Fang slowly sat back while cracking his shoulders and back, laughing in enjoyment, like Arthur’s assault did nothing more than crack his hardened joints.
"You... what are you?"
Even Arthur was left stunned, petrified in his place. He was freeing his arms from the fanged chains, but now... as he stared at Fang’s unbruised body and blood-red, fiendish eyes, he felt like the moment he touched the chains, he would be done for...
"Me?"
Fang stood up while cracking his neck and then stepped forward, uncaring that the spinning rope was about to flip them upside down.
With both of them suspended over the abyss and wind roaring past them, Fang slowly lifted his head and leaned closer.
"I am only a messenger," he murmured, his voice low, but Arthur heard him loud and clear. "And unfortunately for you and your friends... my message is written in blood."
Arthur felt a shiver course down his spine as he gazed at Fang’s sinister gaze, understanding at last what had set off Levi’s instincts... he took a step back reflexively, but alas.
It was already too late.
A blink.
All it took was a blink... and the whole narrative returned to its original script.
Fang left a mere blur as his enormous hand appeared instantly in front of Arthur’s face and took hold of it... Fang’s palm engulfed Arthur’s skull, claws digging into the stone layer that protected the back of his head.
Arthur’s vision flashed white under the impact... before he could form a thought, Fang pulled him free from the rope’s surface!
Arthur’s artifact boots tried their best to keep their anchors affixed on the surface. Alas, Fang’s strength was unquestionable.
The next second, he was lifted effortlessly into the air... or in this case, he was left dangling upside down after their world inverted.
As Arthur hung upside down, suspended by nothing but Fang’s crushing grip and chained weapons, his heart sank to the bottom of his stomach... he felt the howling wind assault him nonstop, resembling calls from the abyss that stretched endlessly below him.
Fang extended his arm slowly, holding Arthur over the void as if presenting him to it... Arthur tried his best to move, holding Fang’s arm with everything in him.
But all he got in return was intense agony as Fang’s fingers tightened around his skull. The pressure intensified to a horrifying degree. It felt as though a vice were closing around his skull, compressing bone and stone alike.
Arghh...
Fine cracks began to spread across the petrified layer protecting his head, forcing Arthur to gasp... but the air barely reached his lungs. He kept getting weaker, his legs kicking once, twice, while his hands clawed weakly at Fang’s wrist.
He couldn’t even think properly anymore... the crushing force was too strong, he was acting purely on survival instincts.
’I... I can’t... I can’t... hold it...any...long...er.’
As Arthur’s fingers twitched, his muscles spasmed, and the resistance drained from him; his eyes rolled back, and his lips foamed.
He was a split second away from losing his consciousness... in that brief window, Arthur heard his big brother’s voice in his mind.
’Are you leaving me alone already, Arthur?’
He didn’t know if Levi truly said this to him or if it was his subconscious’s last-ditch attempt to save him... whatever it was, the instant Arthur heard it, his heart began pounding nonstop. His cloudy eyes cleared up a little, and the intense pressure applied to his forehead seemed to lessen.
"Still got that dog in you, not bad." Fang smiled briefly, but then he shook his head as he applied more force, "Too bad... It’s useless."
No hesitation, Fang let go of his hand while freeing Arthur from his chained weapon... he did it while glancing in Levi’s direction with a faint smirk, like he was telling him to enjoy the show from there.
The Bishop had invested heavily to put them in this game for the sake of breaking Levi and fueling his hatred... a simple killing wouldn’t do the trick.
He wanted him to enjoy the sight of his brother’s demise without him being able to do anything about it... on top of the rope, the Rifters could help each other, even the ones still not in the game. However, during a free fall, no one could help the victim but the ones on top of the rope.
This was the reason Korr’Zhael was devoured by the abyss without his allies offering any help, even when he was so close to them.
’Hmmm?’
However, when Fang glanced in Levi’s direction, he failed to see a hint of concern on his face... even though they were too far from each other, Fang took pride in his vision. He could see Levi’s features clearly.
He was neither concerned nor angered... he was freakishly calm.
Before Fang could think about it, his instincts tingled, warning him of an ambush... Just as he turned to face Arthur’s teammates’ previous position, he found Nurah’s icy cold face right in front of him.
She wasn’t alone... Shia, Tyrese, Michael, Blake, Rakai, and Nadal had all popped out of her shadowy, loose hair that surrounded Fang from every direction.
"Arthur!!! Catch!!!"
Tyrese stomached the sickly feeling of the shadow teleportation and hurled Shia’s crescent blade in Arthur’s direction!
The crescent glaive was linked to Shia via a sticky, gooey tentacle. With his immense strength, the glaive chased after Arthur like a debt collector.
Even when Arthur was weak, tired, in pain, and barely conscious, he caught Shia’s glaive with both hands after allowing it to pierce him in the shoulder to secure it. His vision was too cloudy to risk catching it freely.
The moment he caught it, Shia sprinted in the other direction from the spinning rope, going against the momentum to help her pull Arthur to safety faster and away from Fang!
Meanwhile, Nurah had already used her ultimate Shadow Puppetry to hold Fang in place using his own shadow... Tyrese and the others surrounded him, but kept their distance with stern and grim expressions.
After what happened, none of them dared to doubt Levi’s orders or question them anymore...
’Good work, now keep him contained using whatever is at your disposal... if not, prioritise your safety... do not think of him as a normal mercenary, I repeat, do not.’ Levi said sternly, his arms crossed above his chest.
The moment Levi realised that Arthur’s assault hadn’t harmed him, he understood just how tough a spot his little brother was in... he was so close to a monster, and worse, he was chained to him.
He discerned that if he ordered Nurah and the others to make a move to save him right away, it might end up killing him instead... so, he told them to stand by and wait for his orders, as he could feel that Fang’s intentions were more than just killing Arthur for the sake of the game.
The way he talked, the way he played with him, his immense strength, his battle experience, his non-existent information in the network, and most importantly, the peculiar feeling that resembled the Hound... so many clues led Levi to believe that Fang had more than meets the eye.
Yet, the final clue that gave him away was what he told Arthur about him being a messenger... Fang thought that only Arthur heard him, but Levi captured his ominous statement as well, despite the howling wind and the distance.
A single name popped into his head after connecting the dots: The Bishop.
Realising that Bishop Na’thir had sent his goons after him, Levi was almost certain that Fang wasn’t going to kill Arthur right away, but would choose the worst possible way to hurt him more than his little brother.
Dropping him in the abyss in front of him, while knowing that he couldn’t save him, was a fate crueller than a simple death.
Hence, Levi concocted a swift plan to save his little brother the instant Fang freed him from the chains... and good thing he had Nurah, Shia, and Tyrese, some reliable Daywalkers to put his brother’s rescue in their hands.
Levi lifted his head and gazed at the darkness of the sky with a deadpan expression... he couldn’t see him, but he was certain that the Bishop had a hand in this and was watching him right now.
’You couldn’t get me in the real world, you decided to infiltrate the games to kill my brother and friends?’ Levi tightened his brows coldly, ’What can I say... I expected nothing less from you.’