Chapter 167: You Just Made a Mistake
The four-armed demon lunged first. Both curved blades flashed toward Levi’s neck in a crossing arc meant to take his head off clean.
Levi did not step back. The golden barrier flared. The blades rang against it like they had struck solid iron and bounced wide. He stepped in, caught one of her lower wrists, and twisted. Bone cracked. She snarled and swung the remaining three arms in a furious blur.
’Predictable.’
Lucy was already moving. Her blade met the nearest of the lesser demons mid-charge and took his sword arm off at the elbow. The demon howled. Lucy kicked him square in the chest and sent him skidding across the ash.
"Next," she said, grinning.
Vespera raised one hand. Northern cold exploded outward in a tight cone. Two demons froze mid-step, ice racing up their legs and locking their joints. She walked past them without a second glance.
"Do not thaw them," she told no one in particular. "I like the quiet."
Serakel’s third eye blazed. A thin line of force sliced through the air and cut the weapons out of another demon’s hands as neatly as a tailor cutting thread. The demon stared at his empty claws. Serakel tilted her head.
"You were about to say something impressive. I could tell."
Isha laughed, bright and sharp. Her slime shot out in three whipping tendrils, wrapped a charging demon from ankles to throat, and slammed him into a nearby stall hard enough to collapse it. Bottled screams shattered. Actual screams joined them.
"I am very persuasive," Isha said cheerfully.
The Reverend Mother Superior sighed as if the entire fight were an inconvenience to her schedule. Holy light, still carrying the gold of the Sovereign mark, flared from her palms and simply erased the last lesser demon’s upper half. Ash and cinders drifted down.
"I preferred the origin layer," she muttered. "Fewer interruptions."
The four-armed leader was still trading blows with Levi. Every strike she threw met the golden barrier or his bare hands. He was not even breathing hard. When she overextended on a heavy downward cut he stepped inside, drove an elbow into her throat, and swept her legs out from under her. She hit the ash hard.
Levi placed one boot on her chest and looked down.
"Name."
She spat blood and glared. "Ravka. Street-boss of the lower ashways. You just made a mistake."
"No," Levi said. "You did."
The Sovereign Sigil pulsed. Gold light sank from his boot into her chest. Ravka’s four eyes went wide as the mark burned into her. Her remaining three functional arms went limp.
[Target: Ravka, Ashen Street-Boss]
[Desire Level: 0% → 100%]
[Claim Complete]
Ravka’s voice came out hoarse. "Master."
Lucy whistled. "That was fast even for you."
Vespera glanced around the plaza. Every demon who had been watching suddenly found the sky, the ground, or their own feet extremely interesting. A few of the smarter ones had already started kneeling.
Serakel’s third eye dimmed with satisfaction. "Word will move faster than we do. Good."
Isha reeled her slime back in, looking pleased. "I only broke one stall. I am showing restraint."
The Reverend Mother Superior looked at the smoking remains of the demon she had erased. "I am not."
Levi lifted his boot from Ravka’s chest. She stayed on the ground, waiting.
"Get up," he said. "You work for me now. Clear the main avenue. Tell every street-boss, stall-keeper, and knife-hand in the Ashen Bazaar that the Sovereign of Neverland is here and the old tithes are over. New rules start today. Anyone who wants to argue can argue with the five women behind me."
Ravka stood on unsteady legs and bowed low, all four arms folded across her chest. "It will be done, Master."
She turned and strode into the crowd, already barking orders in a language of growls and clicks. Demons scattered to obey.
Lucy spun her blade once and slid it home. "I like her. Very motivated."
Vespera watched the suddenly polite crowd with cool amusement. "Fear is an excellent motivator. Loyalty will take longer."
Serakel smiled slightly. "We have time."
Isha linked her arm through the Reverend Mother Superior’s without asking. "Come on, Holy Mother. Let us go find something expensive and unnecessary to take. I feel like shopping with authority."
The Reverend Mother Superior looked down at the slime-covered arm, then at Levi, then at the sky as if hoping for divine intervention that was no longer available.
"I am surrounded by chaos," she said.
Levi started walking deeper into the bazaar. The five women fell in around him. Gold light moved with them like a quiet announcement. Demons cleared the avenue in a widening wave. Stalls that had been selling cursed steel and bottled misery suddenly displayed their best wares. A few owners even attempted smiles. The results were mostly horrifying.
’Engaging is one word for it. The bazaar is already bending. The rest of Neverland’s free courts will hear about this before the next dark cycle ends.’
A wide square opened ahead of them, lined with taller towers of bone and scavenged metal. At its center a massive iron cage hung from a crane of fused spines. Inside the cage something large and angry slammed against the bars hard enough to make the whole structure sway.
Lucy’s eyes lit up. "Oh, that looks important."
Vespera’s voice was dry. "Or hungry."
Serakel tilted her head. "Either way, it is now our problem."
Isha clapped her hands once, delighted. "I love new problems."
The Reverend Mother Superior closed her eyes for a brief moment. "Of course we do."
Levi kept walking toward the cage, the corner of his mouth almost curving.
’Neverland keeps providing. Good.’
The Ashen Bazaar watched its new owner approach the center of the square, five dangerous women at his back, and decided—very wisely—to stay out of the way.
The iron cage swayed hard as whatever was inside slammed into the bars again. The crane of fused spines creaked. Demons around the square had formed a loose circle, close enough to watch but far enough to run.
Levi stopped ten paces from the cage. The five women spread out beside him.
Lucy tilted her head. "Whatever is in there is not small."