Several hours had passed since he had sent his wives back. The moon had already risen, illuminating the sky. His wives would be worried about him.
'Too long,' he thought. 'I've been gone too long.'
He pictured the safe house. It was safe, yes, and Nubble was there.
But Nubble was young, not a combat veteran. If it was spotted by another person like Zephriya, Nubble wouldn't be able to protect his wives.
'And even if I gave Ezra the handgun...' He clenched his fist. 'It has limited ammunition. It can only do so much at close range. If they get swarmed, it's over.'
Anxiety gripped his heart.
He looked at the woman standing before him—or rather, the two women warring for dominance within a single vessel—with impatience.
There was no anger in his eyes anymore. The cold dominance he had exerted a moment ago had receded, replaced by the look of a man who was simply done.
Drained. Irritated. He had spent his mana, his patience, and his time on a situation that offered him nothing but headaches.
He adjusted his shirt, pulling the collar straight, and then, without a word of farewell, he turned his back on them.
"Since you have been saved by me, consider that my mercy," Judas said, his voice dropping into the clearing like a heavy stone. "Fight among yourselves as you please. I have women waiting at home."
Without a backward glance, he strode towards his home.
As he navigated the root-snarled path, he mentally scrolled through the events of the last hour.
A vein throbbed on his forehead.
'Arrogant and obnoxious,' he thought, his jaw tightening. 'If I bring them home, I will suffocate before breakfast.' He didn't want an Indian soap drama to play out in his home. So, he decided not to make them his wives anymore.
'Let them solve their own problems. They are strong enough to survive. Probably.'
He nodded to himself. The decision was final. He was washing his hands of them.
Behind him, in the clearing, silence reigned for exactly three seconds.
Then, Summer's mental voice exploded with enough outrage to rattle Zephriya's teeth.
'You bitch! Follow him! Why are you standing like a tree?'
Zephriya stood frozen, watching Judas's silhouette disappear into the distance.
Her purple eyes flickered, the violet light dimming in shock. She had never been walked away from. Men did not walk away from her; they crawled after her.
'He... left?' Zephriya thought, her mind struggling to process the data.
'HEY!' Summer screamed, her voice projecting through their shared mouth as well as their mind. "TAKE US WITH YOU TOO! ARE YOU LISTENING?"
Far ahead, Judas didn't even look back. He simply raised a hand and waved lazily, dismissively, over his shoulder.
"First," Judas called back, his voice carrying clearly through the night air without him turning his head. "You kidnapped my spirit monster. That alone is enough to consider it a sin against me."
He kept walking, his figure growing smaller, blending into the dark undergrowth.
"Then I healed you even after my bonded monster injured you. Because I am generous."
Another few steps. He stepped over a fallen log, not breaking his rhythm.
"And you still tried to seduce me with someone else's body," he continued, his tone dry. "I'd rather never see either of you again, let alone bring you to my home."
His footsteps faded into the soft crunch of the forest path.
'Zephriya! Do something!' Summer internally screeched, her mental avatar flailing wildly. 'You useless princess, go after him! Say something! Stop him! Cry! Fake faint! ANYTHING! We don't have a weapon anymore. We can't protect ourselves anymore and we are also injured.'
'He can hear you, idiot,' Zephriya snapped.
'I don't fucking care. You bitch.' Zephriya gritted her teeth. The humiliation of the rejection was still burning in her gut, mixing with the lingering phantom sensation of his touch.
Her voice turned cold, haughty, and dripping with Abyssal pride. She folded her arms under her chest, lifting her chin high.
'Never mind,' Zephriya declared. 'We have survived this long without a man. I am Zephriya. I conquered the Western Ridges. I do not beg.'
'We are going to die!'
'We do not need him,' Zephriya insisted, pushing Summer's panic down with a wall of stubbornness. 'I do not need him. Let the human leave. I am a Princess of the Aby—'
She turned around dramatically, her hair whipping through the air, ready to stride back into the deeper forest to find her own path.
Awoooooooo—
The night air split.
It was a wolf howl.
A second howl answered from deeper in the trees, sharp and eager.
Then a third answer came from the left. The forest trembled.
'Since you are desperate… I will agree with you for this time. Let's go after him,' Zephriya said as she ran in the direction of Judas.
Her speed was just a bit too fast, as if she were scared of something.
Summer sighed in the mental space.
'Princess of the Abyss, hmm? Princess of running for her life, more like. You managed to scare off the only healer in a ten-mile radius, and now we are dinner.'
Zephriya ignored her. The pride, the lineage, the royal dignity—it all evaporated instantly. Pure survival instinct took over.
Her eyes locked onto the direction where Judas's silhouette had faded.
"FUCK IT!"
She took off after him at full speed, her assassin boots tearing up the earth, her arms pumping.
'GO GO GO!' Summer cheered in her mind, waving imaginary pompoms.
Judas wasn't running, but his walking speed was almost like a sprint. Together with his Agility attribute, he had almost covered half the distance to his house.
So when he noticed rapid footsteps matching his speed, he paused, looking behind.
"WAIT!"
Zephriya burst out of the shadows behind him with a scared face.
She was disheveled, wild-eyed, and running as if the devil himself was nipping at her heels.
'Let us follow you!' Summer screamed internally. 'At least for a month, until our injuries heal.' She begged.
Judas looked at Zephriya, who went silent while gasping for air.
"Why should I?"
"Y-you..." Zephriya glanced at him sharply.
"I don't want my wives to be annoyed by you." He pointed his chin at Zephriya.
'We promise, we will never do that,' Summer said.
"Still, why should I trust you? It seems the better option is leaving you two here."
"What do you want?" It was Zephriya who asked. Judas curled his lips upwards.
"Until you leave my home, you will be my maid."
"No." Both spoke in unison.
"Then forget it. Goodbye." He turned to leave. That's when another wolf howl sounded from the distance.
Both women flinched.
"W-we agree." Both said at the same time.
Judas watched her face and sensed the internal helplessness of the two women.
"Don't worry. I will never ask for outrageous things. You two just have to serve my wives, and don't bully them. Especially you, Zephriya."
By saying that, he continued walking, followed by Zephriya with a lowered head.