Chapter 03- I am Simply Stronger
*BOOOOOOOM*
For the better part of 3 minutes, all Arielle could see were flashes and huge explosions of rocks and rubble in every corner of the room. Damon had already completely lost control of himself and simply ran and smashed everything in front of him just to catch Axel.
Bullets of liquid flew everywhere accompanied by punches and kick all aimed toward one person. However, that person didn't really seem that bothered by these things as he retreated and dodged these attacks using simple yet incredibly refined movements.
At some point, Arielle was captivated by his movements as she gasped in admiration it was beautiful, swift, and looked akin to a dance. A dance that was made for fights.
'Who is he really?' She thought to herself.
Throughout her life, she met many strong people, people that could crush skulls with one hand and kill a group of people in a moment. But, she never met anyone who reached this level of technique in his movement, it was as if his whole being was made just to be in harmony.
"Come on, Damon. It has been merely a few minutes and you are already looking like a heavy smoker after a one-mile run. I might get bored." Axel cracked his limbs as he waited for Damon.
"Shut up!!!"
'I can't beat him! I can't hit him! I can't do anything! Is he really this stronger than me?'
"You know what. How about we play a game, I will stand here and you have one single attack that I won't dodge. You can do anything and I won't move a single limb. After that attack, whether you kill me or not, things will end."
"Are you mocking me?!"
"Not really. I gave you a small challenge to hit this frail body with your strongest attack. You surely can do that, right?"
Axel then dangled his left arm to show his lean arms that albeit very muscular didn't look any bit strong in contrast to Damon's well-trained body.
'Calm down, Damon. Even though he is humiliating me, I will at least take this chance to destroy him. I will show you that arrogance can only kill!'
After making up his mind, Damon extended his hand in the air and muttered under his breath.
"Final form: Blades Of Insanity."
Instantly, his body started turning into small sharp objects. Each object looked like a dagger. All of his limbs and even his head became sharp tools for killing.
"Take this! My strongest attack. Die in your arrogance."
*Swish*
His body blurred and vanished before appearing a few inches away from Axel, all the blades closed on him from all angles. It was a sure hit and Axel didn't even show any sign of dodging it.
"Juuuust kidding~" Axel muttered with a small grin.
His body then turned into mist and dissipated.
"WHA-"
Damon immediately turned around, Axel was standing there with his mocking gaze directed toward him.
But, before he could even say anything, his vision suddenly turned upside down for some reason. His mind didn't comprehend what happened as he seemingly fell down to the ground. The sound of his head rolling on the rough stones echoed in the room.
Damon died without even knowing how his life ended, a cruel and horrible death that no one wishes to experience.
Axel looked at the head with widened eyes with an apathetic look, those hollow, dead eyes were like a pair of dark abysses that tried to suck him in but he didn't really linger on them for long, then his gaze shifted to his hand that was dripping with blood. The smell was horrible and the sticky feeling was disgusting, to say the least.
"Sigh…" He merely walked to Damon's corpse and started wiping his hands on his clothes.
"You…" Arielle finally broke the silence as she tried to say something but ended up speechless again.
"It seems the coin you got is truly authentic. A rare one at that. Where did you get it?" Axel asked as he continued cleaning his hand.
Arielle's hands immediately went to her pockets to check the coin, and much to her surprise, it was not there. Instead, she saw Axel lifting his hand with the coin in it.
"When did you…"
"A coin from the first founder's era. This is a priceless piece at least 5000 thousand years old. I searched for these coins for years." He played with the coin in his hand.
It was a gold coin, made out of pure 24-carat gold engraved with old language and a picture of a man on a ship with a group of people behind him.
"'Midrora, I left that land for you greedy lot, A place where you can see the world for its true colors. All of my legacies are in that land. Fight for it, kill each other for a glimpse of it. My era ends here but yours is merely starting.' is what he said before he died at the hands of his subordinates. A man of greed that died because of his greed yet left behind a story for people to admire." Axel smiled as he recounted the last words of the first founder.
He was the greatest treasure hunter this world knew and was also the greatest collector of relics and artifacts in history. His fortune was basically counted in the thousand of billions, a fortune like no other. This man, as little as people knew about him, was a great figure for all the treasure hunters that came after him.
However, no one believed those words, Midrora, a whole continent that was undiscovered by humans. What kind of bullshit is this?
But, because of that same fortune, he died at the hands of his right-hand man in a moment of weakness ending his amazing story so suddenly.
"He is amazing, isn't he?" Axel finally asked.
"He is… A greedy scumbag." Airelle replied.
"But, we are all a bunch of greedy scumbags that want that treasure. Can't blame a man that wanted a show to watch while rolling in his grave. Hahahaha!!"
After that, Axel walked to the door as he said.
"I will keep this with me for now. Meet me in Tokyo in a month exactly. I will help you then."
"What the fuck?!" Mink yelled.
"Why should we believe a fucking thief? You might as well run away with the coin and leave us sucking on a fucking lollipop!"
"For a giant dude, your brain is really like that of an ant. Listen carefully, muscle head. You have no choice here. Either trust my words or try to get the coin back."
Mink frowned at his words and didn't say anything else as he averted his gaze. He wasn't stupid enough to throw his life away. Axel was not something he could fight.
"Thought so. Anyway, your name was Arielle, right? Our next meeting point is exactly one month from now, Roppongi's district should be a good place to meet. Better be there or I will just leave with the coin in search of Midrora~"
After leaving such words, Axel disappeared from the place as if he was never there.
*Smash*
"Fuck! This is the worst." Mink punched the wall in frustration.
They thought this would be easy, get in, speak with Axel and then leave but they never thought it would become a messy situation where they lost an item that is basically priceless.
*Bang* *Bang*
On the horizon, they could hear screams and explosions, it was clear that Axel didn't choose the 'peaceful' way of escaping.
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"Stop him! Don't let him escape! Aghhhhhh!!!" A man shouted as he tried to aim his weapon at the running Axel.
But, before he could even pull the trigger, his vision blurred and then blackened completely in less than a second. His head was cut clean by Axel in one single sweep of his hand.
He didn't stop there and charged toward the next target in the middle of the rain of bullets falling on him.
*Crush*
His hand grabbed the man's neck and twisted it to a weird angle, crushing his spine in the process.
After that, he grabbed his body and threw it at a group of soldiers, this created enough space for him to flash behind them, ending their lives one after the other. With speed and lethal attacks, he was a monster that moved and killed whatever was stopping him.
In his eyes, there was no anger, no sadness, no fear, or hesitation, he was simply looking as emotionless as ever. As if all of this was nothing big.
"Fuck! He's a monster! Call support! Where is support?!!! Team alpha is annihilated!! AGGGGGGHH!"
In less than a minute, he had already killed 40 soldiers and was moving closer and closer to the main gate. But, it seemed that there were still other things he must deal with.
"4 choppers, 5 tanks, and 10 RPGs. Nice, This is going to be fun." His smile widened as he approached the huge army in front of him.
As much as Axel was stupidly strong, he wasn't invincible, this army was more than enough to kill him.
But, he didn't need to fight all of that just to be able to pass. He wasn't a madman who charged blindly toward danger but more of the smart and calculating type. A thief and a treasure hunter need to be extremely careful most of the time or they will lose their lives.
He didn't run away from every possible powerhouse in this world basically unscathed by cheer fucking luck!
So, before he appeared in their vision, he stopped nearby and picked up a dead corpse before stripping it of its clothes. Then, he wore the clothes and slit his hair back making him look much cleaner. After that, he wore a helmet to cover his face.
But, that wasn't the end of it, he then dirtied the clothes with blood to make him look injured and beaten.
Then…
"H-Help!! He… He murdered everyone… W-We couldn't stop him… Haha…" He came out running toward them.
Many guns pointed at him, and even the tanks and RPGs decided that he was a potential target.
The leader of this army approached the injured man and squinted his eyes at him.
"S-Sir… We need immediate help… The only things that could kill him are heavy weapons!!"
But, the man didn't speak and merely kept looking at him. The tension grew moment by moment as everyone held their breath waiting for him.
"Get your helmet off." The man said out of nowhere.
"S-Sir… Are you doubting me?"
"Take your fucking helmet off now or I will shoot you!!" The man yelled loudly.
"Yes, sir!!"
After that, the soldier went for his helmet and took it off slowly, many were on their wit's end as they waited for the true reveal.
But, much to their surprise, under the helmet, there was no trace of Axel's face, instead, what they saw was an average-looking guy with brown hair and black eyes.
"Soldier N.412 from the alpha team greats the general!"
"... Good, you can pass to take some medical treatment. Where is the prisoner now?"
"The B-section of the prison. I think he's trying to do something there and I don't know it yet. I was barely able to run away!"
"What?! B-Section?! Shit, he's most likely trying to free the prison to create a riot in the place and escape at that moment. We will advance!"
The whole army then started advancing toward a different section of the prison that was on the opposite side of Axel's cell.
"Get them, tiger." The soldier muttered under his breath with a wide smirk.
After that, he started walking to the door, his face under the helmet that was way different than his real face, and somehow started twisting and deforming just to take shape as his normal face.
Meanwhile, the army advanced to their destination without knowing what was waiting for them.
"Let the show begin." In his hand was a trigger, that trigger was by far the most important thing in this whole prison. You may ask why? Well, that's because that trigger is the one that controls the cells' doors. Basically, one tap on it and the most notorious criminals in the whole world. International drug dealers, terrorists, and even massive serial killers that have a body count in the 10s were all locked behind these doors.
Releasing them could potentially be a huge threat to the whole world and could end up harming many people. The consequences were just endless.
But, to know one thing about Axel, he wasn't a nice person at all, in fact, he was a total and utter piece of garbage, a scumbag. He was a thief, someone who killed many people and did all kinds of atrocities in his short 22 years in this life.
So, even if he knew what will happen.
"Bang." He muttered and tapped the button.
At the same time, all the doors in the B-Section started opening one after the other, all the prisoners were shocked to see these doors that didn't open in years suddenly doing so.
They all couldn't believe their eyes but they still stood up and walked out with confused looks. That confused look quickly turned into a thrilling expression.
"I am finally out, bitches!!"
"What is this sick joke? Are the guards testing us?"
"Who gives a fuck?! It's our freedom, bitches!!"
A few moments was all it took before a swarm of prisoners started running toward the doors of the B-Section. Their numbers were in the 80+ prisoners just single-mindedly trying to escape.
But, at the door, they clashed with the army of guards, they were very surprised to see them there but now that they had their freedom, would they simply give it away without a fight? Hell no!
"You bastards didn't allow us to even see the fucking sun! I will show all of you!!"
"Get them!!"
"I will rip your heads off and create a necklace out of your spines, hehehe!"
'Goddamit, this is even worse than I thought.' The general thought to himself with a grim look as he pulled out a sword
Then, he pointed it at the prisoners.
"If one of you filthy fuckers move an inch, you are dead!"
"Suck my dick!!"
"You can go fuck yourself. We got our freedom!!"
"Let's goo!!"
He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again with a frown.
"GUARDS, CHARGE!!!"
A huge clash between the guards and the prisoners occurred in the heart of blue oblivion. This event will go down in history as the worst moment in the history of this impenetrable fortress.
Many died, even more, got injured and blood got spilled everywhere. It was truly a horrible event that shook the whole world and was by far the biggest threat the world faced in a very long time. Luckily, the sacrifices of the guards were somehow fruitful as they were able to kill many prisoners and catch the rest before throwing them inside the cells again.
However, the most important prisoner, the one who was the most sought after, vanished from the face of the earth, many tried to search for him across the sea for days, but, no one could find him. He simply escaped.
But, be it as it may, the chase for Axel Bancroft didn't stop at that. A bounty of a whopping 3 billion dollars for the one who captures the 'thief of the Red Moon'. That was his nickname and it came for one single reason.
Whenever he stole something, he always leaves a card with a picture of a red moon on it. No one knew the reason or the meaning of that card but it became his signature move.
Axel Bancroft, the thief of the Red Moon.
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