“We haven’t introduced ourselves yet,” the man continued. “I’m Watson, captain under Lord Isos.”
The other stepped forward. “Harris. Intelligence chief under Lord Valentino.”
Axel glanced sideways at Sergio. “Did anyone ask for their names?”
“Nope,” Sergio replied flatly.
For a split second, both men froze.
Then Axel laughed. “Relax. Just trying to lighten the mood. Tense mission and all. You don’t mind, right?”
“Of course not.”
“Not at all.”
Axel’s gaze dropped briefly to the wolves. “These are beasts you personally tamed? Impressive. Even Krythos doesn’t have large-scale techniques like this.”
“Heh. Just a few tricks,” Watson replied smoothly. “Hardly worth mentioning.”
Harris quickly steered the conversation back on track. “Given the urgency, have you decided which beast herd we’re drawing away?”
Axel didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he looked straight at Harris.
“You’re Valentino’s intelligence chief. Surely you’ve got some solid recommendations. Let’s hear them.”
Harris paused, then nodded. “Based on our intelligence, the most active herds threatening the City of Sin are concentrated near Moonlit Lake, southwest of here.”
“Moonlit Lake…” Axel smiled faintly. “Then let’s head to Moonlit Lake.”
Harris blinked. “Just like that?”
“You’re the professionals,” Axel said calmly. “I trust your judgment.”
Watson and Harris exchanged a quick look.
“Is there a problem?” Axel asked, meeting Harris’s eyes, the smile never leaving his face.
“N–No problem,” Watson said quickly. “Then… let’s move.”
Axel nodded. “Lead the way.”
“…About that,” Harris hesitated, smiling stiffly. “With our current strength, setting up operations at Moonlit Lake might be… dangerous.”
Dangerous was putting it lightly. It was borderline suicidal.
Axel already knew the terrain well. Moonlit Lake was his original target from the beginning. No Level Seven mutated beasts—but an overwhelming concentration of Level Six ones.
Most terrifying among them: the Snow-Patterned Gray Wolf Packs.
“You’ll help lure part of the herd away,” Axel said casually. “Once I finalize the plan, we’ll split the pressure. Fair enough?”
Watson and Harris exchanged another glance, then nodded.
“We’ll assist within our capabilities.”
Half an hour later, under Harris’s guidance, they arrived at Moonlit Lake.
Axel and the others leapt onto a nearby ridge and looked down.
The sight below made cold crawl down their spines.
The crescent-shaped lake stretched across the frozen basin—and on both shores, mutated beasts packed together like an endless tide.
Everywhere.
“So many…”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
Terrence stared in disbelief.
Even Axel felt a flicker of shock. The number of beasts here far exceeded what he’d observed days earlier.
“…Something’s off,” Axel muttered, rubbing his chin.
Harris leaned closer to Watson, then cautiously asked, “Mr. Sergio… Mr. Yehuda… should we really proceed here?”
“Of course,” Axel answered without hesitation. “If anything, that just makes it more necessary.”
Harris nodded slowly. “Then I have a rough distribution map of the beast population. We can use it to divide responsibilities—”
“No need,” Axel waved him off. “I already have a general picture.”
“I’ll head southeast. You two take the southwest together,” Axel said calmly. “Turn back in three hours. In six, regroup at the original rendezvous point, then return to the City of Sin.”
Watson hesitated, then said quickly, “Mr. Yehuda… our strength is far below yours. We won’t be joining you.”
“Oh?” Axel gave them a long, unreadable look.
The two men immediately felt pressure crawling up their spines.
After a pause, Axel nodded. “Then do as you see fit. Just keep an eye on the time—and on your own safety.”
Watson and Harris finally let out the breath they’d been holding.
Then—without warning—
Axel leapt.
He shot into the air like a meteor, then slammed straight down toward the lake below.
“Holy shit?!” Watson and Harris both yelped.
They weren’t the only ones startled.
Below them, the vast, tightly packed sea of mutated beasts surrounding Moonlit Lake reacted as one.
Snow wolves, silver-spotted leopards, split-toothed hippos—creatures that had been drinking, resting, wandering—froze mid-motion and raised their heads.
Dozens. Hundreds. Thousands of eyes locked onto Axel.
They didn’t attack.
Axel attacked first.
He raised his right hand, extended it forward, clenched his fist palm-up—
And slowly raised his middle finger.
The beasts didn’t understand the gesture.
But they understood the message.
Provocation.
The ground around Moonlit Lake shook violently, like an earthquake tearing through the frozen earth.
Boom!
Several beams of condensed energy blasted down at Axel’s position, detonating the ground and sending ice and debris flying.
“Did he just die?” Harris muttered, half shocked, half hopeful.
The next instant—
Axel’s figure appeared somewhere else.
“Awooooo—!”
Furious, ear-piercing howls echoed across the lake as the mutated beasts exploded into motion, charging en masse toward Axel’s new position.
“I… I’ll try too,” Kenneth suddenly muttered.
Before anyone could stop him, a violent surge of Force erupted around his body. Metal warped and assembled midair, forming dozens of floating cannons, their black muzzles swiveling toward the incoming horde.
“Holy shit—are you insane?!” someone shouted.
Too late.
A blinding flash of white light erupted.
A devastating barrage rained down, obliterating everything in its path. Low-level mutated beasts were vaporized instantly, reduced to ash and scorched ice.
Then—
From the smoke—
More beasts came.
Roaring. Screaming. Stampeding.
An endless wave surged up the hillside toward them.
“Fight while retreating!” Sergio roared.
Beside him, Nigel transformed with a thunderous bellow.
Watson and Harris stared in disbelief as the Mountain Giant plunged his massive hands into the earth, ripped up an enormous slab of frozen ground, and hurled it downhill.
The leading beasts were crushed instantly—along with dozens behind them—blood and flesh splattering across the snow.
Sergio seized the opening.
He raised a finger.
The air twisted.
A distorted, spinning eye of wind formed in front of him, and a violent storm burst outward. The beasts further back, already destabilized, were lifted off their feet. Lighter ones were sucked screaming into the vortex.
“…What the hell.”
“They’re this strong?” Watson whispered, stunned.
“Fall back! Stop fucking around!” Sergio barked.
Nigel was flexing, muscles gleaming. Kenneth laughed darkly as his cannons reconfigured.
“You two—take care of yourselves,” Sergio said sharply to Watson and Harris. “Move.”
Without hesitation, Watson and Harris kicked their snow wolves into motion, fleeing down the opposite slope as fast as they could manage.
The three-pronged plan had officially begun—chaotically, violently, and without room for mistakes.
Sergio’s group, the strongest overall and the most versatile, maintained disciplined control of the battlefield.
When the beasts closed in, Sergio and Nigel suppressed the charge.
When the beasts hesitated, Kenneth provoked them with long-range artillery.
When a powerful individual broke through the line, Terrence stepped in and forced it back.
They advanced, retreated, pulled, and released—like expertly flying a deadly kite.
Watching the chaos, Luke frowned. “Those guys… something’s off about them, isn’t it?”
He was clearly talking about Watson’s group.
“Of course,” Sergio replied calmly. “If they were simple, Isos and Valentino wouldn’t be so confident.”
Luke’s frown deepened. “Then letting them split off… and having Axel go solo—wasn’t that risky?”
Felicia’s face went pale. “They’re not going to… scheme against Axel, are they?”
“Scheme?” Sergio laughed.
The others laughed too.
“Aren’t you worried?” Felicia pressed.
Sergio shook his head, amused. “Felicia, you don’t understand Axel.”
“There are plenty of people who can beat him.”
“But when it comes to plotting?”
He smiled.
“There aren’t many who can outplay him.”
......
At that very moment, while Sergio was lavishly “singing his praises,” Axel was already deep in the wilderness—leading a massive swarm of mutated beasts straight into a canyon.
“This terrain…” Axel swept his gaze across the narrow passage and steep walls. “Easy to get into. Hell to get out of.”
Even if he vanished for a while, these beasts wouldn’t be turning back toward the City of Sin anytime soon.
With that settled, Axel slipped behind a patch of tall grass. His figure flickered—and when he reappeared, his body had already morphed into that of a Level Four Three-Eyed Ghost Ape.
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