HP: The Arcane Thief
chapter-97

Chapter 96

Rage.

Blinding, maddening, Rage.

That's what Axel was feeling right now. Martina was a friend. An ally. Someone he could trust. And someone he had come to care for. He was already quite pissed when that Mikhailov guy had tried to force her and make her feel uncomfortable.

So...imagine his anger, when he finds out that this ant, someone with no actual ability to harm her, had actually hurt her so badly to the point of crying and swearing. And his wrath only becomes worse when realizing what would have happened if he had arrived even a few moments later.

A quiet, easy life. That's all he had wanted. But in hopes of finding it, he had ignored even the obvious threats, thinking that nothing would happen as long as he doesn't actively look for trouble. But tonight, that life had all but gone away already. And what did he get for not looking for trouble? This.

*Tnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn*

His ears were ringing and his head felt like it was about to explode. The anger was too strong for his shields to contain.

So, Axel simply stopped containing it, letting it go. For the first time after gaining Occlumency, he decided to stop holding back completely.

*Boom*

A shockwave erupted with him as the centre, as magic evoked by extreme rage overflowed. His eyes disappeared, hidden under the overflow of magic and two knives appeared in his hand.

Damien almost bricked himself and somehow, real terror struck him upon seeing Axel right now. "KILL HIM!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, his men already shooting out their best even without his instructions.

"Too late," said Axel, as he grinned like the devil.

There was something about Martina that he had always admired. Even while growing up in a Mafia household, she had managed to retain purity in her heart, not letting the evilness here taint her. It was something he had admired very much since he knew exactly how difficult it is to not get corrupted by a bad environment. And these men had hurt such a girl, most likely traumatizing her forever.

Standing in their midst, Axel looked at each and every person in the bubble. "You all... you'll pay for it," he said, fading from view.

[Knife Wielding]

[Blend]

[Presence Reduction]

[Soundless]

[True Invisibility]

[Arcane Footwork]

"Where did he go?!" Demanded Damien, looking around in fear.

*Plop*

!

He flinched at the sudden sound that came from right beside him. Turning to look, he was almost scared to death when he found the head missing from the body of the person who had been healing him moments ago, the head falling right into his lap.

Damien screamed dropping him wand while trying to get away, but a paralyzing spell hit him, stopping him in place.

"You're not going anywhere." a bone-chilling voice whispered right next to his ear, as more heads flew, of the other healers who were trying to get away.

!!!

Pure terror struck him like never before, and completely unable to do anything but scream, his bladder came loose, soiling his pants for real.

"Boris! Dusan!"

"What the hell?!"

The men were alarmed to see the heads of their comrades rolling as well, and equally angered as they were spooked. But, their nightmare was only beginning as more and more heads started to fall on the ground around them!

There was no visual, no sound, not even any signs of struggle. Just heads flying into the air, as fountains of blood began spurting from all around.

"Avada Ked—" Panicked, they tried to fire spells randomly, but even that wasn't allowed much as those casting spells would be beheaded first.

"Bastard! You can't hide forever! Homenum revelio!"

"Do you see him?"

*spurt* *spurt*

Axel's stealth, under the system's training, had reached to the point that the detection charms no longer worked. There was nothing the men could do against him at this point.

"Run away!"

"I can't apparate!"

"Fool! Apparition is not possible in this bubble! Didn't you know that?!"

"No! I only came because I heard we were raping the Mafia Princ—!" *spurt*

Mass panic spread among the men as they began running around like headless chickens. In this moment, Damien was completely forgotten, as everyone began looking out for themselves.

Some took their chances and leapt out of the bubble into the wards, while some just kneeled down to beg for mercy; but alas, not a single soul was spared, as the raging Axel became the Grim Reaper, harvesting lives one by one.

It was over within seconds. The fearsome force which the Malcolms took great pride in, which struck fear in the hearts of their enemies, and the force which had slaughtered many...gone. Just like that… Wiped out within seconds by a single person.

With everyone dead, Axel appeared again, walking towards Damien with headless bodies falling all around him as he sheathed his knives.

"Hmphh! HMMPPHH!!" Damien tried to struggle, but alas, it was useless. As Axel reached him, he tried to move his paralyzed hand towards his wand which he had dropped in panic.

Axel chuckled at his vain attempt, mercilessly crushing the hand under his foot. "I've been saving you for the last." He said, picking up the wand Malcolm had been trying to reach.

Damien Malcolm. This was someone who had been bugging Axel for a while. He had just kept postponing his revenge on the guy, thinking that him to be pretty harmless and beneath his stature. Axel had thought that he was too lazy to deal with Damien, but now that it had come down to it, he realized what was the real problem.

Axel had been scared. Scared of getting his hands dirty. Scared of once again getting into a world of crimes and filth which had finally escaped. He had thought of living an honest, ethical life, sealing away the evil part of him which had gotten used to committing crimes.

But what happened when he did so? Martina got hurt, and almost violated, just because he hadn't bothered dealing with this bastard early.

Now that the evil inside him was unleashed, there was no stopping it. And, it demanded revenge.

With Damien's wand, he undid the paralysis on his mouth, giving him the ability to speak. "Any last thoughts?"

Damien glared daggers at Axel. He knew he was going to die. He had come prepared for that. If there was one regret, it would be, "I should have raped her straight away," he murmured wistfully, recalling how good it had felt to dominate Martina. His member hardened just thinking about it.

*STAB*

"AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Damien's wand, which Axel had picked up, was stabbed right into his crotch, piercing through all his important bits, making him scream like a banshee.

Axel wasn't satisfied. He twisted the wand, making the pain several times worse.

"AAAAAHHHH!!! YOU BASTARD!!! I'LL KILL YOU!!!" Damien started crying, unable to take it.

His eyes glowing, Axel tilted his head, looking disdainful. "Already broken? I'm just getting started."

"Electrica.... Impulsa."

"AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

The screams of Damien reached a crescendo, loud enough to reach the party. Too bad he was the bubble prevented any sound from escaping.

"Electrica Impulsa.

"AAAAAAAA-RRRRGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

Axel nodded, unmoved. "Nice."

"Electrica Impulsa. Electrica Impulsa. Electrica Impulsa. Electrica Impulsa. Electrica Impulsa. Electrica Impulsa..."

Damien screamed himself hoarse, but Axel didn't stop, even after he screamed no more.

"Electrica—"

"Axel! He's dead!" Martina said, stumbling her way towards him with much difficulty due to the drugs.

Axel blinked, looking down at the guy. He was indeed dead. He once again reconnected the Occlumency shields and looked around himself as the high caused by his anger finally faded.

It was a bloody scene, with heads lying everywhere. No survivors. "What... the hell?" He muttered, glancing back at Martina. It hadn't been more than 2 minutes. How the hell did he end up doing so much damage in so little time of losing control?

When their eyes met, Martina averted her eyes quickly, her expression shifting, which was almost like a physical blow to him. 'She must think I'm a monster...' He realized. The ugliness he had been hiding since forever, the side of him that had kept buried, was already exposed. There's no point pretending anymore.

Axel got up on shaky feet, his face becoming blank. "I'll... I'll go now," he said, disappearing from her view.

On his way, he killed one last person, the spy who had been tracking Martina and had witnessed the whole scene. If he was able to get into the Party, he must be an important person, but Axel really couldn't care less. If he had gone this far, he might as well be thorough, right?

Completely exhausted, Axel dragged his tired body into his room and warded it up. Laying on the bed, he checked the system notifications he had been ignoring for a while.

[Special Mission Complete: Protect Martina]

[Congratulations. You have saved Martina from the danger.

Rewards

-+Approval rate: Total: 35%

-Special Skill: Unshackle

-Information]

Axel frowned, opening the details about the new skill.

[Unshackle: Grants the ability to get rid of all kinds of shackles.

Current progress: 0.3%]

Axel was surprised. This new skill was tricky. He only had a 0.3 percent proficiency in it. That is unusual. Well, something to dwell on later. Right now, he just felt like shit.

"Sigh..."

Martina's family's betrayal was not something he had not already expected. But what was unexpected was how badly it had hit him. He had been stabbed in the back many times by now, and he had been expecting it anyway since he was in a very vulnerable and exploitable position this time due to not having any alternative. His wand needed to be fixed after all. And, the Valentinos could honestly not be faulted for what they did. They were trying to protect their daughter, and save the lives of a lot of their men by trying to prevent a war. Of course they couldn't be expected to choose him over all that.

So, Axel wasn't really ruffled by that.

What actually gutted him, was that there really wasn't anyone who would choose him over everything else. Not even Daphne. When it comes to family, outsiders are, in the end, just outsiders. So, he can't truly trust anyone.

And then there's the second problem: Axel himself.

In actuality, he felt no remorse for the lives he had harvested just now. Any normal person in his place, one who has people whom they can 100% trust, wouldn't have been able to even look at the scene without feeling disgusted, let alone actually committing it. So, it makes him wonder….does he actually deserve to have people caring about him?

For example, Martina really seemed to care for him, and look what he did. She must be feeling pretty scared and disgusted with him. How is she supposed to trust and care for a mass murdering psycho? Someone who could make her head roll before she even finds something amiss? Any sane person would run.

So, isn't it time he started to stop blaming other people and looked in the mirror?

He is broken. He is damaged. He has trust issues. The little few people he actually trusts and cares for, he might create a massacre for them. He can take certain lives without any guilt. Plus, he can't really tell people everything about himself. There are too many things that he just can't reveal. His bad attitude doesn't help either.

And the MAIN thing: He prefers himself the way he is.

Meaning, he doesn't want to change much for others.

…Would anyone really choose such a person over other things? He doesn't think so. Heck, even his own family abandoned him, let alone outsiders.

The same thing happened with the Orphanage as well. They chose to abandon him as well, and the cycle repeats.

So, maybe it's time he accepted it. That he's just going to have to look out for himself. He should mind his own business, and stop having all these expectations and hopes that are never going to be fulfilled. At least no one would be able to screw him, right?

…

Martina had just experienced the most traumatic thing in her life. When Malcolm was hurting her, and was going to violate her, she had been struck with fear like never before. Her mind, the one thing that she had always counted on, was compromised, and she wasn't even able to think properly. In comparison to such a situation, she would have even preferred death, just to escape, that's how strangled she had felt.

And in her dazed state, when Martina had seen Axel appear out of nowhere and save her, the feeling she had felt at that moment was... simply euphoric.

Never in her life had she been so happy to see someone. And in her drugged state, all she wanted to do was to hug the hell out of him.

While in the state, she had done more than a few silly things in front of Axel, which made her want to die out of mortification as soon as she gained some of her consciousness back. And more importantly, she had wanted to really hurt that brat Damien, due to whom all this had happened in the first place.

"That Bastard!" She had cursed. But, as it turned out Axel wasn't done yet.

He was actually angry for her, and wanted to punish those who had hurt her as well. In her previous life, she was an orphan, and there was no one to truly care for her. So, in this life, she was glad to have someone like that outside her family.

But, that's why Martina couldn't afford for him to get hurt. He had just saved her, twice, and he was going to be in danger while she hadn't even been able to thank him. She wanted to stop him!

Alas, the poison was still quite active enough to not let her stop him, nor help him. All she could do, was watch as Axel risked his life for her.

But then,

!?!?!?!

"What...?"

She got to see the true abilities of Axel Hunt.

She had known he had stealth, she had known he could be quiet, she had known he was skilled with knives. But, she had never expected him to be…this good at each of them, and… she had never expected the combination of all of his skills to be so… absolutely beautiful and deadly.

And scary...

In her previous life, maybe. But after dying for doing something good and growing up in a Mafia household, she was no longer a stickler for morality, if the other party deserved it. She had come to find that the world wasn't just black and white.

Her family, for all their faults, truly loved her, and they tried to do their best in their own way. She had learnt to love and accept them the way they were. And, after getting killed for doing the right and witness a lot of unavoidable deaths, she wasn't really the sanest person around anymore, nor the most moral one. She just tried to be one.

So, when she saw Axel torture Damien, even though she was scared, she was also rather grateful. Because, the guy truly deserved it and she didn't have the guts to do it herself.

By the time she reached Axel, Damien was already dead, and her family was on their way. Since Axel had too much electrical discharge around him, she kept her distance from him as she called out to him.

But, when their eyes met, Martina flinched.

There were two reasons for that.

Firstly, she found herself very flustered and ashamed of her behavior. She had wanted to show him that she was someone strong and dependable. But instead, what had happened? She had come off as some weak and pathetic damsel who can't even fight her own battles.

First, she had needed him to fight a duel for her, then she had to be save from another tragedy.

She was especially mortified about her behavior when he was trying to heal her. So, she couldn't real look at him without drowing in shame.

The other reason... her damned past life. She has been trying to get rid of it, but and she has, for the most part, but there are still a few remnants of her personality made her flinch.

And, she instantly regreted it.

When she did looked back at Axel, she saw the briefest flicker of hurt in those eyes, before it was covered up. She realized that something had gone terribly wrong, but… as she tried to stop him, the world started to spin, and she fell to the ground, unable to even keep standing. It was the after effect of drug: Heavy hangover and exhaustion.

Martina wanted to stop Axel, she wanted to thank him, she wanted to hug him, but all she could do was raise her hand towards Axel, but he never turned back.

*Snap*

*Snap* *Snap*

Then the sounds Apparation filled her ears, as help finally arrived. Only to see Martina sitting in a scene of carnage.

....

A.N.: Next Chap: Perfect son-in-law, but no medicine for regret

Next next: Past revealed

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