CHAPTER 10

Within the time it took for Dalton Swinger to reach the main building of his establishment, Axis and Vilda both recovered enough energy to continue onward, following a thin trail of mana that Swinger left behind him. They were prepared to fight once again, if necessary, but were still disappointed to find more servants guarding the main building. Of course, since whatever restraints the servants had on them were not yet lifted like the ones they previously encountered, they did not transform and were therefore easier to manage. As Vilda took care of the guards, Axis went off to confront Dalton, but returned much sooner than expected.

“Well, that was quick…” Vilda commented as she knocked out the last guard. “Let me guess: he gave up immediately, didn’t he?”

“He sure did.” Axis answered nonchalantly. “He even offered to hold off the knights until we’ve made our escape.”

“Wait a second… You didn’t let him go, did you?!”

“Yeah, why?”

“Why?! Don’t you know what he has done, or what he was planning to do to you?!”

“I’ve been through worse than anything that shithead could’ve planned. He’s no threat to me, and he knows that. He won’t bother coming after us himself, and even if he goes back on his word and let the knights chase us, we’ll be able to deal with them.”

Vilda shook her head and sighed in disappointment before responding.

“Didn’t you learn anything from that previous battle we had with those Mutants?”

“Kill them before they transform, obviously.”

“No! Well, actually yes, but that’s not what I’m referring to! I’m talking about your reckless behavior. Just because you can’t die, that doesn’t mean that you’re unstoppable. Besides, that power you’re using is…”

“Would you hurry up and get changed?!” Axis suddenly interrupted, “I can’t focus on anything you’re trying to tell me when your clothes are about to fall off!”

After checking herself in a brief panic, she turned back to Axis with a mixed expression of relief and annoyance.

“Would you stop overexaggerating?! They’re not about to fall off!”

“Whatever! Just change already!”

She knew it was a ploy to postpone their conversation, but thanks to Axis’s outburst, she couldn’t help but feel self-conscious.

“Fine…” Vilda huffed as she headed into the building. “We’re not done with this conversation though!”

#

While Vilda went into one of the private rooms to look for clothes, Axis wandered throughout the rest of the building as he thought about how to proceed.

Leaving Demkil would be ideal, but I don’t see that being a possibility. As long as we’re on their lands, they’ll hunt us down, and they’ll definitely have the borders guarded. Though I don’t know what this ‘Sanctum’ is, or what kind of people I’ll encounter there, I have no other courses but to either follow Vilda, or go off on my own…

Axis sighed as he continued searching for any tools, weapons, or anything else they could take along with them. The exterior of the main building made it seem big, but due to all of the high-grade furniture, sculptures, paintings, and other works of art that, when combined, probably cost more than the building itself, the interior wasn’t very spacious. The most space he could find was at the north side of the mansion, where the front door, and the stairs leading up to the various rooms on the second floor were.

What the hell? Axis thought to himself. Is the only purpose of this building just to show off how rich he is? For fuck’s sake…

As Swinger was practically their captive, all of his possessions were free for the taking, at least as far as Axis was concerned. However, as much as he treated the opportunity like a treasure hunt, he didn’t find anything he considered useful; sure, there were chests filled with gold, jewelry, and priceless artifacts, but such things weren’t useful to him.

Even if I attempted to sell all of this useless shit, no one would buy anything from a Monster. With that said, what use would a Monster have for money anyway? Wouldn’t Monsters just take what they want? … What the hell am I thinking?

Axis sighed again, on the verge of giving up his search. Then, his eye caught something out of place: a strangely shaped sword mounted onto a wall. Firstly, there were two separate blades connected to one hilt, both were straight edged up until the tips, where they curved inwards on opposite sides. It seemed like this particular sword was made with design in mind rather than usage. With that said, this sword was not made for amateurs; if used a certain way in a swordfight, this weapon could have been undefeated in the right hands.

Why would Swinger have a sword? Did he really get it just to be an ornament on his wall? Obviously, he can’t fight, so why even own a sword to begin with? It seems like a waste…

Axis could tell just by sight alone that it was a sword meant for a Slayer, which meant it was made out of Orichalcum. Not only did he think he would be unable to wield it due to that fact, but Axis had never even held a sword before. He didn’t know how to use an average sword, let alone a specially made one. However, there was something else about the sword that especially made it stand out. It was as if the sword was calling out to his spirit; in fact, after looking at the sword long enough, he began to notice that the sword had its own aura.

Though it was uncommon for Humans to perceive the auras of others around them, they could be sensed by those especially sensitive to spiritual influence, or those who have experienced Supernatural Incidents. Many things could be discovered just from one’s aura: one’s alignment, one’s mindset, one’s emotional state, and more. Axis, of course, could perceive aura, but he couldn’t yet tell the difference between the auras of Humans and Monsters.

Actually, that’s not true. I can at least tell that the auras of Monsters are much stronger than that of Humans. I just don’t know why Humans act like they’re any better than Monsters… That aside, I know for a fact that a sword isn’t supposed to have its own aura at all!

If what Swinger said was the truth, then only beings with spirits, beings considered to be “living” could have auras, fauna and flora both included. Even Monsters, beings that existed outside of Nature, used the bodies of living creatures as their vessels via possession, or could even go so far as to reanimate corpses if desperate and their powers were great enough. As far as what was known, anything without a spirit, such as inanimate objects did not have auras. However, Axis could not deny the aura he saw enveloping the sword.

“Take it.”

Once again, Axis heard a resounding voice in his head. However, it was different from the previous experience; rather than a separate voice speaking directly into his mind, it felt more as if he had just recalled a familiar voice from a far-off memory. He looked around just to be sure, but of course no one was there.

Alright, it’s pretty much official at this point. I’m definitely losing my shit…

After another sigh, he focused back on the sword. Despite not knowing how to use it, he convinced himself that he could learn. Since Vilda was so skilled, he thought she would be able to teach him, not even considering whether or not she would be willing to. As Axis kept trying to rationalize his decision, he hesitantly reached out for the sword. He wasn’t close enough to the sword to grasp it, since it was mounted far above him and out of reach, but he still felt compelled to reach out for it.

However, the distance did not matter; when Axis reached for it, the sword responded, breaking from its mounted position as if it really was alive, and in a flash, the sword was in Axis’s hand.

“Whoa! That was wild… I didn’t know swords could do that.”

Axis closely inspected the sword, checking for anything out of place that could explain what had just occurred. However, there was nothing of the ordinary; the sword itself was the only thing unordinary in the room, save the one holding it. The sword was definitely made out of Orichalcum, just as Axis expected, yet he did not feel weakened, and the sword was not too heavy. Then, after he switched to holding the sword with his other hand, he noticed something about the grip of the hilt. He felt abrasions, as if something was carved into it. Axis looked at the part of the grip that was engraved and there the words were inscribed:

“Where there is order, there is chaos.”