Kyrin was having difficulty staying in denial after all the things pointing towards Axel being the Crown Prince.
But, as if that wasn't enough, the Princess nodded in confirmation as well, glaring at Kyrin. "Yes. It is true. He's my Nephew. It seems that you didn't know. But that doesn't make it any less reckless!" She glowered.
Kyrin sighed, now much more considerate of the Princess's feelings. Objectively, Kyrin could not be blamed.
Whenever a Space Turbulence is likely to occur, there is a red alert for those entering and exiting the Trench. That day, there was none. How the Turbulence occurred, she still had no idea.
As for taking the risk of bringing Axel without training? That guy is an abnormal freak. Whether the shallows, or the deep, he's already ready to join her squad. So, even after the space turbulence, he was doing pretty well.
But, how was she supposed to know that those always peaceful Space Whales would arrive in a large gang and suddenly target only Axel in particular?
So, it's not like it's too much of her fault. It is only that Axel is just too damn unlucky.
But, Kyrin was now still feeling guilty, especially since she could understand how the Princess must be feeling. If it had been Akiko instead of Axel, Kyrin would have also been panicking right now.
"Princess, I understand that the situation is quite unfortunate. But… you don't know about Axel's abilities. He's tough. And I do not say this lightly." She said in consolation.
Axel may not be as powerful as the Relic Wielders. How could he be? He had no Relic of his own. But. Kyrin's eyes could see a lot. Even though Axel was extremely weak compared to her, for some reason, in a serious fight… she got the feeling that she might not necessarily win.
Of course, it would be absurd to hope that he can defeat opponents of her calibur, but the point remains. He can handle himself.
Unfortunately, Antilla was not convinced. "Do you know that the enemy now has a Royal Relic Wielder?"
"I do. But it doesn't matter, does it?" said Kyrin. "He must be currently chasing the other Relic Wielders. In this vast place, what are the chances that he will meet Axel?"
Antilla sighed. If only it was like that. "The Royal Relic gives the wielder the ability to sense other Royal Family members from high distances. Also, the identity of the Wielder is Aslot Regius Varnox, the Betrayer and Kin Slayer. We certainly can't expect him to show mercy on a family member."
"What?!" Kyrin, who had been laid back until now, stood up from her seat, her eyes widening the more she thought about it.
"Oh Fuck…. Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck…"
Shit… had actually hit the fins.
Okay,,,, NOW, she was panicking.
No matter how annoying he was, Kyrin truly, truly didn't want him to die. And she didn't expect him to. That cunning devil could survive even in hell. But after what she just heard? She was not so sure anymore.
"Who… is he?" Asked Akiko, apprehensive.
"Just.., know that he's bad news," said Kyrin.
Aslot the Betrayer…
Kyrin had heard the stories about him. He was said to be extremely talented and powerful. He was supposed to be the Crown Prince of Atlantis, but the Royal Relic did not choose him.
As his brother became the king, he gave in to the Entity's influence. Ever since then, his mind started getting corrupted, until the day of Great Loss, when the kingdom lost its king and queen.
"Um,.. Isn't he supposed to be dead?" Asked Sylthia.
"He was extremely devious and deceitful. It is not impossible for him to have faked his death," said Willis. By looking at his eyes, you could see that the old man has had a personal history with Aslot.
Sensing the crisis in the situation, gray energy began radiating from Estris, and the speed of the ship increased further. It would take a significant load on her to boost the whole ship, but it would be worth it if the Crown Prince is successfully rescued.
The Princess nodded gratefully at her, to which Estris bowed.
"Really… C-Crown Prince…" Sylthia was not over the matter about Axel, the outsider, suddenly getting converted into the Crown Prince. 'What… have I done?' Recalling her behavior and rudeness, Sylthia truly wanted to drown herself.
'Cunning bastard.' Kyrin, on the other hand, was grinding her teeth, having not known such a huge secret. Even Akiko didn't tell her. If she had known, they wouldn't have been in this situation. 'Am I really that untrustworthy?!'
Then, she found that the answer was pretty obvious. In their first meeting she had exposed a part of Axel's stealth and tried to take him under her wing, seeing his potential. In their next meeting, she had tried to know his secrets through force and deceit. And it just went on like that.
So, would she trust herself if she was in his place? Fuck no.
'Ah, I am the master of bad impressions, aren't I?'
The group finally reached their destination after around 2 hours. Overall, it had been over a day since Axel had gone missing and 8 hours since Axel's blood started to be tracked.
Everyone rushed out, expecting to see Axel, but the scene in front of them startled everyone. Huge craters marked the ground, with water filling many of them. The air smelled of ozone, along with a faint metallic smell of blood, and their was residual lightning discharge in their air that made their hairs shand.
"What… the hell?"
It looked like a scene of a huge battle. Just what happened here? And why was Axel's blood tracked here?
"Axel!"
Antilla was quickly out of the ship, searching for Axel, and so was Akiko. The rest of the crew followed, but unfortunately, there was no sign of Axel in the area.
"Princess, I think you should see this." The General was the first one to find something.
"What?! Did you find him?!" Everyone quickly converged on the point, but they found an entirely different scene.
In the middle of the largest crater, a body laid with its head severed. Various belongings were scattered around it, including the portrait of a woman. And not far away from it, lied another body.
"En-Ender?!" Antilla quickly approached her cousin, checking his condition.
Ender was not on the verge of dying, but his condition was not good. It seems that his body had been crushed by a huge force, after which he had been fed several elixirs, healing him enough that he won't die.
She also sensed the residual energy of the Royal Relic, slowly turning his body into water and worsening his condition. Thankfully, it seemed to have been extracted for the most part, thus saving his life.
'But… how?'
It was then that Antilla felt it. There were traces of another energy in there.
'Is this…?' Antilla's heartbeat accelerated. It was a water elemental energy that felt quite familiar, much like her sister's.
'It's Axel!'
"Ender!" Antilla began urgently shaking the sleeping man, trying to wake him up. "Wake up!" She also exterminated the residual energy of the Royal Relic.
Willis came forward, healing Ender's body further.
Cough
Ender coughed up bloody water, or watery blood as his eyes fluttered open. Ender's body shot upright. Lightning instantly surrounded him for protection as his eyes frantically roamed around.
"Wh-CoughCough… What?!" He wheezed. "An… tillla?"
"Yes, it's me. What happened here?! Where is Axel?!"
"Who…? I don't know…" he said while coughing some more. Lightning travelled through his body, eliminated the rest of the water and making his brain fully active. "I… lost. How am I still alive? Did you save me?"
"You lost?" Antilla looked back at Tronis's body lying not far away. "You didn't kill him?"
?!
Ender followed her gaze and jolted in surprise. "What?! No!"
The situation was too confusing, and it would take a lot of time for it to make sense if they proceeded this way. "Just lower your mental shields." She ordered.
Antilla quickly checked Ender's last memory. The last thing he remembered was losing to Tronis in a one on one fight. There was no sign of Axel in the memories. Then…
"Where is Axel….?"
"Who? Can anyone explain what's happening?" Asked Ender, getting up. The Black Ops, the Princess, the General, Sylthia, and one unknown girl. It was a truly odd group to wake up to .
"By the deities…"
Suddenly, Willis's hands which were holding the compass began shaking.
"What happened?"
"I… I recalibrated the compass. And the results are…"
Everyone's gazes went to the compasses, and horror filled their eyes when they saw what was on it.
"Who… could've done this?"
"Bloody Hell…"
It literally was. Because red dots had filled up the screen right now, spread over a wide area.
It means that Axel's blood could be found at all those places.
"These are signs of a battle. An extremely intense one," the General analysed. The only way the blood could spread so erratically would be when the target has been in a battle against an extremely powerful opponent, someone whose attacks can drag you through all those distances.
Antilla covered her mouth in horror, tears pooling her eyes. With just the amount of blood, she could imagine just how much he must have suffered, not to mention whether he was alive or not.
"Which one is he?!" Asked Akiko looking at the red dots while everyone was still horrified. Because, with that much bleeding, while everyone was shaken, almost losing hope of Axel's survival, Akiko still held hope. Because she knew his tenacity.
Her words shook Antilla out of her shock. If they followed the dots, they would find Axel near one of them. But they couldn't waste time going over the blood marks in order to find.
'Right! He's close!' Antilla realized something as she spread out her domain. If Axel was close, then she should be able to sense him using her domain! It was similar to how the Aslot must have found Axel, only her range is much smaller.
Antilla spread out her domain, but she noticed something strange as soon as she did. 'The Water element…'
This place has an ocean in the sky, so that the water elemental energy in the environment is usually abundant. But right now, the water elementals in the area were extremely scarce.
'No…' Antilla suddenly had a really bad premonition. She expanded her domain, and her doubts started to turn into reality.
Antilla now knew the identity of the person who made Axel bleed so much. There was only one reason why the water elemental energy in the region would be so low.
'No! No! NO!'
This can't be happening.
'Not him again!'
Antilla's fury had no bounds.
'I'll torture him for eternity!' She swore.
But right now, she needed to find them! QUICKLY!
She took out a staff. Her magic filled up her blue eyes and a huge amount of energy was released, making everyone around her brace themselves.
When she had almost reached her limit, it happened.
She finally found the source. But, her whole body shook as soon as she did.
'WHAT IS THAT?!'
There was a huge amount of water elemental gathering at one point. Horrified, Antilla quickly opened her eyes.
"!!!!!!"
Not even having the time to explain, Antillla shot off in the direction of the energy.
But…
It was too late.
In the distance, a blinding light emerged, which started to get bigger at an alarming rate.
"Princess!"
The General quickly followed to protect Antilla who just kept going forward.
"LET ME GO!!!" On the other hand, Akiko struggled with all her might, trying to escape the hold of Kyrin.
"You'll die!" Kyrin yelled to her goddaugher, who was kicking and screaming at her like she was her worst.
The light just kept getting bigger and brighter, but no one could tear their eyes off the dreadful spectacle that was unfolding far, far away from them.
But despite the humongous explosion, the only sounds they could hear were the desperate voices of the Princess and Akiko.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It was only then did the sound and impact reach them.
They were quite far away from the blast site. But by the sea gods did they struggle to survive.
Every type of defensive means of all the powerhouses gathered were deployed, But the impact still shook them to their cores.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"
....
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