CHAPTER 28

Axis, Vilda and the Light Elf continued on their trek to Sanctum, the place Vilda wished to lead them to, but Axis had never heard of, and the Light Elf had avoided up until that point. The silence between them as they travelled together was a heavy one, since there were unresolved feelings between them, separated between Axis and the Light Elf, yet entangled with Vilda. After all, they had both tried to kill Livia, though for different reasons, and although Axis felt guilty for trying to kill his savior’s relative, the same obviously couldn’t be said for the Light Elf.

In fact, the Light Elf had mixed feelings; she didn’t exactly feel guilty for wanting to kill Vilda’s sister, but for her own reasons, there was a sense of empathy. That aside, the Dark Elf had not only helped her escape from the Demon before she was devoured, but also contended against her own kin for the Light Elf’s sake, in spite of the feud between their tribes. She had always seen Vilda as someone untrustworthy, if not an enemy outright, but after everything they experienced in one night, she couldn’t help but feel foolish for being so antagonistic towards her. Of course, it wasn’t so easy to switch gears for her, so she had to find a way to smoothly transition.

“Hey, Vilda,” Axis spoke up, granting the Light Elf an opportunity.

“Hold on, Axis…” The Light Elf suddenly interrupted, with a tone so different from before that it caught Axis off guard.

“Um… Okay.”

Before facing the Dark Elf, she decided to engage Axis first, looking him directly in the eyes this time.

“First of all, I need to thank you properly…”

“Whoa, hold on, you already thanked us earlier…”

“That was for the most recent events. In spite of everything, even I can understand that you saved my life, not only once from the Necromancer, but even once before that against the Demon. Though, it was clear your intention was to save this Dark… I mean, to save Vilda, you also saved me from being devoured. Because I also saved you from the Demon right afterwards, I considered us even, but I haven’t sincerely thanked you yet for helping to free me from that awful place. So, thank you, Axis Demkil.”

“Oh…” Axis turned away, feeling self-conscious as she looked at him so meaningfully with her one good eye. “Yeah, you’re welcome.”

Finally, the Light Elf turned to Vilda, but even after pushing herself so far, she still wasn’t completely ready to treat her counterpart differently from before.

“Dark Elf… I mean, Vilda… Thank you as well. In spite of the bad blood between our tribes, you still tried to stop your sister from killing me, even though you didn’t want to fight her at all. I wanted to hold on to the grudge my tribe had against the Dark Elves, since that was the only thing I had left to keep me going until now. That’s why I was stubbornly rejecting you before, and blaming the Dark Elves for Demkil’s invasion and everything else… But honestly, those feelings are secondhand.”

Vilda was already surprised by the Light Elf actually calling her by name, albeit struggling a bit, but she didn’t expect that, just like herself, the grudges held between them was something they had adopted from others around them. The Light Elf continued as they kept walking, with both Axis and Vilda remaining silent for separate reasons.

“The truth is, I blamed and hated the Dark Elves because I was raised by others who did the same. I don’t even know for certain why the tribes were separated to begin with, nor do I know if the Dark Elves are really to blame for Demkil’s assault. I was too young to understand anything back then, and simply went along with what I was told. However, what I do know, and didn’t want to admit, is that if the Light Elves were willing to fight and become stronger like the Dark Elves instead of acting holier-than-thou, we would have been able to fight back without the Dark Elves. No, even before that… We could have fought alongside our fellow Elves, rather than looking down on them for who they were.”

Vilda stopped walking and turned to face the Light Elf. She knew that time was of the essence, but after what she heard, she wanted to respond appropriately, looking into her right blue eye, as well as the artifact that took the place of her left eye.

“I feel the same way. In fact, I’m the same as you. I called the Light Elves cowards, but those are just words I borrowed from my superiors. I’ve been following their words for most of my life, mainly because they’ve helped me survive up until now. However, I know I should be strong enough now to no longer need them to guide me. Actually, I technically started going against them as soon as I decided to help Axis.”

Vilda turned to Axis, and he thought it was finally his moment to join the conversation, but she turned back to the Light Elf as soon as he was about to open his mouth. He pouted as Vilda continued.

“I’m willing to cast the grudge away like a stone, if it means we can work together to save the rest of our race.”

The Light Elf frowned sadly as she responded, trying her best not to turn away from Vilda’s meaningful gaze.

“I doubt there are any others left…”

“I thought the same, before I found you. Well, I also thought my sister was already dead before she appeared before us, but I can barely count her…”

Noticing the Light Elf’s expression sour further, Vilda decided to quickly move away from the subject of the Necromancer.

“However, it was you that proved me wrong. Thanks to you, I believe there are still others of our kind out there somewhere, and we can find them together, Light Elf.”

The Light Elf hesitated for a moment, parting her lips to speak, just to close them again, as if she was unsure of her words. Then, finally…

“It’s Vena… My name is Vena, so just call me that…”

Vilda smiled, more than Axis had ever seen her smile before.

“Alright, Vena! I look forward to working with you! Let’s do our best!”

“Hold your horses! I don’t agree to working with you, yet! At least give me a full day to consider it!”

“Right… Sorry. One step at a time.”

Just as Vilda was about to turn away and resume walking, Vena’s next words stopped her dead in her tracks.

“Also, I have to admit to you that I still want to kill your sister.”

Vilda turned back to her slowly, her happy expression slowly regressing.

“Huh…?”

“Don’t ‘huh’ me. I can agree to cast aside the grudge, that’s not the reason why anyway. No, it goes beyond that… Your sister has committed unforgivable acts. Maybe she didn’t teach Demkil about Magic, but she still aided them in creating the artifacts that were used on us. To make it worse, she has broken a serious taboo. It’s only a matter of time before the Law of Death targets her, but I plan on killing her before then. If that makes you change your mind about trusting me, then so be it.”

This time, Vilda hesitated before answering, as if both sides of her mind, one consisting of her pure logic while the other represented her raw emotions, had a tug of war over her response. Eventually, one side had to win over the other, but no matter which, Vilda knew she wouldn’t be happy with the result. She had to accept that she could not save her sister along with befriending a Light Elf, but she also could not accept sacrificing her own family, nor could she allow a Light Elf to kill a member of her tribe. In the face of such an Endless Cycle, she…

“I understand, Vena… But I won’t let you kill her. She will certainly be punished for what she has done, but I’ll carry out that punishment myself.”

“Are you sure you can?” Vena asked as she crossed her arms, raised her brow, and then continued with a smug expression. “She’s your family, and if you think destroying one’s own home is bad…”

However, Vilda answered with all the sincerity she had to offer.

“She was kicked out of our tribe already for breaking the taboo. Honestly, she should have died as a result of her exile, so the fact that she’s still alive now must mean she’s already found a way to cheat herself out of a natural death… No, even with that aside, I’ll find a way to stop her for good, because she’s my family.”

“‘Stop her,’ huh?” Vena responded with doubt, before sighing and walking past Vilda. “Very well, I won’t bring this up again until the next time we have to face her.”

With their conversation concluded, Axis prepared to finally say his piece, but before he could, yet again, he was interrupted.

However, it was not one of the Elves that interrupted him; the voice he heard sent an immediate chill through his spine, unlike any he had ever felt before.

“That time will never come. All three of you must die here.”

Vena was the first to react, preparing a spell to light up the dark forest, but the unknown enemy’s attack was released first, and lit up the forest as it flew towards Axis.

“Watch out…!” Vilda’s warning came a second too late.

However, the projectiles shot at Axis changed their trajectory at the last second, striking the ground around him instead. Just as he looked down at them in confusion, he suddenly felt a heaviness weighing him down, forcing him to his hands and knees.

Oh, for fuck’s sake! Axis thought while he struggled. I haven’t gotten to say a full sentence since this chapter started yet, and now this shit?!

“A gravity spell?!” Vena called out in disbelief. “That’s impossible! That’s at least a Grade Six spell, if not higher! Even the Elders couldn’t use a spell like that without spending days gathering the mana for it, not to mention the time it takes for the full incantation! Who could have…?!”

Upon hearing that, Vilda drew out her blades, and as if all the animosity she had been restraining had boiled through the surface, she aggressively called out the assailant.

“Show yourself, now! You’ll pay the price for attempting to harm this child, you bastard!”

“How strange…” The aggressor responded as he slowly approached, “First of all, the spell I used was supposed to blast you all away, but instead it only pinned one of you down. I couldn’t have mistaken the formula… Secondly, Monsters caring so much for each other is also odd. Were you planning on using that thing’s power to seek vengeance on Demkil? Well, obviously, that cannot be allowed.”

The unknown enemy stepped into view, so that Vena and Vilda could tell from his armor and the emblem emblazoned upon it that he was indeed a Slayer. However, something significant set him apart from the other Slayers, even the other Humans that the Elves had encountered before.

“Hey, Vilda…” Vena was the one to point out his irregularity. “You’ve noticed it too, right? Unlike the others, this guy has no aura whatsoever. Something’s not right… Is this another one of your sister’s Zombies?”

Vilda shook her head as she answered, racking her brain for an explanation along with her counterpart.

“That’s definitely not right… It couldn’t be my sister’s doing, since he seems to be acting of his own accord, let alone talking to us. Aside from that, my sister’s influence cannot be felt. There’s no influence at all…”

Vena turned to the enemy, still weakened from the previous confrontation with the Necromancer, but trying her best not to let it show.

“Just who the hell are you?”

Because the armor he wore was flexible and light instead of heavy and sturdy, they could tell he was not usually one to fight at close range, though his first attack being projectiles was enough of a sign. His build was also less than average, making him seem underweight in comparison to the other Slayers. He seemed to have too many disadvantages to confront two Elves on his own, which meant that there had to be others backing him up, also waiting in the shadows to spring out and attack when given the signal. In spite of all considerations, however, this one Slayer’s presence was unreasonably intimidating.

“Usually,” the Slayer responded to Vena. “I would not bother to divulge my name to a couple of Monsters, but since Nexus is accompanying you, and I wish for it to know the name of the Slayer that will vanquish it, I suppose you must hear it as well. So remember it well, and warn the others from whatever pits you’ve originated from…”

The Slayer puffed up his chest with pride as he introduced himself.

“My name is Axis Demkil, and I am the hero who will save this world from your kind.”