A dais rose high into the sky, as if piercing the heavens.
Statues of malevolent demons with fierce faces supported it from all sides.
Ramon Siemens climbed the hundreds of steps leading up to the dais between the statues.
He reached the top and stood before the altar, gazing silently at the one built on the uppermost level.
The altar, crafted by the High Priest of Narak for the Second Consecration Rite, was made of blood-crimson Blood Tear Stone.
Before he knew it, an Apostle had appeared opposite him.
Ramon Siemens instinctively sensed that the High Priest had possessed the Apostle's body.
He looked at the High Priest and said,
"I heard there's a shortage of Blood Tear Stones for the altar." A rumbling voice emanated from the Apostle.
[We had prepared extras, but it doesn't matter. This should be enough to open the gate and summon Ajitahaka.]
Ramon Siemens frowned at the High Priest's words but said nothing more. Instead, he looked up at the sky.
In an hour, a total lunar eclipse would begin, revealing the Red Moon that appeared only once every five hundred years.
'I've waited so long for this day.'
In truth, if it were just for the Second Consecration Rite, they could have performed the ritual anytime.
The reason they timed it with the Red Moon was to fully accept Ajitahaka's authority into his body.
If he took in the Fell God's authority and then devoured Abel, who harbored the heart of the Light Dragon, he could be reborn as a completely new existence.
He was confident that neither Zeke Draker, who had been a thorn in his side, nor even Arthur Draker—if he were still alive—could stand against him after the consecration.
Rumble—
The ruined land of Baranaon, where the altar stood, began to vibrate faintly in response to the approaching Red Moon.
Baranaon, steeped in ancient mysteries, had once been the capital of the Kingdom of
Chronos. Even further back, it had been the site where the Flesh-Devouring Emperor Ajitahaka's rites of devouring took place.
Thus, it was the optimal location to draw out the ominous power of the Red Moon.
As Ramon pondered the impending event, the High Priest spoke.
[Ramon Siemens, do not forget the contract between us after the consecration is complete.]
Ramon Siemens looked at the High Priest with contempt and said,
"How brazen, speaking through a subordinate's body while hiding your true form. Even if I fail the consecration, will you uphold the contract?"
The High Priest offered no real response to Ramon Siemens's words.
Ramon Siemens narrowed his eyes and continued,
"You wouldn't understand, but the Siemens family does not break contracts. So stop with the useless talk and begin preparing for the ritual." The High Priest nodded at Ramon's words.
Snap!
With a flick of his fingers, a black portal appeared.
From within, other dark mages of Narak emerged, dragging Abel's flesh bound tightly in chains.
Ramon extended his hand into the air, summoning a box containing the heart of the Light Dragon Zeus.
He opened the sealed box and extracted the pulsing heart of Zeus.
The High Priest nodded, and the mages unbound the chains restraining Abel's body.
Clang!
The moment the chains loosened, Abel, half-transformed into a magical beast, bit into the neck of a nearby mage.
"Gaaah!"
Abel tore into the mage's neck and gulped down the flowing blood.
The mage, drained of blood in an instant, shriveled like a mummy and collapsed to the floor.
Thirsting for fresh blood, Abel reached out toward the other mages.
At that moment, Ramon snapped his fingers.
Snap!
Abel's body suddenly floated into the air. His limbs immobilized as if gripped by giant hands, he hung fixed spread-eagled.
The High Priest approached the restrained Abel and extended his hand.
Abel's chest split open on its own.
Inside, a blackened, pulsing heart—the heart of the Crimson Knight—could be seen.
Unable to withstand the intensely poisonous blood of the Demon Dragon, it steadily lost its power.
The High Priest reached in and extracted the heart of the Crimson Knight from Abel's chest.
Hiss—
The moment it was removed, the heart spewed black smoke and a foul stench. It dissolved into poison and dripped away.
Ramon then placed the heart of the Light Dragon Zeus into the empty cavity.
The instant it was inserted, the heart fused perfectly, as if returning to its rightful place, and began beating fiercely.
Rumble!
With the heart restored, Abel's eyes began to glow with crimson Dragon Eyes.
The hideous scales that had erupted across his skin subsided, returning to normal.
Words in proper language flowed from Abel's mouth once more.
"Zeke... Zeke Draker... I'll kill you... Kill you."
The deepest grudge etched into his mind was against Zeke Draker. As soon as he could speak coherently, Abel repeated those words obsessively.
Ramon gestured with his hand, and Abel's body floated up, settling onto the altar.
Pinned by an invisible force, Abel lay flat and immobile on the altar.
Ramon looked up at the sky.
The full moon hung above, and the land cursed by the Fell God resonated with the moon, causing faint vibrations.
It was then.
The moon began to be gradually obscured by spreading shadows.
The High Priest said to Ramon,
"When the moon is fully swallowed by the shadow, the Red Moon will rise." The rare phenomenon that occurred once every five hundred years.
When the Red Moon rose, the barriers between dimensions weakened, and malevolent beings hidden in the unseen realms revealed themselves.
Since the constellations had departed the Phenomenal World, these malevolent beings could no longer maintain physical form. They had become "drifting existences."
Having lost their shapes, they became nameless mysteries that slumbered across the continent.
The land of Baranaon, where the altar stood, was one such domain of a nameless mystery.
As the full moon began to take on a reddish hue, the formless drifting existences started to manifest faintly.
Black shadows flickered indistinctly around the demon statues supporting the altar.
Ramon, who had received Ajitahaka's authority, knew their true nature.
'Mara.'
Fallen souls who had willingly become malevolent beings by borrowing the power of the Fell God Ajitahaka.
Even after Ajitahaka lost his power and was sealed in the Isolated Plane, the Mara did not vanish. They lingered in the unseen realms, formless, awaiting their chance to return to the Phenomenal World.
They had been counting the days in the Reverse World, yearning for their master—the lord of all wickedness, Ajitahaka—to descend once more.
The number of Mara drifting around the demon statues gradually increased.
As time passed, the Mara, who had existed only as shadows, grew more distinct in form.
The Red Moon's power loosened the dimensional boundaries, allowing the power of the imprisoned Ajitahaka to influence even the Phenomenal World from the Isolated Plane.
Ramon watched the Mara as they gathered around the demon statues, chanting incomprehensible ominous words and dancing.
The Mara were part of his contract with Narak.
With the High Priest's aid, once they summoned Ajitahaka from the Isolated Plane and he became the complete avatar, they would hand over the Mara trapped in the Reverse World to Narak.
From Ramon's perspective, as long as he gained Ajitahaka's authority, he could dominate the entire continent. The Mara were a small price to pay for Narak.
But seeing the multitude of Mara shadows now gathered beneath the demon statues, he understood why Narak had demanded such terms.
Unlike ordinary magical beasts or monsters, the Mara possessed both spiritual and physical attributes.
They could move stealthily through the Reverse World and then materialize to attack, making them highly versatile.
Ramon felt it was a shame to give all the Mara to Narak, but his priority was properly summoning Ajitahaka. He decided not to dwell on it. 'I can recreate the Mara after achieving the rank of avatar.' Before long, half the moon was shrouded in shadow.
The vibrations emanating from the ground grew stronger.
Sensing this, the High Priest began preparations for the ritual.
[Bring forth the Fell God's sacred relic.]
At the High Priest's words, Ramon drew an ancient ritual dagger from his bosom.
The dagger, engraved with a ferocious demon, was the sacred relic that connected him to the sealed Ajitahaka and granted him authority.
The Siemens family had preserved this ancient relic of Ajitahaka. It was only in Ramon's generation that its power could be fully utilized.
The dagger Ramon drew floated in the air and positioned itself above Abel's left chest.
The High Priest extended his hand and said,
"When the sacred relic of Ajitahaka meets the blood of Draker under the power of the
Red Moon, it will open the Isolated Plane where the Fell God is sealed."
Abel, the pureblood awakener of Draker harboring the heart of the Light Dragon.
The one who had sealed the Fell God Ajitahaka in the Isolated Plane was King Solomon, an ancestor of the Draker family.
The High Priest intended to use this connection, creating a pathway to the imprisoned Ajitahaka through the corrupted pureblood of Draker.
The High Priest approached Abel on the Blood Tear Stone altar and extended his hand.
Hum!
A strange pattern emerged on Abel's left chest, where the heart of the Light Dragon resided.
As black energy rose from the eerie pattern, the High Priest began chanting in a sinister voice.
The red Blood Tear Stones embedded in the altar responded to the chant. They emitted a chilling aura and glowed.
Ssssh—
With the High Priest's eerie incantation, strange whispers echoed from all directions.
They sounded like slithering snakes or demons whispering temptations right beside his ear.
The ominous voices grew louder, filling the surroundings.
At the same time, the black energy from the altar's Blood Tear Stones and Abel's body merged, enveloping the sacred relic of Ajitahaka.
Tsss—
Black and red energy surged from the dagger, forming a circle that enveloped the full moon in the sky.
The moon within the circle continued to be obscured by shadows. But due to the energy from the dagger, it began to take on a reddish tint.
Ramon watched the wondrous sight in awe.
The High Priest said to him,
"Infuse the Fell God's authority. Then the gateway will open."
Snapping out of it, Ramon extended his hand toward the floating sacred relic.
Hum!
Authority of Ajitahaka poured from Ramon's hand.
The dagger resonated with his power, vibrating.
The gate to the Fell God began to take shape.
But then—
Keeeen—
Suddenly, the authority of Ajitahaka flowing from his hand dispersed.
'What is this?'
Hiding his alarm, Ramon extended his hand again to activate the authority.
Keeeen—
The same thing happened.
The authority would not manifest.
The High Priest said to Ramon,
"What are you doing? The moon's shadow is nearly full, and the Red Moon will form soon. We must complete the gate before then."
Ramon could not understand why his authority suddenly refused to activate.
Gritting his teeth, he raised both hands this time.
Rumble!
A terrifying aura of the Fell God emanated from Ramon's entire body.
Even borrowing only a portion of the power through the sacred relic yielded such might.
If he became the avatar and wielded all of it, even Ramon himself could not predict how strong he would become.
Unlike before, the forcefully emitted authority did not scatter.
Relieved, Ramon prepared to pour it into the blood-crimson ring.
Boom!
A golden halo spread from the sky, enveloping not only the altar but the entire area with the demon statues.
The primordial light that purified unclean energy.
It was the Will of Light activated by Zeke with the Holy Sword Ascalon.
Keeeen!
Affected by the Will of Light, the output of the Blood Tear Stones weakened, and the black energy from Abel's heart also faded.
The Mara, who had been dancing and chanting ominous songs beneath the demon statues, screamed in agony upon touching the purifying light and fled into the statues.
Ramon ground his teeth and looked up at the sky.
Hum!
A massive figure emitting golden waves floated above.
Zeke rode Bucephalus, clad in the Hercion of the Goddess Theia, holding the Holy Sword Ascalon.
Ramon shouted upon seeing Zeke.
"Zeke Draker!"
Ramon's furious voice echoed across the entire ruined land.