The West Wind's Destination - Chapter 83
The man’s grating cackles cut through the silence.
“…Good. It’s become much more useful than before, hasn’t it?”
Of course, who made that body? What kind of human structure was used, and how were the synthesized magic stones used?
But why could it only be utilized to such a meager extent? In the midst of it all, Bea sighed at such thoughts.
“Vilkanos, I may owe you a few debts, but I’m in a good mood, so I might just let you live.”
“Myron Devesis, you dare discuss my life and death?”
Aseph was a Vilkanos with enough combat power to corner the empire’s mages, but he was not a match for the current Myron Devesis.
The difference was clear just by looking at Aseph, who was barely managing to protect Bea while gasping for breath, and Myron Devesis, who was jingling his bracelet with ease.
“Well, of course. How about you treat me with a bit more courtesy? You’re practically a beast. It’s impressive you’re even pretending to be human. Come and lick my feet like a dog, and I might just let one of you live.”
However, the most perfect body in this world known to Bea had fallen into Myron Devesis’s hands. The secrets of the Aseph’s family had been leaked, becoming a deadly vulnerability for Vilkanos.
“With just that level of power, you want to support me? I don’t need that kind of help.”
Myron’s voice was elevated with the power he had directly experienced.
Aseph’s body was a result of trying to save him, and the research done in hopes of saving Homun led to such an outcome.
It was all because of him.
“Hmm. Or how about this? Leave just that behind, and I’ll let you live.”
“That?”
Strength filled Aseph’s arms as he held Bea.
“That thing is mine. It’s proven itself to still be useful.”
…Is that so? That’s also true.
The condition of living a little longer under her master’s shadow, if sparing Aseph Vilkanos, could be considered the last useful thing this body could do.
The thought of having to return to her master prompted Bea to habitually reach for her hearing aid.
Aseph Vilkanos grabbed her hand tightly. After a moment, she felt a strong grip on her hand.
“…Then I’ll just have to kill you. A dead man can’t claim any such ‘ownership’.”
“Stop. Aseph…”
You can’t beat him.
Myron Devesis now had a body imbued with perfect anti-magic properties and could even use magic.
How could anyone possibly face that?
Bea decided it was better for Aseph to leave her behind and live. She was familiar with adjusting her master’s whims. Aseph Vilkanos couldn’t beat her master as he was right now.
“Let me go.”
A grinding noise came from his teeth.
“Bea, no. You seem to still want to be by that scoundrel’s side, but I won’t allow it anymore.”
Hot tears fell onto her face. Aseph, making the last statement he ever wanted to, cried.
“You’re going to be with me now.”
“It’s not like that, ugh…”
“Don’t look.”
Bea didn’t know what Aseph had done. Even when she forced her eyes open, she couldn’t see anything.
Overwhelmed with anxiety, she called out to him.
“Aseph…?”
There was no answer.
Instead, the last thing Bea heard was the growling of a wolf.
Did they say Aseph Vilkanos’s body inherited the shape of a beast resembling a wolf? Initially, it seemed absurd, but now, considering his body as that of a wild animal, Aseph Vilkanos’s physique appeared to bristle in another sense.
But could a human vocal cord produce such a sound?
No, that’s impossible.
Then Aseph’s body… was there more Bea didn’t know about?
Bea’s mind, which hadn’t settled from the lack of purpose, began rapidly theorizing upon a single question.
—What a genetic rarity… It’s quite fascinating.
—Probably something to do with my ancestry.
Every time Bea questioned her physical condition, that was his response.
An abnormally stable mutation, to the point of not being considered human.
—The previous Guardian killed me. That beastly bastard pretending to be human.
The wolf that had killed her master…
So, Aseph Vilkanos was…
Crash!
A sound of something breaking echoed in her ears. The magic device she wore on her ear finally broke due to the surrounding magical energy.
She felt a sharp sensation in her ear canal, followed by blood trickling down her jaw.
Ah, now she understood.
Why, when her master was dying, she couldn’t move and eventually ran away.
After the magic device’s restraints were partially broken by Vilkanos’s power, she saw the mythical beast that shouldn’t exist in this world for the first time. Just as humans naturally feared the unknown, Bea fled in terror.
But this isn’t.
It’s not the unknown.
Nor is it something to be feared.
A beastly figure, as large as a house, stood tall. Its fur, shimmering silver under the moonlight, fluttered as its eyes, beautiful as jewels, gleamed with two different colors.
It immediately charged at her master, aiming to bite his neck. Just like the previous how the Guardian of Vilkanos—the mythical beast and Aseph’s father—had killed her master.
However, this wolf wasn’t as skilled as the previous Guardian. Nor was Myron Devesis just an ordinary alchemist anymore.
Even though a Vilkanos’s body could morphed into a shape more suited for killing a human, the difference in power between them was stark.
Watching the wolf get injured little by little by Myron’s counterattack, Bea wanted to scream for it to run away immediately.
I realized too late.
I was wrong.
He was right.
“Aseph, Aseph Vilkanos…”
Tears streamed down Bea’s eyes, something that had never happened in her life.
