The Nameless Heir-Chapter 63: Naked Hero

The naked man laughed—loud, unhinged—as he stared up at Kael, who stood high above on a shattered ledge.

"You must be the Demon Lord everyone keeps whining about."

His voice echoed through the kingdom, sharp.

Kael didn’t respond.

He stepped off the ledge and dropped down in silence, his black coat flaring in the wind. As he fell, his sword rose from his shadow. It flew into his hand, and without hesitation, he pointed the blade straight at the man.

"I’m here to kill you," Kael said, voice cold.

The man burst into laughter again.

"Just because you managed to kill the others doesn’t mean you can do the same to me. I’m different. I’m stronger."

"Shut up," Kael muttered. "They all said the exact same thing." He paused. "Until I killed them with ease."

Kael tilted his head.

"Oh? What can you do?"

He paused.

"Are you as strong as the other two?"

That made Axel laugh uncontrollably, like Kael had said something funny.

"They were nothing compared to me."

Kael gave a half-smile.

"Oh really?"

"I am the smartest man alive. An inventor. A creator.

Those fools were just useless wannabe heroes who thought they were something special."

Kael didn’t reply. He simply smirked.

Axel clenched his jaw, teeth grinding in rage.

He could feel it—Kael was looking down on him.

"Come out—Mk-VIII!" he roared.

A small mechanical robot appeared—one that would make even a child of Hephaestus light up with excitement.

It hovered beside him, glowing with heat and humming like a living engine.

"Transform."

The robot burst open with a hiss.

Metal plates twisted midair—shifting, unfolding, reshaping like they were alive. One by one, they launched toward Axel’s body, magnetized by something unseen.

They didn’t just attach.

"Suit up," he muttered.

The first plate slammed onto his chest, digging into his skin like it was merging with his body. Then the other body parts followed—arms, legs, spine—latching on with sharp metallic snaps. His body jerked slightly with each connection, like the armor was syncing with his bones.

The body was made of red and black metal. It spread across his body like liquid steel hardening on command. It had weird glowing blue circuits crawling over its surface, weaving into the armor like veins of pure mana—bright, pulsing, almost alive.

It didn’t feel like putting on armor.

It felt like being swallowed by it.

The last piece—his helmet—clicked into place with a cold finality.

His breathing steadied.

The suit pulsed once, syncing with his heartbeat.

Kael’s eyes narrowed as he watched it take form.

"That’s actually cool," he muttered.

Axel smirked. He snapped his fingers.

Kael tilted his head and clapped.

"That’s so cool."

Axel shot forward—flames erupting from his boots and gauntlets in a thunderous blast.

He rocketed above Kael, shadows dancing beneath him.

Then he dropped.

Hard.

His fist came crashing down from overhead—fast, heavy, accelerated mid-swing by a sudden burst from the mini-booster on his elbow.

The air howled. The ground braced.

And Kael had just a second to react.

Kael crossed his arms to block.

The blow landed square in the middle of his guard—violent and direct.

The force was too much.

It launched him like a rock skipping across water—straight through a stone pillar, smashing clean through the other side of the castle wall.

"Ugh... what the hell..." Kael muttered, coughing as rubble fell around him.

Pride and Gluttony tried to help, but Axel sent them flying too.

Kael recalled both sins, shadows curling back into his body with a hiss.

He staggered back, pressing one hand against a shattered wall. His breath came rough—shoulders rising, lungs burning.

Before he could think, a red light glowed in front of him.

"Oh, come on..."

Axel stood just beyond the smoke, armor glowing, helmet off. The chest core flared with energy, charging up.

He raised his arm and shouted,

"Pulse-Fire Cannons!"

A beam erupted from his chest—blinding, red-hot, roaring like a furnace.

It tore through the air in a straight, merciless line—fast enough to split stone, loud enough to rattle the bones.

Kael raised his sword, attempting to deflect the beam. But it kept building—wider, hotter—pushing harder with every second.

He gritted his teeth as the force of the beam grew.

The blade trembled in his grip.

And then... it slowly overpowered him.

The instant before it struck, shadows coiled around him—wrapping his body like a second skin, then closing in tight like a sphere of darkness.

The beam passed through him—

and obliterated everything behind him.

"You almost had me there. That was unexpected," Kael muttered—just as the sphere around him began to crack like glass.

Kael got up, brushing the dust off his shoulder.

"How..." he muttered, forcing a crooked grin.

One hand lifted—slow, shaking with rage.

"Try blocking this one."

He charged up—this time, the beam was stronger. Wilder. Burning with fury.

But just then, Kael’s shadow snapped upward—wrapped around Axel’s leg and yanked.

His balance broke.

His eyes widened—caught off guard. Like he couldn’t believe it was happening.

He fell backward, limbs flailing.

And then... the shadow rose.

It wrapped around him like liquid night—pulling him down, swallowing him whole.

His body thrashed. But it was too late.

The darkness coated him—tight, suffocating—and sealed him into a sphere of pure shadow.

Silent.

Still.

At first, it held.

Then it began to swell.

Slow. Steady. Like a balloon filling with something it couldn’t contain.

The pressure built. You could almost feel it pulsing—like the entire thing was breathing.

The sphere swelled—

Then ruptured in a violent flash, like it had been holding its breath too long.

A beam of red light shot upward, tearing through the clouds.

A second later, the shockwave hit—

And everything it touched was erased.

Stone disintegrated. Metal twisted and burned. The ground split apart like paper.

But Kael was already gone.

Kael slipped into the shadows just before the blast hit.

Axel stood there, alone—dust circling his feet, the castle half-destroyed, flames twitching in the cracks.

Then a shadow fell over him.

Kael hovered above—arms folded, eyes cold—floating in the air like judgment itself.

"You lived," Kael said, voice low. Calm.

"Not bad."

He smirked.

Axel turned slightly, chest rising with each breath—his coat torn, face streaked with soot, blood on his lip—but still, he grinned like he’d just won something, even as the heat from the blast shimmered in the air between them.

"Damn," Kael muttered, watching the fading light. "That’s a cool ability."

"Built it myself," Axel replied, breath rough, but his voice didn’t waver.

Kael dropped.

His feet touched down in silence, cloak dragging behind him like something alive—slow and heavy, like shadow soaked in water.

He tilted his head slightly, eyes calm.

"You sure you’re not related to Hephaestus?"

Axel blinked.

"Who?"

His brows drew together, genuinely confused.

Kael just stared at him for a moment—expression unreadable.

Then he let out a quiet breath.

"Never mind."

He vanished—and reappeared in front of Axel, swinging his sword with everything he had. But the blade clashed against an invisible shield. It didn’t break through.

Axel smirked—then drove a brutal uppercut into Kael’s gut.

The hit lifted him off the ground.

His body twisted mid-air, limbs jerking while trying to grasp for air.

And then Axel was already above him.

One arm came down like a hammer.

Kael slammed into the earth hard enough to shake the ground, stone cracking under his spine.

"That armor is annoying," Kael muttered, shadows trembling around him.

Axel rocketed down knee-first, flames bursting from his boots while Kael was still down—

but Kael had already started sinking into the shadows beneath him.

By the time Axel hit, he was gone.

His knee smashed into the stone with a deafening crack, shattering the ground where Kael had been just moments before.

"That trick is getting annoying!" Axel shouted.

"Fine," Kael muttered. "Let me show you something new."

The shadows around them began to stir.

They rose slowly—thick and slick—like oil turned to smoke, like slime bubbling to the surface.

The moment Kael lifted his arm, a wave of shadow surged forward—towering like a black tide, trying to swallow Axel whole.

But Axel moved fast.

He dodged each wave with ease, flashing through the gaps, firing beams of energy to destroy them mid-surge.

Still, the shadows kept coming.

It was slow. Steady.

Relentless.

And it was overwhelming him.

Then it finally hit.

The wall of shadow slammed into him like a freight train, knocking him back hard—

but Axel didn’t go down that easily.

His boots skidded across the ground, sparks trailing in his wake.

Then his body lit up.

Golden beams erupted from every joint and plate, blazing outward like a star on the edge of breaking.

He spun mid-air, a full circle—360 degrees—releasing a storm of light so bright it burned the shadows.

The shadows around him faded like smoke—burned away, unable to hold their shape.

"Does that thing ever run out of energy?" Kael asked, eyes narrowing.

The hero smiled—a slick, cocky grin spreading across his face.

He pointed at the glowing core in his chest.

"This blesses me with an unlimited supply of energy."

He paused. The smile didn’t fade, but his voice dropped lower—more serious.

"This time... I’m going to make sure you can’t run away."

He dropped to one knee and launched several spider-like drones. They spread out, crawling across the battlefield and disappearing into the field.

"You mean like this?" Kael said, before sinking into the ground—vanishing without a trace.

He reappeared behind a ruined wall, silent as a shadow.

Axel scanned the area, eyes darting. He couldn’t see him.

"Come out, coward!" he shouted.

Kael’s voice echoed from somewhere in the rubble—calm, distant, almost playful.

"No... that thing is way too scary."

He realized he had to find an opening. He couldn’t fight it head-on.

He vanished again—this time appearing above Axel. His sword dropped in a deadly arc—but at the last second, he vanished again and reappeared behind him.

The blade cut across Axel’s back. Sparks and blood flew.

Axel grunted—but his wounds healed instantly.

Kael’s eyes narrowed.

He can only block what he sees. Blindside strikes work.

Shadows coiled around Kael’s arms and legs. His coat returned, flaring behind him. His limbs darkened and pulsed with shadow energy.

He dashed forward again. The moment Axel raised his barrier, Kael vanished and struck from a different side.

Again and again.

Only his afterimages remained behind.

Axel growled and punched toward Kael—this time landing a hit. Kael flew sideways, slamming into rubble.

Axel followed up with a kick—but Kael vanished again.

This time, Axel caught him.

His eyes locked onto Kael’s steps—tracing every flicker, every twitch of shadow, reading them like a map.

He lunged forward with a punch—fast, sharp—

But Kael disappeared just before it landed, blinking across the field in a burst of smoke.

Far off now, Kael crouched behind the wreckage, shadows crawling at his heels as he tried to think—fast.

He needed a plan.

Axel had already looked up.

Realizing Kael wasn’t nearby, he shot into the sky, spun once mid-air, and yanked a massive railgun from his back.

Then he started firing.

Kael moved from building to building, chased by rapid-fire energy blasts that destroyed and disintegrated everything.

He wondered how Axel kept tracking his location, even when he was hidden beneath the shadows.

Then—Kael noticed something.

A faint click under his boot.

He looked down.

One of the spider trackers.

He ripped it off and handed it to one of his undead.

"Run."

The undead vanished across the field. Axel instantly turned, tracking the signal.

Kael backed away. Now.

Axel fired another beam toward the tracker.

A massive explosion ripped through the field—dust, stone, and yellow-reddish fire erupting into the air.

He laughed, wild.

"Take that, you stupid kid!"

But Kael appeared behind him.

Floating.

Eyes glowing.

Sword ignited in dark, shadowy flames—like living shadows.

"Die."

He swung his blade with both hands—then with all his might, he brought it down from his shoulder to hip, cutting him clean.

The blade tore through armor. Through flesh. Through the core.

He didn’t even have time to scream.

His body hit the ground in two—

but it was still twitching.

So Kael dropped down to get a closer look.

He was still breathing. Even after the core was destroyed.

"How?" he muttered.

Axel started laughing nonstop.

"It’s not over, you fool. I told you—I’m different."

Then Axel screamed,

"OVERDRIVE MODE!"

His core started to pulse again. From the severed part of his body, machine-like tendrils crawled out of the suit, slowly connecting and pulling his body back together—reforming.

Then it started to grow.

The helmet began to change into a monstrous jaw filled with sharp teeth. His body grew—bulky and massive. The core in the middle now glowed bright red.

He became one with the suit.

He was no longer human.

He loomed above Kael, staring at him, laughing.

"You forced me to go to this horrendous form. I will kill you!" he shouted.

He slammed his massive fist toward Kael—much bigger than before.

Kael lifted his sword and blocked it, but the impact created a massive dent in the ground.

He didn’t stop.

He kept punching him nonstop. The last attack had drained almost everything from Kael. He didn’t know how much longer he could hold on.

Each impact forced him to his knees. His legs were numb. He couldn’t feel his arm. His vision was fading. He couldn’t hold on any longer.

He lowered his arm.

Axel was ready to finish him.

But right then—

Arrows hit him in the right eye.

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