Meanwhile, Levi stepped through the white sphere like a ghost passing through mist... he didn’t know why, but he felt that in the void, he was untouchable, unbreakable, unkillable. Not even the laws of Erasure could erase the embodiment of Nothingness.
Once Levi stepped inside, the noise of chaotic chatter shaped up his world again... It showed him Jasmine sitting in the corner on top of a piece of hardened ink while Arthur and the girls were taking care of her.
Tyrese and Evangeline were sitting in different corners with whatever was left of their teammates, seemingly mourning quietly.
Although Levi saw his brother alive and friends, he didn’t seem to feel any sense of happiness or relief... it was like he was incapable of feeling such emotions while in his Void Form.
He just watched and listened to their discussion, his presence absolutely undetected in the dim lighting within the dark sphere.
"It’s time to leave... we can’t see what’s going on outside the white sphere, and we shouldn’t overstay our welcome." Tyrese suddenly said with a deep sigh, "We have lost too much... let’s cut our losses short and honor Jasmine’s help."
"We don’t know if we are still inside the emperor’s dominion or not..." Evangeline said solemnly, "We should use only one dimensional gate to test the waters."
Tyrese and Mira nodded in agreement, knowing that dimensional gates were useless inside a Dominion... so, without knowing for sure about their current situation, they couldn’t just waste them.
That’s one of the reasons they hadn’t already used one... the other one?
"What about Levi..." Arthur uttered coldly, "If you think I am leaving him behind, then think again."
"Ponytail... I know you care about your brother and I respect it." Tyrese shook his head, "But, it’s time for you to accept your reality... Levi is either dead by now or he has already used the dimensional gate to leave the site. In either case, you can’t find out the truth unless you leave."
Arthur went silent... he knew that his brother would never leave the site unless he checked on them first, regardless of what it took. So, he felt like he was still around even when he knew that it was simply impossible, considering that the planet was getting devoured as they spoke.
But, Levi wasn’t any ordinary Daywalker, and he understood this... so, what seemed impossible to others, Levi could do it... he just knew it.
However, when he looked at Jasmine’s current state, he couldn’t help but grit his teeth... Jasmine’s entire appearance became an anomaly they had no explanation for, just like what she did inside the Dominion.
Her body pure white... hair, skin, and even her clothes drained of color. Once in a while, she convulsed like she was having a seizure while her skin, clothes, and hair started displaying colors: red, yellow, green, blue... no color left untouched.
She wasn’t unconscious... her eyes were wide open, matching each color with a certain emotion shown in them. When they tried to talk to her through signs, she remained silent.
They didn’t know what was going on with her, but everyone could tell... she broke apart.
"Jojo, Nurah, Shia... please take Jasmine and leave with them." Arthur suddenly uttered, "I will stay behind and wait for Levi."
"Are you dumb?" Nurah narrowed her eyes coldly, "Arthur... whether Levi is dead or alive, staying here is going to achieve nothing but make matters worse."
"She is right... if Levi used the dimensional gate, and you stayed here, you will be doing nothing but getting yourself killed and breaking his heart." Jojo backed her up, "We are just as worried about Levi as you, but get a grip... you are a Daywalker, act like it."
"I know... I know it’s stupid, I know it’s wrong, believe me... I know." Arthur smiled bitterly, his eyes reddening a little, "But, I can’t... I just can’t... I can’t leave him behind... he is all I have left."
His voice shook at the last word, leaving everyone silenced at the heaviness behind it... He clenched his fists, trying to stop them from shaking.
"You don’t understand," he whispered, his throat drying up. "He’s the one who kept me going when everything else fell apart. When our parents died... when I thought our lives were over... it was Levi who dragged me back every single time even when he was dealing with his own demons... Everyone thinks that I was his rock when he was being tormented by the nightcrawlers in our childhood, but that’s false... he was my rock when our lives fell apart, and I was burdened with the guilt of not being there for either of them."
Arthur took a shaky breath, his chest heaving as if holding the tears back was harder than breathing itself.
"If I leave him now... what kind of brother would that make me?"
The silence deepened, his words left everyone’s heart heavy... and yet, it wasn’t even close to what Arthur was feeling at the moment.
They could use all the excuses and conviction methods in their disposal to make Arthur understand that leaving was the right call... but, it really wasn’t as easy as it seemed to Arthur.
They could tell that Arthur was struggling immensely with the decision to just run away without knowing what happened to Levi.
"He’s always been the one to protect me," Arthur said softly, almost to himself now. "This time... it’s supposed to be my turn."
"Arthur... I am your big brother, it’s always my turn to protect you..."
Suddenly, everyone’s instincts tingled in fear after hearing a cosmic detached voice resound in their ears... some of them stood up and others summoned their weapons, their expressions hardened.
That’s when Levi stepped into the light... his void form tried to devour the dim light, but Levi stopped it with his will, making the light bend around him akin to a humanoid black hole.
The moment they saw him... everyone froze, their faces gone pale with fear. Levi didn’t blame them... to see an entity clouded in darkness head to toe inside such a tight space would scare anyone straight.
Thus, he decided to put their minds at ease by pulling the dark void away from his face, and revealed himself.
"Huh?"
"Levi?"
"It can’t be..."
The moment they saw his detached expression... their eyes thinned in disbelief, incapable of believing what their eyes were feeding them.
They could see that it was Levi, but they refused to believe it... his detached expression and current form made it simply impossible.
But, the same wasn’t for Arthur... the instant he saw his brother’s visage, he covered his face with his hands and started laughing and at the same time weeping.
"I knew you wouldn’t leave... I knew it..."
He didn’t care about Levi’s current form or his appearance... he didn’t even ask questions about what happened to him. Just the sight of his brother alive and here was enough for him.
"Leave? The Larsons don’t forsake each other." Levi replied, his mouth seemed to desire to smile, but it simply couldn’t.
Noticing this, Levi didn’t force it anymore... before anyone could rain down on him with questions, Levi looked at them and then said quietly, "Use the dimensional gate... leave. I will catch up to you soon after I deal with the Pharaoh."
Arthur was the first to nod his head in understanding... he wiped his tears and extended a fist in Levi’s direction, "Give him hell... for us, for the fallen, for Jasmine."
"And hell he shall receive..." Levi extended his darkened fist, but he didn’t tap it with his brother’s... just the gesture was enough for them.
No hesitation or care about the others’ still stunned expressions, Arthur walked to Tyrese and smacked him lightly on the cheek, waking him from his daze.
"Let’s go." He said solemnly.
"Y.. Yes."
Tyrese was still utterly confused and a bit fearful of Levi... so, he was just looking for an excuse to dip. The others shared the same sentiment, but the girls.
They were also somewhat scared of Levi’s current appearance, but they could tell... he meant them no harm, and for now... it was enough.
The moment Tyrese manifested the nocturnal contract, he willed for the dimensional gate to appear and so it did. It manifested on the inked spherical wall as an unstable spiral.
"Let’s go quickly before it collapses... the spatial disturbances are too heavy on it." Evangeline intoned sternly.
However, before anyone could move, they found themselves frozen in place... everyone immediately gazed in Levi’s direction in dread, knowing that it must be him.
And they were right.
"My apologies... but what happened in this ancient site, must stay here, for everyone’s sake."