Note: This movie starts from a hacked savestate for demonstration purposes. Specifically, frame 24512 of the published TAS, but with the subweapon changed (address 015B from 11 to 13).
The April 1 TAS I had planned is going to be late. In the meantime, I've found a few frames in Castlevania. Okay yeah it's real, but "axes are faster" is enough of a joke on its own.
Just like crosses, which aren't available in this stage, axes can multi-hit enemies when passing through two of them. They can't be used as effectively because of their weird arc, but they still help a little because Frankenstein has that hunchback. Who also spits fire.
I extend the movie at the end to regain the holy water in stage 13. If the axes stop being useful here--and I'm not convinced they will--this should keep them from costing any of those frames.