The forest had finally gone quiet.

The Golem's groaning had stopped, and so had the weak whimpers of the summoned Followers.

Levia walked a little behind Amon, her bare feet brushing through the moss. The air smelled of burnt wood and decay.

She found herself feeling strangely calm. Calmer than ever. Her constant anxiety was gone, and all that was left was a fluttering in her chest that rose every time he looked her way.

Levia stared at his back, at the faint purple glow seeping from his hand. It pulsed like a second heart.

"Hey…" she finally said, voice soft. "Can I ask you something?"

Amon only turned slightly, inviting her to continue.

"I could sense two sources of corruption earlier," she went on. "You, and another," she frowned faintly, "Do you have anything to do with it?"

Amon glanced at his hand. "I suppose." He muttered. "I am linked to it. Or rather, it is linked to me."

He stopped walking and raised his hand slightly, the faint violet glow painting his face in the dark as he pulled on the knot around his hand.

"Azaroth's Heart," he said, presenting it. "In all its glory."

Levia blinked. "Seriously…?"

He nodded. "Yes."

She took a hesitant step forward, eyes wide. "Can I… see it?"

"Sure."

Amon unwrapped the cloth around his hand. The Black Stone gleamed faintly, veins of light pulsing through it like blood under pale skin. The glow wasn't stable. It throbbed, twisted, and shifted as if following the rhythm with Amon's heartbeat.

Levia inhaled sharply, hands instinctively pressing against her chest. "Is that… Really it?"

"Hm." Amon frowned. "You can't tell?"

"I suppose… I would have to touch to be sure."

"It might react badly if you try to pull energy from it." Amon said, turning away.

"Why do you say that?" Levia asked, tilting its head.

"It tried to bite back when I took it for myself."

Levia stared silently for a moment.

"You… You did to Azaroth's Heart the same thing you did to my Golems and Followers? You absorbed it?"

"That's right. It's part of my body now."

"Ha…" Levia chuckled nervously. "It's no wonder it tried to bite back then… But, wait, you tried to absorb it, it challenged you, and you came out victorious?"

"You could say that."

"You shouldn't even be able to hold it," she whispered. "The Dark Magic and Corruption should have eaten through your veins by now. "

"Guess it likes me." Amon shrugged.

"No… it doesn't just like you." Levia's eyes narrowed. "It's bound to you. You've proven worthy of wielding it. It has accepted you as its Master."

"What else can you tell me about it? The Heart, or about Azaroth?"

Levia frowned weakly. "Gathering information or intel on Azaroth is pretty much impossible. Too many lies and fictional tales have been created and spread over the centuries. No one can tell what is fact or fiction anymore. The only way of doing so would be to converse with a being as old as Azaroth is."

"What do you know?" Amon asked as he took a seat on a fallen tree trunk.

Levia was about to sit next to him, but he tapped his thigh.

Her gaze moved up and down from his thigh to his face.

"R-Really?" She asked with a timid smile.

He tapped his thigh again, and Levia took a seat on his lap.

"..." She was sitting awkwardly with her arms crossed and her back perfectly straight and away from him.

His left hand gently lay on her shoulder, pulling her closer, while his right hand rested on the top of her head, caressing her hair.

Levia, unused to so much physical contact and affection, couldn't help but feel shy.

Amon enjoyed her presence, and her touch.

Thanks to the Black Stone, he could endure her draining some of his Life Force. From the moment she had first touched him, Amon could feel the effects of her touch. It was intoxicating, pleasurable, and only very slowly drained his Endurance. It would take a while for her to drain his Endurance completely, and Amon theorized that the Black Stone was either blocking a large portion of her ability or carrying most of the burden.

Levia coughed as a way to ignore her own shyness.

"Most scripture regarding him is recorded in ancient languages that cannot be read by most nowadays. I've searched for people able to read them, but it was mostly unfruitful. My search led me to the Black Church of Jarath, which I infiltrated. They quickly accepted me, and bowed to me as their High Priestess." She explained. "Anyways, Azaroth is one of the five Demon Kings recorded in history. He was King of all Demons, but he was also referred to as King of the Dead, or Lord of Death."

"That makes sense." Amon whispered, playing with Levia's hair.

According to everything he had seen with the Corrupted Draconic Spawn, the titles seemed to fit.

"As the Lord of Death, Azaroth is said to have vanquished Death. He is said to be immune to all harm and injury, fatal or not."

This made sense too, as Amon had seen the Corrupted Draconic Spawn's extraordinary healing powers using Corruption.

'It was a different thing once I got rid of its Corruption though.' He thought with a chuckle.

"The various kingdoms and powers at the time were forced to make an alliance to keep him from obtaining the world, and sealed him."

"I'm guessing that his power was split into different body parts or artefacts, including this so-called Heart."

Levia relaxed further, letting her back fall on his body, and the back of her head rest on his shoulder.

She raised her chin so as to look at his face while he played with her hair.

"The fact that you were able to absorb his Heart makes no sense." Levia whispered, tenderly staring at his face. "For being able to do so, you might be an existence even greater than Azaroth."

Amon lowered his gaze to meet hers.

He smiled, leaning closer.

"Comparing me to your previous crush, huh?" Amon whispered.

She immediately leaned closer, lips parting.

"Sure," He chuckled, his lips brushing hers. "As long as you think that I'm better."

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