Forsaken By The Gods, I Made A Contract With the Demon King

The Black Wing let out a harsh, guttural caw, its piercing gaze fixated on Levi as it turned its head while the body stayed still.

Its jagged beak snapped with fury as it circled overhead, wings casting massive shadows over the battlefield.

Levi felt a pang of rage twist inside him, but he kept it in check - he had long noticed that using Lunacy always brought out his rage and he was learning to control it slowly.

The Black Wing's taunts, though unspoken, were clear in the way it towered over him—as if a predator toying with its prey.

His fists clenched, nails digging into his palms. He needed to change his approach. This beast was far stronger than himself.

And even with the injury he had delivered to its skull- the monster didn't seem to go down.

This was no mere monster, it was a manifestation of Lunacy and from what he had heard, it was once the child of god. He had to devise a plan to bring it down or else it would him who would end up dead.

And surprisingly, Levi knew what he had to do.

With a roar, he unleashed his power once again.

Lunacy was activated and the sickly green energy erupted from his body, twisting around him like serpents, their venomous glow saturating the air with chaotic energy.

The lesser Black Wings, which were already suffering under the pressure, screeched in terror, their eyes rolling back as they flailed uncontrollably.

Some crashed into the ground, their wings snapping like brittle twigs, others plummeted into one another mid-flight, exploding in a shower of blood and feathers.

But the Fallen Rank Black Wing—this monstrous bird of darkness—remained unmoved. It only grew more frenzied, its crimson eyes blazing with a hunger for Levi's destruction.

Its aura crackled with a violent red, clashing violently with Levi's own. The very air seemed to bend and twist under the pressure as if reality itself was being torn apart by the sheer force of their colliding madness.

Levi gritted his teeth, feeling his mind waver as the whispers of insanity clawed at the edges of his thoughts. His vision blurred, and the world around him became a nightmarish swirl of color and distortion. Time stretched and warped—seconds felt like hours as the battle unfolded in slow motion, every heartbeat a struggle to maintain his sanity.

But he couldn't stop now. Not with this monster towering over him. Not when victory was so close.

He needed to take a risk—no, a leap into Lunacy itself.

He kept the Lunacy active, enduring the increasing pressure on his mind, and with a snarl, he taunted the creature, his voice dripping with venom. "Is this really all you've got? I've seen rotting corpses with more bite than you."

The Black Wing's eyes narrowed, and a guttural screech erupted from its throat, shaking the earth beneath Levi's feet.

The monstrous bird was already corrupted and had little defense against mind attacks like Lunacy and layering that with his dirty talk - the bird went insane.

Its wings flared, blotting out the sky as it prepared to unleash its full fury. Levi's heart pounded in his chest.

He needed more than bravado to survive what was coming next.

"Now!" he hissed under his breath.

He called out to Noir, the small, mindless bird that had fought by his side since the beginning.

Noir was not just a pet, it was the incarnation of Lunacy—a feral beast with no sense of reason - It was his very own Dominion!

The bird had no concern for itself - its only thought was to follow Levi's order and that's what it did.

Noir perched nearby, unleashed an ear-piercing shriek, flapping its torn, blood-streaked wings with savage intensity.

Its beak, caked in gore, and its once-glossy feathers now clumped with filth and blood, gave it a feral appearance. Without hesitation, the raven hurled itself at the Black Wing in a frenzy of talons and feathers, its mindless fury driving each strike.

The monstrous bird barely flinched at the assault, its attention still fixated on Levi.

In its eyes, Noir—a mere essence-rank creature—posed no threat. But that arrogance was its fatal mistake.

Noir dove at its target with full force, its beak coated in essence.

It struck the injured spot on the Black Wing's skull, burrowing deep, just shy of its brain. Almost.

But the damage was done—the distraction was enough.

The monstrous bird trashed caught unprepared - the pain was too great for it to concentrate on Levi.

Using the chance, Levi activated [Forgotten Echo] once again, feeling his barely recovered essence reserves rapidly deplete as the artifact's power surged through him.

The was the last bit of essence he had - and his life now depended on whether he could kill the monster in the next exchange.

A perfect copy of Levi materialized beside him, an exact duplicate from a moment earlier, mimicking his every move.

The Fallen Rank Black Wing eyes landed on them and it screeched, confused by the sudden appearance of two Levis. For a brief, crucial moment, its focus wavered.

That was all Levi needed.

With a savage roar, Levi charged and along with him his projection also rushed. His boots dug into the ground, muscles screaming in protest as he pushed through the crushing weight of the lunacy-laden air. His vision tunneled—everything around him a blur of swirling madness as he homed in on his target.

Noir, still lost in its blind fury, tore at the Black Wing's skull, ripping chunks of flesh from its massive body. The Black Wing screeched, thrashing violently as blood sprayed into the air, painting the battlefield red. But the beast's focus was split now, trying to fend off the Noir's relentless attacks on its wound while keeping its attention on the two Levis.

Levi didn't stop. His entire body was screaming in agony, every nerve on fire from the strain of maintaining full control over his powers. But he pressed on, driven by a primal need for survival.

He leaped, his clawed hand slashing through the air, aimed directly for the Black Wing's eye.

"Die!" Levi roared, his voice raw with desperation and rage.

His claws connected with a wet, sickening squelch. The Black Wing's eye exploded in a burst of blood and viscera, and the creature let out an ear-splitting scream of agony.

It thrashed wildly, wings beating the air in a frenzy, trying to shake Levi loose. But he held on, his fingers digging deeper, pushing past bone and sinew as he searched for the creature's brain.

Blood splattered across Levi's face, hot and sticky, but he didn't falter. He could feel the brain—a pulsating, writhing mass buried deep within the Black Wing's skull. With a final, brutal wrench, he dug right into it and at the same time - Noir reached its brain from its skull.

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Mass Release - 04