Zeke emerged from the shadows, gripping Laevatein and glaring at Baron, who commanded the Black Stage Operatives.
In a cold voice, he said, "Baron, I never imagined I'd see you like this."
At Zeke's words, Baron placed a hand over his chest and bowed his head with a polite demeanor.
"Sir Zeke, I regret that things have come to this." Zeke furrowed his brow at Baron's response.
"Regret? It doesn't seem like something you should say after swearing loyalty to me and then stabbing me in the back."
Baron lifted his head and replied, "My sole master is but one."
The one who had ordered them to abandon the name Draker and become the new humanity of a new era.
Arthur Draker—they revered him as a god.
Looking at Zeke, Baron continued, "Sir Zeke, our master holds your abilities in high regard. If you receive the Rite of Consecration now and are reborn as a true Draker, you could become part of the new humanity."
Zeke gave a chilling smile at those words.
"A true Draker..."
In that instant, Zeke's Dragon Eye flashed, unleashing an overwhelming pressure.
Kugugugugugu!
Even after attaining Divinity, Zeke's power—untouched by Karma's sanctions— surpassed that of the transcendents on the High Table.
The mere revelation of his rank pressed down on the space with immense force.
Seeing this, Baron nodded and said, "I regret not being able to stand with you. But we have an ideal we must achieve, so we cannot stop here." Baron snapped his fingers.
In response, Ingel's body, which had collapsed on the floor, twitched.
Black smoke poured from the wound on her neck sliced by Zeke's sword, astonishingly coalescing to reform her neck.
Kududuk!
With her neck restored, Ingel twisted her body grotesquely and rose.
She then snapped open her Poison Eye and glared at Zeke.
"Hua! Hu!"
Taking a deep breath, Ingel shouted at Zeke, "You filthy bastard of an illegitimate child, how dare you!"
Her face contorted like a vengeful spirit.
She pointed at Zeke and screamed again, "Kill that bastard right now! Do it immediately!"
At Ingel's command, the Black Stage Operatives, who had been poised to attack the High Table, shifted their focus and advanced toward Zeke.
Zeke's gaze lingered on the spot where the Black Stage Operatives had been.
There, Nigel endured the backlash of Causality, her power unleashed without Karma's restraint.
Though Nabu and Manna treated her, the backlash of Causality continued to grow.
Zeke pointed his sword at Ingel.
"I never forgive those who betray me."
With his icy voice, shadows surged up around him.
At the same time, the Black Stage Operatives, enveloped in black energy, charged at Zeke.
Kwakwakwakwa!
Shadows rising from the ground swung black blades toward the Black Stage Operatives.
Kwaduduk!
The bodies of the struck Black Stage Operatives shattered and were flung outward. Kaaaak!
In the midst of it, Black Stage Operatives who pierced the shadows lunged at Zeke, wielding three-pronged blades that sprouted from their hands.
Zeke swung Laevatein, infused with the power of his Full Power Technique, toward them.
Kwakwakwakwakwa!
In a single stroke, over a dozen Black Stage Operatives crumbled and scattered in all directions.
Even seeing this, Ingel sneered and snapped her fingers.
Tsutsutsutsu—
Black energy rippled as the shattered black fragments recombined into their original forms.
Zeke's Dragon Eye flashed as he realized something while watching the Black Stage Operatives, against whom even his Full Power Technique proved ineffective.
'They no longer have souls.'
Having undergone the Rite of Consecration, they contained only a mysterious black energy, with no trace of a soul detectable.
As Zeke stood still, Ingel tugged at the corner of her mouth and let out a mad laugh.
"Zeke Draker! You damned illegitimate spawn! I'll kill you myself for sullying the Draker name!"
Ingel, head of the Black Stage's intelligence division, seemed to know that Zeke was not Arthur Draker's biological son.
Black liquid dripped once more from Ingel's dangling hand.
Soon, the liquid writhed and astonishingly transformed into clones mimicking Ingel's form.
Before long, five Ingels glared at Zeke and approached.
"We won't die."
"Even if killed."
"The power of the new humanity."
"I'll show you."
"Die!"
The five Ingels charged at Zeke.
Thin threads extended from their hands, reaching out from all sides to ensnare his body.
Tsutsutsutsu—
Zeke swung his sword to deflect the threads shooting from Ingel's hands.
But instead, the threads clung to his sword and coiled around his arm, binding his movements.
Zeke drew upon his energy to sever the threads wrapped around his sword and arm.
Yet astonishingly, the threads absorbed Zeke's energy.
Tsutsutsutsu—
As the threads absorbed the aura Zeke emitted, they tightened around his arm and crept upward.
Seeing this, the five Ingels gaped wide and spat out mad words.
"You stupid illegitimate bastard!"
"You can never break free from this!"
With threads extended, the five Ingels formed sharp claws.
They then leaped toward Zeke simultaneously.
Chwaaaaaaak!
Ingel's razor-sharp claws flew from all directions, embedding into various parts of Zeke's body.
Pukpukpukpuk!
Zeke's neck was severed, his limbs torn away, and blood from his body sprayed everywhere.
"Kekeke, kuahaha!"
Ingel burst into maniacal laughter, her body splattered with blood.
But then—
"Ingel!"
Baron Draker shouted at her.
Sensing something amiss, Ingel turned her head.
Her Poison Eye widened.
The Zeke she had just killed stood unharmed, treating Nigel near the High Table.
"Th-this bastard!"
In that moment, the Zeke's corpse she had sliced writhed and dissolved into black shadow.
The black shadow extended in all directions, ensnaring the bodies of the five Ingels.
"Kugh!"
The five Ingels wrapped in shadow struggled desperately to escape, but it was no easy feat.
"Kraaaak!"
Watching this, Ingel grimaced and snapped her fingers, causing all clones except her main body to dissolve into black liquid.
At the same time, the shadow power binding her canceled out against the liquid, allowing Ingel to break free.
"Huu, huu!"
Breathing heavily, Ingel glared at Zeke's location.
"You damned illegitimate bastard..."
Grinding her teeth, she gestured to the Black Stage Operatives behind her. The black substance enveloping their bodies flowed back to her.
Simultaneously, the Black Stage Operatives, deprived of the black substance, crumbled into dust and scattered.
The ability Ingel gained from the Rite of Consecration was immensely powerful, but it required sacrificial vessels. In the end, many Black Stage Operatives became those sacrifices.
Ingel, her eyes bloodshot, glared at Zeke and exhaled ragged breaths.
"Illegitimate spawn. I'll kill him. I'll be the one to kill him."
With her mad murmur, changes began to occur in Ingel's body.
Tsutsutsutsu—
The reabsorbed black substance enveloped her form, and her hair strands extended in all directions like living things.
Covered in black substance with writhing hair, Ingel resembled a Nephilim forged from a constellation's blood.
Her transformed body floated into the air as she gazed toward Zeke.
[I shall show you the power of a true Draker awakened as the new humanity.]
While Ingel awakened, Zeke stabilized the backlash of Causality emanating from Nigel's body via the Kabbalah System.
He believed he could resolve Nigel's backlash with Karma Points, just as he had offset the twisted Causality before.
And his prediction proved correct.
As he expended Karma Points, the backlash afflicting Nigel's body began to subside.
Sssususu—
With the backlash calming and her energy stabilizing, Nigel reverted from her true form to her girl appearance.
Though the crisis had passed, Zeke, looking at the unconscious Nigel, said to Nabu,
"Hermit, please take care of my master."
Seeing Nabu nod, Zeke rose and stepped forward toward Ingel, now in her Nephilim form.
Gazing at Ingel, whose hair whipped like needles in all directions, Zeke said, "Is that the form of a true Draker you spoke of?"
Zeke could sense the potent power of the Outsider Species emanating from Ingel's body.
The dangerous, impure force that Arthur Draker had drawn in to proclaim himself a god.
Zeke felt an instinctive revulsion toward this unknown power.
Ingel looked down at him and cried out, [You're different from a fake like you! Worship the power of the new humanity!] Ingel's hair surged toward Zeke.
At the same time, Zeke extended his hand.
Woooooong!
Divinity of the Constellation Title "He Who Surpassed the Wall" flowed from his body.
Pajijijik!
Revealing Divinity in the Phenomenal World triggered a backlash of Causality around Zeke's body.
But since Zeke's body was immune to Karma's sanctions, he ignored it and continued unleashing his power.
Then, Ingel's hair, upon touching the domain of power Zeke emitted, began crumbling into dust.
Ingel recoiled in surprise.
[H-how?]
Zeke floated into the air like Ingel and said, "Ingel, you're a fool. You merely wielded the fake power bestowed by a false god. It may have been strong among fakes, but before the power of a true constellation, its true nature is inevitably revealed."
In that instant, a golden halo emanated from Zeke's body, and the power of Great Purification extended in all directions.
Tsutsutsutsutsu—
[Kugh!]
Exposed to the light of Great Purification Zeke emitted, the black substances enveloping Ingel's body began to writhe.
In the end, Ingel tried to retreat from Zeke's light.
But Zeke did not let her.
As he extended his hand, golden swords materialized and, upon pointing at Ingel, shot forward rapidly.
Shushushushuk!
Ingel extended her hair to block the golden swords Zeke launched, but it was futile.
The swords melted through her hair and pierced her body.
Kwadududuk!
The black substances wrapping Ingel's body could not withstand Zeke's golden swords.
Thus, with swords embedded throughout her form, Ingel let out a scream.
[Kaaaaak!]
Meanwhile, the light of Great Purification flowing from the golden swords purified the impure power within her.
Ultimately, the black substances enveloping Ingel's body sloughed off like filthy mud.
[Aaaak!]
As the black substances peeled away, Ingel's hidden form was revealed.
Her skin was entirely flayed, and she writhed in agony.
[This can't be! It can't be like this!]
Ingel raved and tore off her eyepatch, revealing her concealed eye.
Soon, the stitches sewing shut Ingel's left eye began to tremble.
Kududuk!
With a grotesque sound, the threads stitching Ingel's eye burst apart.
Something sealed within flashed, and an endless darkness peered out from it.
Soon, black amorphous substances flowed from the darkness connected to Ingel's eye.
The moment the black substance manifested in the Phenomenal World, it exuded a foul stench and swelled, taking form.
Kiaaaa—
Iridescent light shimmered on the surface of the black mass, and within the sticky, formless lump, sharp teeth, bizarre eyes, and children's hands and feet emerged. [Kuheoeoeok!]
As the immobile mass poured from her eye, Ingel convulsed and retched in torment.
Then, at some point, Ingel's body too began to liquefy and lose form, absorbed into the amorphous substances.
Soon, Ingel's body vanished, leaving only a massive, stench-filled lump of flesh.
Zeke frowned at the enormous mass Ingel had created.
The energy emanating from the black lump felt all too familiar.
'Trumpeter of the Apocalypse.'
What he sensed from the black mass was none other than the power of an angel.