Chapter 153: Each One’s Position (4)
Tap, tap.
Retracting her hand, Windy May lightly brushed the dust off her clothes.
“……”
Her cold gaze turned to the gaping hole.
Nothing remained there.
Yet, in her eyes, the mad image of the werewolf was still vividly clear.
“……Hmm.”
Jode the Unyielding.
Windy May hadn’t forgotten that he was once called the Mage Hunter.
‘Seriously.’
His technique exuded an energy that sealed mana from both hands.
Which meant, once caught in his grasp, a mage would be helplessly neutralized.
She tucked her flowing green hair behind her ear and muttered quietly,
“That was almost a disaster.”
Had it been anyone else, they might’ve truly lost their life.
As that thought crossed her mind, her gaze naturally drifted to Valdemar.
He was leaning against the wall, his body—once pierced all over by tendrils—was healing with a mist-like crimson aura.
‘Well.’
Seeing him, Windy May shrugged her shoulders.
Vampires were exceptional when it came to regeneration.
As long as it wasn’t a fatal blow, wounds like that wouldn’t kill him.
In fact, the numerous wounds covering his body had already healed cleanly.
“How’s your body?”
Windy May asked him in a calm voice.
Though her tone remained composed, the sharp energy that had radiated from her moments ago had somewhat settled.
That was because, through the conversation between Valdemar and Jode just earlier, she had confirmed that he wasn’t involved in this incident.
“……I’m fine.”
Valdemar replied as he lifted his hand away from his wound.
At the very least, he had recovered enough to move.
Even so, his face remained twisted in pain.
Well, understandably so.
Windy May nodded and asked,
“So, what now?”
“……”
Valdemar silently stared at her.
His red eyes were a swirl of emotions—rage, betrayal, confusion, resignation.
“Hm.”
Amid that silence, Windy May slowly gestured into the air.
Then, the insect she had set aside earlier floated slowly into her hand.
It writhed violently, struggling to escape.
Its grotesque appearance made Windy May instinctively grimace.
Even aside from its looks, a sinister energy was emanating from it in waves.
“This thing……”
She stared at it, lost in thought for a moment.
As if trying to pierce through its insides, its structure, and even its very essence, she began scrutinizing it thoroughly.
After a while of gazing at the insect, Windy May asked Valdemar,
“Among the people you brought, was there anyone else suspicious?”
“Not particularly… Everyone who came here was carefully selected.”
He let out a small sigh.
“Of course, after what just happened, I doubt my words carry much weight… but that’s the truth.”
A self-mocking smile crept onto his lips, as if even he couldn’t believe himself.
The fact that it wasn’t just anyone, but a comrade he had considered a friend, who had betrayed him—seemed to leave a deep scar.
“Hmmm.”
Windy May stared at the insect as she spoke.
“That guy earlier mentioned it, but… it seems like it burrows into the brain and takes control. Like a parasite.”
With those words, she snapped her fingers lightly.
Immediately, the floating insect was engulfed in flames and turned to ash in an instant.
All that remained was a faint, unpleasant stench.
“Don’t need that anymore.”
She muttered coldly.
Then she nodded again with certainty.
‘Popolotuass……’
No doubt it was a fragment of him.
She hadn’t expected to find traces of him so soon.
Thinking that, Windy May shook her head lightly.
‘No, that’s not right.’
Come to think of it, he had already been testing the waters back during the Rahma incident.
If he’d been watching for a chance since then, then maybe……
“Then… was Jode brainwashed by that thing?”
While she was pondering, Valdemar asked cautiously.
Perhaps hoping it might offer some sliver of excuse for Jode, his voice held a faint trace of hope and desperation.
Windy May gave a light shrug.
“Doubt it.”
Her answer crushed that hope instantly.
“That bug’s dangerous, sure, but it doesn’t have the power to bind or suppress the soul itself. Especially not for someone strong like you or Jode. At best, it might disrupt or suppress your ability to use your full power.”
She continued,
“He accepted it of his own will. He made that choice himself.”
“Ah……”
Valdemar let out a deep sigh.
His eyes wavered with a hollow emptiness, as if his last hope had crumbled.
A betrayal by someone you once trusted with your back was never easy to accept.
“I’ll ask again. Anyone else suspicious?”
This time, Windy May’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts.
Valdemar fell into silent contemplation.
Someone capable of manipulating Jode.
Someone who joined them suddenly, and even after arriving at the Academy, wandered as if searching for something.
If there was someone like that……
“……Could it be the Overseer?”
Just as he unconsciously muttered the thought, Windy May spoke first, as if reading his mind.
“No, not her.”
“……Really?”
“Yes. Probably not.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“She’s strong.”
Windy May replied flatly.
“If she really had something planned, she wouldn’t be moving around with so much hassle. Acting alone would’ve been easier and more effective.”
“……”
Windy May stared directly at Valdemar.
Her eyes gleamed with a chilling depth.
Valdemar instinctively avoided her gaze.
“Either way, you made a big mistake. Inviting something so vile into someone else’s home as a guest.”
At her frosty tone, Valdemar could only lower his head.
He had no retort.
In the end, they were the ones who had brought this calamity upon them.
“Well, still……”
Windy May let out a small, awkward cough.
“I did save your life~ and almost died myself~ so, um… your person dying and… well, all these incidents and problems between us, let’s just call it even, yeah?”
Finishing her words, Windy May stretched with a long yawn and loosened up.
Then, as she began moving toward the wall with the hole in it, Valdemar quickly asked,
“Where are you going?”
“Isn’t it obvious? To catch the culprit.”
Her tone made it clear she found the question silly.
“I’ll help too.”
After all, this was something they had brought upon themselves.
They had to take responsibility somehow.
“No need.”
Windy May waved her hand dismissively, as if to say it was fine.
“If you act on your own in this situation, it’ll only complicate things. It’d be better to gather the people you brought and check carefully if any of them seem off. It’d hurt if you got stabbed in the back again, wouldn’t it?”
“Well…”
She was right.
Right now, rather than helping others, he had to be wary of his own side first.
“Do you… already suspect who the culprit is?”
Windy May shrugged.
“Isn’t it obvious? Those cultists of the Evil God, probably.”
Her voice echoed quietly.
“Or maybe…”
“……”
Why was that?
She let out a small sigh, then chuckled bitterly.
“Or maybe it’s not just one or two.”
Like vines twisted together deep underground, their gathering had been both a coincidence and an inevitability.
Three groups.
Each of them had different goals.
But the fact that they all aimed for the same target could, in a way, be called a strange twist of fate.
Anguster, leader of the Declaum Knights.
He wished to honor the spirits of fallen comrades and ensure that those who remained—and their families—would receive just compensation.
To him, true compensation meant shedding the disgrace of defeat and reclaiming past glory.
To do so, he searched for the Dragon’s Blood.
The root of the Kingdom of Garusol’s victory over the Empire, and the source of the strength inherited by their successors.
If he could uncover the secret of that power, find a way to dismantle it, and claim it for themselves—then they could destroy Garusol with the very power they held sacred.
What could be a more perfect and satisfying revenge?
Jode the Unyielding, the werewolf.
He was consumed not only by personal vengeance but also the torment of losing his own kin.
The arm he lost in the war was a minor issue.
His only wish was the resurrection of his deceased relatives.
To him, the figure who approached during his despair was nothing short of hope, no matter how others viewed him.
Jode saw the power he offered with his own eyes and accepted the proposal without hesitation.
He was given two orders.
Capture the woman who inherited the Dragon’s Blood,
And destroy the summit.
Both tasks were easy for him.
……Or so he thought.
And lastly—
The Cultists of the Evil God.
They were always in search of sacrifices for their rituals.
Then they heard rumors of someone who had inherited both the Sky Guide and the Dragon’s Blood.
A sacrifice so precious and powerful, it was perfect.
They planned to offer Yuran’s heart to their god in a grand ritual of descent.
In the end, all their objectives converged on a single person.
Naturally, their alliance could only be temporary.
Each group planned to seize everything for themselves the moment their goals reached a certain stage.
But their plans began to fall apart due to a series of unexpected variables.
From the perspective of the cultists, several critical variables struck one after another.
First, Yuran turned out to be far stronger than they had anticipated.
Second, somehow she had precisely located their hideout deep in the underground waterways and launched a surprise attack.
Because of that, they suffered tremendous damage without even being able to prepare properly.
And third—
Even though Yuran alone was already overwhelming, two more men who had chased after her joined the fray.
“Gaaahk!”
“This… this can’t be!”
The underground waterways had become utter chaos.
With their ancient, labyrinthine structures and wide caverns, abandoned spaces made perfect hideouts.
Normally quiet, the area now echoed with screams of pain.
“Whew… Who’d have thought they were hiding in a place like this.”
Entering one of the larger caverns, Professor Shagas let out a murmur that sounded like a mix of amazement and disbelief.
All around were the corpses of cultists strewn about haphazardly, a sinister aura thick in the air.
His sword was already soaked in their blood.
“I really wonder what the Empire’s guards are even doing.”
Muttering this, Lian swung his sword as if shaking off the blood.
The number of cultists who had fallen by his hand had already passed into double digits.
“Hm?”
At that moment, Lian’s gaze locked onto something strange at the center of the cavern.
“……!”
It was none other than a mass of tentacles in a disgusting, dark crimson color.
It was easily the size of a small house.
It pulsed irregularly, like a massive heart.
‘That thing…’
Lian could immediately tell that something inside the mass of tentacles was struggling fiercely to break free.
And the energy that presence exuded was disturbingly familiar to him.
Sticky, unpleasant—like swallowing a handful of rusted iron filings.
He had only encountered it twice in his previous life, but the memory was unforgettable.
No doubt about it.
It was the aura of a werewolf.
‘But why…?’
Why would something like that give off the aura of a werewolf?
Just as he was thinking that—
The owner of that savage aura was beginning to rip through the tough membrane of the tentacles and emerge.
“……!”
His judgment was instant.
Lian instinctively drew up all his mana and activated the Miracle of Enhancement.
His body was cloaked in pure white light, and the brand etched on his collarbone began to tremble in response.
“Khahh…!”
Just as the surface of the tentacle mass tore open and something began to emerge—
Swick!
Lian’s blade, moving like a flash of light, sliced through the air with a sharp sound and cleanly severed the emerging werewolf’s neck.
Thunk.
With a horrific sound, the severed head was flung into the air before hitting the ground.