Chapter 108
Levin’s condition was terrible.
His clothes were torn and burned, hanging off him like rags. Deep wounds marked his shoulder and thigh, and blood poured steadily from them.
“Huff… huff…”
Gasping for breath, Levin stared at the man.
The man’s condition was even worse.
He had more deep wounds and had lost far more blood.
Yet he was smiling.
He giggled as if he couldn’t contain his enjoyment of the situation—his expression alone was enough to terrify anyone who saw it.
“Hehe… What a fascinating ability. Turning into a ghost and even using lightning-based skills? If this becomes known, you’ll end up locked in a lab too.”
“You too? Were you locked in a lab?”
“Heh… Does this answer your question? This isn’t something I willingly cut off and replaced.”
The man shook his mechanical arm.
After releasing powerful electric energy multiple times, the prosthetic was damaged, rattling noisily. Still, the man kept laughing.
“So you escaped the lab and started slaughtering people?”
“Heh… Others should feel the same pain I went through.”
“You bastard! And you think that makes sense?”
“Why wouldn’t it?”
“My mom and my little brother died for that? For such a pathetic reason?!”
“Heh… Kid, there are plenty of people in this world who die for reasons far more trivial. How long are you going to keep whining? Humans are meant to become independent from their parents someday. I just sped that process up a little.”
“I’m going to kill you. No matter what!”
“Now that’s a more grown-up face.”
“Damn it!”
At that moment, a blinding light burst from Levin’s entire body.
“Oh? Did your rank just increase?”
The man recognized it immediately—an Awakened leveling up.
Levin’s overwhelming rage had pushed him from E-rank to D-rank.
Crackle!
Still in his spectral form, Levin emitted violet lightning.
Floating in midair, he fixed his gaze on the man.
“Die!”
In an instant, violet chain lightning exploded outward from his body.
The web of electricity engulfed the man in a flash.
“Hehe!”
The man stepped back, swinging the blade attached to the silver thread.
His mechanical arm was broken now, and no current flowed through the weapon anymore.
But he didn’t care.
That power had only been something he gained later.
Even without electricity, he knew very well how to kill.
Levin’s ghost form was certainly an incredible ability.
To make a human body intangible—
Ordinary physical attacks couldn’t harm him.
But Levin himself wasn’t yet incredible.
Even after ranking up, he still couldn’t fully control his power.
Because of that, his body would occasionally become tangible for brief moments.
The intervals were short—
but long enough for the man.
He waited for the exact instant Levin’s body materialized.
Stab!
The dagger plunged deep into Levin’s side.
Levin’s face twisted in agony.
Still, he endured it and grabbed the dagger embedded in his body.
The man sneered.
“You saw it, didn’t you? One side’s serrated. It won’t come out until it tears all the flesh apart. How is it? Hot, isn’t it?”
Levin didn’t answer.
Instead, he glared at him with bloodshot eyes.
“I tempered that with the bones of a flame crocodile. It should be pretty hot.”
“Who said I was pulling it out?”
“What?”
“I just caught you. Why would I pull it out?”
Levin grinned, revealing teeth stained with blood.
“You little—!”
A chill ran down the man’s spine.
Only then did he realize—
Levin hadn’t failed to maintain his ghost form.
He had deliberately exposed a weakness.
“You lured me in?”
“Yeah! You bastard!”
Levin roared and unleashed his full power.
Violet electricity surged through the silver thread connected to the dagger—
and struck the man directly.
It happened before he could even react.
The massive current coursed through his entire body.
He couldn’t even scream—his body simply convulsed.
Crack! Boom!
Flesh burst apart in places as the electricity tore through him, and his mechanical arm was completely destroyed.
Levin poured everything into the attack, determined to kill him.
“Haa…!”
Moments later, Levin collapsed to his knees, drained.
His ghost form had already dissipated, returning him to his physical body.
With bloodshot eyes, he looked at the man.
The man’s body was charred like something roasted in fire.
His hair was completely burned away, and his skin was so scorched it was impossible to recognize his original features.
Yet—
he was still alive.
Though barely breathing, on the verge of death—
he was still alive, glaring at Levin.
Even in that state, his killing intent hadn’t faded.
The sight sent chills down Levin’s spine.
What kind of life had he lived to harbor such hatred?
“Still… I won.”
Levin staggered to his feet.
He didn’t want to look at those horrifying eyes any longer.
He pulled the dagger out of his side.
As it came free, chunks of flesh tore away.
The pain was so intense his vision nearly went blank—
but he forced himself to stay conscious.
“You need to feel it too… the pain my mother… my brother… and everyone else felt…”
“Kh… heh… screw you…”
The man rasped, his voice thick and broken.
Levin drove the dagger into his thigh.
Stab!
The man’s body jerked violently.
Even though his entire body had been burned by electricity, his sense of pain still remained.
Levin pulled the dagger out.
Crunch!
With a sickening sound, chunks of flesh were torn from the man’s body.
It should have been unbearably painful.
And yet, the man didn’t scream.
Instead, he smiled—as if daring Levin to keep going.
“You bastard… you’re not even worth being alive.”
Levin stabbed the dagger into the man’s shoulder once more, then twisted it violently.
The serrated blade ripped through the wound, widening the hole.
Levin pulled the dagger out and looked at it.
Flesh was tangled along the jagged edge.
Not just the man’s—
some of it was his own.
The sight made him feel nauseous.
Tears streamed down his face.
“Damn it…!”
Levin raised the dagger to the man’s throat.
He intended to finish him.
The man grinned, as if he had been waiting for this.
“This… is something only those who’ve done it can do. Someone soft like you… can’t inflict true pain on others.”
“What’s your name?”
“Why? Planning to remember it?”
“Yeah. I’ll remember it forever.”
“Heh… what a joke. Too bad—I never had a name to begin with.”
“Then I’ll remember you as ‘bastard.’”
“That’s not bad. Bastard, huh… Guess I finally get a name before I die. Heh…”
Levin didn’t want to see that smile anymore.
So he drove the dagger down with all his strength.
Boom!
But his attempt was stopped.
With a thunderous impact, his hand holding the dagger was knocked backward.
The force shattered his arm, leaving it hanging limply.
“Guh!”
Levin staggered back and looked at his arm.
A bolt the size of a child’s palm was embedded in his forearm.
Someone had fired it to stop him.
Clutching his arm, Levin shouted,
“Who the hell is it?!”
“Sorry, boy. That man cannot die yet.”
At that moment, the owner of the bolt appeared.
A woman wearing a long coat that reached her ankles and a fedora.
Her face was hidden beneath the brim, but her voice made it clear she was female.
Levin growled,
“Are you working with this bastard too?”
“That’s an insult to me, boy.”
“You know what a real insult is? Stopping someone from getting rightful revenge.”
“I apologize for that. But we have no choice. He is a very important piece of evidence. And you… you’ll have to come with us as well.”
“What?”
“That unusual ability of yours is dangerous. We’ll protect you.”
“Like hell you will! Who the hell do you think you’re protecting?!”
“Why are humans so irrational? If you thought logically, you’d understand that I’m right.”
The woman shook her head slightly and sighed.
Behind her, more women dressed the same way appeared—over a dozen of them.
She gave the order.
“Take them both.”
“Yes!”
The women moved toward Levin.
“Graaah!”
Levin squeezed out every last bit of strength he had left.
But it was insignificant.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
A merciless barrage of punches rained down on him.
Despite their slender builds, their blows were powerful.
Bang!
A strike to his temple instantly knocked him unconscious.
As Levin collapsed, one of the women caught him.
The leader muttered,
“Mission complete—and we even gained a rare Awakened. The Queen will be pleased. It bothers me a little that he’s human, but with some brainwashing, he should still be usable.”
“The Queen… you mean the Ice Queen of the Northern District?”
A low voice suddenly echoed.
The woman felt chills run down her spine.
‘When…?’
She hadn’t sensed anyone approaching until the voice came from right behind her.
If it had been an attack, she would’ve been helpless.
She quickly turned around.
There stood a tall, handsome man—and a young girl wearing a pointed hat.
‘Not one… but two?’
The fact that both had slipped past her senses made her even more uneasy.
Suppressing her agitation, she spoke calmly,
“I didn’t expect more guests. Where are you from? The Southern District? The Central District?”
“We’re from around here.”
“The… slums?”
“Yes.”
The one who answered casually was Zeon.
Beside him stood the girl in the pointed hat—Briel.
“Levin!”
Briel’s gaze snapped to Levin, slung over a woman’s shoulder like baggage.
He didn’t move at all—completely unconscious.
Beneath her hat, Briel’s eyes sharpened.
They hadn’t shared deep bonds, but Levin was still one of the few people she could talk to comfortably.
And now he was gravely injured, moments away from being taken.
If they had arrived even a little later, he would have disappeared without a trace.
In the slums, disappearance meant death.
Brielle said coldly,
“Put Levin down.”
…
The women didn’t respond.
Zeon stepped forward and spoke gently to the leader,
“Levin is our friend. Return him.”
“That’s not possible. He’s an extremely rare Awakened. If trained properly, he’ll become a powerful asset.”
“You don’t even have his consent.”
“We don’t need it. And we certainly don’t need yours.”
“That’s unfortunate.”
“It is. I didn’t want to cause trouble if I could avoid it.”
The woman lowered her fedora further, hiding her face.
The act itself betrayed her awareness—she knew what she was doing wasn’t just.
Zeon murmured,
“Maybe that’s why everyone wears a mask.”
At that moment, the leader gave the command.
“Don’t kill them. Subdue them. We’re taking them too.”