The fight wasn't over yet. But contrary to all the time that we fought, I could actually see its end drawing somewhat near.
'This feels strange,' I suddenly thought. 'This fight... no longer feels like one.'
Now that the three of us synchronized with each other, this battle no longer felt like a fight. It appeared more like a job in a factory when everyone did their bit.
The emotions turned into boredom. The danger of the monsters turned into the procedure of avoiding their attacks or depriving them of their power before their attack could even reach their target.
All in all, rather than like a fighter, I started to feel like some lowly worked in an exploitative factory out in the sticks.
And with that feeling prevailing over my soul, the fight finally drew to an end only to end as anticlimactically as it ever could.
"It's finally over," Levi commented as soon as he threw his last victim to the back for Mia to take care of. He then released the flow of spiritual energy through his spear, putting it down by his belt and stretching out.
My former master then brought his hands down and patted himself on the hips. Then and only then did he turn his eyes to the back to steal a glance at all the survivors we managed to pull out from their deranged spell.
"What are we going to do with them?" Levi then asked, turning his head over and looking at me.
"Over?" I asked, ignoring Levi's question and moving back to what he said before. "Do you really think it's over?" I asked, raising my eyebrows while giving my former master an amused look.
"Is it not?" Levi raised his eyebrows in surprise, taken aback by my suggestion.
"Oh, the fun part is only about to begin," I said while presenting a huge grin on my lips.
And then, Levi finally caught on.
"Right, you wanted me to become some sort of overpowered novice, didn't you?" he muttered, his enthusiasm visibly fading away.
"That's right," I said, nodding my head. Then, my own expression soured. "But that was the plan in the past," I admitted as I threw a worried look toward the survivors enclosed by the barrier of my warden's making. "I don't think it's the wisest idea to let you be distracted when they are all about to wake up."
I took a deep breath only to turn it into a heavy sigh.
"We have no idea how they are going to react upon waking up. But if their world is as brutal as this world is, there are likely not to just sit in tight and wait for us to finish our business."
"Guys," Mia joined in on the discussion as soon as she finished clearing the last of Levi's victims up from all the residual anti-mana that still stuck to their bodies.
Even though she worked hard for quite some time and without any breaks, she didn't seem to be exhausted at all. Instead, her face was bright, as if she managed to advance just by coming into contact with an abundant amount of the anti-mana.
'Wait a second,' I nearly froze before taking a closer look at Mia's aura.
And just like I guessed, it was different than it was before.
She didn't necessarily break through the bottleneck of her stage. That kind of change would be obvious even with a single, careless glance.
No, something was different. And yet, there was no way to deny that she was now far stronger than she was before.
'Maybe she got to refine her energy?' I attempted to guess, only to end up shaking my head. 'I can always ask her later about this,' I thought before dropping the topic and focusing on the problem at hand.
"Guys," Mia spoke out again to ensure she had our attention. "We already saw some of their kind waking up from their current state," she pointed out to the obvious fact I actually forgot about. "Once they wake up, they are going to not only be extremely confused but also unstable and..."
Mia cut her words short, turning her eyes right to my face and putting a wide smile on her delicious-looking lips.
"And weak," I finished for the girl, recalling all the details of when we saved the very first host of the monster.
Those who survived their world falling apart were those who used most of their power to construct the spell that acted like a shield. And while that shield protected them from the rifts in the space that they fell through to end up in this world, it ultimately turned into this warped form that made them into the monsters we just finished fighting with.
That was the theory. But now that I thought about it, didn't it also mean they were now lacking the great majority of the strength they once had? And even if what they had left would be enough to remain powerful enough to be potentially dangerous...
The drawbacks of the level of their power suddenly plummeting would make them confused and thus far less dangerous than they could ever be!
"So?" Levi then muttered while crossing his arms over his chest. "What are we going to do with them?" he asked, forcing me to come to some sort of a decision.
"I know they will be weaker..." I pursed my lips as I put my mind on high alert, trying to go through every possible scenario and risk factor.
I then heaved a deep, long sigh.
"Even if they will be weaker, I don't think it's wise to distract ourselves," I finally said as soon as I came to a decision.
Those survivors would be weaker for sure. But allowing Levi to go through the process of creating his own mana engine and then the world's lesson and retribution...
This would make both me and him far weaker than we were right now just as well!
"So, because of your mercy in the fight, now we are going to give up on what you've planned?" Levi asked, an annoyed expression surfacing on his face.
"As I said, I don't think it's wise to take this risk," I admitted, turning my eyes toward the survivors. "Especially with how they are all starting to wake up," I added.
Then, I weaved yet another sigh. "And yes, I believe their lives are more valuable than just this single opportunity for you to grow stronger," I then admitted, openly going against the very rule of thumb that reigned over this world of cultivation.
But to say that it was my malevolence speaking... would be a gross underestimation of just how evil the influence of my original world was.
"I can't believe you've said this," Levi admitted in a shocked voice, and his eyebrows raised in an expression of total disbelief.
"You might be too strong to notice this, but quite a lot of people died because of those monsters already," I pointed out to the factor that someone living outside of civilization like Levi would likely fail to notice.
"Who cares?" Levi, just like I expected, didn't really mind that fact. "The number of resources doesn't change. With fewer people, there are fewer cultivators to share them," he said with a shrug of his shoulders. "What made you so keen to save others, I wonder," he then added, lowering his eyelids and looking at me with a penetrating glare. "You weren't like that when I released you out to the world."
"That's right, I wasn't like that," I admitted freely and raised my hand to stop Mia who was getting heated over the lack of respect in Levi's voice. "And if you want to know what made me change," I muttered, only to put a small smile on my lips and then lean my entire head over my shoulder.
"You releasing me to the world as the slave to the contractors and my struggle to free myself combined with me traveling the lands..." I said all of that only to turn my head over my other shoulder. "I find those factors to be significant enough to make up an answer."
Levi opened his mouth, eager to refute my words... Only to end up closing them back up. Then, he averted his eyes.
After all, we both knew what it mean to become a contractor for the sect. And he was the one who put me on that path, even if he was only doing his job with that.
"I guess that makes sense."
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