Axel's gaze remained locked on the notification floating before his eyes:
**[Your Stats have skyrocketed]**
**[Ti left until burnout: 2:00]**
A smirk curled at the corner of his lips. _"That's enough ti to finish this."_
tal Jaw, sensing the shift in Axel's deanor, grinned savagely. There was a gleam of excitent in his eyes—his bloodlust intensifying at Axel's ominous words. He had wanted a real fight, and now it seed he was finally getting one. Without warning, tal Jaw vanished from where he stood, his form blurring as he reappeared behind Axel, swinging his massive sword with terrifying speed.
The sword, now glowing with a powerful, electric hum, cut through the air with deadly precision as tal Jaw bellowed, "I'll give you everything I've got this ti!"
But before the blade could make contact, Axel's arm shot backward with unbelievable speed, catching the sword in mid-swing. The tal groaned under his grip, sparks flying as his fingers tightened around the blade. tal Jaw's eyes widened, disbelief flashing across his face. His sword was vibrating violently, its energy flaring, but Axel held it still with ease.
"Impossible..." tal Jaw muttered under his breath. _He didn't even look back._
Axel's cold, unyielding grip slowly began to crush the sword. tal Jaw instinctively jerked it back to free it from Axel's grasp, but the only sound that followed was a sickening crack. The blade splintered like glass, shards scattering across the ground. tal Jaw stumbled backward, his thoughts racing. _He didn't even try to dodge... was he toying with this whole ti?_
Axel didn't let him process the situation for long. Without a mont's hesitation, Axel spun around and drove his fist toward tal Jaw's torso. Desperately, tal Jaw crossed both arms in front of him, bracing for the impact, but it was futile.
Axel's punch smashed through his defenses like brittle wood, shattering both of tal Jaw's forearms before slamming into his chest with a force that sent a shockwave through the stadium.
"KAAAAAGGH!" tal Jaw spat blood as he was thrown backward, skidding across the ground like a ragdoll. He managed to stop himself by digging his knees into the dirt, gasping for breath as he struggled to stay conscious. His vision blurred, but the image of Axel—standing in the sa place, calm, collected—burned into his mind. tal Jaw's entire body was trembling, but it wasn't just from the pain.
It was excitent, a raw, primal thrill he hadn't felt in years. His grin widened despite his agony. _He's not a warrior... he's a monster._
Axel's eyes glimred with an eerie intensity as he began to walk forward, his steps asured and deliberate. "You must think this is a battle of equals," Axel said, his voice chillingly calm, though his eyes blazed with dark intent. "But it's not."
In a blur of motion, Axel vanished, reappearing directly in front of tal Jaw, who barely had ti to react. The sheer speed sent a gust of wind blasting through the arena, stirring the dust and debris from their earlier clashes.
"I'm not your equal." Axel's hand darted out and grasped tal Jaw by the throat, lifting him off the ground effortlessly. tal Jaw's body convulsed in his grip, but Axel's hold was firm, unyielding. His fingers pressed into tal Jaw's skin, suffocating the remnants of his strength.
"I'm a god compared to you," Axel growled, his words dripping with finality.
For a mont, tal Jaw's vision dimd, the edges of consciousness slipping away as Axel's grip tightened. His heartbeat, erratic and faint, pulsed painfully in his ears. But even as death lood, tal Jaw chuckled weakly, his lips pulling into a twisted smile. "So, this was never a battle of equals after all...
I should've known." His voice cracked, strained under the pressure of his crushed windpipe.
Axel's grip loosened just enough for him to speak, his brows furrowing in mild confusion. "What are you talking about?"
tal Jaw's grin widened through the pain. "You… you have no idea, do you? The reward of the gods… that's why we're all here."
Axel's eyes narrowed. "Reward of the gods?"
tal Jaw coughed violently, blood spraying from his mouth as he struggled to stay coherent. His body was failing, his regeneration too slow to counteract the damage Axel had inflicted. "Yeah… you didn't know… The prize for killing ... for killing us..." His words slurred as the agony in his chest intensified. He could barely breathe now. "There are...
others... more like . More than you can imagine."
Axel's expression remained cold, though his mind was now racing. _Others? How many?_ He tightened his grip once more, knowing ti was running out. "How many of you are there?"
tal Jaw's laughter was broken by fits of coughing, his voice trembling as the life drained from his body. "More than you can count… and not just for the mantle of god you hold. For the others too..."
Axel's patience was thinning. He could see tal Jaw's skin paling, his body cold and unresponsive. "How did you get your powers?" Axel asked, urgency slipping into his voice. He had to get as much information as he could before tal Jaw was gone.
tal Jaw's head lolled back, his eyes dimming. "From… birth," he whispered. And then, with a final shudder, tal Jaw went limp.
Axel frowned, still holding the lifeless body. His heightened senses confird it—tal Jaw's heartbeat was barely detectable, but there was nothing more he could extract from him.
**[Deceased Touch activated]**
At the activation of his skill, tal Jaw's body began to rapidly deteriorate, turning into blackened ash in Axel's grasp. The process was swift, leaving behind nothing but dust, which scattered into the wind.
**[You have leveled up]**
**[You have leveled up]**
Axel sighed, his body aching from the strain of the battle. _I won…_
**[HP: 5/30]**
His muscles scread in protest, his vision dimming slightly as his body threatened to give out. _I need to take my health pills before I collapse..._ He forced himself to reach into his pouch, popping a few pills into his mouth. Instantly, his body felt a surge of relief as his HP bar ticked upward.
---
Minutes later, Axel lay on the cold floor of the stadium, staring up at the sky, multiple notifications flooding his vision. His body had recovered, but he was still weak, his limbs too heavy to move. The effects of the Evolution Pills still clung to him, rendering him immobile.
**[You have unlocked the full extent of Level 1: King of the Dead]**
**[Would you like to activate this skill?]**
Axel's mind swirled with the revelations of the battle. _Others like tal Jaw… born with abilities, chasing the power of the gods._ A world unlike his own, where powers weren't chosen but inherited from birth. He would've thought tal Jaw was part of the Fatek, but no—their abilities were artificial, technological. This was sothing else entirely.
And now, he had the mantle of Hades. But for how long? How many more challengers would co for him?
*Author's note*
I'll be one rising fiction after today according to webnovel ti, I'll need your support and a magic castle if possible since the contest ends this week Sunday. Please help or my chances of winning might be slim, at least if you have been enjoying the story until now, support
Reviews
All reviews (0)