12: [The Shadows Core]

The climate of the morning is preferable, unlike rain storms, or sunny days, this was neutral. While Gypsy and her dad walked towards the tall tower, even the pedestrians could see monsters hovering out and destroying someplace only God knows.

Levi felt uncomfortable with the fact that Gypsy is coming with him, and the fact that this wasn't a school day, really bugged him off. Above all, what triggered him, were the two figures following him.

Since he would be taking the life of an innocent elf, with his daughter sticking around, that would look awkward, and these two made things worse by tagging along.

"Why don't you tell him, Cass", said Gypsy, keeping her voice low as she weaves past some pedestrians. Cassandra in rejoinder, just gave a sign of no way.

And as these two lass began talking, Leon chipped in."what's happening, I think I should tell him instead", said Leonard with a confident expression, as he folded his hands at the back of his head, while walking.

Both females glanced at themselves and asked what could be seen in their expression.

"And why should you be the one?", asked Cass and Gyp.

"Well, first of all, you guys seem a bit scared, and because I'm the man here, I'll go, the fearless man fears nothing"

"Done", said Cassandra, after stuffing her mobile phone behind her back.

"Done? Done what?", Leon inquired.

"Nothing much, just recording some few statements of yours"

———

Meanwhile...

A young man, having a red hair phenotype, was walking along the alleyway with a bag of groceries. His dark shoe touched the concrete ground with grace. With a few more steps, the man got to a point and stopped, when he noticed two men behind him and two extra, in front of him.

"Yo.. fking bring me the groceries", voiced the thug 1, with a badass cap.

"And why would I do that?", the red hair man asked with a calm voice. Shifting his eyes behind him, he heard the sound of a knife.

"Well if you don't want to die, you're gonna fking hand over that groceries"

"Pardon me, but I must leave, I have something I must find", said the red-haired man.

"Hahaha.. he's freaking out, I can tell.. hahaha", the one with the knife laughed behind him.

The man turned around with his bag of groceries, and gently assured the mocking one." if there was an Olympics of bad luck, you've nailed it.. mocking me is a bad thing, but I'll let a low life as you pass"

"What the fk did you just say to me?", the knife thug frantically dashed forward, in an attempt to stab the man's throat. Veins formed within his head and he yelled cursed words and stabbed.

Kweuk..!

However, the thug's eye flared with tears when the grocery guy moved aside, and kneeled his diaphragm... causing a sprout of blood. And before the knife thug could so much complete his painful groan, the red-haired man brought a knife from his bag, and stabbed it, behind the thug's neck.

Thud..!

The thug fell lifelessly, with blood enveloping his reality.. he wasn't alive, and the remaining three were more than glad that wasn't them.

"Guy ain't ordinary human, he must be one of those tower climbers, I'm out of here"

"Wait", said thug one, as he stopped his goons from running off like cowards, he adjusted his blue cap in a bad boy way and bounced towards the red-haired man.

"Yo... you just fking killed somebody, so here's what, either you give me your damn groceries or I'll be dialing 911 in one Click ", he said like some mob god.

However, the grocery man looked into this thug's eyes, and felt nothing but disappointment, in one gesture of a backhand slap to the face. Baam! The thug was nailed against the wall, crashing his cranium inside.

That ended his existence on planet Earth. The wrong word.

'He talks too much', said the grocery man.

"Holy shit", with an explicable scream.

The two survivors ran in opposite directions, turning to see if the grocery man would chase them. However, when the grocery guy advanced his step, a purple dark portal materialized before him, and from it, came out an elf in black clothing. A dark elf.

"My lord, I was unable to retrieve the shadow core. Before I got there, the whole city was destroyed, not even an ant could have survived that kind of massacre"

"Unlike any other massacre, this one was far worse, almost like the elf owed them money", said the dark elf.

"I see, I believe that's the work of two beings, either the overlord or another demon king, if someone else has taken the core, it won't end well..", the grocery guy voiced.

"However my lord, I did not sense the shadows core, it wasn't in the elf race before the massacre... I suppose it would be in"

"The tower", the man finished and cut off the dark elf.

It was an easy guess, elves tend not to break the rules of nature, and arriving at a lower plane is an important rule, but demons tend to break that rule, and with almost half the races extinct, the only place of the same plane with them was no other than, the tower.

"What should I do my lord?"

"Send Razor to retrieve the core, I have some important matters to attend to, in the tower, if I come across it, be sure to prepare my army"

The demon king finalized his statement, and with a snap of the dark elf fingers, who had kneeled the whole time, the portal suck him in and there goes the elf.

The demon king began ambling, but his mind was enveloped with thoughts about who could have done the massacre.

'Was it the overlord? Or a demon king, the overlord is planning an invasion, which leaves me with only one demon king who would have defied his command.. which leaves me with..'

His eyes flared as he thought of the name, the forbidden name.

As he smirked, the dead thugs materialized to some purple ghost, having a Orc's phenotype. The soul demon king.

———

"Levi? Is your name Levi?", asked the receptionist.

After arriving at Tower Number two hundred, Levi quickly attends to his matters, the core. However, he wants to meet someone in this tower.

Unlike the rest of the towers, this tower was more advanced. There were countless number of tower climbers here, all with armor and lethal weapons.

Houses encompassed the tower, and Levi docked in one of the manors, looking for someone.

Cassandra and Leon were extremely excited, thinking they'd be rich, since from this point of the tower, you get to choose a class and receive daily loot. But in all, Cass, Leon, and Gyp were unhappy, due to the fact they won't get an ability again.

"Yes, and I want a meeting with McConnell"

"I'm sorry but I cannot arrange such a meeting", the Manor's receptionist bluntly declines Levi's request.

"Then give him the letter", said Levi as he tucked his hand in his pocket and brought out a piece of paper, unfortunately, the receptionist declined and said she couldn't.

However, she set up a meeting with the manager, and Levi was told to go alone, leaving Cassandra and the rest outside.

Knock, knock, knock!

Levi knocked and got the reply to come in. Inside the room, we see a man in a white tuxedo, and dark short hair, matching his black shoes. sitting as if expecting Levi. His glasses were at the tip of his nostrils, with a devious smile.

He stood up from his chair and slammed his hands against the table, baaam! However, he was surprised Levi's expression remained calm, and looking at the man with one thought, 'Tempting', thought Levi.

"You can just want to see the McConnell, you pay to have a three minutes conversation with him"

'He must be the puppet', Levi thought.

"I don't have money, is there no other way I can see him?"

The man grins like a maniac, and Levi feels two arms holding his leg, with a little glance, the purple aura the man emitted from his hand says it all.

'What the hell, why isn't he scared of my skeletons arms?', thought the manager.

"Well there's a way, you're gonna have to fight your way through, in my world", said the manager, his tone carrying a boast as if certain Levi's defeat is inevitable.

"And if I annihilate your arrogance, you'll give him the letter"

The manager nods in agreement.

With the skeleton arms still holding Levi's legs, he began sinking inside the purple wormhole underneath his footwear.

———

They arrived in a space with a red sky, more of a deserted zone. And approximat

ely ten meters stand from Levi, the white suit man materialized with the same smile, and uttered four phrases.

"Welcome to my world"