Chapter 225
She led Zeke and Billy to a place inside the base that was connected to the sea.
Peter Pan asked Zeke,
"We need to go deep underwater. How long can you hold your breath?"
Then, Billy said to Peter Pan,
"Captain! That knight is a great swimmer! We swam together for quite a while to get here!"
"Billy! Can't you be quiet! I told you not to use your dialect because humans will look down on us!"
Even as she chided him, she immediately plunged into the water at Billy's words and then said to Billy,
"Billy, go and hide with the other crew members. We can't let those guys catch you again. I'll come get you soon."
"Aye aye, Captain."
Peter Pan gestured to Zeke from the water.
"What are you doing? Hurry up and get in. You said it was urgent."
Zeke nodded and jumped into the water.
Soon, Underwater Breathing activated, allowing him to breathe even underwater.
Once he could breathe, Zeke could properly see Peter Pan swimming in the water.
She clearly had human legs just a moment ago, but now her lower body had transformed into a fish tail with shimmering colors.
She said to Zeke,
『Follow me this way.』
Perhaps utilizing the vibrations of the water, the booming voice was conveyed clearly.
Zeke followed Peter Pan into a cave where the seawater flowed strongly.
'Is this another lava cave? The current is fast.'
The speed at which the seawater flowed as it exited the cave was rapid.
Zeke increased his weight with gravity and followed Peter Pan, swimming with his dragon wings.
Emerging from the narrow and long cave, a wide space soon appeared.
Beneath the seawater, the remnants of buildings that were less destroyed than before could be seen.
Seeing yet another ruin, Zeke realized that this wasn't a temple.
'This is... where the Deep Sea Race lived.'
It was a kind of underwater city where the Deep Sea Race had built their own civilization and lived.
Only then did he recall that even in the Abode of the Sky Race, the temple had been located deeper inside the place where the Sky Race had lived.
'Is the Sea God's temple hidden in a deeper place than this?'
Just then, Peter Pan gestured to Zeke.
Zeke followed her up to the surface of the water.
"Phew!"
Zeke surfaced and took a deep breath.
Turning his head, he saw a long, continuous lava cave.
Zeke first went up towards the cave. Peter Pan, who had been in mermaid form underwater, had now transformed back into having human legs and came up onto the land.
Zeke looked at Peter Pan and said,
"Amazing. Can all members of the Deep Sea Race travel between the sea and land?"
Then, Peter Pan shook her head.
"No, originally, the Deep Sea Race can't come up onto land. Only the descendants of the Sea God among the Deep Sea Race can do that."
"Descendants of the Sea God?"
Peter Pan didn't answer Zeke's words and gestured.
"It's that way. Follow me."
Suppressing his curiosity, Zeke followed Peter Pan into the cave.
Not far into the cave, Zeke sensed something suspicious.
He gestured for Peter Pan to stop and summoned ghost soldiers.
Tsutsutsu—
Two ghost soldiers sprang from Zeke's shadow, surprising Peter Pan.
The ghost soldiers turned incorporeal and went to scout the front of the cave in an invisible form.
Zeke shared his vision with the ghost soldiers and watched the situation.
Before long, Zeke discovered Fiends roaming around through the ghost soldiers' eyes.
But upon closer inspection, there were not only Fiends but also mages there.
And one of the mages who was with the Fiends suddenly turned his head towards the incorporeal ghost soldiers.
"Intruders!"
As the mage took out his staff and cast a spell, surprisingly, the ghost soldiers' incorporeal form dissipated, and they became corporeal.
The Fiends charged at the materialized ghost soldiers.
Kwaduk!
The moment the ghost soldiers raised their swords to block the Fiends' attacks, Zeke told the ghost soldiers to retreat and then dismissed the summons.
'To be able to recognize incorporeal ghost soldiers. He must be a mage from the Abyss.'
Zeke, who had concealed himself with stealth, also had the ability to recognize mages from the Abyss.
It seemed that even incorporeal ghost soldiers could be detected.
'I need to be careful when sending scouts to the Abyss side.'
Zeke mentally organized the situation and said to Peter Pan,
"There's a black mage and a knight who wields demonic energy ahead. Is it possible to block them with spirit magic?"
Then, Peter Pan frowned and said,
"Demonic energy? You mean that black, sticky aura? Spirits really hate that stuff."
Spirits were beings from another dimension made of pure energy. Because of this, they were the polar opposite of demonic energy, the dark energy of the Abyss.
"If we just block the demonic energy, will it be alright?"
"Well, yes, but..."
Just then, the black mage and the Fiends revealed themselves.
They seemed to have discovered the ghost soldiers and come all the way here.
"It's them! Capture them!"
Zeke sheathed Bahamut and drew the Jewel Roland Sword .
Then, he deployed the Light Barrier skill.
Chwaaaaaaaak!
A barrier of light spread out widely from Zeke's center.
Peter Pan looked surprised as the light barrier permeated her body.
"What is this? It feels incredibly warm."
"Can you use your spirits with this much?"
Undine, who was above Peter Pan's head, flapped her wings and moved energetically. Seeing this, Peter Pan nodded and created water droplets.
"Alright, let's go!"
The water droplets instantly swelled in size and surged upwards as pillars of water towards the charging Fiends.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!
The fierce pillars of water, as if alive, tangled and swallowed the charging Fiends.
Kwaddeudeudeuk!
They tried to dig their feet into the ground and resist, but it was no match for the powerful torrent of water. In the end, the Fiends were all swept away by the water pillars before long.
Zeke watched Peter Pan's spirit magic from the side and was impressed.
'Unlike Elemental Sword, which uses elemental power, spirit magic uses the power of nature itself.'
It occurred to Zeke that he could use the Field of Water in that way.
When using the Field of Fire, he created pure fire, and when using the Field of Wind, he created wind, but he had never even thought about using the Field of Water in such a way.
'Master Kaisir didn't teach me anything like that either. Did he not feel the need to?'
As they were about to advance again, a black-robed mage burst through the fierce water pillars.
He had broken through the water stream with a black membrane covering his body.
The mage raised his staff and aimed it at Peter Pan.
"You damn merman wench! How dare you betray us!"
Black currents crackled from his staff, and a black lightning bolt shot towards Peter Pan.
Pajijijijijik!
Perhaps due to the influence of the seawater, the black lightning struck the cave walls and swept towards Zeke and Peter Pan from all directions.
Just then, Zeke raised Roland and charged towards the black lightning.
As he summoned Holy Fire, a strong light erupted from the sword.
Uwooo-oong!
Brilliant light surged from the magnificent jewel sword, and for a moment, Zeke swung his sword looking like a legendary knight.
Pajijijijijik!
The light of Holy Fire that Zeke created completely neutralized the black lightning.
Seeing this, the black mage from the Abyss retreated, stammering in disbelief.
"L-Lubert's light magic? H-how could you..."
A moment later, the retreating black mage widened his eyes and shouted at Zeke.
"Y-you! Could it be Zeke Draker!"
Zeke immediately flew towards the black mage.
Hoo-oong!
The Holy Fire that erupted from Zeke's sword tangled the black mage's body.
Tsutsutsutsu—
The light of Holy Fire burned and extinguished the black aura surrounding the black mage's body.
He gritted his teeth and aimed his staff at Zeke.
"Zeke Draker! To crawl into this place yourself! You fool! If I offer you up and receive baptism, I too can become an apostle!"
The surprise vanished from the black mage's eyes, replaced by a burning greed.
Black smoke flowed from his staff.
Kugugugugu—
The black smoke coalesced and formed into the shape of a giant being.
It had a solid body, hideous wings, and two horns on its head.
Peter Pan's jaw dropped as she looked at the demonic creature the black mage had summoned.
"I-isn't that a demon?"
Surprised, she spoke in the dialect she had always scolded Billy for using.
Zeke, standing next to her, was surprised for a different reason.
'Isn't that a Balrog?'
He never expected to see the Balrog he had fought so hard against in the Inverted tower here.
Seeing Zeke and Peter Pan's surprised expressions, the black mage wore a confident smile.
"There is no creature in the mortal realm that can stand against Balrog, a warrior of the demonic realm! Suffer in terror and meet a gruesome death!"
As the black mage swung his staff, the Balrog moved, its red eyes glowing menacingly.
Krooooooooar!
The entire cave shook with the tremendous roar.
Undine, frightened, returned to the spirit realm, and Peter Pan's face also turned deathly white.
But Zeke, in contrast, looked at the Balrog with a composed expression.
'That roar's a bit weak. The screams of the Butcher or the Tyrant felt like they pierced right to the bone.'
Zeke was inwardly critiquing the Balrog's roar.
The black mage, seeing Zeke's reaction, mistakenly thought he was completely terrified.
"Go! Crush that guy completely!"
The Balrog dragged its massive body and charged towards Zeke.
Zeke watched the Balrog approach, then planted Roland in the ground and ran forward with his bare hands.
Peter Pan was aghast at the sight.
"W-what are you doing!"
Zeke adopted the stance of the Infinite Chain Binding and channeled the power of Forceful Quake.
Krooooooooar!
Soon, the Balrog lunged at Zeke.
Zeke stepped on the True Awakening and unleashed a wave of Forceful Quake.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!
The Balrog crossed its arms and broke through Zeke's shockwave with its powerful charging force.
But Zeke had already moved to the Balrog's blind spot using Phantom Step.
Grrrulk!
As the Balrog tried to swing its claws at Zeke, he was no longer there.
Instead, he appeared from the side and immediately unleashed a Phantom Step.
Twang!
Zeke's Phantom Step slammed into the Balrog's flank.
Krrulk!
The Balrog's massive body tilted sideways from the impact of Zeke's attack.
Zeke didn't stop there and activated the Infinite Chain Binding.
Infinite Chain Binding
Successive Blows
Four Directions Strike
Zeke's strikes, imbued with the power of Forceful Quake, pierced through the Balrog's openings.
The Balrog could only defend against Zeke's relentless onslaught.
As he landed successive blows, Zeke suddenly leaped into the air.
Hoo-woo-oong!
Zeke spun his body and extended his hand blade towards the Balrog's weak point, its horns.
Infinite Chain Binding
Rotating Strike
Hand Blade Strike
Zeke's hand blade instantly cleaved through the Balrog's hard horn.
Krooooooooar!
The Balrog, having lost its horn to Zeke, groaned in pain and retreated.
But Zeke didn't end it there.
He raised his hand blade and deployed Holy Fire.
Infinite Chain Binding unfolded from his hand imbued with the power of Holy Fire.
Zeke's light- tangle hand pierced into the Balrog's chest.
Kwaddeudeudeuk!
Fine cracks appeared on the Balrog's body due to the power of Holy Fire. Then, its body soon shattered into pieces, and the Balrog turned into black ash and disappeared.
Having defeated the Balrog in an instant, Zeke picked up the fallen Balrog's horn and looked at the black mage.
"A Balrog, huh? You summoned something interesting."
Zeke, having stored the horn in his inventory, slowly walked towards the black mage.
To the black mage, Zeke, who had defeated the Balrog with his bare hands, didn't seem human.
"M-monster..."
The black mage turned to flee, but Zeke was faster.
He used the Shadow Domination he had already deployed to grab the black mage's shadow.
"Kuek!"
Zeke, having restrained the black mage, tried to read information through his shadow.
"Hmm, let's see. It seems he hasn't found Cali yet."
It seemed he was in the process of pursuing Cali, who had been injured and fled somewhere in the ruins.
Zeke looked at the black mage and asked,
"How did you recognize the incorporeal form?"
It was difficult to find out by reading his memories, so when he asked with Bloodshot Eyes, one of the black mage's eyes suddenly turned red.
Zeke read the black mage's information by looking at his red eye.
"A Demon Eye... so you can see souls with that. Is it different from a Spirit Eye? If so, he might be a bit troublesome to deal with."
While Zeke was extracting information from the black mage, a commotion arose from inside the cave.
Paching!
The sound of swords clashing.
Zeke snapped the neck of the mage he was holding, killing him instantly.
Then, he completely melted the mage's body with Authority Corruption.
Peter Pan felt confused as she looked at such a Zeke.
'He looked like a knight sent by the gods earlier, but now he's like a heartless demon.'
Zeke, unaware of her thoughts, simply looked at Peter Pan and said,
"A battle has broken out over there. Follow me."
With those words, Zeke leaped forward.
Zeke, dashing forward in an instant with Phantom step, quickly reached the inner part of the lava cave.
Kwa-kwakwang!
A fierce battle was raging inside the cave.
Knights clad in Hercyon were swinging their swords, attacking someone.
Zeke identified the one being focused on and attacked among the knights.
"Sister Cali!"
Cali Draker, injured and wielding her sword, was there.