NOVEL WEB Ch. 123
“Not going to answer?” the man—Vax—asked. Irritation bled through his voice.
He’d dispatched his men to retrieve Python’s brat, only to discover them butchered by some nobody he’d never encountered.
Now that same nobody cradled Python’s daughter protectively, as if she were his own.
What a complete disaster.
“What kind of day is this?” Vax muttered, dragging his hand through his hair.
The moment of frustration passed quickly, replaced by something far more dangerous. Aura began pouring from him as his eyes flashed with lethal intent.
Aura thick with corruption—the kind no human could ever possess—slithered toward Roxen like a living serpent.
I need to run.
Roxen bit his lip, studying that malevolent energy.
Alone, he would have fought without hesitation. But his opponent was stronger, and he held a child in his arms. If he engaged here, both would die.
He had to get the girl away from this place.
But the problem is these bastards won’t just let her go.
Vax and the thugs who’d appeared with him were closing in, surrounding Roxen and the girl like a tightening noose.
Roxen’s grip tightened on his sword.
Victory was impossible. Ten percent chance of survival, at best. Even so, he couldn’t surrender.
He refused to experience losing another child.
Roxen took a long, steadying breath and ignited his Aura.
Clutching the girl against his chest, he kicked into a sprint.
True to a nation where crime flourished, no one moved to help. Instead, doors slammed shut as citizens simply waited for the violence to pass them by.
“Mister... what’s happening?” Hena asked, her voice thick with tears.
Even with her eyes closed and ears covered, she could feel his ragged breathing, sense his desperation in the way he ran.
“It’s okay,” Roxen murmured, holding her tighter.
He couldn’t tell whether his actions were for this child or for the daughter he’d lost.
Some mysteries weren’t meant to be solved, not even across a lifetime.
“Catch them! Get those little shits now!”
The shouts echoed closer behind them. The distance was closing—capture was inevitable.
I need somewhere to leave the girl.
Roxen’s eyes swept the surroundings frantically. Then he spotted a passage leading to the commercial district.
Even in Lovan, there remained vestiges of law—a king and peacekeeping forces. The problem was that order existed only in the commercial district.
But right now, even that flawed sanctuary was better than nothing.
Just need to reach it.
Roxen exhaled deeply and pushed his Aura higher.
After what felt like an eternity compressed into heartbeats… he stopped at the commercial district’s threshold and set the child down.
She opened her eyes slowly, anxiety written across her small features.
“M-Mister...”
“Go inside. I’ll hold them here.”
“What about you?”
Despite seeing nothing of the chase, she’d grasped the situation with the sharp perception of someone raised in Lovan’s harsh streets.
“I’ll follow right behind you. Find those guards and ask for help.”
“Mister...”
“Go!”
His sharp command startled her. She looked at him once more, tears gathering in her eyes, then turned and ran toward safety.
Only after she was gone did Roxen finally allow himself to breathe.
The thugs and Vax arrived moments later, and he raised his sword to meet them.
“Where’s the girl?”
“Girl? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Roxen maintained his expressionless mask.
Vax’s face flushed crimson as rage consumed him. “You think I won’t find her just because you sent her to the commercial district?”
Damn. He’d deduced her location immediately.
With the girl vanishing directly in front of the district entrance, it was an obvious conclusion.
Roxen snorted humorlessly as he ignited his crimson Aura.
The force of his blade fluctuated with emotion—unlike Roxha’s greed-centered swordsmanship, his weapon was forged from pure rage.
Whoooosh.
Viscous flames bloomed along his sword’s edge. Killing intent swirled around him, creating a sensation similar to the Dread Aura of assassins.
The peak-level Aura Expert—a knight strong enough to stand among the continent’s elite—raised his weapon and spoke with quiet finality.
“You don’t get to pass.”
Even if it cost him everything.
* * *
Clang! Clang!
Steel rang against steel in sharp, discordant notes.
“Gahh!”
The thugs groaned as they fought to block Roxen’s strikes.
Despite being outnumbered, somehow they were the ones retreating.
Slash!
Another ally fell. Five remained, plus Vax.
Damn it! Why isn’t he helping?
One thug glared at Vax with growing desperation.
Dozens had died, yet Vax hadn’t moved since arriving, like a hunting dog content to let the prey exhaust itself.
Is he planning to abandon us?
The thought gnawed at him. It was entirely possible.
To Vax, they were just disposable gang members. Expendable.
He knew that in theory. Living it was another matter entirely.
Should I run?
His eyes darted frantically as agonized thoughts consumed him.
The swordsman was tiring, but he’d just claimed another life. Three left now. His turn would come within moments.
Better to flee than wait for death...
Crack!
“I can hear those gears grinding from here.”
The thug’s skull exploded, his body crumpling as life fled.
Swish.
Vax shook blood from his hand with casual irritation, then regarded the survivors with disgust.
“I don’t understand why useless shitheads who can’t even take a single arm are still breathing.”
Slash—!
Vax cut down every remaining thug with one motion. No sword graced his hand—just his palm, somehow formed into a blade.
“You there. What’s your relationship with Python that you’d go this far?”
Roxen exhaled deeply and raised his sword. “No relationship at all.”
“Then why the effort? Hand over the damned girl and I’ll let you live.”
The damned girl?
Roxen studied Vax and allowed his lips to curve in a cold smile.
So this bastard really intended to kill the girl. Python was likely the true target.
What a filthy animal.
0
Roxen’s eyes flashed as killing intent scattered around him.
Using somebody’s child as leverage... this man embodied everything he despised most.
“I’m stopping you here.”
The words emerged as a quiet promise. To honor the daughter who’d gone before him, he would stop this monster.
“Oh, fuck my life.”
Vax seemed to sense his resolve. He sighed and scratched his head.
“I need to finish this before Lord Pepia returns.”
“There’s a man stronger than you?”
“Man? Ha! You think I’d be so nervous if it were human?”
Not human? Then what?
Roxen stared with puzzled eyes.
Vax smiled with bitter amusement and explained. “The Count of Madness. One of the Twelve Nobles of the Demonic Realm, and my master.”
Vax paused and extended his tongue. Carved into the flesh was a sigil.
Roxen stared at that mark with dawning recognition.
“Demonkin.”
“That’s right! If you want, I can share some power with y—”
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
Vax’s words shattered as he flew backward through the air.
“Demonkin... Demonkin... Demonkin... DEMONNNNN!”
Roxen screamed with bloodshot eyes, his voice a death cry that echoed throughout Lovan’s streets.
A six-pointed star with horns at its center—identical to the sigil of the Demonkin who had annihilated Ayla Village.
Rumble—!
Roxen’s skin began transforming. It resembled demonification but wasn’t—he had simply reached the pinnacle of Roxha’s Aura cultivation technique.
Transformed into an avatar of rage, his blazing eyes fixed on Vax.
“Tell me where that filth is. Then I’ll grant you an easy death.”
The threat was wrapped in certainty.
Faced with Roxen’s transformed state, Vax spat a mouthful of blood and snorted. “So you’re another Demonkin servant?”
“SHUT IT!”
Roxen’s Aura exploded outward. Waves of viscous flame rushed toward Vax.
“I really didn’t want to use this.”
Vax sighed and rummaged through his clothing, producing a vial that he emptied into his mouth.
As Vax consumed the medicine, sanity fled his eyes.
Crunch. Crackle.
His transformation differed from Roxen’s—while Roxen maintained human form, Vax did not.
His body swelled massive, thick brown fur erupting from his skin.
Thoom—!
The ground shook. The very clouds in the sky seemed to split.
Vax’s skeleton restructured itself, his appearance warping until he became something entirely other than what he’d been moments before.
A creature from ancient myth—a Minotaur.
The towering half-man, half-beast bellowed across the kingdom.
“GROOOOOOOOOOOAR!”
Whether he’d lost reason or simply couldn’t speak in beast form was unclear.
But one thing was certain—this enemy surpassed any Roxen had faced before.
Yet, Roxen showed no fear of the Minotaur’s intimidating presence.
“I’LL KILL YOOOOOU!”
He charged directly at the monster.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The Minotaur’s fists shattered stone and earth.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
Roxen’s blade carved through the creature’s hide piece by piece.
Like a battle between primordial forces.
Knights who’d arrived as reinforcements from the commercial district watched with blank expressions.
“What is this?”
A scene torn from mythology itself.
But no hero graced this battlefield—only monsters clashing among themselves.
“Mister...” Hena whispered through her tears.
Somehow, the expression on the man fighting out there looked unbearably sad.