CHAPTER 3

Upon hearing the sounds of their armor lightly clinking together as they wordlessly advanced, Axis turned towards the Slayers and knights of Demkil. They were heavily armed, much more so than earlier, carrying shields and various weapons such as swords, spears, axes, and there was even one with a war hammer. They were covered from head to toe in armor, which was made with Orichalcum, a special metal that had proven effective against Monsters both offensively and defensively. In other words, against the Supernatural, they were metal-clad terminators.

As they drew closer, their intent to kill practically exuded from the silver and black armor they donned. Perhaps that’s why they didn’t bother to speak a word, not even demanding surrender; they received their orders to kill if the prisoners or intruder resisted, so there was no warrant for such a demand. After all, they weren’t as interested in the Supernatural as the Swinger Company, and only saw them as a scourge; their glaring eyes through the visors of their helmets proved that much.

Without warning, one of the Slayers charged in, and a few knights followed behind her. The Dark Elf skillfully dodged the first and countered by kicking her towards the second and third, causing them all to stagger backwards. She defended against the fourth, and crouched to evade the fifth, who stopped his attack short to prevent accidentally striking his comrade, just for them both to get tripped up by a leg sweep. The sixth aimed her spear down towards the Elf, which was longer than her own height. The Elf, once again summoning wind to supplement her strength, swung her blades to destroy the spear, knocking away the Slayer while heavily damaging her armor as well.

For every move they made, the Dark Elf had an answer for, and Axis couldn’t deny his amazement with the display of her skills with the blades, as well as her ability to summon wind from seemingly nowhere. However, he noticed two problems, in which one was noticed before: she was trying too hard not to kill them. Despite the clear malice emanating from the Slayers, the Elf showed no signs of the same intentions. Axis almost knew for a fact that it was because of his own presence, which was one of the reasons he advised her to leave him.

Unfortunately, the second problem actually seemed worse: her attacks were less impressive than before, and she scarcely summoned that strange wind, which could only mean that she didn’t have the energy to fight at the same intensity as before. There was no telling how many battles she survived through between her departure from the establishment, and her return for Axis and the other prisoners; that’s why she was fighting while conserving what little she had left, but Axis knew it wouldn’t be enough…

Especially if she continued to spare them.

There were too many enemies for the Dark Elf to face, and slowly but surely, they started to overwhelm her. They surrounded her, attacking one at a time at first, and as she persisted, they sent another to support the former, then another, and another. Eventually, the Elf was fighting four of them at once, and could do nothing but defend herself. Steadily, her defenses weakened until finally, she was suddenly disarmed, as one of the Slayers knocked one of her swords out of her hand and moved out of the way for another knight to rush in with his shield, knocking the Dark Elf to the ground and causing her to drop the other sword. As if proving Axis’s fears correct, victory was all but assured for Demkil that day.

“No…! Damn it!”

Axis cursed out, as he took a hesitant step forward to help the Elf, but he was only able to take a single step before feeling a blunt force knock his body against the nearest wall. Without being noticed, one of the Slayers bypassed the Dark Elf and pushed Axis down using his shield. As Axis's body hit the floor, the Slayer planted a heel on his back to pin him to the ground. The Elf turned towards them and attempted to taunt while in such a defenseless position.

“Leave him alone! I’m the only one you need to focus on! What kind of warrior are you, attacking a child who can’t even fend for himself?!”

Axis struggled to call out to her, but with the Slayer’s heel grinding into his back, he could barely breathe, let alone speak.

You have to run, dumbass! The situation is hopeless, you have to understand that by now! If you’re not willing to kill anyone, you shouldn’t have tried to save anyone, you idiot!

He desperately wanted to say those words out loud, but in lieu of that, he tried to convey his message with his desperate glare. He had already realized it; more than likely, this Dark Elf had never taken a life before. Sure, she was skilled with her swords, and her ability to summon gusts of wind was definitely unique, but she was fighting against knights who not only had experience in killing, but they also enjoyed killing Monsters. It was a fight she never should have started, and as a result, she going to die.

The Elf glanced towards one of the swords she had dropped, just for a Slayer to step into her line of view. She glanced towards the other sword, and it was the same; she found herself surrounded by Slayers and knights with no way to reach those weapons. She stood up slowly, her difficult expression evident, as she was wracking her brain for a solution to such a hopeless situation. However, it was clear that even if she bothered to surrender, they wouldn’t take her alive, unlike Axis.

No… I can’t let someone else die because of me again!

Axis struggled to raise his body from the ground, but the Slayer pinning him stabbed his blade into Axis's shoulder as a warning, while speaking with a tone dripping with hate like venom.

“You’re not going anywhere, you Monster. I suggest you stay still, unless you want to lose that right arm of yours.”

One of the Slayers that were surrounding the Dark Elf called out to the one pinning Axis, keeping their eyes on her as to not let down their guard.

“Hey! The boss doesn’t want it to be too injured before his examination, so don’t get carried away! If it’s too much trouble, then just knock the thing unconscious!”

The Slayer nodded in affirmation begrudgingly, before pulling their sword out from Axis’s shoulder. Axis winced in pain without shouting, which was impressive for a child, but proved to be useless information in their situation. Axis and the Elf had no support, and the morale of Demkil’s forces were at an all-time high. There was no victory in sight; therefore, he used what little strength he had left to convince her one last time.

“Run… You have to run… Save yourself!”

He called out to her, hoping she would listen. The Slayers were far too experienced and skilled with battling Monsters much stronger than Elves or children; if it was obvious enough for Axis to see, the Dark Elf would certainly realize that there was no other way she could survive. Yet, once again, and just as expected, she refused.

“No way. I’m not leaving you behind, Axis. We’re both getting out of here, and we’re going to survive!”

Axis’s eyes widened as he heard her words. It didn’t make any sense; firstly, he didn’t remember giving her his name. More importantly than that, she was willing to go through so much just to save someone she didn’t even know. It seemed so ridiculous, that Axis couldn’t retort. Regardless, neither of them would be saved at this rate. Once again, Axis would be forced to watch someone who tried to help him die.

How foolish…

Suddenly, Axis heard a voice in his head that wasn’t his own; in spite of sounding loud enough to catch everyone’s attention, it seemed that no one else noticed it.

Aren’t you tired of this travesty by now, Axis Demkil?

Suddenly, Axis’s vision became clouded, to the point to where he couldn’t see anything any longer. The Elf who was attempting to save him, the Slayers and the knights that blocked their path to freedom, and even his surroundings; it was as if he had gone wholly blind. Still, he could hear the voice speaking, resonating like thunder.

You have the ‘power of Destruction’ within you, and yet you refuse to use it? Are you truly that oblivious, or are you simply scared of the truth?

Who…? What the hell…? What’s going on?!

Axis’s thoughts were obstructed by the constant echo of the voice. It felt as if explosions were constantly going off in his head. His vision was completely clouded, his body was paralyzed, and the rest of his senses weren’t responding. At first, he was wondering if the Slayer pinning him down was causing this effect, but he could no longer feel the knight’s heel on his back, or anything for that matter.

What is this…?! Get out of my head!

You fail to understand… Your situation, your true nature, Humans, and the World of the Living; you don’t understand anything. You have the power to end this, so use it! What the fuck are you waiting for?! Destroy your enemies!

Suddenly, Axis’s heart began to beat very loudly and strongly in reaction to the voice, to the point to where it felt like it was trying to burst out of his chest. As his heart pounded, power flowed through his body, and one by one, his senses not only returned to him, but they were much sharper than before.

Oh, that’s right… Now that I think about it, I have felt this before…

Suddenly, the hazy memory became clear. He was able to recall that day as if it had just occurred moments ago. The child was sitting with his mother, and the father was engaged in conversation with one of the knights. Suddenly, there was the sound of hurried footsteps, gradually getting louder. The child turned towards the sound, to see another knight drawing his blade as he approached. Yes, it was a misunderstanding; if only he had known that the blade was aimed at him, and not his mother besides him, if he hadn’t made that one discrepancy, things wouldn’t have turned out the way they had.