If it were any other time, when faced with someone asking for help, Levi would be more than happy to lend a hand, even without any reward.
But in a crisis like this, Levi didn't want to help strangers at the cost of putting his friend in danger.
What's more, Qingque wasn't just "in danger."
She was about to be done for.
If afterward someone said he had no morals, or accused him of standing by and watching someone die, let them say whatever they want.
Right now, Levi only wanted to, and could only, go find Qingque.
Both hands clenched tightly around the Blazing Greatsword.
"By this raging flame…"
As if sensing Levi's firm resolve, scorching flames surged forth from the blade.
While running, Levi suddenly kicked off the ground with all his strength.
He leapt straight into the sky.
He should've fallen back down after a brief moment of suspension, pulled by gravity.
But at this moment, Levi seemed to have broken free from the Luofu's gravity entirely.
He flew straight upward into the sky.
Holding the Blazing Greatsword high over his head, Levi looked down.
He immediately saw the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus rampaging through the center of the Formation.
And…
Qingque, charging straight toward a blade.
"Tsk! What an idiot!"
Locking onto his target, Levi's body sank as he shot downward at high speed.
The flames were no longer confined to the blade, they spread toward Levi himself.
Once again, fire engulfed him, but this time he wasn't burned.
The flames became his strength.
Levi streaked through the sky, plunging toward the ground like a meteor.
"…Cut through all, without exception!"
———
[Center of the Formation]
Seeing Qingque throw herself toward his blade, that Disciple of Sanctus Medicus seemed to already see her head hitting the ground.
Blood spraying everywhere.
The Mara-struck's bloodthirsty nature filled him with waves of pleasure.
"By this raging flame, cut through all, without exception!"
A furious roar came from directly above.
The greatsword swung down from the sky, and before the man even arrived, spreading fire had already engulfed the Mara-struck on the ground.
Before they could even scream, the Mara-struck closest to Qingque turned to ash on the spot, scattering into the wind.
Whoosh!
The flames vanished. Levi appeared in front of Qingque, remnants of fire still burning across his body.
He planted the Blazing Greatsword in front of him and quickly scanned the surroundings.
The Disciples of Sanctus Medicus who had reacted fast enough to dodge behind their companions' corpses let out a cold laugh.
"Anyone who steps forward dies!"
Levi's icy voice, combined with the charred Mara-struck corpses littering the ground, made no one dare to advance for the moment.
"It's him!"
Hidden among the crowd, a senior core member of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus recognized Levi.
He was the target of the previous capture operation, the one suspected of having received the Medicine King's blessing, Levi.
Originally, they'd wanted to recruit him because of his close ties to the Imbibitor Lunae and the Divination Commission.
But they never expected his illness to be cured.
He even reported it to Jing Yuan, seemingly in exchange for not being pursued over accepting Abundance.
After that, the higher-ups quickly made a decision, to capture Levi and study how he'd been cured.
Or investigate how his illness had formed in the first place.
It could even be turned into a weapon against enemies.
Unfortunately, the Cloud Knights discovered the abnormality first, causing the plan to completely collapse, and all the comrades involved died.
She was lucky enough to sneak into the Divination Commission and avoided being selected for that operation.
Later, they launched a drug-making operation, only to be wiped out by a suddenly appearing figure.
Two operations had already caused devastating losses to the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have needed to act together with this bunch of trash.
She had revealed her immortal form through her own efforts, she wasn't even on the same level as these artificially spawned wastes.
"But the higher-ups' analysis wasn't wrong. He really did receive a blessing from an Aeon!"
It just didn't look like "Abundance."
Instead, it seemed closer to "Destruction."
"Y-you… how are you this strong?!"
Qingque stared at Levi standing in front of her in disbelief, the corners of her mouth lifting uncontrollably.
She suddenly pounced forward, hugging Levi from behind, giggling nonstop.
Drool soaked Levi's back.
"That was way too cool just now!"
'You're praising me a bit too early…'
Levi really wanted to say that.
But in order to intimidate these people and buy time to think of an escape plan, he had no choice but to maintain this pose, to keep up the aura of a powerhouse.
Not because he was being burned by the flames again.
But because the Blazing Greatsword was out of Honkai energy.
There was only a tiny trace left, nowhere near enough to kill Mara-struck.
He could only use it to maintain the flame effects on his body.
To give the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus the illusion that he still had strength to spare.
However, this seemed to be seen through by a high-ranking core member of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus in the crowd.
"Wrong! It's a double-agent senior operative of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus and the Destruction Legion, hidden in the Divination Commission! Codename… Pangolin!"
She stepped out of the crowd. The moment Levi saw her, he sensed something unusual about her.
The surrounding Mara-struck were far more rational than the earlier ones, but their eyes still brimmed with bloodlust.
This Mara-struck, however, seemed… much more polite?
And Pangolin?
Why does that name sound kind of familiar?
Like it came out of some anti-Japanese war drama?
At that moment, the Mara-struck calling herself Pangolin spoke.
"If I'm not mistaken, you're already at the end of your rope, aren't you?"
'Shit! She saw through it!'
Levi's expression stiffened. He forced himself to stay calm and said coldly, "Then feel free to come up and try!"
At this moment, Qingque behind him also noticed something was off.
If Levi really still had energy to spare, why would he just stand there without moving?
There was nothing to negotiate with these invaders.
"Fine! Then let's try!"
Pangolin stepped forward and, when no one noticed, shoved a nearby comrade straight toward Levi.
Seeing that Levi didn't attack, a cruel smile curved her lips.
"Go!"
In an instant, the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, now certain that Levi had no strength left for a second attack, launched their fiercest assault on him.
Since they'd been seen through, there was no need to keep wasting focus maintaining the effects.
Levi put away the Blazing Greatsword and grabbed Qingque, weaving wildly through the crowd.
"Slow down, slow down, slow down! My arm's about to snap!"
"Can't slow down even a little!"
If he slowed down, both of them were done for.
And the reason they'd ended up in this mess, was all because Qingque was so damn self-righteous.
If she'd listened to him instead of trying to throw her life away, he wouldn't have had to burn so much Honkai energy on one big move, leaving him with nothing afterward to threaten these people and escape.
Otherwise, he could've taken them out one by one, slowly killing off the Mara-struck.
Sure, he'd kill fewer that way, but he and Qingque would've made it out safely, guaranteed.
"Then what do we do now? If I kowtow to them and apologize, will they let me go?"
"Without adding 'them'?"
"I think my life takes priority. Think about it, I'm a Xianzhou native. My lifespan is long, at least a few hundred years. You, if nothing goes wrong, only have about a hundred years. So letting me live is the best deal!"
Hearing that, Levi suddenly felt an urge to let go of her hand.
"Damn it all! Then nobody's living!"
Levi stopped in his tracks, ignored Qingque's horrified expression, and looked back at the hundreds of grotesque monsters behind them.
"I've already thought of a way to deal with them."
As he spoke, Levi locked eyes with Qingque. "Are you willing to trust me, Qingque?"
"What do you mean, trust or not? Say what you're planning first, then I'll decide whether to trust you."
"..."
'Damn it! At a time like this, can you at least give me a little romance?!'
'Not even a single pink hair!'
(Elysia: Thinking about me?)
(Fu Xuan: That would be me!)