Chương 89: Liability

If there had been any doubts before about Selene's legitimacy, they were now fully dispelled. Levi recalled the answer he'd received from the System when he'd asked it how he could unlock his account:'[SYSTEM RESTRICTIONS CAN ONLY BE INITIATED FROM THE SOURCE]' He had hypothesized that it was where the System's architecture was located, and had already planned to take a visit so he could unlock his System. That it was also where the Devourer was apparently connected to the System was convenient. Though…

"What exactly is the Source?" Selene sighed.

"We are really going to have to do this all over again, huh?" Levi chuckled.

"Apologies. I didn't receive any of the former Levi Ironwood's memories, although this body does carry some residual inherited emotions." Selene perked up, interested.

"Emotions so deeply ingrained that they transcended the mind and soul and were carved in the body itself?" Levi paused.

"You know your magical theory."

"Of course I do. I am an archdemon." She said that as though it explained everything – and in a way, Levi supposed, it did. Archdemons (not to be confused with archdaemons) were the naturally evolved form of demons (also not to be confused with daemons). The terminology was rather confusing, and if Levi ever met the one who coined the terms, he would be sure to make his displeasure clear.

To his knowledge, although the two terms sounded very similar, they had entirely different etymological roots stemming from two separate branches of language evolution. Daemons were creatures of horror residing within their own unique dimension. The dimension was unique in that its borders held special transitive properties, thus allowing people from other dimensions to freely summon them, though it required an immense amount of magical energy and often a sacrifice of some sort.

In this world, the Hollow was the primary facilitator to summon one of these abominations of misery and madness. On the other hand, demons and archdemons were native magical species. They resembled humans, albeit too perfectly. They often used their inhumanly alluring appearance to lure and prey on humans. It could be said that they were the sister predators of vampires. Most humans, naturally, despised them. Levi was not most. He didn't hold any prejudice against them.

It would be a little hypocritical of him to, considering how he had a higher kill count than most of them. Demons were highly attenuated to magic. Their bodies were composed of more magic than flesh, and their lives revolved around the pursuit and mastery of the arcane arts. Archdemons in particular were demons who'd achieved the highest mastery in a field of magic, such that it permeated their very form. So for Selene to have reached the rank of archdemon despite being only two centuries old…

It was impressive indeed.

"Fair enough," Levi said.

"In which case, yes. The emotions were etched into the body."

"And thus they are now your own. Fascinating," Selene said, examining Levi as though he were an interesting specimen.

"Are you capable of rejecting them? I imagine it's rather perturbing to feel the emotions of a dead man."

"On the contrary, I am grateful for it," Levi said. Selene paused, her brows furrowing. As they spoke, her mannerisms were becoming smoother, more natural. Somewhat similar to his, actually. No doubt she was mirroring and learning from his body language.

"I don't understand. Emotions not your own are a distraction at best and a liability at worst, are they not?" Levi hummed, considering. Was his love and affection for Ayla a liability? He didn't know where his own feelings began and where his counterpart's emotions ended. Perhaps without the inherited emotions, he wouldn't feel as strongly toward his little sister as he did now. Was it a liability? Potentially. Now, if someone used Ayla against him, then he'd be far more emotionally compromised than before.

Actually, shit, that was right. He made a mental note to take the appropriate countermeasures. Was it perturbing? A little. The emotions weren't his own, after all. One could even call it a sort of mental compulsion. But if it was, then Levi freely welcomed it with open arms. It was selfish, even foolish, of him, but…

"Maybe," Levi said.

"But even so, I'll accept it." Selene tilted her head.

"I don't understand humans…"

"Heh," Levi grinned.

"That may be for the best." Selene looked at him inquisitively for a moment. Then, she glanced around.

"I'm surprised we haven't been interrupted yet. You weren't exactly discreet with your intrusion. Even now, your magic is still singing around us. Did I overestimate the security measures of this place?"

"We got lucky," Levi said.

"The enchantments imbuing this room are new. Likely it was a rush job for your arrival. They went all-out on the defensive magic, but either forgot or didn't think they needed to set up detection wards. In fairness, I suppose they must've thought this room to be impenetrable." That was why despite blasting the door off its hinges and shattering the glass prison, Institute guards had yet to come streaming in. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"Besides…" Levi narrowed his eyes.

"The main issue is actually escaping this place. The Institute has numerous defensive measures, one of which being that if you're not wearing one of these" – he lifted his wrist to show her the silver bracelet – "you'll be liquidated. I assume that your presence is authorized within this room itself, but the moment you step into the hallway… It won't be pretty. That's ignoring how your presence will definitely set off alarms once you're detected outside of this room."

"Hmm…" Selene strode over to the door's threshold and peered around.

"You're right," she said slowly.

"I can sense centuries' worth of magic permeating the hallway. Still, it shouldn't be too hard to bypass."

"Do you still have access to the System?" Levi asked curiously. Selene nodded.

"I confess that even I know not how it works, but I'm still connected to my former world's System. Perhaps it's some localized instantiation within me? Whatever the case, it allows me to still use my skills while not getting my life drained by the Devourer. At least, for now. If I ever sense my Life being extracted again, though, I'll sever my connection to the System immediately. I refuse to get my Life drained again – especially since this time around, it's no longer my Life the Devourer is stealing."

Levi's respect for her rose by several notches. It was rare for a demon, or archdemon, to understand, much less appreciate the value of life, capitalized or otherwise. It bode well for their future alliance.

"Do you still have access to the System?" Selene then asked.

"I never had it."

"... what?"

"I never had access to the System," Levi said.

"It didn't exist in my old world. Everyone, from the lowliest mage to the grandest sorcerer, had to shape and coax their magic to do their bidding."

"Incredible," Selene breathed, an almost ravenous look appearing in her eyes.

"There's so much I wish to ask you. So your strength is unaffected in this new world?"

"More or less." He wasn't about to tell her about his diminished magical casting throughput or his magical overburn. He trusted her, but he didn't trust her. He wasn't that foolish.

"You'll have to tell me more about it," Selene said.

"For now, I think I've had enough of this room. It's time we got out." The dress of shadows shifted and curled across her body, as though it were alive.

"You're sure you'll be able to bypass the enchantments?" The edges of Selene's lips curled upward.

"Let's find out."

"So, this is the Ironwood Manor," Selene said, looking around.

"By the time I met your counterpart in his previous loop, this place had already burned down."

"When exactly did you meet him?" Levi asked. They had managed to successfully escape from the Restricted Sanctum without anyone noticing. They had a few close calls, but Selene's magic was strong, and Levi... well, for once Levi had actual authorization. He just strolled through the halls with his mithril bracelet granting him immunity. The two were now inside his room in Ironwood Manor. He had smuggled her inside underneath several presence concealment charms.

Levi had half-expected there to be Guild adventurers waiting for him at the manor, considering how he had shattered the wards earlier that day and sent a bright, glaring beacon to every adventurer in the city when he teleported out of the Adventurer's Guildhall. Interestingly enough, though, there had been no one there. Perhaps they were undergoing some sort of deliberation to figure out how to deal with him. Levi was thankful for it, anyhow.

He didn't want to deal with all of that right now, especially since he had such an interesting newcomer to interro— learn about.

"Two years from now," Selene said." That was when the Consumption reached critical mass, and the world began dying in droves." Two years. That was how much time Levi had to eliminate the Devourer and the Chorus. It should be plenty of time.

"How did you survive the journey between dimensions?" Levi asked.

"I didn't think that it was possible for a physical being to not instantly get disintegrated by the void between worlds."

"I converted my entire body into raw mana." Levi blinked.

"Oh." Shit. Even he didn't know how to do that. That was why he had to scatter his atoms when he defended himself against the System. He knew that theoretically, mana and mass were interchangeable, but there was a vast difference between knowing the theory and being able to accomplish it in practice. In front of him, Selene had finished examining his room. She sat down on his bed and looked up at him, idly swinging her feet back and forth. The motion made her appear much more human.

"If you're directly manipulating your mana every time you cast magic, isn't that extremely dangerous?" Selene asked.

"There would be no safeguards if something went wrong."

"Yep," Levi said.

"That's about right. In my own world, we held the mindset that to cast magic was to accept death." His lips quirked at that. Selene noticed.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing, just an inside joke." A knock sounded at the door. Selene and Levi looked at each other, but before either of them could respond, the door swung open. Selene tensed up even as Levi relaxed. There was only one person in the entire manor who would just barge into his room like that.

"I heard you're back from your mission," Ayla said as she strode into the room.

"We really need to talk about your habit of just leaving without saying goodbye—" She abruptly stopped in place when she caught sight of Selene.

"What?!"

"I'm sorry," Levi said.

"I'm not used to having to say my farewells to people. I'll be sure to remember next time."

"Who, when, what–" Ayla whirled to Levi, her eyes wide.

"What is the meaning of this? Why is there some – some harlot in your room, sitting on your bed?"

"Harlot?" Selene repeated, her expression falling blank. Levi nodded in agreement.

"She's much worse than that," he said, ignoring the utterly terrifying look Selene sent his way. The shadows on her dress came alive, and Levi swore he saw them gradually inching toward him, constricting and shifting as though eager to strangle him alive. Ayla's eyes went even wider.

"A gold digger?!" Levi tried his best to suppress his laugh. He failed. A small snort escaped him.

"I don't understand," Selene asked, her gaze piercing into Levi.

"How would I be a gold digger? Is there gold inside your body?" She raised a hand.

"Shall I check?" Levi let out a hurried cough.

"This is Selene," he introduced.

"She's an archdemon. I broke her out of the Institute just now."

"Oh," Ayla said. She processed this information startlingly quickly. Perhaps she was getting used to him.

"You brought her inside the manor? Is it safe?"

"She's an ally," Levi said.

"Speaking of, she also knew your older brother." Ayla froze.

"By older brother, you mean…"

"Oh," Selene suddenly said. Her expression shifted, the ice disappearing, replaced by something indecipherable.

"You must be Ayla. Levi Ironwood mentioned you before in his final loop." Ayla furrowed her brow.

"... loop?" Levi and Selene shared a glance.