Chapter 610: Hollowed Soul

The swarm of Void Creatures tore apart the torturer of Axel to utter bits, like a pack of deadly hyenas finding a crippled deer that was unable to run.

They were eating Mason Vex alive.

His shrill screams of agony, rage, and despair continued to echo in this eternally still expanse alongside the satisfied, wet crunching of flesh from the thousands of Void Creatures.

The Demon, on the other hand, immediately sprinted as fast as possible toward the direction of the small tear through the void, which was already starting to close up once more.

A string of glowing runic glyphs appeared at the corner of his eyes as he ran with all of his might:

[Current percentage of Emotions extracted 55%]

Axel's face twisted in pain. He already felt half of himself turning hollow, barely hanging onto the other remaining half while running with every drop of his physical strength.

Because more than half of his emotions had been purged, the corrosive encroachment of the False Void had also become far more powerful upon his body compared to the moment he first entered this realm.

It was a desperate race, a race for his life to reach the small torn segment of the False Void before it closed up entirely, or before the extraction of his emotions hit a high enough percentage to render Axel completely helpless against the erosion of the Void.

[Current percentage of Emotions extracted 60%]

Axel's eyes narrowed, and suddenly his heart skipped a heavy beat. His mind began buzzing like crazy, as if a monumental, irreversible change were occurring deep inside of him.

[Warning! Your Runic Aspect has become permanently damaged]

[Warning!! Your Chaosblood aspect has become permanently damaged]

[Warning!! You are no longer able to use your demonic bloodline]

[Current percentage of Emotions extracted is 65%]

[Your Soul Sanctum has become permanently damaged]

Axel's sprint speed dropped suddenly, a horrendous amount of his strength being sapped away. His figure stumbled, rolling violently onto the hard ground of the void.

Most of Axel's skin had already been decomposed by the surrounding element. The void energy was now actively corroding his insides, targeting his very bones.

A terrifying growl from a thousand Void Creatures travelled from behind. The swarm of grotesque beasts was done devouring Mason Vex, and now they were all coming for the other prey that remained in this world.

Axel got up through gritted teeth and made the run once more. However, his speed and strength were nowhere near what they were just moments ago.

And as he ran with boundless desperation to reach his destination faster than the Void Beasts could catch up with him, his thoughts spiralled out of control. He realised that his very spirit was about to die.

Tears of untold pain fell from his eyes, only to be corroded to absolute nothingness by the void element all around.

From the moment when Axel lost his obsession, he was never again able to feel the love he once felt for Sophia.

But from now on....

.

He would never again feel the weight of endless despair when looking at Sophia for what he did to her.

[Current percentage of Emotions extracted 70%]

He would never again feel the urge to protect Lumina.

[Current percentage of Emotions extracted 72%]

He would never again feel pity for Vyra.

[73%...]

He would never again feel animosity towards Lucien.

[74%...]

He would never again be able to laugh pointlessly when conversing with Heinz.

[76%...]

He would never again feel the need to reciprocate the love his father showed him.

[77%...]

He would never again feel the flicker of worry when thinking of his grandfather.

He would never again feel anticipation at the thought of the day he becomes a Demon King.

[79%...]

He would never again feel fear thinking about the distant day of the Calamity.

[80%...]

He would never again feel exhausted by the endless planning and uncertainty of the impossible things he needed to accomplish.

Axel from now on would feel nothing ever again, nothing but utter emptiness, even if he survived this hellish place.

Only the cold calculations of his mind would remain, taking all actions solely to fulfil his mission and his destiny to save this world with absolute efficiency.

[Current percentage of Emotions extracted 81%]

Axel's legs broke down completely to dust, his figure rolling on the ground violently.

The distance between him and the closing-in tear of the void remained like a mirage. No matter how much he ran or dragged himself, he could not seem to get close to it fast enough.

[87%...]

But he still did not give up, crawling forward with his hands while his face twisted in torment. Four-fifths of his mind was already completely hollow. Still, he held onto the last remaining fragments of his humanity even as they slipped away into the dark.

Within a matter of the next few seconds, even his hands dried up like brittle twigs of trees in winter, crumbling away to dust under the relentless corrosion.

[91%...]

Axel saw with his eyes wide open as the tiny tear in the fabric of the Void closed up, vanishing forever.

At the same time, hundreds of powerful and hungry Void Creatures reached his limbless figure, lunging at him mercilessly like a pack of hyenas. Just like how they ate Mason Vex, they showed no distinction in their behaviour when devouring their prey.

[100% of your Emotions have been extracted]

Then the emotionless voice of Prime became ethereal, adding almost in a tired sigh...

[You are no longer capable of feeling any spectrum of emotions.]

Axel's pupils constricted as all remaining emotions were erased. One final drop of tear slid down his cheek, which would be the last ever tear he would shed in a long, long time.

His eyes darted around sharply. Even while Void Beasts were tearing his physical body apart, diving deep into eating his intestines, Axel did not react at all. The excruciating pain was treated like only a simple data input delivered to his brain by his damaged body.

His cold and logical mind, in that extreme moment, figured out only one stream of possible action that he could take to survive.

Even in his near-death state, the Nomrad heir still possessed one final weapon.

And that weapon was his Demonic Jaws.