Chapter 33 Move aside!
Levi remained unfazed as she stared at Elric, who struggled helplessly on the ground. She could barely comprehend what had just happened, or how she had suddenly become so powerful. She was completely consumed by a grief unlike anything she had ever felt before, and in that moment, she wasn’t acting of her own accord.
Elric struggled to catch his breath—not from the pain of the impact, but from the sheer force with which she had thrown him, as if he were nothing more than a bouquet of flowers. He had known a few people to possess supernatural powers, but he had never expected Levi to be among them. He had once thought he had imagined the glow in her golden eyes when she had thrown the bowl of hot water in anger as he tried to clean her wound. Now he realized she was no ordinary person…the rare color of her hair and eyes should have been a warning. Or, perhaps it was Elyon’s merciful way of cautioning him against causing a great calamity that could affect every soul in the kingdom.
Despite the fear brewing in his heart, he could not ignore her appearance at that moment. She was weaker than he had expected. Though she didn’t show it, he noticed how pale she had become. Her eyes were dim and sunken, and her lips… dry and whitish. She looked as if caught between life and death, struggling to hold her ground in the middle.
As he looked closer, he realized that blood was beginning to stain her garment from the wound on her right arm. It flowed down to her fingers and dripped to the ground, as if she had just been pierced. His worst fear had finally been confirmed, her wounds were surely infected, and she had already lost a significant amount of blood. As she bled further, she finally sighed, grimacing in pain and panting. Her injuries were far from superficial—the deer's antler had pierced deep into her flesh, reaching her bone. It was a miracle she had survived two days without proper medical care.
Levi gazed weakly at her arm. She felt the whole world start to spin and tried to hold herself up, but she was so weak that she fainted, falling to the ground.
"Levi!!" Elric yelled, raising himself from the ground. He managed to stand erect, but taking a step was another battle.
Just then, a group of seven priests dressed in temple garments walked into the prison yard. They were surprised to find the priestess unconscious on the floor, and even more surprised to see Elric looking as if he had seen a ghost. But they had a single job to do and did not want any distractions. One of the priests picked up Levi, carrying her in his arms, and together they all left the prison yard, heading for the altar where the sacrifice would take place.
Elric fell back to the ground, groaning. Who was he to challenge Elyon? Elyon wasn’t like any other god; no one could fool Him or even run from His sight. He, who appeared before His people in a pillar of fire, could not be beheld by any mortal. He could only hope and pray that the Almighty would spare the young priestess for her sins…she was so innocent and didn’t deserve to die in such a manner.
The altar, also known as the most sacred and consecrated place after the temple, was a heap of large stones located at the edge of the mountain, surrounded by fire torches. The living beings meant to be sacrificed were usually placed on the heap of stones to be slain, but in Levi's case, she was kneeling and tied by each hand to the poles that stood on both sides of her. Her head remained bowed as she was still unconscious, the ropes preventing her from falling face-first to the ground.
No mercy was shown to her despite her badly wounded arm, which was still bleeding—most likely from the strain of being tied to the poles. Her garment was already soaked in her own blood, and the people of the temple who had gathered to witness the sacrifice could only watch her with pity, silently hoping that her suffering would soon come to an end.
Lord Ezra, now dressed in his temple garment with golden embroideries, picked up a torch from the ground and climbed up the steps to the altar. He lowered himself before Levi and gently touched her hair. Several thoughts ran through his mind regarding the girl and the sacrifice. He could feel that the sacrifice was a measure meant to unlock something big and powerful, as stated in the prophecy, but he could not tell what it was. The Almighty was not only silent to everyone else but also to him.
No one knew the heart of Elyon, but Lord Ezra knew well that the night was not going to be an ordinary one. And to confirm his thoughts, he sighted an evil spirit flying toward him through the air, letting out a loud, shrieking cry. The spirit was accompanied by many others, all with the zeal to kill and destroy. They were spirits of darkness.
As the spirit drew near, Lord Ezra waited patiently until it was within his reach, and he grabbed it before it could get to Levi, for she was the one they had all come for. The spirit shrieked and screamed in fear, as it had never expected to lose its invisibility so suddenly and become tangible enough to be seized by a man. But the one standing before it was no ordinary man.
"Return to where you came from!" Lord Ezra commanded, but the spirit only struggled towards Levi. So Ezra raised it high and struck it against the altar ground. The ground cracked open like hell itself, and the spirit vanished into it.
The people of the temple had no idea what was going on or whom he was speaking to, except for the lords who were present, including Lord Tristan, who sat on a stool at the front of the crowd. He could feel and hear the evil spirits passing by.
Three other spirits of darkness, even more wicked and powerful than the first, charged at Ezra—but he grabbed them just as he had the first and sent them directly into hell. The action caused all the other spirits approaching Levi to halt immediately. They had never imagined that a man could possess such power—to open the gates of hell and send evil spirits back to where they belonged. Though they tormented the earth as territorial evil spirits, being sent to hell was what they feared most. It meant an eternity of confinement and torture.
"We are not here for you, Ezra! Move aside!"
A voice spoke from the crowd, loud enough for everyone to hear. They all turned to see who it was. Lo and behold, in the midst of the people stood a being radiating a black aura—like a black sheep among white. The people were utterly astonished, unable to fathom where the man had suddenly appeared from.
"Belial!!" Ezra snarled.