C94: Trials Bestowed By the King
Overall Word count = 4223 on 6/6/2024.
(Sorry yall for the late chapter. Only planned for it to be around 2.5k words but then I just gave it too much detail and it went over to the next day by a bit)
Axel spends a bit of time on the bed, pondering his next actions when he makes his decision and teleports back home. He appears in the living room and quickly finds Raikou in her room. He enters her room where she has changed into her nightgown. She raises an eyebrow in his direction.
"Welcome back Darling, why did you not show up During Lunch or Dinner?" She greets him before starting her interrogation.
"I had chosen to skip lunch today to admire the scenery but Dinner was against my will as I am 'trapped' within Sorshana by the lovely king, advisor and group of assassins. For some reason they are keeping me there for their entertainment. As such, I have to pass three of their trials before they let me leave. I have no clue why the Guild didn't make arrangements ahead of time. Did they expect me to travel through Warusa for some reason?" He explains the situation.
Raikou was originally serious when Axel mentioned being trapped by 3 unknown Immortals but when he skipped over the details and complained about the guild, she realized that it wasn't a completely serious situation. She pouts a bit to agree with his complaint but then smiles before she says.
"It might have to do with your record of being a monster killer. Simply consider Warusa a single-celled monster split up into multiple varying bodies. As if a group of goblins was possessed by a parasite that made them all have the same mindset." She says which surprises Axel as he didn't think that Raikou would have such a low estimate upon the life of the people of Warusa who were essentially led astray as well as the very suboptimal location for their home and can only be forced to do Banditry.
(I'm not much of a genshin person but Warusa is a mirror image of the Treasure Hoarders.)
Overall, if he was asked to annihilate them when he was still level 4 or so, then he would have done so but with his current mindset, he finds them more pitiful and…an easy target to obtain worship from. If he was needy of prayers or worship then he would certainly go there to usurp their burdens in exchange for prayers and faith but he already possesses that. From his actions as a 'god of magic' to defeating Antares (even if Bell kill-stealed). Then just the news that reached level 7 a while ago was more than enough to bring him faith as he is the youngest adventurer to have reached so far with Bell coming up a close second.
Even then, Once news of him reaching level 8 is released then he might be directly deified. Yet he doesnt want that as he is almost certain that would create the same effect as him reaching level 10 and thus kill him unless he can somehow form a proper defense against his own soul from shattering into chunks.
As such, he has been regularly using his mantra energy to resist the build up of faith beyond a certain point until he can come up with a solution to his problem. While he is contemplating his situation as well as Warusa. Raikou seems to frown as she can tell that he didn't outright agree with her words. Ever since he has come back from the dungeon and experienced that strange glow on his falna, he has been more reserved and peaceful.
His passion in bed remains the same but he has neglected standard contact. As if he is afraid of getting stronger. She understands that nowadays even normal contact with anyone and anything can help him get stronger, so that is inevitable, but she is still saddened by his inaction.
Axel snaps himself out of his thoughts as he remembers something he has to do in the city. He gets up and states, "I will probably rarely come by except to give a progress report on what is going on with Shalzard and my situation there. I'll resume the regular visits once I finally leave the desert city. "
"What are you going to do now?"
"For now, nothing except sleep there, but I do have something planned for tomorrow as long as the trials from the 'king' don't take too long" Raikou takes Axel into a hug, his face buried in her chest. Her hand stroking his hair, her strength making a mockery of the toughness of his straight spikey hair.
"Take care of yourself my dearest. I would rather be with you than have you be the strongest." She voices her resolution, acknowledging his own changes. Her words ignite his passion a bit and he lays claim to her lips for a deep kiss to openly broadcast his desire for her. When their lips separate, Raikou puts her head against his broad chest. Simply immersing herself in the hug,
When they separate Raikou points to him and warns him, "Don't be getting more girls now"
"No promises" he laughs and teleports back to the guest room reserved for him.
He remains undisturbed throughout the night as he goes to sleep.
When morning rises another servant brings him to a small dining room where he is served a diverse desert meal. Koshari, Molokhia, Ful Medames[1], a diverse breakfast feast just for him which he does not decline. It's a colorful new experience for him as he has never had such dishes back in Orario. Another reason for him to slow his pace and enjoy the life given to him.
Once he finishes his food, the plates and bowls are taken away while he is led out of the city and into a new area. Axel quickly spots a stadium that seems to have been made out of mud which has solidified into rock. Walking through the passageways, the servant soon excuses himself as what lies beyond is only for Axel to walk through. He shrugs and continues onward, step by step, he finds himself inside a mock Coliseum with rows of people sitting down and observing the situation. They cheer or boo upon seeing him enter the area.
Axel stands in the center of the makeshift coliseum as he soon spots the king, Gilgamesh, his advisor Enkidu and one cloaked figure with a white skull mask and small tufts of blue hair sticking out from the cloak, they are all within a gold room. Now this is not mud that has been painted gold but an actual solid gold room which is being held up by the solid mud. Axel can even feel the magic flowing out of the advisor, Enkidu, into the mud building around him. Ensuring that it remains solid and doesnt break apart until either today's event is over or the overall event ends.
Gilgamesh raises his hand and the audience quiets down.
"A challenger stands before you all, To earn the right of passage through our land, he has accepted to undergo three challenges in your honor. As is his honor to stand before me and all of you, my subjects. " Gilgamesh introduces Axel while painting himself better. From what Axel understood of the previous days talks, when the earthquake struck, the king had used his large amount of wealth to help them rebuild. Now he is supposedly getting money back so he has to maintain his image as a magnanimous ruler. Keeping the people happy like sheep.
"The first trial he must undergo is to survive under my blades for 5 minutes. The second trial shall commence after that. The last trial will start tomorrow to give our challenger a chance to rest up." Gilgamesh the king explains what the first trial is as well as how the overall situation will occur.
"You have 5 minutes to prepare before you face my onslaught" The king informs Axel who shrugs uncaringly before he equips his berserker armor but without the helmet. He instead summons his own nen ability, the nen mask. He puts it on while another mask also floats next to him and begins to morph into Isaac Netero but the thing is that Axel himself also transforms into that as his nen armor (berserk armor) remains but Axel himself grows older but certainly more skilled and wise.
Gilgamesh who could finally utilize his eye technique upon the Netero mask shade is able to finally see the origin of their techniques. Life force manipulation and Ghost soul creation.
He bears an intrigued expression at the choice of actions that Axel has chosen when the duo of Netero seem to nod at each other before proclaiming to the king "we are ready, young one"
The two have a mischievous expression as they look up at Gilgamesh who pays them no more heed except to summon his Gate of Babylon. A magic where he may access all the treasures he has accumulated throughout his lifetime. With Babylon itself being an ancient kingdom that was the original 'Empire' that controlled the entire Kaios Desert. It was actually do to his own ascension to immortality that forced Gilgamesh into going into the safety of his own hideout to complete the transformation that the Kaios Desert was split into two.
When this king had emerged, Babylon was no more, It was now Shalzard and Warusa, with great annoyance he spent his time collecting all the trinkets and historical artifacts related to Babylon and other false nations that have risen up over time. It was only when he was done wandering around that he came to Sorshana to lay claim to the throne before it truly exploded into revolution and corruption from the late king's declining rule.
Now the Gate of Babylon, the treasury of King Gilgamesh is showcased to the world as golden portals appear in midair with the tips of various spears, swords or blunt side of a few hammers peep out through the golden glimmers.
Meanwhile, down below, the two Neteros clasp their own hands together and 2 golden icons are formed from their nen.
The 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva makes its appearance. But not just one, but two of them in fact. Axel sees no reason to try holding back against an ancient legend who could likely not be holding back. This is also a show of force for any discontent citizen of this country and the surrounding countries.
The first set of blades come flying down in Axel's direction when the shade uses its bodhisattva to redirect the blades to the opposite end of the arena using the technique First hand which is a simple chopping actions. Yet shortly after the blades are smacked away, a golden portal absorbs them again before they once again rejoin the storage magic.
Enkidu, who is still up in the golden room, is keeping count. He soon announced the 1 minute mark and the intensity of the attacks increased. The collision of blade and nen construct becomes much louder and more ferocious. Axel's nen expenditure increases as he overlays his berserk armor defense onto the bodhisattva. He also directly transitions from only using the First hand to the Ninety Ninth Hand which is more of an onslaught technique where all the arms move to slap away the various weapons.
Afterall, the enemy is not Gilgamesh but his weapons, and Axel has no idea what any weapon he summons does or is which means his berserk armor is functioning at full power. Unfortunately the shade nen spirit does not have that armor which means that a few of it's many arms break apart and need time to recover. Luckily for the shade, it and Axel himself are sharing the burden and thus are not using all their arms the whole time. This means that he can afford to alternate the arms and last longer. At least for a while more.
"Two minutes" The intensity grows 3 times over as the amount of weapons being shot out with great force grows exponentially. The shade Netero soon loses his Bodhisattva but is able to escape danger to hide behind Axel until it can reform it again. In the meantime, Axel has to persist in blocking the heavy multitude of weapons himself. Many of his own Bodhisattva's arms break apart before the shade is able to reconstruct his and provide a moment of relief for Axel to regain his nen constructed arms and this cycle repeats itself 2 more times before Enkidu proclaims.
"Three minutes"
BOOM
Both Axel and the shade lose their bodhisattva's but they were primarily enhancers anyways so they begin a show of dodging the various weaponry. Axel would have liked to use the Zero hand to blow away a large number of weapons but the Gate of Babylon is capable of suppressing the Bodhisattva which makes it impossible to use the Zero hand.
Axel himself primarily gets targeted by the falling blades as the king only needs to target the one that can block his eyes. This affords Axel some time to have his shade set up the buddha construct again only for it to stall just a few seconds where they enter the final section.
"Four Minutes"
Whoomp BOOM
Axel coughs up some blood, not due to the weapons but due to the backlash from his shade skill as the shade Netero was directly pierced by a single sharp blade. Because the masks share a similar original, Axel's transformation is also undone until the fragment can recover from the blow. Which means that Axel has to use other means to survive.
With the call of four minutes, Gilgamesh did not unleash more blades but used less yet they are more deadly as he personally controls them to fly around with far greater power. That is how the shade was pierced as it was unexpected for an already released blade to be granted the extra power when it was already part of the sea of blades falling on them.
Axel himself is now left with just his original berserk armor on but not for long as 2 more sets of arms manifest on him. These extra arms get covered in the berserk armor as well for extra defense. In addition to this, Axel summons the Asura shade but is wary of whatever method the king used to identify him as the real one. He overlays the gluttony shade on Asura as well as some similar Berserk armor. The two Armored Asuras now unleash their Wrath against the oncoming blades while the king remains ignorant of which is which except from them being in their original positioning.
Regardless, he has to take down the shade to reach Axel himself as they prove too much of a distraction against his weapons.
"4 minutes and 30 seconds" Enkidu's call seems to slightly annoy Gilgamesh who utilizes more power. The arena has already been ruined from all the flying blades being knocked away at the beginning of the challenge but now, it is decimated. Potholes 10 feet wide are born in the deep sand of the arena as Axel's and shade's fists collide with the few but powerful blades. The Berserk armor shatters, revealing both Axel and the Asura but with their similar physiques and auras, along with the gluttony overlay on the shade Asura. Gilgamesh actually can't tell which is which. The audience loves this change as with 20 seconds left, it comes down to the wire of whether Axel can continue to resist the onslaught of 'their king'.
The various blades gradually grow faster, tougher, and hit harder with each passing second. Soon enough the Asura Shade is shattered, if it had a stronger body or something to support it's 'lifeforce' then it could have used it's own rage immortality to survive longer but Axel could not afford that as he was too focused on the current situation to care about the shade. With how much power is flowing through the gates weapons, Axel would rather take a soul hit than a direct one from these spears/swords.
Axel finally summons the Radahn Shade mixed with Migi to grant it higher flexibility because his gluttony is weakened but still maintaining it's one layer and the Asura shade is also now on recovery time. Axel originally maintained his current arms through his wrath mantra. He grants Radahn the strength of his prime as he infuses Wrath and Nen into it. Radahn seems to gain his fleshy body as he walks on his own and does not look like a shade at all. Though it does have a red glow upon its body due to the wrath energizing it. A single blade is formed in Radahns hands as it can tell with only 5 seconds left that it needs a decisive attack to stop anything that might come after Axel.
This is true as Gilgamesh stares into the eyes of the demigod before it and scoffs before summoning a single flying spear infused with the more than enough magic power. The blade breaks the sound barrier multiple times over as Radahn swings his blade down in the path
BOOOM
"5 minutes. The challenger has completed the first trial" Enkidu proclaims as the dust soon settles and it is discovered that the last blade that Gilgamesh sent had maneuvered just to the side of Radahns blade. This allowed it to pierce through the giants chest and through it's back to reach Axel. but with the time over, the blade hangs just in front of Axel's face before being dispelled. Gilgamesh returns to his seat while the audience goes hysterical in their applause.
Axel himself has to sit down as he coughs up more blood. He is down to just 3 fragments left now: the elf shade, the soul eater, and the spartan. All others have been wounded and are recovering right now. Axel has also tired himself out mentally as his mind was used to support all his shades and it's(his mind) the secondary pain he felt from their backlash.
"Congratulations to the challenger for completing the first trial. You may take a ten minute break before the next trial. All you have to do is drink from this cup and survive"
The king congratulates Axel before holding up a silver chalice that contains an unknown liquid.
"The chalice contains poison from my kingdom's foremost poison specialist. The Poison Girl." his announcement hushes the audience.
"The poison has been diluted enough to not be fatal yet that just means it is far more agony inducing as the poison itself attempts to reach its full potential while ravaging your body."
With the full introduction done, the silver chalice disappears in a portal before appearing before Axel. He curiously takes the cup and looks inside. He expects something hideous but finds the liquid is primarily clear, though a bit sappy, like half melted jello.
Axel has a curious expression as he swirls it around in the cup before setting it down. He plans to actually make the full use of his rest to recover. Thus a strange chatter spreads throughout the audience as the rumors of the Poison Girl spread out. Axel doesnt really pay attention to it but he does overhear that nobody has ever survived her poison and that her human kill count should be in the hundreds if the rumors are true.
The 10 minute wait soon ends and Enkidu makes it known to the audience and thus they hush again as they stare at Axel.
The person in question takes a deep breath before lifting up the cup once more. He gulps down his saliva as while he has been training his poison resistance for a while, it has never become an official skill for him yet. At most his development skill has been growing semi-rapidly under it.
He downs the whole cup and he is surprised that the taste is actually a bit sweet before he swallows it down quickly.
Axel sets the cup down as he looks up at the king and is about to speak when, "Heeeyyyyyyyyyyyyyiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii" his head flops back like he is looking at the sky and the audience can visibly see various veins make their presence known throughout his body. Axel is still conscious and experiencing great pain from the poison violently attacking his body. He can tell what he just drank was still fully lethal and if the kings words about diluting it may or may not be true. He has no time to ask. The first line of defense which is his injured gluttony rushes forward against the poison like normal but due to that same weakness, the poison pushes back and continues to harm him quickly and smoothly. He mentally controls his mantra energy to fight off the poison but finds that even that is a losing battle as he detects a hint of emotion within the poison that actually counters his wrath. The poison was made with love, and a desire to be touched.
This passion and love weakens his mantra enough to break through as the poison itself acts like an acid to it, somehow.
"Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieheheheahahaahah." Axel continues his little high pitch groan before using his will to move his head back down. He now stares deeply into his own legs from his sitting position. He can see the veins on his legs and arms. Visually see the poison spread throughout his body before at the last moment, he activates his newest fragments ability, Spartan Rage. "HAAAAHHHHH"
Axel lets out a mighty roar as the veins on his body are suppressed, the rage maintaining his peak physical power and his body feeds his mind which means that his gluttony gets a massive boost to fight back against the poison which is now fully on the back foot.
Up on the golden room, the black cloaked figure with the white mask suddenly steps forward to lean a bit over the edge to get a closer look at Axel and how the poison is affecting him. Or rather how it isn't working against him. With gluttony temporarily healed, Axel activates it with max layers which creates a black aura around him. The audience believes that the poison might have somehow evolved into the black mist and is about to affect them but they have enough trust in Enkidu to prevent that.
The black mist of gluttony hovers around Axel as the poison is rapidly weakened until it's forced to stop as his Rage timer ends and he returns to his previous condition. The black smoke is dispelled but Axel is not in as much agony as he was before. The poison is much more manageable to allow the weakened gluttony to deal with.
He soon breathed a sigh of relief as he passed the second trial. Gilgamesh and Enkidu congratulate Axel once more and the audience cheers. After a few minutes everyone is dismissed as Axel himself is brought away on a stretcher by some stronger servants. They place Axel on his bed as he is truly too tired and injured to move around. He just wants to sleep, and does so.
While Axel returns to the dream land, back at the makeshift Coliseum, it rapidly collapses as the mud is absorbed back into Enkidu. The golden room is buried underneath the sand until it is to be used again for entertainment.
The black cloaked figure excuses themselves as they return to their personal room. They soon collapse on their knees whilst taking off their mask to reveal a cute dark-skinned girl with a slim figure. This is Hassan of Serenity, the Poison Girl. The one who provided the truly undiluted poison for Gilgamesh to feed Axel as part of his trials. As someone who has been in the assassination profession, she has had a small bit of pride in her poison. Yet over the ages her profession and desires have been in conflict. She has grown the desire to be touched, to be caressed, embraced, kissed. All without actually killing the other person.
Her expression rapidly shifts from a calm analytical expression to unfiltered euphoria at the knowledge that someone didn't actually die from her poison. Her body trembles as if she is undergoing a mental orgasm.
"Heh, Ha..haha. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA"
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[1] I must note that I do not know anything about Egyptian Cuisine, so I looked it up and chose something that doesnt outright say that it's street based food like Hawawshi while still being diverse and nutritious.
Koshari is "a hearty dish combining lentils (no clue what that is), rice, chickpeas, pasta and a spicy tomato sauce. It's unique blend of flavors and textures make it a staple in egyptian cuisine"
Molokhia is "a nutritious stew made from the leaves of a jute plant, cooked with garlic and coriander. Served over rice or with bread. It's a popular dish known for its distinctive, earthy taste."
Ful Medames is "a traditional Egyptian breakfast dish features cooked fava beans mixed with oil, garlic and lemon juice. Served with pita bread, it's a flavorful and protein-rich start of the day."
Fyi i did not copy and paste the descriptions, I had to manually type them since it's a brochure pic that had these dishes and descriptions.