The Glorious Evolution

As much as Arthur wanted to save them because it was the right thing to do, and he always wanted to be a hero that saved everyone... everything changed when his big brother was forced to put his life at risk to deal with the Leviathan for their sake.

But, it had to be done since the Leviathan was the only entity capable of absolutely breaking apart his fortress... not the gemstone itself, but it was powerful enough to uplift it from its roots entirely.

Now, he still wanted to save them, but he was just as irritated as Nurah.

Meanwhile, when Arthur emerged from the portal, he found himself falling in midair, but he didn’t panic... he scanned the situation from the sky and saw that Shia, Jojo, and Nurah were dropped off at Tyrese’s team.

Shia used Bleeding Pillars to manifest a similar sampling-like dome around them, which sealed them with a couple of Corrupted, leaving the majority outside.

’Here she comes.’

He narrowed his eyes after catching the sight of Jasmine flying in his direction from underneath... she was painting on a floating giant paper scroll, manifesting inked projectiles to fight off against the flying Corrupted desiring to feast on her light.

When she spotted him, she waved her brush on the scroll, creating an inked arm that caught him the moment he was near her... then, she helped him get up on top of her nightmount and gave him a slight head nod.

Arthur ended up showing her a thumbs up, feeling his hands cramp up every time he wanted to use them to sign what he really wanted to say.

’Good everything is going to Levi’s plan... now that they are protected, we can gather everyone in my fortress and teleport them with their mounts summoned in the direction of the Pyramid.’

Without needing to say anything, Jasmine was already drawing inked portals linking Shia’s blood dome with Arthur’s fortress... and also, another portal for themselves since she knew they couldn’t handle thousands of Corrupted if they decided to switch their focus to them in air.

However, the moment she signed it, her worst fear came true... the majority of the Corrupted suddenly shifted their focus toward them, realizing that the pair soaring in the open sky were far easier prey than the Daywalkers fortified within the strongholds.

Kraaaa!!!

They screeched fiercely as hundreds of Corrupted flew in their direction with their gleaming talons fully ready to cut them apart.

Seeing that Jasmine’s inked portal was tens of meters in front of them, hidden behind a massive swarm of Corrupted, Arthur swiftly stood up with a grim look. Then, he tapped Jasmine on the shoulder, telling her that he had it covered.

He transformed his shield into a deadly weapon with Orryn’s edges... then, he threw it with everything he had in the direction of the swarm blocking the portal.

Slice! Slice! Slice!

The air screamed as it tore through the corrupted swarm ahead... cleaving flesh, feathers, and bone alike! Each impact released a spray of dark liquid, scattering limbs and shrieks!

The shield carved a somewhat clean path through the chaos, a tunnel that led straight toward the inked portal behind the corrupted mass!

”Go!” Arthur shouted while dismissing his shield before it could enter the portal and sever anyone inside Shia’s blood dome.

Jasmine’s crow screeched, its wings tucked in akin to an arrow, piercing through the crimson mist... It stormed through the gap Arthur had made with great difficulty, leaving both Jasmine and Arthur to hold into it tightly, getting hit rapidly by the Corrupted’s rain of flesh and blood.

The instant they made it through, Jojo, Shia, and Nurah were waiting for them on the other side.

”Shadow tendrils!”

”Sticky Blood Vines!”

”Spiritual Bind!”

They used whatever abilities in their arsenal to catch the nightmount and slow its speed as much as they could, not wanting to have them smash face-first into the blood pillars!

Yet, despite their immense efforts, the nightmount’s speed was too much, forcing them to get dragged out across the sandy grounds... their expression twisted from the insane strain on their bodies... They felt like they were trying to stop a train while it was at its maximum acceleration.

Seeing this, Tyrese swiftly jumped in front of Jasmine’s nightmount and entered a brace stance, his muscles tightened to the limit.

”BRING IT ON!”

With a thunderous roar, he seized the nightmount by its shoulders and drove one knee into the ground, forcing its beak down with sheer strength. His muscles bulged to their limits, veins straining as his eyes turned bloodshot... every fiber of his body braced against the unstoppable force dragging him backward.

His knee and feet slid across the sandy grounds, failing to gain a strong grip... however, he wasn’t the only attempting to stop its momentum as the girls were still pulling with their shadowy, blood, and spiritual abilities.

In the end, the nightmount’s momentum finally died out with Tyrese’s back smashing against the blood pillars.

”Ponytail... maybe you should start cutting.” Tyrese uttered with a faint grin as he gazed at Arthur, who was holding into the crow’s feathers for his dear life.

”Daring to call me fat after I came to save your sorry ass.”

Arthur scoffed in annoyance while getting down from the poor nightmount, who was coughing sand nonstop. It had its beak planted firmly on the ground, and could do nothing to eat sand.

When Jasmine saw this, her expression turned cold as she gazed at Tyrese, who was still holding her nightmount.

She said nothing but her icy look made Tyrese swiftly relax his grip on her nightmount, lifting them in the air with an apologetic smile.

”My bad, Queen... I didn’t mean to be this hard on it.”

”She can’t hear, dumbass.”

Arthur helped Jasmine off the nightmount and then turned around to look at the portal, but he found out that it was already closed.

He lifted his eyelids in surprise and gave Jasmine a fist pump, not expecting her to close it while they were fighting for their lives not to smack head first into the blood wall.

It was like she trusted the girls to have them covered while she focused on the portal, knowing that if it was left open, the Corrupted would spill out nonstop.

Jasmine glanced at his raised fist and remembered the small ritual the Larson brothers always did whenever they pulled off something big. Her cold grimace softened, and she bumped her fist against Arthur’s, a faint, sweet smile breaking through her usual composure.

If only she could hear Arthur’s thoughts and why he brought her in their brotherly-tradition.

’She is really the perfect sister-in-law.’ Arthur grinned happily, living in his own delusion.

The moment he saw Levi and Jasmine interact, he could see that his big brother wasn’t treating her like any other girl as much as he refused to admit it.

Maybe it was because she was deaf, which made their interaction seem more unique, but Arthur didn’t give shit about any of this.

He knew how his brother viewed romantic relationships with the opposite sex... bleak and nothing but a waste of time.

Arthur had no intentions of watching his big brother stay single for the rest of his life... so, he was slowly working in the shadows to make them get closer.

What’s a brother if he wasn’t a wingman?

Of course, he kept these thoughts to himself, understanding that both Jasmine and Levi would beat his ass up if they found out that he was meddling in their lives like this.

’One day I will have a sister to bully...hehehe.’

While the girls were checking up on Jasmine, Arthur was looking at them with a creepy grin, leaving even Tyrese somewhat uncomfortable.

But swiftly, Arthur recalled that it wasn’t the time to think about his brother’s love life when he might be fighting for his life to survive.

His expression turned grim as he turned to Tyrese... then, he uttered coldly, ”If something bad were to happen to my big bro, I would beat you senseless.”

”Levi? Come on now, we both know your brother is a freak of nature.” Tyrese smirked, ”I can’t imagine him dying after what he had done to Yanhuan.”

”You god-damn right.”

Arthur’s expression softened while scratching his nose. He was weak to compliments and even weaker to praises directed at his brother.

Unfortunately, while Tyrese and Arthur’s confidence in Levi was admirable, they had no clue that he was fighting the Leviathan, and he was losing... badly.

***

Far, far away from the capital...

Levi hovered in the air, blood dripping from several wounds across his body... His artifact armor was torn while his breaths were shaky.

Across from him floated the Leviathan Phoenix... massive and untouched. Its wings spread wide without a single mark on them.

The two faced each other in silence after their last fight broke off, with Levi’s sound/aetheric/illusionary attacks failing to make the Phoenix sweat once.

Meanwhile, if it wasn’t for the barriers and his artifact armor, Levi would have gotten out without a limb or two.

Levi’s spiritual eyes stayed locked on the beast even as blood slid down his body.

”Leviathans are truly monsters... even without abilities and intelligence, I still can’t cut a single feather from its body.” He uttered with a low, tired laugh.

’Are you done with limit testing?’ Ash’Kral said calmly, ’If you want to win, you know what you have to do.’

’I know, I know...’ Levi sighed, ’I thought I could take it down without tapping into it... But, I guess I am not at that level yet.’

He exhaled slowly and flipped his staff above his head.

The staff began to change forms drastically; its crimson chains and four segments, mixing amongst each other until it turned into a long, sleek sniper rifle engulfed in golden flames for less than a split second.

Levi caught the Starpiercer and rested it on his shoulder. Then, he aimed it at the Leviathan Phoenix, which let out a piercing screech with its massive wings blocking the sky behind it.

Levi narrowed his eyes, his tone calm but cold.

”Get ready...” he muttered as the barrel started emitting a golden light. Then, with a faint grin, he whispered, ”This is gonna hurt... badly.”