Apocalypse: becoming the hidden Ruler[English]

“We follow your plan,” Luke said after a moment, looking south. “Based on what Adrian and Cameron said earlier, if the mutated beasts are still besieging the city, getting back to Krythos won’t be easy.”

“The closer we get to the walls,” he continued, “the more likely we’ll run into massive concentrations of mutated beasts.”

Sergio nodded and looked at Axel.

Axel thought briefly. “That’s not all. There will definitely be high-level mutated beasts near the Krythos walls. Beast kings may even appear.”

“If a Level Seven or higher shows up,” he added grimly, “we’re in serious trouble.”

“There’s something else,” Sergio said, glancing back at the group.

Axel’s heart sank. “The authorities are urgently conscripting Level Five Awakeners…” He looked up sharply. “Does that mean Krythos’s internal forces are already stretched thin?”

Luke and Ferdinand froze.

“Seriously?” Ferdinand said. “Even if they’re depleted, they wouldn’t rely on Level Five Awakeners as their main force.”

“It’s just speculation,” Sergio replied. “Besides, Krythos’s walls have already activated their second form.”

“A full primal energy shield.”

“Requesting passage through the barrier takes time,” Luke said grimly. “If the mutated beasts hit us before the gate opens, we’ll be locked outside the city walls.”

“That’s right,” Axel added. “Unless we can find a gap in the siege and slip through, forcing our way in will be nearly impossible.”

“Then what the hell do we do?” Luke snapped, his face darkening. “We need to get back and reinforce them—sitting out here isn’t an option.”

Sergio nodded and turned to Axel. “Axel. What’s the plan?”

“Someone has to scout ahead,” Axel said after a moment. “The fastest way is to infiltrate the city walls first and make contact with the garrison.”

“With our identities, opening the barrier won’t take too long once contact is made,” Sergio agreed. “But who goes?”

Ferdinand narrowed his eyes. “We’ve got two assassin-type Awakened, and one with visual blur—he can distort his appearance briefly.”

“Anyone else suitable?” Luke frowned.

Axel raised a hand, cutting him off. “No. They won’t volunteer. And if we bring it up, morale will crack.”

Silence followed.

“I’ll go,” Axel said, stepping forward after a deep breath.

“Axel—” Sergio hesitated. He knew Axel was the best choice. Strongest overall, multiple awakened abilities, Return to Origin, Group Silence… and frankly, Sergio didn’t trust Nigel or Ferdinand with something this delicate.

“Tonight, you tell everyone we’re resting and consolidating—say we’re preparing for a Level Six breakthrough,” Axel continued. “I’ll use the downtime to slip out and check the situation.”

Luke and Ferdinand exchanged complicated looks.

“Be careful,” Luke said finally, stepping forward and clapping Axel on the shoulder. “Otherwise I won’t know how to explain this to your captain.”

Axel paused, a rare softness flickering in his eyes. “Don’t worry.”

He looked south, toward the unseen city. “Something big is happening.”

By nightfall, they had covered less than a hundred kilometers.

Using the excuse of imminent breakthroughs and increased combat power, Sergio’s group cleared out a temporary shelter beneath the snow.

While everyone else rested, Axel slipped away.

Once he was out of sight, he vanished behind a snowdrift.

Where he’d stood moments earlier now crouched a Level Four mutated beast over three meters tall—

A Unicorn Snow Wolf.

......

“This is ridiculous…” Axel muttered internally as he sprinted across the snow, his wolf form leaving a long, winding trail behind him. “I haven’t seen a single mutated beast in ages.”

After nearly two hundred kilometers, he reached a vast, snow-covered plain.

Several enormous carcasses lay scattered across it.

Axel’s heart tightened.

A purple life crystal.

The white plain looked like an abandoned battlefield. Aside from a few massive corpses not fully buried by snow, everything else was eerily empty.

He didn’t revert to human form. Remaining a snow wolf, Axel approached cautiously and retrieved the crystal.

“They’ve been dead for a long time…”

The purple crystal was small, its energy severely depleted by time.

Instead of absorbing it, Axel extended his mental energy into the crystal.

Instantly, fragmented memories flooded his mind.

.......

The crystal belonged to a Level Seven mutated beast—Raging Bear, a Venerable-tier subordinate of the Icefield Wolf King.

Crimson light flooded Axel’s vision.

Ice spikes erupted from every direction—each several meters long—pinning all surrounding mutated beasts into the snow.

The attacker was a woman in her fifties, floating in midair. Her fingers moved rapidly, as if playing an invisible instrument.

One by one, the Level Six mutated beasts surrounding her collapsed into pools of blood.

Then pain.

Unbearable pain.

Axel felt himself impaled by those same ice spikes, nailed in place like a grotesque statue—bleeding, helpless, unable to break free.

“The G-sector’s Supreme-tier mutated beast has been nearly cleared,” the woman said coldly. “Requesting authorization to proceed.”

After that, she harvested valuable parts from several corpses and continued north without hesitation.

The memory shattered.

.....

The scene shifted.

A wolf.

It sat atop an ice throne, sprawled casually like a human monarch. Several powerful mutated beasts stood in attendance.

Suddenly, as if sensing something, the wolf stood, furious, and howled into the distance.

The memory ended there.

.....

Axel snapped back to reality, drenched in cold sweat, staring at the desolate expanse beneath his paws.

“G-sector… cleared…”

“Krythos’s internal forces are depleted…” His thoughts raced. “Could it be…?”

Cameron’s and Adrian’s words echoed in his mind.

An almost absurd conclusion began to take shape.

“That wolf had to be the Icefield Wolf King. And that woman…” Axel exhaled slowly. “I’ve never seen her before, but based on what she said—Krythos’s top experts are actively hunting down high-level mutated beasts.”

She’d been communicating through some kind of mental network. After killing Raging Bear, she hadn’t even paused—just kept moving north.

Raging Bear hadn’t been a target.

Just another stop along the way.

Axel didn’t know how many Awakened were involved in this operation.

But if Krythos’s internal defenses were truly weak…

That meant a massive, unified campaign was underway.

And whatever was coming next—Was big.

They’d been dead for a long time. “If they already made it back,” Axel thought, “then Sergio and I were worrying over nothing.”

That possibility eased the knot in his chest—if only slightly.

“But there’s another option,” he continued grimly. “They haven’t returned… and the mutated beasts just keep adding.”

Weighing both possibilities, Axel made his decision.

Before doing anything else, he would break through to Level Six.

Strength came first.

He moved to the three massive beast corpses, cleared away the snow and debris, and sat down cross-legged. Slowly, he began absorbing the lingering Origin Force, guiding it deep into Origin Tree within him.

Not long after, a strange resonance rippled through his body.

It felt as though the Origin Tree had finally fused with his flesh and blood—no longer something separate, but a part of him.

Buzz.

In his inner vision, the tree’s canopy grew thick and lush. Countless green leaves sprouted from its branches, overflowing with vitality. Axel realized that an enormous reservoir of energy had appeared inside him—and its source was the Origin Tree itself.

“…This is basically a portable power bank,” he muttered.

The Origin Tree now stored Origin Force equal to his own reserves. At any moment, he could draw on it to replenish himself.

That meant one thing:

He could wield 44,000 points of Force.

And that wasn’t all.

The tree had another terrifying function—damage transfer. Any damage Axel took could be shifted onto the Origin Tree instead. He hadn’t tested its limits yet, but he could already tell that whatever damage it suffered could be repaired with sufficient Force.

“So this is what Level Six feels like…”

Axel opened his eyes. The world seemed sharper, clearer. His mental perception stretched farther than ever before.

“And there’s one more awakened ability,” he said with a faint smile.

Berserk beast.