Chapter 86: True Purpose (2)

The first to notice the anomaly was Black.

He immediately sensed that a powerful entity was flying toward the temple.

It was only natural, as they were of the same kind.

Perhaps the other had also sensed his presence, which was why it was approaching so quickly.

Having made this judgment, Black looked at Wolfgang.

She immediately understood his meaning.

After all, she too had sensed the powerful presence approaching.

In fact, she had experienced this before—she had even knocked it down with a single strike once.

“Black, can I trust you?”

“Please trust me. I’ll handle this.”

“Good. Leifen, I need a favor.”

“Fine. The temple might collapse otherwise.”

As Leifen gestured, Black suddenly found himself in the air above the temple.

Leifen’s spatial authority had activated, allowing Black to immediately spot the blazing dragon’s eyes glaring at him.

The life force within them was beyond anything most creatures could fathom.

Black chuckled and spoke.

“It’s been a while since I’ve met a fellow dragon.”

[Step aside, Black. If you try to stop me, I’ll have no choice but to attack you.]

“Don’t you think I’m in the same position? White.”

He knew all too well.

That’s why, even if it was a futile hope, he still tried to talk.

He didn’t want to kill one of the few remaining dragons with his own hands.

The guardian dragon, White, responded.

[I already know about the horrors you endured in the Empire.]

“News travels fast.”

[I can tell just by looking at you. All I sense from you now is a tainted aura.]

[Tell me. Why are you protecting the humans of the Empire who force-fed you Wendigos?]

White’s words brought back the horrific memories Black had tried to forget.

Wendigos were immortal beings that couldn’t be killed by any means.

However, that didn’t mean they couldn’t be dealt with entirely.

There was an extremely rare method to annihilate Wendigos, though it was utterly horrifying.

A dragon’s immense magical power and stomach could withstand the Wendigos’ desperate struggles.

In fact, they could completely absorb their power and annihilate their existence.

At least, that’s what the people of the Empire believed at the time.

Coincidentally, the Empire had Black, its guardian dragon.

Naturally, Black vehemently refused.

While it wasn’t entirely wrong, the idea of consuming such abominations was repulsive to him.

[There’s no guarantee that method would even work. I might have to spend the rest of my life with those filthy, grotesque beings inside me.]

[Our theory is flawless.]

[I’m not saying you should eat a live Wendigo right now. Start with a Wendigo’s arm that we’ve secured, and then we’ll observe the situation……………]

They were utterly insane.

To defeat the Empire’s greatest evil, the Wendigos, they were willing to sacrifice anything.

Black continued to refuse, but the contract he was bound to didn’t allow it.

Bound by the contract, Black was forced to comply.

And so, he ended up consuming a Wendigo.

The taste was beyond imagination—horrific, with a burning sensation in his stomach.

It felt as if the embodiment of suffering had descended upon him.

Yet, despite it all, that damned theory was proven perfectly correct.

Dragons could indeed annihilate Wendigos by consuming them.

“How laughable. You ignored me when I was suffering through that horror, and now you pretend to care? You’ve grown quite thick-skinned, White.”

[I’m sorry I couldn’t help you back then, Black. But you know I’m also bound by a contract, don’t you?]

“Yeah. That damned contract.”

[Even now, you’re free to act. You can bring judgment upon the Empire, which used the contract as an excuse to force you into such atrocities.]

“You still only see half the picture. I’m not fighting for the Empire now.”

Even now, thinking about that time makes his stomach churn.

Part of him wants to burn the Empire to the ground and kill those despicable humans, but he refrains.

The reason is simple.

“Now, I fight for only one person.”

It was humans who plunged him into hell.

But it was also a human who saved him.

As the dragons clashed in the sky, breathing fire, the rest of the Vendetta Corps entered the temple.

The deeper they went, the more familiar masses of flesh greeted them.

Wolfgang frowned.

Why were these damned flesh masses here again?

They writhed like living creatures, clinging to the walls and ceiling, squirming grotesquely.

Surprisingly, these flesh masses were all people. Or rather, they had once been people.

When Wolfgang first encountered them, she thought they were just another one of the Wendigos’ disgusting tricks.

[Disgusting things. Should we just burn them all?]

[We should at least investigate. We might find a weakness in the Wendigos.]

[Fine. If there’s a chance, we should take it.]

It was a whim.

She wanted to burn them all just looking at them, but the thought that they might reveal a weakness in the Wendigos stayed her hand.

However, the investigation results were beyond imagination.

[So, you’re saying these are all living humans?]

[…………Surprisingly, based on their composition, yes.]

[They’re still alive, even in such a horrific state?]

[Not only that. They can hear us.]

It was believed that those captured by the Wendigos simply became their prey.

But the shocking truth was far worse.

Even Wolfgang was deeply shaken when she learned of it.

How much more so for those who had suffered under the Wendigos?

From then on, people began to think it was better to be killed by the Wendigos than to become one of these flesh masses.

At least they wouldn’t suffer such a horrific fate.

But now, these flesh masses had appeared in a place she never expected.

Naturally, Wolfgang felt deeply unsettled.

“I thought this would be an easy mission at first. Now, I don’t even know who we’re fighting.”

“Are you scared?”

“If the commander weren’t here, I might have been.”

Galina honestly expressed her feelings.

She, too, was a victim of the Wendigos, having experienced their horrors firsthand during the Winter War.

In contrast, Leifen made no effort to hide his hatred.

He hated the Wendigos more than he feared them. As a lord, he had done his best to protect his people from the Wendigos, but tragically, he had failed, losing many of his subjects.

Now, seeing his captured subordinates and people turned into such monstrosities, his hatred burned even brighter.

“Wolfgang, you said the Winter King is trying to return, right?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“Good. That means we can kill him again.”

Wolfgang could feel the intensity of Leifen’s hatred, but she didn’t comment further.

She couldn’t judge another’s emotions so carelessly.

Wolfgang didn’t know the pain and suffering Leifen and the others had endured in her absence.

She had heard the stories, but she couldn’t fully grasp the depth of their experiences.

Anyone would be the same.

If you haven’t experienced it yourself, you can’t truly understand.

So, she couldn’t judge.

That would be arrogance disguised as sympathy. Ironically, Wolfgang’s decision to stand back and observe earned her everyone’s respect.

She didn’t pity them.

She didn’t impose her thoughts on them.

She simply watched them as they were and stood by their side.

That was all they needed—those who had been called monsters.

It was a simple act, but no one had ever shown them such warmth.

That’s why they were willing to lay down their lives for her—the one who had watched over them.

“Commander, the undead I was controlling have lost their connection.”

“What did you see last?”

“I don’t know. The connection was severed all at once.”

“At least it means there’s something ahead. Got it.”

There was no need to hesitate any longer.

Finally, Wolfgang stepped into the depths of the temple.

A place filled with flesh masses, yet bathed in a blinding light—an utterly bizarre sight.

“You’ve finally arrived, my nemesis.”

The saintess was there.