# Chapter 67
The sound of bricks pouring down was similar to heavy rain hitting the ground. However, since it was dozens of times louder, it instantly made their ears ring.
Levi, enveloped in Ion’s embrace, couldn’t help but feel it despite his aversion—the terrifying sound and enormous impact of countless bricks falling as if they would crush them to death.
The dagger he had been about to thrust into Ion’s nape had long since fallen somewhere on the ground after being struck by bricks, and his left hand, which had instinctively grabbed Ion’s back, was in excruciating pain as if several fingers were broken. The same was true for his legs, which Ion couldn’t completely shield.
Yet the strange thing was, the question he had about Ion, who was protectively embracing him, was so great that he barely noticed his own pain.
The rain of bricks, which seemed like it would never end, finally stopped.
Only then did Levi open his eyes. Though Ion had shielded him, his eyelids, coated with some dust, lifted somewhat stiffly.
When Levi opened his eyes, he was startled.
Ion, who was still embracing Levi with his arms, hadn’t taken his eyes off him for a moment. Red blood flowing from beneath his helmet dripped onto Levi’s surprised face.
Ion, who seemed extremely tense as if worried that Levi might be injured somewhere, hurriedly asked as soon as he confirmed the black eyes looking back at him:
“Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?”
Despite being the one who had taken the full brunt of the falling bricks, Ion seemed completely unconcerned about his own body, focusing only on Levi’s condition. Though Levi was similarly neglectful of his own physical state, Ion’s disregard for himself was remarkable.
Ion carefully examined Levi’s face as he just stared up at him with surprised eyes. Ion’s entire body, including his back, was numb with pain, and blood was flowing from his head, not to mention his vision blurring momentarily from the impact. If not for his solid armor and helmet, along with his firm muscles, it wouldn’t have been strange if some part of him had been broken helplessly. Of course, underlying this was his abnormal self-healing ability.
Ion shuddered at the thought of what would have happened if Levi, who wasn’t wearing any armor, had taken the full impact of these bricks.
When the bricks had showered down on his head, thanks partly to his helmet but mostly to his strong will to protect Levi, he had managed not to lose consciousness. His mind had been filled with the thought that if he fainted from the impact to his head, he might not be able to protect Levi.
Fortunately, he hadn’t lost consciousness, and Levi, who had opened his eyes in his arms, didn’t seem to be seriously injured. Thinking of how Levi must have felt pressed down by him, Ion released his arms from around Levi’s body and raised his upper body slightly.
“Tell me if anything hurts.”
Levi, as expected, didn’t answer. He just stared at Ion with eyes still mixed with puzzlement and confusion.
As Ion raised his upper body, he belatedly realized that Levi’s left hand was wrapped around his back. Ion’s face contorted painfully as he checked Levi’s hand in surprise.
Levi’s left hand was a mess. Three of his snow-white fingers, with their prominent knuckles, were broken so badly it hurt just to look at them, and the back of his hand was covered with bruises and severe abrasions from the impact of the bricks. Ion’s lips trembled as he carefully cradled Levi’s hand, which was already bruising with spreading blood.
Levi’s injuries weren’t limited to that.
While his head and body had been protected, his extended legs couldn’t be completely shielded. Ion hurriedly removed several bricks lying on Levi’s legs and examined his condition by directly touching his thighs, knees, calves, and ankles, all covered with dust.
As he touched around the ankle, a small groan escaped from Levi’s lips.
“Ugh…”
“Does it hurt?!”
Ion, looking down at the ankle with eyes more startled than Levi’s, raised his upper body with his arm.
“Don’t move. I’ll do everything, just stay still…!”
As Ion was continuing to speak, he suddenly saw a leg flying toward his face and quickly raised his arm to block it. A few fragments scattered from his already slightly damaged arm armor under the rough kick.
The unexpected intervener was apparently well-trained, because despite clearly blocking the attack, Ion’s arm and shoulder painfully reverberated. Already having taken considerable damage from blocking the falling bricks with his entire body, he staggered greatly.
He supported his tilting body by planting his arm on the ground. Immediately twisting his body, he drew the sword from his waist and swung it as if to behead his opponent.
Clang—!
The sound of metal clashing at close range momentarily drowned out all other noise before it returned.
Ion glared at his opponent who had crossed swords with him, forgetting even the pain in his eardrums. It was definitely Count Chepel Lance, who had been shooting sharp poisoned arrows from a distance.
Chepel, with an expressionless face resembling the Caron Emperor, was easily blocking Ion’s attack with a somewhat short sword while carrying a longbow on his back. Ion pushed his sword as hard as he could, though it wasn’t at full strength due to the damage to his shoulder.
“Count Aden, let’s retreat.”
Chepel spoke to Levi while keeping his gaze fixed on Ion as he blocked him.
“The Iron Fortress has already fallen. There’s no need to hold out any longer.”
“But Raziel said he needed help here, that I was the only one who could do it.”
Levi, staggering due to his fractured ankle, was nonetheless somehow able to stand. However, due to his broken fingers, he couldn’t immediately grasp a dagger again. But if he were to hold the dagger with his right hand, he wouldn’t be able to use the blood from the red mark part containing his ability.
Chepel scanned the surroundings with his eyes. In the bloody battles everywhere, he could see several people in black clothes moving stealthily.
“You’ve done enough, Count Aden. What His Majesty wanted was to confirm your abilities.”
While Levi, the person directly addressed by Chepel’s words, showed no particular reaction, Ion’s face contorted fiercely.
“How far are you planning to use Levi?”
Ion, speaking as if spitting out the words, pushed against Chepel’s sword as if about to cut right through it. The balance of power between the two, which had been equal, began to tilt gradually to one side. Chepel showed a slightly surprised expression at Ion’s suddenly increasing strength.
“I’ll kill all the bastards who treat Levi like a tool. I’ll tear them to pieces and kill them.”
His golden eyes, glowing menacingly, looked as if they would crush Chepel on the spot. Though Chepel had never felt fear from anyone except Raziel, at this moment he experienced a fear that sent chills down his spine and made his shoulders flinch.
‘As expected of the former Crown Princess’s son.’
Chepel recalled the former Crown Princess of the Delos Empire whom he had met just once when he was very young, and superimposed her face over Ion’s. The memory of the former Crown Princess he had met at that time was so intense that he could still vividly recall it.
But Chepel had no time to leisurely ruminate on those memories.
Not only the south gate but also the east and west gates of the fortress were wide open. There were too many immortal soldiers flooding in and enemy troops conquering the fortress walls from the outside. Even the iron-clad fortress walls were being breached one after another under persistent attacks, so it was appropriate to retreat at this point.
‘His Majesty had already anticipated that this fortress would crumble. We’ve tested everything we needed to, so it’s best to retreat now.’
Raziel hadn’t entrusted Chepel with the grand mission of defending the Iron Fortress.
Instead, he had commanded three things:
To escort Count Levi Aden, and to verify if his ability could kill the immortal soldiers.
Lastly, to observe what reaction Levi would show when he met Grand Duke Ion Verdit.
All three missions had already been accomplished. Therefore, according to his own judgment, he needed to retreat with Levi’s safety as the top priority.
Chepel, who had jumped back to escape Ion’s sword, took out two orbs the size of a child’s fist from his chest. As soon as he strongly threw them with one hand, with a “boom—” sound like a bomb exploding, thick smoke spread in the blink of an eye.
Recognizing the smoke bombs, Ion immediately reached out to Levi rather than attacking Chepel. He desperately tried to grab Levi, whose figure was becoming blurred by the smoke, but suddenly a longsword appeared from somewhere and blocked his hand. Ion, who almost had his wrist cut off, instinctively stabbed his sword into the opponent’s chest. After pushing away the enemy who let out a short groan, he grabbed a black shadow in the smoke.
But what he caught was an enemy soldier in black attire similar to Levi’s. He was wearing leather clothing for mobility instead of armor, suggesting he wasn’t a soldier of the Iron Fortress, and the sword he wielded was also short and light for agility.
Despite his injured body, Ion cut down the man in black clothes with a single stroke and ran following the presence in the smoke. Each time, he invariably encountered people dressed similarly to Levi, and his sword, mixed with frustration and urgency, cut them down again and again.
“Levi!”
He called out Levi’s name in the smoke, but there was no answer. The vision obscured by the thick smoke seemed to perfectly express Ion’s frustrated and dizzy inner feelings.
“Your Grace, are you safe?!”
Immortal soldiers who had jumped into the smoke searched for Ion by voice while cutting down enemies. Having completely lost track of Levi due to the smoke making it difficult to get his bearings and the interference of troublemakers, Ion barely managed to rush out of the smoke with his subordinates. He looked anxious as he realized that neither Chepel nor Levi could be seen anywhere in the chaotic battle within his line of sight.
“Blockade the north gate and secure the northern secret passage! Block their retreat route!”
As soon as he gave the order, Ion’s body, which was in tatters, staggered, and Owen, who had come running from somewhere, quickly supported him.
“Are you alright?!”
Instead of answering, Ion gritted his teeth and added to his orders.
“Even if you let everyone else escape, make sure the black-haired man doesn’t get away. Don’t hurt him under any circumstances and absolutely… absolutely stop him.”
The immortal soldiers who received Ion’s orders all rushed toward the north gate. Since he had originally ordered some soldiers to block the north gate and the northern secret passage, which would be the enemy’s retreat route if the gates opened, it was obvious that other allies would already be guarding those positions.
Ion, supported by Owen, also immediately headed toward the northern part of the Iron Fortress.
When they finally reached the northern secret passage…
Ion let out a painful sigh as he saw that all hundred or so immortal soldiers who had been blocking the secret passage were now corpses.
