HP: The Arcane Thief
chapter-221

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!"

Antilla couldn't think of anything. No, her mind refused to think of anything. She rushed towards the center as soon as the General released her from his magic.

What she was feeling right now was the same feeling she felt when she heard the news of her mother, father, and sister. An intense feeling of disbelief over reality, and an even more intense hope for the survival of her family.

'He wasn't there! PLEASE! HE WASN'T THERE!' That's all that her mind could think of right now.

Kyrin was just as quick, carrying Akiko along with her. Kyrin gritted her teeth. 'You can't die yet, damn it! We still haven't had that talk you promised!'

"He's… dead…" Unlike others, Sylthia held no delusions about the situation. Axel Hunt, the Crown Prince of Atlantis, had just died. She didn't even entertain the thought of anyone being alive after being in the range of that explosion when they could feel its intensity even from such a large distance.

That means, that new guy who had a lot of potential, that guy who saved her life, and that guy whose whose insane talent she had come to envy… and admire, had died.

'He could have been the king…'

Apparently, he was only thirteen. Achieving that level at the age of 13… and that too, without a relic. Sylthia felt ashamed to have even compared herself to someone like him.

With such a talent, if grown to his potential, he could have finally brought peace to the Kingdom.

So, even though she knew it was completely unreasonable, the always practical and logical Sylthia, also, hopes for a miracle.

'Please… survive!'

They finally reached the center of the explosion, which was still filled with an unbearable amount heat and magical radiation.

*SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS*

Antilla's domain began spreading out in all directions, cooling everything down and driving away the radiation.

When the surroundings cleared, they found themselves standing in the middle of the biggest trench they had ever seen.

But…

"Axel…?"

As the mist cleared, there was no sign of Axel there, nor Aslot. The place was devoid of life.

"No…" Antilla fell to her knees. "G-General?" She asked, looking at the person with the final ray of hope.

The General, knowing what the Princess was asking, slowly shook his head. "No survivors...."

"!"

The answer was expected. After all, the explosion was just that strong. But still, but still, the despair it brought was too strong.

Antilla felt like she was in a dream. She HATES dreaming.

Because in her dreams, she has to watch the Royal Mother, Royal Sister, and Royal Father die countless times while being completely helpless to prevent it. That's why, at this moment, her mind was unable to accept this reality. No, it was refusing to accept it.

"He… He might not have been here! Search the area!"

Yes! That has to be it. Axel was not here! He could be somewhere far away!

At this moment, her mind chose to forget the two distinct water affinities she had clearly had just before the explosion, and the numerous traces of Axel's blood all over the place.

There was a serious doubt that anything could retain it's after that explosion, but everyone began to search the place without question.

Akiko was already searching even before the orders were given. The fact that Axel might have died was not at all acceptable to her, who had already seen him survive so much.

"I found something!"

And surprisingly, something was found right after the search had begun. A large piece of metal was buried in the ground, almost intact.

Sylthia was skeptical even as she uncovered it. The explosion was so powerful that everything was broken down to the smallest particles.

Then, what kind of item is able to retain its form till now?

!!!

But, when she finally managed to take it out, she was so surprised that an audible gasp escaped her lips.

"What did you find?!" Asked the Princess, quickly coming over. But she stopped dead in her tracks.

"Is that… ?"

What she had dug out was a giant armor, red hot and in an extremely broken condition. Even though it was quite damaged right now, its distinct design and the fact that it managed to survive the explosion said it all about its identity, and the identity of its owner.

Akiko lost her feet as soon as she looked at the Armor, her eyes wide with disbelief. Because, she knew what the presence of that piece of metal being here meant.

"Coral… Armor…? Holy fuck." muttered Kyrin.

Though not as much as Akiko, everyone else was also thrown off guard. A relic. And not an ordinary one, but one belonging to one of the Hands. No one expected to find it here. Except for Akiko, who looked like her whole world was collapsing.

"But… how did it get here?" Asked Estris in confusion.

It was a good question. The armor is completely empty, with no Theron in it. If it was active, it would have protected the body from getting completely obliterated. If the relic is off him then it means that Theron is most likely dead. Which, is to put it simply, fucking insane.

The guy's defense is famous throughout the Kingdom's forces. Numerous attempts have been made to take him out, but they never worked.

So... how in the deep seas did his armor end up here?

With no answers and increased confusion, the search continued. And Willis, who was searching the ground through detection magic, found another ground shaking discovery.

??!!! xeveryone

Seventh's rifle.

"This too?!"

Now this was really absurd.

Nerio the Deathshot is the person who has the most high profile kill count out of Kraken. He might not have killed many, but those he has killed are always important enough to make the Kingdom bleed.

Nerio might have been seventh on the Kraken's list, but he was far above that in the Kingdom's list of threats.

"Eighth… and Seventh? What in the Altanian depths is going on?"

Theron and Nerio. How could the relics of two of Kraken's finest end up here together? The situation was not making sense.

'Wait… didn't those two—?' While everyone was confused, Kyrin's eyes widened.

And when she looked at Akiko, her doubts turned into certainty when she saw the devastated look on Akiko's face.

Kyrin and Theron… those two were sent to take down Axel. But they never returned.

Thanks to loud mouth of the Wielder of Biotech relic, everyone else knew about this information too, but they wouldn't think that there is a chance in hell that Axel stood a chance against seventh and eighth. But not Kyrin. Because she knows a bit more about that mfs abilities.

So, if these Relics are here, that can only mean that Axel was here too.

Unaware of this fact, the rest of the group continued the search. And the results were even more baffling.

Because after that, three more relics were found one after another.

One was from another Kraken Executive, Tronis, and the other two were from the Kingdom's Relic wielders.

"Just… what is going on?" Antilla couldn't understand what was going on anymore. There was no trace of Axel here, not the Royal Relic, but there were so many relics!

But two people knew enough. Kyrin and Akiko. Because they knew. If the Armor and the Rifle are here, that means Axel was here. And if he was here, then that could only mean…

"It… can't be." Kneeling on the ground, Akiko looked up at Kyrin. And for the first time in years, Kyrin saw tears in her eyes. ""Find him…""

The desperation in her voice was palpable. But Kyrin only looked at Akiko with blank eyes. 'Does she think… he could still be alive???'

Kyrin didn't even entertain the possibility anymore. The explosion was too powerful. Even when being so far out of the range, they almost couldn't withstand it. The intensity at the center was strong and the Axel's storage equipment broke apart, along with everything else within. Even the relic were greatly damaged.

How could he survive after that?

Kyrin bit her lips, her nails digging into her palms. Her eyes were burning and her emotions were boiling.

Axel Hunt…

Is dead.

Having lost a lot of comrades and subordinates in the past, Kyrin had learnt to not get emotions overtake her judgment at least until she was out of the battlefield. But still, the news hit her hard. Harder than she had ever imagined.

But Kyrin was a user of Darkness Relic. Mental control is something she needed to have at times, at all costs. She closed off her emotions and looked back at Estris.

"Estris, use Temporal Vision."

"I was going to suggest it." Estris nodded readily, gray magic manifesting around her. An exquisite pendant clock appeared around her neck. It was only then that everyone recalled Estris' abilities.

Time.

Acceleration, Deceleration, and...

"Temporal vision!" Antilla exclaimed, only remembering the ability now. She had only heard rumors. That's why she didn't think of using it right away. But this unique ability is currently their best shot at finding out exactly what happened here.

Clenching her fist, Estris slowly turned her hand.

And the surroundings turned extremely bright.

Everyone had to shut their eyes, but the brightness barely lasted for a second. When they opened their eyes, the area around them was no longer an explosion site. Instead, it showed what happened here a few minutes into the past.

This was Temporal Vision, Estris's unique ability. It can show them exactly what happened here in the past.

Axel was dead. But Kyrin wanted to, no, she NEEDED to know more. His blood was all over the place, and there are so many other relics. Kyrin at least needed to know how it happened, and if the perpetrator is dead.

When everyone opened their eyes, the surroundings had turned pitch black.

"It's underground." said Kyrin. The Temporal Vision is showing them the vision of the past, meaning the explosion hasn't happened yet. That means the huge depression they were standing in doesn't exist. "Move it up." she said.

Estris, who was covered in waves of gray magic, moved her hands downwards and the surrounding quickly shifted upwards, showing them the scene above.

"Where…??"

The problem was, there was no one in the area, and everything looked peaceful. There was no sign of any of the relic wielders nor Axel.

"There!" At this moment, Akiko saw a cloud of dust far into the distance.

Estris shifted the vision towards the area, and the group now found themselves in the area where the dust cloud had originated.

A huge amount of wind and water elemental energy swept through the area and a figure materialized in the air, holding a majestic silver trident.

!!!

It was not difficult to know the identity of the person.

"It's him…" Said the General in the stunned silence.

Aslot Regius Varnox.

When it comes to the past threats faced by the kingdom, he comes as close to the top as possible.

The harm he has inflicted upon the Kingdom is so severe that he could be said to be one of the main reasons for the Kingdom's current weakness.

Who among the Atlantians hasn't heard of his deeds? His history cannot be suppressed. Fanatics are still present, worshipping him as the true king of Atlantis. Parents in Atlantis use his name to scare their children into obedience. He is turned into a legend, a symbol of fear.

And now, seeing this legendary figure actually alive with their own eyes, the shock they faced could be imagined.

Aslot currently had a translucent water body. One of his eyes glowed blue while the other green. The amount of power ge was currently wielding made even the Relic Wielders of the kingdom seem like children playing with toys.

Blue lines appeared all over Antilla's face, her eyes bloodshot. This man is the reason she lost her family. And now, seeing him actually alive in person, her Fury had no bounds.

The rest of the group was also quite shaken from the man's appearance. Such a dangerous person was actually alive all this while. What's more spine-chilling is the fact that he now had the Royal Trident in his hands.

But, before they even had the chance to digest this scene, they followed Aslot's line of sight and looked at the ground where the dust was rising. Without waiting for the dust to settle, Aslot pointed the Trident at the ground, and a huge amount of water blades which were enhanced by wind force.

The attack was so powerful that it made Ender and Sylthia subconsciously put up shields into protect themselves from the aftermath, even though they knew what they were seeing was just a vision.

In the face of such a powerful attack, they saw a small amount of blue energy flicker in the dust. Due to the sharp winds of the attack, the dust was cleared, and a small figure was blown away, covered in water.

Aslot followed after the figure, and Estris did the same, taking everyone with her.

"Why… Just why... are you still alive?!" They heard Aslot exclaim in frustration, looking at the mass of water gathered on the ground.

The water separated to reveal the person behind Aslot's frustration.

"A-Axel?" Kyrin's eyes widened.

It was none other than Axel Hunt, the person they had been looking for,

But....

When they saw his condition...