CHAPTER 66: CHAPTER 66 - A TOY FOR GRAVITY

Delilah shot forward through the storm of debris. Concrete, steel, and shattered glass floating in the air slammed into her spears and shattered before they could ever touch her skin. Every graceful twist of her body sent arcs of light slicing through wreckage like divine blades.

Axis kept drifting backward, compound eyes scanning the city as if calculating how quickly the battle had escalated.

Sirens wailed across the night.

[Black Level. Warning. Emergency evacuation. All civilians proceed to the bunkers...]

The announcement was drowned beneath waves of panic. Hunters on the ground scrambled into formation, every gaze locked upward.

Because the Star Witch was fighting... against an unknown creature called The Breakers.

A shrill roar shook the city to its core.

From the western district, a massive black dragon burst through skyscrapers, wings billowing like the night sky itself. The rumble of its growl rattled bone.

From the east, a woman soared into the sky, blood-red wings spreading wide like razor blades carving through darkness. Her stare burned with battle hunger.

Black Dragon and Blood Valkyrie. Two SS-Rank Hunters had entered the field, flying like furious beasts ready to tear down whatever threatened their home.

Axis stopped mid-air.

A low, metallic buzz came from his throat. The sound was drenched in contempt. Translated into human language, it would mean something like: "You weak insects... you actually managed to make me take this seriously."

The dark wounds on his body sizzled and vanished. His black carapace thickened. Cracks sealed. His form twisted into something far more horrifying—bulkier, jagged, like demonic armor fused to living flesh. His six wings spread wide and vibrated with power.

Delilah finally reached him.

And suddenly her body was yanked forward by an invisible, brutal force.

"Agh—!"

Axis extended a single hand. Delilah shot toward him helplessly, as if sucked into a starving black hole. His fist crashed into her stomach with devastating force.

BOOOOM!

She was hurled like a bullet, tearing through the sides of several skyscrapers before the entire building collapsed over her. She managed to turn one of her spears into a shield at the last second. Without it, her chest bones might have shattered.

The other five spears rushed in to strike Axis. As always, they passed harmlessly beside him, deflected by something unseen.

Then the ground forces attacked. Energy bolts, bullets, torrents of fire, streaks of lightning—every ranged ability was unleashed at once from below by Gatehaven’s finest Hunters.

Axis did not so much as flinch.

All attacks curved away from him as if guided by a hateful law of physics.

Black Dragon roared in Axis’s face, maw opening with swirling black flame. At the same time, Blood Valkyrie dove from above, claws of blood ready to tear his spine out.

Axis raised one hand.

SHOOOM!

Both SS-Ranks were launched high into the sky before their attacks could land... and when Axis lowered his hand,

CRAAAASH!

They smashed into the ground like meteors, collapsing towers beneath them in a violent shockwave. Dust erupted into a storm.

Two SS-Rank Hunters... defeated in moments.

From far below, all I could do was stare and whisper under my breath.

"Holy shit... he’s... untouchable..."

More attacks rained upward. Explosions, beams of magic, clashing elements, but Axis remained still... bored... until an irritated buzz rumbled from his throat.

He spread both arms wide.

And the world flipped.

Gravity inverted.

The entire city fell upward.

"Wha... WHAT THE—AAAAA!"

My body lifted off the ground. The earth disappeared beneath us. Air whipped through everything. People, cars, rubble—all were dragged into the sky. Screams rippled everywhere. Someone clung to a streetlight. A child slipped from her mother’s grasp. An old man clawed uselessly at asphalt that no longer obeyed him.

I panicked and latched onto a tree like a pathetic coward, gripping the bark until my nails tore into it.

"Damn it! You useless System! How the hell am I supposed to kill that thing!?"

My chest tightened.

Then... a miracle.

The tree’s roots wrapped around me, pulling me back.

And not just me.

The ground cracked open.

Forests erupted.

Massive roots tore upward through concrete, catching buildings, vehicles, and people, anchoring them before they drifted beyond reach. The entire district transformed into a twisted jungle.

I recognized that power.

Eldertree.

Guardian Council member.

SS-Rank Hunter.

Many lives were saved... but not all. Some had already vanished into the night sky.

I kept cursing under my breath, wondering if maybe I could use my skill [Mind Control] on that monster. I wanted to try, but I still needed to wait six hours for the cooldown.

While Eldertree strained to pull the city back down, golden radiance burst once more from the Star Witch. Her six spears spun around her like blinding stars responding to their queen. With a slicing roar of wind, she shot toward Axis again, eyes blazing with determination.

Axis watched her without concern.

Before Delilah could even stabilize herself, a force slammed her upward—gravity betraying her again. She lurched, barely able to correct her balance before it suddenly shifted sideways, then downward. The world twisted under Axis’s control like a cruel puppeteer shaking his toy.

He struck without mercy.

BOOM!

Delilah flew backward, smashing through another skyscraper that crumpled beneath her. Dust exploded outward. She caught herself mid-air only to be hit again by a pulse of warped gravity that sent her rolling through the sky.

Her six spears lunged in perfect coordination, but every attack bent away before reaching Axis.

Meanwhile, his punches hit with very real, bone-breaking certainty.

Delilah yanked one spear back to her hand, spun it, and forced it into a radiant shield.

CRACK!

Axis’s blow slammed into it, driving her backward so hard her feet carved trenches in the fractured street below.

She barely inhaled before another hit sent her flying, crashing into yet another building frame that folded around her like paper. Up, down, sideways—she was tossed around like gravity itself wanted her dead.

Her breathing turned ragged. Her golden hair clung to her face. The stars of her spears flickered erratically as her balance was stolen again and again.

Axis stood untouched, wings spread like a crown of arrogance. A low buzzing hum vibrated from him, a sound that made it clear he was starting to enjoy his superiority.

.

.

.

A few minutes before the city flipped upside down, a very different scene was unfolding.

Inside an upscale restaurant, a private room by a wide glass window basked in soft crystal light. A man and a woman were midway through an intimate dinner. Soft laughter and warm conversation hovered between them.

The man was stunning in a surreal way. His long black hair flowed down to his waist like pure silk. Most striking of all was the white cloth covering his eyes. Yet his smile was gentle, peaceful, and impossibly calming.

Across from him, a woman with sun-kissed olive skin and honey brown eyes regarded him with a dangerous charm. Loose strands of jet-black hair framed her slender neck. Her tight black gown embraced every seductive curve, practically daring anyone to admire her too long.

Yumi smiled, twirling her wine glass with a confident little gesture. The look in the man’s direction hinted she felt perfectly in control of the moment.

But suddenly, his expression changed.

"I am truly sorry, but I must leave. I just remembered there is something urgent I must take care of," he said quietly, as if he regretted every word.

Yumi blinked once, keeping her playful smile. "Just don’t overwork yourself. I will call you tonight before I go to sleep."

The man gave a soft laugh, but now there was a strain in his voice. "I don’t think I will be sleeping tonight. A great deal of trouble has arrived."

He rose, offering her a pleasant final nod before stepping out. The moment the door clicked shut, the warmth vanished from his face. In its place, a grim resolve that weighed like the fate of the entire city.

He was Zephyr.

The Saint Archer.

Yumi sipped her wine calmly, watching flashes of battle dance across the night sky outside. Destruction looked almost like a light show from this angle.

Then the impossible happened. Wine floated upward inside her glass. Plates, chairs, every object in the room drifted toward the ceiling. Yumi herself began to rise... yet she simply adjusted her footing and stood upon the ceiling as if this new gravity was planned.

She brushed a stray lock of hair back behind her ear. "Looks like things just got interesting."

That was when someone suddenly appeared behind her, radiating furious anger.

"YUMI!! How could you be casually dating that terrifying guy?! Is he the one you called an entertaining toy earlier?! I thought it was that perverted brat!"

Yumi turned with a smooth, lazy grace.

"Oh? So you are jealous?"