The watchtower groaned beneath the endless wind.
Violet lightning clawed across the ceiling of the Abyss, illuminating the obsidian cliffs in sickly flashes. Below them, the Fracture Line yawned open—a jagged wound where the dome pressed lowest, leaking holy light like poison into the dark.
Levi stood at the edge.
Not behind.
Beside.
Aria had ordered it hours ago.
"Stand here," she had said, her voice soft but immovable. "Look with me."
The Protocol had resisted.
SFX: CREEEAAAK—
Chains ground against his soul, metal scraping bone that did not exist. Pain speared through him—sharp, deliberate. A warning.
But he obeyed.
He always obeyed.
Now they stood shoulder to shoulder, the wind snapping her blackened feathers and tugging at his tattered cloak. The Abyss howled beneath them.
Silence stretched.
Then—
"Why do you remember?"
The question cut through the wind like a blade.
Levi stiffened.
No one had ever asked that.
Not in one hundred and fourteen contracts.
He glanced sideways.
Aria's cracked mask faced the void, the fracture bleeding faint shadow ichor that the wind tore away as soon as it formed. Only her mouth was visible—pale, set, unyielding.
"I don't know what you mean," he lied.
The words came easily. Smooth. Automatic.
She turned her head.
Lightning caught the fracture in her mask, making it glint like a frozen tear.
"Don't insult me, Levi."
Her voice was quiet.
Dangerously so.
"I've heard the whispers. A Servant who doesn't reset fully. Who carries the dead with him."
Levi's grip tightened on the shadow spear.
Its runes pulsed faintly—Kargan's name burning beneath the surface.
"I'm just a Servant," he said.
"E-rank. Disposable."
Aria stepped closer.
Close enough that he smelled ash and old incense clinging to her armor.
"You blocked for a Berserker who despised you."
"Yes."
"You closed his eyes after he died."
Levi's throat tightened.
How did she—
"You knelt in the bone dust and apologized."
Her gloved hand rose.
Hovered near his face.
Then lowered.
"I watched from the ridge," she said. "I saw."
Silence fell.
Thunder crawled across the false sky.
Finally, Levi spoke.
"It's what Servants do."
"No," Aria said.
"That's what people do."
SFX: SHRRIIIKK—
The chains screamed.
Pain exploded white-hot through Levi's soul. His knees buckled—
—and Aria caught his arm.
Her grip was steady. Strong.
Her touch burned.
Not like punishment.
Something else.
She released him quickly.
"Rest," she ordered.
"Not at the door. Here. Beside the fire."
There was no fire.
Only a small mana crystal between them, glowing softly violet.
Levi understood.
He lowered himself against the broken parapet, stone cold against his back. Aria sat opposite him, knees drawn up, wings folded tight.
For a long time, neither spoke.
Then—
A memory surfaced.
Not his.
One of the stolen ones.
A gentle Archer-class master—number sixty-three, perhaps. She had taught him how to whistle during quiet watches.
Her laugh had been soft.
Until a Seraph arrow took her throat mid-note.
Levi's fingers twitched. He pressed them flat against the stone.
Aria noticed.
"Tell me one," she said.
"One what?"
"One memory," she replied. "Not yours."
Levi stared into the mana crystal. Its glow flickered across her mask.
He spoke.
"There was a girl once. Small. Barely to her father's knee."
Kargan's memory.
The words tasted like ash.
"She tugged his cloak and asked if he'd come home this time."
Aria did not move.
"He lied," Levi said quietly. "Said he always did."
His voice cracked.
"She believed him."
The wind screamed louder.
Aria lifted her hands.
Slowly.
Fingers slid beneath the edges of her mask.
She lifted it away.
The face beneath was pale—beautiful in a broken way. One eye socket was empty, filled with shadow. The other burned storm-gray.
A scar carved from temple to jaw, like someone had tried to rip her light out by force.
She set the mask aside.
Looked at him fully.
"I had a brother," she said.
"Before the fall."
Levi met her gaze.
For the first time.
No masks.
"Tomorrow," she whispered, "we hold the line together."
"Or we die together."
Levi nodded.
The chains creaked—
—but softer this time.
Name: Levi
Class: Servant
Rank: E+ → D- (Hidden)
Current Master Count: 114
Skills (Partial):
「Blood Rage」
「Iron Skin」
「Reckless Charge」
「Shadow Manipulation (Enhanced)」
The assault began at false dawn.
SFX: SKREEEEEE—
The horizon ignited.
White wings blotted out violet lightning as thousands of Seraph Knights surged across the Fracture Line, holy fire falling in burning sheets.
The northern flank erupted.
Shadows screamed.
Died.
Rose again in distant spires.
Aria stood at the front.
Her greatsword of blackened silver hummed, its edge devouring light instead of reflecting it.
"Levi."
He was already beside her.
Shadow spear raised.
"Together."
The first wave hit.
Seraph Knights dove—lances of light shrieking downward.
Aria swung.
SFX: THRUMM—
A corrupted smite detonated outward—black flame laced with dying holiness. Knights disintegrated mid-air.
Levi moved.
Shadow dissolved.
Reformed behind a diving angel.
The spear punched through wings.
SFX: SHRRKK—
Black blood rained.
「Iron Skin」 hardened borrowed muscle.
「Reckless Charge」 flooded his veins.
They fought as one.
Aria's blade carved crescents of darkness.
Levi's spear danced—extending, retracting, fracturing into phantom strikes.
A Knight broke through.
Its spear aimed for Aria's blind side.
Levi's body surged—
PROTECT. DIE.
He stepped—
—and Aria seized his wrist.
"No."
Her voice cut through the chaos.
"Together."
She pivoted.
Sword met spear—deflecting it skyward.
Levi spun.
Shadow coiled.
The spear struck the Knight's heart.
It fell.
They didn't look at each other.
But Levi felt it.
The chains groaned.
Not in pain.
In strain.
Then—
The Lieutenant arrived.
S-Rank.
Eight blazing wings. Armor of condensed light.
It landed with a shockwave that cracked stone.
Its gaze locked onto Aria.
"Traitor saint."
The voice was beautiful.
Terrible.
"You fell far, Ariael."
Her grip tightened.
The name cut deep.
Levi stepped forward.
Beside her.
The Lieutenant's eyes shifted.
"And you bring a Servant to stand equal?"
A holy lance formed—condensed starlight.
It struck.
Aria raised her sword.
Levi raised his spear.
SFX: CLASH—
Light met shadow.
The impact hurled them back, boots gouging trenches in stone.
The Lieutenant advanced.
Strike after strike.
Aria bled shadow ichor.
Levi's borrowed skin fractured.
Then—
The lance angled for Aria's heart.
Time slowed.
PROTOCOL: PROTECT. DIE.
Levi lunged—
—and twisted.
Not in front.
Beside.
The spear met the lance—deflecting it just enough.
Aria followed.
SFX: SHATTER—
Corrupted steel bit into holy armor.
The Lieutenant staggered.
Levi roared.
「Blood Rage」 ignited.
Shadows exploded outward.
The spear became a storm.
They struck together.
Again.
Again.
Until the Lieutenant fell to one knee, light dimming.
It looked up at Aria.
Regret flickered across its perfect face.
"I executed them," it whispered.
"Your choir. On His orders."
Aria's sword trembled.
The Lieutenant dissolved into light—fleeing to resurrection.
But the memory remained.
⊳ Skill Acquired:
「Purifying Lance (Corrupted)」
⊳ Unique Memory Fragment Obtained:
"The day the choir sang for the fallen."
Voices rose.
Beautiful.
Aria's among them.
Before the fracture.
She dropped to her knees.
Mask forgotten on the stone.
Levi knelt beside her.
Not behind.
His hand hovered—
—then rested on her shoulder.
She didn't pull away.
The battle raged on.
But the flank held.
For now.
Later, when the waves receded, Aria sat against the parapet.
Levi beside her.
"I requested you," she said, voice raw,
"because you remember."
"Because I'm tired of being the only one who does."
Levi looked at the shadow spear.
Its runes burned brighter now, etched with new scars of corrupted light.
A notification flickered.
⊳ Protocol Strain Detected: 62%
⊳ Hidden Achievement Progress:
「One Who Chooses」 2 / ???
⊳ Rank: D- (Hidden)
In the distance—
Horns sounded.
Deeper.
Heavier.
The true assault was coming.
Aria stood.
She offered her hand.
Levi took it.
She pulled him up.
Together.
Not master and Servant.
Not yet.
But close.
The chains creaked louder.
Threatening to snap.
Levi tightened his grip on the spear.
This time—
He would not just block.
This time—
He would fight.
For the memory of a little girl who waited.
For a choir that sang no more.
For the woman beside him—
who had removed her mask.
The Fracture Line trembled.
The war was far from over.
But for the first time in one hundred and fourteen deaths—
Levi felt alive.