Their faces were merely a few inches away, Axel’s blue eyes locked onto Sophia’s red eyes. His gaze was unflinching, even though the blade of hers had already cut a bit into his neck. Drops of red blood crawled down his skin.

Axel said, his voice flat, "Go on, do it. Kill me."

Squelch....

Sophia did not take very well to his words, and she moved her blade away, directly stabbing his shoulder, pinning him to the wall. But there was one more thing she felt, which she did not show on her face: the mind-numbing fragrance of Axel’s overflowing negative emotions.

The scent of it became multiple times more intense with Axel bleeding, she unconsciously took a deep breath, inhaling that beautiful aroma of that darkness coming from him.

But Axel remained quiet, showing no sign of pain; it was obvious that Sophia was losing her mind at the scent of despair oozing from him, yet Axel remained oblivious. Sophia became even more annoyed by his lack of reaction, as she stabbed the other shoulder of his as well.

She was met again with nothing but silence...

She truly became furious, shoving the blade directly onto Axel’s stomach, to which he let out a pained grunt. His intestines were cut, internal bleeding had started, and he also had to keep his demon bloodline from doing its instantly healing work, making his state even worse.

Sophia was truly merciless when the situation demanded it. Not showing Axel the slightest bit of mercy, not that she had a reason to do so in the first place.

She growled while pressing her killing intent onto him, "Don’t fucking test my patience, Axel. Even if I don’t kill you. I will shatter your hands so badly that no amount of magic or medicine can make them work like normal again. You can say goodbye to your runecasting career, forever."

Axel laughed sadly, his expression became that of a defeated soul, "I wish I could, I really do... but I can’t say it. I’m sorry."

Sophia frowned, ignoring the scent of that sweet darkness oozing out of his blood, which had grown too strong, messing with her thoughts. She closed her eyes for a moment. Pulling the stabbed blade out of Axel’s stomach.

She understood what Axel was trying to convey, so there was only one thing she could do, and when she opened her eyes once more. The bloody iris of hers was no more; it was a spiraling tornado of Darkness.

Sophia whispered, "Eye of Darkness."

Axel was instantly pulled into the swirling mass of her all-encompassing darkness; he could resist if he wanted to, but he did not, letting her ability take effect on him without any hindrance.

When he opened his eyes again, Axel found himself in a familiar place, his heart trembled, sitting in the same chair by the window of the ever-so-familiar classroom. At the same school he attended with Sophia, and he felt scared for a moment.

As his heart beat louder, did Sophia discover the truth? When he looked at the reflection of the window, it was his own face, that of Tyler Cross. His fear only increased, but he quickly suppressed it. In this illusory world, Sophia could monitor him in detail with utmost accuracy; she could even peer into his surface feelings.

He had to be extremely careful about this. In the next moment, Sophia walked in, not in the visage of the Valkyrie, but that of her original self. She came closer, sitting right next to him, pulling another chair.

He couldn’t take his eyes off her; his mouth hung low. Her pink hair beautifully fluttered in the window. But he quickly shook off those invasive thoughts and asked, "What is this place?"

Sophia’s expression turned melancholic, "My home world. But it’s strange, why are you not in your original appearance, though I see that you still have your blue eyes."

Axel frowned, "That’s what I should be asking."

But internally, he heaved a great sigh of relief; she did not figure out anything in some miraculous way. Then he added while looking around once more, "This is the world you come from? Seems strange."

"The king cannot access my memories or thoughts here; we can talk here. Tell me everything you know," she stated.

Axel feigned surprise, but he still hesitated, "Are... are you sure?"

Sophia reassured him, "Before leaving this illusory space, I can edit my own memories, and leave myself just with a lingering intent, on what I should do. The king can only access my tangible memories, or at most my surface thoughts. Not the fragmented remains."

Axel’s face turned serious, "You should already know that everyone who survived, almost all of them have a gap in their memories one way or another?"

Sophia nodded, prompting Axel to continue.

And he did, "Yes, every one of the survivors has that gap, all except for me."

Sophia creased her eyebrows, "How?"

Axel sighed, "A fragment of my grandfathers Will was slumbering within me. He protected me from harm. While keeping things as is."

Sophia stood up, gently pressing a hand to his shoulder, but her red eyes turned even more monstrous, and her voice came out deep and threatening: "Continue..."

Axel looked at those red eyes, ’Fuck, she looks even more cute when she’s angry.’

He blinked his blue eyes, surprised by his own stupid train of thoughts; he almost wanted to slap himself. How could he think of those things at a moment like this?

He finally disclosed, his tone incomparably heavy, "Miss Sophia, the truth is there were more than 500 students who survived by the end of the massacre. We thought it was over, that we killed all the undead, we thought we won."

"But we could not be more wrong. Out of nowhere, a new group of undead arrived like grim reapers. They specialized in spiritual manipulation. After killing most of us, only the best of the best were left. One of them, whom I fought, was arrogant enough to reveal their purpose outright, in the midst of battle."

"They were hired by the Sun King himself to edit the memories of you, the Valkyrie, in such a way that your very foundation as a seeker becomes unstable. They actually had another small task, which was also to remove my existence from the memories of all the survivors."

"The reason being, I had good relations with everyone who survived. The King did not like that; he wanted to isolate me, since I showed just as much talent as my grandfather. The King fears I will become just as dangerous and strong as him in the next few decades. Becoming a threat to the Suncrest Dynasty."

At this moment, Sophia’s face had turned entirely black, covered in shadows, the entire illusory world rippled, as it echoed her rage, she asked again, "Why would the King go to such a length? He could just kill me, or could just tamper with my memories through the soul brand,"

Axel shook his head, "That’s not true. The soul brand also has certain limitations; the king cannot kill you directly or indirectly. Nor could he tamper with your memories directly himself."

"So, the best thing he could do was cause a mess with your memories through another party, so that your progress slows, or comes entirely to a halt."

"The Sun King fears you. If you become strong enough and escape the control of the soul brand, he knows he is doomed. His entire bloodline might be doomed."

"King Leonidas does not give a fuck about the kingdom or its people."

"Nor the overall well-being of it."

"The only thing he cares for is maintaining the uncontested rulership of the Suncrest Dynasty, and maybe spreading it to all of humanity."

"He wants to rule the entirety of humanity alone. With an Iron fist."

"He wants to be remembered as the strongest and greatest human king who unified all of our race; he wants all the glory in his own name, not in the poster of the Valkyrie."

"And for that, he will go to any length necessary, whether it is to collude with the Ghost race or betray the other great kingdoms. He only cares for his ambition. Nothing more and nothing less."

Sophia stepped back, her mind spinning, as she realized, "The war? The King doesn’t care about the Minor kingdoms’ revolt, he wants to weaken Blackvale and Samartan?"

Axel nodded, taking a deep inhale, "That’s right. The only slight threat is the Ghost race, but we all know that whatever the Ghost race is after in those lands, they will take it and leave. The Ghost Empire cannot keep meddling here for too long, even if they wanted to."

Axel stood up, standing face to face, "This war is just a tactic for the Sun King to weaken those great kingdoms, but most importantly..."

He pointed a finger towards her and revealed, "In the process of it, he wants to kill you with this chance... Miss Sophia."