"Well, my prince, I'm about the same age as you…"
Azazul continued to chew his food, contemplating his response.
'Why is she lying?'
"Why are you lying?" he asked calmly. "I am eleven years of age, and you definitely don't look eleven… so who are you really?"
April smiled and replied firmly.
"You know… you ate so much of the meat stew I poisoned that it's a miracle you're still alive. You really are special. Even among us divine beings, you're… an anomaly. Other deities would be impressed but to me it's just annoying."
'What?!'
'She poisoned me and I had no idea? What kind of poison did she use, and why didn't it affect me?'
Azazul was confused. Deities were divine beings—immortal by nature—so how had this poison killed deities before? And yet it couldn't do the same to him.
Azazul smiled faintly.
"Well… it seems I'm not that easy to kill. That's rather a relief, you know."
His expression shattered. The smile crumbled, and his eyes narrowed, turning sharp and cold. His mismatched eyes still shone with mystical beauty, but the natural spark of life was gone.
April felt a dark presence descend upon her, weighing heavily on her entire being. Azazul's calm, cold voice rang out firmly.
"That way, I won't die at the hands of a traitor."
April responded confidently.
"Well, just because it hasn't killed you yet doesn't mean it won't weaken you enough for me to kill you. So you might still fall victim to the hands of a traitor."
Azazul contemplated his options. With his shapeshifter by his side, he would most likely win—but with his left shoulder and left forearm damaged, he wouldn't stand a chance. Still, he didn't care.
He was already struggling to keep himself from attacking her. After learning of her betrayal, his emotions spiraled out of control. With the effects of the saturation process, his core was itching to grow, and with the Eye of Darkness influencing him, his emotions urged him to attack. Cold murderous intent overwhelmed his mind.
He placed his bowl of poisoned meat stew on the log and looked down at April, who remained seated but also placed her bowl aside.
He gazed at her nonchalantly. His long, pitch-black hair fell over his face like a dark lake, only his mismatched eyes shining through the black strands. Suddenly, his grey eye flickered and vanished into the night, leaving only the gold eye radiating its mythical glow.
Azazul moved.
Thin slashes appeared all over his armor and face, drops of blood running down his ivory skin.
He stood completely still, not moving a muscle.
If he attacked, he would be cut to pieces. If he retreated, the same would happen. He was trapped between strings—so fine that even the Eye of Darkness struggled to see them. Darkness itself was meaningless; the Eye pierced through it easily.
"Well… now that I have you trapped, can we talk properly?" April said with an arrogant smirk.
Azazul said nothing, focusing solely on finding a way out of the trap.
"I see. I have no other choice… I'll kill you later."
The Eye of Darkness faded, and Azazul's grey eye ignited once more with its mythical radiance.
What the hell happened? Why am I standing?
Azazul felt liquid enter his gold eye.
Am I sweating? No… it's blood. My face is burning.
April's voice rang out again.
"My prince… you should really listen to me."
Azazul didn't move.
"Well, I am," he replied calmly. "So speak."
April smiled.
"Okay then… have you heard of him?"
Azazul stared at her, revealing nothing, then nodded.
"Yes, I've heard of him. Only that I should keep my eyes open. What can you tell me about him?"
April stood, her beautiful face illuminated by the fire.
"You should keep your eyes open because if you don't… you might just play into his hands."
She sighed and continued.
"And now that you're out of Sylvia's protection, the Demons of Darkness will come for you. Every single one of them. Hell, all of them are already on their way here."
April laughed.
"Why do you think I poisoned you and trapped you here?"
She laughed even louder.
"Damn it!… I can't believe a whole squad of elite assassins is about to team up on an eleven-year-old. But for the only heir of the God of Life, this is kind of pathetic."
When she finished laughing, Azazul's heart raced.
'All of them? Every single one… for me?
How the hell did I end up here?'
He calmed himself, forcing his heart to slow. Swallowing, he spoke evenly.
"So your plan was to make us think there were only a few traitors, when everyone was a traitor. When the Rank 2 demon arrived and we split up, you'd gang up on me while simultaneously keeping Sylvia at bay—preventing me from participating in the war...by killing me"
"Smart plan."
"You may just kill me today…"
Azazul lowered his head, thin strands of jet-black hair being sliced by the surrounding strings.
There was no escape. He was trapped, alone, and surrounded by invisible strings. Even if he escaped them, he wouldn't defeat April before the demons arrived.
But he still had his shapeshifter.
Azazul sent mana to both eyes. Their mythical glow intensified. The grey eye inspected the strings, while the gold searched for hidden secrets.
His gaze fell on the strings nearest the fire. They glimmered slightly brighter and resisted heat.
Elemental magic won't be enough… my core is impure.
Only the dark flames remained.
'Should I do it?'
Before he could decide, a tall, familiar figure stepped from the shadows to his left. Bright orange eyes gleamed with mythical light. To his right, two more figures emerged. Then a dozen more appeared—each wearing a mask, except April and the orange-eyed deity's brother.
The orange-eyed deity smirked.
"I told you I would kill you… young Death."
Azazul smiled faintly.
"Well, you did. But you didn't tell me you'd be inviting all your friends. I could've prepared better."
The deity stepped closer to the fire.
"Arrogant as always. It doesn't matter—you're trapped in our barrier."
He met Azazul's heterochromatic gaze.
"You can't get out, and no one can get in."
Azazul's situation was dire. His left shoulder and forearm were injured. His mana had recovered, but his mental fatigue had not. The demons arrived faster than expected.
The orange-eyed deity glanced at April. She scrambled and dismissed the string trap.
Azazul stared at the Demons of Darkness. His gold eye burned with murderous intent; his grey eye vanished.
He dashed forward with unbelievable speed, his eleven-year-old body straining to keep up.
He slid into one demon's legs, staggering it. His right hand extended, summoning his tachi. Another demon swung a massive war axe threatening to severe him in half, but Azazul leapt onto the blade, springing forward off the blade. A third demon met him mid-air.
His sheathed tachi returned to his hand just in time and collided with the demon's unsheathed blade.
Azazul was blown backward into six more demons—but his face remained emotionless.
He landed, rolled, and slid beneath another massive axe.
"Irritating."
A demon thrust a sword toward his chest. Azazul redirected it and delivered a kick to the deity's ribs knocking him away....but a powerful kick was coming directed at his face. Azazul blocked just in time. The demon stood on his left forearm—Azazul threw his blade forward directed at the demon's mask. The demon tilted his head dodging the sword...
Azazul commanded his tachi to return. It struck the demon's head, sending him forward. A greatsword of dark flames formed in Azazul's right hand, aimed at the demon's throat.
Another attack came. Azazul ducked, stabbed his sword through the demon's mask, he caught the other demon who was broughtthe sword... by the neck, ripped the blade of darkflames free, and drove it into the demons forehead.
Two deaths saturated his core.
His electric-blue tachi returned to his left hand.
Surrounded on all sides, Azazul stood amid demonic auras that could not suppress the being possessing his body.
Footsteps approached.
"Two kills just like that?" the orange-eyed deity's brother said. "You're alot better than you look."
Azazul stared indifferently.
"You are… weak."
"They are… weak."
"My siblings are… weak."
"Our rivals are… weak."
"One way or another, I'll kill you all inside this barrier. You are nothing but epitomes, and I am—"
He vanished.
Reappearing before the orange-eyed deity, he was intercepted by another demon. Two more joined. Azazul clashed with them effortlessly, Azazul slammed his greatsword into his tachi the darkflames climbing onto the electric blue blad in perfect harmony.
A third demon joined. Azazul retreated, then struck—decapitating one,stabbed another in the heart, and allowing the third to pierce his back before twisting and severing his head.
Three more deaths.
Azazul's Bloodlust surged and the hunger to saturate that bloodlust became more overwhelming by the second.
Azazul lunged at the orange-eyed deity. Their blades clashed, shaking the mountain. Though wounded and nearly out of mana, Azazul summoned his shapeshifter.
A pitch-black wyvern roared, unleashing dark flames like a waterfall.
Demons burned. While some avoided the darkflames but with the barrier the darkflames was inescapable...seventeen demons had fell to the being who had possesed Azazul's body...
Azazul's core saturated to the extreme.
The battle continued—to the death.