Chương 63: Questions

Levi had a sinking feeling in his stomach. The same sinking feeling that invariably always accompanied the realization that somewhere, somehow, he'd messed up. The world around him seemed to slow down as his mind whirred into overdrive, amassing all the information he had at hand and scrambling to form a coherent picture from it. Fact: From the very beginning, Montague had been acting in an unreasonable, almost comically evil manner.

Indeed, Levi had initially thought it strange that Montague would spend such an exorbitant sum of money to hire a literal Grand Assassin to eliminate a mere Institute student. With no other explanation available at the time though, Levi had decided to just chalk it up to Montague being the inordinately jealous type. A mistake, as it turned out. Fact: Andevar had mentioned once that Montague had challenged Winthrop to a duel for daring to ask Liliya out to the Winter Ball.

This had originally reinforced Levi's hypothesis that Montague was just acting out of jealousy… but in retrospect, there was admittedly a very big leap from the threat of an honor duel to an honest-to-Goddess assassination contract. Fact: As Levi observed Montague standing in front of him, he could tell that Montague was pretty obviously getting actively mindfucked in some way.

There was probably some more official terminology he could've used – possession, enthrallment, spiritual supplantation – but with how loud his instincts were screaming at him, he felt his choice of phrasing was more than apt. Montague took a lurching step forward. That single movement was so, so very wrong. His body had moved in a jerky, uncoordinated motion, as though each individual muscle was being controlled by a puppeteer that couldn't quite get the timing right.

His azure eyes gleamed with an iridescent otherworldly hue.

"You were the one to send Qorbin and the Last Order after me," Levi said.

"Why?" Had Montague – or whatever was possessing him – somehow sensed that he was a transmigrator from another world? Was it some guardian tasked with hunting down extradimensional threats? Or perhaps an eldritch entity that could sense Levi's lingering connection to Death and sought to consume him because of it?

"WHY?" Montague's tone somehow became even more harsh and discordant.

"BECAUSE YOU REFUSED TO DIE. SO WE WILL TRY AGAIN, AND AGAIN, AND AGAIN, AND AGAINANDAGAINANDAGAIN–" An abrupt pause, the silence nearly deafening. When he spoke again, his voice was softer, almost thoughtful.

"SUCH IS THE UNRELENTING NATURE OF HUMANITY, IS IT NOT?"

"You're human?"

"ARE YOU?" Levi narrowed his eyes. That as good as confirmed it. Technically, under certain definitions, Levi's current existence didn't fully classify as human. That meant a month ago, the thing possessing Montague must've sensed his reincarnated nature somehow and decided to kill him for it. But why? And how?

"You had to coerce Montague into sending assassins after me instead of attacking me yourself, implying that you are limited in the scope of what you can or cannot do. Were you bound by natural laws of some sort? Weakened by some malady?" Levi paused before raising an eyebrow.

"Or were you just too afraid to face me directly?" The temperature of the room seemed to plummet by ten degrees.

"YOU MADE A MISTAKE, LEVI IRONWOOD, IN COMING HERE. WE WERE CONTENT TO LET OTHERS TAKE OF YOU, BUT IT SEEMS IF WE WANT SOMETHING DONE RIGHT, WE WILL HAVE TO DO IT OURSELVES. THIS TIME, YOU WILL NOT SURVIVE." Montague's eyes seared with a dark unholy light.

"FORFEIT YOUR SOUL, AND PERISH!" Levi tensed up, his magic whirling to life as he prepared himself. Montague continued glaring at him, his form still and unmoving. Several seconds passed. The silence stretched.

"... HOW ARE YOU NOT DEAD?" Montague's voice, still laced with the same resonating inhuman tone, seemed genuinely bewildered. Even incredulous.

"HOW?! HOW DID YOU SURVIVE AGAIN?!" Levi blinked.

"Wait, what?" Had he missed something? Montague hadn't even attacked yet, had he? Montague took a disjointed step back. And another. His eyes, wide as they already were, somehow grew even wider.

"WE HAVE DRIVEN COUNTLESS BEINGS FAR GREATER AND STRONGER THAN YOU TO THEIR KNEES. WITH BUT A GLANCE, WE HAVE FELLED ARCANE BEASTS AND ANCIENT POWERS AND INCOMPREHENSIBLE BEINGS – WE ARE THE PROGENITOR OF THE MAD GOD HIMSELF." Progenitor of a mad god? Had this thing somehow driven a very god insane? No, that wasn't relevant right now. Was Montague bluffing? Trying to get him to lower his guard? Levi was almost certain that Montague hadn't unleashed an attack of any kind earlier– Hold on.

Levi mentally replayed what Montague had just said.

'With but a glance?' … Oh. Ohh. That was right – the thing possessing Montague undoubtedly specialized in mental or spiritual magic of some sort. And the single most effective method to convey such magic was through direct eye contact. It was often said that a person's eyes were the window to their soul, and that saying was truer than most thought.

So long as the condition of direct eye contact was met, some thaumaturgical phenomena didn't even require the transmittance of magic – the effects would occur automatically, imposed by metaphysical resonance itself. That was why Levi hadn't detected any magic cast his way with his True Sight. Montague's technique required only direct eye contact to work. It was a formidable technique, one that would've undoubtedly devastated Levi… The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site.

Support the author by reading it there. … if it weren't for the constant reflective film of magic covering his corneas. The film acted like a pair of mirrored contact lenses, thus preventing direct eye contact from ever occurring. It was one of the basic countermeasures he always had active, in addition to the magic enveloping his eardrums and coating his lungs. And they called him paranoid.

"Nice try," Levi said, "but you'll have to do better than that–""WE WILL MEET AGAIN." Levi's eyes widened.

"Wait – no!" But it was too late. Montague slumped in place, his eyes rolling back up in his head as he nearly fell over. He caught himself just in time, however, and as he rose back up, Levi immediately knew that whatever had possessed him was gone. Montague now moved with a certain grace, completely unlike the jerky, inhuman movements that had afflicted him just moments before. He straightened, looking disoriented for a moment before his gaze landed on Levi. He blinked.

"Levi… Ironwood?" Levi watched him warily. Mind magic was one of the most complex and dangerous fields of magic out there – there was a reason why Levi had never delved too deeply into it before. There was no telling how Montague would act now that he was no longer under its influence.

"How did you get in here? What are–" He winced, pressing his hand to his head. Shock briefly flickered across his face.

"What happened to the castle's wards? Are they… Are they broken? Who broke them?!" Memory loss was a common side effect of possession. Hmm, come to think of it, Montague's mind had probably been altered for the entire past month, ever since Levi had reincarnated into the world, right? Perhaps now with the mental compulsions lifted, Montague would actually turn out to be a reasonable guy– Montague's face hardened.

"I don't know how you managed to infiltrate my castle," he said, his voice filled with fury, "but you've made a grave mistake coming here. Did you think you'd be able to stop the wedding? Steal my woman from me? You might've conned your way into becoming her partner for the Ascension Trials, but that means nothing. She belongs to me and only me. Filth like you don't even deserve to lay your eyes on her." Annnd Levi took it back. Shit.

How was Montague somehow even less tolerable than when he had been possessed by some unknown horrifying entity? Well. It appeared that Montague was afflicted only by partial memory loss. He still remembered what had happened the past month; he just didn't recall that he'd been influenced, haunted, or possessed during it. Besides… The unknown entity hadn't mentioned anything about Liliya, right? It had only been responsible for compelling Montague into sending the assassins after Levi.

Montague's actions in causing Liliya's disbarment as an adventurer, sending the Royal Sentinels after her, even accelerating the wedding plans… Those had all been done by his own free will.

"Hello, Montague," Levi said.

"I would say it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, but I'm afraid those words might cause me even more distress than it would you." Montague looked surprised by his words.

"What was that?"

"I do wonder, though… Do you take joy in forcing a bright and talented adventurer into a mundane marriage? Do you enjoy crushing the dreams of someone with such limitless potential and reducing her to little more than a trophy wife?" Montague frowned.

"Are you talking about Liliya?"

"Who else, pray tell, would I be talking about?"

"I wouldn't know," Montague said." Your question doesn't make any sense. By marrying her, I am helping her realize her full potential." Levi stared at him blankly.

"What? How?"

"Marrying me is the greatest task she can possibly accomplish," Montague said as though it was obvious.

"That is her ultimate purpose in life. Don't worry," he added magnanimously, "I'll be sure to help her realize her full potential as a wife – and soon, as a mother as well." For several long moments, Levi didn't react. He didn't even breathe.

"She's not the one you should be worrying about, though," Montague said. He leered at Levi.

"Now that you've intruded upon my home, no tribunal will find me guilty if I decide to rip your body in the four cardinal directions–" He stopped talking. He blinked. Slowly, he looked down at his hands. His fingers were broken. Every knuckle, every joint, was snapped and bent in an unnatural angle. His nails lay scattered on the plush animal rug below him, ripped out at their roots.

"What–?" Montague breathed. A second later, the pain hit. Montague let out a scream of agony, reflexively trying to clutch his hands before realizing that such an action caused his hands to hurt even more. A second after that, his screams cut off as the full force of Levi's magic slammed into him. Montague's eyes widened from the incredible tsunami of magic that exploded out from Levi's form. A suffocating presence suddenly filled the room, so thick and potent it was nearly tangible.

Montague was utterly frozen in place, transfixed by the oppressive pressure crushing him on all sides.

"You sicken me," Levi hissed.

"Arrogant, consumed by jealousy, corrupt beyond measure… You trample over others' dreams with no regard for their desires, you afford no dignity or courtesy for those most deserving, and worst of all, you hold no understanding or respect for the value of a human life. People like you are worse than scum, no better than savage animals. They, at least, lack the sapience to know better." He tilted his head.

"Breathe, Montague. We're not finished here yet." At the reminder, Montague drew in a deep, shaking breath. He hadn't seemed to realize that he'd stopped breathing from fear the entire time Levi was talking – and that realization was what finally made him break free from the paralysis. His face twisted in anger.

"You dare?" he shouted.

"You dare come into my territory, my home, and threaten me? Insult me? Attack me? The Royal Sentinels have your head, Levi Ironwood! Your life as you know it is over; you will never again enjoy any peace or quiet.

I will have you paraded through the streets in chains, stoned by the masses before covered in boiling oil, and only at the very end when you are begging for mercy with what little air remains in your wretched lungs shall I finally grant you the sweet release of death–""You still don't quite seem to understand the position you're in, huh?" Levi said.

"If nothing else, I must commend the sheer extent of your delusions." His cloak swirled from an unseen wind that suddenly began blowing through the room.

"I'll enjoy dispelling them." His magic swelled, growing even denser and stronger than before. Montague tensed up in preparation– Abruptly, the magic dissipated. The immense pressure in the room vanished. Montague's brows furrowed in confusion. Levi sighed.

"At least, I would have enjoyed dispelling them. Unfortunately, as much as I wish to invert your chest cavity… Someone else already invoked the sacred rites of 'dibs.' As such, I'll defer to her for now." He raised his voice.

"He's all yours." Montague blinked.

"What–?" Without any warning, the wall next to him cracked and broke apart in a cloud of dust, the silver tip of a blade emerging from the crumbling stone. Montague cursed and barely managed to summon a dagger and block in time. Even then, the sheer power behind the attack was enough to lift him into the air and send him flying back – and it wasn't stopping. From the dust burst forth a certain figure.

Her face was set in a look of cold fury as she continued her piercing strike, silver violet light trailing behind her blade's path as she forced Montague backward. Her blade drove into Montague's dagger, her every step cracking the quartz flooring beneath her as in an instant, the two hurtled across the entire length of the office. Finally, Montague's back hit the wall behind him, and his eyes widened in a mixture of shock and disbelief as he regarded the figure before him.

His arms trembled as he struggled to keep the sword from piercing his chest – a task made infinitely more difficult by his broken hands.

"Liliya?" Liliya Volkov glared back at him.

"Hello there, my dear fiance. This might be getting ahead of myself, but…" Her eyes flashed.

"I want a divorce."