Extra's Path To Demon King-Chapter 453: Hidden Protector

Axel smiled and asked, "Is that what it was?"

He also heaved an internal sigh of relief, because he had activated the full effect of the runic eyes for a single second, and it should have become visible in his eyes. But thankfully, the Flame Lord had not noticed it.

The expression of Martin Greaves instantly turned sour by that question, and he explained, "You know about the Flow State, do you not?"

Axel nodded, and the Flame Lord continued, "Sword Flow could be called a superior variation of that state and also something much more specific and very powerful."

"If Flow State refers to the state of complete focus of one’s conscious and subconscious mind. Then the state of Sword Flow, in your case, refers to a momentary unity between your sword and the mind. You do not move the sword; rather, it simply flows in sync with the very nature of the world itself," he explained in a solemn tone.

Lord Martin further iterated how exceptional this feat of Axel was, "And only 4th phase powerhouses may be able to enter this state sometimes. But even then, it is very, very rare."

Axel chuckled. He honestly didn’t think that it was such a big deal. "You overestimate me, Lord Martin. You’ve clearly left a weak point in your flames, if not for that. How could I hope to break away from it? More than that..."

"It was only because I knew that this was merely a test from you that I could put my entire being into focus and not have to worry about the consequences. Otherwise, if it were a real battle, I’m afraid I naturally would not have the luxury to pull off this act," he humbly spoke the truth of the matter.

The Flame Lord rubbed his eyelids in frustration, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, "You punk, and that is precisely why this is so impressive. How many people do you think can pull this off, even if they put down all their worries, and let alone in front of an attack conjured by someone like me? It wouldn’t matter if it’s a small test. Most brats your age would shit themselves."

Axel showed a small smile, "But I’m not most people now, am I?"

Martin Greaves was stunned by the answer, then grinned widely. "Heh, of course, you are not."

He commented internally, ’Well, you are Damien’s grandson after all.’

The Flame Lord bid farewell to both father and son not long after, for obvious reasons, all the 5th phase powerhouses needed to be in their designated border regions.

As Martin Greaves left, Daniel’s eyes turned to his son, filled with countless questions, and this time, Axel could not simply muddle his way out of this. Even this caring father was not so lenient as to drop this matter so easily.

Daniel spoke, walking past him, "Rest up for today, but tomorrow we will have a talk."

Axel sighed and asked, "That Self-imposed vow? How are you?"

The conditional vow that his father made, when Mason Vex thoroughly provoked him, that alone should have caused his father to be in a near-death state when the first golden barrier was broken. Axel was, in fact, ready to jump out and use one of the oathbreaker stones to help his father.

But that did not happen, which both shocked and confused him greatly.

Daniel smiled, looking at his son’s confused expression, "The barrier that I indicated in the vows was not the first golden barrier. Nor was it the 2nd blue barrier, but there was a third invisible barrier surrounding the whole mansion all along. The deadliest and the strongest."

Axel was left speechless as he saw the back of his father grow smaller in his vision. But he remained standing on the roof of their mansion, looking at the miles and miles of devastation all around.

Though they had come out of this moderately unscathed. But the surrounding lands that suffered the consequences of such a high-stakes battle were all owned by his family.

So, from a business perspective, they suffered quite a loss as a byproduct. But the negative thoughts of those small losses all vanished the moment he thought about the desperate and rage-filled expression of Mason Vex.

Axel covered his mouth with one hand, as the grin on his face became hideously wide. It was all his plan after all; he orchestrated the arrival of both family heads of the Greaves and Vanelis households.

Before he even began this entire slaughtering operation, knowing that things could go really bad and that Mason Vex might directly attack his house without reason, he made the necessary contingencies.

***

Back in the Valanir regions, a destroyed mountain range where the Hand of Umbra’s previous branch resided.

When Axel, disguised as Osiris, was almost done conversing with the 6th Umbra about the details of how many assassins Axel needed, of what power level, and how much they would need to do. He added one final task for the assassins to perform when the battle was over: all third-phase assassins would monitor a five-kilometer radius around the Vex mansion.

Exactly, when Axel escapes from that place, if Mason Vex were to come after him. The hand of Umbra will be obligated to deliver the information of the Vex family massacre to both Simon Vanelis and Martin Greaves. As fast as possible and as subtly as possible.

Because these powerhouses’ intuition was extremely strong, they were just as hard to manipulate into someone else’s ploy.

They would receive this information either way, but that would not be fast enough for Axel’s needs.

This was the first step to make these two mighty figures come into his ploy and become his meat shield against Mason Vex.

Because if these two arrived here soon enough, they would be able to observe Marquess Mason’s trail and understand that he was attacking the Nomrad Mansion.

The second step was to find a legal basis for intervention. Even though Greaves and Vanelis family were supporting Axel from the shadows as the pillars of the kingdom, they needed a proper reason to be able to intervene.

So, Axel deliberately ripped off the heads of every killed seeker from the Vex family. Then, he left a wisp of his Ashen flames in the dead bodies. So that the corpses would serve as proof that members of the ghost race were indeed involved.

Third Step, the Nomrad family needed to be in the clear, as Gareth, through a long-distance hidden teleportation array, stepped into the Ravenspire minor kingdom. It would indicate that the perpetrators of the incident had fled.

Of course, even without any of these, Marquess Mason would already be in the wrong, as he had left his border post without permission and then attacked the Nomrad family just based on nothing but intuition.

Only by adding all of these facts together could Mason Vex be completely tied down, even though the entire Vex family was slaughtered. He would not be able to triumph against two of the strongest 5th-phase Seekers of Suncrest, even if he decided to risk his life.

Mason Vex may lie low for now, but he would definitely plan a brutal revenge against the Nomrad family from the shadows. So, this hidden threat has to be eliminated when the time is right, preferably as soon as possible. But unfortunately, as it may be, Axel was still far from being able to match toe-to-toe against even the weakest of the 5th-phase seekers.

It truly was a ginormous chasm; it was doubtful even if he advanced to the third phase whether he would be able to gain power equivalent to a 5th phase seeker, even with the chaosblood aspects’ strongest form.

So, apart from his progress in phases, which was almost as slow as a snail, due to his unique conditions in both aspects, he could only try to gain more insight into the ’Sin of Despair’, accumulate more ’Despair’ by spreading his influence.

Only through constantly progressing on the path of sin could his demon bloodline continue to become purer. Once he became a true demon. His strength would skyrocket exponentially.

It was precisely for that reason Axel had done all of this; he had not simply slaughtered the core members of the Vex family just out of spite, oh no, of course not. There was no need for him to piss off a 5th phase powerhouse just for the sake of vindictive revenge.

Rather, all of this was to jumpstart the war even faster. Since two ghost race members had dared to massacre one of the most important forces within Suncrest so brazenly.

No matter how unwilling the King was, he had to make a stand, and the other two great kingdoms would also have to do the same, because the academy massacre was already too much. But if the great kingdoms let this slide as well.

It would be akin to the three kings taking a sandle slap on the face and still doing nothing. Something they naturally would not tolerate, even if it were the ghost island that was actually backing the minor kingdoms.

***

The next day, Daniel asked his son, looking him in the eyes, "So, Axel, tell me the truth. Were you indeed involved in this incident, as Mason Vex said so?"

Axel let out a deep sigh and explained after a lot of hesitation, "Yes, you could say so. I was there."

His father frowned deeply, and before he could ask further, Axel continued, "The truth is, right after I was released by the royal family, after coming back from the academy. On my way home here. There was someone who came to meet me."

"Who?" asked Daniel in apprehension.

Axel stated with a hint of dread in his voice, "It was a demon, a demon who called himself Osiris."