CHAPTER 9

“Axis…?” Vilda called out dubiously, expecting his disappearance to be a part of his ploy.

Yet, there was no response; a heavy silence fell upon Swinger’s yard as Vilda waited for an answer, feeling her stomach slowly sink in trepidation. Axis Demkil could not die, but that was only true for those that attacked him. Since he was struck by his own power, there was a possibility that he could have destroyed himself along with the Monster that attacked him.

However, the atmosphere had not yet been reset; the black clouds Nexus produced still remained, signifying that he had not yet left the World of Eva.

Perhaps Swinger felt the danger before anyone else, or the lingering ambiance was more than enough of a clue, as he started slowly backing away from the area. The servants, on the other hand, turned their attention to the Dark Elf, slowly approaching their new target.

He said he would buy me time… Vilda thought to herself as she faced the oncoming peril, I needed more than ten seconds though!

Without warning, just as the creatures were about to attack, another bolt of black lightning struck the same spot that Nexus was occupying just moments earlier. Something appeared there as the thunder roared, causing the creatures to cancel their attack and whirl back around to face the new threat. The Dark Elf gazed with widened eyes, expecting to see Axis Demkil, but saw something different from what she expected.

Axis’s previous transformation had his aura take the form of black electricity as it surrounded his apparent Human body; the form he had taken this time was the exact opposite, as the body itself became black electricity, maintaining only the shape of a Human. His flesh replaced with energy, it was difficult to tell whether Vilda and the creatures were looking at his front or back, until he turned his head to peek at them with his silver eyes.

Then, in a flash, he moved to strike down the Monsters one by one. They couldn’t react to his blinding speed; even Vilda wasn’t able to keep up with his movements. After that, he returned to his initial position, and all of the enemies had been wiped out.

The next instant, Axis’s body returned to its regular Human form as his aura sparked off of him. It seemed to have been a shock to him as well, as he stumbled backwards falling on his behind in bewilderment.

“Oh shit!” He shouted after a moment. “I thought I took myself out for a moment there. I can’t do that again any time soon. Hey Vilda, can you tag in yet…?”

As he looked back at Vilda, he was surprised to see her standing there alone. It seemed as if he was not aware of what he had done.

“Did you take the rest of them out already? Damn, you’re good. Sorry that I was only able to get one of them this time.”

Vilda simply stared at him, stunned speechless. As he stared back, tilting his head in confusion at her expression, she sighed while massaging her temples from the stress.

“I just… I don’t even know where to begin with you.”

“Well first off, just to let you know, you’re dangerously close to exposing yourself.”

“What are you…?”

Then, Vilda looked down at herself, and finally noticed the damage to her clothing.

“Damn it… I may not have liked these clothes, but they were all I had to wear until we made it back to Sanctum.”

“It sounds like you should have been more careful.”

“What?! This is your fault! You’re the one who wanted to ask them questions!”

“Yeah, and you’re the one who was adamant on not leaving me behind, even after I warned you numerous times.”

“Why you little…!”

Realizing that he was pressing Vilda too much, Axis decided to offer a solution rather than continue the argument.

“Alright, I got you. Let’s raid Swinger’s place for clothes and other items we’ll need, then. Speaking of…”

Axis looked over to where Dalton Swinger was supposed to be standing, only to find empty space.

“Oh, he ran away.”

#

Swinger ran as fast as he could, which wasn’t very fast due to his physique, to return to the safety of the main building of his establishment. As a couple of his servants saw him on his way, they wordlessly opened the doors for him, and as he stumbled in, they closed the doors behind him and prepared for a fight with whomever could have been chasing him.

“Damn it all…!” He complained between gasps of breath. “I was certain that they were both near their limit! I would have sent one of my servants to the bell tower, if I knew that Nexus had such power! Why did the King have to send that damned abomination here?! He should have buried it in a pit and be done with it!”

Despite how late at night it was, Swinger knew that if the bell was rung, reinforcements from Demkil would be dispatched to the designated location. Since he had not sent any servants there, and the rest were stationed to defend specific areas, that meant he had to go to the bell tower himself. Of course, he couldn’t go alone, and he needed to “prepare” more spells just in case. As he went upstairs, still fuming over the recent events, he could hear the sounds of battle outside. Nexus and the Dark Elf caught up to him that quickly, but they still should have been exhausted to where the servants guarding the door could hold them off long enough for Swinger to escape.

After going into a room for a few minutes to gather materials, he exited back out and started looking for some servants that could guard him on his way to the bell tower. Just as he was growing impatient, about to snap his fingers to summon them, a voice all too familiar called out to him.

“I found you~”

The shock caused him to jump high enough to nearly touch the ceiling, but panic caused him to stumble erratically and fall to the ground. Without any signs, Nexus had appeared before he could attain protection. It didn’t matter if Nexus was low on energy; Dalton, who had only the power to cast minor spells, was no match for Nexus, who only needed to strike once to end Swinger’s life. Really, the result would depend on who would be able to act first, but the answer was so obvious Dalton didn’t even bother.

“How…?” He asked with a trembling voice, on the verge of pleading for his life. “How could you get inside here?”

“Huh?” Nexus responded crudely. “What the fuck kind of question is that? Wasn’t your whole goal to get me to come back with you. Well, here I am.”

“No, I mean that you shouldn’t have had enough strength to fight further! How did you get past the guards?!”

“Is that really what you should be concerned about right now?”

Nexus’s hostility was so palpable, that it didn’t take long for it to overwhelm Swinger. As fear got the best of him, he fell to his knees while pleading for his life.

“Please spare me. If you do, I will not let the Slayers apprehend you.”

“‘Apprehend?’” Nexus taunted. “Someone’s been to a library.”

“Oh, come on! That isn’t even that big of a word!”

Nexus’s glare sent another chill through Dalton, and he resorted to prostrating himself before Nexus as he implored further. Humored by his desperation, Nexus granted him a reprieve.

“Alright, I’ll tell you what: I’ll let you go if you can hold off Demkil’s knights until we get out of here.”

Dalton raised his head, relieved by those words.

“I really do appreciate it…”

However, Nexus followed up with something difficult for Swinger to accept.

“Also, we’ll be taking most of your stuff with us. Mainly clothes, weapons, and, you know... Pretty much anything else we’ll need on our way.”

Swinger’s relieved expression froze in disbelief.

“… Pardon me?”

Though Dalton was asking Nexus to repeat that in case he misheard, Nexus misunderstood the request.

“‘Pardon you?’ I just did, stupid. Don’t get in our way again, or I’ll kill you.”

In a flash, Nexus was gone, and Swinger was left stupefied.