Roooooooar!
A horrific roar shook the souls of Zeke and everyone else present.
"Ugh."
Even Zeke, who possessed the rank of a constellation, took considerable damage from the sound.
Looking below, he saw Manna and Ivan struggling to hold on inside the barrier.
Zeke sent Innocent down to protect them.
"Was it too hasty to break the seal?"
He had thought that since it was in the form of karma data, he would have the advantage with the Kabbalah System.
But contrary to his expectations, Arthur Draker seemed to have made full preparations.
"I have to stop the Demon Kingʼs resurrection no matter what."
Gripping his sword, Zeke tried to push through the fierce waves toward Baron.
But then, a more powerful energy surged up and pushed him back.
"Ugh!"
Rumble rumble rumble!
The Gateʼs maw opened wide again, extending what looked like a tongue—a tentacle— toward the opening in the bookshelf.
The black form in the bookshelfʼs opening rippled in response to the tentacle surging from the monstrous Gate.
Sizzle sizzle sizzle—
Suddenly, a black beam of light shot out from the bookshelfʼs opening in a straight line toward the Gate.
Ziiiiing—
The monstrous Gate opened its mouth wide and accepted the black beam.
Sizzle sizzle sizzle!
"What is that?"
Zeke realized the black beam from the bookshelf was a form of karma data.
Baron intended to resurrect the Demon Kingʼs soul—sealed in karma data form within the Great Sageʼs archive—using the Gate and Harvey Drakerʼs corrupted body.
Though only half the soul was sealed here, even a fragment of the Demon Kingʼs soul awakening could greatly disrupt the balance of the phenomenal world. "I have to stop it."
Zeke swung his sword to block the black beam heading toward the Gate.
Boom boom boom boom!
He unleashed a brilliant bolt of light to halt the transmission of the karma data, but physical attacks couldnʼt stop it.
"Then..."
But first, he needed to physically seal that hole.
Zeke shouted toward Nigel beside him.
"Master! Please block that hole!"
Nigel nodded at Zekeʼs words, drew his sword, and grabbed Nabu by the scruff of the neck.
"Nabu, head over there!"
"Eek! I got it! Hold on tight!"
Nabu immediately maneuvered the flying carpet toward the bookshelfʼs opening.
Meanwhile, changes began in the monstrous Gate that had absorbed the black beam.
Crack crack crack!
Small protrusions formed on the upper part of the Gate, and holes soon opened there.
The holes twitched as if breathing, expelling something.
Slither slither—
Black organic matter began to flow out.
But instead of falling to the floor, the matter clumped together, forming shapes, and seeped into the body of the aberrant angel floating above.
Seeing this, Zeke furrowed his brow and drew Laevatein.
He then activated its unique authority, Chaos Field.
Wooooong!
The energy of Chaos Field, which nullified constellation authorities, spread in all directions.
Baron raised both hands skyward toward Zeke.
Rumble rumble rumble!
Black energy enveloped Baronʼs hands, countering the power of Chaos Field.
Sizzle sizzle sizzle—
At the same time, the black matter continued seeping into the aberrant angelʼs body, gradually altering its form.
From the horrific armored monstrosity, it shifted toward the appearance of a knight clad in black crystalline armor.
Zeke unleashed a sword strike infused with Chaos Field toward it.
Rumble rumble rumble!
The strike, empowered by Chaos Field, flew toward the Gate and the aberrant angel.
Boom boom boom boom!
The strike slammed down, creating powerful waves.
Wooooong!
A vibration rang out, forming a translucent barrier in front of the aberrant angel.
It was a defensive barrier created by Baron and the aberrant mages.
Rumble rumble rumble!
The barrier clashed with Zekeʼs strike, sending strong waves rippling outward.
Zeke felt that Baronʼs twisted causality was pushing back against Chaos Field.
"Then..."
Realizing Chaos Field wasnʼt fully effective, Zeke drew Ascalon in his other hand and gathered his energy instead of panicking.
Chaos Field wasnʼt entirely ineffective, so he couldnʼt release it completely. But since using Chaos Field prevented other authorities, Zeke drew purely on the power of the sword itself.
The pinnacle of Infinite Sword Art concentrated in Zekeʼs blade.
Wooooong—
Ascalon let out a resounding sword resonance.
"Unite the mind as one."
Zeke recalled the teachings of Shattan Draker, who had awakened him to the Heart-Sword.
At the time, his realm was insufficient to fully comprehend the profound insights Shattan had passed on.
But after repeated growth, Zeke now understood what Shattan had meant to convey.
"The sword and I are one."
The oldest maxim engraved in his heart since he first gripped a sword.
He recalled it now, having surpassed human limits.
Wooooong!
Ascalon wailed long in response to Zekeʼs will.
Zeke held Laevatein, emanating Chaos Field, and pointed Ascalon at Baron with his other hand.
He slowly swung the sword down from above.
His sword cleaved the world in two.
Infinite Sword Art, Final Form
Heart-Sword Technique
Single Stroke
A single sword.
It was the final form of Infinite Sword Art that Zeke unleashed.
His Single Stroke, executed with excruciating slowness, was aimed directly at Baron.
Baron ignored Zekeʼs strike, focusing on defending the aberrant angel with twisted causality.
But then, something utterly unexpected happened.
"Cough!"
Black blood poured from Baronʼs mouth.
"Gah!"
Black blood streamed endlessly from Baronʼs nose, eyes, and mouth.
He stared at Zeke in disbelief.
"H-How is this..."
Zekeʼs Single Stroke was the final stage of the Heart-Sword he had realized.
The utmost pinnacle of pure swordsmanship, beyond even twisted causality.
Thus, Baron couldnʼt counter it.
The strike wounded Baronʼs soul deeply, preventing him from maintaining his power.
Moreover, what seemed like a minor scratch from the Single Stroke grew, creating countless fissures in Baronʼs soul.
Wooooong!
The Gate and barrier, anchored by Baron, began to crumble.
"Arrrrgh!"
Baron spewed blood from all seven orifices and wailed like a madman.
But it wasnʼt over.
Rumble rumble rumble!
Behind him, Nigel unleashed Full Power Technique toward the bookshelfʼs opening.
"Haaaaah!"
Nigel swung his sword at the opening with a double spell, pouring all his power into it.
Boom boom boom boom boom!
The empowered strike cleaved the bookshelfʼs opening.
It shook momentarily from the impact, but the black light still flowed into the aberrant angel through the Gate.
Zeke gritted his teeth and furrowed his brow at the sight.
"If this is how it is, thereʼs only one way."
Zeke withdrew Chaos Field and revealed his divinity.
Rumble rumble rumble—
The power of the constellation emanated from Zekeʼs entire body.
Seeing Zeke invoke his divinity, Baron sensed something ominous and shouted while vomiting blood. "Stop him!"
At Baronʼs command, the aberrant mages turned toward Zeke and aimed their daggers.
Wooooong!
Strange sounds emanated from their daggers as eerie energy surged forth.
Rumble rumble rumble!
The eerie energy rose, forming translucent spirits.
Kiiiiieeeek!
The wraiths revealed themselves and flew toward Zeke with horrific wails.
But then.
Thud thud thud thud!
Ivan, protected by Guardian Innocent, leaped into the air and fired his cursed crossbow at the wraiths summoned by the aberrant mages.
Kiiiiieeeek!
The wraiths struck by the cursed arrows screamed as their translucent forms scattered like mist.
But the misty eerie energy soon regrouped, reforming the wraiths.
Ivan, standing in midair on Mannaʼs barrier, pulled out several arrowheads from his pouch.
He chanted a curse while gripping the arrowheads tightly.
Sizzle sizzle—
A purple aura rippled from the arrowheads infused with powerful curse energy.
Ivan hurled the arrowheads at the wraiths.
The purple-aura arrowheads pierced the wraithsʼ translucent bodies as he intended.
Wooooong!
The vibrating arrowheads formed a hexagram, and purple lights connected, flowing forth.
The wraiths were trapped in the completed hexagram, unable to escape and fixed in place.
Kee eee eek!
The wraiths wailed horrifically, struggling to break free, but Ivanʼs curse trap was especially effective against bodiless wraiths, so they couldnʼt escape.
Then, Guardian Innocent appeared behind Ivan.
Wooooong!
Innocent aimed his light-shimmering staff at the trapped wraiths.
Incredibly, the wraiths began to be sucked into the staff.
Kaaaaaaaak!
The wraiths screamed horrifically, trying to escape, but couldnʼt resist the suction from Innocentʼs staff.
Sizzle sizzle sizzle—
Ultimately, the eerie-energy wraiths scattered into mist and were fully absorbed into the staff.
Some of the aberrant mages who had summoned the wraiths trembled, dropping their daggers and collapsing to the floor.
Baron, and even the chanting aberrant mages, could no longer maintain the barrier properly.
The black light from the bookshelfʼs opening began to waver.
Zeke, reading the situation, flew toward it at high speed.
Rumble rumble rumble!
Enveloped in shadows, Zeke charged straight at the black light flowing into the monstrous Gate.
He extended shadows to wrap around the black light and began absorbing the karma data within.
Sizzle sizzle sizzle—
Massive amounts of karma data flowed into Zekeʼs Kabbalah System through the shadows.
At that moment, a voice echoed in Zekeʼs ears.
[One who is qualified, accept me.]
He felt the Demon Kingʼs soul-invading voice burrowing into his mind.
Zeke focused on absorbing the karma data while resisting the voice.
But then, a message appeared before his eyes.
[Contaminated karma data detected.]
[Absorbing contaminated karma data may affect the userʼs soul.]
[Strongly advise stopping this action.]
[If the absorption of contaminated karma data continues, the Kabbalah System will execute a forced shutdown.]
It was a warning that the system itself would forcibly halt the absorption if he persisted, regardless of Zekeʼs will as the user.
But Zeke continued absorbing the karma data through shadows, ignoring the systemʼs warning.
Instead, he issued another command to the system.
'System, use karma points to purify the contaminated karma data.ʼ
Just as he had normalized twisted causality with karma points before, he intended to restore the contaminated karma data using points.
[Accept me fully. I shall grant you the authority to rule the world.]
Zeke resisted the powerful voice and another system message appeared.
[Even after restoration, the contaminated karma data poses high risk.]
[Strongly advise stopping this action.]
Zeke commanded purification again despite the warning.
Since Zeke was the user, the system couldnʼt refuse.
[Restoring contaminated karma data.]
Sizzle sizzle sizzle—
The contaminated karma data Zeke absorbed began converting to pure data, consuming karma points, and transferring to the system.
The system warned of danger even after purification, but there was no choice.
It was an emergency measure to prevent the Demon Kingʼs karma data from flowing into the aberrant angel.
But Zekeʼs action produced an entirely unexpected result.
[Part of the contaminated karma data is restored.]
[The memories of 'Siemens Apollyonʼ recorded in the karma data are transferred to the user.]