Chapter 542: Advancing his Minions
Axel said, "Bring the others here; they should have healed somewhat by now. I will help them all advance as well."
Just as Gareth was about to go down, his eyes flickered for a moment, sensing something.
Axel also felt it, as he chuckled, "Hmm.. I guess they are already here..."
Gareth smiled, "I will get them..."
Gareth opened the door of the building, in the guise of a muscular, masked bartender once more, his gaze sweeping through them all.
Wangnan Baek, Zena Karmann, Zen Karmann, Conner Ravenspire, Elira Whitehelm, Theron Stormmere, Caelan Dawnridge.
He noted each of their expressions.
The corrupted Elf nodded towards Gareth as they entered. And the moment they did so, they realized the building was overflowing with Osiris’s demonic energy. Their expressions changed instantly. But it was not due to any feeling of oppression; it was the opposite.
It was like they were being empowered to an extent. Basking in the purest form of Demonic energy that came from the very source bloodline from which their demon bloodlines had been generated.
Wangnan walked ahead in wide strides, unmindful of the others; the rest hurried to follow.
And the moment everyone stepped onto the 2nd floor, their gazes met with the demonic pupils of Osiris, and a wave of oppressive terror washed over them. An urge surfaced from the very demon bloodline flowing within them.
To Kneel....
And amongst the seven, Zena and Zen held the most complicated thoughts in their hearts.
After all, the two siblings knew the person behind the mask. The blue-haired runecaster whom they once ambushed as robbers.
Though they were both grateful to Osiris for everything good that had happened to them, it was due to his help and the power of the demon bloodline. But there remained an unnoticeable hesitation in their hearts.
But for the four surviving royal heirs of the Minor Kingdoms, there could be found no trace of hesitation; after all, they hated the Great Kingdoms to their very core. That hatred ran too deep. So, Axel’s display of slaughtering the Great Kingdom’s forces like dogs made an immovable impression on their hearts.
If there was some doubt about Osiris before the war, now there was none.
To them, nothing mattered more than revenge. Especially Conner, he held boundless respect in his heart for the Masked Demon due to his unflinching showcase of slaughter.
But in the end, the one who showed the greatest amount of zeal towards Osiris was none other than Wangnan Baek; he would not kneel because of any oppression from his demon blood.
Rather, he wished to kneel out of his own free will. As someone who was once standing at death’s door, his entire life never knowing anything but working away like a slave. Scorned by his own people, whom he wished to save once upon a time.
He was once the bright spirit who sought freedom, only to become a fallen spirit due to being betrayed and schemed against.
This demon rescued that fallen spirit. So, for him, every moment that he lived, he lived as if it were the last. Even if Osiris were to command him to die, or kill him, he would die without regret, for he had gotten to live a second time that never should have been.
Yet, the moment all of them were about to bend the knee. The demonic energy in the air churned; their motions stopped. Not only that, all seven of them were forced to stand back up straight once more.
Axel spoke in his demonic voice, "Do not kneel..."
But that voice did not feel like that of a monster in his followers’ ears; unlike what a normal human would feel upon hearing it, there was still a heavy weight to it, as it was a voice that held control over their lives and deaths.
A deafening silence took over the 2nd floor of the building, and Gareth watched the scene unfold expressionlessly from afar.
Wangnan’s gaze remained locked onto Axel’s eyes; he did not show any fear, but the others could not look into Axel’s eyes, as if their hesitation and doubts would be seen through by the demon.
The Corrupted Elf opened his mouth and asked, "Why? Why did you save me?"
This time it was Axel who hesitated in his heart, until he answered honestly, "Because I need your help."
Wangnan nodded, and he made an action of bending his knees once more, but the previous command from Osiris was still blocking him, not letting him kneel. Yet Wangnan did not give up and continued to fight that influence, even as blood poured from all his orifices.
This time, Axel repeated the question Wangnan had asked: "Why?"
Wangnan showed a wide smile, and for a moment, he stopped trying to kneel, wiping off the blood on his face. He stated, "I am grateful to you; you are my benefactor, and I am the recipient of your favor. It does not matter the reason you have behind your mysterious actions. Or what you are trying to do. Whether you are good or evil."
The Corrupted Elf added after a moment of pause, "A recipient does not repay their benefactor because it is an obligation, but because they want to, because it is a choice. And this is my choice..."
There was a wise tone to his voice. After all, Wangnan was technically quite an old man at death’s door when Axel saved him; the Elf was much older than Axel, and perhaps there are some things that only come with age.
A sigh escaped from Axel’s lips as he stood up from his sitting position; the force holding Wangnan back was no longer on him. As the Corrupted Elf kneeled and exclaimed in resolution, "From this moment forth, I, Wangnan Baek, swear my eternal loyalty towards Osiris."
Axel patted the kneeling man’s shoulder and said, "Try advancing now..."
Wangnan looked at Axel in confusion for a moment, then suddenly realized that the bloodline link between him and Osiris had grown stronger. Through that strengthened link, the purity of his bloodline had also become more prominent.
Without hesitation, he sat down cross-legged, closing his eyes, entering his Soul Sanctum.
Axel’s gaze turned towards the rest; unlike what happened with Wangnan, he did not spare much talk with them.
Just as he did with Gareth, Axel possessed them one after another and helped each break their current limit in various ways.
He acted as the assisting reagent, giving an initial push.
Zen Karmann advanced to the third phase, becoming a partial demon.
But strangely, he had not yet awakened his demon bloodline ability. Which was something Axel had expected; Zen’s potential and inherent drive for power had far less luster than his older sister’s.
Which was why Axel never put much importance on Zen either.
Conner advanced to the mid-2nd phase, gaining more power and a deeper understanding of his Demonic ability.
Elira, Theron, and Caelan all advanced to the mid-2nd phase as their bloodline purity improved.
From what Axel could tell, these three were close to manifesting their demonic abilities, but only when faced with a certain life-and-death situation would they be able to activate their abilities out of desperation.
Last was Zena. Axel was quite pleased with her performance. Apart from Wangnan, she did quite well for her position, considering she doesn’t have a single bloodline aspect and that her overall potential is quite limited.
So, being able to fight off against multiple peak third-phase existences on her own, even with the demonic ability in hand, was not as easy a task as she made it seem. Not to mention, Sin Amplification isn’t exactly a combat-oriented ability.
He sighed, "You did well, Zena..."
To which she was a bit surprised and happy by those words, more than she had expected to be. Axel did not possess her. With his finger, Axel touched her forehead and injected a small fraction of the despair he had harvested from the Circle of Dread that had been planted beneath the battlefield.
He guided it towards her bloodline ability, since the core mechanics of the Sin Amplification ability were creating ’Despair’ within the enemy through planting seven fragments of it, then combining it into one, once he provided her with such a pure form of Despair emotion.
It made her demonic ability explode in power.
Once her demonic ability was forced to improve under the influence of Axel, she advanced from mid-third phase to late third phase.
His followers focused on understanding their improved bloodline abilities and powers.
Gareth came close and said softly, "Sir Zoromir has sent word; he wants to meet you...."
Axel asked, "Where?"
"In the outer edge of the capital," said Gareth with a contemplative look.
Axel thought of it for a moment and realized what was going on. He smiled, "Don’t worry, Gareth, it’s likely no ambush. If I’m not wrong, Strategist Zoromir should be too busy dealing with everything else to try and test me at this point. At least, not after the power I displayed. Because they need me..."
In fact, Axel was sure that even if Zoromir figured out that the backstory he provided regarding him being a defector from Arclight was false, and even if Zeledin Ulpranak saw through his disguise for not being a Demon Horned Undead.
The sixth phase Death Knight would simply continue to graciously look over that fact because the existence of Osiris was still too useful for them. A pawn of great importance, but a pawn in the end.
But that pawn, when the time came, would make his own move that would flip the entire chessboard.
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