[Voodoo Kingdom · Child of Adulthood]

The smoke bombs of the Obsidian Hall were designed with remarkable ingenuity.

Instead of smoke that could be easily dispersed by the wind, their bombs emitted a dense, humid fog.

Furthermore, to facilitate the dispersal of various reagents, the smoke bombs featured a built-in injection port.

One only needed to inject a prepared reagent through the port, and it would be diffused into the surrounding environment via the fog.

A minute ago, after leaping out the window, Lude had made his way up to the roof.

Secret Arts were not without their limitations.

Generally speaking, the higher the precision required by a Secret Art, the shorter the effective range of control.

For instance, Death-Defying could only execute mechanical commands.

The enemy Lude was currently facing could manipulate multiple Balloon Puppets simultaneously, and each one was capable of precise movement.

This meant the enemy's range of ability was likely far shorter than that of Death-Defying.

However, Lude could not be certain the enemy was inside this building, so his initial plan was simply to flush out the Balloon Man and put a bullet in him, creating a brief window for a one-on-one fight.

That was why Lude hadn't even bothered to smoke out the third floor; after all, such useful smoke bombs were limited in number, and once they were gone, they were gone.

Lude hadn't expected, however, that the moment Matos saw the smoke, he would pull out a syringe—well, that settled it; there was no need to pick a target anymore, as the enemy had jumped out to reveal his own identity!

Looking at Lude before him, Matos gripped his revolver tightly, preparing to make a final stand...

...or was he?

Old Matos couldn't help but laugh at himself; facing Lude, the option of a "final stand" simply did not exist.

He knew his own situation best; not only was he old and frail, but he had never undergone any alchemical modifications.

Even in his youth, as a rear-line support who played with puppets, it would have been impossible for him to brawl with someone of Lude's iron-like physique!

Yet, there was still something he could do, though his aged brain couldn't quite grasp what it was for the moment.

It's fine, it's fine...

A bead of cold sweat trickled down Old Matos's temple. Instinct, hurry up and bypass the brain to do that thing!

Just then, Old Matos saw a figure rapidly approaching through the dissipating pale blue smoke in the stairwell behind Lude.

In that instant, a realization dawned upon Old Matos—

He knew what he had to do!

And his body, even before the thought had fully formed, had already begun to act upon it.

Watching Old Matos, who showed no trace of fear and was still searching for an opportunity to resist, Lude couldn't help but sigh; the overall caliber of spellcasters in this world was truly high.

So far, he hadn't met a single coward; even that Moke was doing the most ruthless things with the most timid expression.

No wonder Siana gave such a sharp critique of spellcasters, calling them a bunch of paranoid narcissists with overinflated egos—they were just too stubborn!

Just as Lude was lamenting this, a smile suddenly appeared on Old Matos's face, as if he were witnessing the wedding of his own grandchild.

Immediately after, he performed an action that Lude found so absurd it made him freeze for a second—

He turned the muzzle of the gun against his own chin and pulled the trigger without a moment's hesitation!

"BANG!!!"

Lude wiped his face in a daze. He looked at the red and white matter staining his hands, then shifted his gaze to Old Matos's exploded skull, his mind falling into total chaos.

No, old man, you're too hardcore. Why did you have to beat me to the punch? What was the point of that?!

Are all the hard-asses in the Black Tide Society like this, willing to splatter their opponent with blood even in death?!

Yet, at that very moment, a shrill, mournful cry erupted from behind Lude:

"Teacher—!!!"

Lude turned back, and the question in his mind was answered in an instant.

He saw Moke, face deathly pale, standing behind him, his hands trembling uncontrollably.

He wanted his student to see him die—but why?

Lude didn't know, and he didn't want to know.

He only knew what the enemy wanted to do, and he just had to make sure they didn't succeed!

With that thought, he drew his Dragon Tooth Sword without hesitation, preparing to decapitate Moke.

Without Matos's assistance, Moke would be no match for him!

But just then, he suddenly felt a stabbing, knife-like pain surge through his body!

"Hiss—"

Lude drew a sharp breath; the pain was so intense it rendered him unable to move!

What is happening?!

It's the power of those two nails!

Did I step on a third nail?

No, the nails would report their count, and that third nail was currently still wedged between Moke's fingers!

It was the two nails embedded within his own body!

But this wasn't the Secret Art activating; rather, the power of those two nails was gradually dissipating!

Lude couldn't fathom what was happening, but he could feel the foreign spiritual energy—the remnants of those two nails—slowly leaking out of his body. Along with the intense pain came an indescribable sense of relief!

Did Moke voluntarily deactivate his Secret Art?

That's impossible...

But Lude knew clearly that in his current state, he absolutely could not engage Moke in direct combat.

The power of this Secret Art would vanish completely in a dozen seconds or so, but if Moke were to drive that third nail in before it dissipated, the slow fading would turn into a rapid explosion!

He had to find a way to stall him, just for those ten seconds or so...

Just then, Moke suddenly spoke: "Teacher, he committed suicide, didn't he?"

Lude was slightly stunned by the question; was he planning to chat?

Chat! Anything was fine to chat about!

Thinking this, Lude feigned indifference and nodded: "That is correct."

Moke stared fixedly at the corpse of Matos, his voice low:

"I am a very cowardly person, always have been. I can never make up my mind and am easily led by others."

"Because I am terrified of things going wrong, I train hard, but whenever I encounter a problem, my instinct is to run away."

"Teacher, he must have committed suicide because he didn't want to become a hostage and drag me down, right?"

"In that case, you had a good teacher," Lude sighed.

He even felt a twinge of jealousy; after all, he had never encountered such a good teacher to serve as his guide.

Not to mention his past life, in this life, the esteemed Lord Hypnos had told a basketful of lies before accepting him as a disciple, and after, had dug pits for Lude every step of the way—pits so deep that Lude was still hesitating whether he should even enter the Loselin Empire.

Compared to someone else's teacher, you old geezer Lord Hypnos are just pathetic!

"Thank you." Moke's gaze shifted to Lude: "It's a pity Teacher didn't have a good student. If I hadn't been held back by fear after being knocked away by you earlier, and had instead fought you bravely, Teacher might not have died."

"No," Lude shook his head: "Your teacher had a wonderful student."

Under Moke's astonished gaze, Lude lit a cigarette: "To protect the teacher you respect, knowing full well you were no match for me, you still made the resolve to stand before me. You are a very brave guy."

"So that was it..." Moke murmured: "No wonder at that moment, Teacher smiled at me."

"Perhaps in Teacher's eyes, the fact that I made a decision on my own for the first time, the fact that I resolved to fight a powerful enemy head-on for the first time, was something that brought him comfort. Even though I actually didn't think it through because I was just worried about him..."

"I had disappointed Teacher so much in the past that even this small thing was enough to make him feel comforted."

"Perhaps that is why Teacher smiled as he took his own life. Teacher believed I had gained the ability to make decisions and the resolve to risk my life; he believed I had the ability to survive on my own, which is why he died content..."

As he spoke, Moke straightened his back for the first time and looked at Lude: "I cannot, and will not, let Teacher down again."

Lude knew clearly that this was because the power of the two nails within his body had completely dissipated.

Thus, Lude immediately drew the Dragon Tooth Sword from his waist.

At the same time, Moke stared at the last nail in his hand, which had been his final hope for defeating Lude.

Yet, at this moment, Moke merely looked at the nail, shook his head, and with a casual rub, caused the nail to dissolve into pure spiritual energy.

"I no longer need that kind of weak Secret Art."

Moke said in a low voice.

As he spoke, Moke raised his hand and grabbed at the empty air, pulling a sword from his side.

This sword had no blade edge, no ridge, no crossguard, and no hilt; it looked exactly like a giant nail.

"Teacher, this is the requiem I offer to you—Voodoo Kingdom Kidz!"

"Witness my growth!"