Celestial Bloodline

Kyle clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white. He realized his pace had slowed because his body was tired.

In that very moment, several manaless beasts stamped their bodies on the ground before launching themselves towards Kyle, aiming to crush him under their weight.

He quickly leaped in a different direction, causing his body to tumble down towards the mountain's base once more.

A sharp gasp escaped his mouth as he crossed his arms to protect his head before, with a sudden burst of strength, he kicked a nearby rock to jump in mid-air, only to land on the ground in the midst of the beasts again.

This time, his way was blocked, with numerous beasts stationed on the path leading to the mountain's top.

Kyle let out an angry laugh, a vein throbbing on his forehead as he stared at the many monsters surrounding him.

The tips of his hair glistened with sweat and he knew there was no way he could defeat so many of them together without mana... not to mention he doesn't even have a weapon.

He had battled a few manaless beasts before, but Hubert had warned him to stay away from them because they have a taste for flesh and devour anything with life. Also, due to their undefined body shapes, it was extremely challenging to kill them, as their only vulnerable spot was their heart, always concealed within their flowing bodies.

But instead of attacking the monster nearest to him who leaped toward him, Kyle tilted his body and clenched his fist before dashing toward Aze to punch him.

"You bastard, just what the hell are you!?!?"

He shouted with a loud voice as he watched Aze blink, as if the man was surprised because of his actions.

Kyle's eyes trembled as his fist phased through the man's body, who tilted his head to stare at him before Kyle sensed that his speed had slowed down. No... he realized with dread that it wasn't his speed that had slowed, but the man opposite him had become so fast that he wasn't able to see what happened next.

He only felt a sharp pain on his forehead that felt strangely similar to a quick flick, before his body was hurled backward and collided with numerous beasts, who were also pushed back into the distance solely from the sheer force.

Kyle let out a sharp scream as one of the beasts opened its massive jaw and bit down on his leg. His mind was spinning due to the pain that stemmed from his forehead as he desperately struggled to crawl away from the monsters, whose numbers increased with each passing second to crowd around his body.

Amidst the chaos, and his vision that was getting blurry due to the pain engulfing his entire body, he noticed Aze standing in the distance, watching the scene with a face that held no emotion whatsoever.

Not even pity... it almost felt like the man's presence was just a mere illusion. Or else how could someone be so cruel to watch such a sight and not even flinch?

Kyle's chest tightened... right now, he hated it so much that he was starting to like Aze's presence around him. The man would always disappear but he would also come back for a few hours. That's why Kyle believed even though Aze was mysterious, still they had gotten just a little closer.

"I thought.. we were friends...?"

The words just slipped out instinctively from his mouth as he pushed his hand inside one of the monster's bodies to crush its heart, only to be restrained once again by the many others as they pressed their weight on him. In the end, only a single thought remained in his head that he needed to stay alive.

He sensed the cold sensation that tried to alleviate his pain or maybe heal the piling injuries on his body, but it wasn't helping as he screamed when more and more monsters bit down on his body.

Azazeal watched the scene and he caught Kyle's faint words, which nearly vanished into the air in a fleeting moment.

"Friends? Of course, we are from the moment I reached out my hand to you, even though I despise the very presence of life. But must I intervene simply because we are friends... especially when I already know that we would clash in the future because even though we are similar in many aspects, our goals are vastly different."

"Wouldn't it be wiser to get rid of you to prevent any more trouble?"

He narrowed his eyes because Kyle's survival was getting harder with each passing second. If this continues, he knew the human wouldn't survive.

"Well, he won't die because his bloodline can save his soul even if he lost his body. But it would take too much time for it to restructure a new body for its host... So, I wonder how it's going to save you."

That's the reason why he couldn't finish Kyle himself. Not until the human had full command over the essence inside his body, or else it would always forcefully interfere to save itself.

All of a sudden, Azazeal tilted his head slightly to gaze into the distance when he sensed someone familiar watching the scene just like him.

"Oh...? It seems that even though I wasn't able to predict this future, he already foresaw that this was going to happen. But why is it that even though you knew about it, you weren't able to change it?"

Azazeal shifted his gaze away from the faint figure of the familiar silver-haired human who stood frozen in his spot, with horror evident on his face as he watched his own self screaming, and observed the land that had lost its color due to numerous manaless beasts crowding the place, getting drenched in blood.

The silver-haired human jolted when he noticed Azazeal's back, who watched the scene just like him but didn't help the person who desperately needed it.

Azazeal opened his mouth and uttered a few words that traveled through the curtain of time, resonating inside the ears of the person who had just appeared to see the future that had yet to unfold.

"Are you looking my future friend?"