CHAPTER 30

The Elves never stood a chance against the Slayer who was given Axis Demkil’s name and position, replacing the Cursed Child. Perhaps if they had all been at full strength and noticed the Slayer before he had trapped one of them, so that all three of them could have worked together against him; yes, with those conditions, he would’ve had to admit that they would have been difficult to deal with on his own.

It would have been difficult, perhaps, “Axis” thought to himself, as if to respond to the hypothetical circumstance, but not impossible. Even if Nexus could not be killed by the previous attempts of others, I was born to eradicate it, along with the rest of the Monsters. My power can overcome even Destruction itself.

Then, to reassure himself, he went ahead and released one of his strongest spells while high up in the sky above the location he had teleported from, an arrow that would gather mana exponentially along its trajectory, until it had become large enough to annihilate its target entirely. Overkill? Absolutely, but the Slayer wouldn’t take any chances, and aimed to eliminate his enemies as thoroughly as possible. Of course, he didn’t take into consideration the damage he would deal to the landscape, nor did he contemplate the fact that he was likely sacrificing the lives of his comrades that had entered the forest along with him.

Of course, that would only be an issue if he considered them comrades in the first place; if they weren’t prepared to die for the sake of all Humankind, then they were nothing but dead weight as far as he was concerned. It also didn’t matter how much of the world suffered collateral damage, as long as it survived as a whole. For this Slayer, all that mattered was killing all of the Monsters, especially the “undying” Nexus.

That’s why I’m the only one capable of defeating the Storm of Destruction, he thought to himself once again, as if to support the argument. I’ll do whatever is necessary. That shot will destroy the forest, and even if Nexus manages to survive from it as well, it’ll have to spend its remaining energy trying to recover. It will be at my mercy…

However, “Axis Demkil’s” arrow never managed to connect with its target. The mana that it had collected was suddenly overwhelmed by an explosive force, strong enough to push the Slayer up even higher into the sky. He was able to regain his balance in midair, thanks to a spell that allowed him control over his own weight, but he was still in shock by how such force could have come from the ground.

“What was that?! There’s no way that the Elves were capable of that all along! Could they have somehow freed Nexus? No, what occurred just now doesn’t match the reports I’ve read regarding Nexus’s power…”

The Slayer spent a few more minutes trying to observe what changes could have occurred on the ground, but each time he focused mana into his eyes to enhance his vision, there was some kind of interference clouding it, like an overwhelming heat haze that his sight could not pierce through. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t glean any information at all.

“Damn it all! I’ll just have to go down and see for myself!”

With that, the Slayer once again teleported back down to the ground, just to see a foreign yet familiar obstacle in his path.

#

Axis continued to watch in amazement as the mysterious man, who seemed to be a Slayer as well, reached for the curved sword at his back, which looked like an overgrown fang, and prepared to swing his blade towards the arrow. Axis thought that maybe there was something wrong with the man; though the sword on his back was much larger than the one at his hip, it still wasn’t large enough to even defend against the overwhelming force of the projectile falling upon them like a meteor. Axis had thought that this new arrival showed up only to get himself killed.

Then, as the meteoric arrow drew ever closer, close enough that it would be too late for anyone remaining in the forest to escape, the man’s aura erupted like a triggered volcano. At the same time, he swung his blade, directing that explosive force upwards at the projectile, and his flamelike aura burned away the arrow, along with the mana it had gathered along its descent.

The man swiped his blade to remove the lingering sparks of his aura, just like how warriors of the East flicked off blood from their blades before returning them to their sheaths, at least according to the stories that were told about them. He turned towards Vilda first, appearing to be acquainted with her.

“Are you good?” He asked with a deep and calm voice, as if what he had just achieved was nothing worth noting.

“Seraf!” Vilda called out, confirming that they were indeed acquainted with each other. “You actually came here?!”

“To escort you.” He answered succinctly, as he checked on the Light Elf’s status briefly, simply nodding in her direction, and she bowed back respectfully for the time being, though she was just as puzzled by the sudden development.

Then his eyes fell on Axis, and he paused for a moment as if he was confused, before drawing the sword at his hip. He only swung it swiftly before returning it to its sheath, appearing to strike at nothing but the air, but the arrows pinning Axis down were suddenly destroyed. Finally free to move, Axis stood up to face Seraf, as if assessing a potential threat. Seraf looked down at him, not out of disrespect, but simply because Seraf was so damn tall! He towered over the Elves already, so Axis was made to feel like a Goblin!

“Are you… Axis Demkil?”

Axis wasn’t surprised to hear his name from Seraf, since he seemed to be a Slayer, or at least used to be one. Though, he couldn’t have been old enough to be considered a retired knight; the light in his amber eyes, his wrinkle-free dark skin, and his head full of black and curly hair were all signs of youth. In fact, he could have been mistaken as Axis’s elder brother, which irritated Axis even more.

“Yeah, and you’re Seraf, apparently. Though, you still clearly know more about me than I do about you, and that’s a problem for me…”

Then, as if ignoring what Axis was saying…

“Are you… Really Axis Demkil…?”

“Huh?! What do you mean, am I ‘really Axis Demkil?!’ What the fuck kind of question is that?!”

“Axis!” Vilda called out sternly. “He just saved our asses, so speak to him more respectfully! In fact, show him your gratitude!”

Axis clicked his tongue and looked away, while Seraf turned to Vilda.

“It’s fine. I was just… Taken aback.”

Then, the Slayer who stole Axis Demkil’s identity had suddenly returned, clearly perplexed by the fact that his targets weren’t dead, and that another Slayer stood along with them that wasn’t present prior to his assault.

“Hey, who the hell are you?! You have Orichalcum armaments… Are you going rogue or turning traitor?!”

Seraf showed no intention of responding at all, leaving a tense silence hanging in the air like an ominous fog. However, even without words, his act of stepping up to stand between “Axis” and his targets said enough.

“You bastard…!”

The enemy Slayer prepared to attack, but then seemed to freeze as Seraf calmly and slowly drew the straight sword from his hip again and took a stance to be ready to charge at his opponent at any time. With how lax Seraf seemed, “Axis” could have exploited so many openings to attack, but he remained frozen, as if too intimidated to take advantage.

The eyes are windows to the soul; for those with the strongest wills to survive, their eyes would glow at times when they faced certain death and great adversity. “Axis Demkil” had seen it multiple times when he had to observe the other Slayers in action, resisting his urge to jump into the fray and prove that he was the best of all of them. That’s why he could tell, as soon as he looked into Seraf’s eyes, that no matter how slack his movements seemed to be, Seraf was dangerous.

It was because out of every warrior in Demkil, including the Head Captain and even the King of Slayers, that man’s spirit was the strongest.