'Abel?ʼ
Abel lay sprawled on the floor, motionless like a puppet with its strings cut.
Zeke approached cautiously, remaining on guard.
He couldnʼt sense even a trace of life force from Abelʼs prone body.
Considering that Narak might be up to some trick, Zeke scanned his surroundings as best he could while using shadows to lift Abelʼs body.
As he examined the corpse that way, Zeke couldnʼt help but feel shocked.
"...No heart."
Abel was already dead, and his chest had been gruesomely hollowed out.
In the past, Abel had harbored the heart of the Light Dragon Zeus, which had been intended as a contract vessel for Siemens Apollyon, and he had devoured Ramon Siemens to inherit the authority of the Fell God Ajitahaka.
Yet Abel Draker had been killed with his heart ripped out while he was still alive by someone.
'What the hell happened?ʼ
Zeke couldnʼt easily accept the situation and leaned closer to examine Abelʼs corpse more closely.
He then tried to use Dragonʼs Wisdom to read the past information.
Pzzzt!
A strong repulsive force repelled his hand.
Zeke realized there was no soul left in Abelʼs corpse.
'They even erased the karma data tied to this place...ʼ
The intruder must have understood the concept of karma.
One thing was clear in this situation: the corpse of Abel before him wasnʼt a fake body or an illusion.
Abel Draker had truly been killed with his heart torn out.
Zeke stared at Abelʼs corpse.
Their enmity, which had stretched from his previous life all the way to now.
The Knight of Madness, Abel Draker, had met a pathetic end here, stripped of both honor and power.
Zeke slowly raised his hand and invoked the Authority of Decay.
With that, Abelʼs corpse began to crumble bit by bit.
A moment later, Abelʼs body had completely disintegrated and melted away.
The long-standing feud with Abel had ended so anticlimactically.
And now, only one question remained in Zekeʼs mind.
'Who killed Abel? And why take his heart?ʼ
Abel was dead, but Zeke felt this wasnʼt the end.
He wandered around the area, searching for any lingering traces.
Most of the karma data had been erased, so even Dragonʼs Wisdom couldnʼt read the past information.
Just as he started to think he should give up, something pinged Zekeʼs senses.
'This is...?ʼ
The newly acquired Authority of Infinite Breakthrough had detected a faint remaining trace.
Zeke noticed a tiny cluster of light floating in the air.
Before it could dissipate, he activated Dragonʼs Wisdom.
Woooong!
The karma data was damaged, sending a massive wave of noise crashing into Zekeʼs mind.
'Ugh.ʼ
He filtered out the noise as much as possible, selecting only the surviving information to read the contents.
There was so little left that it was hard to read it properly.
Pzzzt—
A powerful spark burst forth, forcibly terminating Dragonʼs Wisdom.
Zeke managed to compile what karma data remained.
As he organized the data, a message appeared before his eyes.
[The karma data is severely damaged.]
[Recovery of the data is required to read the information.]
At least the system could restore it, which came as a relief.
"System, begin recovery."
Tss tss tss—
As the system restored the damaged data, an image appeared before him.
At first, the image was too fragmented to make out.
"Canʼt you make it clearer?"
As recovery continued, the image gradually sharpened.
It took several rounds of restoration before it became barely recognizable.
The image depicted someone draped in a navy robe.
Zeke examined the image closely.
But the hood was pulled low over the face, making it impossible to identify.
'The one who took Abelʼs heart.ʼ Zeke asked the system.
"System, is there no image where this guyʼs face is clear?"
[The data damage is severe, preventing full recovery. Time is needed for perfect restoration.]
"So itʼs possible to recover it. Good, do it no matter how long it takes." Zeke issued the command to the system and looked at the image again.
For some reason, the figure in the image seemed familiar.
As he pondered deeply, the mirror in Zekeʼs pocket began to vibrate intensely.
He pulled out the mirror.
"Hermit?"
When Nabu saw Zeke, he shouted urgently.
—"Zeke! Damn it, itʼs urgent! Get to Mycenae right now!"
"What? Whatʼs going on all of a sudden?"
—"The Demon Realm Princesses are invading Mycenae!" Zeke looked bewildered at Nabuʼs words.
It was true they had planned to lure them with Anastasia, but he hadnʼt expected them to openly invade Mycenae like this.
He spoke urgently into the mirror.
"I understand. Iʼll contact you again, Hermit."
Zeke pocketed the mirror and immediately set coordinates for Mycenae.
A massive halo of light enveloped him as the portal swallowed his body.
*
Rumble—
The firmly shut south gate began to slowly open.
As the drawbridge lowered, a unit of barbarians in thick armor emerged from behind it.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The barbarians held massive shields and hammers.
They were the unit led by Kingʼs Fist, who had stayed in Mycenae learning human combat methods.
Adnan and Bodmir stood at their forefront.
Adnan said to Kingʼs Fist beside him.
"Just follow me."
"Got it. But whenʼs Zeke coming?"
"Heʼll be here soon if we hold out."
Adnan drew his twin swords and charged forward first.
He veered to the side of the south gate and signaled to Xeros.
Squeee—
Upon receiving the signal, Xeros instructed the Third-Eye Clan.
"That way!"
With Titus and Yulina at the center, the captured Third-Eye Clan invoked the power of the Blood Eye to dominate the minds of the monsters Xeros indicated.
Tss tss tss tss—
The eyes of the monsters subdued by the Blood Eye turned red.
Roooar!
Kwaaaak!
The excited monsters attacked those around them, disrupting their formation.
Rumble!
Seeing the formation break, Adnan said to Kingʼs Fist.
"That way! We need to drive them to the center!" At his words, Kingʼs Fist swung his hammer.
"Got it!"
With their target set, the barbarians charged ferociously at the monsters.
Boom boom!
They smashed bodies aside with heavy shields, then crushed the fallen monstersʼ heads with hammers.
Splat!
Even the Demon Realm monsters, with their tough vitality and recovery, couldnʼt withstand the barbariansʼ immense strength.
In an instant, the flank formation collapsed, causing the advance to redirect toward the center.
Watching the situation, Adnan sent another signal.
Squeeee!
This time, the signal was to apply the Blood Eye to the central monsters.
Following Xerosʼs orders, the Third-Eye Clan worked hard to subdue the monsters and make them fight each other.
"Ugh!"
Although continuously using the Blood Eye caused dizziness, they recalled Zekeʼs gaze to which they had sworn obedience and squeezed out every last bit of mental strength.
Roooar!
Under the Third-Eye Clanʼs power, the monsters surging from the center toward the south gate tangled and fought among themselves, their ranks in disarray.
When commanding tens of thousands, the most crucial element was marching order.
Even a slight misalignment caused major obstructions.
The monsters, advancing in a fixed direction under the Demon Realm Princessesʼ command, began clashing as the front lines broke.
Moreover, unlike the other gates, the south gateʼs terrain was rugged and sloped, making it impossible to swarm in from multiple directions like at the others.
That was exactly what Adnan had aimed for.
Roooar!
Following Adnanʼs lead, the barbarian unit weaved through the monsters, smashing their leadersʼ heads.
Blended among the monsters, it was hard to tell who was who.
Kingʼs Fist swung his hammer but punched nearby monsters with his fists.
Splat!
The monster hit by his fist turned to more mush than those struck by the hammer.
Reading the battlefield, Adnan suddenly shouted to the barbarian unit.
"Thatʼs it! Fall back!"
The barbarians swung their shields to carve a retreat path through the monsters.
Whoosh!
Even after the barbarians withdrew, the disorganized monsters couldnʼt regain direction and continued tearing into each other.
Adnan, Bodmir, and the barbarians only needed to pull back to the perimeter and cut down any that strayed.
At this rate, the monsters would self-destruct fighting among themselves.
But then.
Woooong!
A gate opened in the sky.
Whoosh!
A fierce blizzard erupted around them at the same time.
Adnan looked up and saw the entity emerging from the gate.
A being entirely white—from hair to clothing—floated in the air.
The blizzard intensified around it.
Adnan recognized the entityʼs nature.
'A demon. And a high-rank one at that.ʼ
The high-rank demon from the gate surveyed the chaotic monsters.
Then it aimed its white staff at them.
Whiiiine—
White light burst from the staff, instantly freezing the fighting monsters.
Rumble—
The disordered formation fell eerily silent.
The Third-Eye Clan on the walls recoiled in surprise as they lost control of the monsters.
Titus and Yulina, who had been exerting their greatest effort with eyes closed, opened them as their connection to the monsters severed.
"The link suddenly broke?"
A blizzard fiercer than before raged before the walls, obscuring vision.
Adnan and the barbarians, caught in the storm below, could barely move.
Adnan hadnʼt expected a high-rank demon to intervene so soon, leaving him flustered.
'We need to break through again.ʼ
The high-rank demon had frozen all the Blood Eye-affected monsters, forming a natural ice wall.
They had to retreat inside the walls before the rear monster wave broke through it.
As Bodmir, Adnan, and the barbarians tried to fall back.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Something approached them.
Adnan froze.
'Ice Golems?ʼ
Dozens of ice golems, each over four meters tall, advanced toward them.
The ice golems had been deployed ahead while the monster wave shattered the ice wall.
Bodmir said upon seeing them.
"No easy way out, huh."
Adnan nodded and drew his twin swords.
Then Kingʼs Fist behind him discarded his shield and gripped his hammer with both hands.
"Bet on who smashes more first?"
The other barbarians followed suit, raising their hammers.
"Sure."
"Iʼll win."
"Get lost. Iʼll win."
The bickering barbarians charged straight at the ice golems with hammers raised.
Whoosh!
They smashed the ice golems without hesitation.
Crack crack crack!
Incredibly, one blow cracked the surface of an ice golem.
Kingʼs Fist chuckled.
"See? One hit."
Another swung his hammer, shattering one of the ice golemʼs legs.
Adnan and Bodmir gaped at the sight.
The barbariansʼ combat prowess far exceeded their expectations.
The dozens of ice golems didnʼt last long against the charging barbarians and soon lay scattered on the ground as frozen chunks.
Kingʼs Fist planted his foot on a fallen ice golem and declared.
"Iʼm number one."
Another barbarian shouted.
"No, I am!"
Adnan signaled the arguing barbarians.
"Enough, come on!"
The barbarians grumbled and turned.
But then.
Whiiiine—
A beam of light pierced the blizzard and struck one of the barbarians.
Rumble rumble—
The barbarian who had been smashing ice golems with his hammer froze into an ice statue in an instant.
Adnan and Bodmir recoiled in shock and retreated.
They cried out in anguish.
"Dodge!"
Whiiiine—
Beams of light shot out in all directions from beyond the blizzard.
Adnan and Bodmir barely escaped by hiding behind shattered ice golem debris.
But they couldnʼt prevent massive ice pillars from forming wherever the light touched.
'Damn...ʼ
Adnan held his breath, peering beyond the blizzard at the immense power.
Through the raging snow, the pure white high-rank demon from earlier revealed itself.