The air in the narrow pass crackled with violent energy. Levi, a blur of steel and relentless motion, carved through the shadowy forms with inhuman speed, his blades leaving gleaming arcs of light in the dim morning. The shadow creatures, terrifying in their speed and ability to drain warmth, found themselves outmaneuvered, their fluid movements anticipated by a warrior whose reflexes were honed by a life lived on the razor's edge. Igris, a crimson whirlwind, moved with a silent, spectral brutality, his immense strength and otherworldly blades rending the creatures into dissipating tendrils of darkness before they could even touch the villagers huddled further down the pass.
"Keep moving!" Levi's voice, sharp and strained, cut through the din of battle. "Don't look back! Dola, keep them moving!"
Riku, Black March humming faintly in his hand, deflected a lunge from a smaller shadow creature, the needle-thin blade surprisingly effective at disrupting its form. His gaze was fixed on Levi and Igris, calculating angles, anticipating movements, ready to direct Igris or intervene if needed. Honami, positioned just behind the initial wave of villagers, was a picture of focused calm, her sapphire eyes scanning the environment, her mind already assessing potential escape routes if the line broke.
The battle was fierce, a desperate dance of steel and shadow against the backdrop of the panicked exodus. Just as Levi drove his blade through the core of another creature, and Igris dispersed two more with a sweeping strike, a sudden, blinding flash of silvery light lanced down from the heavens.
It wasn't sunlight. It was pure, incandescent energy, raining down upon the battlefield. Where the light touched the shadow creatures, they didn't dissipate or rend apart – they simply ceased. One moment they were snarling, attacking forms; the next, they were gone, dissolving into nothingness as if they had never existed, leaving behind only faint wisps of grey ash that scattered on the wind.
The fight was over.
The light faded as quickly as it appeared, leaving behind an unnerving silence. Levi and Igris paused mid-strike, their weapons lowered, their sharp gazes fixed on the sky. The villagers, who had instinctively shielded their eyes, slowly lowered their arms, their fear momentarily replaced by stunned bewilderment.
Igris materialized instantly beside Riku, his crimson armor gleaming, spectral blades held ready, head tilted, sensing the sudden absence of targets. But Riku barely registered his knight. His gaze was fixed upwards, wide and dilated, reflecting the sliver of impossible light still filtering through the leaves. A name, heavy with ancient fear and Rio's ingrained terror, tore from his throat, a ragged whisper that held the weight of extinction.
"F-Flugel…"
There was only one. Descending from the heavens with a grace that mocked the struggle below. She was breathtakingly beautiful, ethereal in a way that defied mortal description. Long, flowing hair the color of pure moonlight cascaded around a face sculpted from dreams. Delicate, translucent wings, edged with silver, caught the light, fluttering with silent power. An intricate halo, shimmering with celestial energy, hovered above her head, and a subtle sigil pulsed on her forehead – the mark of her terrifying race, the Old Deus's favored instruments of destruction. She landed lightly on a low branch, her movements fluid and effortless.
"Hello, 'hoomans'." Her voice was like wind chimes made of starlight, melodious and unsettlingly cheerful. It carried a casual, almost patronizing amusement, other than this she was trying to act cute.
But before she could complete her descent to the forest floor, a sudden, unexpected sound cut through the air behind her – the sharp thwack of anchors finding purchase, the high-pitched hiss of compressed gas. She turned, head tilting in mild surprise, moonlight-colored hair swirling around her.
There.
In that fraction of a second, a figure launched from the trees at impossible speed, a dark blur propelled by gas-powered gear. Igris, already beside Riku, could have covered the ten meters to her position with a single leap, a killing blow ready. But he was waiting. Waiting for Riku's command, his Master's will the only trigger he needed.
It wasn't Igris. It was Levi. He had been fifty meters away just moments before, a grim shadow covering the rear of the straggling column, unnoticed amidst the chaos of the shadow creature fight. Now, he was here. A phantom of lethal efficiency.
And now, as the Flugel turned, alerted by the sound but not fully oriented, Levi Ackerman, humanity's strongest soldier, was there.
He struck. His twin blades, gleaming silver, were aimed with surgical precision at her eyes. He didn't hesitate, didn't falter. This was Levi's domain: closing the distance, striking with lethal intent.
His blades found their mark. The points struck the shimmering gold of her eyes. But instead of piercing, of finding soft flesh and vulnerable organs, Levi felt… nothing. No resistance, no impact, like striking solid diamond, or perhaps nothing at all.
What the hell? The thought flashed through Levi's mind, a raw, visceral shock beneath his battle-hardened exterior. He had hit vital points on countless enemies, seen them fall. This… this felt like attacking a diamond with a butter knife. Worse. It felt like the concept of his attack was being negated.
The Flugel's slender arm rose, moving with blinding speed, a casual attempt to swat him out of the air. But Levi was already gone, the hiss of his gear echoing as he vanished, reappearing instantly behind her, targeting the delicate, translucent wings. His blades flashed again, a desperate, rapid series of slashes.
Zing. Zing. Zing.
Another horrifying non-impact. His blades scraped against the iridescent surface of her wings, leaving no mark, no tear, not even disturbing the delicate glow. It was like trying to cut moonlight.
The Flugel turned, her movements smooth and impossibly fast, anticipating his vector, her hand reaching out to grab. But Levi was quicker, years of dancing around titans, of pushing his gear to its absolute limits, had honed his reflexes to a razor's edge. He twisted, the hiss of his gas a sharp exhalation, getting behind her again. One last desperate, ingrained tactic.
He aimed for the nape. The one guaranteed weakness of the giant horrors from his world. The place where the spinal cord met the brain, the only sure kill. His blades came together, a single, focused strike aimed at the back of her slender neck.
TINK.
A faint, bell-like sound. No satisfying crunch, no spurt of blood. Just a tiny spark as steel met something utterly impenetrable.
This time, the Flugel moved not just swiftly, but with an almost playful grace. Her hand shot out, not to grab Levi, but to snag the thin wire of his ODM gear. With a faint hiss of air and a snap of strained metal, the wire was pulled taut and then cleanly severed from the gear, the connection point stressed but unbroken thanks to the System's assurance of the equipment's indestructibility. Levi felt the sudden, jarring loss of tension, his lifeline temporarily gone.
Levi plummeted, the sudden loss of propulsion jarring. Before he could hit the ground, a strong, armored hand caught him. Igris. The crimson knight stood solid and silent, a constant, reliable presence.
The Flugel descended the remaining ten meters, landing lightly on the disturbed earth near them, dusting off her crimson uniform with an almost fastidious air. She looked at Levi, a curious, slightly amused expression on her face.
"Oh, Levi," she said, her voice tinkling with that unsettling cheerfulness, "did you really think you could take me down by hitting my nape? Honestly, darling, I'm flattered by the assumption, but… I'm not a titan."