Chapter 152: Each Their Own Stance (3)
“…….”
A faint crack appeared on Valdemar’s pale face.
His eyes turned to Windy May, who was smiling leisurely as if none of this made sense.
“……I’m not sure what you mean.”
His voice carried no emotion whatsoever.
There was no sign of panic on his face, yet Windy May only continued to smile.
“I meant exactly what I said. Your friend, Jode the Unyielding. That mutt missing an arm—where the hell did he go?”
“…….”
Valdemar was silent for a moment.
Still, no emotion showed on his face.
But his body, without a doubt, had tensed ever so slightly.
“……He stepped away briefly due to personal reasons.”
At last, he opened his mouth.
Windy May nodded as if impressed by his answer.
“Hm, oh. Personal reasons, is it?”
She quirked an eyebrow in amusement and asked,
“Then, would you mind telling me exactly what those reasons were?”
“I don’t know the details either.”
Valdemar replied immediately.
Unlike just moments ago, there wasn’t even a hint of disturbance in his demeanor.
“He and I stand on equal footing, not in a superior-subordinate relationship. I have no reason to be informed of his every move. That’s why I didn’t ask further.”
“Hm.”
Windy May snorted blatantly.
“Right, equal standing… Well, I guess there’s no helping that. Hm, sure.”
“…….”
Even as she mocked him, Valdemar had no words.
Because the energy surrounding her made it very clear that she wasn’t playing some petty prank right now.
“Jode the Unyielding.”
Windy May muttered quietly.
Then she smiled brightly at Valdemar, who still hadn’t said a word.
“From here on out, this is Professor Windy May’s lecture time, so pay close attention, alright?”
“…….”
“Hm… Among the demons, even among the notoriously warlike werewolves, he was known as a formidable warrior. It’s a story from long ago, of course. But his name reached the lands of humans quite often back then.”
Past glory and renown.
Though the name may have faded over time, he had been a force to be reckoned with.
Windy May continued speaking.
“But what about now? Isn’t he completely different?”
“……Time has changed him.”
“Yeah, right.”
Windy May scoffed.
“So much so that he’s just left that severed right arm alone?”
“…….”
“A wound like that—a werewolf could easily regenerate it. Worst case, he could just attach a prosthetic. Don’t you think?”
Valdemar didn’t respond.
No, more accurately, he couldn’t.
Because her question was one he had asked himself.
Jode had lived for a long time with that arm missing.
Even though he could’ve healed it whenever he wished.
“But he didn’t. Or maybe it’s more accurate to say he couldn’t.”
Windy May tilted her head, resting her chin on her hand.
“Why? For a werewolf, losing a limb isn’t just a wound. It’s the loss of their power and pride, something they value more than life itself. It’s said to be a shame worse than death. And yet, Jode is bearing that shame.”
“That’s……”
“What on earth could make him do that? Was there some incident that twisted even his personality? What could possibly make him endure such disgrace? Or maybe……”
Right at that moment, as Windy May murmured,
*BOOM!*
A section of the laboratory wall exploded and collapsed.
A massive shadow burst out through the dust and debris.
Its target was singular: Windy May.
“Graaaagh!!!”
The rough breath of a beast.
An empty right shoulder.
The very figure they had been discussing until moments ago had appeared.
Jode the Unyielding—it was him.
“Hup!?”
It happened in a flash.
He grabbed Windy May’s mouth with his remaining left hand, clenching it tightly.
The golden rule when fighting a mage: prevent them from casting spells.
A seething energy flickered on Jode’s left arm like flames.
It was his technique—the one that devoured magic itself, the very skill that had allowed him to claim the lives of countless mages.
“Hraaaa!”
Without hesitation, Jode slammed Windy May against the opposite wall and began bashing her madly.
*Bang! Bang! BOOM!*
Sickening, violent impacts rang throughout the room.
The werewolf’s massive eyes glinted with madness.
“Such a noisy damn mouth! You filthy half-breed bitch!”
Jode’s growling voice echoed through the chaos.
His voice was torn with rage and murderous intent.
Even then, he held Windy May’s head firmly and continued to bash it against the wall with savage fury.
“I’ll make you forget how to flap that filthy tongue! Forget it along with that smug damn head of yours!”
*Smash!*
Once again, Windy May’s head was slammed into the wall.
“…….”
With a trembling hand, she weakly reached out and grabbed Jode’s left arm—as if to say, that’s enough.
But the gesture was too feeble to count as resistance.
Jode merely sneered in response.
“Hmph.”
And then—something astonishing happened.
From Jode’s empty right shoulder, something began to writhe and sprout.
The shapes intertwined and tangled, quickly forming the shape of a new arm.
“Kraaagh!”
With a satisfied roar, Jode swung his newly grown right arm with all his might.
*Crunch!*
Along with the horrific sound of something being crushed, Windy May’s body jolted violently once.
Her body, which had been trembling, instantly went limp and collapsed.
All of it happened in the blink of an eye.
“Jode! What the hell is this madness?!”
Valdemar shouted in shock.
At the same time, thick blood-colored mist rose from beneath his feet and roughly shoved Jode away.
Jode yielded without much resistance and was pushed aside, while Valdemar hurried toward where Windy May had been slammed.
“Ah…….”
But what remained there was nothing more than a gruesome wreck devoid of any trace of life.
A corpse with its head shattered to pieces and its entire body grotesquely mangled.
“Ahh…….”
One of the five Archmages.
It was a sight that was impossible to believe as the end of Windy May Maddown.
“This can’t be…….”
Before that horrific scene, Valdemar could do nothing but let out a groan, as if sighing in despair.
“Well now, what exactly is the problem?”
Jode asked calmly as he shook the blood off his hands.
His attitude was curt, as if nothing of consequence had happened.
“What……? What’s the problem? What on earth…… what have you done! What were you thinking?!”
Valdemar shouted as if he couldn’t believe it.
His voice trembled painfully with confusion and rage.
“With what thought did you kill Windy May? This is…… this is just……!”
“That half-breed bitch was getting on my nerves.”
“For such a ridiculous reason!”
Valdemar covered his eyes with his hand, as if in anguish.
“……This is worse than a declaration of war. This means it’s truly an all-out war now…… why…… why would you…….”
“…….”
“……Weren’t you thinking the same as me? For peace…… isn’t that why we came here……?”
Despite his desperate voice, Jode gave no reply.
He simply stared at Valdemar with an expressionless face.
“…….”
At that moment, Valdemar’s gaze settled on Jode’s newly grown right arm.
The ominous, alien aura emanating from it.
Valdemar drew in a deep breath.
No way, no way…….
“You.”
Clenching his teeth, he asked in a low voice.
“That arm—what is it?”
“A gift.”
Jode replied briefly.
There wasn’t the slightest hint of emotion in his voice.
“A gift?”
“That’s right.”
“The aura I feel from that arm…… the thing I know…… is it that?”
A faint despair seeped into Valdemar’s voice.
He desperately hoped Jode would deny it, but once again, there was no answer.
Silence, at times, was clearer than any response.
“……I see.”
Murmuring as if he understood, Valdemar asked no more questions.
He silently raised his right hand.
Blood-colored mist swirled around it, gradually condensing.
Seeing that, Jode let out a low, chuckling laugh.
“Valdemar…… my friend. Why are you looking at me like that?”
“……I don’t remember ever being friends with someone who sold his soul to an Evil God.”
Valdemar replied coldly.
There was no confusion left in his eyes.
Only a calm, lethal killing intent directed at an enemy gleamed sharply.
“Heh.”
Jode merely smiled.
*Crunch!*
The floor shattered, and black, tentacle-like shapes burst out, instantly piercing through Valdemar’s body.
“With such half-baked—?!”
It was an attack he should have easily avoided by turning into mist.
But Valdemar couldn’t.
“Ugh—!”
His eyes filled with shock at the unexpected impact.
As he looked at his friend impaled through the body, Jode clicked his tongue and shook his head as if in pity.
“Don’t be like that. Isn’t it better when things go smoothly?”
“Y-you bastard……!”
“Hearing curses from your mouth really takes me back.”
Jode shrugged, sounding almost nostalgic.
“I can explain everything in detail. Once you hear it, you’ll calm down too. So first, let’s take care of what’s urgent.”
“……What?”
Jode suddenly extended his newly grown right arm forward.
Before long, a grotesque, insect-like creature slowly crawled out through his arm.
“If you let this little fellow into your head, you’ll understand everything and be able to think calmly.”
“Y-you insane bastard……!”
“I told you to stop with the insults.”
Jode began walking toward him slowly.
Valdemar tried desperately to break free, but the tentacles carried a power so overwhelming that even he, after living for countless years, couldn’t resist.
“At first, everyone reacts like that. But don’t worry. You’ll get used to it soon enough.”
“Kgh……!”
Just as Valdemar twisted his body in panic—
“What.”
In an instant, the insect resting on Jode’s hand was suddenly flung into the air and, before one could blink, became trapped inside something like a transparent box.
The creature thrashed about wildly in shock, but it was nothing more than meaningless struggling.
“What is this……?”
“Hm.”
A low yet peculiar sound of admiration echoed through the room.
It was a woman’s voice.
“?!”
Startled, Jode hurriedly turned his head.
There stood Windy May, perfectly intact.
Her green hair was slightly disheveled, but that was all.
There wasn’t even a scratch on her body—no dust, either.
Windy May lifted the corner of her lips slightly and greeted Jode.
Her attitude was friendly, as if greeting an old friend.
“Hi.”
Then, immediately, she spoke again in a voice that had turned ice-cold.
“And goodbye.”
*KWAaaaah!*
From her palm erupted an overwhelming white radiance, bright enough to blind the eyes.
The light instantly filled the room and swallowed the space where Jode stood.
“Ugh?!”
Just the aftershock of that light made Valdemar’s skin sting as if burned.
A moment later.
The light subsided.
“Good.”
Nothing remained there.
Just as she had said—it had literally evaporated.
“Cleaning complete.”
Windy May said so, brushing off her hands lightly.