Chapter 38: The Last of the Axul

  “Kelltins…?” I muttered in disbelief. “But you were…”

  “Dead?” he mused, grinning. “Was I? Was it even my body you saw? Or was it perhaps Waylan’s, with a small touch of my magic?”

  “You see, Spellsword,” Goren called weakly from behind me, his voice still pained. “Kelltins over there got so tired of dying to the Void Spiders every fucking run, sucking off his Lady Mikaela, that he suddenly grew a pair and became aware of the time loop. Because why not, right?”

  Dying to the Void Spiders? None of this rang a bell to me.

  Kelltins' expression turned to disgust as he shot a glare at Goren. “You continue to show your ignorance, Rogue. Stay quiet while the grownups talk.” He flicked his wrist and suddenly a binding appeared around Goren’s mouth, silencing him. Then, he turned back to me. “All you had to do was die, Aidan. Why was that so hard for you?” he shook his head violently, frustration stretched on his face. “Hand me the Core willingly. You will still die, but at least I’ll spare you the suffering.”

  He knew about the Darknessbound Core. But who was he, really?

  “I don’t understand…” I muttered, the pieces not fitting inside my mind. “You’re a looper as well?”

  Kelltins chuckled, shaking his head, his voice filled with contempt. “No. Profane of you to even suggest I would serve your lowly God of Time. I serve only one lord, The true one: The Destroyer – Lord Erebus.”

  A chill ran down my spine, colder than anything I had ever felt before in my life. He knew about Chronos. But more than that, he was a human – a living, breathing person – serving the very embodiment of Darkness, the entity intent on devouring our world. It defied all logic, all instinct. Why would anyone alive side with Erebus? Considering the High Priestess of Axul conversed with the imprisoned Erebus in the memory I had seen, it seemed like a common theme for the Axul, apparently.

  “Are you even listening to yourself?” I shot back, my voice rising. “Erebus is set to devour our world, and you worship him? Are you out of your damn mind?”

  Kelltins' grin widened. “You wouldn’t understand. None of you can.”

  Suddenly, the distant memory I had seen moments ago flashed vividly in my mind again – The Axul child riding the scorpion to escape this god-forsaken tomb.

  “You’re Noctyra?” I asked, unsure, yet somehow expecting a positive answer.

  His eyes widened in surprise, but his expression quickly twisted into one of disgust. “How the hell do you know my real name?”

  It was him. The child was him. And suddenly everything made sense – he controlled the wraiths that attacked us, and then the scorpions. He was never injured – he faked it. He wanted to kill us. And he did…

  “You killed Lena and Dina…” I whispered, the realization hitting. “And Waylan, and Jax, and Henry!”

  “Don’t change the subject, you fool!” Kelltins snapped, his voice filled with rage. “Answer the question. How do you know my Axul name?”

  Before I could respond, he raised his hand, and an invisible force seized me, suffocating me with crushing pressure. I clawed at my throat, gasping for air as the unseen grip tightened.

  [Condition Applied: Suffocation by “Axul Might” used by Aric Kelltins]

  Gaelith acted immediately. He lunged forward, swinging his radiant sword through the air. A colossal ghostly arm materialized where it had been attached to my chest, writhing as it tried to maintain its hold. The radiant blade struck, shattering the arm into glowing fragments, releasing me from the pain.

  [Condition Applied: No Longer Suffocated]

  I collapsed to my knees, choking and gasping for air, but things were clearer now.

  “You are Axul…” Gaelith whispered, his voice low yet heavy.

  Kelltins grinned, his arms rising to his sides. “I’m not just any Axul, fool.” His voice rising with fervor. “I represent something far greater. I am the will of a people long gone. I am their hope. Their promise. Their future – and their present. I am the last of them. I am Noctyra. I AM Axul.”

  A chill ran down my spine. The Axul still existed, and Kelltins, of all people, was the last of them…

  I recalled the words his father had spoken to him in the memory, how he had prepared him for something greater - for this - from a very young age, despite the naivety he had shown by befriending monsters. Deep inside I wanted to believe Aric Kelltins was a real person and not just a facade, so I tried talking to him.

  "I can't pretend to understand what you went through." I said, trying to reason with him. "But you always have your own choice. You don't need to follow the life others had dictated for you."

  He smirked, shaking his head. "Choice is an illusion. A luxury neither a mere mortal like you nor an Axul like me possesses. The only ones who have it are the Gods."

  Goren shifted in his restraints as if trying to speak, which made Noctyra smile.

  "See? The Rogue gets it." he said, before his expression turned serious. "Do you even know what's it like to be the last of your people? Can you even fathom the responsibility I bear for my people? After my father died, there was no one left but me. But they all died so I could complete our bloodline's ultimate goal - the complete awakening of Lord Erebus. And so I will."

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  “You were brainwashed from a young age.” Gaelith said, his voice steady. “Step aside. It is not too late for you.”

  Noctyra chuckled darkly, a mocking sound. “Oh, look who’s talking – the oh-so-great knight who refused my Lord for so long. Don’t worry, dear Gaelith. I’ve got you both right where I wanted you.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked as I rose to my feet, the pain subsiding. This was a trap – but not one set by Goren or Gaelith. It was set by one of humanity’s strongest, most promising adventurers.

  “I wanted two things,” Noctyra began, his tone smug as he clarified his motives. “First: to find the damn looper that was a thorn in my Lord’s side.”

  From his pocket, he pulled out a tiny, nail-sized piece of a gray stone – the third shard needed to complete the Core.

  “It was you…” I muttered, still unsure of how he did it if he wasn’t a looper.

  He laughed. “I came here today to unleash my Lord upon this world. To fulfill my destiny. To fulfill the Axul’s prophecies. But your meddling God of Time just had to intervene – just like the prophecies foretold.” He paused for a moment, the mention of Chronos making him visibly angrier. “Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to sense the time loop. But as I relived this day again and again, slaying the same monsters again and again, I slowly began to see its shape. Then, I was finally able to sense it entirely.”

  “But how?” I repeated, still confused by it all. How could someone recognize a time loop without being chosen by Chronos, like I was – or Dolos, like Goren? Was the Axul’s magic that strong? Was it so strong to make them understand they were trapped in a time loop?

  “Simple.” Noctyra said, his gaze flicking to Goren who writhed in his chains, his mouth bound, his dark aura writhing wildly around him, his muffled curses likely directed at Noctyra.

  “I never died to some Void Spiders. Pathetic of you to think that, Rogue.” Noctyra explained matter-of-factly. “It was always a trick – an illusion to let me leave and roam the tomb freely. With each beast I killed here, and consumed, I gained glimpses of my reality – of the time loop. It was faint at first, like a shadow in the corner of my mind, but it grew stronger. Slowly, I became attuned to it, as expected of a true Axul, able to see it as my Lord can. It took 35 repeats of this day, but on the 36th, I finally achieved full awareness, and all the missing memories my past selves experienced.”

  He gestured to the large glass vessel under Goren, where the scary black liquid steadily filled the container.

  “All thanks to this.” Noctyra said, his tone reverent. “Something only the Axul can wield – the Essence of Darkness.”

  The Essence of Darkness? What the hell even was that? My confusion must have been obvious, as Noctyra smirked and continued.

  “Your fellow looper here was marked by my Lord.” He said, gesturing toward Goren. “Similar to the monsters in this tomb, yet different. He carried, unbeknownst to him, the Essence of Darkness. That’s why I…” Noctyra chuckled. “Had to milk him for it.”

  Goren thrashed in his chains, his muffled curses growing louder, though they couldn’t escape the binding covering his mouth.

  I was shocked by the revelation. Someone was strong enough to grasp the time loop after continuous repeats because of this…dark liquid?

  “Why not just take the entire Core for yourself?” I asked, still extremely confused. “Why only take a tiny piece?”

  “Are you serious?” Noctyra scoffed, his mocking tone already getting on my nerves. “Then how would I get rid of you? How would I get rid of the champions of my Lord’s greatest enemy? It was a trap to draw you out. I needed the extra shard to find the one who would collect the other two – the other looper – you!”

  His smug expression deepened as he continued. “The Rogue was easy to catch, an overconfident fool, but you? That’s a whole different thing. Admittedly, I was surprised when you turned out to be the lowest-leveled adventurer here. But it makes sense. My Lord’s archenemy couldn’t be foolish or predictable, or else why would he be the archenemy? Choosing the weakest one around was the smartest choice, I assume.”

  My heart raced at his words. He knew way too much. So, so much. Every step was planned and calculated. He might’ve not expected the time loop, but he got attuned to it. He managed to overcome it.

  I glanced at Gaelith, who remained silent beside me. Noctyra had referred to him as part of the plan, but what did he mean? What could he even do as an Axul? Gaelith seemed to know a lot about them, and he had said their magic was ‘different’. But how different? What did he even mean?

  “Well, now you have me and the Darknessbound Core here.” I said, testing the waters. “But how do you expect to deal with him?” I gestured toward Gaelith. The level 100 legendary knight, who surprisingly actually seemed to be on my side, despite everything I believed, was my best bet.

  “That’s the easy part.” Noctyra replied with a low chuckle, his cocky attitude on full display. “You see, I needed him here. My Lord requires him to unleash his wrath upon this world. For reasons unknown to me, he is his true vessel. And I’m going to deliver him on a silver platter.”

  “That won’t happen.” Gaelith said, his voice calm yet full of confidence. “I have fought your Lord for the last thousand years, and I won’t fall to him now.” He raised his radiant sword, preparing for a fight. “Please, back down.”

  Noctyra’s grin widened as he grabbed his war axe from his back, smashing its head into the ground with a thunderous roar. “Oh, I’ve been preparing for this day my entire life, foolish knight.” He said, his tone filled with eerie excitement. “Trust me, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  I glanced at Gaelith, then back at Noctyra, surprised he was willing to take us both on. Gaelith alone should be more than enough to defeat him. With my help, it should be an easy win.

  “How do you expect to fight us both on your own?” I asked, though I was nervous of the upcoming answer. It was like Déjà vu was reminding me that nothing was easy in this tomb.

  “Alone?” Kelltins – Noctyra – mused, his grin widening. “Who said I was alone?”

  Then, he raised his hand, and the ground trembled beneath us. Something was coming. Something big.

  “Get ready.” Gaelith whispered, and my grip around Silverfang tightened, expecting the worst.

  But nothing could have prepared me for what came next.

  The wall to our side suddenly collapsed with a deafening crash. I barely managed to escape the incoming rubble, using Dash Step to evade the falling stones. Dust filled the air, obscuring our vision.

  When the dust cloud settled, my heart raced at the sight of the enormous monster before us.

  A massive scorpion, nearly as tall as the ceiling, emerged. Its body was covered in metal plates that clinked with every movement. The System recognized it immediately: Stinger, level 85.

  Stinger…was this the same scorpion Noctyra had ridden to escape the tomb as a child? Could that not-so-small, loyal creature have grown into this towering abomination? Its eyes lacked the glowing red that followed all the monsters I had stumbled upon in this run. Could Stinger be acting of its own free will? How the hell did he grow up to become so large and a friend of a human?

  Noctyra rushed to the scorpion’s side, climbing onto its armored back with practiced control. He rested a hand on the creature’s plated head, his voice low and…respectful? “My dear Stinger.” He said as he brought his head closer to it, touching it with his forehead.

  Then, the colossal scorpion let out a sharp, piercing screech – a sound that sent shivers down my spine and echoed through the chamber. Its tail arched high, its massive stinger dripping with venom as it turned its attention to me and Gaelith.

  Noctyra climbed the beast and grinned from atop of it, his eyes blazing with delight. “Now, prepare to fall to the heir of the pillars of humanity. The last of the Axul!”

  The system suddenly changed its recognition of Kelltins. Now it named him differently: Noctyra, the Last Axul, level 87.

  Then, he and his scorpion companion attacked in unison.