Chapter 57: Attack (4)
"Fine," he said coldly. "I’ll kill you this time."
He held his sword’s hilt more tightly.
Darkness wrapped around the blade, leaving black smoky trails over it.
Then he kicked off the ground and dashed forward again. He shot toward Azael with pure intent to kill him. Faster than before.
His sword aimed straight for Azael’s neck. To kill him.
Azael didn’t move his feet. He didn’t reach for his fallen sword.
Instead, he raised his right hand.
It moved slowly and unsteadily. His hand continued to tremble. But he still raised it.
If not a sword...
Then pure fire would do the job. That was what Azael thought. The heat inside him rose violently.
He felt like his veins were burning. His chest felt like it was about to explode. It felt like a violent flame was rushing through his whole body.
For a moment nothing happened. Then his heart skipped a beat. And something answered from his body. Something that was hidden inside.
From his palm, flames erupted. But not red-golden. They were not his usual Phoenix Fire.
These flames were different. They were deep purple in color, blazing violently.
They didn’t flicker like his Phoenix Fire.
They surged like something alive that had been waiting to be released.
Something hungry and something destructive.
The air around them distorted instantly. The ground beneath his feet cracked. The temperature spiked unnaturally.
Even the scarred man’s expression changed.
For the first time, there was clear alarm in his eyes.
"...What the—"
Before he could finish, the purple flames expanded violently from Azael’s hand.
They were wild and uncontrolled. And far more destructive than anything before.
The purple flames burst out in a huge amount.
The flames covered the man’s whole figure before he could run away from them.
"ARRRRGHHHHH!!!"
Unlike normal flames, these caught on the enemy’s body instantly. They first burned the sword, then rapidly spread to his hand which held the hilt tightly. The flames spread over his body.
"ARRGGHH!!"
The man moved away from Azael. His whole body soon caught blazing, violent purple fire.
His partner rushed from behind to save him.
"Aldrik!!" He tried to get closer to the burning man.
"Help! Help!" Aldrik screamed in agony.
The moment his partner got close, the flames intensified.
"What the hell are they?" the broad-shouldered man with the battle axe asked while standing three meters away from his burning comrade. Even from this distance, he could feel the intense heat radiating from the fire. His instincts screamed at him not to go any closer.
Aldrik stopped screaming for help. He also stopped moving as his body fell to the road.
Thud!
The flames slowly subsided.
Not even a minute had passed, yet Aldrik’s body was completely burned, turning into ashes.
The fire vanished, leaving only silence and drifting ash, while the cloaked figure watched with anger and worry.
His eyes turned toward the man standing in front of him. The white-masked man with black hair and a black suit. Wounds covered his body. Yet he was still standing. His eyes were glowing with a purple hue, just like those flames.
Gulp.
The man swallowed hard.
Crack.
He heard a cracking sound coming from Azael’s body.
"What’s happening now?" he muttered.
Soon, he got the answer.
A wave of mana burst outward from Azael’s body.
Something cracked inside him. Cracks had formed on the once black-colored mana core. They spread, and soon the black covering over his core shattered, transforming it into a dark red color.
Azael exhaled softly.
"I... broke through..."
His purple eyes were fixed on the comrade of the dead man.
Azael felt stronger than before. The breakthrough did not just give him a large amount of mana, it also increased his physical strength. Despite being injured, he felt more powerful.
Both his fists clenched.
"What are these purple flames?" Azael didn’t know. But suddenly, a memory came to him. The memory of his death as Ethan.
His lips curved behind the mask.
Then he dashed forward toward the second man.
The man with the battle axe snapped out of his trance. He watched as Azael rushed toward him with the intent to kill.
"I... I am not afraid of you, bastard!!"
He also charged forward, aiming to kill Azael. To take revenge for his comrade Aldrik.
Blue mana particles coated Azael’s fists, then transformed into blazing purple flames.
The man raised his battle axe and brought it down in a vertical slash.
Azael raised his right fist and struck the blade from the side in a curved motion.
BOOM!
The moment the flame-covered fist collided with the battle axe, it produced a powerful explosion.
A shockwave blasted outward.
Once again, the blade of the axe caught the purple flames.
The man’s eyes widened in panic.
He threw the battle axe to the ground.
And that was his mistake.
In that same moment, Azael drove his left fist, also covered in flames, into the man’s stomach.
The man who was was surprised by flames on his axe was not able to react on time.
"Arrghh!"
The man groaned from the impact.
Azael poured more mana into his left hand, causing the flames to burst out even more violently.
"NO!!!"
The flames caught onto his body from the stomach, then spread over his chest.
The man staggered backward, trying to extinguish the fire with his hands.
"No! Stop it, stop it! It’s burning!"
But it was useless. The flames quickly spread over his entire body.
"AARARGHHHHH!!!"
Azael stood a few meters away, watching silently while breathing heavily.
The man burned until he turned into ashes.
Azael’s cold purple eyes glowed through the mask, dangerous and intense, as he watched the man burn alive.
---
Currently, Azael was at the eastern side of Elaris Town, where this attack had occurred.
When he had just killed Aldrik, somewhere else chaos was also unfolding. This was not the only place where such events were happening.
On the north side of the city, another explosion had occurred at the same time as the one near Azael.
Two cloaked figures, one a woman and the other an old man, were running through an alleyway.
After causing chaos in the northern district, they fled toward the west side. The woman tried to contact Aldrik using a communication crystal. Then she attempted to connect with the other man.
"They are both not responding," the woman said while running.
"Something must have happened..." the old man replied. "Let’s go and check on them. I don’t feel good about this. According to our plan, by now both of them should have been heading toward the south side."
"Yes, let’s go."
Both of them changed direction, heading toward the place where Azael was.