It had already been ten days since they arrived at the bar.
Adan calculated the days.
Perhaps it was time for them to leave.
By now, Tony’s Iron Man armor should have been completed.
More importantly… today was a good day.
The best way for Adan and Ethan to find Tony was to head toward several of the most dangerous and chaotic villages and towns in the surrounding area.
Adan vaguely remembered the plot.
After Tony finished making his armor, he returned here.
Tony would use the Iron Man armor to rescue the civilians who had been kidnapped.
So now, Adan planned to take Ethan there first and wait for Tony.
Otherwise, the two of them would have a hard time leaving the Middle East in such a short period of time.
But Ethan’s safety… was important.
Adan couldn’t protect Ethan forever, so in the end, he still had to make a decision.
…
“Michelle, we’re leaving.”
At the dinner table, Adan suddenly spoke.
Ethan raised his head and looked at Adan in confusion.
He had known nothing about this.
But Ethan didn’t say anything.
He believed that Adan must have had a reason for making this decision.
Perhaps he had already figured out how they were going to leave.
“Is that so? That’s good, then.”
Michelle spoke casually.
There wasn’t much reluctance between her and Adan.
Their intimacy over the past several days had simply been physical.
They had each gotten what they needed.
Michelle had known from the beginning that Adan and Ethan would eventually leave, which was why she had become involved with Adan in the first place.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have wanted a man constantly bothering her afterward, even if that man was very charming.
Their farewell was brief, as ordinary as seeing off a customer who had come to drink.
“Oh, right, Adan. Take the guns with you. In a place like this, they can still come in handy.”
Michelle had the bartender bring out the two guns Adan had traded for drinks ten days earlier.
“No need.”
Adan patted the Jeep and opened the rear door for Michelle to see.
“There are plenty more back here.”
Michelle looked into the back seat, and a look of longing appeared in her eyes.
There were still four or five rifles lying in the back, all high-end products from Stark Industries.
Noticing the look in Michelle’s eyes, Adan stepped forward and kissed her on the lips before saying, “Can we make one final deal? I want to trade these guns for some gasoline.”
Michelle raised an eyebrow.
“Of course. But aren’t you going to keep at least two?”
She waved a finger between Adan and Ethan.
Adan turned his head toward Ethan…
After thinking for a while, he turned back to Michelle.
“Then just leave one for us.”
At the very last moment of their farewell, Adan and Michelle embraced.
Michelle whispered softly into Adan’s ear, “I hope you never come back here again.”
“Hopefully.”
Adan nodded.
Yes.
Who would want to come back here?
Adan and Ethan set off.
They left the small town that could barely be called an “oasis,” and danger was waiting for them ahead.
…
Inside the vehicle, Ethan curiously watched as Adan took a small cloth-wrapped object from his pocket and placed it against his chest.
“What’s that?”
“Some beard I cut off.”
“…What are you keeping it for?”
“I heard beards, hair, and things like that sell pretty well in New York.”
Hearing Adan’s answer…
Ethan fell silent.
He knew that definitely wasn’t the real answer, but he didn’t ask any further.
Anyone who had escaped from that hell would wish to destroy everything they had brought out of it.
And every other object they chose to keep had a story of its own.
“Adan, didn’t we leave a little too hastily? Have you decided where we’re going?”
After a moment of silence, Ethan asked Adan.
“Ethan, the world has changed.”
Adan gave him an answer that seemed unrelated to the question.
“This world is about to overturn everything you know. It will make you feel unfamiliar. It will make you afraid. And those things…”
Adan nodded toward the back seat, where the rifle was lying.
“Those things won’t be able to protect you.”
Adan looked at Ethan as he spoke.
Ethan lowered his head and fell silent.
The first time Adan had displayed magic in front of him, Ethan had already realized that there was another side to this world that he knew nothing about.
And that hidden side, lurking in the darkness, was even more dangerous.
But what could he do?
Ethan was nothing more than an ordinary man.
Perhaps he possessed a little more knowledge than the average person.
But he obviously wasn’t someone like Tony Stark.
His knowledge couldn’t arm him.
It couldn’t protect him amid the chaos.
Seeing Ethan remain silent, Adan took a deep breath.
“Ethan, do you want to gain power?”
Power?
Ethan abruptly raised his head and looked at Adan, but before long, he lowered it again.
Adan extended his hand toward Ethan.
Resting in Adan’s open palm was a ring.
It was silver-white, with an exquisitely carved wolf’s head on it.
Under the sunlight, it looked almost lifelike.
“Ethan, I can give you power. The power to protect yourself.”
Adan stepped on the brakes and brought the vehicle to a stop.
Power!
Ethan had once desperately yearned for power.
Yet he had also once hated power with all his heart.
Now…
He simply wanted to live an ordinary life in peace until he grew old.
Ethan looked into Adan’s eyes.
They were bright and radiant, giving him that familiar feeling…
“Power like the kind you possess?”
Adan shook his head.
Brutal?
There had once been a time when Ethan desperately wished he could be more ruthless.
Perhaps if he had been, his family wouldn’t have died before his eyes.
…
Hellsing was a demon god who governed the hunt.
It advocated bloody hunting between individuals and took pleasure in creating—and even participating in—hunts where the two sides possessed vastly different levels of power.
Hellsing had created numerous diseases capable of transforming mortals into beasts and advocated an eternal hunt.
Its domain was a hunting ground, said to be a vast grassland beneath crimson moonlight.
The souls of all beast-men who died would return there, participating in the eternal hunt that took place within.
Throughout eternity, Hellsing created a race.
Powerful, brutal, and bloodthirsty—these were the defining traits of that race.
They could tear their prey apart in the most direct manner and then grow stronger by devouring them.
They were werewolves—
Bloodthirsty butchers, loyal and courageous warriors!
And the Ring of Hellsing, the demon god Hellsing’s proudest creation, could grant mortals immense power and allow them to continually grow stronger through devouring.
More importantly, the werewolves created by this divine artifact were Hellsing’s most perfect creations.
They had no flaws.
They were unique.
They did not fear silver.
They did not fear the light.
They could walk beneath the light of day and traverse the darkness of night.
They possessed none of the filthy habits of ordinary werewolves, could always retain their sanity, and could even draw power from the moon above.
And all of this—
This incomparable power—
Was quietly resting in Adan’s palm.
Ethan reached out and took the ring from Adan’s hand.
He hesitated.
He didn’t know what choice he should make.
Ethan simply clenched the ring tightly in his hand.
After a long while, Ethan slowly opened his hand and returned the ring to Adan.
He yearned for peace.
Ethan had already grown tired of chaos from the bottom of his heart.
He only wanted to live a peaceful life like an ordinary person.
“Ethan!”
Seeing Ethan return the ring, Adan became anxious.
The future Marvel universe would be filled with danger everywhere.
Ethan was going to stay by his side…
No, by Tony’s side.
Living in America, every step he took would be like walking on the edge of a blade!
“Ethan! We can’t protect you forever… The world of the future will be far more brutal than you can imagine!”
Adan grabbed Ethan by the arm.
Protection?
Protection!
Images began surfacing in Ethan’s mind…
No!
He no longer needed anyone else’s protection!
Trembling yet resolute, he took the ring from Adan’s hand.
This time, he wanted to protect everyone!
(End of Chapter)