Smiles never vanish; they only shift.
And so it was.
When Sharon saw Hawk staring at her with that half-smirk, the comfort on her own lips vanished instantly.
Her heart skipped.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Hawk replied calmly. "Just a wind elemental demon trying to crash this plane."
His tone was casual.
And truthfully, with his current strength, even if this aircraft exploded midair, Hawk wouldn't so much as flinch.
But still…
His heart sank.
The universe had given him its cruel verdict: whenever he left New York by conventional transport, disaster struck.
Well, at least now he knew. From here on, if he left New York, he'd fly himself. No more illusions.
Sharon's heart sank as well.
"Demon? Crash a plane?"
"Mm."
"Yikes!"
She searched his face desperately for a hint of humor.
There was none.
Her stomach dropped.
"What do we do?"
"I'll go take a look."
The next instant, Sharon's eyes went wide as Hawk vanished before her eyes.
When he reappeared, he was standing atop the fuselage.
And there, cackling madly, was the Wind Elemental Demon—Ariel—one of the four Primordial Elementals. He swirled as a living cyclone, battering the plane with violent currents.
"Cackle, cackle! Tremble and break apart in the storm!"
The aircraft shuddered under the assault, pilots inside straining to keep control.
Hawk didn't strike immediately. Instead, he simply watched, hunger flickering in his strange crimson-and-gold eyes.
Wind…
With it, the other elements could fuse. With it, his speed would soar to new heights.
And most of all—
If he mastered Wind, he wouldn't need to hunt Satannish down. The fool would come straight to him.
Yes.
Wind was a prize too valuable to ignore.
Meanwhile, Ariel finally noticed Hawk standing boldly on the plane. He sneered and unleashed a storm of invisible blades.
Cloth shredded instantly, Hawk's upper garments flayed away, muscles bared.
But not everything. Hawk didn't mind losing a shirt, but running around fully naked? That was another story.
"Hah!"
The cyclone twisted into the vague form of a sneering man. "This plane is mine, boy. Get lost."
And he had reason for arrogance—he was an Elemental, after all.
But Hawk only smiled faintly. "Tell me, Ariel… care to move somewhere else?"
"Not interested. Scram."
"Pity."
Hawk sighed. His gaze hardened. "Then let me put it another way. Ariel… lend yourself to my training!"
The Elemental flinched, realizing at last the hunger burning in Hawk's eyes.
He tried to flee—
"Climatic Domination!"
Hawk raised his hand, voice icy.
The Sixth Sense—Weather Manipulation!
A Silver Saint's ability to command the skies. At higher tiers, Golden Saints could shift entire climates at will.
And wind was weather.
Had Ariel remained hidden in formless currents, Hawk would have struggled to touch him without reaching the Seventh Sense. But in manifesting himself so brazenly, he had trapped himself.
Now the cyclone thrashed like a fly in a bottle, unable to escape.
At last, Ariel understood—he was finished.
With a thud, he manifested fully and dropped to his knees.
"Mercy! Don't kill me!"
Hawk blinked, amused at the demon's quick collapse. "Relax. I won't kill you. I'll use you to refine myself."
Phoenix fire flared at his feet, the specter of the divine bird looming behind him.
Hawk wanted Wind itself, not the demon.
No rivals would be tolerated within his cosmos.
Ariel panicked. "Spare me! I'll serve you! I'll obey every command—"
For a moment, Hawk's flames paused.
Ariel's eyes flickered with venom. He cursed silently. Just wait, he thought. If I escape, you're dead.
But Hawk saw it all. He chuckled softly.
"Ariel, what do you think matters most to me?"
"Loyalty!" Ariel blurted. "Absolute loyalty, my lord!"
Hawk's smile deepened. Ariel grinned too, hopeful.
But then Hawk's expression turned cold, the Phoenix flames roaring back to life.
"Wrong. You don't matter at all."
"No—!"
The inferno consumed him, his screams echoing across the sky.
"Damn you! My brothers will avenge me!"
He chose to self-destruct, slicing off the plane's wings in a last desperate bid.
But Hawk never flinched. He ignored the falling aircraft and the screaming passengers. His eyes were locked only on Ariel's essence.
The demon's despair peaked as Phoenix fire engulfed him utterly.
And then—
With a piercing cry, a crimson phoenix soared within Hawk's cosmos.
Wind—
The element of creation—
Was his.
(End of Chapter)
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