59 A sharper hate 3

Lazar's eyes were wide open and amazement could be read on his face after seeing the damage his skill had caused. He was far from expecting that his evolution would improve that much the power and reach of his Energy Slash.

He thought that he could at best push back the leader of the Draugur, but the fact that he could kill two birds with one stone by eliminating some of his subordinates, even better, eliminate enough of his subordinates so that his weapon evolves... It was unexpected.

In spite of this favorable development which had led to the achievement of all his goals, Lazar intended to be a little more ambitious... How could he not be now that the roles had been reversed?

This time it was the leader of the Draugur who found himself on the ground, and in a much more miserable state than Lazar a few moments ago.

Lazar had initially believed that the leader of the Draugur had thrown himself to the ground only because he wanted to save his life...

However, when Lazar saw that both his arms were twisted in improbable angles and that he could barely hold his sledgehammer, Lazar understood that he had let go because he simply could no longer resist his Energy Slash.

Lazar didn't know if he had done it to protect the other Draugur or just because he didn't accept to lose a confrontation against the Disciple of Death but in any case he really got himself in deep shit.

Seeing him in such a weakened state, Lazar thought that this was nothing more than the consequence of his arrogance by wanting to attack him head-on and he intended to punish this arrogance since he had the opportunity, 'Well, while I'm at it...' Lazar thought while a very dark blue aura was forming above the dense black fog that surrounded his still evolving weapon.

Nothing prevented him from killing the chief of the Draugur, the other Draugur being too far away to stop another Energy Slash, so why put off what he could do now to tomorrow?

He had thrown his previous Energy Slash by swinging his blade from right to left and now he was doing the opposite gesture by splitting the air from left to right with his blade while lowering it slightly in order to aim well at the Draugur leader on the ground.

An even more overpowered Energy Slash came out of Lazar's weapon, it was still a blade of energy projected in the shape of a crescent moon but its color was an even darker blue than the Energy Slash just before and black hues emanated from it.

Lazar understood that this change was a sign that the normal energy he was using was gradually being replaced by the energy he inherited from Death and that the evolution of his weapon had something to do with it.

❗ [You have eliminated a Draugr Warrior (E ★★★★☆)] ❗

❗ [450 experience points obtained] ❗

'Three birds with one stone.' Lazar let slip a slight smile that faded away the next moment because he knew he was still a long way from being out of danger.

As he imagined all sorts of scenarios in which he would have to avoid hundreds of projectiles, he became aware of something quite disturbing...

Apart from him, he couldn't hear anything else... Except for the sound of his footsteps there were no other sources of noise.

He then looked over his shoulder and didn't understand at all what was going on seeing that all the Draugur were static and that the violet glows of their eyes were dissipating in the air.

'It's like if their energy was escaping from their bodies.'

The hundreds of notifications that poured into Lazar's mind when all the Draugur collapsed to the ground at the same time gave him the explanation he needed...

---

New York City (Manhattan)

7 hours later

---

Suzaku and Declan's routine wasn't very complex, in many ways they managed their time more simply and freely than Judith and her brothers who, unlike them, had responsibilities to the group that had taken them under their wing.

Their schedule had only been divided into 2 main activities since they arrived here 2 days ago; fighting to avoid a second monster invasion in Manhattan and resting in a hotel that wasn't already controlled by the woman who was leading the group that Judith and her brothers were now part of.

Including the prevention of an invasion in a routine might seem arrogant, but from Suzaku's point of view, 'It's not when it's harder to rest than fight...'

They had chosen to stay in a hotel that they thought was far enough away from the influence of the woman Declan was calling 'the bitch' each time she was mentioned in their conversations, but they quickly realized that they should have gone further.

Especially Suzaku...

He and Declan agreed to meet every morning at 7:30 am in the hotel kitchens and used to make themselves breakfast from what was left in the refrigerators.

However, Suzaku always arrived half an hour early, as in his country it was almost an obligation to arrive in advance at a meeting, so at the beginning of his breakfast he was always alone.

Just when he thought he could eat quietly at one of the tables in the dining room of the hotel, Suzaku saw through the panoramic windows overlooking the street a middle-aged man with a giant sword in his back walking resolutely to the reception door.

Having spent part of the night looking for the key to the reception door so that he could leave it locked and thus prevent someone from disturbing his peacefulness one more time as this man intended, Suzaku refocused on his plate and continued to cut his slice of bacon with an amused face.

*BAM*

*BAM*

'Looks like they didn't get the message.' No longer amused, Suzaku dropped his cutlery in his plate and walked towards the reception door which the man was trying to break down with shoulders blows.