Outside the capital city Mitras,
The space flickered before four people appeared on the spot.
Levi, Farlan, and Isobel instinctively raised their heads and looked at the settling sun.
"Is this... the surface?" Farlan muttered softly, awe coloring his voice as he stared at the vast, cloud-streaked sky. Completely different from the dim lanterns and moldy walls of the underground.
He opened his mouth and took in a deep breath, eyes fluttering shut. The air was crisp, cold, and clean, with none of the mold, piss, and decay they'd grown used to.
Isobel trembled from head to toe, her excitent clear as her eyes sparkled like a child at a festival.
"The surface... We actually made it to the surface!" she grinned, twirling once as her boots kicked up the dry dust beneath her feet.
Farlan offered a crooked smile, brushing back his hair as he turned in place, taking in the open plains, the endless blue sky. "To think sothing like this existed so close... yet we never saw it."
Levi said nothing at first. He glanced up at the settling sun, squinting before frowning and dropping his gaze.
"Tch. It's blinding," he muttered. "How do people live under this all day?"
On the other hand, Lioro stood a few steps away, calm and focused. The ground around him pulsed faintly with mana, he raised his palm and a giant magic circle appeared on the ground followed by a massive wall of skeletons.
In no ti, the skeleton wall disappeared, revealing the figure of an undead calamity.
A skeletal dragon.
Its bony spine rose high, towering above the group, skeleton wings unfurling with a dry creak. Its empty eye sockets glowed faintly with light as it stood still, awaiting its master's command.
Levi instinctively stepped forward, hand near the hilt of his blade, though he didn't draw it.
"The hell is that thing?" he asked coldly, eyes narrowing at the undead beast.
Farlan took a step back, eyes widening in horror. "A monster...? Is it the thing adventurers fight?"
Lioro was about to say sothing when he saw Isobel who walked right up to the skeleton dragon and poked it's bony leg with one finger while grinning like a maniac.
The skeleton dragon lowered his head in confusion, not understanding what this human wanted to do.
"It's so creepy! But also kind of cool!" she said, glancing over her shoulder. "Does it breathe fire? Or shoot lightning or sothing?"
Lioro blinked then nodded. "It flies. It's faster than horses and spits out dark attribute flas."
"We'll use it to reach our destination faster."
Levi folded his arms, still wary. "And people won't notice a giant flying skeleton soaring around?"
"So what if they do? So what if they don't?" Lioro shrugged his shoulders and said in a casual voice, as if not at all worried about anyone noticing the skeleton dragon.
Levi gave a slow exhale through his nose. "Don't expect to trust sothing that looks like it crawled out of hell."
"You say that.... but we just got to the surface thanks to him. Try being a little more grateful.", Farlan said to Levi, trying his best to appear calm.
Unfortunately, his constantly trembling legs gave him away.
Levi shot him a glare, but didn't say any.
Isobel was already halfway up the dragon's back, grinning like a wildcat. "You guys are too slow! Let's get moving!"
Lioro scratched his head, feeling that this girl might be a little too fearless.
Well anyway.
Looking at the arrow in his hand, Lioro determined the direction then jumped on the dragon's back, followed by Levi and Farlan who sohow managed to get on with his trembling steps.
Then the skeleton dragon waved it's wings and took to the skies.
----
A few hours later.
Farmland near the outskirts of Shiganshina district.
High above the lonely night sky, a skeletal dragon lood, its hollow eyes glowing faintly as it hovered silently over a solitary house tucked away near the edge of the woods.
Lioro stared at the arrow in his hand, then looked down at the quiet building beneath them. His brows furrowed as he muttered sothing to the dragon. The undead beast responded, descending slowly.
Thanks to the silence spell Lioro had cast earlier, the massive dragon touched the ground without making a single sound.
With a light push of his foot, Lioro jumped down from its back, landing without a trace of effort.
The very next second, a nimble shadow followed him and landed behind him.
It was Levi.
Unlike Lioro, whose body could tank absurd falls without issue, Levi had adjusted his landing carefully, dispersing the force.
Behind them, Farlan and Isobel could only get down step by step like normal people.
Lioro took a step forward and walked towards the wooden house.
Levi silently followed behind him.
Stopping in front of the place, Lioro was about to raise his hand and knock on the door when he stopped.
Levi, behind him, raised his eyebrow, noticing the faint sll of blood coming from the house.
Then the very next mont without any warning, Lioro raised his leg and smashed the wooden door, instantly breaking it and sending it flying in side.
"Who!"
The two robbers inside were instantly alert and stared at the house's entrance with a shocked expression.
"Which bastard!--"
The two robbers started cursing after seeing them, picking up their machete and knife as if getting ready to kill them.
But Lioro didn't care. He didn't even look at them. In the blink of an eye, his figure vanished, reappearing behind the two robbers.
His gaze was fixed elsewhere.
A small girl lay on the wooden floor, her hands bound with rope, her body bruised and motionless. A distinct punch mark marred her cheek.
Lioro dropped to one knee beside her. As he placed a hand on her forehead and began casting a minor healing spell, his voice ca out calm.
"Kill them."
Levi moved.
He covered the short distance in a blur, barely giving the two robbers ti to register the threat.
They reacted as fast as they could—swinging their blades wildly in desperation.
But it was pointless.
Levi weaved between them like smoke, and in the next instant, his locked blade sliced across their throats. Their strikes hit nothing but air.
Blood sprayed. The two n stumbled back, clutching at their necks, eyes wide with terror as they collapsed to the floor, slowly choking on their own blood.
Levi glanced at the corpses with disdain before turning back toward the girl.
"...human traffickers... tsk."
He spat the words with disgust.
anwhile, Lioro had finished healing her wounds. The mark on her cheek faded. The ropes fell away as he carefully helped her onto a wooden chair.
She sat without resistance, saying nothing, her eyes locked on the lifeless bodies of the two n who had captured her.
At that mont, Farlan and Isobel finally stepped through the broken doorway.
Their eyes swept across the scene. The broken door, the blood, the bodies.
Their confusion vanished the mont they saw the girl.
Isobel walked past the corpses and knelt beside the child. She took the girl's hand gently, voice soft and kind.
"Hey... are you okay? You don't have to worry anymore. The bad guys are gone now, alright?"
Maybe it was the warmth in her voice, maybe it was because she was another girl—whatever the reason, the child finally looked up.
She spoke, voice flat and quiet.
"...there's another one."
Levi placed his knife in a reverse grip and walked up the wooden stairs.
Farlan followed behind him.
A few monts passed.
Then ca the scream.
Like a pig being slaughtered.
Hearing it, the girl flinched, but her expression didn't change. Her face went blank again, numb.
Lioro finally spoke again, voice low and even.
"Can you tell us your na?"
The black haired girl blinked her eyes, looked at him then muttered in a small voice.
"...mikasa."
The girl blinked, turned her head, looked at him for a mont, then murmured faintly.
"...Mikasa."
"Mikasa?" Isobel's voice cracked slightly, but she smiled and pulled the girl into a hug. "Don't worry! We're here for you!"
Mikasa stiffened in surprise. The hug seed to catch her off guard.
But the warmth was real.
Sothing inside her broke.
Light slowly returned to her eyes, and then, like a flood breaking through a dam, tears began to pour down her cheeks.
"They... killed... mom... and... dad..." Her voice trembled with each word, breaking into sobs halfway through.
Levi and Farlan descended the stairs, wiping the blood off their hands.
Levi stopped when he heard the girl's words. He stood still, staring at her.
Sothing in his gaze changed. The longer he looked at her, the more familiar she seed. As if he were looking into a mirror warped by years.
Farlan let out a small breath.
Mikasa continued to cry in Isobel's arms, her sobs quieter now, fading slowly.
Eventually, silence returned.
Seeing that she had cald down, Lioro took a step forward and said.
"Mikasa, do you have a place to go? Would you like to co with us?"
Everyone turned toward him.
But it wasn't Mikasa who reacted first.
It was Levi, Farlan, and Isobel.
Since they knew where Lioro was asking to take her.
But that would an.... like Levi, Lioro ca here for Mikasa?
Farlan and Isobel glanced at the small, fragile girl sitting quietly on the chair, her body still trembling faintly. Confusion filled their eyes.
She looked so weak... so ordinary.
Why would a powerful wizard be interested in a child like her?
They didn't understand.
But Levi did.
He said nothing, but his expression was calm, unreadable. Still, his sharp eyes lingered on Mikasa for a second longer than usual.
There was sothing strange about her. Sothing that didn't fit. It wasn't just the tragedy or the blood—it was sothing deeper.
"I can... co with you?" Mikasa asked, her voice faint, unsure. She looked up at Lioro like she didn't believe what she had just heard.
"Yes," Lioro replied, his tone soft. "You can be part of our familia. What do you think?"
As he spoke, he reached into his inventory and pulled out a wrapped burger. Still warm.
He crouched and gently placed it in her hands.
Mikasa blinked, looking down at the food as if it were so kind of puzzle. Her small fingers curled around it slowly.
Originally, Lioro had intended to raise her as another general—soone who would grow into strength, soone trained for war. But that was before he saw her like this.
Now, he didn't care about any of that.
A child like her shouldn't be forced into blood and steel. Not unless she chose it.
It wasn't like his familia lacked warriors. If anything, they had too many.
If they can't even feed a single kid, then they should just quit!
"Let's go together, elder sister will take care of you, okay?!" Isobel chid in suddenly, her bright eyes glowing with energy as she grabbed Mikasa's small hands.
Mikasa looked at her.
Then at Lioro.
Then at Levi. Then Farlan.
And slowly—so slowly—she nodded her head.
Isobel bead, pulling her into another hug, as if hugging her tightly enough could erase what happened tonight.
Lioro reached out and gently ruffled Mikasa's head, her hair still ssy and a little sticky with dried sweat.
"Wait here for a mont," he said. "I need to grab sothing."
Before anyone could respond, Lioro's figure flickered—and vanished.
The next instant, he was standing atop the skeleton dragon again. The sa arrow was in his hand, and this ti it pointed clearly toward the north.
Up above, the night wind blew across the dragon's bony wings as Lioro narrowed his eyes, watching sothing far away.
Down below, the trio exchanged looks.
They didn't know what he was doing.
But they didn't ask.
Instead, they shook their heads and started quietly cleaning the place up.
----
Using the arrow to point the way, Lioro quickly arrived in front of a house.
Inside, he found two dead bodies, one of a man and the other of a woman.
They were Mikasa's dead father and mother.
Lioro placed the bodies inside his inventory.
He planned to try bringing them back to life after learning revival magic from the Overlord world.
Magic was indeed very convenient, it could even bring dead people back to life.
Though there were several requirents like level drop, the Death shouldn't have taken place for a long ti, the corpse should be in a preserved state, etc, etc.
Depending on the tier of the revival magic, the requirents would change.
The higher the tier, the lower the requirents.
After storing the bodies, Lioro was just about to leave when a shouting noise ca to his ears.
Raising his eyebrow, Lioro walked out the door.
And as soon as he stepped foot outside the house, a golden light ing fell from the sky.
*Roar*
Along with a loud shout, a huge figure of a titan appeared in his vision, confronting his skeleton dragon.
Seeing the titan's familiar features, Lioro muttered in interest.
"Grisha?"
The father of the protagonist.
He had taken up his attack titan form and was fighting against his skeleton dragon.
Well, since the skeleton dragon was weak to physical attacks, Grisham, with his huge titan body, actually had the advantage.
That is, of course, until his skeleton dragon took to the sky and started raining down death fla aerial attacks.
Lioro watched the scene with interest before his eyes fell on the kid who was hiding behind a tree, looking anxiously at the transford Grisha.
Who else could it be but our protagonist, Eren Yeager?
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