Chapter 58: Attack (5)
Azael remained standing there.
The street had fallen into an eerie silence after the chaos. The fire still burned in a few places, and smoke drifted slowly into the evening sky. The bodies lying across the broken road made the scene even heavier.
"There should be more... just two of them... doesn’t sound right. Also, they must have planned this... but why attack out of nowhere?"
His brows furrowed behind the mask as his thoughts deepened.
’The Obsidian Hand? Did they cause this?’
His expression hardened.
Azael stood still, lost in thought. Then suddenly, a chill ran down his spine. His instincts screamed at him. Someone was watching him from somewhere.
His glowing purple eyes snapped upward.
On top of a tall building nearby, two figures stood silently. Both were cloaked, their presence cold and suffocating.
They had been observing everything.
The moment their gazes met.
Azael moved instantly.
Mana surged around his body as he stepped back quickly. His movements were faster than before, sharper, and more controlled after his breakthrough. His boots scraped against the broken road as he retreated and bent down in one smooth motion to grab his fallen sword.
But the moment his fingers wrapped around the hilt of the sword—
Those two figures attacked.
The two cloaked figures leaped from the rooftop, like shadows falling from the sky.
The woman moved first.
Her body twisted mid-air gracefully as she extended her hand forward. A glowing magic circle appeared instantly in front of her palm. Wind mana gathered rapidly, compressing into sharp, invisible blades.
"Die."
Her voice was cold. The air itself screamed. Multiple wind blades shot downward toward Azael at terrifying speed, slicing through the air like invisible guillotines.
Azael’s eyes narrowed. He kicked off the ground.
BOOM!
The place where he stood exploded as the blades struck, tearing apart the stone road into pieces.
Azael flipped mid-air and landed several meters away, sliding across the ground.
Before he could stabilize—
The second one arrived.
"Shit!"
The old man.
He descended much slower, but the pressure around him was far heavier. His presence alone felt suffocating.
The moment his feet touched the ground, a wave of dense mana burst outward.
Azael felt it.
The pressure was heavy, denser, and oppressive.
’He is strong... stronger than the other two... and even more than this woman...’
The old man raised his hand slightly.
From the ground beneath Azael—
SPIKES!
Dark, jagged spikes erupted violently from below, aiming to pierce through his body.
Azael reacted instantly.
Purple flames burst from his feet.
He launched himself upward just as the spikes tore through the ground beneath him.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
The spikes pierced the air where he had been a moment ago. Azael landed again, but this time he didn’t wait.
He moved first. His body shot forward like a bullet. The ground beneath him shattered as he dashed toward the woman.
She raised her hand again.
But she was late. Azael was faster after the breakthrough. His body moved more like how he wanted it to.
Azael was already in front of her. His sword burned. Not with red-golden flames, but deep purple fire meant to destroy.
It was violent, destructive, and alive.
He swung the sword at the woman.
SLASH!!
The woman barely reacted in time, forming a wind barrier around her body.
"Tch! What are those flames?"
CLANG!!
The blade struck the barrier. For a split second, it held. Then cracks spread across the barrier.
Not because his strike was so strong to break it, but because the purple flames crawled over the wind barrier, devouring it rapidly.
Her eyes widened.
She jumped back instantly, breaking distance.
Azael didn’t chase her, because the old man was already behind him, ready to kill him.
A palm strike came toward his back with rapid speed.
"Damn!" Azael twisted his body mid-motion.
BOOM!!
The strike grazed him, but the force alone sent him sliding across the ground.
"Tch—"
He rolled on the ground but stood up instantly. Blood trailed over the road because of it.
He was still injured. Yet, for some reason, he was not feeling any pain.
The heat was still all over his body. It wanted to be unleashed.
Azael regained his footing quickly. His breathing was heavy, but his eyes burned brighter.
This time, he was not being overwhelmed. He stepped forward again.
The purple flames around him intensified. Heat distorted the air around his body.
The two cloaked figures stopped for a moment.
They felt it now clearly. This was not normal fire that they had seen anywhere. It was something else entirely.
The old man’s voice came out low and cautious, "Be careful. Something is wrong with him."
The woman nodded slightly, her eyes sharp. Then both of them moved at the same time.
The woman waved her hand.
A storm of wind blades formed instantly, far more than before. Dozens of invisible slashes filled the air, tearing toward Azael from all directions.
At the same time, the old man raised both hands.
The ground trembled.
More spikes erupted from the ground beneath them. Walls of stone rose. And huge boulders formed in mid-air.
The battlefield itself turned against Azael. The buildings around them were broken. Dust and smoke were everywhere. While between them, those three remained standing to clash.
Azael didn’t retreat. His eyes burned with strong intensity to kill his enemies.
His grip tightened around his sword.
"Come."
Purple flames exploded outward from his body. All the heat stored inside was sent outward, toward the attacks.
BOOM!!!
The incoming wind blades collided against the flames and were burned away mid-air.
The spikes that tried to reach him all melted from the fire.
The stone walls cracked under the heat. Azael stepped forward through everything.
He was untouched.
The woman froze for a moment.
"He’s burning through everything...!" she exclaimed in shock.
Azael vanished from his spot. The ground shattered beneath him. He appeared directly in front of the old man.
His sword came down. The sword blazing in purple color came fast, deadly, and clean.
The old man raised his hand to form a barrier. A huge wall of stone appeared between them.
CLANG!!!
The impact shook the surroundings violently.
The wall held, but the flames spread across it instantly.
Cracks appeared.
The old man’s eyes widened slightly.
Before it could break completely, he jumped back, abandoning the defense.
Azael turned instantly. The woman attacked from the side. A blade of compressed wind formed in her hand as she slashed toward his neck.
Azael raised his arm instantly.
BOOM!!
Purple flames burst from his forearm, blocking the attack directly.
The wind blade shattered. Before she could react, Azael’s fist moved.
A punch.
It was covered in purple fire. It slammed into her side.
"ARRHHHH!!" Azael screamed loudly like a battle cry.
He threw a huge amount of fire at the woman.
"ARGH!!"
Her body was thrown across the street, crashing into a broken wall. The fire caught on her body instantly.
"AARGHHHH! SAVE ME!!"
She started to burn alive.
Dust exploded into the air.
Azael turned again.
The old man saw everything but didn’t go to save his comrade.
He knew that a small distraction would bring death upon him.
The old man was already chanting something. A large magic circle formed beneath Azael’s feet.
"Not this time." Azael raised his hand. Purple flames erupted downward.
BOOM!!!
The magic circle shattered before it could activate. The old man stepped back, his calm expression finally cracking.
The pressure had shifted.
Azael stood in the middle of the destroyed street.
His body was still bleeding. His breathing was still heavy.
But his presence was overwhelming. His purple eyes glowed intensely through the mask.
And the flames around him burned like something alive.
He was dangerous, uncontrollable, and deadly.
Azael dashed forward with his burning sword.
With each strike, with each attack, the intensity of his flames increased.
’It’s getting harder to use this fire,’ Azael thought gravely.
It was alright at the start. But the heat inside his body kept getting stronger and stronger.
It felt like his body was burning from the inside. Yet that heat was familiar, yet dangerous.
’I need to end this faster.’
The man created numerous stone spikes in the air. There were too many.
He wanted to at least land one of them on Azael.
Even if more than half were burned.
The old man waved his hand forward as all the spikes shot toward Azael like arrows.
Azael clenched his teeth.
Heat surged all over his body.
He swung the sword in a horizontal slash.
"Arghhh!"
He put all of his power into it.
A huge, wide arc of purple fire shot toward the incoming attack.
BOOM!
The moment that slash met those spikes, it exploded.
All of those spikes started to burn with fire as they turned into ash.
Smoke and dust spread everywhere, covering the figures of Azael and the old man within it.
And Azael suddenly fell to his knees.
"Arghhhh!... ahhh!" He screamed in pain.
The burning heat inside his body was getting hotter and hotter. Now it was unbearable.
His red core was now burning inside.
The destructive flames covered it.