Chapter 32

Something glinted again in the swirling snow fog.

The experienced warriors immediately recognized it as a spear.

“A spear is coming! Scatter!”

A warrior’s shout awakened the warriors’ senses, but it was a late reaction.

The spear, launched with a vicious sound, pierced through another warrior and flew on. As the impaled warrior flew backward with a scream, the other warriors were terrified.

It was a power that was hard to believe could come from a spear.

“Everyone, get a grip! No matter how powerful the throwing spear is, they won’t be able to throw it if we get close!”

As Jaken, the warrior next ranked after Bokun, ordered, the warriors gripped their weapons.

No matter how flustered they were, warriors were warriors.

They weren’t so weak as to lose their fighting spirit just because one or two comrades had died.

The warriors gritted their teeth and charged. Though they didn’t know how far away the enemy was, their determination to avenge this humiliation burned brightly.

“Beasts, charge the beasts!”

“Chase the enemies!”

As the warriors shouted and released the leashes, the beasts let out mournful cries and dashed forward, kicking up the ground.

In situations like this where something was flying at them, it was always the vanguard that suffered.

Spears flew towards the heads of the beasts running in the lead.

Bang!

“Damn it, how the hell is that thing a spear!”

“Shut up and run! Is this the time to argue about that!”

The beasts hit directly by the spears were literally torn apart, such was their power.

However, Jaken noticed one possibility among the beasts.

Unlike the sleek ones like wolves or leopards, boars and bears weren’t penetrated by the spears.

Jaken quickly stuck close to a bear in front of him and shouted.

“Everyone, advance while hiding behind the larger beasts! The spears can’t penetrate them!”

The warriors, burning with the will to survive, desperately hid behind the larger beasts.

As if proving Jaken’s judgment correct, while the spears could take the lives of bears or boars, they couldn’t stop the warriors’ charge.

Naturally, the warriors’ morale stabilized. At this rate, they could reach the enemy beyond the fog!

“I don’t know who’s throwing these spears, but even if it’s a spirit, I’ll definitely kill them!”

“Damn it. We can barely see ahead, what kind of bullshit is this!”

The warriors, having escaped the immediate danger, showed their original viciousness and steeled their resolve to fight.

However… unlike the other warriors whose heads were filled with heat, Jaken suffered from an inexplicable unease.

‘Something’s not right!’

Without reason or evidence, Jaken bit his lip at the signal his instincts were sending.

His head couldn’t understand, but his instincts kept warning him to run away.

“Jaken. The fog is getting thicker. At this rate, it’ll be hard to identify our surroundings!”

“I know… but don’t worry too much. The enemies can’t see us either. Besides, unlike them, we have the beasts!”

When a warrior running beside him warned Jaken, he spoke as if soothing the warrior. In reality, it was more like he was soothing himself.

The spears were still coming from the front, and even the sharp-sensed beasts couldn’t detect any sign of the enemy, so at least they weren’t surrounded…

‘Wait. The beasts can’t find the enemies?’

Jaken felt the back of his neck go cold.

There was no way beasts that had received a spirit’s blessing couldn’t find the enemy.

But this realization came too late.

As the warriors were about to pass a large tree, something flew towards them, cutting through the fog.

Jaken, who had fallen behind due to being lost in thought, realized it was an axe.

A large, crude axe was flying towards the warriors’ waists.

‘We need to dodge!’

Jaken instinctively threw himself towards the ground.

Unlike Jaken who made a quick judgment, the warriors who were charging with their blood up couldn’t make a quick decision.

Their only desperate attempt was to raise their shields or weapons to try to defend against the flying blade.

Of course, such attempts were in vain. The axe shattered shields and weapons, then split the warriors in half in one go.

Crack!

With the brutal axe strike, the warriors’ bodies were split in half and flew into the air.

Jaken looked up at the sky with his mouth open at this unbelievable sight.

As entrails and blood stained the ground, the thick fog momentarily dispersed.

《Foolish ones. Engrave in your souls that you die for daring to invade my domain as you perish.》

“It’s, it’s a spirit!”

There stood the wendigo, his eyes gleaming ominously.

As the eerie, mystery-filled voice pounded the warriors’ ears, they swallowed dry saliva in tension.

“Get lost, you damn spirit!”

“Turkin! Wait…!?”

One warrior, unable to overcome his fear, rushed at the wendigo. Jaken watched the charging warrior helplessly.

Foolish one. How could he face a spirit alone!

Jaken’s thoughts were correct.

The dispersed fog gathered again, and the warrior was dragged into the fog, his neck caught by the wendigo.

“Aaaaargh!!!”

《Congratulations. You lot will die today and become fertilizer for the forest. And fertilizer… should be well shredded and scattered.》

Before the warriors could help, terrible screams erupted from beyond the fog.

Even more frightening than the sounds of tearing and ripping was the desperate scream of their comrade.

What on earth was being done to him that made a warrior scream so desperately? It was beyond imagination.

《You should not have come to the forest. No, at least you should not have touched what’s mine.》

“What the hell did we touch!”

“Calm down and stick together everyone! We can’t face him alone!”

As the wendigo’s voice echoed from all directions, the warriors couldn’t regain their senses.

The fear that the wendigo might jump out from behind at any moment was gnawing away at the warriors’ minds, tempered over long years.

The first to break were the beasts.

No matter how blessed they were, their essence was still that of instinct-driven animals.

“Woof! Woof woof!”

“Damn it… the beasts are running away!”

The sinister mystery that drove humans mad must have been even more terrible for beasts with senses superior to humans.

Despite Oneton’s blessing, the beasts began to flee in terror. They didn’t care that blood was flowing from their throats and eyes for disobeying orders.

Seeing this unsightly scene, even the warriors had to admit. This wasn’t a fight, but a one-sided hunt.

And a hunt where you couldn’t predict when or where the hunter would appear!

“Damn it, of course! Jaken, we need to run away too!”

“Now’s our chance with the beasts fleeing. If we run now, we can use them as bait…!?”

《Foolish ones. Why do you think I would care about mere beasts?》

The fog-shrouded wendigo appeared from somewhere and swung his axe, baring his fangs.

The warriors attacked desperately. Their attacks, honed over long years on the battlefield, were certainly threatening, but…

‘It’s like striking a rock!’

Swords and axes couldn’t cut the skin, and spear tips broke unable to withstand the impact.

At best, Jaken’s sword left a faint scar on the wendigo’s skin… but it was barely more than a trace.

What awaited the warriors who failed their attacks was the wendigo’s merciless axe strikes.

With axe strikes wrapped in cold energy, the warriors became chunks of meat smashed into the ground.

“My skin… my skiiiin!?”

“Cough! I can’t… breathe!?”

Avoiding the weapon didn’t mean they were unharmed. As the cold energy seeped into the warriors’ skin and lungs, they writhed in pain and collapsed one by one.

“Damn it…”

“Run… everyone run!!!”

Jaken, keenly feeling there was no chance of victory, picked up an axe from the ground and shouted at the warriors.

The warriors who realized there was nothing they could do in this fight chose to flee.

‘I’ll… I’ll buy time.’

Though unsure how long he could hold out, Jaken raised the axe with trembling hands and faced forward.

Jaken’s wavering gaze focused on the wendigo, dimly visible in the fog.

With the fleeing warriors behind him, Jaken bit his lip to swallow the scream that seemed about to burst out.

Without the tangy smell of blood and numbing pain, he felt he might beg for his life and run away at any moment.

“Come on. A warrior of the Blue Mane tribe will face you!”

《Hmm…》

Jaken’s appearance was truly pitiful.

His hair was a mess, swept by the swirling wind and piercing cold.

Frost had settled on his skin, making it look like he might freeze to death at any moment.

His legs and arms trembled, defying their owner’s will.

As the wendigo approached step by step, parting the fog, blue rippled in Jaken’s eyes.

But Jaken didn’t run away. He had to draw the wendigo’s attention here, if only to save the warriors a little longer.

As the wendigo’s massive body leaned down, Jaken met his eyes.

‘I’m going to die.’

Jaken sensed his own death. He realized that the moment the spirit in front of him swung his axe, he would die without any resistance.

However… the wendigo didn’t swing his weapon.

《The pure scent and the heart thinking of comrades is truly beautiful. Why does a warrior like you follow someone as vicious as Oneton?》

“… I don’t follow Oneton. I only pray for the well-being of our tribe.”

《Then it’s even stranger. If you pray for the tribe’s well-being, why do you become Oneton’s dog and oppress the humans of the forest?》

“……”

Jaken closed his mouth, unable to answer the wendigo’s question. He felt as if the doubt lingering in his heart had been exposed.

Why on earth was the Blue Mane tribe shedding blood against an unknown spirit in this forest?

Was there any reason for the warriors’ blood to be shed meaninglessly just for the chief’s deal with that spirit bastard?

《…Well, fine. You honorable warrior. Out of respect for your noble action, I’ll specially spare your life.》

“!”

Jaken’s eyes widened.

If he hadn’t misheard, it seemed the spirit just said he would spare his life… a spirit doing such a thing?

“Is, is that true?”

《I only took your lives because I had no choice to protect what’s mine, I don’t enjoy taking life.》

As if it wasn’t a lie, the wendigo slowly backed away from Jaken. As the wendigo’s figure disappeared into the fog, his voice echoed through the forest.

《Out of consideration for your honor, I warn you, never set foot in the forest’s fog again. If you step into the fog once more…》

《Death will come for you.》

That was the wendigo’s final warning.

As the fog receded and the surroundings returned to the appearance of a normal forest, Jaken’s legs gave out and he collapsed.

He felt his throat and heart, checking if he was really alive. It was hard to believe he was still living.

Realizing he was alive, Jaken looked around, taking deep breaths.

As he saw the horribly dead corpses, the warning engraved in Jaken’s mind echoed in his ears.

Beware the fog.

Jaken, his face pale, jumped to his feet.

“This, this is no time for this!”

Jaken, who momentarily lost his balance and fell, got up again with a groan.

There was no time for this. He had to hurry back to the tribe and inform them of this.

That they must never, ever approach the fog.

And…

‘… I need to confront Oneton and the chief. Just what reason is there to go this far in a forest where such a being resides.’

In the eyes of Jaken as he moved with a limp, the flames of discord flickered.