Chapter 347 — Can You Stand?
7 min read ·
The blade descended toward Elizabeth’s throat.
Three masked figures stood over her broken body, their weapons raised, their movements synchronized through years of training together. Behind them, dozens more waited, watching the execution with cold satisfaction.
Everyone’s attention focused on that single moment. The instant when Elizabeth Murdock, heir to the Imperial family, would finally die.
And atop his black tower, Orange haired Man’s eyes narrowed as he looked elsewhere, his expression turning grim.
Three figures had entered his Domain, but one of them...
Someone who made the fire around them flicker, who made the oppressive heat waver for just a fraction of a second.
’Who is–’
Then a voice cut through the burning air, sharp and cold and impossibly clear despite the chaos.
"So... you gave up?"
****
Elizabeth’s violet eyes opened.
The voice shouldn’t have reached her through the Domain of Hopelessness pressing down on her consciousness, through the resignation that had wrapped around her thoughts like chains. But it had.
She saw a figure standing between her and death.
Long crimson hair fell wild around broad shoulders, blood-red strands moving despite no wind. Their back was toward her, spine straight, posture relaxed like they had all the time in the world.
The masked attacker’s blade finished its arc, cutting toward the figure’s neck.
The figure moved.
An axe appeared in their hand, obsidian-black with a circular hole near the blade that created a whistling sound as it swung.
The weapon came down from above, splitting the air itself.
SSSSHHHUNK
The masked man didn’t even have time to scream.
The axe entered through the top of his skull and continued without resistance, splitting him perfectly down the middle from head to groin.
The two halves separated slowly, internal organs sliding out in a cascade of gore, blood spraying in twin arcs that painted the burning ground.
The other two attackers froze, their weapons halfway raised, their minds struggling to process what they’d just witnessed.
Damian Valcor stood in the spreading pool of blood, his axe dripping crimson, his crimson eyes blazing with something that went beyond mere anger.
Then the flames came.
Translucent fire erupted around his body, dark crimson mixed with black, wrapping him in ethereal light that made the air itself recoil. The flames pulsed with each heartbeat, alive and hungry and absolutely terrifying.
His Slaughter Intent had manifested.
The two remaining attackers stumbled backward, their Auras flaring instinctively, their bodies responding to threat before their conscious minds caught up.
"W-what–"
Damian’s head turned slightly, just enough for them to see his profile. His lips curved into something that wasn’t quite a smile.
"Run."
And they ran.
Damian let them take exactly three steps before he moved.
****
Sonic Blink.
His form flickered, afterimages bleeding across the battlefield as he appeared behind the first runner. The axe swung horizontally, catching the man at waist level, cutting through spine and organs with surgical precision.
The body folded backward in a way human spines shouldn’t bend, upper torso separating from hips, blood gushing from the massive wound.
The second attacker was still running, his legs pumping desperately, his Aura-enhanced speed carrying him twenty meters in a single breath.
Not far enough.
Sonic Blink.
Damian materialized directly in his path, axe already mid-swing. The blade took the man’s leg off at the knee. He collapsed screaming, hands clutching the stump, blood spraying between his fingers.
Damian reversed the axe grip and brought it down through the man’s spine, silencing the screams.
Three dead in the space of heartbeats.
"..."
Around them, the battle paused.
Masked figures turned toward this new threat, their formations breaking, their attention pulled away from the Murdock family members they’d been systematically slaughtering.
Damian straightened slowly, blood coating his face and clothes, his long crimson hair matted with gore. The translucent flames of his Slaughter Intent blazed brighter, creating an aura of pure menace that made even A rank awakeners hesitate.
He looked down at Elizabeth.
Their eyes met.
"Can you stand?"
His voice was surprisingly gentle despite the carnage surrounding them.
Elizabeth stared up at him, her missing arm still bleeding despite her Aura trying to seal the wound, her violet eyes wide with confusion and something approaching disbelief.
’Why... Why are you here? None of my visions showed this. None of my futures had you in them. Why would you–’
"I asked... if you can stand."
Damian’s voice cut through her spiraling thoughts, pulling her back to the present, to the burning ground beneath her and the impossible figure standing between her and death.
She tried to push herself up, from the ground where she had fallen as death had approached her, with her remaining arm.
She failed and tried again, her teeth grinding against the pain, her body trembling from blood loss and exhaustion.
A shadow fell over them both.
Kuro descended, the massive raven expanding to his full size.
His crimson eyes gleamed with intelligence as he positioned himself over Elizabeth and Adrian’s unconscious form, his wings spread wide like a shield.
"Kuro will protect you," Damian said without looking back. "Stay behind him."
Then he turned to face the hundreds of masked enemies, his axe resting casually across his shoulders, his Slaughter Intent painting him in flames that made him look like something birthed from hell itself.
"Now then..."
His lips curved into that same not-quite-smile.
"Let’s see how many of you I can kill before this gets boring."
****
They came at him in waves.
The first group charged with weapons raised, their Auras flaring, their coordination speaking to professional training. Ten B rank awakeners moving in practiced formation, their attacks staggered to create openings.
Damian’s eyes blazed as his Macro Vision activated.
The world slowed. Not actually, but in his perception, micro-movements became visible. Muscle fibers contracting before strikes fully committed, weight shifting before attacks launched and breathing patterns indicating exhaustion or readiness.
He saw everything.
The lead attacker’s sword came from the left. Damian’s head tilted right, the blade passing close enough to cut several strands of his crimson hair. His axe came up in a rising arc, catching the man under the chin, splitting his jaw and continuing through his skull.
CRACK
Brain matter exploded outward.
Second attacker from behind, spear thrusting toward his spine.
Sonic Blink.
Damian vanished, the spear striking empty air. He reappeared beside the attacker, already swinging. The axe severed the man’s arm at the shoulder, blood spraying in a fountain. The follow-up strike took his head.
Third and fourth came together, their weapons crossing to trap him.
His Telekinesis lashed out invisibly.
Both attackers flew backward, their bodies lifted and hurled twenty meters like ragdolls. They crashed into their own allies, bones breaking, ribs cracking, the impact creating chaos in the enemy formation.
The fifth attacker managed to close distance, his knife aimed at Damian’s throat.
Too slow.
Damian’s hand shot out, caught the wrist mid-thrust, and twisted. Bone snapped with an audible crack and the knife clattered to the ground. His axe split the man from collar to groin in a diagonal slash that carved through ribs and internal organs.
Sixth through tenth attacked as a unit, their Auras combining into a coordinated technique designed to overwhelm single targets.
Damian’s Aura exploded outward with double intensity.
Aura Magnification: 2x
His power doubled, the crimson Aura around him blazing so bright they hurt to look at directly. His muscles swelled slightly as more Aura flooded his body, his physical attributes amplified beyond normal limits.
The coordinated attack shattered against his defense.
His axe moved in a horizontal sweep that caught three attackers at once, the blade passing through bodies like they were made of paper. Organs spilled onto burning ground and blood boiled where it touched the Domain’s flames.
The remaining two tried to retreat.
Sonic Blink. Sonic Blink.
Damian appeared behind them in rapid succession, his axe whistling its terrible song. One lost his head and the other split vertically from crown to crotch.
Ten dead in less than a few seconds.