Chapter 59: Bonus Chapter 59: The Lord of Blood... Everyone's Enemy with a Nice Face

Bonus Chapter 59: The Lord of Blood... Everyone's Enemy with a Nice Face

Axel and Trisha stepped out of the room, the door closing softly behind them, leaving Annie alone inside. The hallway was dimly lit, casting long shadows that danced along the walls as if hiding unseen dangers. Trisha's eyes locked on Axel, searching his face for answers, waiting for him to explain why he had dragged her out here in the first place.

"I need to go somewhere," Axel began, his voice low but steady, "and I'm not sure how long it will take for me to return. That's why I made Annie think you were my girlfriend." He paused, his gaze briefly flicking toward the closed door. "I want her to feel safe and look up to you, not as a stranger but as someone she can trust."

Trisha's eyes narrowed slightly, taking in his words. She processed his explanation quickly, but something about it left a sour taste in her mouth. **'By doing this, he's also making sure I protect his sister at all costs. Is he manipulating me?'** The thought swirled in her mind, her instincts screaming that something wasn't adding up. **'Where is he really going? Why won't he say?

Could Axel be the mole we've been suspecting? Is he hiding something...?'**

She wanted to question him, demand answers, but something stopped her. A part of her that trusted him, that had seen his sincerity in moments of crisis, held her tongue. **'If I ask now, it's like I'm admitting I don't trust him. And if there's one thing I know about Axel Teras, it's that he never shows all his cards. But... I trust him, don't I?'**

Axel glanced at her, as though reading the unspoken conflict in her eyes. "Don't worry. I'm only going to get stronger, just like you said I should." He raised his hand to eye level, staring at it as memories flooded his mind—memories of nearly losing Annie, of the brutal battle against the Fatek commander, and the rush of power when he first got his system.

He had been so content with small, incremental gains. But now? Now, he craved more. **He needed more.**

"I won't stop until I can match an S-rank hunter," he muttered, a determined gleam in his eye. "Until then, nothing is enough."

Before Trisha could say anything, Axel turned on his heel and began walking away, the intensity of his words hanging in the air between them. Trisha watched him leave, a cold seriousness settling over her.

Slowly, the woman turned her gaze toward the nurse, her eyes burning with a cold, malicious light. "So," she said, her voice low and cruel, "you tried to poison me."

The woman took a step forward, completely naked, her body gleaming in the faint light. She towered over the nurse, who was now paralyzed with terror. The nurse's eyes darted toward the floor, where the body of a doctor lay in pieces—chunks of flesh scattered across the floor, the result of the woman's sudden and brutal attack mere moments before.

"Pl-please..." the nurse stammered, her voice barely audible. "I-I have a family..." Her words were cut short as the woman moved with terrifying speed, her hand shooting out to clamp over the nurse's face.

The woman grinned, a cruel, twisted smile. "Don't worry," she whispered, her voice dripping with malice. "They'll join you soon enough."

*Sploosh!*

The nurse's body exploded in a shower of blood and gore, splattering the walls and floor as if she had been nothing more than a balloon filled with crimson liquid. The woman stood in the aftermath, her grin widening as the nurse's uniform fell to the floor, soaked in blood.

"Almost my size," the woman mused, reaching for the clothes. She stopped mid-grab, her grin turning into something more feral as she let the uniform hang in the air. The fabric twisted and contorted, moving as though it had a mind of its own.

Slowly, the clothes began to wrap themselves around her, transforming into something entirely different—a pair of antique trousers and a crop top, more regal and sinister than their original form.

The woman raised her hands before her, flexing her fingers, her eyes glittering with cruel delight. "Looks like they know now," she said softly, her voice barely a whisper. "No more pretending to be Noel. It's time to feed again... time to feast on corpses."

With a final, triumphant grin, she turned toward the door, her bare feet splashing through the blood-soaked floor as she prepared to unleash her terror on the world outside.

The Lord of Blood had awakened.