Levi had died **one hundred and thirteen times**.
No—
more precisely, he had watched the only people who ever treated him like a human die one hundred and thirteen times.
And every time, to keep breathing, he had stolen a fragment of their soul.
He was good at surviving that way.
---
**Name:** Levi
**Class:** Servant
**Rank:** E
**Current Master Count:** 113 → **114 (pending)**
---
The Abyss had no sky.
It had a ceiling.
A colossal dome of roiling black clouds pressed down on the world like a lid on a coffin, writhing endlessly as violet lightning leaked through the cracks—slow, diseased flashes that never fully illuminated anything. Thunder did not roar here.
It crawled.
The land below was a battlefield fossilized in despair: shattered armor ground into dust, bone fragments fused into the earth, broken weapons welded together by centuries of slaughter.
The air tasted like rust.
And old screams.
Levi knelt.
Palms flat against cold metal shards and powdered bone, head bowed, posture immaculate.
Waiting.
**Clang.**
**Clang.**
**Clang.**
Bootsteps.
Heavy. Deliberate. Unhurried.
A shadow swallowed him whole.
Levi did not look up.
He didn't need to.
A mountain of black iron stood before him—armor layered thick like fortress walls, plates scarred by wars long forgotten. A helm shaped like a dragon's skull gazed down with burning crimson eyes, heat rippling off it in visible waves.
The new master.
---
**Name:** Kargan
**Class:** Berserker
**Rank:** A+
**Temper:** *Dogshit*
---
Kargan regarded Levi the way one regarded a disposable tool—already broken, useful only until it snapped.
"So," the Berserker rumbled, voice like gravel dragged across steel,
"you're the Servant that refuses to stay dead."
Silence.
Kargan snorted. "Figures. From now until you break, you're my shield. Stand."
**SFX: CLINK—**
Chains carved directly into Levi's soul tightened.
> **Protocol Law #2 Activated:**
> *You must obey every direct order.*
His body moved before his thoughts could catch up.
Levi stood.
Kargan's lip curled in faint disgust. "Name?"
"Levi," he answered instantly. "Master."
"Don't call me that." Kargan spat to the side. "Makes me sick. Call me **Lord Kargan**."
"Yes, Lord Kargan."
Satisfied—or already bored—Kargan turned away and began marching toward the distant howl of war.
Levi followed.
Three steps behind.
One step to the left.
The position of a Servant.
Close enough to die first.
Far enough to never be mistaken for an equal.
They crossed a plain littered with yesterday's dead.
Some corpses still twitched—shadows took longer to understand death than humans. Levi stepped over a Soldier-class shadow with a crushed skull.
Its hollow eyes tracked him.
Levi recognized that stare.
He had worn it for the first thirty masters.
Kargan halted abruptly.
"Listen, rag," he growled. "The Winged Monarch's legion is pushing again. We're rearguard."
Levi waited.
"That means we die first so the important people can run."
Kargan glanced back. "You get that?"
"Yes, Lord Kargan."
"When I say block, you block. When I say die, you die."
The Berserker leaned in close, crimson eyes blazing.
"If you hesitate even once, I'll carve the Protocol out of your soul and feed it to the hounds. Clear?"
"Crystal clear."
Kargan grinned—tusks bared, pure malice—and resumed his march.
Levi followed.
He had done this **113 times**.
He would do it again.
---
The battle began without warning.
One moment—silence.
The next—
**SFX: SKREEEEEE—**
The horizon split open.
An ocean of white-winged shadows poured into the Abyss.
**Seraph Knights.**
The Winged Monarch's elite.
Each one worth a hundred shadows like them.
Holy fire rained from the ceiling of the world.
Kargan laughed.
Loud. Maniacal. Ecstatic.
He charged straight into hell.
Levi ran after him.
Arrows of sanctified flame fell like meteors. Kargan swatted them aside with his greataxe—an absurd slab of iron—sparks screaming as steel met divinity.
Levi stayed in his shadow.
Literally.
His body flickered between substance and smoke—the one mercy of Servant-class existence. He cost almost no mana to maintain.
A Seraph Knight dove from above, six blazing wings unfurled.
Its spear angled straight for Kargan's heart.
"Block it, Servant!"
The Protocol snapped tight.
Levi moved.
He threw himself between master and spear.
**SFX: THRRRUM—**
The spear punched through his chest.
Pain detonated—sharp, absolute, intimate.
He seized the spear shaft with both hands, locking it in place.
The Seraph Knight hesitated.
That hesitation lasted less than a heartbeat.
**SFX: WHAM—**
Kargan's greataxe took its head off.
Black blood sprayed across Levi's face.
Its blood.
His blood.
All the same taste.
Levi collapsed.
---
**HP:** 3 / 1200
---
The hole in his chest steamed as shadows stitched flesh together—slow, imperfect. Only masters were restored instantly.
Kargan didn't look back.
They advanced.
Ten minutes later—it happened again.
Then again.
Then again.
By the time the main force had escaped, Levi had died four times in miniature.
Each death bought seconds.
Each resurrection bought knowledge.
Every corpse whispered its final skill into his soul.
He hid the growth.
He always hid the growth.
If they ever learned a Servant could steal power—
They would erase him permanently.
The rearguard dwindled to nineteen.
Kargan was drenched in blood, drunk on slaughter.
Then—
The final wave came.
Heavier.
Colder.
At its head rode a **Seraph Captain**.
**S-Rank.**
Six wings unfurled.
A halo burned like a dying star.
Kargan's laughter died.
The Captain leveled a lance of condensed light.
For the first time—
Kargan's voice cracked.
"Servant—block it!"
Levi stepped forward.
This time—
He did not let the Protocol move him.
He chose.
His body dissolved into shadow and smoke as he planted himself directly in the lance's path.
The light struck.
**SFX: SHATTERING SILENCE—**
White.
Then black.
Then cold.
---
Levi opened his eyes in the place between deaths.
A void illuminated by floating violet runes.
The System spoke.
Cold. Absolute.
> ⊳ **Shadow Designated "Kargan" has perished.**
> ⊳ **Commencing Memory Inheritance… 1% authorized.**
> ⊳ **Skills Acquired:**
> 「Blood Rage」
> 「Iron Skin」
> 「Reckless Charge」
> ⊳ **Unique Memory Fragment Obtained:**
> *"The first time I held my daughter."*
The memory burned.
A tiny shadow girl, barely reaching Kargan's knee, tugged his cloak.
"Daddy… will you come home this time?"
Kargan knelt, tusks hidden behind an awkward smile.
"I always come home, little flame."
He lied.
Tears Levi should not have been able to shed slid down his face—evaporating before they fell.
The void spat him back into the Abyss.
---
Levi rose from Kargan's corpse.
The Berserker's greataxe lay nearby, already dissolving with its owner.
The Seraph Captain was turning away.
One more dead barbarian meant nothing.
Shadows gathered around Levi's hand.
They twisted.
Condensed.
Hardened.
**SFX: SHRRRKK—**
A **shadow spear** formed—long, elegant, and vicious, its edge swallowing light instead of reflecting it.
A weapon born not of steel—
—but regret.
A private notification flickered.
> ⊳ **Master Count:** 114 → **113**
> ⊳ **Rank:** E → **E+**
> ⊳ **Hidden Achievement Unlocked:**
> 「One Who Carries Regret」
Levi looked at the retreating Seraph host.
At the shadow spear in his grip.
At the merciless ceiling of the Abyss.
"…Thank you," he whispered, voice fracturing.
"Thank you for your memories."
Next time, he would not block.
Next time—
He would charge.
Behind him, Kargan's corpse dissolved into black mist—ready to be reborn somewhere else, with no memory of a little girl waiting at home.
Levi did not look back.
There was no one left to apologize to.