Apocalypse: becoming the hidden Ruler[English]

Five minutes later, Axel emerged from another manhole cover, a good hundred meters from the scene. He was drenched in the stench of the sewer, but Annabelle wrapped her arms around him immediately.

Axel walked back to where the chaos had unfolded, his eyes narrowing at the sight of Infected No. 2. The creature’s back was a mess of jagged, honeycomb-like wounds. It was hard to reconcile the girl he saw now with the killer.

Annabelle’s voice broke his thoughts. “Bro, are we going to get caught?”

For years, they’d been doing everything in their power to keep their true identities hidden. But after what had just happened, their simple life felt like a distant dream.

”Two kids killing an infected,” she whispered. ”Even if we don’t get caught, they’ll still investigate us. And if we get pulled in for questioning—”

Axel cut her off, his voice steady. ”Don’t worry. Go home first, and leave the rest to me.”

He wasn’t as concerned as Annabelle. The hardest part of the plan was done. They’d killed No. 2.

Once Annabelle had gone, Axel turned to Skye. The man was pale, his breathing shallow, but miraculously still alive. His ribs were shattered, and his body was covered in deep, jagged scars.

“The resilience of the awakened... impressive,” Axel muttered under his breath. If he hadn’t shot when he did, Skye would have been killed by No. 2.

Axel rifled through Skye’s jacket, and he found a small yellow bottle.

“This should work.” With that, Axel walked to the well where No. 2’s massive body was lodged. Floating there was a ball of green light, roughly the size of a volleyball. Axel carefully collected it, watching as it transformed into a ball of green crystal in his palm.

If it was vaporized, there’d be no trace left for anyone to find. Axel used the same method Skye had demonstrated earlier. After took a small sample of muscle tissue from No. 2’s body, he dripped the liquid onto its body.

Almost immediately, the air was filled with a pungent odor, and Axel watched as the infected’s body began to slowly vaporize before his eyes. By the time it was almost completely gone, the shrunken remains fell into the well. Axel didn’t want to pull them back out, because the damage caused by Annabelle had been erased.

Axel moved to the four bodies lying in a heap nearby. He repeated the process, pouring the liquid over their bodies. One by one, they vanished into the air, leaving nothing behind but the faintest trace of residue.

This behavior seems a bit deliberate, yes, but Axel knew it had to be done. Vaporizing them was the only way to cover their tracks.

After finishing the cleanup, Axel found the medicine Skye had left behind and used it to rouse the man from his unconscious state. Skye coughed up blood, the first thing he said, weakly, was, “You’re still alive?”

Skye’s mind struggled to piece together the events before he lost consciousness.… what had happened?

His eyes flickered around. The towering form of Infected No. 2 was gone. Axel was now going around waking everyone else up.

Five minutes later, the team slowly regained consciousness. Everyone, except Skye, who was still sitting against the wall, exchanged glances.

”Captain, you’re incredible,” one of them said with a grin.

Several team members knew Skye’s ability very well. His awakening skill was to strengthen his body. Therefore, his physical fitness was much stronger than that of awakeners of the same level. Although the injury was terrible, as long as his life was not in danger, he would recover soon.

”You’re laughing while I’m in this condition? Forget about your bonuses this month,” Skye muttered, his voice hoarse. ”And I didn’t kill No. 2.”

The team went silent, blinking at him in confusion. If Skye hadn’t stepped in, they probably wouldn’t be alive to see the sun rise.

Skye’s sharp eyes settled on Axel, and the realization hit the team—maybe the captain wasn’t joking after all.

”Axel, right?” Skye asked, his tone more serious now. ”You should tell us what happened. Start from the beginning. How did you end up here?”

Axel took a deep breath, the time for answers had come. ”I heard noises from over here,” he began. ”I figured you’d be taking down the other infected, and I didn’t want to miss out on that. So, I just lay on the roof of that house over there.”

”You just lay there to watch? Are you always this brave?”

”I am really brave...” Axel amused by his own response. ”Or at least, I try to be.”

”Go on,” Skye prompted. His courage really defied logic.

”I thought it’d be an easy show, but I didn’t expect all of you to be knocked out by the time I got here.”

The team exchanged awkward glances, a few of them lowering their heads in embarrassment. Skye shot Axel a sharp look and waved his hand. ”Get to the point.”

Axel nodded. ”Well, when I saw your gun go flying, I realized you might not be able to beat No. 2. I got scared, too, and picked up the gun without thinking.”

Deputy Captain Freya was already very grateful to Axel for saving her. Now, hearing this, her heart almost jumped out of her throat, and she looked at Axel more favorably.

Axel continued. ”Then, when you fell, I regretted getting involved. I figured, if I didn’t shoot, I must also be dead.”

When he said this, Axel also looked frightened, and his face turned pale.

”But... guns didn’t work on No. 2.” one member confused.

Skye stared at Axel in silence, his gaze intense. As an awakener, he understood the monster’s terrifying power more than anyone else in the group.

“It really didn’t work,” Axel’s voice steady, “so I planned an escape route in advance.” He gestured toward the open well in the distance.

The ground around it was cracked, the cracks spreading out in jagged lines like a spider’s web, as though something massive had slammed into it. He only spoke about himself—how, after firing the gun, he jumped into the well, waited for No. 2 to stick its head out, and shot it several times to provoke it. When No. 2 went into a rage, its head got stuck in the narrow well, and Axel had used that moment to land a fatal shot.

“So, where is No. 2’s body now?” Skye asked, lighting a cigarette and taking a long drag.

Axel shrugged slightly. “I wasn’t sure if it was really dead. So I melted its body. But... the rest of it fell down the well halfway through.”

“And the bodies on the garbage pile?” Skye asked, his eyes narrowing.

“I wasn’t sure if those people were infected, so I melted them, too.”

The room went quiet for a moment. “So, when you picked up the gun, you had already planned everything?” Freya muttered under her breath.

The plan had been flawless: grab the gun, move the manhole cover, shoot, jump into the well, set the ambush... And then, to calmly melt the bodies afterward. It didn’t seem like something a kid his age could do.

It felt more like something a ruthless criminal would be capable of.