Nabu raised his book and read the passage while the beast-like monster let out a roar.
"Roaring black beast! The chains that bind you and the shining spear shall sever the beast's lifeline!"
As a member of the High Table who had dealt with magical beasts for hundreds of years, Nabu knew exactly how to find the relevant passages for such situations.
As Nabu's Word Magic activated, chains made of light burst from the ground and wrapped around the monster that resembled a beast.
Clank!
The chains coiled around the monster's ten outstretched necks, sealing its movements.
At the same time, a spear that emitted light formed in the air.
The spear plunged toward the monster's body.
Splat!
Pierced by the spear of light, the monster let out a long, agonized roar.
Then Ivan, who stood nearby, raised his hand and drew runes in the air.
Woooong!
The runes he drew vibrated, and thorny brass vines emerged from within them.
Crunch...
The barbed brass vines slowly grew, wrapping around the monster's body.
With its necks bound by the chains of light and its body impaled by the spear, the monster could no longer move, ensnared by the sturdy brass vines.
When the monster struggled, the brass vines tightened even more around its body.
Roooar!
The monster thrashed about, shaking its form.
But no matter how hard it tried, it couldn't escape the bindings. It opened its maw wide and spewed out black mist.
Hiss...
The black mist filled the surroundings and rose into the air, forming an ominous dark cloud.
Soon, sticky black acid rain began to fall from the dark cloud.
Sizzle...
Everything the black acid rain touched smoked and melted away.
Even the brass vines that wrapped the monster slowly corroded under the acidic rain and its potent properties.
At the same time, the monster's surface rippled, and tentacles emerged from its body.
Screeech!
In an instant, the tentacles bared sharp teeth and lunged toward where Lilith, Nabu, and Ivan stood.
Clang!
But they were blocked by the barrier Mana had erected and couldn't advance further.
The tentacles then opened wide and spat viscous fluid toward the translucent barrier.
Sizzle...
The black acid rain combined with the fluid from the tentacles, and the barrier began to corrode bit by bit.
Nabu gritted his teeth and raised his book again.
"The thick rain blocking our path shall cease, and the light of glory shall shine! Let that light become arrows and pierce the enemies' hearts!" Woooong!
As Nabu's Word Magic took effect, the black rain pouring from the dark cloud gradually stopped.
Strong light seeped through the gaps in the dark cloud.
The light soon took shape, becoming arrows of light that rained down.
However, the arrows of light scattered in all directions, failing to find their proper target.
Nabu realized his mistake with a grimace. "Ah! Damn it, that thing doesn't have a heart!" Wielding Word Magic was no easy task.
Even the slightest misalignment in the phenomenon could lead to completely unintended results, so one had to choose the passages meticulously.
Pew pew pew pew!
As the arrows of light scattered and fell everywhere, the tentacles, which had ducked low, resumed their assault on the barrier.
While Nabu gathered his strength to read another passage, Ivan used his remaining arm to fire curse-infused arrows from his crossbow at the tentacles, but it only slowed their advance momentarily.
Nabu assessed the situation and turned to shout at Zeke, who had his palm pressed to the floor behind them.
"Zeke! They're pushing in harder! I don't know what you're doing, but hurry up!" Contrary to Zeke's calm exterior, the inner world he observed churned violently.
Crackle crackle!
Red lightning crackled everywhere as Zeke's power eroded the barrier circuit Baron had deployed.
Zeke disrupted Baron's barrier ritual and counterattacked by infusing the power of the Blood Eye into the circuit.
Baron put up a desperate defense, erecting barriers in all directions to block Zeke's erosion.
His barrier circuit had nearly reached the door through sustained effort, but Zeke's erosion had blocked it at the threshold.
Baron glared at Zeke with a scowl.
Zeke's voice echoed in Baron's mind.
[Zeke Draker, do you intend to obstruct God's great undertaking?]
Ignoring Baron's words, Zeke continued channeling the power of the Blood Eye into the circuit using the Kabbalah System.
The potent power of the Blood Eye rode the circuit in reverse, soon reaching Baron's feet.
Just as the red energy was about to touch Baron's foot.
Crackle crackle!
The defensive barrier Baron had set up activated, blocking the power of the Blood Eye.
But Zeke didn't stop; he rerouted the power of the Blood Eye to infiltrate Baron's mind.
Baron's voice echoed again.
[It's futile. Even if you enter my mind, there's nothing for you to discover.] Zeke smirked at Baron's words.
—I'll be the judge of that.
After conveying his will to Baron via telepathy, Zeke placed both hands on the floor this time.
Crackle crackle!
An even stronger surge of the Blood Eye's power eroded Baron's circuit through the mandala.
The power that had infiltrated via a detour split into several strands, simultaneously assaulting Baron's barriers.
Baron had no choice but to retract the circuit he had extended toward the door to defend against it.
Having his success snatched away at the last moment, Baron gritted his teeth and glared at Zeke. "Zeke Draaaaker!" Crackle!
A powerful storm of mana exploded, surging from the inner world into reality.
Rumble rumble!
Baron's mana, which had been breaching the door, was now redirected to block Zeke's Blood Eye, causing all his extended circuits to clog up. His rage was inevitable.
Crackle!
As he retracted the circuit, Baron's concentrated mana formed a strong defensive barrier that pushed back Zeke's Blood Eye, sending red lightning arcing in all directions and whipping up a mana storm.
Crackle!
Within the mana storm, Baron scowled and began to move.
He glared at Zeke and said.
"You dare obstruct God's great undertaking."
Zeke lifted his hands from the mandala and grinned.
"All this talk of gods is making me lose my appetite even more. Tell me where your fake god is. As a reward, I'll grant you a peaceful death."
Baron furrowed his brow at Zeke's words and gripped the tip of the black gauntlet on his hand.
"Zeke Draker, you'll regret forcing my hand."
As soon as Baron removed the gauntlet, the air in the stone chamber changed.
'What is this?'
Zeke scowled at the alien energy that emanated from Baron's hand.
He soon realized what that power was.
'Angelic power, Outsider Species power, and...'
The twisted causality aura that Harvey Draker had emitted.
These three emanated from Baron's hand.
Baron's ungloved hand was shrouded in black mist, its form indistinct.
He pointed at the monster made from the angel's fragment, bound by chains.
The black mist from Baron's hand flew toward the monster.
Sizzle...
Seeing this, Zeke drew his sword and leaped forward.
"Haaah!"
He unleashed the power of Great Purification infused in his sword toward the monster and the black mist.
Boom boom boom!
A golden sword strike flew toward the monster.
Screeech!
The monster roared in resistance to Zeke's attack, but its tentacles melted away under the golden sword strike, and black bodily fluids scattered everywhere.
However, Zeke's attack couldn't prevent the black mist Baron had sent from seeping into the monster's body.
As the monster's crumbling form under the power of Great Purification combined with Baron's black mist, its shape began to change.
Crunch crunch!
The chains and spear of light dispersed, and the brass vines wrapping its body corroded and fell away.
It reverted to an amorphous mass of flesh, gradually shifting into a humanoid form.
Crunch! Crunch!
From its hunched back, two wings unfurled as it slowly rose.
Its sturdy black body bore no eyes, nose, or mouth, like a masked figure.
Zeke raised his sword upon seeing the transformed black angel.
'An angel? No, not a complete one. A fragment bearing angelic power. Closer to an artificially created Nephilim.'
Meanwhile, the black mist Baron had conjured enveloped the black angel's body, infusing it with energy.
The black angel spread its wings and levitated into the air.
The mist coalesced in its hand, forming a black ring-shaped weapon.
Once prepared, Baron commanded the black angel.
"Eliminate them all!"
With those words, the black angel hurled the black ring at Zeke.
Boom boom boom!
The two black rings spun toward Zeke in an erratic trajectory.
Zeke charged forward and swung his sword at the incoming black rings.
Boom!
The Chamber of Metal Power loaded into his sword deflected the fast-approaching black rings, altering their path.
But the spinning black rings soon regained their trajectory, aiming for Zeke's back.
Zeke then unleashed the Chamber of Wind Power, directing a fierce gale at the rotating black rings.
Boom boom boom!
The storm from Zeke's sword engulfed the black rings the angel had thrown, creating a whirlwind.
Then darkness like pitch black poured from the black rings, beginning to absorb the whirlwind Zeke had created.
Whiiiine—
The black rings, now infused with the gale, changed trajectory again.
This time, they split: one toward Nabu and Ivan, the other toward Mana and the fallen Nigel beside her.
Boom!
Nabu raised his book and used Word Magic to create a massive shield in the air, blocking the ring heading their way.
Clang clang clang!
Fortunately, Nabu's shield deflected the ring.
Mana, who guarded Nigel, also erected a protective barrier to block the ring.
Seizing the moment as the rings targeted the High Table members, Zeke rushed toward the black angel.
Rumble rumble!
Zeke swung his sword strike at the black angel while unleashing Chaos Field, Laevatein's unique authority.
Boom boom boom!
The sword strike infused with the power of Chaos Field, which restricted the authority of constellations, flew toward the black angel.
But at that moment, the black angel fully extended its wings and slashed, sending sharp black fragments at Zeke.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
The black fragments flying toward Zeke seemed unaffected by the Chaos Field, charging straight ahead.
Zeke calmly spun in midair to evade the black fragments and charged at the black angel. "Haaaah!"
With a shout, he drove his sword, infused with Chaos Field, into the black angel's body with all his might.
Since it was a fragment created from an angel's power under a constellation, it should have been vulnerable to Chaos Field—this strike would deal significant damage.
Yet the black angel showed no particular reaction to Zeke's Chaos Field.
'Chaos Field isn't working?'
As Zeke furrowed his brow slightly, black mist flowed from the black angel's body where Laevatein had pierced it.
The mist touched Zeke's body, melting his clothes and skin.
Zeke immediately stored Laevatein in his inventory and retreated.
Even from the brief contact, the parts touched by the black mist had their clothes dissolved, exposing raw, peeled skin.
More astonishingly, the affected areas weren't regenerating.
'Even the Immortal Body's power can't heal this?'
It was an ability he hadn't seen in the other angels.
There was clearly some secret in the black mist from Baron's hand.
At that moment, a message appeared before his eyes.
[Due to twisted causality, injury has occurred to the user's body.]
[Recover using Karma Points?]
Just like when offsetting twisted causality before, a message offered recovery via Karma Points.
Zeke realized the black mist dwelling in the black angel's body contained the power of twisted causality.
'Arthur Draker can wield twisted causality—that's almost certain now.' Zeke first used Karma Points to heal the wound.
Sizzle sizzle...
As usual, his injury restored to its original state.
Baron, watching from behind, addressed Zeke.
"The power of Black Baptism cannot be healed by any means... Zeke Draker, what exactly are you?"
Zeke drew the Holy Sword Ascalon from his inventory, raised it, and replied.
"Find someone in hell who can tell you."
At the same time, light rippled around Zeke's body.
Woooong!
As the light faded, Zeke revealed himself in his elf form.
Baron couldn't help but be shocked at Zeke's sudden transformation into an elf.
Regardless of Baron's surprise, Zeke, holding his sword rippling with Holy Spirit Qi, murmured lowly.
"Answer my call. O Light Elemental."