Anxiety permeated through their veins as they stared at the monster whose face emitted its vicious thoughts.
What would they do?
Well, they could only find out.
The monster now gazed at them like he would sunder their skulls.
Well, they were ready, but then, so was he.
He didn't show any signs. He only somersaulted; the act felt like he leaped. And coming down, he landed with his two hands hard on the ground.
The wind the act generated sent them away. It jolted them backwards and they hit their heads on the floor, every one of them, grunting in pain.
'To survive, or not to survive, that is the question.'
Axel grunted. Now it was more:
'To get your brain crushed or not, that is the damn question.'
Axel watched Spinal Edge get up, Space Knight behind her. Soon, others followed, their footfalls very loud and hitting the ground very hard.
Axel watched them go; he didn't even move, perhaps now, laying on the ground, he actually had a chance.
He now analyzed it. He had speed. And so, the other heroes going after this monster actually gave him a chance.
This was how he saw it.
The other heroes would distract the monster; they didn't know they were distracting instead of fighting, but to him, that was how he saw it.
Them distracting the monster would give him a chance to run really fast, summon the Inferno Sword, and get this goddamn monster down.
His plan sounded good, and he liked it, nodding in affirmation to assure himself that it was pretty good.
He had to lay on the ground and pretend to be weak so that the monster wouldn't pay too much notice to him.
The other superheroes didn't quite notice his absence. They just fought with all their might.
Spinal Edge's bone sword was useless and so in no time, she had been shoved away. She persisted and lost about a tooth or two.
Voidbreaker didn't even get to use his powers; the monster had seriously damaged his ribs, he was on the verge of dying.
It was now remaining Space Knight and Mirrormeld. What had helped Mirrormeld was that she could duplicate, and many of her duplications had been mercilessly slaughtered. Well, she was still alive.
Space Knight was a very skilled fighter and as Axel watched, he couldn't but admire her skill.
Mirrormeld was breathing hard, obviously exhausted from too much duplicating. And so as she was about to bend a little and catch her breath —
THUUUDDDD!
It came like a jab given by a 400 feet tall giant. It felt massive, and as it hit Mirrormeld, she couldn't help but faint.
It was remaining Space Knight; she looked at Axel, wondering what TF was wrong with him and why he couldn't come help them.
The monster sent her a blow to her jaw, she sidestepped, and bending down, she sent herself upwards into a somersault. Her motion was quick and flexible like a cat.
The monster looked upwards, immersed in the skill…
Axel wasted no time.
WHOOSH!
He swiftly dashed towards the monster, running forward with the energy of a vortex, his face contorted into an expression that looked like he was trying to poop.
DASH!
His flames flickered vividly, and with a pause of the scene, one would get a picturesque scene.
The monster's hands drove into Space Knight's face, reeling her downwards into a…
BAM!
…fall.
ZOOOSSH!
Axel shot two fireballs from his hands, sending them into the mouth of the monster, who fell and gave out a loud shout of pain.
Space Knight, although in pain herself, didn't hesitate to give Axel a thumbs up. She now realized why he had been waiting all along.
Before the monster could recover from the fireball, Axel leaped high in the air, closing his eyes for a split second as he summoned the Inferno Sword.
[Summoning the Inferno Sword]
A strike of what looked like lightning struck Axel's hands.
A foggy atmosphere.
And then…
…Lo and behold, the Inferno Sword was tightly clutched in Axel's hands. His grip more strong than ever.
[Inferno Sword Summoned]
He raised it in the air, in those split seconds, and aimed it towards the monster…
WHAM!
Excruciating pain.
THAM!
Axel's back hitting the ground.
The monster appeared to be very lithe, considering its almost monolithic size.
Axel's brain seemed to move from its usual position and his backbone seemed to have been broken.
The force that accompanied the fall had been too much, way too much. It seemed like Axel had been pushed off the moon and he had landed on a very hard rock on earth.
The parched ground had been a main cause of the pain, it was so hard it felt harder than the surface of a mountain, and as well more jagged.
Axel's sword lay behind him but he couldn't pick it. He couldn't move a muscle at that moment.
The monster only stared at him, taking slow steps forward, like it was taking its time.
Axel gave up. Everyone was in stupor at this rate. He closed his eyes and then saw the words of his system:
[Opponent too powerful, death incoming]
Axel grinned. Life is cruel, he had to acknowledge it. Which he was doing; he was accepting death with a grin.
The monster came at him and raised him up by his chest, unaffected by his flames. He threw him up and then watched him fall. Axel was spitting blood now, thick blood.
[DEATH!]
Axel was almost lifeless at this point.
[DEATH]
His system kept reassuring him that he would die.
How splendid!
Axel was too weak, he automatically changed back to himself, Axel.
[Host on the verge of dying. A hit from the monster seals it. The fourteenth Inferno Hero about to die]
Axel heard a cacophony of footsteps, all too many, flooding his brain system.
"So this is how I will die!" he muttered.
Nothing could save him now, not the voice or even Royal Cloak.
This was…
…DEATH
Blood oozed from Axel's nose, and as he lifted his head slightly to see the monster, blood oozed from the side of his head.
The monster now near him, stopped and started to cry. Axel wasn't one bit surprised, he had seen more.
But then…
The monster was starting to transform, dust swirled around him, and in the end, Axel, at the verge of dying, could only gasp.
"Dad?"
The monster, now a man, hugged him tight.
"Axel, my son."
Tears trickled down Axel's face.
The man's voice quivered, "I'm-, I'm sorry."