HP: The Arcane Thief

The battlefield seemed completely under Scitius's control.

Axel wasn't the only person suffering from his machinations. Each and every soldier under the Kraken army was his chess piece. And while not as powerful as the King, but still, by utilizing their abilities to the max, he was able to even put stronger opponents into trouble.

The forced relic wielders, now having the Entity's powers back, and also actually being able to utilize it under Scitius's control, were now able to display might almost as comparable to the actual Relic Wielders.

And Scitius used them effectively against the stronger opponents who could be a threat, like the Relic Wielder Division, the General, and even Akiko and Martina.

This was effectively blocking them from helping out the soldiers who were unable to contend against the Kraken mobs which had suddenly gotten skills compared to top fighters and along with perfect coordination.

The whole Kraken army was now working like a well-oiled machine, and each and every individual was fighting like an experienced and highly skilled veteran.

With his hive-mind, Scitius was able to know exactly which Kraken soldier needed help and when.

The big monsters, which had been running rampant earlier and being handled easily by the Kingdom's army were now being used at the forefront, bearing the brunt of the Kingdom's forces' assault, and targeting the right spot to disrupt the Kingdom's army.

The enhanced bio-soldiers were right behind, using the Monsters as shield and fighting perfect skills and perfect coordination.

The ranged unit were suddenly perfect at aiming and also perfect in their timing, knowing exactly when and where to fire.

So, suffice it to say, the Kraken army was currently absolutely obliterating the Kingdom's forces.

That's why when even half the army went on to attack Axel, their new prince who had miraculously returned and the Kingdom's last hope, there was nothing anyone could do about it but watch while trying to survive themselves.

In this situation, the calmest person from the Kingdom's side was Axel himself, who was currently also under a mental attack that was disabling him even using his water affinity at a high enough level to sustain [Water Body].

The Trident, which wasn't his style to begin with, was now transformed.

The handle was partially wrapped around his torso, protect his heart and neck. To protect the head, there was one loop over the forehead, with spikes jutting out, inadvertently making it look like a crown.

Two of the blades were wrapped around his hands and palms, before extending out of like knives,

With his head still ringing due to the brain waves, Axel began walking towards the incoming army.

His steps, which were still unsteady, quickened until he broke into a sprint.

One guy, about to fight against an entire army.

The ridiculous scenario was being witnessed by all the Kingdom's forces. And it overlapped with the video of Axel's trial, which had basically been seen by everyone in the Kingdom.

Axel was about to face against the Kraken army in that simulation as well, but it was interrupted due to the emergency situation, making everyone regret not being able to see what would have happened next and demanding a redo.

But now, the scenario was being re-enacted in real life, and against a Kraken army that was significantly stronger.

"Scitius! Do you have any honor?!" Roared the General, who was currently being held up by four forced relic wielders, getting injured in the process of trying rush over towards Axel.

Everyone in the Kraken army echoed the General's words. Scitius was really being quite shameless for using an entire army just to deal with Axel. And even using a mind attack on him on top of that.

Scitius just laughed. "One vs all. I know it's unfair. But winners write history and there's nothing you can do about it."

A volley of ranged attacks arrived, containing destructive magic high-speed projectiles, and even toxic and acidic substances.

Axel sped up his pace, zig-zagging through the attacks while accurately cutting off the remaining.

"You're talking about unfair? I'll show what unfair actually means." 

Scitius was trying to play dirty against 'Axel' himself, the person is the master of the game.

Suddenly, Axel disappeared, causing the ranged units to momentarily pause, unable to locate him.

And then, silently, heads began to fall at the front of the Kraken army at a rapid pace. The big creatures would be stabbed through their weakest points, and those with no weaknesses would have cuts appear all over their body, before falling to pieces.

The Tridents blades, now invisible, would extend, twist, retract along with Axel's movements cutting through the army without leaving any trace.

"Just what kind of-?!" Scitius tried use the usual methods to counter stealth and invisibility. True sight spells, magical sensors, thermal vision or heat sensors, enchanted dust, everything!

But somehow, nothing seemed to work at all! Axel's stealth seemed like a complete cheat, achievable only through a Relic.

Within just a few seconds, hundreds of Kraken units were dead, and Axel was still at work, methodically slaughtering the army one-sidedly.

Axel was a complete ghost, his existence only being validated from the numerous kills he was racking in.

"Now, this is what you call unfair," muttered Axel.

"You can't hide from me!" Scitius could track Axel's mind, just being able to tell his location. But, even if he knew the general area, how to you fight someone you can't see?

Unable to even see his moves, the warriors only swing their weapon in his direction, unaware of his counter.

"DIE!"

Scitius directly bombarded Axel's general location, not caring about the friendly fire.

But Axel appeared in a different moment in the next second, continuing his killing spree. From then on, Axel would randomly appear in different locations and wipe out the whole area before disappearing again.

"…."

The Kingdom's forces just looked at the army that was giving them so much trouble, now being wiped out like weeds.

Their necks felt a chill, finding no way to counter this themselves either.

Scitius realized that he really didn't have any tactic against Axel.

"Fine. Then I'll also not be holding back," said Scitius, as the pressure on Axel's mind suddenly decreased. "I accept you have a great mental mental resistance to fight even under that condition. But, they can't!"

Suddenly, Martina, Akiko and Antilla clutched their heads, as they felt the same mental attack that was used against Axel.

Only, while it was only 'annoying' for Axel even when he was low on mental power due to his tolerance, it was downright nightmarish for the three of them, completely incapacitating them.

At the same time, the Kraken forces they had been fighting the three started to use more power, intent on finishing them.

Scitius decided to give up on neutralizing the strange entity that was Axel. He will shift the target to the weaker people. From what he is seen of Axel so far, even if he might deny it, he will still not let them die.

And he was right, as Axel, now having a bit more leeway on his mind, forced out more of his water affinity.

Shields of water were erected in front of the three women. At the same time, the water started to strangle every Kraken soldier in their proximity.

"Hehehe! Let's see how long you can keep this up!" Said Scitius victorious, knowing he had grabbed a nerve. Now, all he had to do was to put more pressure!

The long-range units which Axel had been able to render useless by easily avoiding them now began targeting the three as well, making the job of protecting them that much more difficult.

"As someone with a superior mental prowess, I expected more from you, Axel Regius Arhunt. But as expected, you are weak, just like everyone else," Scitius said, continuing to exploiting the weakness.

Since he couldn't be at three place at once, Axel struggled to keep the water affinity going, blocking the attacks and sweeping off the incoming tide of Kraken warriors.

At the same time, the condition of Akiko, Martina and the Princess grew worse.

Unlike Axel, they did not have minds strong enough to contend against the mental attack of Scitius, the third overseer with speciality in mental power.

Scitus can induce emotions like fear, anxiety, panic, even brainwashing along with the mental pain, thus making for an extremely dangerous opponent.

It was only because it was completely ineffective against Axel, who simply doesn't give a damn about emotions that Scitius seemed weak in front him.

'This… won't do,' Axel thought, his mind straining.

His mind hasn't had a chance to recover yet, as things kept popping up one after another. His mind was tired like never before.

It was a feeling similar to not having slept for days, and still having to do write a whole chapter at a rapid pace and in best quality.

Thus, he can't keep this up. Same for Akiko, Martina, and the Princess, who were struggling to keep their sanity right now.

Axel has to end it once and for all. And that, can only happen by eliminating the root of the problem, i.e., Scitius, the mastermind behind the scenes.

'But, where the hell is he?! Is he even on the battlefield?' He thought.

Since Scitius can control the minds of the Kraken forces, there's no need to be physically present here.

Looking at things from his perspective, he should to stay inside the safety of the Kraken base while remotely controlling the battlefield.

But, if that was the case…

'Then why did he hold off until the end?'

Scitius had this amazing ability to one-sidedly end the Battle quickly. But he didn't use it until Axel killed 2 more of its overseers, disabled the power of the Entity and the control over the Royal Throne, and started to get the upper hand against the king.

Why?

There can only be two reasons.

One, it's extremely taxing to him, to the point of permanent sacrifice.

This could be a reason why he wouldn't use it and try to end the battle the easy way.

But, this doesn't seem likely, as Scitius seems to be in no hurry to end the battle right now, even having the time to leisurely taunt Axel and use half the army just to eliminate him rather than eliminating the Kingdom's forces.

And even now, his ability doesn't seem to have decreased the slightest.

So, the second reason…

'He's actually here!'

This could be the only reason! Because he was afraid of exposing himself!

'Should have realized sooner!' Axel cursed.

All this while, he was taking it as a given that Scitius wouldn't be present here since he hasn't shown himself and can remotely control the battlefield.

Why would he even need to be here?

But Axel made the mistake of thinking Scitius to be a perfectly logical being.

'So, you aren't perfect either, huh?'

Due to his sense of superiority and his vanity, Scitius wanted to personally witness the downfall of the Kingdom that he had orchestrated from beginning.

While staying invisible himself and still protecting the women through water, Axel went over to the place where the dismembered bodies of Karlock and Cravix were lying.

'Got it!' When he searched through their storage spaces, he quickly found what he was looking for!

Dimensional bombs, 5 of them, probably the last of the batch. The fuckers were most likely saving these for emergencies. Too bad, they got killed before they could even see the emergence of the emergency.

'Now, where are you?'

All that was left was to find out where Scitius is hiding.

Axel tried using Arcane Eyes, but found nothing. He needed to be able to concentrate in order to increase its intensity, which he couldn't do right now.

Axel couldn't track him using the mental power either for the same reason, as Scitius was being really cautious.

At this moment, black lightning shot out from the ground, seemingly in a random direction in the sky. But, it was stopped by something in the air, causing fluctuations.

Looking back, while struggling against the mental attack, Akiko was glaring daggers at one place in particular, the pattern in her eyes revolving.

'Is it really?!'

Axel's eyes widened. He had no idea would about the change in Akiko's eyes. But he knew her, and he knew the look she had right now. It was the one she makes whenever the subject of Kraken is brought up, the one that screams absolute murder.

'It's all or nothing.'

Placing his bet on Akiko, he teleported, appearing right where the lightning had stopped and activated all the Dimensional bomb.

As soon as they were active, he teleported back to the ground, creating a water shield above the Kingdom's forces.

???

Both the sides were confused at the sudden manifestation of the water layer above them. But, before they even had the chance to think about it—

BOOOOOOOOOOOM

A huge explosion occurred in the air, ripping open the shield. The shockwave reached the ground, along with debris of a giant ship.

'Did it... work?' Axel quickly looked at the girls, only to see them no longer in pain.

But, was it just because Scitius was surprised with his random move or was he really hit?

*SQUISH*

At this moment, a gooey and spongy substance fell near his feet, the same thing falling on the rest of the battlefield as well.

Axel looked at it closely and found it to be—

'Is that a fucking brain?'

As someone who has killed many and seen many killed, Axel could confirm that it was definitely brain matter. The problem was that it was a huge chunk, much bigger than any human brain. And it was falling everywhere on the battlefield, meaning there was a lot of it on the ship.

'… Seems like I hit the mark.'

Axel was beginning to realize where all that processing capacity was coming from.

…..

A.N.: POWERSTONES