Chapter 29

The warrior Lektar brought was not in his right mind.

His shaking eyes constantly scanned the surroundings, and his body was hunched, ready to flee at any moment.

Lektar frowned at this behavior unbecoming of a plains warrior. What on earth did he see in the forest to be like this?

Oneton suppressed his anger and interrogated the warrior.

“Speak. What did you see in the forest?”

“Forest… forest? Yes, we were in the forest. We were in the forest.”

The mentally unstable warrior kept muttering the word ‘forest’. He was clearly not in a normal state.

Feeling frustrated, Oneton raised his heavy body and met the warrior’s eyes. The mystery dwelling in Oneton’s eyes began to glow ominously.

Unlike most spirits who consider shamanism trivial, Oneton was a spirit who believed that shamanism could be useful depending on how it’s used.

This was just such a situation.

As the warrior met Oneton’s eyes, he fell under the spell and gradually lost his reason. Lektar glared at Oneton, disgusted by this eerie magic.

No matter how urgent the situation, to cast a spell on his subordinate so carelessly…

“Was there no gentler method?”

“Shut up. If you want to argue, blame the weakness of your warrior. How weak must he be to lose his mind after one defeat?”

It was a response truly befitting Oneton, who had a talent for grating on others’ nerves.

Ignoring Lektar’s reaction, Oneton ordered the warrior.

“Recall what you saw and heard.”

“Forest… snow fog… giant…”

The warrior, Secunda, slowly opened his mouth as he recalled his memories.

---

The unit that Secunda, a dog beastkin and warrior of the Blue Mane tribe, belonged to entered the forest following Lektar’s orders.

The forest was colder and darker than any forest or field Secunda had experienced, but he wasn’t worried.

‘How strong could those hiding in the forest possibly be?’

This forest was like the final destination for losers and runaways.

How famous must it be for even the beastkin living in the vast plains to call this forest ‘the end of the world’?

It literally meant that once you reach this forest, there’s nowhere else to go.

… Although it’s frustrating that they’ve been pushed back to near such a forest.

‘How did the Blue Mane tribe end up like this…’

“Stop. I smell humans ahead.”

As Rokan, the tribe’s great warrior and a goat beastkin leading the front, signaled, the warriors all stopped at once.

They gazed into the forest with beast-like glowing eyes. Though quite far and obscured by vegetation, a palisade was clearly visible.

It was a fairly large and well-made palisade, but the warriors weren’t worried. For the nomads of the plains, raiding palisades was almost a daily routine.

Such things would soon crumble when large warriors strike them with two-handed axes…

“Woof! Woof woof!”

“Calm down, calm down.”

The warriors glared at the wolf barking thoughtlessly.

It was a wolf that Oneton had forcibly included, saying he couldn’t trust the warriors’ senses… honestly, they didn’t like it.

It had a nasty temperament, ate enormous amounts, and was so difficult to command.

They didn’t have to look far, it was happening right now.

Rokan, who was holding the wolf’s leash, tried to calm it by pulling the leash, but it wasn’t easy.

Not only was it excited, but having received a blessing, it had grown too large to control easily.

‘This thing. Has it gotten drunk on human blood like its master?’

But for that, something about its howl seemed strange…

The great warrior sensed something from the wolf other than the ferocity characteristic of a hungry beast.

Surely a wolf that had received a blessing couldn’t be scared?

‘That can’t be right?’

“Wait, is that snow fog rolling in from ahead?”

“What?”

The warriors watched the scene before them in bewilderment.

In the already dark forest, snow fog was slowly spreading.

As the snow fog slowly approached, the wolf bared its teeth in disgust and then…

“Wh-What!? Hey, you damn wolf!”

“Damn it, catch it quickly!”

It tried to turn tail and run away.

The great warrior shouted in astonishment.

How could a wolf that had received a blessing be scared of mere snow fog!

Despite the wolf’s desperate struggles, the warriors held firm.

It was obvious that if this one ran away, Oneton would blame Lektar, and an angry Lektar would blame the warriors.

“Yelp, yeeelp!”

“This damn wolf… Huh?”

“What the… The fog is too thick!”

The snow fog engulfed the warriors in an instant. That was fine, but… the problem came next.

As the snow fog gradually thickened, something began to appear within it.

It was a giant.

A giant wearing a deer skull was walking towards them, exhaling fog from its mouth.

The warriors’ spines tingled with goosebumps.

Although the appearance of a giant was surprising, it shouldn’t be scary…

‘Why am I afraid?’

The warriors had experienced monsters comparable to giants, if not giants themselves.

Even in the eastern plains, dangerous monsters like trolls or ogres would appear from time to time.

So they weren’t warriors who would be afraid just because something was a bit large…

Sruung.

The warriors unconsciously drew their weapons. Even without an order from Rokan, who was leading them.

One warrior pointed his spear at the giant’s legs and muttered.

“Th-That thing… It’s not leaving footprints?”

“!”

Could you believe that a giant at least twice the size of a human was approaching without leaving footprints or making a sound?

The warriors realized this being was no ordinary creature and gritted their teeth.

It was fortunate that they were people with some connection to spirits. If not, they might have thought they were bewitched by ghosts and run away with their tails between their legs.

As the giant stretched its hand towards the ground, snow moved like living snakes and wrapped around its hand.

The snow instantly became a single axe. Although it was a hand axe that didn’t match the giant’s size, no one relaxed their guard.

… Nevertheless, the warriors couldn’t keep up with the giant’s movements.

Something seemed blurry, and then… The warriors fell into confusion when they belatedly realized the giant had disappeared.

“What!? Where did it go!”

“It, it was definitely in front…”

As one warrior was looking around, he froze when he noticed others’ gazes on him.

The warrior noticed that his surroundings had darkened, and shortly after, he also noticed that it had become chillingly cold.

As cold energy brushed past his nape, the warrior raised his head.

“… Ah.”

That was the warrior’s last word.

As the giant’s axe swung indifferently, the warrior’s head flew high into the sky.

Faced with the strangeness of not a single drop of blood flowing and the giant’s presence that couldn’t be sensed even though it was right in front of them, Rokan ordered as if screaming.

“Attack!”

The warriors surrounding the giant moved, giving in to fear.

Someone swung their sword.

Someone brought down their axe.

Someone thrust their spear, but…

“Wh-What!”

“This is crazy!?”

The warriors’ weapons sliced through empty air.

The giant had dodged the attacks by bending its waist with a flexibility unbefitting its size.

The warriors withdrew their weapons in shock, but it was already too late.

The giant swung its hand axe like a whip. Warriors’ screams echoed as arms, legs, and for the unlucky ones, heads flew.

The giant grabbed the leg of the nearest warrior and swung him towards the other warriors.

Dying by being cut by the hand axe was cruel, but dying by being hit with a fellow warrior was even more horrific.

As scream collided with scream, a terrible bursting sound erupted.

As shrieks and the smell of blood mingled chaotically, Secunda fell into panic and dropped his spear.

Only one thought filled his mind:

‘If I don’t run away, I’ll die!’

There was no trace of fighting spirit, let alone honor, left in Secunda’s mind.

His legs were instinctively running away from the giant without giving him time to hesitate. Secunda looked back as he fled.

As Rokan’s head, who had been cursing at him, was split in half, Secunda turned his head back in shock.

There was no time to feel guilty. He would die if he didn’t get out of here right now.

Other warriors seemed to have the same thought, as they started to flee following Secunda.

Unfortunately, they weren’t as agile as Secunda.

“Aaaaargh!!!”

“Secunda, Secunda help!!!”

As the presence of his comrades diminished one by one, so did their screams and curses.

Secunda was terrified of this fact. When nothing more could be heard, that moment would mean his death.

“Woof!”

“Huk!?”

As Secunda was fleeing, he was startled by the wolf’s howl from beside him.

There was the wolf that had sensed danger first, running while panting heavily.

The moment their eyes met, Secunda felt an ominous premonition.

It would be creepy even if it were an ordinary wolf, but wasn’t this one blessed by Oneton?

“Get away!”

“Grrrr!”

At Secunda’s threat, the wolf bit his leg.

The sharp teeth were enough to turn not only Secunda’s leather armor but also his softer skin into rags.

Secunda screamed and fell at the pain of his flesh being torn away. He tried to get up, but it wasn’t easy.

As the wolf ran far away, Secunda resigned himself.

‘… So this is how I die.’

As he accepted death, Secunda felt dejected. Having given up on everything, it felt as if his fear had washed away.

He painfully turned his body to look at the giant. The giant had stopped not far away.

‘Did that damn wolf survive?’

That was unfair. Who in the world would want the one who used them as bait to survive?

Fortunately, it seemed the giant had no intention of letting the wolf live.

The giant’s hand axe cut through the forest and split the wolf’s waist in two. Having watched this scene without missing a detail, Secunda sighed.

“Ha, it wasn’t something that could escape in the first place.”

The giant was slowly approaching. Or was it slow?

He couldn’t tell.

Although it was clearly in front of him, Secunda couldn’t tell how fast the giant was approaching.

Only when the giant was looking down at him from right in front did Secunda clearly recognize its position.

As the skull cracked open, a pitch-black abyss like a bottomless pit entered Secunda’s eyes. To think it wasn’t wearing a skull, but that bone was its head.

Then is that its mouth… no, can that even be called a mouth?

‘I don’t know… I just wish it would end now.’

Secunda looked at the giant’s mouth with empty eyes. Praying for those teeth to tear his neck quickly.

However… the giant didn’t bite him. The giant put its hand into its own mouth.

“…?”

Secunda froze at the incomprehensible sight. The giant took something out of its mouth…

“A seed?”

There was no time to resolve his question. The giant’s claw dug into Secunda’s mouth.

Secunda’s mouth opened wide under the overwhelming force he couldn’t resist. He screamed at the pain of his jawbone being crushed.

“Aaaaaargh!!!!!”

Secunda felt something piercing through his teeth. The pain was bad enough, but not knowing why this was happening made it even more terrifying.

Why on earth would it plant a seed in his teeth?

As the claw withdrew, Secunda spat out a mouthful of blood. He hurriedly put his fingers in his mouth but couldn’t remove the seed.

What kind of seed could it be to be stuffed into a person’s mouth… he didn’t even want to imagine.

“What… What the hell did you do!!”

“Quiet.”

Secunda felt as if his heart had been gripped and shut his mouth.

It was just one word, but its weight felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.

The giant stared into Secunda’s eyes and spoke.

“I’ll spare your life, so return to your base. If you make it back safely, you’ll live… if not, I’ll leave it to your imagination.”

“What… What does that mean!?”

Secunda reached out towards the giant in confusion, but the giant had already disappeared.

Secunda blankly stared at where the giant had been, and then at his comrades who had become corpses.

It was too cruel to be a dream, and too horrific not to be.

Secunda clutched his jaw at the throbbing pain from his gums.

The clear pain and the even clearer foreign sensation of the seed.

With these two sensations, Secunda stood up limping. He no longer had the mental capacity to think.

He just tried not to forget the giant’s last words.

If he didn’t return… he didn’t want to imagine what would happen.

---

That was the end of Secunda’s story.

Oneton frowned. He hadn’t imagined that Wendigo himself would move directly.

“This undignified fellow…”

“Fellow? Do you know the identity of the giant this warrior spoke of?”

“Yes. I know, so wait a mom… Wait.”

Oneton’s eyes flashed, and he bit off Secunda’s head.

Hot blood stained the floor, and Secunda’s head rolled on the ground.

Has this spirit finally gone mad?

Lektar could no longer hold back and drew his sword.

“You crazy spirit, you’ve finally crossed the line!”

“There’s a reason for this, so calm down.”

“Shut up! After biting off the neck of a warrior who barely returned alive, your excuse is…”

Lektar was roaring but was shocked by the sight before him.

As if Oneton’s excuse wasn’t a lie, a seed fell from Secunda’s mouth and burrowed into the ground.

The seed instantly grew and began to take shape.

A massive body filled with muscle and a deer skull.

The tree that grew from the seed took the form of the wendigo.

For a moment, there was the sound of breaking branches.

-Oh. It works.

“You damn bastard…”

As the wendigo’s form uttered ridiculous words, Oneton burst with killing intent and growled.