Levi's body moved on its own, his hands clenched to his head. Pain didn't for him, but that didn't mean his body didn't feel it. He could barely hold his head; every vein in his head seemed to scream and cry in agony.
'I hate when this happens.' When this occurred, Levi had no control over his mind. He could only observe it squirming.
On the other hand, Blake couldn't figure out what was happening. This was the worst he had ever felt in his whole life.
*Thud*
It was like someone hammering directly on his brain. And the worst was yet to come. The small demon stood there, moving its hands and body, wriggling in fun. It casually went and kicked both their heads with a wide grin, though they didn't feel it.
The more Blake screamed and Levi lost strength, the more the devil would dance. It was literally reveling in their suffering.
They had to get out of this situation, but Blake couldn't do anything. Levi was their only hope.
Slowly, a golden string formed around Levi's finger and moved to Blake's forehead. The demon caught the string and tried to snap it, bite it, but it didn't have the strength to do so.
'I can get out of this pain.'
'I can get out of this pain.'
Levi started his usual [Essence] activating mantra.
[
—>[Essence] activated.
->Increase healing capability by 80%.
->Recover from the debuff 30% faster.]
Levi's finger moved of its own accord as the string passed down the power of [Essence] to Blake, who also felt the pain lessening a bit.
'Central eye, focus only on the debuff on our bodies.'
Levi ordered the eye floating above him and used the same method he used on Luna.
Blake, now able to move around, saw the small devil hitting the floor in anger.
'If only it were trying to kill me,'
It looked kind of cute.
The devil grabbed its horn in frustration, seeing its prey recovering. A mind spell was its only weapon now in this temporary form, and if they stood up, it would be killed.
But then, a moment of eureka hit it. It realized that this body of its was temporary and would disappear in a bit. There was no need to hold back.
The devil sat, focusing all of its energy on the final spell. A large magic circle appeared right below Levi and Blake as they felt ominous mana capturing every part of their bodies.
Cracks started forming on the small devil as mana overloaded its body. Blake couldn't move, nor could Levi. The string on Blake's forehead detached and changed into a white color as it moved towards the devil.
The strings moved in a horizontal motion, decapitating the devil's head. However, the spell took effect as Levi and Blake felt darkness covering their bodies. They saw the last sight of the devil's head hitting the ground, its evil smile still intact.
'F*ck you,'
that smile said it loud and clear.
*****
Darkness, utter darkness. Nothing to see, nothing to hold. Only them and the dark. Not as a friend but as an enemy. Blake shuddered being in such a place as he slowly stood up, looking at Levi on his right, arms folded, and eyes darting away, looking for something that never existed.
'How is he so calm?'
Blake wondered, seeing Levi as if he had experienced this place, and Levi had. Not once but multiple times, every night, in each of his dreams or what he called dreams.
The devil's spell had only half worked. Its plan was to temporarily teleport them to such an area and make them experience the worst pain by showing them certain vision, but the pain plan didn't work. Levi's intervention didn't let that happen.
Blake looked around, not seeing anything – not a path to walk on, nor a ray of light to head towards. Only Levi's body emitted a small light in this dark place. He was about to touch Levi's shoulder when his view rapidly changed.
Blurry images appeared, as if someone was skipping through time and space itself, something he would never experience ever again. This kept on going until it halted, and now he was in an alley, stuck.
His eyes were glued straight at the alley. His body refused to move; all he could do was look and hear some weird loud noise coming from his back.
'What is happening? Just what did that f*cking devil do?'
Blake thought, now irritated, hearing that noise from the back.
*Honk* *honk* *Beep*
All he could hear was that and some loud voice of a woman talking, but he didn't understand what she was saying.
Soon, he heard someone walking towards him. Blake wanted to turn around and maybe move his hands to block a probable attack, but right now, his body wasn't his.
Soon, he felt a hand pass right through his chest, and then a whole human came out of his body. Blake's breathing became heavy. No clue about what was happening; all he could do was dart his eyes down to see he was fine.
'I... I am intangible... What in the hell of a spell is this?'
The man that passed through him walked towards a big bin and took out a cigarette as he started smoking and laughing. Not a happy laugh, but something evil and devious, same as the devil.
Blake kept looking at the man laughing until another hand passed through his body, this time the hand was small. And the body that passed through him was also small.
Black hair, a lean body, and silver eyes. Blake saw many similarities to the boy to a guy he knew, who just saved his life. It was just that the scar on the face was missing.
The boy tiptoed, not making a single noise. A metal bar clutched between his armpits. His hand moved to his pockets, taking out two white surgeon gloves. Wearing them, he held the pipe and pulled it out like a samurai sword, and then Blake saw something he never wished he witnessed. It would stay in his mind for a long time, never disappearing, coming back to him each and every time – the embodiment of pure evil and murder.
******
'Ahhh… My back.'
Blinking weakly, Blake looked around to see himself and Levi on his right, lying on the ground in the shop, every item destroyed, but the walls of the shop clean. He slowly sat up to notice a body right at the door, its head blown off.
The urge to puke and shivers came over him. He put his hands on his mouth and looked away. However, this was nothing compared to what he had just seen in that nightmare.
Blake moved his broken and battered body as he lightly slapped the sleeping beauty next to him. He wrapped Levi's hand around his neck as he made his way to the door, stepping on the corpse and opening it.
Immediately, when he opened the door, he could see a group of people staring at him first and then noticing blood trickling down the floor. The crowd panicked, and screams filled the street.
Within a blink, Blake felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Young master." He recognized this voice. The voice of his knight that would never betray him.
"Kuma, how long was I gone for?"
"17 hours."
Blake nodded as he handed Levi to him. Soon, the whole street now filled with knights from the Soron and the academy, looking at the two students – one conscious and the other sleeping.
They also noticed the room they came out of and pitied the boys for what they had to experience at this age.
Kuma looked at Blake staring at Levi, eyes glued as his body was shaking, and his fingers fidgeting… in fear.
'What did you experience, young master?'
The prodigy of the Soron, who didn't flinch when his father, an S-rank, displayed the utmost bloodlust during training, now shuddered looking at a boy so weak and defenceless.
Kuma didn't understand it, nor would he ever. This was something only Blake knew, and he had to take it to the grave because he didn't want to experience something the same as the man he saw in that everlasting nightmare.