The next morning, Levi hopped to his feet. He dusted off his hands and looked around. “Up and at ‘em! We’ve got a fresh set of cannibals to kill!”

  Isa yawned and stretched, catlike in her indolence. “No rush. They aren’t going anywhere.”

  “They might be! Kai and Vox are out there. Out there, killing cannibals! If we don’t get out there right now, they’ll kill all the cannibals, and then where will we be?”

  “Waiting for the next respawn? Taking a shot at the boss for free?”

  “We’ll be cannibal-free and no EXP stronger! We—wait, what was that about the boss?”

  Isa nodded. She gestured toward the village. “When you kill all the cannibals, the boss appears. I don’t know if you need to kill all the level two cannibals, but I know you need to kil all the level threes.”

  He waved his hand. “Eh, we can leave the level twos to Kai and Vox. They’ll probably do it. Kill all the cannibals… good. I was planning to do it anyways, but now I’m really planning to do it.”

  “I’m glad to hear that,” Isa said.

  “And then, we kill the boss.”

  Colin applauded. “Great plan.”

  “And then… the world.”

  Isa raised a brow. “Maybe we start with fighting Vox?”

  “Well, he’s the center of the world, or whatever he called himself. Vox Centromundi. So, you know. He’s kind of the world.”

  “He’s the world because he says he’s the world? I’m a god, then,” Isa declared.

  “Goddess, slay, goddess,” Levi said, giving her a thumbs up.

  She looked at Colin for a translation. Colin shook his head. “I don’t know what he’s doing. It must not have been a thing in my world.”

  “Or you’re just a square and don’t want to admit it. Come on, let’s go. We’ve got cannibals a-waitin’, and daylight’s burning.”

  Levi took the lead. Isa and Colin followed close behind. They made quick time back to the close overlook, where Levi paused. He surveyed the town, then lifted his head, searching further out.

  “Are there enough cannibals for the census, or will we have lower taxes this year, milord?” Isa asked.

  “I don’t think that’s how any of that works, but you were a lord so you’d know better than me. No, I’m checking for Vox or Kai. It’s been a day. One of them might’ve caught up.”

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  “Why are you checking for Kai?”

  “Because I abandoned him to Vox in that last battle.”

  “Are you sure he’ll hold that against you? You were obviously far weaker than Vox. He might not blame you for running,” Isa pointed out.

  Levi winced. “Frist off, ouch. It wasn’t that obvious. Second off, of course he will. He’s Kai. An edgelord of truly epic proportions, and an emo one at that. He’s so edgy that people want to root for him. How could he not hold it against me?”

  “Like you’re not an edgelord,” Colin said, rolling his eyes.

  “That’s the joke, Colin boy. But I’m not as edgy as Kai. How do I know? Because he’s way hotter than me.”

  “What?” Colin asked, lost.

  “Edgelords are hot. Girls love edgelords, boys love them, everyone loves them. But everyone hates me. I’m just a sad sack of shit, not a cool edgelord.”

  “Riiiight…” Colin glanced at Isa for help.

  Isa sighed. “Do you want to have a mental breakdown or—”

  “No. I want to kill some cannibals and stop thinking about this.” Levi clapped. “Let’s go!”

  “No, wait. Are you okay?” Colin asked seriously. He caught Levi’s shoulder.

  Levi giggled. “No. But I’m never okay, so it’s fine. Don’t worry! I was way more stable for way longer than I was expecting! So actually, I’m doing really good.”

  “Do you need meds, or something?” Colin asked. He glanced at Isa, then pulled Levi away a little, putting some space between them.

  “Gods only know. Probably. I didn’t take ‘em back home, either, so don’t worry about it.”

  Colin glanced at Isa, then back to Levi. “I have to worry. You’re our main fighting force. If you’re not okay, we should take some days off. You don’t have to push yourself—”

  Levi stepped back, putting distance between them. He shook his head at Colin, waggling his finger. “You don’t get it, do you? I need to push myself, or else I’m gonna implode completely. And if that happens, this time, there’s no easy way out. That isn’t permanent, anyways.”

  “What does that mean?” Colin asked, confused.

  “Fuck. This is all happening because I talked about him, isn’t it? Because I talked about killing him.” He rubbed his hands down his face and took a deep breath. “No, no, no. It’s okay. It’s okay.”

  “What’s okay?”

  Levi dropped his hands and beamed out from behind them. “I am! So let’s go!”

  “Levi—” Colin went to grab him, but Levi swayed away.

  He took the lead once more, striding down toward the cannibals with confidence. “Let’s goooo!”

  Isa stared after him, then snorted. “He reminds me of my father.”

  “Your father was…?” Colin paused, then, considering what she was saying. “They wouldn’t have had meds back then, would they.”

  “Mmm. I convinced him to speak to a trepanner, and he didn’t last long after that.” She eyed Levi’s back, a thoughtful look in her eyes.

  Colin noticed. He stepped out in front of her and spread his arms. “I don’t know what that means, but no.”

  She chuckled. A cold hand traced his jaw. “My, but you are adorable. If only you were alive, I would make such sweet love to you as I drank that sugar-sweet blood straight from the tap. Don’t worry. He isn’t my father. He’s never hurt me. And he couldn’t if he tried.”

  “You can drink my—”

  “No, Levi.”

  “Damn.”

  Colin hesitated, still blocking her way. “What if he could? Hurt you, I mean.”

  “Then you’d better pray he doesn’t.”

  Levi turned back. He pointed at both of them, his eyes narrowed. “Motherfuckers, don’t be ridiculous. I’m many things, but abusive isn’t one of ‘em. I draw the line before hurting my friends.”

  “And your family?” Isa asked quietly.

  “Dunno how that’s relevant, but also no. Also, they’re all dead. Dead for a long, long fuckin’ time. So let’s keep the van rolling, and put all this depressing bullshit behind us, okay?”

  Colin stiffened. He shot a nasty look at Isa and hurried after Levi. “Sorry about that. I—neither of us meant to bring up bad memories.”

  “Nah. I mean, it was what, fifty-some years ago?” Levi waved it away.

  “It was…” Colin squinted at him. “Huh?”

  He glanced over his shoulder. “Oh, did I not tell you? I used to be immortal.”