Axel took slow, deliberate steps toward the cloaked figure, his boots crunching against the dirt as the man quivered on the ground before him. The air around them felt thick, filled with tension and the metallic tang of blood. Axel's breathing was steady, controlled, but his eyes blazed with a storm of fury and grief.
When he reached the cloaked man, he didn't hesitate. Without a word, Axel raised his foot and brought it crashing down on the man's side. The cloaked figure cried out in pain, a guttural, broken sound. His body jerked violently, but he barely had the strength to move, still paralyzed by the energy Axel had drained from him during their earlier fight.
"You filthy rags!" Axel snarled, venom dripping from every word. His sword manifested in his left hand, gleaming wickedly in the dim light. Without hesitation, he plunged the blade deep into the man's shoulder. The sound of the steel piercing flesh was sharp, and the man shrieked in a high-pitched, uncontrollable manner. His whole body convulsed, but he still couldn't escape.
Axel's breathing quickened as the heat of rage seared through him. His vision narrowed, focusing entirely on the cloaked figure beneath him. He didn't see a person anymore—only the embodiment of everything that had been taken from him.
"You fucking bastard!" Axel's voice cracked with rage. "How dare you attack my home!" His foot slammed down on the man again and again, with all the force his body could muster. The sickening sound of bones breaking apart echoed through the empty space, followed by wet, ragged coughing and the man's pitiful cries. But Axel didn't care. He couldn't care.
"You killed my sister," Axel growled, his voice lower now, dangerously calm, as if he was talking to a mere insect beneath his boot. With a swift motion, Axel yanked his sword from the man's shoulder and raised it high overhead. He brought it down with brutal efficiency, severing the man's right arm in one clean stroke.
The man screamed, his voice ragged and desperate, an animalistic sound filled with terror and pain. He fell face down, his blood pooling beneath him, soaking into the earth. His body twitched, his strength fading rapidly as the life poured out of him. Still, he struggled weakly, trying in vain to move.
Out of Axel's shadow, a dark red mist began to form, swirling like liquid smoke. It pooled on the ground next to him, rising slowly, taking shape. Out of that blood-red mist emerged Mane, the Kaiju King, his monstrous form towering over the broken figure of the cloaked man. Mane's eyes burned with the same fury as Axel's, his massive jaws twitching in anticipation.
"What shall I do, Master?" Mane's voice was deep, guttural, his tone filled with sadistic hunger.
Axel's lips curled into a savage grin, his own eyes glowing a bright, eerie red. "Mane," he said coldly, "I want you to eat his legs. Slowly."
Mane didn't need further instructions. He lumbered forward, his massive jaws opening wide, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth. He clamped down on the man's ankles with a crunch, and then, with slow, deliberate bites, began tearing through the flesh and bone. The man's screams reached a new level of agony, filling the air with his tortured wails as Mane devoured him piece by piece.
Axel stood over the scene, watching with cold satisfaction. His chest heaved with each breath, his hands trembling slightly from the intensity of his emotions. But inside, he felt a deep, dark satisfaction as the cloaked man's strength was ripped away from him piece by agonizing piece.
Axel ignored her teasing. He held her for what felt like an eternity before finally pulling back, looking her up and down, trying to understand how this was even possible. "How... how are you—"
Before he could finish his question, he noticed something. A faint, red energy was exuding from Annie's body, swirling around her like a mist. Axel's heart raced as, from that energy, a figure began to emerge—a soldier, familiar yet strange.
It was Cell, one of Axel's most loyal warriors.
Cell bowed deeply as he fully materialized before Axel. "My Lord," he said, his voice reverent, "as the explosion took place, I followed your command. I merged with your sister to protect her, shielding her from the impact. It was the only way to save her."
Axel's eyes widened. He hadn't even realized Cell had such a power. His soldier had not only evolved his sister's being but had also shielded her from certain death. Axel swallowed hard, overwhelmed with gratitude.
"Thank you, Cell," Axel whispered, his voice thick with emotion. "You saved her."
But Annie's voice broke through his thoughts again, this time more insistent. "Axel... please," she said softly. "Stop torturing him. He doesn't deserve to die."
Her words hit him like a punch to the gut. His mind screamed at him to finish the cloaked man, to make him suffer for what he had done. But Annie... she was asking him to show mercy. Could he deny her?
Axel clenched his jaw, the internal battle raging inside him. Finally, with a heavy sigh, he signaled Mane to stop. Mane obeyed immediately, stepping back from the man's mangled legs.
Axel knelt beside the man, his face inches from the bloody, broken figure. "You're lucky," Axel whispered, his voice filled with cold malice. "But don't think I'm done with you. You'll wish for death before I'm finished."
***Author's note*** Exclusive content from m,v lem|p,yr
Published the first chapter under volume one (face palm). Chapter two is now volume one... Hope we win WPC... Support our mission till the results are out.