The battlefield roared.
Screams. Metal. Smoke.
Levi moved like a shadow—faster, sharper, crueler than anyone could follow. His energy tore through enemies, his blade never missing.
And then—
"Levi!"
He froze.
That voice.
She was running toward him.
"Alexa?" His eyes narrowed. "What are you doing here?"
"I want to come with you!" she cried, out of breath, face flushed. "I can help—I can see things before they happen!"
"You can't—" he started, furious.
But her eyes were burning.
"I won't slow you down," she said. "Let me stand behind you. I'll stay quiet. Just let me protect you too."
Silence hung for a beat.
Then he growled low. "Stay behind me. No moving."
She nodded quickly. "I swear."
The moment she fell in step behind him, the war resumed.
Levi was a blur—energy pulsing from his arms, blades flashing like lightning. Enemies collapsed in heaps, one after another.
"Right side!" Alexa called. "He's cloaking!"
Levi turned just in time, slicing through a man with a blade of shadows.
"Another coming from the smoke!"
He moved faster.
Every word from her saved his life.
And then—
She saw it.
Not a man.
Not an army.
Death.
A single blade, glinting silver.
The figure behind Levi was cloaked in bloodlust, his strike already midair.
Alexa didn't think.
She ran.
"No!"
The sword plunged forward—
—and through her.
Straight through her back, piercing her chest. Blood spilled down her dress as the blade glowed red from the impact.
Levi turned.
"Alexa?"
She looked up at him.
Smiling.
"You'll be okay," she whispered.
Then the light left her eyes.
Her body crumpled into his arms.
"No," Levi choked. "No—no, no, no—"
Her blood was warm.
Her pulse was gone.
He touched her face. "Don't do this to me."
She didn't answer.
He looked at the sword sticking through her back.
And everything went silent.
Then—
The sword pulsed.
Red.
Then purple.
Her blood on the blade shimmered unnaturally.
The sky cracked.
Levi's body stiffened. Something ancient inside him twisted, surged, snapped.
His breath caught.
Then—
He screamed.
A dark red energy burst from his chest, flinging bodies away. His legs bent, fists slamming into the ground.
Cracks webbed beneath him.
Purple veins spread up his throat.
Wings exploded from his back.
Long.
Sharp.
Vast.
The third phase had awakened.
His eyes opened—pure crimson.
A circle of magic glowed beneath him as the wind howled.
He rose.
No longer Levi.
A primordial devil.
The army charged again.
It took one heartbeat.
And then—
They were all dead.
Slaughtered.
Erased.
The smoke cleared.
Only Levi stood in the middle, surrounded by ash and blood.
He looked down.
At her.
Alexa.
Lying still. Pale. Covered in her own blood.
He knelt beside her.
Touched her cheek.
But there was no warmth in his fingers anymore.
No sadness.
No grief.
Just… emptiness.
He stared at her.
Then whispered—
"Pathetic."
And rose.