"Die!"

The dagger thrust forward, aimed directly at Levi's heart!

Levi was caught off guard! An attack from someone they'd just saved, from within a crowd of victims, from a child no less—it was the perfect assassination.

"Pierce!"

The dagger stabbed directly into Levi's chest, the blade sinking several inches deep until the tip punctured his heart!

Blood spurted from the wound, splashing across the boy's face and the ground.

The civilian humans screamed in horror and scattered backward, creating a circle of empty space around Levi and his attacker.

"NO!"

"He saved us and—"

"That's a dark cultivator in disguise!"

The "boy" leaped backward, creating distance as a cruel smile spread across his innocent-looking face.

"Hahahaha! Foolish! So foolish!" His voice had changed completely—no longer the voice of a child, but that of an ancient, twisted old man. "Even with all your power, you're still just a naive little brat who let his guard down! That dagger was coated with Shadowvein Poison—lethal to even Peak Genetic Soldiers! Your heart is already being dissolved from the inside! You'll be dead in thirty seconds!"

The dark cultivator—who had disguised himself as a captive child using some kind of transformation technique—laughed maniacally. "I've lived for three hundred years! You think I wouldn't have escape plans? I've been waiting here for days, pretending to be one of the cattle, waiting for the perfect moment to—"

"Are you finished?" Levi interrupted calmly.

The dark cultivator's laughter cut off abruptly.

Levi reached up and grabbed the dagger still embedded in his chest. Then, without any sign of pain or distress, he pulled it out.

"Schlick!"

The blade came free with a wet sound. Blood dripped from the tip, but Levi's expression remained completely neutral.

"What…?" The dark cultivator's face went pale. "But the poison… the heart… you should be—"

"Sizzle."

Steam erupted from Levi's chest as his regeneration activated!

The hole in his torso began to close immediately, flesh knitting back together at visible speed. His punctured heart reformed, cardiac tissue regenerating in seconds. Within ten heartbeats, the wound had sealed completely, leaving only a small scar that was already fading.

"Impossible!" the dark cultivator shrieked. "No one below Fiend Warrior realm can regenerate that fast! What kind of monster are you!?"

Levi didn't answer that question either.

Instead, he tossed the dagger aside and spoke a single word.

"Poison."

The dark cultivator frowned in confusion. "What?"

"Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!"

Suddenly, green liquid began seeping out of Levi's pores—his body was actively expelling the Shadowvein Poison that had been introduced into his bloodstream!

The poison dripped onto the stone floor, and where it landed, the rock began to melt and disintegrate with a horrible hissing sound. Small craters formed as the concentrated toxin ate through solid stone like acid.

[Poison Resistance (Level 7) activated]

[Toxin identified: Shadowvein Poison]

[Neutralization in progress…]

[Toxin expelled successfully]

The dark cultivator's face went from pale to ashen as he watched his supposedly lethal poison being casually removed from Levi's system.

"This… this is…"

Levi took a single step forward.

That one step created more pressure than a mountain.

His Slaughter Marks activated fully, and his accumulated killing intent erupted like a tidal wave! The rune between his eyebrows blazed with crimson light so bright it cast shadows across the entire chamber!

The dark cultivator actually stumbled backward, his disguise technique failing under the pressure. His appearance flickered and changed—the innocent child form melted away, revealing his true appearance.

He was ancient. Withered. His skin hung loose on his bones like old leather. His eyes were yellowed and rheumy. His teeth were black and rotting. He looked like a corpse that had been walking around for decades past its expiration date.

"You… you can't kill me!" the ancient cultivator wheezed desperately. "I'm three hundred years old! I've survived the Demon Wars! I've—"

"I don't care," Levi said coldly.

His blade moved.

"Slash!"

One perfect horizontal cut.

The ancient cultivator's head separated from his body so cleanly that it took a moment for either piece to realize they were no longer connected.

The head hit the ground and rolled several times before coming to rest facing Levi, its expression frozen in shocked disbelief.

The body stood upright for three full seconds before finally collapsing.

Levi stared at the corpse without emotion, then cut off its left ear and stored it in his spatial ring.

Another confirmed kill.

He turned back to the gathered civilians, who were all staring at him with a mixture of terror and awe.

For a moment, nobody spoke.

Then one of the older men—someone who looked like he might have been a soldier before being captured—stepped forward and dropped to one knee.

"Thank you, young master. You've saved our lives."

The other captives followed suit, those who could stand dropping to their knees, those who couldn't bowing their heads where they sat or lay.

"Thank you!"

"Thank you for saving us!"

"Please, what is your name so we can remember our savior?"

Levi felt uncomfortable with the display but understood their gratitude was genuine. These people had been held captive for who knows how long, used as livestock, watching their companions be drained and killed one by one. Of course they would be grateful to whoever freed them.

"My name is Levi Borne," he said simply. "And you don't need to thank me. This is what anyone from the Federation would do."

That wasn't entirely true—Levi knew plenty of people who would have ignored this hidden prison or even tried to profit from it—but it seemed like the right thing to say.

"Now," Levi continued, his tone becoming more businesslike, "we need to get you all to the surface. Can anyone here not walk at all?"

About thirty hands went up, mostly elderly or severely wounded individuals.

Levi nodded. "Those who can walk, help carry those who can't. We'll move slowly to accommodate the weakest. Follow me, and stay together."

The civilians organized themselves surprisingly quickly. The stronger ones moved to support the weaker. Several people worked together to create improvised stretchers from broken cage pieces to carry the unconscious.

Within five minutes, the group was ready to move.

Levi led them toward the stairs, Luna perched on his shoulder and squeaking what sounded like encouragement.

The ascent was slow and difficult.

Many of the captives were so weak from blood loss that they had to stop every ten steps to rest. Others were injured and needed help climbing. The narrow stairway meant they could only go single-file, which further slowed the evacuation.

But Levi was patient. He maintained his position at the front of the group, his senses alert for any additional threats.

After twenty minutes of careful climbing, they finally emerged back into the ruined building where Levi had found the hidden entrance.

Sunlight streamed through the collapsed roof, and the fresh air—even polluted with dust and smoke from the battle—felt like paradise compared to the stale, blood-scented atmosphere of the underground prison.

Several of the freed captives actually started crying at the sight of the sky.

Levi gave them a moment to compose themselves, then spoke.

"We're not safe yet. The settlement is still being cleared of dark cultivators. I need to—"

"Levi?"

A voice called out from outside the building.

Levi turned to see Aldric standing in the doorway, his ice-blue robes dirty and torn from battle. The number-one student's eyes widened as he took in the scene—Levi surrounded by two hundred bloodied, malnourished civilians.

"What… what is this?" Aldric asked, though his tone suggested he'd already figured it out.

"Hidden prison," Levi replied simply. "They were being used as blood cattle. I freed them."

Aldric's expression hardened, a rare show of genuine anger crossing his usually cold features. "Those bastards…"

He stepped into the building and quickly assessed the situation. Then he pulled out his communication device and spoke into it.

"Aldric to all Elite students. We have approximately two hundred civilian survivors in the eastern residential sector. I need medical supplies and transportation coordinated immediately. Also, contact the academy and request medical personnel be ready at the extraction point."

A series of acknowledgments came through the device.

Aldric turned back to Levi. "Help is coming. The academy brought field medics with the extraction team—they'll be able to stabilize the seriously injured."

Levi nodded gratefully. "Thank you."

"No," Aldric said, meeting Levi's eyes. "Thank you. If you hadn't found them…" He didn't finish the sentence, but the implication was clear.

Over the next thirty minutes, other Elite students began arriving with supplies. Medical kits, water, food rations—everything that could help stabilize the freed captives until proper medical help arrived.

Several students looked shocked when they saw the conditions the prisoners had been kept in. A few looked sick. One girl actually had to step outside to vomit when she saw the needle marks covering some of the victims' arms.

But they all helped without complaint, distributing supplies and offering what comfort they could.

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