Azekiel started following the young lady, who still felt as if someone was spying on her. For some reason, she couldn't shake off that feeling. As time passed, her feelings only became stronger.
She also felt that it was the same man that she hated the most. The man she had met in the tomb of gods... The man who stole the Stone of time from her.
After some time, she couldn't take it anymore. She just stopped once more, but this time she didn't just turn around. Instead, she attacked.
Thousands of energy blades flew back, slicing even the winds. All the monsters became alert, seeing the abrupt attack. Fortunately, the attack didn't appear to be targeted at them.
Being abruptly attacked, Azekiel didn't have any choice not to make an appearance either.
He called his Gauntlets, firing energy bullets. His energy bullets clashed with the energy blades, destroying them before the energy blades could hit him. His precision made sure that every blade that had the chance of attacking them was destroyed.
"So I was right! It is you!" The woman recognized the energy blades. She had seen Azekiel use the same attack even in the past. "Stop hiding like a coward and show yourself!"
"So much for being stealthy..." Azekiel gestured to Lia to cancel the illusion.
He finally made an appearance before the lady and the monsters.
"You are very brave! After destroying the Stone of Time that we needed, you dare show your face here?!" The woman stated.
"By 'we' I suppose you mean the Monsters and you?" Azekiel asked. "Is that why the beasts aren't attacking you? You worked for them? In that case, I feel even better that I didn't let the stone fall in your hand."
"So, what are you?" Azekiel asked, having a feeling that the girl wasn't a human. If she were a human, she wouldn't be helping the Monsters. And even if she did help them, she shouldn't be this strong.
Around a hundred beasts were keeping an eye on Azekiel, slowly creeping closer to him as if they were all hungry and wanted to devour him. It had been a long time since they ate a human. After the last batch, there hadn't been any!
"What am I?" The woman frowned. "Shouldn't I ask that question from you? What are you? A slave to the tower? Someone who does as the tower asks, all for some benefits? Are you still a human? You spoiled our entire plan by taking the stone from us... A plan that had taken so long to make and execute!"
"I'm not a slave, but you surely are. I do what the tower asks because I want to get stronger. But the tower doesn't take away my free will! It gives me a choice, allowing me to refuse tasks. Something makes me think that you don't get that choice, do you? So which one of us is the real slave here? Me? Or you?"
"I desire to have strength so I won't have to Abandon my family again! I desired strength, so I could kill the ones who wronged me! I desired strength so I could kill the beasts that killed my people... The beasts that killed my mother... The beasts that took everything from me!"
"To get this strength, I didn't sell myself! I didn't sacrifice my morals, unlike you, who sided with these... these beasts that killed millions of innocents! So tell me again! Who is a slave? Me? Or you?"
Azekiel roared, asking a question that made even the woman take a step back for some reason. She didn't know why, but as he walked about losing family, she also felt some pain. She didn't understand why.
She couldn't remember anything. Why did she feel that way? Was this man using some spell to make her feel bad? Was he using some mental manipulation?!
She didn't know what this was. But she knew that she shouldn't let him control her head if it was indeed a skill.
"Shut up! You think your trick will work on me?!" She screamed. "I am with my family! I have my free will! I have everything I could hope for! All I needed was the stone of time, and everything would've been perfect for us! But because of you, I lost it! You will pay for it! Your scheming words can't protect you this time, no matter what you think!"
"Destroy him!" She commanded all the Monsters. "I want to hear him scream! Give him a death that even his soul would tremble before it!"
Usually, she would've killed Azekiel on her own, but she didn't feel like it. For some reason, her heart felt uneasy, following Azekiel's words. She didn't feel right staying here since she didn't want Azekiel to use his manipulation again.
After instructing the beasts to kill Azekiel, she turned her back on him and started walking away.
"Whatever's left of his body, you don't have to bring it to me. You can eat those pieces and enjoy them!" She commanded before she walked away, disappearing into the distance.
Azekiel stood on the street, observing hundreds of monsters around him.
"The beasts are listening to her. Is she their leader?" Lia wondered. Their mission was to kill the leader of the Beasts, but at the moment, it appeared as if she was the so-called leader.
"She isn't," Azekiel answered without any hesitation. "At best, she'll be higher in the hierarchy than the beasts for them to listen to her commands. There's no way that she's their leader."
"How are you so sure?" Lia asked.
"Because the leader should be stronger than the Soul Demon and Avila. It's the next part of the quest, so the difficulty will be even stronger. Even though that girl is strong, she isn't strong enough to justify the difficulty of this quest. I don't think she is the leader."
"The leader should be someone who is even stronger than the girl." Even Raphael agreed with Azekiel. "I also think she isn't the leader. If she is, then the quest will certainly be easier than we previously anticipated."
"I feel like the leader won't come out in the open yet. If ever that girl doesn't think that we are strong enough for her to stay here, then the chances of someone stronger coming here is also nil," he further stated.
"Then we better use this opportunity to leave a deep imprint on them. I see a lot of Soul Energy here. Enough to recharge my Soul Bar. But first, I need to empty it." Azekiel opened the system screen.
"Ready Raphael?"
"Always."
"Spiritual Summon!"
Azekiel used his special skill to calm forth Raphael into the material world, having his entire team ready!
