Chapter 599: Machinations of the Hidden Enemy

Axel dashed towards the enemies with all his might, wordlessly streaking through the air like a blue comet.

With a twisted expression, he reached deep into his bloodline, trying to activate the Ancestral Demon of Despair transformation.

But warning rune symbols flashed in his eyes, displayed by Prime.

[Axel Nomrad does not have enough Demonic Energy to activate the transformation.]

[Nor is your physical state stable enough to activate the form.]

The Runecaster scowled and ordered mentally, 'The essence of Despair absorbed from Ken and his Mother; use that to recover my state and energy reserves.'

Prime did not wait, understanding the severity of the situation; it instantly used those two flickering balls of darkness, converting part of its power into Axel's pure Demonic Energy reserves, filling them immediately, and converting the other part into an unknown form of energy.

Prime used this to heal Axel's damaged physique, which the Demon had taken during his gruelling battle against the Dusker Duke.

Without his strongest Demonic form, Axel couldn't hope to take on even a single 5th phase seeker right now, let alone two.

Just as Axel felt his Demonic energy reserves fill back to 100%, an ill word was whispered in his ear.

[Axel Nomrad has taken too much hidden damage when battling against the Duke]

[Your body has been healed temporarily, only enough to withstand the transformation for 5 minutes]

Axel's mind was rattled; with that short time in hand, he dared not waste a single moment trying to buy time or talk against his hated enemy. Rather, he immediately activated the transformation.

Booom!!!

As his body transformed into the harrowing visage of a grey demon with white stripes as the Demon of Eternal Despair, all his stats and powers multiplied.

A profane wave of black demonic energy spread out, instantly enshrouding more than 5 kilometres.

Like Axel, his two 5th-phase enemies headed in the same direction, gathering power to launch a mighty attack. His enemies were doing the same.

They were moments away from clashing head-on, with no words being exchanged.

Axel's gaze turned cold upon that sight. He realised that he would have to go all out with his strongest attack from the very start. There was no other choice.

Axel pulled on the endless thick attribute of Despair flowing through his demonic bloodline, and swiped his claws horizontally.

A blinding wave of black flames, with white flickers emanating beneath it, shot towards the two enemies.

The rushing 5th-phase powerhouses abruptly stopped midair, as if sensing the threatening might of Axel's dual-coloured Despair Flames.

However, the next moment Mason Vex gave Axel a mocking look, his figure gliding slightly backwards, and the other 5th-phase existence stepped forward.

Axel narrowed his eyes and, for the first time, paid attention to the unknown figure beside Mason Vex; the man was tightly wrapped in black bandages or cloth from head to toe, and not even his eyes were visible.

The unknown figure glided forward, holding one hand upward; a mass of swirling blackness appeared on his hand, and a beam of power shot out, piercing Axel's Horizontal arc of flames.

Axel's eyes widened; he couldn't understand what sort of power that was, even as his Runic eyes struggled to decipher the magic that nullified his Demonic Flames with such ease.

Gritting his teeth, he drew out the Black Relic sword, coating it with the Flames of Despair and pouring more of the purest despair into it. Then he proceeded to set his entire figure ablaze with the Demonic Flames.

And slashed down towards the head of the unknown powerhouse. But the figure dodged with ease and punched him in the jaw with such force that Axel was pushed hundreds of meters back.

The patriarch of the fallen Vex family let out a wild laugh, filled with ridicule and glee,

"DON'T WORRY, TODAY, NEITHER YOU, YOUR FATHER, NOR A SINGLE ONE OF YOUR FOLLOWERS WILL SLIP AWAY FROM MY HANDS."

"I WILL BE THE ONE TO SHOW YOU TRUE DESPAIR, OSIRIS."

Axel ignored Vex Patriarch's provocative words until the man turned towards the unknown powerhouse and said, "Take care of the demon; I'm going to get the wretches who fled."

Mason Vex's figure shot toward where Axel's minions had fled.

Axel's head turned, looking at Mason with a cold gaze. He first executed a sword attack filled with his Demonic Flames towards the Unknown powerhouse.

The tip of his black blade pointed towards Mason.

With a mighty thrust, the beam of his demonic flames shot out at unprecedented speed. The Vex powerhouse, sensing the sudden danger, scowled and put forth countless defensive runic artefacts.

More than 10 shields manifested around him, between the incoming beam of dual-coloured flames.

But in the face of the Demonic Flames, all ten of the shields crumbled like paper.

Then the unknown figure appeared in front of Mason once more and dispersed the Demonic Flames.

Mason Vex's momentary panic vanished, and he sighed in relief. "Thank you, Umbra."

In response, the man spoke for the first time, "Stay beside me; she has already gone to capture them."

Axel's eyes narrowed; he caught the word Mason used to call the figure: 'Umbra.'

It took him no more than a second to realise, as he asked coldly in his Demonic voice, oozing with killing intent, "YOU???"

"You're the leader of the assassin sect? You're the head of the Hand of Umbra???"

The Umbra turned toward Axel, then stepped forward as if on an invisible platform he could walk on, even in midair, and said in a condescending tone, "So, what if I am?"

The Umbra chuckled and snapped his fingers; the moment he did, the world changed, and the sense of premonition Axel felt doubled as he witnessed, within a 20-kilometre radius, the very lines through which his previous barrier had existed.

Another expansive barrier appeared, revealed only in his eyes in that moment; it was not conjured.

Meaning it had been there from long before, but from when? Axel had no answer.

And then the Umbra said in a mocking tone, "Osiris, did you think you could get away with destroying one of my sect's branches?"

"Did you think I would let you plant a spy within my sect and I would not know?"

"Did you think you could kill my assassins after your use, and I would simply let it be?"

Both parties exploded into a maelstrom of power, Axel especially, as he fought back with more desperation than ever.

He didn't have much time left before his 'Demon of Despair' form dissolved, and despite his best efforts, nothing seemed to work against the Umbra.

Umbra proved far stronger than he'd imagined; his powers were too strange, too bizarre. Strangely, Umbra felt more powerful than the Duke, but also not.

The man fought with strings of iron, black, sharp threads, just like how the 7th Umbra used to fight. But he was 100 times more deadly in his overall efficiency and easily 10 times or more powerful.

Meanwhile, Mason Vex continued to attack from a distance using his Rune artefacts, but Axel mostly ignored them, as they barely posed a threat.

Axel let out a bellowing Demonic roar, "GROOOOOOOOOO-AARRRRRRRGHHH-RAAAAAAA-RRRR!"

The Demonic screech made the sky and earth tremble; it was powerful enough to freeze the minds of all living beings for a moment.

Axel was holding back on it to use it at the right time and seriously injure his opponent, and it indeed worked, just like how his Demonic Roar could freeze even the Duke of Dusker.

The Demon slashed at the enemy's neck, intending to finish the powerhouse in one fell swoop.

But to his horror, the Umbra moved with his usual overwhelming speed, surpassing Axel's own... dodging the Demon's attack and shoving his hands through one of Axel's hearts.

Pulling it out with effortless ease, the Umbra opened his mouth and let out a disturbing screech that froze Axel completely.

The mind-stunning power of that skill, executed by the Umbra, far outclassed his demonic roar; Axel had originally learned the Demonic roar from the 7th Umbra when he went to destroy the Assassin sect's branch.

And now he was experiencing the true power of that skill, in all its original might.

Even he, in his strongest form, was utterly rattled and couldn't move an inch, his thoughts frozen.

In that instant, another hand seemed to pierce his back, reaching for his remaining demonic heart, as if it knew full well he had two hearts in the first place.

And just as the umbra had done, this demonic heart of his was also torn out with a merciless yank.

When Axel was finally able to move, he turned his head and saw the face of the figure who had attacked him from behind, and it was not Mason Vex; rather, a third figure, a familiar face he had met only once.

It was the favourite consort of the Suncrest King, the favourite woman of the Strongest Human, Leonidas's only concubine.

Runa Suncrest.

However, at this moment, her visage was not that of a Human, but rather a black-skinned, long-eared elven figure.

SHE WAS A DARK ELF!!