Within a quiet grove in the western suburbs of Tivian, a tense standoff was unfolding. Adele was gripping Alex by the neck, her eyes fixed on the heavily wounded old man before her. Adele still remembered the face of the person in front of her; he was one of the main cadres of the Wolf Blood Society who had attacked the Joyful Dance Assembly.
At that time, the Joyful Dance Assembly had only Adele's teacher, a Chalk, and Adele, a Black Rank. Yet, they were besieged by several Chalks from the Wolf Blood Society. Although those on The Path of Depravity, like Adele, had a certain restraining effect on those on Treading the Path of the Beast, this still couldn't overcome the overwhelming power of the Wolf Blood Society. In the end, the entire Joyful Dance Assembly, except for Adele who escaped under her teacher's intentional protection, saw over a dozen girls perish in the jaws of the wolves.
At this very moment, holding the throat of her former enemy in her hands and witnessing his pathetic struggle, Adele's heart couldn't help but fluctuate. The desire surging within her urged her to quickly tear the person before her to shreds, but her rationality told her she couldn't do that yet because the other party might still know her teacher's whereabouts. She had to force out her teacher's whereabouts before killing him.
Recalling the face from her memory, Adele, with a stern expression, used her other hand to grasp Alex's two fingers and snap them backward at the joint. The immense pain made Alex cry out, but with his throat grasped by Adele, he couldn't scream louder.
"Ah... uh... Adele... don't be like this, Adele... I'll tell you, I'll tell you... your teacher is indeed still alive... lean your ear closer... I'll tell you now... Ah..."
Suddenly, a change occurred in Alex's body. His head instantly transformed into a massive wolf head. Upon seeing this, Adele immediately prepared to snap Alex's neck, but his head deformation also caused his neck to become thick and strong. The sudden increase in thick flesh prevented Adele's hand from immediately grasping the trachea and important blood vessels. The proliferating black fur also caused her grip to slip. Although she eventually tore through Alex's neck, due to the thickening of the neck, even a slight injury to a vital area was not a fatal impact under the Werewolf's powerful vitality.
Breaking free from Adele's restraint, the re-transformed Werewolf Alex immediately opened his terrifying giant mouth and let out a fearful howl. Adele was affected by the fearful howl at close range; she immediately used her ability to calm her inner self. However, at this moment, the tip of the canvas staff in Alex's hand flashed with a faint light, and Adele's heart uncontrollably swelled. The desire to escape made her retreat a few steps before she calmed down, then she stared, aghast, at the humanoid Black Wolf in front of her that was gradually swelling.
"Why! You can use that ability!"
Adele questioned Alex, saying that she felt very clearly that the Extraordinary ability affecting her mind just now was not only the Werewolf's fearful howl, but also another Extraordinary ability that she was more familiar with: desire amplification. This ability should only belong to Desire Dancers.
On the other side, Alex, who had forcibly transformed into a Werewolf despite being severely injured, was panting while enduring the physical burden. After hearing Adele's question, he squeezed out a twisted smile and spoke.
"Hoo... hoo... Heh heh... Why? Of course, it's your teacher, Dalena, helping me in secret. Didn't you see? Your Dalena doesn't want you to get hurt, Adele..."
In a strange tone, Alex spoke to Adele, while Adele directly responded loudly.
"Shut up! Don't mention my teacher's name! Answer my question, where is my teacher now? Otherwise, I will make you die a very ugly death. Don't think you can beat me in your current state?"
Adele threatened Alex, saying that she was right; Alex's current state made it impossible for him to defeat Adele. But Alex didn't seem flustered by this; he continued to speak to Adele with a twisted smile.
"Ha... ha... Adele, you still miss your teacher so much. Yes... if you didn't miss her, why would you come to this Coal Ash District? Since that's the case... I'll let you meet Dalena."
Alex said this, his smile showing cunning and his eyes revealing deceit. Listening to his words, although Adele felt a hint of something wrong, she was still attracted by the content Alex revealed.
"You said... let me meet my teacher? Don't try any tricks, I won't be led into any trap." Adele responded, her tone containing both anticipation and vigilance. Listening to Adele's words, Alex continued to smile and spread his hands, speaking.
"Where, where... How dare I play tricks in front of the great star, Miss Adele? I can let you meet Dalena right now, without going anywhere..."
Alex spoke like this, and his words caused Adele's brows to furrow slightly, a hint of unease rising in her heart. At this moment, Alex extended the canvas staff he was holding forward. The smile on his terrifying wolf face now appeared even more horrifying and frightening.
"Watch carefully... don't blink... I'll let you meet your Dalena now, but she's a little big now, you might not recognize her, Adele..." Saying this, Alex suddenly tore the canvas wrapping on the staff with his claws. As the pieces of cloth fell, the true form of the staff that had been wrapped was revealed before Adele. Seeing the scene before her, Adele's eyes suddenly widened, and she murmured in a stunned expression.
"This... this is..."
"Ha! I knew you wouldn't recognize her! This is your teacher! Although she's changed a bit, there should still be some sense of familiarity, right? After all, you were her most beloved student, weren't you?"
Seeing Adele's expression, Alex laughed loudly and said, at this moment, what he was holding in his hand was an extremely bizarre "staff." The top of the staff was a large, round transparent glass jar. Inside the glass jar, a brain was currently immersed, complete and whole, with the folds of the cerebral cortex visible! Below the brain, the main nerves extended out, intertwined, and extended into the opaque shaft of the staff. Around the lower part of the glass jar and the shaft of the staff, several iron rings engraved with incantations were clamped tightly. On the surface of the glass jar, a complex magic circle centered around an inverted triangle was drawn in blood.
Looking at the true appearance of the staff in Alex's hand and listening to Alex's words, Adele's eyes widened, her face pale. Her eyes were filled with a panic that Dorothy had never seen before. She shook her head slightly, muttering to herself.
"Impossible... impossible... This can't be Teacher... You're lying to me, this is impossible..."
"Ha! I didn't lie to you! Don't lie to yourself, Adele, you noticed it before, didn't you, the special nature of this staff in my hand? You noticed it, didn't you, that I just used this thing to perform the unique ability of you Desire Dancers!"
"The brain in this staff belongs to your teacher—Dalena Moreau. After she fell into our hands, we originally wanted to eat her completely, but people from your Path of Depravity are too rare. When we had eaten half, Lord Duval stopped us. He used the remaining part to cooperate with the 'Butcher Doctor' and used her to conduct some research."
While speaking, Alex slowly displayed the brain jar staff in his hand to Adele. Although he was covered in wounds at this moment, there was a hint of smugness in his expression during this process. On the other side, Adele was listening to Alex's words while clenching her hands tightly. Her breathing was gradually becoming rapid, her initial astonishment was shattering, replaced by an uncontrollable impulse and gradually boiling anger.
"This thing... is one of the research results, made from the brain and nerves... a prop that can release mental influence-type Extraordinary abilities, it is a magical invention of the 'Butcher Doctor'! Because of my contribution in subduing Dalena, Lord Duval rewarded me with this thing. Recently, I've been thinking about how to use this thing to capture you as well and claim another achievement... Heh heh..."
Holding the Brain Jar Staff in his hand, Alex declared, as if showcasing some victory. Seeing his smug expression and the horrifying staff in his hand, and recalling the face of her teacher from the past, Adele's anger became uncontrollable. The furious emotion instantly filled her mind. At this moment, all her emotions were ignited, and the raging fire of anger finally transformed into a desire.
Kill him! Kill that scoundrel who committed such cruel crimes against Teacher and is now standing there gloating! After tearing him to pieces, make everyone else pay the price too!
"Go to hell!!"
Facing the smug Alex, the gnashing Adele finally roared in anger, and then she shot towards Alex like an arrow released from a bow, wanting to tear Alex into pieces with her bare hands.
Seeing this scene, the smile on Alex's face widened even more.
'It finally erupted... your desire, your anger...'
Seeing Adele's furious actions, Alex gripped the Brain Jar Staff in his hand and activated its ability. As the brain at the top of the staff emitted a faint light, the Desire Dancer ability, originally belonging to Dalena, was activated in Alex's hand. He chose Adele as the target of the activation, controlling the transfer of the overwhelming killing desire in her heart, transferring it to herself.
Suddenly, the charging Adele stopped in place. Her eyes widened, and one hand trembled as it reached out incredulously, forming a hand-knife shape. Then she suddenly turned back and fiercely stabbed towards her own heart. As a burst of blood blossomed on Adele's chest, her right hand directly plunged into her left chest, into her heart.
Lowering her head blankly, Adele looked at her bloody chest, a trickle of blood flowing from her lips. Then the light in her eyes gradually dimmed. She wanted to say something but couldn't. Finally, she fell down heavily, her head tilted, and she lost her breath. The hand that had been inserted into her heart also slipped out of the chest cavity. Even a Chalk Rank "Cup" Extraordinary could not survive after their heart stopped working.
Watching the scene before him, Alex walked over slowly with stumbling steps. Looking at the beautiful corpse lying on the ground, the smile on his lips became increasingly twisted. Even in beast form, the smugness on his face made his expression extremely exaggerated.
"Heh heh... A Desire Dancer ultimately dies from desires they cannot control. This could be considered a kind of irony, Adele. You, who cared too much about Dalena, couldn't win against me from the start..."
"No need to stimulate, intensely uncontrollable desire... this is the best target for a Desire Dancer to manipulate..."
Alex said this to the dead Adele. For a Desire Dancer, the stronger the enemy's emotions, the better. The more extreme the desire, the more anger, the better. Desire that is powerful enough without needing to be stimulated and inflated is quite easy for a Desire Dancer to manipulate.
Desire Dancers have two main abilities: desire inflation and desire guidance. Desire inflation is to stimulate a not-so-intense desire, gradually inflating it to an extreme level. Desire guidance is to transfer the target of desire to something else.
For a Desire Dancer, the desires in ordinary people's hearts are easily stimulated, inflated, and guided. However, it is difficult for high-level Extraordinaries. This requires dance to cooperate with the gradual increase of desire stimulation. Otherwise, only small guidance and small stimulation can be performed. For example, earlier Alex used the staff to strengthen the mental influence brought by the fear howl, causing those Captains to retreat a bit further. For example, earlier at Carbonwood Crossroads, Alex guided Edmund's suspicion towards Adele, who already seemed a bit suspicious.
In other words, the effect of the Desire Dancer's ability on high-level Extraordinaries is relatively small without the accumulation of long-term dance. The ability released instantly, without the need for a dance ritual, is far from being able to make a high-level Extraordinary commit suicide on the spot.
However, Adele's situation just now was different. Adele's extreme anger and killing desire were not caused by the influence of an ability, but rather her own anger that erupted due to Dalena's situation. This killing desire and anger had already reached its peak without needing influence or manipulation, and after the rage burned away her reason, Adele's overall mental control ability also greatly decreased.
Facing Adele, whose killing desire was off the charts and whose mental control ability had decreased, Alex directly used Dalena's ability to transfer the target of desire, prompting Adele to commit suicide.
For a Desire Dancer, the more uncontrollable their own emotions are, the more dangerous it is. After learning that Adele's target was Dalena, the originally panicked Alex suddenly stopped worrying at all. The reason was that he held the trump card of Dalena's current state, a trump card specifically against Adele. He knew that Adele would lose control of her emotions immediately after seeing the current state of her beloved teacher, and as long as Adele lost control of her emotions, he, possessing part of the desire ability, would have nothing to fear.
"Hey... I knew you wouldn't be able to control your killing desire, Adele... Your ending was already decided, I've been looking forward to this scene for a long time..."
Standing in front of Adele, Alex said with a sinister laugh. Scanning Adele's body, a clear greed appeared between his eyebrows.
"However... I also have to thank you... for providing me with a big meal when I was injured like this... Heh heh... I've wanted to taste you for a long time..."
Saying this, Alex, still in Werewolf form, leaned down towards Adele, who was lying on the ground, and began to sniff Adele's scent up close with his nose. Saliva flowed uncontrollably from his mouth.
"So... where should I start? Let's start with this white neck..."
Opening his bloody maw, Alex prepared to start eating Adele's corpse on the spot. At this moment, Adele, who should have been lifeless, suddenly moved her wide-open eyes. With a turn, she fixed her gaze on the huge Black Wolf at close range. Alex was stunned at this sight.
"Ow!!!"
A tragic wolf howl erupted in the small woods. The huge Werewolf who had been leaning down was sent flying by a tremendous force. His entire right arm was torn off, and blood spurted from it.
Adele slowly stood up, holding the torn-off huge beast arm in her hand. She coldly pried open the wolf claws and took out the Brain Jar Staff that Alex had been holding.
And at this moment, a heart was beating vigorously in Adele's left chest.
...
On the other side, far away, on a street in West Tivian, Dorothy was still sitting in her carriage, gently stroking a ruby staff in her hand. The staff was engraved with the pattern of "Placenta Protocol," which was the heart-devouring staff-sword Dorothy had obtained from Luer.
"I never expected this thing to work here, and its passive effect could even be transmitted through spirits threads."
Touching the ruby on the staff, Dorothy murmured.