Space tore open directly in front of Levi—the fourth ti the demon had caught up.
This ti, Levi's danger sense gave him barely any warning. His body was too slow, his reactions dulled by accumulated damage. He tried to activate Thunder Step, but his ridians were so damaged that the gathered Astra energy faded.
"Fuc—"
Eight massive arms reached through the spatial rift!
Four hands grabbed his limbs—one clamping around his left wrist, one seizing his right ankle, one clutching his left shoulder, one gripping his right thigh.
The other four hands struck at Levi like a sledgehamr!
"Bang!"
One palm slamd into Levi's chest, the impact so powerful it caved in his sternum and sent blood spraying from his mouth!
"CRACK!"
Another hand chopped down on his neck, nearly breaking his spine!
"SMASH!"
The third hand grabbed his hair, yanking his head back violently!
"CLAMP!"
The fourth hand seized his throat, cutting off his breathing!
Levi was completely immobilized, held in the demon's eight-handed grip like an insect caught in a spider's web.
The demon's five heads leaned in close, examining their captured prey with cruel satisfaction. All ten eyes glead with malevolent intelligence as they studied Levi's battered form.
"Finally," the male human head said, its voice dripping with satisfaction. "The chase ends."
"Such persistence," the female human head added, her painful expression sohow actually showing pleasure despite the pain.
"RIIIIIP!"
The hands gripping Levi's legs suddenly pulled in opposite directions with catastrophic force!
"Hmph!"
Levi's muffled voice reverberated as his legs were ripped off.
Blood exploded from the wounds, painting the ruined ground crimson!
The creature held Levi up to eye level with its remaining six hands, one still clutching his throat, one gripping his hair, one clamping each shoulder, and two wrapped around his torso.
Levi's legless body dangled in the air, blood dripping steadily from his wounds. His face was pale, but his teeth gritted in hatred and pain.
The demon's serpent head flickered its tongue, as it tasted Levi's blood off his flesh.
"Let see you run now," the bull head snorted, steam billowing from its nostrils. "Why don't you run without your legs uhn?"
The tiger head roared. "Hehehe. Like a fly in a spiders trap."
"You are an interesting prey," the male head said, his manic smile widening. "A high-level bloodline. Remarkable regeneration. Indomitable will. You would make an excellent demon cultivator."
"As long as you turn into a demon," the female head continued, her tear-streaked face sohow conveying eagerness, "I promise not to kill you. And you can easily regenerate your legs."
The male head leaned closer, close enough that Levi could see every detail of that disturbing smile.
"Moreover, the secret technique you activated to increase your strength has reduced your ridians to mush. You can't cultivate any longer and can only be a cripple for life. Your Astra energy channels are shredded, your spiritual pathways collapsed. As a human, you are finished."
The female head's agonized expression sohow softened into sothing almost pitying.
"But as a demon, all these things can be easily cured. Your ridians would be rebuilt stronger than before. Your bloodline would evolve. Your potential would increase a hundredfold. You could reach heights impossible for humans."
The five heads fell silent, waiting for Levi's response.
For a long mont, Levi said nothing. His chest heaved as he struggled to breathe against the hand crushing his throat. Blood continued to drip from his severed legs. His face was expressionless despite the agony he must be feeling.
Then, finally, he spoke. His voice was hoarse but clear.
"You want … to betray humanity… and beco a demon?"
All five heads nodded in unison.
"Yes," they said together.
Before Levi could respond, the bull head suddenly spoke up, its voice harsh and aggressive.
"Just kill him! Humans are stubborn, they will never turn! I've seen it a thousand tis! They all refuse, clinging to their pathetic principles even as death takes them!"
The serpent head hissed in agreent. "He killed Old Bull's incarnation! My brother's avatar was destroyed because of this insect! Kill him and his pet! Make them suffer for what they've done!"
It was referring to the Minotaur statue, the bull-headed guardian that Luna had helped Levi defeat earlier. That avatar had been this serpent head's brother, apparently.
The tiger head roared, siding with the serpent. "Blood demands blood! He destroyed three of our incarnations! Death is the only proper paynt!"
But the two human heads, the male and female, spoke simultaneously, their voices carrying an authority that made the other three heads fall silent.
"QUIET."
The command was absolute. The bull, serpent, and tiger heads all closed their mouths imdiately, though their eyes still burned with barely suppressed rage.
The two human heads turned back to Levi, studying him with an intensity that made his skin crawl despite his defiant expression.
"Ignore them," the male head said, his smile never wavering. "They lack vision. I can sense your potential. You are wasted as a human."
"What do you choose?" the female head asked, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Life and power beyond imagination? Or straight up death?"
Levi remained silent for several long seconds.
Finally, Levi's lips moved. His voice was quiet, almost contemplative.
"I… accept."
All five heads perked up imdiately, surprise and satisfaction flashing across their faces.
"Excellent!" the male human head crowed. "You've made the wise choice! We shall, "
"But on one condition," Levi interrupted.
The heads frowned in confusion.
"What condition?" the female head asked cautiously.
Levi's face remained expressionless for one more heartbeat.
Then his lips curved upward into a cold smile.
"Can you die for ?"
For a microsecond, the demon didn't understand.
Then Levi's hand moved.
The motion was so subtle, that the demon almost missed it. Levi's right hand, moved as he threw sothing forward.
An arrow.
Not a large arrow, not an impressive arrow. Just a simple black shaft barely longer than a forearm, that seed to absorb light.
But the mont it appeared, every single one of the demon's danger senses scread with the approach of absolute death!
"NO!"
The Arrow of Abyssal Extinction left Levi's hand.
"WENG!"
A horrifying aura exploded outward from the arrow, so intense that reality itself seed to recoil! The very air around it distorted and twisted as if trying to flee from the weapon's presence!
The demon's five heads all scread simultaneously, their voices rging into one cacophonous roar of terror!
"IMPOSSIBLE!"
The creature imdiately released Levi and tried to flee!
"Crack!"
Space tore open behind the demon as it activated its spatial teleportation, attempting to escape.
The demon's massive body blurred as it began to phase through reality—
But the Arrow of Abyssal Extinction had already locked onto its target.
The mont Levi had designated the demon in his mind before releasing the arrow, the weapon had acquired the creature's Astra signature. Distance ant nothing, even spatial teleportation ant nothing.
The arrow would pursue until it hit its target or the target ceased to exist.
"Whoosh!"
The arrow vanished, following the demon through its spatial jump!
The demon erged from the rift ten kiloters away.
"Pierce!"
The Arrow of Abyssal Extinction manifested directly in front of the demon's chest.
It had tracked the creature through the void itself, appearing exactly where the demon was most vulnerable.
"NOOOO—"
The demon's eight arms moved to intercept, claws glowing with concentrated demonic energy as they tried to deflect or destroy the arrow!
Four claws struck from the left! Four from the right! All eight converging on the single point where the arrow would pass!
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"
tal rang against enhanced demonic hide as the claws collided with the arrow!
But the Arrow of Abyssal Extinction ignored seventy percent of all physical and energy-based defenses.
The claws might as well have been made of paper.
"WHOOSH!"
The arrow passed through the defensive barrier as if it didn't exist, its trajectory not even slightly deflected!
"BOOOOM!"
The arrow slamd itself in the demon's chest, right where its heart would be!
For one perfect mont, ti seed to stop.
The demon hung suspended in mid-air, ten kiloters from where it had started. Its five heads were all staring down at the arrow in its chest. Its eight arms were still raised defensively, frozen in positions that had completely failed to protect it.
Its ten eyes were wide with disbelief and terror.
Then the arrow's true power activated.
"WENG…"
The arrow began to pulse.
"WENG… WENG…"
Each pulse grew stronger, faster, more intense.
The demon's eyes went wider. All five heads revealed a single emotion at that mont, PURE TERROR!
"NOOOOOOOO—"
The scream ca from all five mouths at the dawn ti, shattering every remaining intact structure within a kiloter radius!
Then, the arrow exploded.
"KA-BOOOOOOOM!"
A singularity.
A sphere of absolute nothingness appeared around the arrow, expanding rapidly like a black hole.
The sphere started the size of a fist, encompassing just the arrow itself.
Then it grew to the size of a head, consuming the flesh around the wound.
Then the stomach.
Then it engulfed the demon's entire upper body!
"CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!"
The demon's five heads began to disintegrate, rapidly! The demon's eight arms, reaching desperately toward the wound as it tried to claw the black hole out from its chest also dissolved into nothing!
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