# Chapter 75
“Everyone, coat your swords with your own blood before attacking!”
The immortal soldiers looked bewildered at their comrade’s shout. Then, one man smeared his own blood on his sword and attacked Levi. He swung his sword fiercely but was struck down by a counterattack. Yet, as if proving something to the others, he managed to inflict another wound near Levi’s already torn arm.
The two wounds on Levi’s arm made by the man, as well as the gash on his side caused by a sword coated with an ally’s blood, were still bleeding without stopping. Only then did the immortal soldiers realize what their comrade had been trying to tell them, and each began coating their swords with their own blood, just as Levi had done.
The ability to nullify the power of life through blood wasn’t solely beneficial to opponents. The evidence was clear in how the healing of several wounds on Levi’s body had significantly slowed.
Once they gained an effective means to counter Levi, whom they had considered their natural enemy, the immortal soldiers’ movements became noticeably more aggressive. From the beginning, these soldiers were willing to die if they could inflict even the slightest damage on Levi, who stood in Ion’s way. Now that they knew how to attack him effectively, they could only become more reckless.
As the number of immortal soldiers rapidly decreased, Levi found himself in increasingly dangerous situations. Chepel, who had been supporting him with skillful use of bow and sword, gritted his teeth as he watched another blade graze Levi’s side wound that refused to stop bleeding.
‘At this rate, even if we deal with all the immortal soldiers, his ability consumption will be too great, and he’ll quickly reach a state of starvation.’
Levi’s abilities included not only taking life with his black hand but also abnormal self-healing capabilities like Ion Verdit’s.
Simple cuts and stab wounds weren’t a problem. The issue was that the blood of Ion Verdit contained within the immortal soldiers was entering Levi’s open wounds and dulling his abilities. To expel the opposing energy that blocked his power, he would need to expend more energy, which would rapidly deplete the yang food accumulated in Levi’s body.
Chepel kept his eyes on the white ring attached to Levi’s black hand. The ring, which had had many blank spaces, was now gradually filling up with characters.
He deflected the sword of an immortal soldier blocking his path, leaped back, and drew his bowstring. His poisoned arrow pierced the head of another immortal soldier who was about to attack. Despite suffering an attack that would have killed a normal human instantly, the immortal soldier got up shortly after falling.
Clicking his tongue briefly at the sight, Chepel turned his attention back to Levi.
“When the ring becomes filled with text and turns ashen, it means you’ve entered a full state of starvation. When that happens, Levi won’t be able to open his eyes until he’s replenished with yang food.”
That was the state Raziel had warned about, the one they needed to avoid.
There was still so much Levi needed to do, and it hadn’t been long since Raziel had left. If he reached his limit already, they would have to use another one of the few black fragments they had left.
‘If only we could feed him yang food like before, rather than replenishing it along with his memories.’
If that were possible, they could sacrifice the nearly useless mansion soldiers as food for Levi to restore his strength.
But he couldn’t argue against his lord’s firm declaration that “from now on, no life form will be fed to Levi.” Though he couldn’t fully understand what his lord truly wanted, he knew that the current process of restricting Levi’s absorption of yang food was a necessary step.
“M-my lord!”
Amid the chaotic battle, a soldier ran up to the young baron who owned the mansion and reported urgently.
“The Immortal Army led by Grand Duke Ion Verdit is approaching! You must escape immediately!”
Deep despair could be felt resonating from the depths of his voice.
The young baron, who had dropped his awkwardly held sword in shock, stamped his feet with a frightened expression.
“Isn’t the Tefra territory on their way here? They couldn’t have avoided their defenses!”
The Tefra territory, which served as a shield for this area, possessed considerable military strength, though not as formidable as the Iron Fortress. He had thought that an enemy army of thousands couldn’t simply pass through that territory unhindered, unlike the small number of immortal soldiers they were currently facing.
The soldier’s trembling voice answered his question.
“Tefra territory has already…”
There was no need to hear the rest. Now, not only the young baron but all the mansion soldiers fighting here couldn’t hide their shocked expressions.
It wasn’t only Chepel and his allies whose faces changed at the soldier and baron’s conversation. The immortal soldiers, who had been launching fierce attacks, flinched and began looking at each other nervously.
Seeing this, Chepel realized that, as he had suspected, they had attacked this place without Ion Verdit’s knowledge and were clearly acting against their lord’s intentions.
Because of this, the onslaught the immortal soldiers directed at Levi intensified even further, as if they had to eliminate him before Ion arrived.
‘Ion Verdit coming all the way here was actually what we wanted.’
According to Raziel’s plan, Ion Verdit, upon learning that Levi was here, should have ravaged the surrounding territories belonging to the “anti-imperial faction” while leading his army here, solely because they stood in the way of meeting Levi.
It was obvious that Ion Verdit wouldn’t bring his entire army here but would assign the surrounding territories’ suppression and organization to the immortal soldiers. Due to his urgency to meet Levi, he would arrive here alone or with a small detachment. Upon arrival, Ion Verdit was supposed to meet Levi in “normal condition” and die by his hands.
But given Levi’s current state, if he met Ion, he was more likely to be captured than to kill him. Perhaps the fierce immortal soldiers before them would even butcher him and shatter his core in front of Ion before that could happen.
‘This won’t do.’
Chepel intervened between Levi and an immortal soldier, blocking the next attack with his sword as Levi barely deflected a blood-coated blade filled with killing intent. Standing in front of Levi as if protecting him, Chepel glared at the immortal soldiers and spoke.
“Let’s retreat, Count.”
Levi frowned, having received a retreat proposal again after the Iron Fortress.
The area where they were fighting was the mansion’s front yard and garden.
The immortal soldiers had been pressing them as if determined not to let a single one escape to call for reinforcements. As a result, there wasn’t even a path suitable for retreat behind Levi and the soldiers—only the magnificent mansion.
There was nowhere to lead the soldiers in retreat. Even if someone broke through to create an escape route, the mansion soldiers, who were little more than a disorganized rabble, would inevitably be caught and killed by the immortal soldiers while retreating.
In the face of the relentless swords of the immortal soldiers, only Levi and Chepel had any chance of escaping unharmed. Even then, it would only be possible “alone,” not together.
It would have been far more advantageous for Levi, the immortal soldiers’ primary target, to stay behind while Chepel broke through and escaped. For the immortal soldiers, with their lord and thousands of soldiers approaching, their priority would be to kill Levi, their original objective, rather than persistently chasing Chepel, who was difficult to handle.
Despite surely knowing this, Chepel was trying to help Levi escape somehow.
Deflecting and avoiding all the chaotic sword strikes from the immortal soldiers, Chepel moved close to Levi and whispered softly.
“If you head southwest through the mountains, you should reach the Retrouva territory. Hide yourself in the old castle there for a while.”
Though the name was unfamiliar, Levi was more concerned about Chepel’s intentions.
“Come with me, Chepel.”
“No, I’ll hold them off.”
Chepel pushed Levi toward the soldiers positioned behind them and raised the corners of his eyes sharply.
“Count, remember just one thing.”
Chepel’s sword left a deep wound on the neck of an approaching immortal soldier. The soldier, spurting blood from his neck and nearly collapsing, managed to hold on with strong leg strength.
“Who leads this Immortal Army.”
Levi’s eyes trembled slightly as he naturally recalled Ion’s face.
“Who threatens not only His Majesty’s life but yours as well.”
He couldn’t help but know. The men who swung their swords with murderous intent before him, cruelly wishing to tear his body to pieces, were all Ion Verdit’s soldiers. Those rushing here after destroying another territory were the same as those before him.
Ion Verdit was trying to kill him.
That was an undeniable fact for Levi.
Chepel, while facing dozens of immortal soldiers and occasionally issuing orders to the surrounding soldiers, left his final words to Levi, who was still rooted to the spot.
“For His Majesty’s sake, you must never die, Count.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Chepel issued a loud order for all the soldiers behind him to charge at once.
