Levi and Jacob—his friend and partner—headed to their assigned location after leaving Natasha and Ash behind.
"You knew there'd be a new demon here, didn't you?" Jacob smirked as they arrived, watching a few soldiers struggling to take down a stronger demon.
"Yeah," Levi admitted. There was no point lying—Jacob knew him too well. He knew Levi would always protect his brother and Natasha.
"You did well. You can fall back now," Levi told the soldiers, ordering them to retreat. He could see they were already at their limit.
"Leave the shadows to me. You handle the new one," Jacob said, immediately jumping into the fight with the weaker demons that remained.
Since he didn't have a specialized weapon, it would take him a bit longer to deal with them.
Levi brushed his fingers along the blade of his spear, drawing blood. Within seconds, a tingling sensation spread through his body. That was the power his weapon granted him—it significantly amplified his strength.
The demon charged at him right away, and Levi threw his spear.
Shadows wouldn't have dodged it—but he was sure this one would.
The demon avoided the spear, though it grazed him. Just that brief contact was enough—he wouldn't be at full strength anymore.
Levi hated their smell and their faces—but he loved the screams they made when they were hurt.
Without a hint of fear, he lunged forward and punched the demon straight in the face.
The force sent it flying two meters back.
He retrieved his spear and walked toward it. He could see confusion on the demon's face as it got up.
Now Levi was certain—these demons could think.
He swung his spear several times, but the demon kept dodging.
Already getting irritated and unwilling to waste more time, Levi kicked it down, pinned it to the ground, and drove the spear straight through it.
"Woo! Braaavo!" Jacob, now finished, started clapping and cheering from the side.
Levi sighed. "Why am I working with children?"
.
.
"How did it go?" Levi asked as soon as they reached the place where they'd be staying for the night.
"Well… you could say it went great," Ash replied uncertainly. Everything had been fine—except for the situation with Natasha.
"I had no doubts." Levi smiled and pulled him into a hug. As he patted his shoulder, Ash smiled, debating whether to tell him.
He didn't want to ruin the moment—Levi rarely praised him.
"Natasha was… slightly poisoned, but she's fine now," he finally said.
"Excuse me?" Levi snapped, immediately pulling away.
"She's okay, they gave her something. She's sleeping," Ash tried to soften it.
"I knew you couldn't handle anything without problems!" Levi shouted, already heading toward Natasha.
"What a mood swing…" Ash muttered, while Jacob quietly laughed.
As Levi walked toward her room, his heart was pounding faster than usual. He was worried.
He let out a quiet breath when he saw her asleep in bed. He brushed her hair away from her face and rested his chin against her forehead, checking her temperature.
She's okay, he thought, feeling that the fever had gone down.
He sat on the floor beside the bed, watching her. His hands were still slightly trembling.
"I'll stay here tonight," Levi whispered when Ash appeared at the door.
Ash nodded and went to sleep.
.
Little Natasha wandered around the yard, playing with a stick and pretending it was a sword.
"Drop that. It's time to train," her father said as he stepped outside, handing her a bow and arrow.
Natasha shook her head. She didn't want to.
He walked over, took the stick from her, tossed it aside, and forced the bow into her hands.
"Why can't I have Mom's sword?" she asked quietly, even though she knew it wouldn't change anything.
"You can't. Come on." His voice was cold as he pulled her into position.
"Aim here," he said, placing a target on a tree before stepping back.
She positioned the arrow carefully and took a deep breath before releasing it.
She missed the tree completely—and braced herself for him to yell.
"Again."
She steadied herself, inhaled, and shot.
This time she hit the tree—but still missed the target.
"I can't."
Her father snapped, ripping the target off.
He grabbed an apple, sat down, and leaned against the tree.
"Hit the apple," he ordered, placing it on his head.
"I can't! I'll hit you!" Natasha cried, terrified of hurting him.
"Then try not to," he said coldly, urging her on.
Through tears, Natasha tried to nock the arrow—but her hands were shaking too much.
Her heart pounded violently. Her whole body trembled with fear. She felt like she might faint.
"I can't…" she repeated through sobs.
"Natasha! Hit the apple!" her father shouted, loud enough to scare off every bird nearby.
Natasha jolted awake, gasping for air.
Levi woke up to the sound.
"Calm down. It was just a dream," he said, quickly moving to her side.
She looked at him, still catching her breath.
"I wish it was just a dream," she muttered—and he saw it immediately.
That mix of sadness and anger—the same one that always surfaced when he thought about what she'd been through.
"I think what's worse than the dream… is waking up and seeing your face," she teased, trying to lighten the mood.
"How do you feel?" he asked, kneeling beside her bed. The dim lamp gave them just enough light to see each other.
"Very happy, since you're on your knees in front of me," she smirked.
His expression didn't change.
"I'm fine," she added, more serious now.
It annoyed her how much he worried.
"You're strong, but you should be smarter in fights," he started lecturing her at five in the morning while she just rolled her eyes.
She sat up and moved to the edge of the bed, ignoring him.
"And you should be doing something other than giving lectures," she said softly, brushing her hand against his cheek.
Levi's heart started racing, a wave of nausea hitting him—but he wasn't about to fall into her trap.
"Is everything okay?" Ash suddenly opened the door, stepping inside after hearing the noise.
"Ah—" he let out an awkward, embarrassed sound, thinking he had interrupted something.
"She had a bad dream. It's fine," Levi said, moving her hand away as he stood up.
Relief washed over him when Ash walked in. He didn't trust himself—he wasn't sure he could've resisted her otherwise.
"Why aren't you sleeping?" he asked.
"Well… I'm hungry," Ash replied, scratching the back of his head nervously.
Natasha instantly thought of pizza—and got hungry too.
Both of them turned to look at her when her stomach growled loudly.
"I think I'm going to die if I don't eat pizza in the next… now," she said dramatically.
"Oh, pizza…" Ash made a sad face, already imagining it.
"I can practically feel the melted cheese in my mouth…" Just thinking about it made her hungrier.
"Then just imagine eating a whole pizza and be done with it," Levi said irritated, dropping onto the bed.
He knew he'd end up having to get them pizza, so he pretended to sleep to escape.
"You really have no soul," Ash muttered, exchanging a miserable look with Natasha.
She could get into his head effortlessly—and it frustrated him.
She had always been one big, unsolvable problem in his life.
And it didn't help that he loved her.
Maybe they once had the same goal. Maybe they still did.
But he couldn't ignore the fact that she had strayed from the path.
And he was afraid to go through with his plan—to expose everything—because it would mean her end too.
He wouldn't just destroy his father.
But something had to change.