CHAPTER 258: FATED TO BE... [2]

As soon as the divine beauty stepped inside the training hall, her eyes locked onto him, her eyebrows seemed to arch slightly, as a subtle killing intent spread from her. Still, then it vanished in an instant, her eyes seemed to flicker in a barely noticeable expression of surprise until they turned neutral again.

But Axel barely noticed any of that; he did not feel lust after her, nor could he be cold and emotionless towards her. Instead, it was the opposite. As he stared into her dark, red, scarlet eyes, his heart seemed to stop beating as he became lost in the eyes that had remained unchanged since forever, even though her appearance, her hair, everything had changed. Those eyes remained the same, just like his own.

That one moment of silent staring seemed to almost stretch into infinity, as neither of them even moved a muscle and remained frozen in time. Until that moment was broken, maybe it was all in Axel’s head, him imagining things or viewing reality with his own modified lens of expectation. After all, our perception of reality is often stronger than reality itself.

The valkyrie walked towards him, her expression becoming more frosty, with a tinge of displeasure mixed in her posture. But Axel’s gaze remained fixed on her, a mix of countless emotions swimming in his eyes, the ocean of feelings that were too complicated, too deep.

As Sophia neared him, his stopped heart seemed to beat again, far more loudly and faster than before; it became so loud that he could hear the drumming sound of it with his ears. Though Sophia didn’t seem to react to it, or maybe he was too tense. He involuntarily swallowed, barely managing not to let his countless raging emotions take control of his face.

She stood in front of him, just a meter away, and she spoke, her soft voice cutting through the mounting tension of the room, "Why are you here?"

Axel could feel the apparent coldness in her voice, though it was much more down-toned than usual. Still, he expected this kind of response; it was very much expected. It was a wonder that she did not release her bloodlust and paralyze him instantly or attack him at first sight, but at this moment, he had lost his ability to think about anything logically; instead, his emotions had taken the front seat.

For no apparent reason, disappointment and anger started to bubble inside of him. With a trace of evident anger, he took a step forward. Their faces were inches apart, but as he looked deeper into those eyes, his anger was gone, and at that very instant, he knew, it was Sophia, it was her. Boundless disappointment washed over his entire being as he stated in a dangerously low tone, "YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHY I AM HERE..."

Her expressionless face cracked, and anger also became evident on her face, as she released almost the entirety of her killing intent. A colossal pressure unlike anything pressed onto him, the floor beneath his feet creaked, but his brain only registered her angry expression. More disappointment clogged his heart.

He uttered with a sad smile, "Is that it? Is that how it’s going to be?"

Sophia’s presence became sharper as she threatened him, "What the hell are you talking about?"

Axel laughed with a sad expression, unable to take this entire bullshit anymore, "How long must we pretend like we don’t know each other. Just how much longer must we play this game of hide and seek?"

"HOW LONG MUST YOU TORMENT ME LIKE THIS?" he stated in a pleading tone.

Sophia’s expression hardened upon hearing that, as she switched to her saint aspect and unleashed the saint force, which now exerted double or triple the pressure it had before. A shadow covered her face, and the entire training area seemed to darken visibly. She uttered in a murderous tone, "It seems you have successfully lost your mind. I don’t know what false fantasies you have created in your mind, nor am I interested in learning."

"But it seems you think there is something between us, just because I have been a bit nice to you? You men all are the same," she spat in disgust.

She then added with a condescending sneer, "Allow me to bring you back to the cold reality."

Axel’s body was finally unable to handle the colossal pressure emitted by the summoned heroine using the full might of her four-star aspect. He was forced to kneel, his knees cracked slightly from the sheer force of impact. His demon blood roared in fury; he could easily counter her pressure if the chaosblood aspect is activated, but no, that’s not an option.

He wasn’t hurt by the pressure of the saint force being pressed down on him, nor did the crack on his knee affect him much; instead. The words said by her each felt as if a sharp needle was being pierced right through his heart, again and again and again, countless times. A small trickle of tears fell from his right eye as he looked down towards the ground, kneeling from the pressure.

Then a resolute expression appeared on his face, as he released his full killing intent, though it was barely able to match half the power of Sophia’s bloodlust. Five artifacts appeared outside: the mana band and the other four swords. All of which amplified his powers to the mid-stage of the 2nd phase or even higher upon the activation of their special attributes. His runic eyes glowed in a dangerous intensity, as his crystalline mana began to empower the magic circuits.

The Torn Light sword and the Shadow Blight sword were both in his hands. While the other two hovered in the air, controlled by his mana. His eyes blazed with murderous fury, but this was a different kind of rage, a rage filled with disappointment against the one you cared for most. He looked right in the eyes of the valkyrie and declared, "YOU CAN TRY!"

No more words or gestures were exchanged between the two as they both lunged forward, making a large crack in the area they were standing on; both of their figures disappeared as a flash of blinding light erupted from the point of their clash. Axel, despite not being able to think properly at that moment, knew that no matter how many artifacts he used, in terms of raw power, he was no match for her, in terms of combat prowess, he was no match for her, not even close.

So, he had to do what he could do best, even to have the slightest chance at standing up to her powers. Using the rune swords and their abilities in the most sophisticated manner through the complicated use of his runic eyes, he tried his best to attack the identifiable gaps. Yet, there were none. Even the gaps that were left open were nothing but traps. Blood started to drop from his runic eyes from overloading them. Despite the mighty reputation of the runic eyes, they became utterly useless in front of her.

All that increased strength of his, Sophia was blocking all of them like a martial master, with effortless precision. Not even a scratch landed on her skin. All of his combat prowess using both swords was again deemed to be useless; just her two hands were enough to counter all of his moves and sword techniques. Her hands and feet moved as smoothly as snakes and curved at different angles. Her footwork was impeccable.

Her postures were all as firm in foundation as a mountain. Her strength was tyrannical enough to support her martial techniques; her mind was calculated and sharp enough that she wore an unfiltered condescending smile. Despite him going absolutely all out, she was literally playing with him.

Axel gritted his teeth as he used the element of light against her darkness; the shadow element of the shadow blight sword amplified the light of the torn light sword, but the abyssal darkness she controlled was too sinister; no light could match against it. Her darkness devoured and destroyed all forms of resistance. Axel switched to the other two swords, but again, the result of his all-out efforts was just as hopeless as before.

She didn’t even actively use the darkness element or any special abilities of her weapons against him. Instead, she covered herself in the saint force, and that was it. She didn’t even utilize all the functionalities of the Saint Force itself. That was how big the difference was between the two of them.

She mocked seeing his desperate and ugly look, "I’m not even using half of my strength or any of my specialties, and that’s it? That’s all you can do? The so-called overwhelming strength of yours is nothing but a joke in front of me."

"Just because you have beaten up a group of rabbits, do you think you can stand up to a true predator?"

"If that’s the best you can do, I’ve seen enough."