Forsaken By The Gods, I Made A Contract With the Demon King

The weight of the world pressed down on Levi's shoulders, every movement a Herculean effort against the relentless pull of the gravitational field.

Sweat trickled down his brow, muscles trembling with exertion as he fought to maintain his stance. The vibrant purple aura of Lunacy swirled around him, pulsing in sync with his ragged breaths.

'This is insane,' Levi thought, gritting his teeth.

The combined pressure from his Lunacy and the gravitational pull made it seem like he was bench-pressing the whole planet!

As he struggled to keep his footing, Levi became acutely aware of a change in his Lunacy ability.

The familiar drain on his essence had intensified as if the evolution had cranked up the power consumption to eleven. Yet, with this increased drain came a newfound potency.

The mind-affecting aura seemed more concentrated, and more importantly, it was more... controllable.

Focusing his thoughts, Levi experimented with directing the aura.

To his amazement, he found he could now contain it within specific areas of the gravitational field. The purple mist coalesced into distinct shapes at his mental command, forming swirling patterns in the air around him.

'Okay, that's pretty cool,' Levi admitted to himself, a small grin tugging at the corners of his mouth despite the strain.

'But let's see what else this can do.'

Raising his head, Levi looked towards the growing crowd of students surrounding the gravitational room.

As his eyes met theirs, an overwhelming pressure suddenly enveloped his mind, and he regretted even looking up.

The world before him was fragmented, splintering into a kaleidoscope of images.

Levi blinked hard, trying to make sense of the visual chaos.

It was as if reality had shattered into countless pixels, each one showing a slightly different version of the scene before him. He saw a student raising her hand, another turning his head, and someone else taking a step forward – all simultaneously, yet somehow separate.

"What the hell?" Levi muttered, his voice strained with effort and confusion.

It took several long, disorienting moments before the realization hit him like a bolt of lightning. These weren't random images – they were glimpses of the future. Each 'pixel' showed a potential movement, a fraction of a second before it actually occurred.

As if triggered by this epiphany, a familiar voice resonated in Levi's mind – the voice of providence that he had not heard in a while.

[Your innate ability - Lunacy, has been strengthened!]

With those words, the oppressive weight bearing down on Levi suddenly lessened.

The fragmented visions coalesced, becoming clearer and more distinct as if the providence itself had helped him with ability.

Now, he could easily differentiate between the current reality and the fleeting glimpses of what was to come.

'Holy crap,' Levi thought, his heart racing with a mixture of excitement and disbelief.

'I can see the future. I can actually see the freaking future!'

As he focused on the visions, Levi realized the extent of his newfound ability.

The glimpses weren't far-reaching prophecies or long-term predictions. Instead, they showed him the immediate future – perhaps only a tenth of a second ahead. But in a world where split-second decisions could mean the difference between victory and defeat, even this short foresight was invaluable.

"This is... this is insane," Levi whispered, watching as a student's movement matched exactly with the vision he'd seen a moment before.

"How is this even possible?"

The possibilities raced through Levi's mind.

In combat, he could anticipate his opponent's moves before they made them. In everyday life, he could avoid accidents, catch falling objects, or simply impress people with seemingly superhuman reflexes.

But as the initial shock and excitement began to fade, a new thought occurred to Levi. If this was what he could do now, with his ability so new and untrained, what might be possible with practice? Could he push the Lunacy further?

Determined to test the limits of his evolved Lunacyt, Levi redoubled his focus.

He pushed against the boundaries of the visions injecting all his essence into the paths that Lunacy led, willing it to show him more.

The strain was immediate and intense, like trying to force his eyes to see beyond the horizon.

Sweat beaded on Levi's forehead as he concentrated, the purple aura of Lunacy flaring brighter in response to his efforts.

The fractured images before him began to shift, expanding outward. Where before he saw only a tenth of a second into the future, now he glimpsed two-tenths, then three.

'Come on,' Levi urged himself, pushing harder.

'Show me more.'

The visions continued to extend, reaching half a second, then a full second into the future. But with each increment, the drain on Levi's essence intensified. His muscles trembled, not just from the gravitational field, but from the sheer mental exertion of maintaining and expanding his Lunacy.

Just as Levi thought he couldn't push any further, something unexpected happened.

This time, the pixels didn't show the images further into the future. Instead, the fractured images multiplied suddenly, splitting into countless parallel visions. Each one revealed a slightly different future, branching out like the limbs of an endless tree.

Levi gasped, overwhelmed by the onslaught of information. He saw dozens of potential futures playing out simultaneously – in one, a student tripped and fell, in another, the same student caught themselves just in time. He saw conversations that hadn't yet started, actions not yet taken, decisions not yet made.

'It's not just the future,' Levi realized with a start. 'It's all possible futures!'

The moment Levi realized that - something happened!

Within himself, something began to change - Levi didn't know what it was but he knew that it was important to focus on this movement.

He didn't think further as he concentrated all his essence into his eyes and pushed Lunacy as much as he could!

Blood started to drip down his eyes, but that was not important!

Because at that moment, the familiar voice of Providence echoed in Levi's mind once again.

[You have obtained a crest, Fractured Fate]

---***---