Roarrrrr!
Ignis's flames completely incinerated the aberrant entities that filled the corridor.
Zeke watched as they scattered into ashes, a satisfied expression on his face.
But then—
[It seems our time is up.]
Zeke could only summon high elementals when he needed to polymorph into an elf.
Thus, when the polymorph's time limit ended, the summon was inevitably released as well.
'So summoning an elemental is tied to the duration of the polymorph.'
Ignis looked at Zeke and said,
[Contractor, the power of chaos is a dangerous one. It's best not to get too close to it.] "I understand. Thank you for your help, Ignis."
Shoooo—
Ignis vanished, and Zeke returned from elf to human form.
"Knowing I can use an elemental's power against outsider species is a significant achievement."
Including Yellin, the elves of Ishtar could summon elementals, so borrowing their strength in battles against outsider species seemed feasible.
At that moment, Raven on Zeke's shoulder floated into the air and let out a phoenix cry.
Ruuuuumble—
Zeke turned to look ahead.
Something different from the aberrant entities that had been charging at him approached—an atmosphere unlike theirs.
'This is...'
A knight in armor infused with the familiar aura of demonkind revealed himself.
Rumble—
Sharp iron fragments hovered around the knight's body in great numbers.
Zeke realized that a bloodline ability user had been possessed by a demonkind.
'Psychokinesis? Or perhaps a magnetism ability user.'
As he tried to discern the nature of the power, the sharp iron fragments orbiting the knight flew toward Zeke.
Shraaaap—
Zeke donned his Hercion and raised his shadow armor.
Pzzzt—
The iron fragments, blocked by the sturdy shadow shield, bounced back.
Zeke advanced straight toward the demonkind-possessed knight, holding his black shield out front.
Kwa-kwa-kwa—
The iron fragments attacked Zeke at high speed, but they couldn't pierce the tightly wrapped shadow armor.
Defending against the iron fragments with his shadow armor, Zeke charged forward with his shield and smashed the knight's body clean away.
Kwa-kwa-kwang—
The knight flew back and crashed into the wall under the assault of the shield infused with the Chamber of Metal Power.
Crunch—
Though the knight embedded in the wall soon tried to rise again, Zeke wrapped his shadow armor around Laevatein, forming a massive hammer.
Whoooosh—
The hammer slammed down onto the knight pinned against the wall.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Zeke relentlessly hammered the knight.
After several swings, the iron fragments floating in the air finally dropped to the floor with a clunk.
Only then did Zeke release the hammer and examine the knight buried in the wall.
Creak—
Even though he wasn't dead yet, the knight tried to rise, and Zeke immediately summoned shadows to bind him.
"Stay still."
Having subdued the knight, Zeke approached and extended his hand, using Dragonʼs Wisdom.
Crackle—
Electricity sparked, flooding Zeke's mind with information.
As he read the memories of the bloodline ability user possessed by the demonkind, Zeke found something amid the scattered fragments.
The memory showed him being captured and imprisoned by the Nostra Family due to his bloodline ability, then sent to some laboratory.
And in the lab, while subjected to possession experiments by demonkind, a masked man had brought him here.
The masked man was the Don of the Nostra Family.
'So he is here after all.'
The Nostra Family was known as a mafia organization long rooted in the Empire.
From the Draker Family's Black Stage to the intelligence agencies of various kingdoms, exhaustive efforts had been made to uncover the Don's identity.
The Empire's Imperial Intelligence Agency had been particularly vigilant, as the Nostra Family exerted influence over the kingdoms centered on the Empire.
Yet even during the reign of the mad emperor, they had failed to identify him.
It was only natural, since their investigations had focused on the Empire, the heart of the Nostra Family.
In truth, the Don was located in the underground of the Thebea Kingdom's royal castle.
Zeke speculated that the Don had created the mafia organization to hide himself as much as possible, needing surrogates in his place.
At that moment, the bloodline ability user whose memories Zeke was reading trembled.
Grrrrk—
The possessing demonkind seemed unable to endure it and tried to escape the flesh.
Black smoke billowed from the knight's helmet.
In that instant, Zeke's shadow wrapped around the black smoke, devouring the demonkind's soul whole.
Shoooo—
Devouring the demonkind's soul restored his mana and stamina.
However, being a low-rank demonkind, no authorities or skills were gained.
Plop—
And then, with the possessing demonkind's soul gone, the knight slumped, his helmet falling to the floor with a thud.
With the helmet removed, what was revealed was a desiccated corpse, drained of all life like a mummy.
Zeke clicked his tongue and incinerated the dead bloodline ability user's body with pure flame.
'He didn't choose this fate... Just another pitiful sacrifice created by the Nostra Family.'
Gazing at the scattering ashes, Zeke ground his teeth at the Nostra Family's vicious experiments.
But then—
"Haa... You're really persistent, aren't you?"
Zeke turned to see a suited man in a mask standing opposite him.
The Don of the Nostra Family had finally revealed himself.
Without hesitation, Zeke swung his sword at him.
Crack—
The astral sword dominating the domain sliced through the Don's body in an instant at Zeke's will.
It was the Will-Forged Strong Qi Field that Arthur Draker had once demonstrated to Zeke.
A powerful sword strike that could be unleashed anywhere, anytime, according to one's will.
Shoooo—
The Don's body turned translucent, allowing the Will-Forged Strong Qi Field to pass right through.
Then, in a flash, his body vanished, reappearing behind Zeke, who unleashed a powerful psychokinesis toward him.
Crunch—
Zeke countered the Don's psychokinesis with the Chamber of Metal Power.
The crushing psychokinesis clashed with the resisting Chamber of Metal Power, generating immense repulsion.
Rumble—
The tremendous backlash shook the underground labyrinth of the royal castle as if it might collapse.
"Tch!"
The Don retreated first.
Reappearing behind Zeke once more, the Don looked at him and said,
"Why do you keep following me? It's annoying."
Zeke pointed Laevatein at the Don and said,
"Hand over Abel Draker."
At his words, the Don floated into the air and replied,
"Ha, do you know how much trouble that damned dagger you threw caused me?" Rumble—
As he spoke, another bloodline ability surged from the Don's body.
He looked at Zeke and said,
"I guess it can't be helped. Today, I'll kill you no matter what." Snap!
With a flick of his fingers, the surrounding scenery began to change astonishingly.
Shoooo—
They had been in the underground labyrinth moments ago, but now the landscape shifted to a barren desert filled with gray sand.
'Where is this place?'
Zeke sharpened his gaze and looked around. It seemed like an illusion ability, but everything felt too real.
Floating in the air, the Don said,
"Now I can use my abilities freely here."
Rumble—
An enormous wave of energy rippled around his body.
Seeing the wave the Don unleashed, Zeke realized this was no longer the underground labyrinth.
The shaking of the royal castle underground had made him halt his power, and now he had completely relocated the space.
And in that instant, a massive wave erupted from the Don's body.
Keeeeeen—
Along with a deafening roar that pierced the eardrums, a powerful wave enveloped Zeke's body.
Rumble—
The wave the Don unleashed separated bone from flesh and boiled the blood.
Blood evaporated from Zeke's body, spewing red steam.
'Urgh!'
Even Zeke, with his passive skill healing factor, found the pain nearly unbearable.
But Zeke's body, at the grandmaster realm and having absorbed an elder dragon's heart, wouldn't shatter from this.
Enduring the pain and the wave for a moment, Zeke grew somewhat accustomed to it and pressed forward instead.
Seeing this, the Don exclaimed in shock,
"What the—! Zeke Draker! What the hell are you?!"
Enduring the storm of waves, Zeke advanced toward the Don and shouted,
"You said you can use your abilities freely? The same goes for me!"
Struggling, Zeke raised his sword and invoked the elemental sword.
Rumble—
From his sword, the Chamber of Wind Power unfolded with all his might.
Rumble—
Normally, it was an elemental sword he restricted to avoid harming allies due to lack of control.
But in this space created by the Don, he could unleash his power without restraint.
Rumble—
The massive storm created by the Chamber of Wind Power swallowed the Don's wave whole.
Kwa-kwa-kwa—
Seeing Zeke's storm threaten to devour the space itself, the Don panicked and retreated.
"Damn! The unique barrier!"
The storm tore apart the space the Don had created, growing even larger.
Zeke didn't stop there, pouring more energy into it.
"Show me more of that vaunted bloodline ability of yours!"
The Don tried to counter the storm with other abilities, but judged it impossible to offset a disaster of this scale.
In the end, he had no choice but to dismantle his own unique barrier.
Crack—
Cracks spread through the space itself, shattering like broken glass.
Psssh—
Zeke's storm shattered the Don's unique barrier.
The two returned to the original underground labyrinth.
The Don, looking appalled, pointed at Zeke accusingly.
"Y-You bastard. What the hell did you...?"
But in that moment, a shadow suddenly emerged from behind the Don, wrapping around his body.
Shraaap—
Caught by the shadow, the Don twisted desperately.
"Damn it!"
As he tried to escape with spatial movement,
Keeeeng—
Zeke had already deployed the mana reversal technique to block it, so his attempt failed.
"Got you at last."
The shadow dragged the captured Don toward Zeke.
Looking at him, Zeke said,
"I thought it was strange. When I caught you and read your memories before, there was no proper information at all. It was like a book torn to shreds, scattered into meaningless fragments."
Zeke had once caught the Don in battle and used Dragonʼs Wisdom on him.
At the time, an enormous amount of information had flooded his mind, and Zeke thought he could unravel some clues by interpreting it.
But when he later tried to analyze that information after the fight, surprisingly, Zeke couldn't make sense of it.
He first thought it was encrypted, but it wasn't.
The information wasn't complete to begin with—it was just shattered fragments.
Zeke looked at the captured Don and said,
"I wondered back then why it was only incomplete, broken information. Now I get it."
Leaning close to the Don's mask, he said,
"Six as one. One as six."
At Zeke's words, the Don's body trembled.
The princes of the fallen kingdom became cursed beings, fused into one by the power of chaos. But in reality, they weren't truly one. It only appeared that way.
Rumble—
A massive aura surged from the Don's body.
The shadow holding him flickered under the power, and Zeke extended his hand, crushing the Don with the Chamber of Metal Power.
Crunch—
Under the force of the Chamber of Metal Power, the Don was restrained once more.
"With six souls fused as one, it's no wonder I couldn't get proper information from just one avatar."
Zeke placed his hand on the Don's head.
Then, he slowly applied pressure.
Crunch—
Cracks formed on the mask covering the Don's face.
"I thought the mask was changing back then. But now I see it wasn't."
Crunch—
Zeke's hand dug into the Don's head.
"It wasn't the mask changing... Your avatar itself was switching."
Splatter—
Unable to withstand the pressure, the Don's head burst open.
But what spilled out wasn't brains—it was fragments of blood tear stone.
'Blood tear stone... So a soul was bound to it to control this body.'
Zeke recalled that the secret weapon of Siemens he had fought before had a similar structure.
But then— Clap clap clap—
Loud applause echoed from behind.
Zeke turned to see another Don approaching, clapping his hands.