Chapter 62: PRESENT
"Help me here, system," Azrael said, running his hand through his hair.
[What do you need?]
"I cannot think of a name for this beast," he said.
The beast was still looking up at him, blue eyes as calm as the surface of an ocean.
[Just give it a name already.]
The system said.
[The fight earlier will have drawn the attention of nearby beasts.]
"I know," Azrael replied with a nod.
"I can use that time to see little Rion’s combat ability."
Just then, another voice sounded in his mind.
"Pa... papa."
It was slow, gentle, and innocent.
Azrael creased his brows.
"Did the beast just speak to me mentally?" He mused with a smile.
[Considering what your brother did, that should be possible. A construct and its master can communicate mentally.]
Azrael nodded, crouching to pat Rion’s head.
"Is it not strange though, Rion saw its mother’s corpse and has not reacted to it at all," Azrael muttered, still patting him.
[Have you not received your reward for the contract yet? Use it to find out why.]
Azrael shook his head.
"Maybe once we get out of here."
With those words, he stood and walked toward the corpse.
"I wonder how much of a boost this will give when germinating an Infernal grade skill fruit."
As he spoke, an ethereal maw rose from the floor.
A crimson dark mouth lined with fangs that looked to be made of the sharpest material in existence.
The figure itself looked like something that had been shaded into reality rather than formed within it.
It flickered constantly, glitching in and out as though it were about to disappear entirely.
But it did not.
The jaws snapped shut over the tier six beast’s body.
In the next instant, the maw descended into nothing.
Azrael could only watch for so long before a sudden torrent of energy flooded his core.
The force was so overwhelming that he staggered sideways.
Blood spluttered from his mouth, dyeing the floor beneath him crimson.
Even after that, blood still seeped slowly from the corner of his lips.
"Papa," Rion said in his mind, running toward him.
Azrael waved him back.
"Do not worry."
[I knew it. That corpse was too strong for you to absorb all at once. I should have advised you to do it gradually.]
Azrael smirked.
"Pain at this level is nothing."
He straightened his back as he spoke.
"Besides, I consumed the core alongside the body. That meant double the energy hitting at once."
The system replied with a nod emoji and said nothing more.
"Since the tier six beast is gone, does that mean I can roam the entire rift freely?" Azrael mused.
[Do not forget that Surfer is gone.]
Azrael’s face went pale at those words.
"Let’s just head back."
Rion followed behind Azrael as both of them moved through the rift at a leisurely pace.
"Papa," the voice sounded in his mind again.
"Yeah, I can feel them too," Azrael said with narrowed eyes.
"But can you please stop calling me that?" He groaned.
"It makes me feel like an old man."
[Papa, please do not say that.]
The system said, a laughing emoji appearing alongside the words.
Azrael sighed.
From the horizon, green beasts began to surface.
All around him and Rion.
At the same time, a blinding light erupted from beneath him.
He looked away, shielding his eyes with his palm.
As the light faded, he looked at the spot.
[Just a little present from me to you.]
The words hung there.
Without any doubt, Azrael knew exactly who had sent them.
"He is insane," he muttered, jaw tightening as he took in the sight.
Over thirty tier two dimensional beasts, with at least ten tier three among them.
Every single one radiating power no less than his own.
"Rion, can you fight?" Azrael asked.
He already knew the beast could handle a one on one situation. But this was different. Any mistake in a fight of this scale could end with Rion dead.
Rion nodded with sparkling eyes, as though this were a moment it had been waiting for since it was born.
[I would suggest holding your beast back until you reduce their numbers first.]
Azrael nodded.
"Okay, Rion. Not yet," he said.
In the next instant, a streak of light flashed into his core, and Rion vanished.
Azrael did not comment.
He clenched his fists and got into stance.
One foot drove backward, cratering the earth from the force behind it.
Coins burst from his back like a flood, hovering in the air and waiting.
Azrael exhaled, then lunged.
He tore forward in a blur of blue and black.
He reached the first mantis, brushing its pincers aside with the back of his palm.
Before it could recover from the impact, Azrael drove his fist through its skull and pulled the soul core out directly.
The light left its eyes instantly and it dropped to the floor with a thud that rattled the rocks around it.
Azrael tossed the core into his spatial ring, already moving to the next one.
His body twisted sideways, letting its pincers drive into the earth beside him.
The beast pulled back, but it was too late.
Azrael’s fist drove into its chest.
A cataclysmic force tore forward in a straight line, splitting the earth like it was nothing.
While Azrael worked with his fists, the coins were doing the same behind him.
A mantis struck one of the coins.
A sharp chime rang out.
Before the beast could register what had happened, a thin golden line appeared across its neck.
White blood splattered to the floor as it collapsed.
A sharp whistle tore through the air from behind, aimed directly at Azrael’s head.
His pupils contracted as he felt the shift in the air, but there was nothing he could do in time.
"Watch your back when you fight," the voice came through his ears as the sound of flesh parting followed.
In the next second, a foot met the floor and the sound of a sword returning to its scabbard rang out.