Avesta?!

Murmur!

Murmur!

A group of what looked to be over 100 people stood in the open, bathed in moonlight.

" Hey! Who was it that called us out here!?"

" Yeah, yeah! Don't you know that being so close to the outskirts at night is dangerous?!

" Who ever woke me up better have a good fucking reason! Interupting my beauty sleep, they could only have a death wish!" A man with a bald head, with multiple sword scars on his face and head shouted.

"..."

The people went silent and looked at him for a few seconds, before erupting once more.

They shouted to no one in particular.

" Hey, shhh!"

" Who are you shushing?!"

" Someone is coming!"

" Huh?! Isn't that Ling, that crafty bastard?!"

" Was it Ling who called us?! The hell does he want?!"

" Wait, isn't that brat beside him...the one who was searching for his friends?"

" I swear to god Ling, if that is why you called us out here, you are dead!"

" All of you be qui-" Before the long haired man, Ling, could finish, the same terrifying killing intent escaped Levi's body.

His clothes were tattered, and he still had burns on his skin and face, but in that moment, everyone shut their mouths and looked at him with startled or fearful expressions.

" I trust that all of you already know the situation?" The demon saint's cold voice rang out.

" Si-Situation? Gulp!"

" S-So what those guys said eariler..."

" Seriously....They were serious?...."

The murmuring was much softer this time.

" You already know the options. Accept these, or death." The demon saint said simply, as he formed over 100 mental energy seeds in an instant.

" Ah, i accept!"

" What fucking choice do i have? I also accept!"

One after the other, people gave in.

They all had one thought, ' Living comes first! Whatever happens after that, the me of tomorow will deal with it!'

" Humph! Cowards! Lowering your head to some brat, aren't you ashamed to show your faces?!"

A tanned, skinny man stood out and shouted.

" humph!" The demon saint simply snorted.

' I was waiting for a martyr to step out! He appeared at the perfect time too. Hehehe, every act needs something to make it solid.' The demon saint thought silently.

" What proof do you have, that you can 'scatter our souls like ash'? Hmmm?!" The man asked.

" Yeah..."

" What proof do you have?!"

Some people in the croud began shouting.

Over the span of a few seconds, the shouting became louder, as people questioned The demon saint's claims.

" You fools bowed your heads to this brat without knowing anything first! Pitue! Disgusting!"

Although the man had insulted them, the people still continued to agree with his points from the safety of the croud.

Because he was so high on the praises of those in the croud, he failed to see that they were using him as a guinea pig.

' Humph! If we survive this, i will teach this fool a lesson!' Many of them thought.

" Do you guys have no shame?! Still showing your faces! You should really-"

The man was talking relentlessly, until he felt a prickling sensation on his back.

Looking around, he saw a black fog that was shaped like a sword, which caused him to stumble back.

" Isn't it funny?" The demon saint asked coldly.

" Wh-What is funny? The fact that you are pretending to be strong?!" The man shouted, as he tried to regain his composure.

" No. What i find funny is....how fragile a human life can be." The demon saint spoke.

The people were thoroughly roused by the skinny man, but were also freaked out.

Because, although a voice was coming from levi's body, his lips were not moving.

And although they saw the mental energy flame above his forehead, they didn't know about any mental energy technique that you could talk with.

In unknown situations, even the simplest of details could terrify people.

" You, for instance. This sword is made from just my killing intent, but, did you know that it could kill you?" The demon saint said with a humorous tone, as if this was a fun topic for him.

" Th-That is not possible! I-I don't believe it!" The man shouted, as he squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head.

" Oh? We can't have that! Make sure not to move now." The demon saint spoke as if he were coaxing a child.

The sword shaped killing intent slowly inched towards the man.

As it drew closer to him, the man's fear increased.

But for some reason, his feet were stuck to the ground and he couldn't move.

Ba-dump! Ba-dump!

His heart raced, as sweat poured from his face.

" N-No! Keep this thing away from me! No!"

He shouted as the thought of dying set it.

At first he didn't think that such a harmless looking thing could kill him.

But as it slowly inched towards him, the thought of what would happen if it could, made his heart sink in fear.

" Hehehe, i love it so much, toying with the human heart." The demon saint spoke softly, but everyone still heard it.

A chill went down their spines, as Levi's lips curved up.

" No, stop! Stop! Ughhhh!"

As the tip of the sword touched the man, his body started to tremble, as white foam bubbled from his mouth.

" The dance of death, it is still fun to watch even now!" The demon saint said in a joyus tone.

The people shuddered as they watched the man helplessly fall to the ground, dead.

"....Do any more of you ants wish to offer your souls to entertain this demon?"

" Not that the souls of ants are worth anything in my eyes, but if you are offering, how can i refuse?" The demon saint asked, as Levi swept his gaze across the croud of people.

The people exploaded into thanks for being spared, as they willingly allowed the mental energy seeds into their heads.

" Humph! Now, you were telling me about someone who wanted to die?" The demon saint asked Ling, who's expression brightened when he heard this question.

" Yes! follow me, sir, i will bring you to where the person is!" Ling turned around, as he started walking.

' This guy is cunning, you should watch out for him. Your life is not just your own anymore, after all.' The demon saint said.

The last sentence was spoken with a slightly unhappy tone.

"..." Levi silently made a mental note of this.

After walking for a few minutes, they arrived at the house in the center of the village.

Unlike the rest of the houses in the village, this one was larger, and made of stone, although the roof was still bamboo.

Levi cautiously looked at the building.

" What are those markings on the house?" The demon saint asked.

"M-Markings, sir?" Ling looked at the house, but he couldn't seem to find any markings.

' Hmmm? They seem quite familiar....' Levi thought, as he narrowed his eyes.

He began walking towards the house.

Since he was carrying out this act, he couldn't just walk away.

If he wanted to he could, but he would have to kill all of the villagers.

He already had a lot of plans for these people, ideas that the demon saint put into his head.

Although, after seeing how much the demon saint enjoyed playing people, he went over them in his head, and got rid of any of the plans he didn't like.

"..." Levi began walking towards the house slowly.

After a few steps, he got a better look at the marks on the house.

[ Advance any further, and you will die.]

A cold, almost mechanical voice rang out.

Levi's eyes widend when he heard this voice.

It was quite familiar to him, and although he hadn't heard it in a while, he wouldn't forget that cold, at times, arrogan voice.

" Avesta?" He spoke with a trembling voice.

" Then...." Levi's gaze became sharp as he looked at the house, as if he thought that he would be able to see through the walls.

" Since it's me, i should be able to-"

Pufttt!

Blood flames shot out from the wall towards him, as he barely gathered enough blood energy to form the blood shield.

" What the hell are you doing, Avesta?!" Levi shouted, veins bulging on his face in anger.

[ This is your final warning. Why you know that name is irrelevant. Advance any further, and you will die.]

Avest spoke coldly.

"..." Levi clenched his fist, until his fingernails dug into his flesh.

" Have somebody watch this house at all times! Whenever the person inside comes out, inform me!" Levi spoke coldly.

" You-Your voice...." Ling pointed towards Levi.

He had forgotten that he already heard Levi's voice at the tavern.

" Inform me!" The demon saint shouted, as his killing intent escaped Levi's body.

" Y-Yes..." Ling replied.

' Is he being possesed? But that shouldn't be possible....But if he isn't being possesed, then why does he have two different voices? Do demons just have two voices from birth? Is it common for ghosts?' Ling thought a few ridiculous things, as he followed Levi with his eyes.

...

Next day, morning.

" So what was this elixer that i heard about yesterday?" Levi asked Ling coldly.

" Qh, that....Well, it can't really be called an elixer...." Ling scrached the back of his head, his eyes still closed.

Ling had calmed down a lot since last night.

And after thinking about a couple things, he came to a conclusion.

He just had to put up with Levi for a few weeks while cooking up a plan to escape with his life.

' I might even find a chance to screw him over!' He thought.

"...Out with it." Levi said coldly.

He was irritated.

Whoever was in that house was irritating.

He went back again in the middle of the night and was almost roasted alive.

When he asked avesta what she was doing, she said [ Warnings are meant to be heeded.]

That one line made his blood boil for the rest of the night.

" You see, the thing is...." Ling paused.

" That elixer is just boiled mutated beast meat...A soup, if you will..." Ling spoke while he scratched the back of his head.

" Since the mutated beasts use qi to nurish their bodies, when you kill them, all of that qi is still in their flesh and blood for a short while afterward. So if you just boil it, you will be able to get about 15 or 20 percent of that qi if you are lucky!" Ling explained.

" Adding a few herbs could even raise the qi in the elixer to about 23% !" Ling got absorbed in his explanation.

' How pitiful! 23 percent?! Hahahaha! How pitiful indeed!' The demon saint laughed loudly in Levi's head, as he 'rolled around' while 'clutching' his 'stomach'.

Since the demon saint kept complaining, Levi willed it, so now the demon saint could see what he saw and hear what he heard.

Although it took some effort, the almost dead tattoo moved slowly to make his thoughts happen.

It took a lot of time, but since he couldn't sleep with his bubbling anger, he just did it.

He could still block the demon saint's sight and hearing at will though, and he wouldn't be able to hear Levi's thoughts unless he allowed it.

"....Well whatever. I want you guys to go hunt some mutated beasts for me."

" Make sure that they don't loose a single drop of blood when you kill them." Levi said, before getting up and leaving.

He had left a small list on the bed, before walking out of the small house.

" Levi!" As soon as Levi walked out, someone shouted his name.

"..." Turning his head silently, he saw Noah, Ava and Ryan.

The latter two were slowly getting up from the ground.

" What are you still doing here?" He asked coldly.

" Well, Ava and Ryan wanted to thank you, so-" Noah was inturupted.

" No need." His gray robe shifted in the breeze, as he turned to walk away.

" Levi! Cough! Cough!" Noah shouted, before he erupted into a coughing fit.

" I already repayed my debt to her, i don't owe any of you anything anymore. So get lost, before i change my mind and kill you all." Levi spoke coldly, as blood energy rose from his body.

" You!!" Noah shouted angrily.

" Let's just go Noah, Ryan. " Ava placed a hand on Noah's large shoulder and shook her head with a light smile.

Although she was normally pushy, she knew how Levi was.

" Thank you, Levi." As she saw Levi turning his back once again, Ava bowed, and said softly.

Although she said it too soft for him to hear, she was still satisfied with being able to say it at all.

Noah grumbled angrily, as they began walking away.

In reality though, he was felt relieved when Levi reacted that way, because, Ava would keep her distance.

He didn't have anything against Levi, but he somehow knew that being around him would be dangerous for anyone involved.

Someone who tortured themself for power or strength could only be described with two words.

Either mentally ill, or dangerous.

Since Levi got back Ava and Ryan as he promised, Noah's only wish was to get far, far away from him.

' Why didn't you just accept their thanks?' The demon saint asked with a puzzled voice.

" Mind your own business." Levi spoke coldly.

'...Hmmm....You....Could it be possible that you just hate people? Like, for no reason?' The demon saint asked.

" Shut up." Levi said coldly.

' No, that can't be it.' The demon saint mumbled.

" Shut up." Levi's voice became more forceful.

' Could it be that...you are afraid of opening your heart to other people?' The demon saint asked.

The letters surrounding the space the demon saint was in lit up.

As they came into contact with him, a cearing pain spread throughout his beings, akin to a piece of red hot metal being put on someone's skin.

Levi shut off the demon saint's voice from his head with a thought, as he walked up to the group of people who seemed to be waiting for something.

"....Are you coming with us, sir?" One of the men asked.

When Levi was still a distance away from them, their faces twisted in anger and hatred.

' Ordering people to hunt mutated beasts....who the fuck does he think he is?!' They thought.

These were the 15 people who were tasked with killing and bringing back the mutated beasts on Levi's list.

And out of the 15 people, most of their thoughts went along those lines.

"..." Levi nodded silently.

He had seen the looks on the faces of the men, but didn't show any reaction.

' How would you feel if some person you never met, just suddenly appeared and had control over your life?' He used this thought to stay calm.

He needed to do something to blow off some steam anyway.

' Obviously i know that i am afraid of opening my heart to people. But that is something only i need to know.'

' I will not allow any person to see a weak side of me, never.'

' Only the cold, unfeeling side.' He thought.

If people knew his weaknesses, wouldn't they just exploit them?

Then he would just not allow any to be known.

If he showed weakness, wouldn't he just be betrayed again?

Then he would simply not show any weakness.

' Humph! You are coming along?! For what?! Ordering us fo risk our lives wasn't enough, so you want to come along to watch a show now?!' The people thought, but still wore smiling expressions.

They could only curse Levi in their hearts, because in reality, all of them were afraid to die.

And although going out to kill mutated beasts was potentially deadly, at least they would be able to live a little longer.

No one ever expected themself to die, that was why they clung onto life until they couldn't anymore.