C103: False Apotheosis, Path Forward
Overall Word count = 2141 on 6/24/2024.
After the initial contact of the eternal sun that is Axel, the world went silent. The sound barrier could not explicitly portray what the collision between Axel and the draconic beast was like. The world itself turned white in fear once the sun that is Axel had collided with it.
An unprecedented ash cloud arose as a result of the collision, the very ground shattered then melted from the immense heat. From within the cloud, a figure can be seen stumbling out of the ash cloud. They have their hands over their mouth to prevent breathing in any of the ash until they finally get out of the cloud.
It is Axel, his clothes are torn to shreds, leaving him practically naked except for the last piece of his shoes which turn to dust shortly after.
Cough cough
Axel coughs to clear his mouth which was packed with ash due to accidentally breathing it in when the collision first occurred. He was able to hold it in and not cough while still inside the cloud to prevent breathing in any more ash but his throat hurts now as a result.
Axel is completely out of energy except for a tiny bit to ensure he doesnt enter mind down or die from losing all his nen.
"Gah"
Axel clutches his chest which has a long bloody cut on it as a result of the beast's claws hitting him just as his fist came down on it. He slowly trudges along until he finds a rock of excellent size to sit on and rest. His ring is the only thing left since it naturally has been enhanced through the combination of all his energies, making it incredibly powerful in regards to its own defense.
Axel begins to gradually recover all his energies thanks to his ring, Axel does notice that even it didn't escape some damages due to the hairline crack on it but he understood that with his current limits he had to develop a new ring for himself a while ago when he unlocked both soul wave energy as well as the spartan rage.
Based on his theories, he should be able to infuse a bit of the spartan rages energy into the ring which would make it a secondary storage and thus extend the time he can utilize that power. The only reason he didn't is that he lacks a suitable location to forge a new ring. He would hope for a natural volcano but there are none in his general area.
He ponders his choices while recovering before he nearly slaps his own head off when he remembers that he can likely travel to other worlds from his memories. That means he can go to the very best volcano he knows about. Mount Doom, from the very memories where Celebrimbor had forged his own masterpiece of a ring. He can simply use his own earth magic to expand the land there so it's more stable while he forges as it will be even more monumental than before.
Yet for now he cant be too distracted as he just unleashed such a strong attack but is unsure if he even killed the creature. He soon calls upon Doctor Blythe to seal his chest wound as he has no potions due to them all breaking. He even lost his snacks that were in the backpack.
With tears in his eyes for his lost snacks, his wound was sealed but it would need a bit more time to fully heal. In the meantime, the ash cloud has settled down enough to see through it. Axel gets up and approaches the lava pit he created with his punch, he cant outright see any signs of the beast he hit.
But a moment later, Axel overlaps the talion shade onto himself and with their ghost vision, he can see the massive red creature underground. It's body buried deep underground, the place where he had struck seems to have been torn off which means that it is missing a large chunk of it's arm, wing and back. Nothing outright fatal for a creature of that size and who knows if it is still 'evolving' like before.
Axel shakes his head and makes a regrettable decision, "I have to update my falna". He begins to stumble his way back to Orario, he will teleport back once he gathers enough energy for that distance. As for why he is stumbling, well the good doctor sealed up his injuries but his bones still ache from the attack as the nen construct can only perform surgery, not a miracle healing spell.
If he had at least one of those talismans that Illya gave him then he could probably recover if what she said about them was true but they would have likely burned up with the rest of his gear if he had it with him. He can only shake his head at the reality that his own gear cant survive his power. He has to make more advances in his magic so that he can start to delve in spatial magic since he does have the affinity for it thanks to his special teleporting ability which is an entire magic type of itself.
Once he gains the ability to learn spatial magic, he can get himself a storage spell for all his items and even help out his team so even Lily can be more active in fighting as she needs the most out of energy.
"Ugh, so much to do, so little time" Axel complains at his own progression speed as he can barely enjoy life properly. After nearly half an hour of walking, does Axel finally get enough energy to cover the distance to Orario but even he waits for another half hour so he has some energy to spare. This is because he plans to make a few visits to various places once he gets some clothes on. He has to spread the news of what happened here to the ones who need it in case the beast emerges when he isn't looking.
Teleporting back home, he appears in his room where he is treated to a nice little sight. Serenity is lying in his bed, his bed sheets wrapped around her as she snuggles into the pillows that bare his scent. She soon becomes aware of a foreign presence hovering over her and brings out a knife to protect herself. She falters when he realizes that it's Axel, and even more so seeing him naked.
He just looks at her with a strange smile, "Where did you even get the knife from, you're practically naked." he comments as he moves to his closet to get dressed. Serenity pouts as she comments, "Darling, Don't you want to join me since you're naked and I'm 'practically' naked?" She comments with a slightly sultry voice. She didn't know how to talk like that before but Axel assumes that the others have been tutoring her and probably Haruhime too.
Axel almost did pounce on her but he feels a sense of urgency at the moment which suppresses his lust. He shakes his head in response to her words as he remarks, "According to Raikou, your turn is tomorrow along with Kiara. Mentally prepare yourself for then. So be a good girl for me until then" He gives her a hot kiss on the lips before smacking her ass and teleporting away.
His first stop was the guild as he wants to get his report over and done with. Luckily, Illya still had a few minutes before she ended her shift and thus took him to her office where he wrote his official report about the unknown beast which might have very well been responsible for the destruction of that country.
Illya brings up how she sensed the presence of a powerful sun where Axel was and he informed her how he used all of his abilities at maximum power and how much damage he actually did. She is surprised, but none more so than the fact that someone so gifted like Axel had a breakthrough yet appears unchanged. As if he was more focused on the beast than his own growth. Though she understands that the human mind is a complex structure and worries plague everyone.
It's not that Axel had no gains from that final full release moment but that anything he does now is overshadowed by his own rapidly approaching death. He gets the strange impression that his body or soul already holds the key to solving this problem but now it's just a matter of surviving until that point that he gets it.
Axel soon finishes the report and hands it over to Illya for double checking before she releases him. He takes his leave and once he exits the guild building, he walks down a few random streets before teleporting over to the grand Oasis city, Shalzard. He appears before the kings royal court as he isn't so rude as to teleport inside the building itself.
He looks at the guards who …on guard against his sudden appearance but they know who he is after his public spectacle recently. "Audience with the king, he is expecting my report" One of them touches their bracer which lights up before a shadow arrives before Axel. While he might be lower on energy, Serenity has kindly divulged that essentially every assassin in her former group lacks in physical attributes except speed like her. That reassured him that he can and would pummel one of these white masked assassins if they gave him a reason.
The assassin that arrives is not one that Axel is aware of but they do look very similar to each other so it could just be a different getup. At least that would be the standard answer but with his nen sensing, he can tell that it's not another of those fragmented fellows he met before. Just a similar dress code. Said assassin begins to bring him in and soon enough they encounter Enkidu who receives news that there was a guest for the king and wondered who it was.
In a few moments, Axel finds himself back in the throne room with Gilgamesh dressed differently, he has a frown on his face as his dinner was interrupted by Axel.
"Tell me oh desert champion, why did you not report to me first in regards to what you had fought further south?"
"My clothes had been completely destroyed, I did not believe you would wish to see me in all my bare splendor as it would tarnish your gaze and the quality of this room. So I whisked myself away to home and dressed myself before returning." Axel starts out normal but in his minor annoyance he takes on a pompous tone and vocabulary 'suitable' for a noble. His obvious sarcasm does not escape the king nor his advisor who covers his mouth to hide a chuckle.
Gilgamesh himself is not amused by his tone but the merit of his words remain true. Nevertheless, the duo hold a stare-off once more until Enkidu organizes himself and speaks out, "One of our people had arrived at the collision site of your fight. We assume they just barely missed you. Would you care to tell us what you know about this beast? It might very well come running after you once it recovers. Our people are studying the strange gel we found in the various pathways on the surface."
"Be careful with directly touching that. I was able to delve into that creature's memories and it likely came from the dungeon." Axel warns before explaining how he was infected with something that made him undergo that vision. One detail that he mentions of the dream is how he had lost an eye to a brown haired hero and beauty pair who had multiple times succeeded in harming the beast before their untimely demise.
The piece of news seems to trouble the duo as they rush Axel out but release orders to strengthen the border, likely to prevent the creature from entering Shalzard. Thinking that it's a bit rude, he shakes his head and teleports back home again. This time he enters like a normal person and soon meets up with Raikou.
She is sitting down and reading a swordsmanship book that Artoria seems to have released for other immortals to purview. She puts her book down to look at Axels downtrodden expression. "Whats wrong baby" She says and gets up to hug Axel.
"Im done with my mission, once the guilds reviews my report we should receive the payment from that. But i'm here to update my falna."