A voice rang out from the shadows on one side of the alley.
From where Walsh stood, he could make out only a vague silhouette. He could not see the person's face at all, or even tell whether they were a man or a woman.
Walsh did not answer. Instead, he cautiously backed away.
In his current condition, he could not handle someone of such mysterious origins.
Besides...
He suspected they might be one of Glaster's people.
He knew this man he had once respected all too well.
The man loved nothing more than this sort of cat-and-mouse game.
It stemmed partly from his inherently vile nature, but it also served to deepen his ritual and increase his strength-of course, back then, Walsh had considered his actions noble.
Even sacred!
Walsh was certain that some Mystic Art had affected him.
And definitely more than once.
Otherwise, why would he have been so utterly devoted?
But that was in the past.
Now?
Walsh exercised nothing but caution and vigilance.
Keeping his eyes on the figure in the shadows, Walsh backed away step by step, exposing a sliver of the Bone Sword in his palm.
"Easy there, young man. No need to be so hostile.
I did spare your life, after all."
Unfortunately, the person in the shadows was not Eli.
The words made Walsh freeze.
"It's you!"
The young member of the Pale Hand immediately realized who it was: the fellow he had met before noon, the one Glaster had ordered him to give the Communication Stone to, and the one who had stabbed him.
A vicious gleam immediately rose in Walsh's eyes.
Bloody John waved a hand from the shadows.
"We aren't enemies.
I stabbed you earlier to save you.
Otherwise, do you think you could have escaped Glaster's control?