Kapitel 21: Axel

"Oh ho! Is that so? And why would you want to join us?" He mused. I placed a hand on my hip.

"I want up to the next level, you guys seem to be the greatest chance of success. And I'm sure you could use an additional DPS." I lied smoothly. I pulled my sword off of my back and swung it at my side in a display of speed and control. His eyes followed the movement of my blade.

"It's true, we could use someone of your…skill" His gaze ran over my body, taking in the revealing nature of my armour. He ran his tongue over his lips. I clenched my fist around the hilt of my sword to keep from trembling. Bile rose in my throat.

"Of course, we'll have to test you." He smiled. He pushed himself up from the throne, the solid wood creaking under his weight. His heavy armour clanged. He stepped toward the centre of the room, his footsteps echoing. As he was a few feet away from me, he stopped. He clapped his hands together, and immediately all of the people in the room jumped to their feet, they began dragging tables and furniture until the room was clear. He waved in front of him opening up his menu and materialized a large axe in his hands. The blade was huge, and the staff was taller than I was. The light of Axel's bright red cursor glinted off of the slab of iron. The level indicator next to his name said he was level 30.

"I would expect nothing less." I held my sword in front of me, falling into a fighting stance. He held the axe to the side, raised as if preparing to swing at any moment. We began circling each other in the centre of the room. The crowd gathered in a large circle around us, giving us a wide birth to fight, they lined the edges of the room.

He raised the axe above his head and charged toward me, the axe blades began to glow a bright green, indicating the activation of a skill. As he ran toward me, he swung his blade in a sideways arc, aiming toward my side. I jumped, flipping in the air to the side, I moved out of the way of his strike. I slashed my sword in a downward arc toward him. He brought his axe shaft up to deflect the blow. We struggled against each other for a few moments, before I finally broke away.

I spun in a circle and used my momentum to swing my blade sideways. The tip of my blade slashed across his rib cage on his plate armor, slipping between the plate folds. I heard him grunt, blood coated the tip of my sword. He jumped back, placing his hand to his side. The wound glowed red indicating an injury. We began to circle each other again, the crowd were standing on their toes, leaning into the action.

I saw an opening when he switched dominant arms for his axe, I dove in aiming my sword at his neck, slashing quickly I drove the tip of my sword downward. He spun away and swung his axe up, knocking me in the chest and I flew backward. I landed on my ass, feeling the punishing bruise that would form later. He launched at me, swinging the axe downward and I swung my word up to deflect the blow, we struggled against each other, the axe getting close to my face, I felt the cold metal scratch my cheek before I shoved him off. I wiped at my cheek and my hand came away stained crimson. I blinked to ignore the throbbing. His strength was unmatchable, the heavy swing of his axe nearly impossible to parry.

With preternatural speed I leapt through the air, swinging my sword downward and aiming to strike true. He twisted out of the way of my strike, leaping back, I clipped the edge of his collarbone and shoulder with the point of my blade. He winced and fell to one knee. The tip of my sword was embedded in his shoulder. I narrowed my eyes in determination and gripped the hilt.

"Yield." I said, twisting the blade. Blood flowed freely from his wound, dripping onto the polished mahogany floors. He looked up at me through narrowed eyes and grimaced. I saw him clench the shaft of his axe in his right hand.

"Ahh!" He groaned and launched upwards, shoving my sword free. He swung the heavy axe up and struck me across the chest. I flew backwards, slamming into the far wall of the room. The wall cracked behind me. I fell to the ground and sank to my knees. I braced my hands on the floor in front of me. Blood seeped from a gash that had opened in my side. I placed my hand to the wound and applied pressure.

I stared at him from across the room as he rose to his feet. With thundering footsteps, he approached me, his axe held aloft in his hand. He stopped a few paces away from me. I breathed heavily, watching him for a sign of attack. My HP gauge was blinking, I was down to one third of my health bar. I stared at his, noticing he was also down to a quarter of his health. As the footsteps paused, I looked up to stare in his eyes, his sea green orbs were blank. The eyes of a soulless killer. He rested the shaft of his axe on the ground, mere inches from my body. A hand entered my vision. Blinking in confusion, I raised a brow.

"I've seen enough. You depleted my health bar without activating a single sword skill." He announced. His hand still outstretched. "You may fight with us, Fayre."

I reached out and took his hand. I tried not to tremble. I didn't want to activate my unique skill, my black mist, to Axel. I wanted to keep that in store for later on, as I knew a real battle with Axel would be imminent, given Vane's plans. If I revealed my hand too early, they would be able to figure out how to counter me.

We stood and he faced the crowd surrounding us, raising our joined hands in the air.

"Welcome to Fayre! The newest member of the Scythes!" The crowd around us was silent for a moment, before they broke out into cheers. They filtered in around us, shaking my hand and congratulating me. A few even gave out hugs. A few moved to start putting the furniture back in place, drinks were brought out on trays by staff. The conversation in the room began to bubble up again. They all looked joyful, peaceful and happy. They looked like a family.

If only I wasn't going to betray them all.

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