Apocalypse: becoming the hidden Ruler[English]

For a moment, it was as if everyone else had vanished from existence.

“You forgot about my awakened technique?” Axel said lightly.

Lilith stared at him, then clicked her tongue.

“Now I understand how you escaped. You really are a monster.”

The group found a shallow depression in the terrain, spread out, and began cultivating.

Axel crushed the life crystal in his palm and let its energy flow into him.

Warmth surged through his body—smooth, deep, intoxicating. Axel closed his eyes without realizing it.

Fuck… this feels good.

In Everton, life crystals were practically nonexistent. Every one he’d absorbed there had been squeezed dry, treated like two because he never knew when the next would come. Now, in the Abyss, he was finally experiencing what real cultivation felt like again.

After a while, he opened his eyes and stared up at the blood-red sky.

“I wonder how Annabelle’s doing…”

Even knowing Sergio and the others were nearby, a quiet loneliness settled over him. It had been more than three months since he’d seen his sister.

Then—

The spacetime worm inside him twitched.

Axel froze.

This was the first time it had moved on its own since entering his body.

Until now, revealing his presence had always been his choice. He hadn’t known the worm could respond independently.

Axel narrowed his eyes and stood.

“So… you’re here.”

He turned slowly, gaze sweeping the horizon.

“Too bad Mr. Victor can’t interfere.”

While regrouping earlier, Axel had taken the time to visit the Infinite Cold Cave—the place where he’d once leapt in with the soon-to-be-infected Millers, where he’d first encountered Victor.

But this time, the cave was sealed.

Not physically—spatially.

An overwhelming force warped the space around it, impenetrable no matter how many times Axel circled it. He didn’t need confirmation. This was Victor’s doing.

Which meant Victor was fully occupied with something far more important.

Axel exhaled slowly.

“Looks like we’re on our own.”

His gaze hardened.

This time, he wasn’t just running.

This time, he intended to kill—

Especially the woman who had murdered Mr. Charles.

.......

Inside the Abyss, Pheasant scanned his surroundings.

A tiger-shaped Level Four mutant burst from the shadows and lunged—

—and was instantly torn apart by Blacksnake’s twisted claws.

Blood sprayed across the ground.

Pheasant casually tore off a chunk of meat, chewed a few times, then spat it out.

“Awakened are still better,” he muttered. “Shame I didn’t get to taste that woman’s hand.”

He had removed his mask, revealing a narrow face with sharp features and unsettling, monkey-like eyes. Fresh blood smeared his lips, giving him a feral look.

“Tch. I still have to leave blood markers,” he grumbled. “What a fucking hassle.”

If Lorenzo hadn’t ordered it, he would never have done this.

Since joining the Saints—especially after that encounter with the military squad—Pheasant’s confidence had exploded.

A full team of four Level Five Awakened had barely slowed him down. One had been blinded. Another had lost both hands.

Still, he slit his wrist.

Blood streamed into a small bowl, which he placed carefully in a concealed spot before sealing the wound.

“I’ll do this three times. That’s it,” he muttered. “If I can’t find them after that, screw it.”

Their blood was power itself. Even a small amount mattered.

His face tightened as he stood.

Ten minutes later.

A slender figure appeared silently where the bowl had been left.

Annabelle crouched, lifting it with delicate fingers. Her eyes sparkled with curiosity.

“Whose blood is this?”

She’d consumed the blood of countless people before—but this was different.

The power within it called to her.

She extended her long, pale fingers.

The blood dissolved into a fine crimson mist, spiraling upward and flowing into her body.

A faint flush spread across her cheeks. Even without tasting it, she couldn’t help licking her lips.

“…Is there more?”

Her spiritual power spread outward.

A moment later, her eyes lit up.

There was.

Somewhere else.

......

Pheasant was losing his mind.

Since entering the Abyss, he’d bled six bowls’ worth of blood. His face was visibly pale, his body sluggish—and yet the others still hadn’t come for him.

What the hell was going on?

Even worse, he could only sense Savannah. Lorenzo and Blacksnake were completely absent.

Those bastards…

He was convinced they were hoarding their blood, afraid of weakening themselves and leaving him exposed.

Four hours later, when they finally regrouped, Pheasant exploded.

“Are you fucking with me?” he shouted. “Where’s the blood connection we agreed on?!”

Lorenzo and Savannah stared at him, baffled.

“Who are you yelling at?” Lorenzo said. “Why do you look like shit?”

Pheasant shoved his wrist in their faces.

“I bled half to death waiting for you.”

“…What?”

Before the argument could escalate, Lorenzo raised a hand.

“Enough. Something’s wrong with the Abyss itself. I had to drain four bowls before I sensed anyone.”

He paused, thinking.

“The blood resonance here is weaker than outside. Space distortion is interfering.”

Only then did Pheasant notice—Blacksnake looked paler too.

Savannah closed her eyes.

“I’ve found Axel,” she said quietly. “He’s alone. But the spacetime worm only stored enough energy for one release. I can’t confirm whether he’s still there.”

Alone?

Lorenzo and the others’ eyes lit up.

“He’s confident,” Pheasant sneered. “Savannah… looks like he underestimated you.”

“He’ll regret it,” Savannah replied casually, adjusting her low-cut dress, collarbones gleaming. Even now, she looked unbothered—dangerously alluring.

“Let’s move,” Lorenzo said.

The four Saints vanished into the Abyss.

Not long after they left—

Annabelle appeared at the edge of the clearing.

She tilted her head, rubbing her smooth cheek thoughtfully.

“So… these are the Saints.”

Then she disappeared.

.......

Thick clouds churned violently across the blood-red sky. A north wind screamed through the hills, tearing sand and gravel from the ground, its mournful howl echoing endlessly within the caves.

Axel sat cross-legged atop a rocky outcrop, utterly unconcerned with hiding his presence.

In the distance, a familiar figure emerged.

Savannah—still barefoot, dressed in revealing, seductive clothing—walked forward with unhurried grace. She smiled directly at Axel, her steps light as she stopped fifty meters away.

“Meeting me here, Axel?” she said softly. “You’re getting more romantic by the day.”

Axel smiled back.

“You’re still beautiful.”

For a brief moment, they looked like old friends reunited. If not for the terrifying primal force rolling off Axel’s body, one might have thought they were about to embrace.

“Really?” Savannah’s cheeks flushed faintly. “That makes me so happy.”

Then she felt it.

Her pupils shrank.

The Force radiating from Axel was a violent fusion of lightning and flame, crackling and roaring around him like a living storm. For the first time, genuine shock flickered across her delicate face.

“…So strong,” she murmured.

Her relaxed posture vanished instantly. Savannah’s gaze sharpened, predatory and entranced all at once.

“You’ve fed yourself well,” she said softly. “You didn’t disappoint me.”

She glanced around, her tone suddenly affectionate—almost intimate.

“I’ve gone to great lengths for you, you know. Even when we captured Sethan, I didn’t mobilize this many people.”

As she spoke, three figures emerged from different directions.

Lorenzo.

Pheasant.

Blacksnake.

They completed the encirclement.

Five streams of Force—each wildly different from that of a normal Level Five Awakened—shot straight into the sky. Within dozens of miles, mutated beasts froze in terror, then scattered in all directions, kicking up massive clouds of dust as they fled.

“Too bad,” Savannah laughed, her silvery voice echoing across the hills. “We’re not alone after all.”

“Stop flirting,” Pheasant snapped impatiently. “Kill him fast. If we drag this out, more Awakened training in the Abyss will show up.”

Lorenzo narrowed his eyes, Force surging as he prepared to strike—

Then all four Saints froze at the same time.

“Who told you he was alone?”

A cold voice cut through the storm.

In the next instant, four men and one woman appeared as if stepping out of thin air, converging from all directions to stand near Axel.