Chapter 80 - Arc 1 79 – A Madman

Noah looked up at his brother-in-law's current adorably foolish state and couldn’t stop his eyes and mouth from curving into a brilliant smile filled with affection, “I’m not hurt. My body is already fully healed.”

Seeing that incomparably beautiful smile, Levi felt as if he had been shot at again.

“That’s not what I meant...” Levi furrowed his eyebrows, “Your body has recovered, but it cannot change the fact that you almost... almost...” Levi swallowed hard and was unable to continue his words. Instead, he instinctively clutched at the smaller body lying on top of his as if holding for dear life.

“You too,” Noah retorted, “It wasn’t just me who nearly died. You did too. It wasn’t only me who was hurt, you were hurt too.”

Levi’s eyes locked with Noah’s.

How could those two limpid honey eyes still look so pure and clean, reflecting his image as clearly as a mirror?

How could those two lively and bright eyes gaze at him in the same way as before?

Levi’s heart clenched, and his expression fell, looking pained, “…It’s not the same.”

“The method of getting hurt is different. But the cause is the same - the terrorist attack.” Noah’s tone was soft but resolute. It was clear for all to see that he genuinely believed in every word he spoke.

‘Are you saying… you don’t blame me?’ Levi’s nose turned stuffy.

“We are the same,” Noah emphasized, “Both victims of the attack. Brother, don’t fall into the warped mindset of blaming the victim!”

What his baby said was right. Of course it was. Everything his baby said was always right.

But… but…

“Not the same,” Levi insisted.

He closed his stinging eyes, “...Painful,” his voice cracked, “It must have been very painful.”

Noah fell silent.

And Levi... Well, Levi wanted to bite off his own tongue for uttering something so stupid out loud. His brain must have cramped for him to make his baby recall that traumatic experience again!

And what was the purpose of his silly disagreement in the first place? Was he trying to remind his baby just how unpleasant and horrible it had all been? Make him realize that it was even more horrid than he remembered it??

Just how retarded was he, Levi?! Was he unsatisfied by getting his baby’s forgiveness so easily, or did he think that the agony he had gone through wasn’t enough of a punishment?! What was he doing asking to be further abused?!?

He was a moron, an absolute imbecile!

While Levi was dying inside, Noah was contemplating how to properly convey his thoughts. He wanted to reassure Levi that it wasn’t too painful, but if he said such a thing, it would sound too perfunctory. If he said it didn’t hurt, who would believe him?

He didn’t wish to dismiss or make light of Levi’s worries. He wanted to address them all, truthfully and wholeheartedly. Only then would Levi be able to lay them to rest.

“There are different kinds of pain in this world, some worse than others,” Noah spoke out. “For me, the worst kind of pain is the pain of losing a loved one.”

Levi stared at him silently, with the rims of his eyes red, and his lips pressed tightly together. Mn. There is nothing more painful than losing your most precious person.

“As for the physical pain...” Noah deliberated, “It wasn’t anything unbearable. It was a dull kind of pain, closer to discomfort than agony.”

Levi’s lips quivered; the inquiring sounds that came out of his mouth were choked up and unintelligible.

Feeling like his little heart would break watching his brother-in-law struggle to form words, Noah interjected, “It looked worse than it felt.”

Then he softened his tone to gently reassure, “It was like diving deep underwater. My eardrum popped quickly, and then the pressure wasn’t all that painful anymore.”

For a moment, Levi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. His heart bled for his darling, but he also felt a bit sweet inside and even a bit amused, ‘Baby... only you can make ruptured eardrums sound like a good thing...’ He helplessly looked at his darling’s sincere eyes and couldn’t say a thing.

Fine, since his baby could speak about it like that, it would seem that the incident hadn’t caused him a deep trauma.

That was great! Levi’s eyes moistened. That was really great! As long as his precious treasure could continue to be so lively, continue to direct those clear and limpid eyes at him, continue to smile so brightly, then everything was more than great!

But how could it possibly be as simple as that?

The little one made it sound like nothing had changed between them, like what happened today had no impact whatsoever. But how could something like that leave no trace behind?

Once you’ve experienced certain things, once you’ve seen certain things, you could no longer unsee them. No matter how much you try, you can no longer view them in the same light as before.

On the surface, it might look as if there was no change in their relationship. But what lay hidden underneath? A single crack or a whole spiderweb of fine cracks? Either way, if left unattended, the result would be the same - it would slowly widen over time until the damage could no longer be fixed.

Levi had experienced it first-hand. Many times. But none as clearly as when he had awakened his power.

People had always been afraid of his power, or rather, his family’s power. He had thought regardless of what mental power he awakened, nothing would change either way.

He had been wrong.

He hadn’t changed, but the way everyone viewed him had changed. This change wasn’t apparent at first. But with time, it became more and more evident until it could no longer be ignored.

Astar Levi was a person of high status that couldn’t be offended. He disliked company, had an unpleasant personality, was self-centered and petty. All of that was something everyone already knew.

But when a title of an S-rank Enforcer was added to his already intimidating package, it slowly twisted into horrifying.

It wasn’t due to what he could do, but rather, why he could do it.

What power one awakened depended on their most prominent personality traits. And a major factor influencing the rank of one’s power was the strength of that personality trait.

A Blazer’s rank was directly proportional to how hotheaded they were, a Shielder’s rank was directly proportional to how protective they were of their loved ones.

This was also why it was very rare to find an S and SS-ranked power users - people were made out of many personality traits, and rarely did they possess a trait that was stretched to the extreme. A person could be lazy and prone to procrastinating, but where would you find a person too lazy to go to the toilet or to eat when hungry?

Yet, he, Astar Levi, was one such extreme person. And those extreme traits giving him power were not the good kind.

He was stubborn, inflexible, and forceful in his methods. Oppressive and overbearing, a person who always had to have his way, who would rather break than bend, die than yield.

A person who couldn’t be reasoned with.

In other words, a madman.