Apocalypse: becoming the hidden Ruler[English]

“So many people… so many Level 4 and Level 5 Awakened…” Willow’s voice broke apart as if something inside her had shattered. “Facing that tidal wave of beasts… one after another… swallowed whole…”

She clutched at her chest, sobbing uncontrollably. “They’re all dead… all of them… waaah…”

“It’s Zachariah’s fault… it’s my fault… I was wrong… we killed them… we killed them all…” Grief crushed her. The sound of her crying filled the tent.

No one interrupted her. When her breathing finally steadied—just barely—Axel spoke again. “Everyone died?” he asked quietly. “What about Zachariah?”

Willow let out a dry, contemptuous laugh. “Him? Dead?” Her lips curled in disgust. “That clown. That fucking coward.”

“He tricked me.” Her nails dug into her palm. “He said we’d tear open a breach together. Buy everyone time to retreat.”

Her voice trembled with fury. “I burned my Force to carve out a path.”

“And when the opening appeared…” Her eyes turned bloodshot. “He ran.”

“He didn’t stand his ground like he promised. Didn’t fight. Didn’t even hesitate.”

“He slipped through the gap I tore open and left us behind.” Silence fell like a weight. “He was the strongest,” she continued bitterly. “Only he could seize that instant.”

“We couldn’t.”

“So we stayed.”

“And we died.”

No one spoke for a long moment. Felicia finally scoffed coldly. “Scum.” She crossed her arms. “He’s not even one percent of what Axel is.”

Willow’s lips twisted into a strange, almost manic grin. “But… he won’t live either.”

“A whole horde is chasing him.”

“Even a Level 6 can’t outrun that forever.” Her laughter was thin and unstable. “When he falls… ha… ha…” Her voice trailed off.

The light faded from her eyes. “Sigh…”

Axel had already sensed it the moment he activated his awakened technique. While restoring her briefly with Return to Origin, he’d examined her condition.

Her Force depletion wasn’t the real problem. It was the infection. Untreated wounds. Mutated toxins. Internal decay.

Her life force had been rotting from the inside out. It was a miracle she’d made it this far. Even his technique could only delay the inevitable. She was gone.

Axel closed his eyes briefly. “That bastard,” he murmured inwardly. “She’ll be meeting him soon enough…”

Then something clicked. His expression changed instantly. “Oh no.”

The others stiffened. Before anyone could ask, Axel stepped forward and pressed his hand against Willow’s life crystal.

A flicker of memory surged into his mind. A battlefield drowned in beasts. A sea of claws and fangs. And before that—

A figure. Familiar. Disheveled. Fleeing.

Zachariah. Behind him, countless mutated beasts in relentless pursuit.

The memory was chaotic, blurred by violent motion—but Axel’s perception cut through it cleanly. He extracted what mattered.

Direction. He withdrew his hand.

“The situation’s bad,” he said grimly.

“What is it?” Sergio demanded.

“What did you see?” Axel opened his eyes slowly. “That coward ran toward Northern Spiritual Town.”

The tent exploded. “What?!”

“That fucking bastard!” Nigel snapped.

Axel’s jaw tightened. He had already scouted the northern blockade once. The mutated beasts’ encirclement around Krythos had been evenly distributed—no obvious weak or strong points.

Balanced. But if Zachariah fled in that direction— Then the beasts chasing him would shift the distribution. And worse—

A darker possibility formed. Had the beasts intentionally left a gap? Had they allowed him to escape… to trace him back to a human defensive stronghold?

It sounded insane. But Axel remembered what he had seen before.

The formation. The coordination. That wasn’t random animal behavior. There were intelligent entities commanding them.

His first instinct was clear. Intercept Zachariah.

Kill him before he reached Northern Spiritual Town. Then choose a different weak point in the blockade and break through there.

If the beasts lost his trail, they wouldn’t locate Northern Spiritual Town so easily. And if that town truly was a major defensive node, once they joined forces—

The northern line could stabilize. But Axel slowly shook his head.

Too late. Time had already passed.

Even with the Berserk Beast allowing him to ignore most obstructions, catching a fleeing Level 6 being hunted by a horde would be nearly impossible.

And leaving Isos and Valentino behind? Not a chance. He wasn’t that stupid.

“Axel,” Sergio said calmly, “this might not be entirely bad.”

Axel glanced at him. “Explain.”

“If Zachariah drags a large portion of the mutated beasts toward Northern Spiritual Town in the short term, the previously balanced perimeter will develop a significant weak point.”

Sergio tapped the map. “That makes it easier for us to execute our original plan.”

“We punch through the weakened section of the blockade.”

“Once inside, we join forces with Northern Spiritual Town.” He looked up. “With our strength combined with theirs, the beasts concentrated in that sector can likely be crushed.”

Axel fell silent. He ran the logic again.

Yes. They would breach more easily. And once inside the containment zone—

There would be no choice. They would either cooperate with Northern Spiritual Town… Or be devoured separately.

“Stick to the original plan,” Axel said calmly. “Don’t tell the other commanders about this. Seal off that newly discovered battlefield if you can. At the very least, make sure no one stumbles onto it before we launch the first breakout.”

“No problem,” Saka replied with a nod.

The meeting dispersed.

“Kid.” Lilith’s voice stopped Axel just as he was about to leave.

He turned back. “Something wrong?”

She studied him for a moment, frowning slightly. “You weren’t yourself just now.”

Axel didn’t dodge it. “You’re right.” He had been agitated. Distracted. His emotions had shown more than he intended. Normally he would’ve caught Sergio’s angle immediately—the opportunity hidden inside the chaos. That was the kind of subtle shift he excelled at exploiting.

But this time, Sergio had been the one to point it out.

“You… haven’t been influenced by something, have you?” Lilith asked carefully. “Carrying some kind of burden?”

Axel gave a faint smile. “I always thought I was a pretty self-centered person.”

“In the beginning, my priorities were simple. Annabelle’s safety. My own future. That was it. Other people’s lives and deaths? Not my problem.” He paused. “But maybe joining the Whisper Syndicate changed me. Or maybe… that cold version of me wasn’t my real nature.”

He met her eyes directly. “I saw her die.” His voice lowered. “I saw how those Awakened fell one after another. The fear. The despair. It didn’t have to happen.”

Lilith frowned. “You think this is your fault? That’s ridiculous. They were courting death. You told me what happened back then—they ignored you. They chose to follow Zachariah.”

“They did,” Axel admitted with a small nod. “They walked into it.”

He smiled faintly. “But I had the ability to stop it.”

Lilith didn’t interrupt.

“It’s not about whether I was obligated,” he continued. “It’s about the fact that I could have.”

“I hate trouble. Especially when it involves Annabelle. Over the years I’ve become overly cautious. Avoid conflict when possible. Take calculated risks only when eliminating a bigger threat.”

She nodded slowly.

“But I’ve realized something,” Axel went on. “The reason I feared trouble wasn’t just strategy. It was detachment. I didn’t want emotional entanglements. And I was weak. I had too many burdens. Too many constraints.”

He exhaled. “That’s changed.”

“Spending time with the team changed it. I’ve met people who would step up without hesitation. That shifts your perspective.”

“And as for the second reason…” He smiled. “I’m not weak anymore.”

“I’m Level Six now. Not just barely there—one of the stronger ones at that level.” His voice hardened slightly. “When you have that kind of strength, you don’t need to tiptoe around everything.”

Lilith’s eyes flickered.

“That Zachariah,” Axel continued, “I should’ve knocked him flat on his ass the moment he started spouting bullshit.”

“Even if those people trusted him, I could’ve demonstrated overwhelming force. With Sergio’s backing, we could’ve brought them under control.”

He shook his head. “Now that I have power, I should use it.”