Axel slumped back into his bed, but his sleepiness was mostly gone.

"Fuck..."

He could not help but curse at the brat coming to bother him at a time like this. But the twin-soul situation between LeBron and Luke was indeed interesting. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

It seemed like Hand of Umbra already knew of that truth as well. Lebron’s counterpart, Luke, served as a spy within Arclight because the World Will recognized him as a completely different existence in contrast to his brother.

Axel wasn’t particularly worried about whether Luke would see him as the disguised Osiris or someone linked to the demon, since he had already told the Hand of Umbra in the persona of Osiris that he was connected to Damien Nomrad and was protecting the Nomrad family on Damien’s request.

So, in the end, neither Luke nor LeBron would be able to do anything about Axel. Since the moment Hand of Umbra’s higher-ups hear about this, the twins would be shut down and told to do their usual job. However, he could guess why the twins were doing this.

To find something, some information, or leverage through which they could remove the demonic seed from the soul of Lebron. But that was nothing but a fruitless endeavor. Axel doubted that even he could reverse the process of demonification, which, in itself, was an interesting analogy.

Would he be able to find a way to reverse it if he actually tried to think of a way to do so?

Thinking about it for a few moments, the answer he found was a hard no. Maybe once he became a full demon, he would be able to achieve much greater control over the micro mechanisms of all power originating from the chaosblood aspect. But not in his current control of power, not even close.

***

The next day, he woke up in the morning, still somewhat tired, since he didn’t get the sweet, uninterrupted sleep that he so much wanted. Looking at himself in the mirror, after he had washed his face, there were dark circles under his eyes, making his flawless face look a bit less handsome.

To which he frowned, usually, he wouldn’t care about his appearance a single bit, but.....

Today was a big day. A part of him wanted to look his best, but considering what happened last time, he didn’t really leave a good impression of himself, did he?

He was strangely nervous because the last time the situation that happened was totally unexpected and sudden, so it was pretty much out of his control.

Axel took a deep breath and shook off those thoughts, checked the insides of his storage one last time, seeing that everything necessary was there. He gave a few instructions to the doppelganger to stay within Damien’s rune chamber and keep making the necessary rune tools.

Axel hopped onto a carriage, heading towards the capital. Through his personal endeavor, Axel created a few magic carriages himself, which were faster and more energy-efficient than the usual high-end carriages on the market.

The vehicle jumped through a few teleportation gates until it reached the capital of Suncrest. Stepping down from the magic carriage, he looked towards the towering black pillar standing right behind the royal palace, the structure piercing the clouds and extending beyond where the eye could reach.

Axel squinted his eyes, and for a moment, it felt like strange runic symbols flashed on the outer layers of the black pillar. But looking at it carefully, there wasn’t any, it seemed. Two more black pillars existed throughout humanity; the other two were right behind the royal palaces of Samartan and Blackvale, similar to this one.

There were no other black pillars within the lands of the minor kingdoms.

These pillars did not merely serve as the source from which Nexus Stones were generated to create more seekers, but they were also the only sources of the highest form of mana, as well as world force. Unfortunately, these three pillars of humanity produced the lowest quantity of those energies.

If not for that, humanity might have flourished a bit more.

Eventually, he went inside the royal palace. Lucien had already prepared a few guards who would guide him through the palace, because neither of the two Suncrest siblings was in the palace at the moment due to the war. Lucien was directly overseeing everything as the commander-in-chief, while Lumina was likely handling the war’s logistics from the back.

Lucien would make sure to keep her away from any battles, especially since she was the very last remnant of the Luminaries. If the ghost race found out, they would likely do whatever it takes to kill her, which would be very, very bad.

As the loyal Guard of Lucien was taking Axel to the designated place, the guard suddenly stopped in his tracks and immediately bowed to the one coming from the front. Though the guard’s tone was not quite friendly, "I greet the royal consort...."

Axel instantly recognized the beautiful woman: the king’s favored concubine, Runa Suncrest. Judging by her expression and state, it was obvious she was exceptionally unwell, as she had lost all her children in a single night.

Not to mention, after the death of her children, she had lost all her political power, even the King who used to love her so dearly instead of his official wife, did not care for her anymore. Which meant the King was not interested in siring any more children with her, which could have been her only hope.

Now she was merely a living corpse, wandering around the palace. Aimlessly, only grief kept her company. Axel felt a tad bit sorry for her because originally, at least the third princess was supposed to survive the academy massacre, but he killed her as well.

He was the demon who took away the lives of three children from their mother, and how could the woman ever imagine that the one most responsible for her misery was standing right in front of her?

Axel gave a slight bow, following the guard’s example, though his tone was neutral, "Greetings, your ladyship."

The woman looked at him for a moment and chuckled, "Hoh, aren’t you the famous Axel Nomrad?"

Axel sighed as he straightened, "My deep condolences, your ladyship."

His words were short but sincere, but the Royal consort did not take them well, as her eyes flashed with a hateful glint; she knew very well that Axel Nomrad was an active ally of the prince. So, those words seem nothing but a mocking gesture towards her.

She stated, her tone dark, as she walked closer to Axel, "Let me give you a little warning. Once, your grandfather was also a very good friend of the King. Yet, no one was happier than the king when that old monster disappeared."

She whispered into his ear, "In fact, the royal family could not be happier to see your family getting closer and closer to the end. Do you know why? Because your bloodline contains an ancient heritage filled with unfathomable potential. Even the golden prince knows of it, the moment he can, he will try everything in his arsenal to destroy you. Mark my words."

Before she could speak more, another female voice interrupted her, "Keep your venomous words to yourself, Runa. Otherwise, your misfortune might also spread to the boy."

Runa’s expression immediately changed, her face turned cold and vicious, as she looked backward. Axel blinked his eyes, looking at the other women who entered the fray; he could tell instantly, just by looking at her face. It was Lucien’s mother.

There was a visible resemblance between her face and that of Lucien and Lumina. Unlike Runa, who was in a broken mental state, Larissa Suncrest radiated an undeniable charm and a soothing power. It seems she had made a complete recovery from the slow poison which the concubine had fed her for years.

But Axel could see that unmistakable cunning glint in her eyes, the same as that of her snake-like son. Axel bowed once more, "I greet the queen."

Larissa Suncrest chuckled at him. She didn’t look at Runa even once after her first statement, treating her as if she were air, which further infuriated the concubine. But the latter could do nothing about it except stand there like a statue.

The queen said to Axel, "Come with me."

Axel gave a polite but apologetic smile towards the royal consort and followed behind the queen wordlessly.

When they walked a bit far ahead, the queen stated, "Don’t listen to that stupid woman’s words, whatever they may be. She’s lost all of her children. So, the only thing she could do now is to try to sabotage my son. But I’m sure you already know that. Quite obvious, actually."

Axel showed a casual smile and nodded in agreement, "Your Majesty does not need to worry. If I could not see through such an obvious thing. I would not have survived this long."

The queen said in amusement, "That is true, and you’re more handsome in person than I thought. Though I do still think my son is the more good-looking one...."