My Werewolf System-Chapter 1806: Debt of a Shadow

When Kai had first leapt into the fray, medallion in hand and his heart racing, he hadn’t done it out of a calculated tactical certainty. Instead, he had acted mostly because of the raw, suffocating emotion he felt radiating from Gary. He had seen his leader’s desperation, the silent plea to save a friend, and he had decided that in such a dire situation, they might as well try anything. Even a relic from the old world was better than the alternative. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

The problem was the aftermath. As Kai stared at the fractured surface of the device, a cold pit formed in his stomach. If he had known that this would be the final result, that saving one life would cost them their only specialized weapon, he might never have taken that leap in the first place.

“I could feel it,” Kai said, his voice tight. “The crack... it happened at the exact same time that strange red energy expelled from Midwak’s body. I was too focused on the transformation to notice the vibration in my hand, but when I looked at it again, this is what I saw.”

Midwak, still shaky on his legs, squinted at the object. “What even is that thing?” he asked, rubbing his sore neck. The memories were still fuzzy around the edges, but the sight of his friends was grounding. “Come to think of it, weren’t you guys missing? And now you’re back, and the first thing you do is show up and save my arse.”

“That’s how thankful you need to be,” Kai replied, though there was no humor in his tone. He held the medallion up, the jagged split through its center looking like a permanent scar. “And you have no idea how much trouble this is going to cause us if it’s truly broken. You saw it work, didn’t you? Somehow, this thing can sever the powers or the link, the ‘tether,’ I guess, to Unzoku himself.”

Kai’s grip tightened on the useless metal. “It was our only clear way of being able to beat him. But if it’s broken now... how are we even going to deal with a monster like Unzoku?”

Immediately, a massive wave of guilt washed over Midwak. He looked at the cracked relic and then at Gary’s tired face. He realized that the pack had effectively traded their ultimate trump card just to bring him back from the brink. Maybe it would have been better if he had just stayed a beast, or if he had run away before the transformation took hold. If he hadn’t turned into a Glutton, they wouldn’t have wasted something so precious on him.

It wasn’t as if he could even do anything to help defeat Unzoku now. That much was painfully clear from the one-sided beating he had already received from the man.

“Wait, just because it’s cracked doesn’t mean it can’t be used, right?” Gary asked, stepping closer. He was trying to find a silver lining, a spark of hope in the gloom of the night. “Things still work when they’re a bit banged up sometimes.”

Although Gary’s optimism was a core part of his leadership, Kai wasn’t feeling particularly hopeful. To prove the point, he held the medallion flat in his palm and closed his eyes. He tried to channel a steady stream of his Qi into the item, pushing his energy through his fingertips just as he had done moments before.

There was no reaction. The metal remained cold and dull. The medallion didn’t glow, it didn’t hum, and it appeared to be absolutely, frustratingly useless.

“It’s okay,” Gary said, though his voice lacked its usual strength. He placed a hand on Kai’s arm. “We’ll find another way. We can still beat him even without the medallion. We’ve fought through worse than this.”

Gary knew that his other, more primal form seemed to be unaffected by Unzoku’s direct influence, so perhaps there was a path to victory hidden there. But deep down, he knew the real tragedy: without the medallion, he wouldn’t be able to save the other Gluttons. He would be forced to be an executioner instead of a savior.

“Why don’t you give that item to me?”

The voice was cool and composed, cutting through the heavy atmosphere of the pack. The three of them had been speaking so openly that they had almost forgotten Rowa was standing just a few yards away.

Midwak’s nose suddenly twitched. He sniffed the air, his werewolf instincts finally catching the sharp, metallic scent of the newcomer. “What the heck is a vampire doing here?” Midwak asked, his brow furrowing. Then, he slumped his shoulders with a weary sigh. “Ah, forget it. I’m too tired to even care about the politics right now.”

“What are you trying to do?” Kai asked, his eyes narrowing as he looked at Rowa’s outstretched hand. “Why are you trying to take this from us?”

“Because I might be able to do something to help you,” Rowa stated simply.

There was an instantaneous, instinctive reaction from Kai. He stepped in front of Gary, shielding the broken item. “I don’t believe you. For one, I don’t see how a vampire could possibly help this situation. And second, even if you could, why would you? You have no reason to do us any favors.”

“You might be right nine times out of ten,” Rowa answered, his expression unreadable. “But this is one of those rare situations where you’re dead wrong. I have exactly one reason to help, and he’s standing right there.”

Rowa pointed a slender finger toward Gary.

“There is a very good chance that my life would have been lost during that fight,” Rowa admitted, his voice dropping an octave. “Regardless of what my personal beliefs are, that is a cold, hard fact. So, in a way, I owe him one. And I’ll be honest, I couldn’t imagine anything worse than wandering around the world knowing I owe my life to a Werewolf.”

The group remained hesitant. They exchanged glances, still worried that Rowa might have a hidden agenda. There was always a chance they could find a way to make it work on their own, or maybe it just needed time to recharge its ancient energy.

“You said it’s broken, right? That it’s already useless to you,” Rowa pressured, his eyes locked on the medallion. “So, if I can’t fix it, what’s the harm in giving it to me anyway? You’re losing nothing but a piece of scrap metal.”

Kai looked toward Gary, seeking a final decision. Gary stood silent for a moment, weighing the risk of trusting a vampire against the necessity of the medallion. Finally, Gary gave a slow, solemn nod. If Rowa couldn’t fix it, or if he tried to run, Gary was confident they could simply snatch it back from him by force.

Reluctantly, Kai tossed the medallion through the air. Rowa caught it with a swift, effortless motion of his hand.

“You are in luck,” Rowa explained as he began to focus his internal power. “There is a very specific time limit on when I can perform my work on things like these, items rather than living creatures. The ‘memory’ of the object has to be fresh.”

He ran a thumb over the crack, his eyes glowing with a faint, crimson light. “And not even everyone who possesses my specific bloodline power can do this on inanimate objects. So, right now, I might be the only person in the entire world who can help you.”

Rowa then lifted the item, holding it up for the group to see. As they watched in stunned silence, the jagged fissure in the metal began to knit itself back together. The edges smoothed over, the crack vanished, and the medallion was made whole once more.

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