimicking the Abyssal Prison based on them.
"If it had been the real Abyssal Prison where King Solomon was trapped, even awakening the Heart-Sword wouldn't have let me escape."
Because the Black Star's inner world was merely an imitation of the Abyssal Prison, he had fortunately returned to his body by awakening the Heart-Sword.
Even so, he had nearly lost his sense of self forever in eternal darkness.
"This time, I was really lucky."
Zeke admitted it and reflected that he had taken the Elder Dragon's heart too lightly.
Once his body stabilized, he stood and moved around to test it.
Fortunately, there were no issues with his physical movements.
While Nabu and Nigel observed him, each doing their tasks, Zeke checked his message window.
[Special Skill 'Heart-Sword' activates.]
[Special Skill 'Heart-Sword' converts to Unique Authority.]
[Activation of Authority Heart-Sword fuses Constitution: Body of the War God and
Constitution: Sword-Soul Body into Constitution: Sword-God Body.]
[Proficiency of Infinite Sword Art increases.]
[Proficiency of Full Power Technique increases.]
[Proficiency of Holy Spirit Qi increases.]
[Strengthened soul power increases proficiency of Soul Confinement Technique.]
[Soul Confinement Technique fuses with Full Power Technique.]
[Awakening the true power of Special Skill Full Power Technique raises its rank from S to SS.]
The activation of the Heart-Sword had boosted his skill proficiencies.
But it did not end there.
[Partially absorbed the power of the Ancient Dragon sealed in the Seal
Compression Stone.]
[Current compression seal rate of the corresponding Seal Compression Stone is 65%.]
[The absorbed power of the Ancient Dragon transforms your body.]
[Constitution 'Dragon Divine Body' changes to 'Body of the Ancient Dragon.']
[Influence of Body of the Ancient Dragon increases proficiency of Dragon Race Skills.]
[Influence of absorbed power generates ancient Dragon Race Skill Elementalism.] As his body stabilized, Zeke sensed a stark difference from before.
Even absorbing only about 35% of the Elder Dragon's heart fragment filled his lower dantian with infinite mana unlike before.
'With this, even using Elemental Sword should be fine.'
Having absorbed the Ancient Dragon's power as well, Zeke was certain he had completely surpassed human limits.
He then looked at Nigel and Nabu before him.
Previously, he could not sense the source of their power, but now he could.
He also felt that the covenant with the Custodian forcibly kept these two, who should not remain in the Phenomenal World, bound here.
Moreover, he could gauge the immense power Nigel suppressed.
Things invisible before were now visible after he had surpassed the wall.
'I surpassed the wall of the Black Knight.'
Zeke realized he had finally reached the 'Grandmaster' realm.
Nigel, too, felt Zeke's changes throughout her body.
After a moment of contemplation, she resolved herself with firm determination and said to Zeke,
"Zeke, come outside."
A sword was now in her hand.
"I'll teach you the final stage of Full Power Technique: Triple Spell."