# Chapter 85
A strange person.
An incomprehensible human.
The more Levi got to know Ion Verdit, the more confused he felt.
Along with him.
‘It hurts.’
The heart that had been placed inside his left chest to mimic humans tingled of its own accord. Not understanding what this meant, Levi could only guess that Ion Verdit was the cause of this pain.
“I saved you? When?”
“Fifteen years ago.”
Ion’s pupils trembled pitifully. As if touching a memory from the past that he didn’t want to remember, but one too important to ever forget.
“You saved me when I was young… and died in my place.”
Ion spoke each word with difficulty, forcing a smile.
“Back then, I was too weak to do anything. But now it’s different.”
Ion’s arms embraced Levi affectionately.
“Now I’ll protect you. I’ll help you recover all your forgotten memories, and if you want, we can live together in the Black Forest forever, just like back then.”
His words held a sincerity impossible to imagine coming from an enemy commander.
Levi’s innocent, curiosity-filled eyes gradually settled into calmness.
‘Is it a lie? Or…’
As Levi pondered each word Ion had said, his eyes suddenly flashed sharply. He abruptly pushed away Ion who had been embracing him, grabbed his arm, and yanked him forcefully onto the bed.
“Lev…!”
Pulled by Levi in an instant and laid down on the bed in the blink of an eye, Ion looked up at the weight pressing down on his body.
Levi’s hands wrapped around Ion’s neck. His fingers completely covered Ion’s neck, with crossed thumbs pressing down on his Adam’s apple.
“Ion.”
Feeling his breath being cut off, Ion looked up in surprise at Levi, who coldly uttered his name. Along with a terrifying killing intent that made his skin tingle, Levi’s cold black eyes took Ion in as if dissecting him.
Even in this situation, a small smile formed at the corners of Ion’s mouth.
‘He called my name.’
He was satisfied just by the fact that Levi hadn’t stiffly used his surname. It felt like they had gone back to the old days.
“I understand that you possess a part of my forgotten memories.”
Levi’s lips, illuminated by moonlight, moved in a whisper.
“…But Raziel told me that my forgotten memories are essentially wounds.”
Ion’s body, pinned under Levi, flinched. His eyes trembled as if experiencing a great shock.
“So I won’t try to recover my memories…”
The grip compressing Ion’s Adam’s apple gradually tightened.
“And I don’t need you either.”
The breath that had barely been flowing was now steadily being blocked.
“I only remember and believe in the time from when I first opened my eyes until now.”
Ion couldn’t say anything as he looked up at Levi, who was choking him.
He had never considered it before.
That memories of himself might actually become wounds for Levi.
‘Perhaps it really would be better if he didn’t recover his memories.’
Originally, Ion had wanted to do whatever it took to help Levi recover his memories.
According to Hest, by the time Levi’s core had shattered, his lost memories were already irretrievable. He had tried everything for over two years to restore Levi’s memories, but it was useless.
Nevertheless, Ion had been determined to help Levi recover his memories. No matter how luxurious his life had become or how much everyone revered him as a Holy One, he had never been as happy as he was fifteen years ago when he was with Levi.
But could he be certain that Levi, after recovering his memories, would feel the same way?
The conclusion was ‘no.’
Fifteen years ago, on a certain day.
There was a time when Levi, having missed the opportunity to feed because of Ion, suffered in a state of starvation. In that moment when Levi lost his reason and choked him instinctively, Ion had lashed out with hurtful words in anger. It had been so shocking that Levi even handed Ion a dagger, asking him to destroy his core.
Afterward, Levi had suffered all sorts of injuries to protect Ion from danger, and eventually, his core was destroyed. As if knowing that such a day would come, Levi had prepared everything so that the young human would be able to live well on his own. Ion wondered what Levi must have felt back then.
Thinking about all this, Ion felt strength leaving his entire body. His breath was tight and his throat hurt, but he closed his eyes while swallowing even his labored breaths.
‘If this is what Levi… wants…’
Nothing escaped from his tightly compressed throat except for unbearable, hoarse groans, but the sense of liberation was greater than the pain of being choked.
There was a reason he had to close his eyes despite being so afraid of sleep all this time.
He knew he would have inevitable nightmares and would wake up clutching his painful chest afterward, yet he still tried to sleep. Because that was the only time he could meet Levi and embrace him.
If he died now, he wouldn’t have to fear that the nightmares, which had stopped since the moment he found Levi again, might someday return. Levi would get to kill the enemy commander he so despised, and there would be no need to worry about painful memories from the past returning.
Thinking this way, rather than trying to remove the hands choking him, Ion tightly gripped the soft sheets with both hands to avoid potentially interfering with Levi.
Levi quietly looked down at Ion, who was clearly suffering from the lack of air and the pain in his throat, yet had his eyes tightly closed and was only swallowing his breath.
“Is it okay if I kill you?”
It was something he had never asked anyone he intended to kill.
Ion’s eyelids trembled, and then he answered with a fading voice.
“Kill… me.”
Ion’s twitching lips were still forming a smile.
The tiny, metallic-sounding voice gradually pierced Levi’s ears.
“My life… belongs to you… anyway… huk…”
Levi lowered his head close to Ion’s face. His soft hair brushed against Ion’s cheek like a caress.
“…If you were willing to die for me, why haven’t you done so until now?”
That was one of Levi’s most incomprehensible things about Ion’s behavior.
Ion, whose mind had become hazy from not being able to breathe properly, couldn’t answer Levi’s voice that reached him in fragmented pieces as if in a dream. It wasn’t that he couldn’t answer because his throat was being strangled, but rather that he didn’t feel the need to answer.
The reason Ion hadn’t died for Levi despite having had numerous chances was because Levi had been in Raziel’s palm. If he had died in that situation, it was obvious that Levi would continue to be manipulated by Raziel.
But now that Levi had completely entered Ion’s territory, things were different.
The Delos Empire had Emperor Tis, with whom Ion had a contract, and Hest, who knew Levi’s secrets as well as Ion did and cherished him. Of course, if Ion died, the Immortal Army would also disappear, and Tis, having lost a major force, might have other intentions, but at the very least, Hest would protect Levi even if it meant giving up his position and leaving his homeland.
Besides, Ion had prepared other places in case he died or disappeared. Places where Levi could live freely and abundantly, without even having to worry about ‘food.’
“Kup…”
A rough groan escaped between Ion’s lips, and soon his consciousness began to fade.
Thinking that if this was his final moment, he wanted to see Levi’s face one more time, he opened his eyes.
The black eyes shining in the moonlight in the darkness seemed strangely unfamiliar. They held emotions too complex to decipher, unlike the simple, easy-to-read expressions Levi’s eyes used to convey.
“After all, you…”
Levi, still staring at Ion’s face, opened his lips.
Ion concentrated on Levi’s lips to understand the voice coming from so close. Because of his fading consciousness, Levi’s voice seemed to be coming from a very distant place.
“…are strange.”
As if that brief statement from Levi was a signal, Ion’s consciousness snapped with an audible sound.
❖ ❖ ❖
Clang—
The sound of chains, cold even just to hear, knocked at the deepest part of his consciousness.
Click— Clang—
At first, he only wondered why such a sound was heard. It wasn’t long before the floating consciousness in the dark void began to deduce the source of that sound.
Realizing why the cold chain sound was audible, Ion felt the back of his neck tingle as he abruptly opened his eyes.
“Levi!”
Unknowingly calling Levi’s name while bolting upright, Ion, with a pale face, touched the space beside him as he turned his head.
Levi hadn’t gone anywhere.
He was just curled up sitting beside Ion, examining the long black chain attached to his shackle link by link, without any signs of having harmed himself trying to forcibly remove it. Relief immediately flooded Ion, making his shoulders slump.
Catching his breath while assessing the situation, Ion finally recalled what had happened the night before and touched his neck. Thanks to his self-healing ability, the smooth skin that would show no trace of being strangled was cold, as if he had just woken up from a nightmare.
He had certainly thought he would die at Levi’s hands. Unlike Levi with his separate core, or the immortal soldiers, Ion was just a human with good healing abilities, making death by strangulation entirely possible.
But being perfectly fine now meant that Levi had deliberately chosen not to kill him.
Looking at Levi with questioning eyes, the one who had been playing with the chain like an innocent child spoke.
“I’ve changed my mind.”
Levi’s black eyes looked at Ion.
Though Levi was the prisoner, somehow he appeared like a master holding Ion’s leash. For Ion, that was the correct answer anyway.
“Help me recover my memories from fifteen years ago.”
Levi, who had let go of the chain and was hugging his knees while sitting curled up, rested his pale cheek on his knee.
“I’ll kill you after that.”
