Chương 112: Chapter 111. Mission

An unbelievable power surged into his form as for the first time since awakening in this world, Levi felt as though his new body had surpassed his old one. By an incomparable margin, at that. A certain vitality flowed through him, enhancing every fiber of his being. His body felt lighter, his magic felt smoother, his very mind seemed to run faster. What were the basic five stats again? Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Magic?

Levi didn't even need to call up [Status] to know that right now they were all amplified beyond reason. In his current state, it felt as though he could take on multiple gods themselves and come out on top. Were he fighting against anyone else, he'd almost have called the situation unfair. As it was, the Devourer and Chorus were also powerful enough to surpass the divine, so he supposed this just evened out the playing field.

Before him, the final magical shield he'd thrown up earlier to stall for time broke under one of the Chorus's strikes, shimmering motes of mana fluttering to the ground. The Devourer immediately took advantage of the opening, spitting out a salvo of the corrosive miasma. Levi narrowed his eyes as he burst into movement once more, and – holy fuck, he was fast!

The world around him shattered into streaks of distorted color as in less than an instant, he was on the other side of the room, then up the bookshelves, then hurtling through the air at breakneck speeds. He wasn't even using any magic to adhere himself to the side of the walls – his pure speed alone was enough to defy the heightened gravity. Only his magically accelerated thoughts allowed him to even perceive what was happening. Or was it his increased INT?

He gritted his teeth as he fought to acclimate to the sudden increase in, well, everything. His movements started out jerky and uncoordinated, but soon he regained his grace as he got used to the stats boost. The sensation was simultaneously terrifying and exhilarating; he practically flew around the room, bouncing from bookshelf to bookshelf like some omnidirectional missile, no more than a blur to the naked eye.

Left, right, up, up, down, left, left – oh shit, that section of space had tremendously decelerated time, avoid avoid! – up, right, right… The inherent issue with the Devourer's miasma was that it ignored all physical and magical durability. It was an attack that struck the target's time, rewinding it into nonexistence. It couldn't be blocked, negated, or tanked. Even severing its death lines wouldn't work because the Sever and Cleave would be unmade before it could actually fully cut the miasma's lines of death.

It was the same principle as dealing with magical absorption. Levi's increased stats boost allowed him to avoid the attacks with more ease, but ultimately he was no closer to defeating the two than before. The only thing that could combat time was time itself. That, and Time – but Levi had only ever been contractually bound to one anthropomorphic personification of a natural force before, and he wasn't looking to form another contract anytime soon. Fortunately, now with his System unlocked, he didn't have to.

An individual unlocked a new skill every five levels. Levi had gained more than a thousand. He had a lot of skills to cash in on. He took a second to glance at the status screen hanging outside of his field of vision: [System Notification: You have 272 new unused skill slots! Would you like to proceed with skill selection?] Though, the main issue was…

"How do I pick?" Levi snapped, before flinching as the Chorus began singing its terrible song again. The psychic attack struck him with even more intensity than before, and the only reason why Levi's psyche didn't outright fracture was because of the affirmation from the System. The million souls imprinted onto his own screamed, but he remained strong, unyielding under the assault. Every moment the [I Need a Hero] passive skill was active was a reminder that Levi couldn't afford to give up.

That he had to keep fighting. That he had people he needed to save. [System Notification: Active battle detected. Would you like to proceed with adaptive skill selection?] Adaptive skill selection? So, what, the System would automatically choose his skills for him based on his current circumstances? A small part of Levi, the mage side of him, resisted the idea, if only because he wanted the ability to choose his skills.

The rest of Levi, the practicable sensible side of him, took a knife and stabbed that mage part in the liver repeatedly before shouting an emphatic "YES!" [System Notification: Due to the {UNQUANTIFIABLE} levels of your current foes, upper-tier skill slots will be consumed. Please confirm that this is acceptable: Y/N]"Yes, that works! As many as it takes until this battle is finished!" [System Notification: Understood. Calculating…] Ding! Knowledge of a new technique suddenly appeared in Levi's mind.

Except the knowledge was limited; it didn't inform Levi how to actually perform the spell, merely initiate it. How was he supposed to… Oh, right. The System facilitated and automated all phenomena in this new world. Which meant all Levi had to do was… [Temporal Assertion!] His eyes widened as some external force took hold of his magic and shaped it into the spell without any conscious input from himself. No, not external; it was all intrinsic, the System using him as a conduit to form the technique.

It was so smooth, so simple, so utterly perfect that he nearly gaped at the sight. Not a drop of mana was wasted, not a single part of the spell fluctuated or threatened to go haywire and implode– A wave of time blasted forth from his hand and met the miasma head-on. Where the miasma unmade time, his own skill asserted time. Thus, the two effects canceled out, resulting in nothing but motes of mana that dispersed into the ether.

"What the hell," said Levi as the Devourer reared back in shock. He stared down at his own hand, then at the System terminal, then at the Devourer and Chorus, then back at his own hand. He shook his head in amazed bewilderment.

"This is so fucking unfair!" Ding! [Blossom that Pierced the World!] A bright pink flower of ethereal light bloomed into existence, its petals fluttering through the many layers of reality as it surged forward. Miasma shot at the spell, but Levi watched with wide disbelieving eyes as the flower shifted into another layer of reality to avoid the miasma; for a second, the flower and miasma were perfectly superimposed over each other, occupying the same space and time but different levels of reality.

And then the flower was through, surging toward the Devourer. Not expecting the spell to survive, the Devourer scrambled to dodge, its six arms flailing wildly as it threw itself to the side. It was too slow, and one of the massive petals clipped its side and tore out a gaping wound. Dark violet blood splattered the ground as the Devourer let out a shriek of pain with its central maw, a sound that echoed throughout worlds.

The Chorus looked at the Devourer in alarm before whirling back to Levi and lashing out with a whirlwind of tendrils. Ding! [Hellfire Barrage!] Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Levi choked on his own spit even as his hands subconsciously came together to form a handsign. H-Hellfire? Any sane mage, and even most of the insane ones, knew not to mess with those ungodly flames, lest they corrupted your mind and burned your very soul.

And the System was casually having him toss out an entire barrage of it, like it was nothing? He flinched as his magic twisted and malformed into those dark, terrible flames, but despite his worries, nothing happened. The spell went off perfectly without a hitch, and hell was summoned into this strange parallel branch of reality. A barrage of hellfire spheres surged forward and consumed the tendrils like they were mere firewood. Not stopping there, the flames then raced along the length back to the Chorus.

The Chorus cursed and amputated the tendrils before disappearing into its root travel system. The flames chased after it, not letting up in the slightest. Meanwhile, the Devourer, realizing that Levi was too fast and agile to ever be struck at long range, let out a high-pitched trill and charged at him. Oh? So it was engaging in melee? Levi was about to leap back and put more distance between them, but then… Ding! Despite himself, Levi almost laughed. This new technique… Oh, this was beautiful.

[A Sword that Severs and Cleaves!] Levi reached out and drew a blade from his magic: a sword formed from pure Sever and Cleave. It appeared as nothing more than a shimmering distortion in his hand, a thin field of magic keeping the spell's structure intact. Levi wasn't aware it was even possible to create a sustained Sever and Cleave, but the System managed it. Then the Devourer crashed into him, three heads and six arms' worth of eldritch monstrosity.

Levi parried its punch with the flat of his blade, and he grunted in pain as a massive shockwave rang out. The Devourer was strong – was it using time dilation to increase the mass of its strikes? The Devourer lashed out with a flurry of blows, its time accelerating once, twice, thrice – Levi swore in shock as he scrambled to block and parry all the attacks. His sword blurred through the air as memories of swordsmanship returned to him strike by strike.

Yet, it was clear that he was going to be crushed underneath the unrelenting assault. The Devourer had six arms and accelerated time, and despite all his stat boosts, Levi had only one sword. Hmm. Only one sword... Perhaps he should change that. He yelled, and more Swords of Sever and Cleaves burst into existence all around him. Six in total, three hovered on each side of his shoulder as though they were suspended by invisible strings.

He controlled them with little more than pure instinct as he surged forward and met the Devourer head-on, blade striking fist striking blade striking fist. Ding! [Machine Gun Blow!] What the fuck was a 'machine gun'? And, whatever it was, where could Levi get one? For his strikes suddenly tripled in speed, automatically lashing out in an intricate combination that Levi could never once in a million years even dream of.

Hundreds of blows in less than a moment, Goddess above he was going to tear a muscle at this rate! Slowly, despite its height advantage, mass advantage, and reach advantage, the Devourer was pushed back. Levi was a hurricane of swords and fury. The Devourer's central maw screeched while its left maw unleashed more blasts of miasma, but [Temporal Assertion] neutralized it easily enough. Then the Devourer's left visage twisted into a malevolent smile. Without any warning, all the Time around its form froze.

A localized time-stop that affected everything within a twelve-foot radius. Levi, who was less than a meter away, was trapped in its effects, his Time grinding to an abrupt halt. The Devourer roared in triumph before grabbing Levi with all six arms and unhinging its hideous jaw, intending to bite Levi's head off whole. Levi didn't react; with his Time frozen, there was nothing he could do. There was nothing anyone could do– Ding! [The Reaper's Cloak!] Except, of course, one certain being.

For in the presence of Death, even Time held no dominion. An aspect of Death draped itself around Levi in a protective embrace, and Levi gasped as his Time restarted. In a split second, he took in his surroundings, of the Devourer's wide jaws mere millimeters away. This close, he could almost hear the Time within its core, pleading to be released. Well. Alright, then. Levi roared, and his magic came alive. There was no System involved this time, just him and his magic, as it always was and ever will be.

It wrapped around him in an impenetrable armor, so dense that it glowed a brilliant grey, shielding him from the Devourer's jagged teeth as Levi stepped forward and reached into the Devourer's mouth, shoving his hand down its throat until it was up to his shoulder and taking hold of the Time within. The Devourer choked, not having expected Levi to reach into its mouth, and it shifted from grabbing Levi tightly to trying to push him away.

Levi refused to let go though, his magic latching onto the Devourer and keeping them together. Changing tactics, the Devourer then bit down with more force, trying to crush Levi's upper body, but Levi's magic held strong, not allowing the Devourer to draw even a drop of blood. Then the Devourer spat out tortured Time at point blank range, but Death enveloped Levi in a cloak, refusing to let him be affected by even one single mistimed second. Then, for the first time, the Devourer spoke.

"hElP mE cHOrUS!" The Chorus burst out from a nearby root, screaming in fury as it bore down on Levi– Only for the hellfire to blink into existence right in front of it, enveloping it with its inexorable flames. The Chorus shrieked in agony as the fire began consuming its very essence, translocating it straight to the realm known as hell. The rotten stench of sulfur filled the air as the Chorus collapsed to the ground, trying to put out the flames and failing horribly.

"So here's the deal!" Levi shouted from inside Devourer's maw.

"I don't know what you two are, or why you're doing this, but you know what, I don't care! No longer will you steal the Time from this world's souls. The Consumption is over, the moon will never smile, and after thousands of years of pain and grief and strife, Levi Ironwood's eternal battle will come to an end, right here, right now!" Then with all of his Strength and magic, Levi ripped the stolen Time from within the Devourer's stomach.

It came free with a melodic song that resonated with Levi's very soul, a trill of gratefulness and thanks and a whisper of something more. Then, it dissipated back into the fabrics of the world. The Devourer roared in pain and fury.

"NO!" The Chorus yelled.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, LEVI IRONWOOD?! YOU–" Its voice devolved into agonized screams as the hellfire fully tore through its body. Ding! [Almighty Subjugation!] The gravity around the Devourer quivered before it was amplified a thousandfold. The Devourer crashed into the ground, unable to move even an inch as Levi stood over it, his gaze impassive.

"Time's up." The world fractured into shades of grey, and multiple Sever and Cleaves blasted forward, sinking into the Devourer's lines of death. Instantly, the Devourer was overcome with death– The bandages around its right head fell away to reveal a face full of crying eyes, tears of blood streaming down its cheeks. The sightless eyes peered into Levi's own– It blinked. Causality shattered.

Levi cursed in surprise as the entire battle that just transpired suddenly reversed, accelerated, imploded, disappeared, and externalized all at once. The timeline groaned and shuddered as it became scrambled, linear time breaking into a million pieces as the chain of events struggled and failed to reassert itself. Spells that had previously been cast were suddenly cast again, brought out from the past and tossed into the future.

Levi's location flickered rapidly as he was flung around like a leaf in a storm, his time glitching and distorting as space tried to remember where he was and where he was supposed to be. His magic tried to stabilize him, casting [Temporal Assertion] over and over again, but it failed to cast because it was never cast. Throughout all of the chaos, Levi swore he heard the Chorus say something to him.

It uttered two words, but it had no lips for Levi to read, the sound disappearing into the past and reaching a version of him that never was. It was… a statement? No, a question. But what did the Chorus ask? And then suddenly, inexplicably, everything went still. Levi fell to his knees, holding back the urge to vomit. He immediately glanced up, readying to defend himself– The Devourer and Chorus were nowhere to be seen. For a long time, Levi stared. The Devourer and the Chorus had died. That, Levi was certain of.

The Devourer's lines of death had been severed and the Chorus had been consumed by the hellfire. But in the instant the Devourer died, it managed to activate some sort of a failsafe technique. A causality reversal – no, that wasn't a simple reversal. Levi could counter a reversal. That was a causality implosion technique, one that tore the timeline apart like a book. The battle that just occurred never occurred. The two escaped. Levi failed to kill them. He… He failed. … …

His gaze shifted over to the System terminal. A moment later, his True Sight activated. In every layer and branch of reality, the System terminal stood alone. Unaffected. Purged of the Devourer's infection. What had Levi's original mission been again? To investigate and eliminate the source of the lifespan deterioration? With the Devourer gone, removed from the System, the Time of this world was safe. The lifespans would return to normal like nothing had happened. That meant… Levi succeeded in his mission.

He was done. Levi collapsed backward, leaning back onto his hands and staring straight up. The ceiling of the Root Records couldn't be seen. Once, Levi saved the world by destroying a million souls. Now, with those million souls' help, he saved one more. Slowly, he closed his eyes. Thank you all. I couldn't have done it without you. A long moment passed. Then, the screams in his mind quieted. Levi opened his eyes again, revealing a clouded, stormy grey.

And as the parallel world around him faded away back to normal reality… And as the sight of Anastasia, Phantasm, and Selene came back into view… Levi smiled. Ding! [System Notification: By defeating the Devourer and the Chorus and restoring the stolen Time to all the living beings of this world, you have earned a unique title!]