Chapter 603: The Demon's Damnation

Mason dropped to his knees at the sight of the blue-eyed, monstrous runecaster floating high in the sky, gazing down at him with such scathing intensity, as if the Runic Sage could peer through Mason's very soul.

All the strength and willpower drained from the Vex Patriarch as if the very fear of the Runic Sage was encoded into his every cell.

And how could he not?

Especially considering that even the three Kings may not dare to take this old monster lightly…. And Mason could already feel a boundless chill crawling up on his very soul.

Axel, with the last of his remaining sanity, looked upward too, confused by his enemy's change in behaviour.

And then he finally saw the man he never thought he would see…

Not in this moment, not even in his wildest dreams….

The unmatched powerhouse who saved him in the trials…

The man whose shadow was feared by all of humanity; even the three Kings were weary of him because of his overwhelming, mad pursuit of knowledge… no matter the method or cost.

The man who was his infamous grandfather.

The one and only Strongest, the greatest Runecaster, had arrived to save him in his last breath.

A broken smile twisted Axel's lips. A smile of boundless relief that… assured 100% that he... was saved.

The moment when Mason cut off Axel's tongue and caused a massive tear in the joint between his two jaws.

The Demon felt himself losing consciousness, like a dying ember trying to hold onto its fleeting existence with utter desperation.

The heavens knew that Axel wanted nothing more than to lose himself amid the endless boiling rage piling up within his demon bloodline, to give himself up to the forbidden power which was close to erupting like a profane disaster.

But the price for letting the demon bloodline take hold of himself was too great; it was absolute.

Because the harrowing bloodline would devour his very consciousness and soul, the only thing left would be a mindless, disastrous beast, filled with overwhelming… dark power.

For that was the eternal bane of any Demonkin who had the glory of becoming a true demon. Such Demons could never… ever truly surrender themselves completely to the urges of the Demon Bloodline.

So, in the end, Axel had only one option: a dead end. It was not even a choice, for it only led to a more immediate death of his true self.

However, the continuous tortures inflicted upon him by the Vex powerhouse were only pushing Axel's mind more and more to the edge of a breakdown; as such, it only became easier for the unfathomably deep, dark well of insidious despair to encroach upon Axel's mind, eroding his psyche continuously.

And then… Mason Vex did the worst….

Squench!!!!!

A long, thin, sharp needle was thrown by Mason, which pierced exactly through Axel's left eye, going through his brain.

The pain of it was horrid beyond all description; black veins started to squirm all over his body. As if snakes were crawling under his skin…

The light in his eyes flickered between blue and black at an alarming rate, faster than ever.

Mason grinned, uncaring of what the Demon was going through, as he had absolute faith in the restriction the Dark Elven Concubine had placed on Osiris.

Just as the Vex powerhouse was about to throw in another long needle… to blind the remaining eye of his Demonic victim.

His figure paused in mid-motion. All of a sudden, an overwhelming wave of danger buzzed in his heart like a mountain bell rung moments before an awaited disaster.

Just as Mason turned his head toward the roof, a blinding ray of white, long, spear-like radiance tore through the ceiling, instantly piercing Mason's chest like a hot knife through butter.

Not a single one of his countless defensive rune artefacts managed to bar the path of the radiant white spear that tore through the ceiling.

Slowly but surely, cracks spread through the ceiling where the piercing spear of light had made the hole. Until the entire dark chamber was exposed under the open skies.

And when the Vex powerhouse finally gazed upon the entity powerful enough to impale him through the chest, His heart started to beat violently. Terrified…..

And that man was none other than the strongest Human beneath the three Kings, the previously punished Headmaster of the Unified Human Academy, aka the Lightbringer… Alric Stragoy had finally appeared to save Axel Nomrad in his most desperate moment.

The Runecaster, with trembling eyes, gazed up at the heavens, where blinding luminescence lit the dark torture cell; seeing the Headmaster's familiar face again after so long, his eyes moistened, and hope reignited in his heart.

The encroaching darkness around his soul receded.

Glitch!!!!

The moment when Mason cut off Axel's tongue and caused a massive tear in the joint between his two jaws.

The Demon felt as if his consciousness were being chipped away; he was like a dying ember, trying to hold on to its fleeting existence with utter desperation.

His eyes started flickering madly… switching between his Demonic black eyes and the dull blue eyes of a human.

As much as Axel wanted to lose himself in the boiling rage oozing from his demon bloodline, he could not, because surrendering to that unearthly rage would only mean his confirmed damnation.

He would turn into a mindless, vindictive monster, his conscience and soul devoured by the encroaching despair.

So, he held onto his sanity with all of his remaining Will.

But right then….

Squelch!!!!

A long needle was thrown by Mason Vex, which pierced straight through Axel's one eye. Plunging him into greater agony than before, the corrosion of his mind only gained a greater force of power as a result.

Mason Vex prepared another needle to pierce the Runecaster's other eye, forcing Axel even beyond the current brink of insanity.

Suddenly, a mighty explosion echoed from outside, rattling Mason Vex, who frowned deeply.

He stopped himself from pushing the other needle into Axel's remaining eye, walked closer to the door, and opened it.

And the Vex Powerhouse's eyes widened.

He saw Daniel Nomrad, the Nomrad Patriarch, in his Rune armour, and all the thralls of demons attacking viciously at the seekers stationed all around that place. But his heart fell the moment he sensed a particular detail.

The strongest of Osiris's demonic thralls, Galager Gareth, was overflowing with the power of a genuine 5th-phase entity.

Mason's face twisted, sensing a suffocating wave of Demonic energy coming from a true 5th-phase demon entity, who was capable of unmatched destruction.

Glitch!!!

The moment when Mason cut off Axel's tongue and caused a massive tear in the joint between his two jaws.

Axel felt his consciousness slip away faster than ever.

The worst part was that he could not even let that happen, for his mind to give in to the rage; no matter how much he wanted to go down that road, he could not do so.

"AXELLL!!!!!! BREAK FREE!!!!"

"AXEL!!!!!"

"AXEL!!!!!"

"AXEL!!!!!"

"YOU HAVE TO BREAK FREE!!"

Because that would only affirm his death, as the Despair attribute of his demonic bloodline would devour his… mind and ???!!!!!!!

'Huh, what?'

'What's happening!!!???'

'How!!! Why am I??'

For a moment, he felt like someone was screaming his name from an incredible distance, the words barely audible in his mind, less than a whisper, a fleeting echo.

Brushing aside all the boundless pain coursing through his cell, the Demon questioned in his mind.

An overwhelming sense of Deja vu hit his spirit.

But right then, to disturb his mind, Mason mercilessly shoved a long needle through his one eye. Axel let out a guttural scream; the pain felt strangely familiar.

But under the increased assault of his mental corrosion, the Runecaster forgot the disturbing thought of déjà vu entirely, lost in the black ocean of despair within Axel's mind.

Axel's eyes flickered madly between pitch black and a dull blue pulse when he was but a moment away from giving in to the madness brewing within his blood.

The roof of the dark torture chamber violently shook with no warning whatsoever, as countless powerful attacks were being rained down atop it.

"PLEASE!!! YOU HAVE TO…. ESCAPE!!!!"

"RUN AWAY!!!"

The unknown female voice reverberated through his mind once more. As if roaring from another dimension….

Before Axel could even process those words, the roof of the chamber was destroyed once again…

Axel scrunched his eyebrows. 'Huh!! What…. again???'

Yet even that notice of the discrepancy was smoothly erased from his psyche as Axel, with a broken expression, saw the faces of those who had arrived.

It was his friends… Heinz, Vyra, Lumina and even Lucien had come to save him.

Tears fell from his eyes.

He wanted to speak; he wanted to shout, but he could not. So, he cried, wearing a broken smile….

But the instant his friends saw his wretched and unspeakable state. Their expressions froze.

Until they erupted in a monstrous fury unlike any other, they rushed at Mason Vex with complete killing intent, without holding back an ounce of their power.

But Axel was only horrified by his friends' actions; he struggled madly amid the pinned iron nails….

'No, no, no, no, nooooooo, damn it… no, fuck.'

'They are not strong enough yet; they can't defeat Mason Vex, DAMN IT…'

'I HAVE TO FUCKING BREAK FREE, OR THEY WILL ALL DIE…'

Axel Nomrad roared through his very soul; even if it broke him, he had to break free right then and there, no matter the cost.