CHAPTER 34

Apparently, there wasn’t enough time for Seraf to explain his sudden change of behavior towards Axis, as he claimed that it would be “explained later.” Though, as Axis would continue to pester him, Seraf would then respond to him more freely than before, though without giving many details. He would also persist with calling Axis “Lord,” “Your Highness” and other formalities that Axis couldn’t stand being addressed with. After a heated discussion, in which the Elves had to get involved with, they finally compromised on simply addressing the rejected royal as either simply “Axis,” or if it was a must, then simply “Prince.” Of course, Seraf was more satisfied with the agreement than Axis was, while the Elves were just relieved that the matter was finally settled.

They continued through the forest until nearly reaching a clearing, signifying the exit of the forest and the entrance into a small region of mountains, each one barely larger than a hill, and the tallest of them would just barely tower over Demkil’s tallest bell tower. However, instead of exiting the forest, they stopped at a cave into the nearest mountain within the range, which the forests partially grew around. The Elves suspected that the main entrance into the mountains, which was indeed through the clearing beyond the exit of the forest, was filled with traps in case of any wandering Monsters, or in the worst case, an invasion from Demkil. As for Axis…

“Really…? Your secret base is in a cave?” His questions were filled with sarcasm, as well as mostly ignored.

They travelled for a while through the long and winding tunnels of the cave, only lit by daylight until they were too deep inside for the sun’s rays to reach. Then, torches aligned the walls to light the rest of the path as it started to split into multiple directions; Seraf chose the direction as the others followed. It felt as if time was stretching, and seconds felt like minutes until daylight was seen once again at the end of the tunnel. When they reached the end, they were met with a village hidden within the mountains.

“Whoa…” Axis caught his breath at the sight, along with Vena in fact, and Seraf wore an expression of pride upon seeing their reactions.

The village was larger than expected, but not so large as to give itself away to those outside of the mountains. Axis remembered from before he was sent to Swinger’s estate, the knights guarding the cage that they kept him in discussed how there were territories in which Demkil should’ve had ownership, but because of certain Monsters roaming those areas, they remain vacant with no traces of Human civilization. Among them were the forests, which were where the Elves dwelled before Demkil’s invasion, and the mountains, where they believed Third Tier Monsters inhabited; it seemed that the people who settled in the village known as “Sanctum” took advantage of the theory to build a place where they could hide from Demkil. Since Third Tier Monsters were to be avoided at all costs until a proper strategy could be devised to eliminate them, the mountains were mostly avoided by Demkil’s forces.

“Welcome to Sanctum, you two.” Vilda spoke with relief upon finally reaching their destination, before turning to Axis with a melancholic tone. “So, what will you do now, Axis?”

“Huh…?” Right after reacting that way, Axis remembered the argument they had, and how he wanted to apologize to her properly instead of leaving it at the half-assed apology from earlier, but got distracted by the recent events, between her twin sister and that Slayer who stole his identity.

It would have been fine if it was only Vena around, since she was there at the time and would understand the situation enough not to interrupt, but around Seraf, who Axis still considered an outsider of their party, he didn’t want to bring that discussion back up and get Seraf involved. So, he gave an indirect answer that helped to avoid the subject for the time being.

“Well… I still have questions, and wasn’t there a man we were supposed to talk to when we made it here?”

“Oh, that’s right!” Vilda responded in a completely different tone, preparing herself for a confrontation. “Lead us to that old man, Seraf. I know that you know where he is right now, and we need to have words.”

Seraf looked between Axis and Vilda, sensing the atmosphere between them, but sighed instead of prying.

“Very well, just follow me.”

As they entered the village, Axis inspected the area more closely. As impressed as he was before, he noticed that a majority of the buildings looked run-down, in need of desperate repair. All of the houses were made of wood that had aged poorly and looked nasty, and the roofs of some of them had holes that needed to be planked. The village overall seemed to have been in place since long ago but was only occupied again within the more recent years. Deeper in, they eventually came across some villagers; the youngest children were playing games and running around, while the older children and adults were working to repair the homes with supplies that seemed to be limited. They consisted of both Humans and Mutants, which is what shocked Axis and Vena the most, but also made their reasons for hiding clear.

Seraf and the rest stopped walking as soon as they reached what appeared to be the oldest building in the village, as it was shown to have been repaired multiple times already, to the point to where it was patches of mismatched wood. Seraf had to open the door carefully, as if any more force could rip it from its hinges.

“After you,” he said to Axis, Vena and Vilda, and awaited their entrance before gently closing the door behind him.

He sighed in relief upon closing it successfully, just for the door to fall off and hit the ground with a loud thud. Seraf once again sighed, this time in exasperation, before moving to attempt to fix the door. The noise interrupted a conversation that was going on within the building among a group of five, in which one of them had to be the man Vilda planned to talk to since she started marching towards them, paying no mind to the atmosphere. The group dispersed as if their meeting had been silently dismissed, leaving one middle-aged man alone to greet the upset Dark Elf.

“Oh, Vilda! Welcome back!”

“Don’t give me that, Card,” Vilda responded bitterly. “You should know that it’s your fault that I’m in a bad mood.”

The man called “Card” raised up his hands, as if in resignation, still wearing a friendly smile towards Vilda in spite of her irritation.

“Alright, I’ll hear out all of your complaints. First, though, why not wash up and fill your stomachs? You’ve worked hard, so take some time to rest, yeah?”

Vilda wanted to argue, but she looked back at Axis and Vena, considering their states, let alone her own. They barely had any sleep, were dirty, and Vilda for sure hadn’t eaten anything in nearly a whole day, but there was no telling how long it had been for the other two. After thinking about it, Vilda turned back towards Card.

“Okay, fine. But don’t forget, I want a thorough explanation for this recent job you sent me on…”

“I won’t forget. We’ll talk later.”

Vilda turned away again without another word, with Vena following her while asking her for a favor, but Axis remained stuck in place as if he had been petrified again, his eyes glued to Card. Similar to Seraf, his armor was worn down, and his attire also seemed to be a patchwork of disparate materials not only from Demkil, but from foreign lands as well. His gear aside, it was the man’s grey eyes, much like Axis’s own, that caused him to freeze. It was uncanny how much the man looked like his own father, from his bald head to his grey beard, but the eyes showed a drastic difference between the two, as well as their auras.

The aura of the King of Slayers was sharp, almost as if getting too close to him would result in lacerations. Even when surrounded by allies and family, he would never let down his guard, as if suspecting that any moment, anyone around him would become an enemy, or at the very least a Monster. Instead of keeping people at arm’s length, he always kept them within the striking range of his blade as much as he could. Around someone like that, one had to make sure there was a way to protect one’s neck.

Card was completely different in this aspect; for the moment, his aura was calm like that of a gentle and warm breeze, but Axis could sense that his nature had the potential to shift into a destructive tempest. It was actually quite similar to Seraf’s, how it could start off as a calming flame just to become a raging inferno.

Maybe, Axis thought, that’s why they’re so difficult to read. They seem to be against Demkil, which would mean they are on my side, right? So, why do they feel like my greatest threats instead of Demkil…?

It was only when their eyes had actually met that Axis felt free to move again. He didn’t know what to say to the man now that he had gotten his attention. Yet, Card only smiled as he spoke.

“It’s alright, Prince. I know you have your questions too, and I’m more than willing to answer at least a few of them. For now, you should clean yourself up. I wasn’t trying to say it with the ladies present, but you look as dirty as you smell.”

Axis couldn’t help but scowl at that last remark, but Card only laughed as if it was a good joke. Axis turned away with a huff, mainly because he had nothing to retort with, and left in a hurry to clean himself as advised. However, along the way, the thought suddenly struck him.

Hold on… I’m sure I’ve never seen that man before today, and no one introduced me to him yet… How did he know who I was?!