"W-What the hell is going on? How did he suddenly get this strong?!" Ren blurts out, genuinely shaken.

"No clue — I just know he can do it, that’s it!" Leon snaps back.

The overwhelming power awakened within Axel Volkom is crushing them, leaving no room for a counterattack.

It’s not just his strength — his speed has skyrocketed as well. Before, Ren could keep up with him, but now Axel is on a completely different level.

And there’s nothing left of the composure and cold precision that defined him moments ago — all of it swallowed by a feral, unstoppable fury.

Until the Dulcar rebellion, the kingdom of Mildelar was built upon three great houses: the Valakys — the royal family — the Dulcar — their closest allies and advisors — and the Volkom — a warrior house tasked with protecting the other two.

On the night of the assault on the throne, the Volkom sided with the Valakys, but the Dulcar had even more powerful allies at their disposal, including the four generals of the Scarlet Army and the Crimson Requiem.

As a result, when the coup was over, the Volkom were slaughtered as well.

Axel is one of the few survivors of that house, as he had already been on Earth for years at the time.

Their status as the kingdom’s most powerful houses was not based solely on history and tradition, but also on the unique properties of their blood.

The blood of the Valakys can turn other living beings into vampires — just as Isabelle did with Chris.

The Volkom, on the other hand, possess the ability to accelerate the flow of blood through their veins. This surge in pressure temporarily enhances their muscle mass — a technique known as Blood Rage.

Axel lunges at Leon in a blur. Leon doesn’t even have time to raise his guard and barely avoids an axe strike aimed at his neck, escaping with a deep gash across his chest that heals almost instantly.

Ren takes advantage of Axel’s focus on Leon to strike from behind, but it’s as if Axel has eyes in the back of his head. He snaps a lightning-fast, precise kick backward, catching Ren square in the stomach and knocking him away.

Using his wings, and driving his energy sword into the ground, Ren manages to halt his momentum and regain his balance.

He uses that brief opening to catch his breath and pull his thoughts together, trying to form a plan as he stares at his opponent — helpless, and afraid.

I-If I knew what kind of power-up this is, maybe I could find a way to counter it... but like this, he’s too strong. If even the two of us together can’t hold him back, how are we supposed to beat him?

Then Ren notices something.

That massive surge in Axel’s musculature isn’t without consequences. His skin keeps splitting open and knitting itself back together, torn apart by the pressure of the muscles swelling beneath it.

Of course... no matter how strong he is, his body can’t handle that kind of strain for long. If we can just hold out, we might actually have a chance!

Ren’s first instinct is to take to the air, climb high enough to stay out of Axel’s reach, and wait for the Blood Rage to burn out — but he immediately dismisses the idea. Doing so would leave Leon — and more importantly, Iris — completely exposed.

There’s no other option.

He throws himself back into the fight at Leon’s side.

Meanwhile, Leon has been reduced to a battered, blood-soaked wreck. A deep gash cuts across his abdomen, another splits his back open. His Sanguis energy is rapidly draining, and even those severe wounds are struggling to close.

Pain slows his movements, leaving him no chance to avoid the crushing punch that slams into his head and drives him face-first into the ground.

D-Damn... is this really how it ends for me...? Heh... and to think I actually believed I’d one day kill Zayn... only to die like this, at the hands of someone who’s nothing compared to him. I really am pathetic...

The blood axe comes crashing down on him, but Ren deflects it at the last second, driving it into the ground just inches from Leon’s head.

"How much longer are you two planning to let yourselves get butchered before you finally just drop dead?!"

Axel snaps his arm out to the side, slamming his elbow into Ren’s nose and crushing it.

The incubus’s face becomes a mask of blood and pain, yet he takes the hit without being blown away — only staggering back, dazed, his vision swimming from the pain and blood loss.

And even so, a faint, confident smile curls across his lips.

"Just as I thought... your strength is crashing fast, Axel Volkom! You thought this technique would let you kill us both in an instant — but it looks like you made a serious miscalculation that’s going to cost you dearly!"

"Shut that fucking mouth, Ren Toya!"

The vampire swings a lightning-fast axe strike, but Ren manages to block it with his violet energy blade — not without effort. The impact rattles him, forcing him back a step, and Axel seizes the moment to drive his foot down toward Ren’s face.

But...

"T-That’s impossible!"

Ren catches Axel’s foot mid-strike, clamping his fingers around his ankle.

And then... SLASH!

A sharp snarl of pain tears from Axel’s throat.

Leon’s rapier drives through him from behind, bursting out of his chest just inches from his heart. Not because Leon misjudged the strike, but because Axel twisted his torso at the last possible moment, keeping the blade from landing a fatal blow. Once again, it’s as if he has eyes in the back of his head, sensing an attack from his blind spot.

Even so, Leon’s strike wasn’t wasted.

The surge of pain makes Axel’s grip falter, the axe slipping from his fingers.

It’s the opening Ren was waiting for.

He yanks Axel’s leg toward himself, pulling him off balance.

Disarmed, off balance, with a rapier driven through his chest and his body worn down by Blood Rage, Axel has no way to avoid Ren’s strike.

A blow into which the incubus pours every last shred of energy he has left — driving it clean through his shoulder.

In an instant, a surge of violet electricity rips through the vampire’s body. The Blood Rage collapses immediately, along with the scarlet aura that surrounded him. And more importantly, his wounds stop regenerating altogether.

A vampire’s strength lies in their Sanguis — without it, they’re no different from ordinary humans.

And with Paralysis Magic shutting down Axel’s Sanguis, he can no longer do anything.

"This is for what you did to my sister, you bastard!"

SLASH!

Axel’s head hits the ground at Ren’s feet, followed a heartbeat later by his decapitated body, collapsing with a heavy thud.

"W-We... did it... my friend..." Ren whispers, his voice barely holding together, his body wrecked by fractures, wounds, and bruises.

He drops to the ground, utterly spent — Leon collapsing beside him a moment later. He had used the last scraps of his Sanguis for that strike from behind, and now there’s nothing left to heal his wounds.

And yet... they still find the strength to let out a faint, breathless laugh.

"Yeah... we did it..."