# Chapter 79
I don’t know what state of mind drove me forward.
When I came to my senses, I had reached the third floor as the knight had directed, and I shuddered as I saw a knight being attacked by something and flung out from a room at the end of the corridor.
“Get out of the way!”
The knights who stood blocking the entrance to the room, hesitating to enter, flinched at Ion’s shout.
The moment he pushed past the knights and stepped into the room, a dagger filled with killing intent came flying. After dodging the dagger by tilting his head back, Ion immediately sensed the chill drawing near his neck.
Ion grabbed the blade of the short sword thrust by the person in the room firmly with his left hand to block it, and tried to calm himself while steadying his rapidly beating heart.
“Levi.”
Ion called out to his opponent in a very small voice, then threw away the longsword he had been holding in his right hand and wrapped his arm around Levi’s waist, embracing him. Then, with his face buried in Levi’s nape, he took a deep breath.
The unforgettable scent reminiscent of the Black Forest filled Ion’s lungs. His chest, which had been tight with anxiety, gradually began to regain its stability.
“Your Grace!”
Unlike Ion, Levi, who had become even more unstable, twisted his body, trying desperately to break free. Moreover, he pushed back with such force that it seemed he would even cut off Ion’s left hand imbued with power.
The sound of swords being drawn came from behind.
Ion, still holding Levi tightly so he couldn’t escape, looked over his shoulder at his subordinates.
‘How dare they…’
Ion was deeply irritated by the devotion of those who dared point their swords at Levi, who could rightfully be called his everything.
“Stand back.”
“But Your Grace…”
He sent a ruthless killing intent toward the knights who couldn’t readily retreat and wore intensely tense expressions.
“I said stand back.”
If they still didn’t sheathe their swords, he was prepared to take all their vitality with his own hands. Just like those who had died in miserable states as punishment for injuring Levi.
Fortunately, having witnessed that scene, they did as Ion wished, sheathing their swords and completely withdrawing.
Only then did Ion release Levi. As if he had been waiting for this moment, Levi quickly retreated and widened the distance between them, emanating a fierce aura like a wild beast with its fur bristling.
Not wanting this moment to be interrupted by anyone, Ion closed the door, leaving behind the concerned gazes of his knights. By then, Levi had fled to the window and drawn another short sword.
Ion’s eyes narrowed slightly as he gazed steadily at Levi.
‘He’s not in good condition.’
Though he had expected it, Levi was already breathing heavily, indicating his depleted strength, and a blood-stained bandage was visible between his shirt and trousers. If it were merely a deep cut, it should have at least stopped bleeding by now, but at a glance, it seemed there was a limit to his self-healing ability.
‘Is it because of the immortal soldiers’ blood mixed in?’
According to the reports from the immortal soldiers who had tried to kill Levi and from Chepel, Levi’s most serious injury was to his side. Not only had he suffered major wounds twice, but the blood of the immortal soldiers containing Ion’s ability had also completely mixed into him. With his ability counteracted, unable to draw upon that formidable self-healing power, it made sense that his recovery rate was no different from that of an ordinary human.
‘I wish you would stop hurting.’
Whether physically or emotionally, anywhere.
He would take all the pain himself if only Levi could be free from any suffering.
While facing those black eyes full of piercing killing intent and wariness, Ion tried to calm his swelling heart as he removed his helmet with its blood-red tassels.
“It’s all right.”
With a gentle voice containing a slight tremor, he carefully approached Levi. It was completely different from the intimidating voice filled with ruthless killing intent he had shown to his subordinates just moments ago.
“You know I can’t attack you.”
“…”
When Levi’s wariness showed no signs of easing, Ion casually dropped his helmet as he had done with his sword earlier.
Without his helmet, Ion had plenty of vulnerabilities. His long, exposed neck could be targeted from either the front or back, and his unprotected head could also be attacked if necessary.
Despite having exposed what amounted to his greatest weakness, Levi remained cautious. He neither rushed forward to attack nor lowered his blue-edged dagger.
Ion noticed that Levi was contemplating escape. Though his gaze was clearly directed at Ion, he occasionally glanced out the window.
The one fortunate thing was that Levi didn’t seem to be planning to turn away and flee. His obvious killing intent still stung as if it would pierce right through Ion’s skin.
‘He seems to be planning to kill me and then escape immediately, but…’
Unfortunately, Ion had no intention of dying now. He could die for Levi anytime since his life had been saved by him, but nothing would change if he died at Levi’s hands now. Rather, it would mean the disappearance of the strongest person who could prevent Levi from being thoroughly exploited, which would inevitably lead him deeper into darkness.
‘Not yet.’
There was still so much he wanted to show Levi. So many things he wanted to tell him, and countless experiences he wanted to share with him. After fulfilling each and every one of those desires and when the moment came that his life was needed for Levi to truly know the emotion of happiness, then he would die for him.
So now, he had to focus solely on getting Levi out of this wretched land of the Caron Empire.
Ion, who had been rooted to the spot, suddenly reached Levi’s side in an instant. Though startled by the sudden movement, Levi reacted quickly.
Levi’s dagger seemed about to slice Ion’s vulnerable neck. As if knowing every habit in Levi’s movements, Ion lightly deflected the attack and swung his left hand in front of Levi’s eyes.
Blood was still flowing from Ion’s left hand, which had been deeply cut when he grabbed the dagger. That blood flew through the air and splattered near Levi’s eyes, forcing him to squeeze them shut.
Ion swiftly caught both of Levi’s wrists and pinned him down on the bed. The soft bed undulated greatly, and a gasping sound escaped through Levi’s teeth.
“Hngh!”
Ion felt Levi’s entire body tense up. Guessing that the reason was the severe wound in his side, Ion wore an apologetic expression for his rough handling.
“I’m sorry. Does it hurt a lot?”
Given how much his attacks had slowed due to his deep wounds, Ion felt that a thousand apologies wouldn’t be enough for pinning down Levi in such a state due to his own impatience.
Looking more pained than Levi himself, Ion gazed down at the blood-flecked black eyes that were now focused on him. Sitting atop Levi without putting weight on his body, Ion’s face was close enough to feel Levi’s rough breathing. Knowing that Levi wasn’t someone who would be winded from this level of exertion made Ion’s heart ache even more.
“Levi.”
Levi’s eyes trembled at the sound of his name. The fierce glare filled with extreme wariness and anger seemed capable of tearing Ion’s skin to shreds. Nevertheless, Ion felt his heart pleasantly tickled just by having Levi’s eyes on him.
As Ion gazed down at Levi, his eyes fell upon Levi’s black hand. Just as when they had met before, the white ring encircling his wrist was densely filled with unknown characters. The red markings that should have been shining brilliantly on his black palm were completely dulled, and in the center were several streaks of wounds from multiple cuts.
Ion already knew that the white ring, which resembled a restraint, served to seal the power of death that Levi possessed. Thanks to it, Levi could touch humans without hesitation using his black hand.
In other words, it was equivalent to restricting Levi’s “yang food.”
Ion recalled the conversation he had with Chepel before they separated from his troops as they crossed the mountains.
“Instead of letting Levi-nim take human life as yang food, Lord Raziel is filling his hunger with another method.”
“What other method?”
Chepel had told him about the black bead fragments he had seen. The peculiar energy fragments that had been absorbed when Levi lost his senses after his ring was removed during his state of starvation had left quite an impression on Chepel.
Since Raziel hadn’t fully explained the deeper aspects, even Chepel didn’t know the extent of the impact those fragments had. However, he said that the fragments had as much effect on sating Levi’s hunger as yang food, and that they had completely healed wounds that weren’t healing properly due to contact with Ion’s ability-infused blood.
‘How much does Raziel know about Levi?’
It was certain that he had more information than Ion and Hest.
‘Knowing so much, is this how he treats Levi?’
Due to trauma from his past rampage incident, Levi no longer wanted to take human lives as yang food. Raziel was exploiting that trauma, providing food in a different way and freely manipulating Levi with the words “I want to live.”
‘How are you any different from that bastard Kalvern?!’
A surge of impulse to grab Raziel’s face with both hands and smash it to pieces washed over Ion.
But before that…
“Get off.”
Ion needed to safely take away the Levi before him, who was growling with cold eyes, to prevent him from being hurt further.
Ion smiled kindly, pushing Raziel out of his mind. He took out a round pill that he had received from Chepel, who dealt with all sorts of poisons. It was a powerful sleeping drug that could subdue even a massive beast with just one pill.
“As you already know, the abilities of Levi-nim and my lord can be counteracted through blood. If you feed him a sleeping pill coated with blood, you should be able to temporarily neutralize his ability.”
Just as Levi had done when dealing with the immortal soldiers, Ion too could momentarily stop Levi’s abilities using his own blood. In that state, he would briefly become human, and the sleeping drug would take full effect.
“If you call my name, I’ll get off you.”
After saying that, Ion took the pill in his left hand, which had been cut by Levi, coated it with blood, and held it in his mouth.
Soon, Ion’s blood-stained lips met Levi’s red lips.
