Two years later, a flat-faced Axel sat on his throne with Valerie on his lap, surrounded by Sharon, Bella, Hailey, and Avery near his seat. He was clearly deep in thought, staring blankly at the distant throne room doors ahead of him. Then he glanced around. He saw many soldiers, servants, and palace staff. He glanced to his side and saw Balval standing rigidly next to him, staring straight ahead.
"Hmm… this is boring," Axel muttered to himself.
Then, he began to recall the game Eclipse Twilight that he had worked on and played repeatedly at the office during his free time. In the story, this year was when the protagonist would arrive at the mystic hunter academy to begin their education and meet Desmond, who had entered two years earlier, right after killing Axel.
"Come to think of it, the protagonist in the game is about my age," Axel mused to himself.
After that, he remembered the start of the protagonist's journey. The main reason was that a troop of angels attacked the academy, and the protagonist and their party fled. Only after they returned and freed the academy from the angels did the protagonist get a clue about the demon who killed their parents and destroyed their village.
That demon was Balval. At that time, Balval had already departed using Zargax's Flying Fortress, which was the flying palace island buried in the Crypt of Zargax.
"Hmm… that means the in-game event is getting close to happening. I can't possibly let the protagonist come here and bother me," Axel grumbled to himself.
Suddenly, Axel stood up, setting Valerie down, causing the five consorts and Balval to immediately stare at him.
"What is it, Your Majesty?" Balval asked.
"I'm going out. I want to go to the academy in the mystic kingdom of Nafarius," Axel replied.
"Huh… what for, Your Majesty?" Balval asked, surprised.
"There's something I need to prevent there," Axel answered.
"Did you foresee something in the future?" Balval asked.
"Something like that. Please mobilize the troops if I need them, because this isn't just a casual trip. I want to confirm something there, so be ready," Axel replied.
Balval's face immediately lit up. He instantly crossed his palms over his chest and bowed before Axel.
"Yes, Your Majesty, with pleasure," Balval replied.
"What about us?" Valerie asked.
"Um… you all stay here. I don't need to bring the relics with me," Axel replied.
"But we can't be far from you, we're special relics just for you," Hailey countered.
"Yes, Axel. Even if you don't wear the relics while you're there, what if you suddenly need them?" Bella asked.
Axel looked over at the five Elder Vampiresses beside him, who looked pleadingly eager to come, their faces pitiful and even more beautiful.
"We've already given birth to five thousand troops for you. We want to come with you too," Avery stated.
"Yes, that's right. Please don't leave us here, or I'll cry," Sharon added.
Axel became confused, listening to the five Elder Vampiresses beside him. What they said was true—as relics, they couldn't be far from Axel, and as consorts, they had given birth to five thousand vampire knight troops for him over the last two years. Finally, Axel opened his game-like inventory and his status. He tried to unequip the relics, and "byuuup," the five Elder Vampiresses beside him immediately vanished, as if stored in his inventory.
"Eh?" Sharon, Valerie, Bella, Hailey, and Avery asked inside Axel's head.
"It can be done like this, apparently," Axel said in his head.
"Yes, it can. So we can come, right?" Sharon asked.
"Looks like it," Axel answered.
"Yes, I'm so happy, thank you, Axel," Hailey replied.
"Thank you, Axel, I was getting bored here too," Bella added.
"So when are we leaving?" Avery asked.
"As soon as possible," Axel answered.
Axel glanced at Balval, who looked completely unconcerned as the Elder Vampiresses vanished, as if he already knew what had happened. Out of curiosity and wanting to test Balval, Axel walked and stood next to him, deliberately showing his red hologram screen.
"Balval, can you see the screen in front of me?" Axel asked.
"No, Your Majesty," Balval answered briefly.
"Hmm… I see," Axel replied. "Hmm… it seems only I can see this screen, which means only I can open the status. And one more thing," Axel muttered to himself.
Axel opened his palm and looked at it. He raised his hand, pointing his palm at a vampire knight who was standing perfectly still and a magic circle opened above his palm.
"Abyss Predator,"
Immediately, a black hole opened in front of Axel's hand, and several black tentacles emerged from inside, instantly binding the surprised and struggling vampire knight. After that, "glup," the black hole, like a mouth, immediately swallowed the vampire knight along with his armor and weapon, leaving nothing behind.
Naturally, this shocked all the soldiers, but they didn't dare to do anything. Balval, who saw it, merely folded his arms across his chest and gave a menacing smile. Then Axel looked at his palm again.
"Hmm… I can still use magic while the relics are stored in my inventory. This is interesting," Axel thought to himself.
"Of course, you can use magic as long as we're close to you," Sharon snapped.
"No need to prove it," Bella added.
"Okay, okay, my bad," Axel replied in his head.
After that, he unequipped the relic that was his cloak and put it in the inventory. Then he tried to summon a bat, and the bat came out, awaiting his command. Axel began to understand what his power was: it wasn't the relics, the race, the weapons, or the magic, but the status and inventory on the red screen with gold writing and a black background—a system, just like the system in his game. Then Balval approached Axel.
"Your Majesty, please keep these two bracelets—relics. You can instantly teleport back to the palace or to your original spot and communicate with me," Balval said, handing him two bracelets with black and white gem settings on the right and left.
"Oh… okay, thank you. Can I just put them in the inventory?" Axel asked.
"Inventory?" Balval asked, confused because he didn't understand.
"Ah, right, he doesn't get it," Axel muttered to himself.
Axel put the two bracelets into the inventory, where they were listed as "Return Bracelet" and "Telepath Bracelet." The Return Bracelet had a teleport skill to return instantly to the palace using a portal and return to the original spot with the same portal, while the Telepath Bracelet could communicate with anyone wearing the same bracelet.
Axel glanced at Balval's arms; one of them was wearing a black bracelet that looked tight because of Balval's large hand.
"Balval, can you hear me?" Axel asked in his head.
"Yes, Your Majesty. From now on, you can communicate with me. [Looking at Axel's arms] Wait, you're not wearing the bracelet, Your Majesty?" Balval asked, confused.
"No, both bracelets you gave me are in the inventory. I'll explain everything to you," Axel replied.
Axel immediately explained the status and inventory to Balval, who was initially confused but eventually nodded. Once Balval understood,
"I understand, Your Majesty. Thank you for explaining," Balval said, smiling and looking pleased because he felt trusted.
After that, Axel looked around his throne. He immediately smiled and sat back down on his throne.
"Okay, this way I can leave home and return whenever I want. Now, let's go to the academy. I want to prevent that angel attack and drive them back, so the protagonist won't come here and I can live in peace," Axel thought to himself with a smile.