Chapter 35

The tree giant’s massive arm tore through the air, smashing down on the Blue Mane tribe’s warriors.

Perhaps because the sight of the enormous arm approaching was so surreal?

Most of the warriors blankly stared at the scene. However, not everyone was waiting for death.

Jaken, snatching a horn from a nearby trumpeter, blew it with all his might.

As a dull sound burst from the goat’s horn, the warriors startled awake.

No matter how surprising the sight before them, how could they lose their senses in such a critical situation!

“Dodge! You must get out of the arm’s trajectory!”

“Run! Damn it, if you’re about to fall, roll to avoid it!”

The warriors, having regained their senses, ran across the snow with pale faces. The clamorous sound from above grew closer, but they didn’t dare look up at the sky.

If they witnessed the falling giant arm again, they felt their legs would surely give out this time.

Watching this scene, Lektar’s eyes became bloodshot. He realized it was impossible to save all of them.

Lektar drew his sword, spewing anger. The sword burned hot as if reflecting his mood.

“Now’s our chance while that spirit bastard is focused on that wooden arm. Charge!”

“But… but the warriors…”

“We can’t save everyone anyway! If you don’t want their sacrifices to be in vain, then charge, I say!”

It was a brutal order, but the warriors raised their weapons with grim faces. It wasn’t entirely wrong.

Above all, unlike before, they now had their own trump card.

“Oneton! Release the beasts to attack immediately!”

“Don’t order me around! Do you think I can’t make that judgment myself!”

As Oneton’s eyes glowed ominously, the beasts grew larger and more ferocious before charging out.

‘This is bad.’

Wendigo clicked his tongue, watching the beasts approaching at high speed. It was difficult to move his body while controlling the giant arm.

At first, he had ambitiously imagined and clustered the trees to create an arm as large and massive as possible…

Apparently, having never controlled so much mystery before, the giant arm was beyond Wendigo’s control.

If he moved his body even slightly, the giant arm striking the enemies’ heads would surely crumble.

Faced with this choice, Wendigo fell into contemplation.

‘Should I just let them bite me? Even spear tips only scratched me a bit, so beast fangs should… No. These aren’t ordinary beasts, so I’m not sure.’

A moment passed, and Wendigo turned his head slightly to check the ice stake he had driven into the ground behind him.

The ice stake’s mystery, which had been full, was now reduced by half. This was natural, having forcibly pulled the roots of surrounding plants to create the tree giant’s arm.

The important thing here was that half of the mystery remained.

‘If I detonate that, wouldn’t it be enough to stop the beasts?’

He didn’t need to detonate it all. The goal was to just detonate a bit to prevent the beasts’ approach.

If he could just freeze their legs, it should buy enough time for the giant arm to strike!

“Gwaaaargh!!!”

‘Explode!’

As Wendigo’s will exerted force on the ice stake, it began to emit a clear light.

However…

‘… It seems to be exploding a bit more than I thought.’

Orders made in urgent situations sometimes lead to mistakes. Contrary to Wendigo’s plan, the mystery condensed in the ice stake was reduced by half again.

The ice stake burst with a shockwave along with an astonishingly brilliant light. The shockwave spread instantly, freezing the surroundings.

As the shockwave swept over the beasts, they became living ice statues and rolled on the ground. The ice statues tumbled and shattered into pieces.

Lektar, leading the warriors at the forefront, hastily raised his sword as a shield at this cruel sight.

“Flames, protect us!”

The flames of the fire horse that once burned the plains burst from the sword, colliding with the shockwave.

Lektar believed without doubt that the treasured sword passed down from distant ancestors would be enough to negate the shockwave.

At least until the flames were swept away and dispersed by the shockwave.

“Damn you, ancestors!”

Still, Lektar’s efforts weren’t entirely useless. The shockwave, which seemed about to freeze the world, was definitely weakened, and thanks to that, the warriors didn’t become ice statues.

… Though that’s not to say there was no damage.

Most warriors had their hair and skin frozen, and the unlucky ones had an arm or leg turned into a block of ice.

The shock didn’t stop there.

Crash!

“Damn it. Chief, the warriors…”

“Don’t look back. If you take it in, your heart will waver.”

In the end, failing to disrupt Wendigo’s concentration resulted in the mass death of warriors. The tree giant’s arm crushed the warriors like insects.

The tree giant’s arm that killed the warriors and the shockwave that instantly froze and killed the ferocious beasts.

At this point, Lektar became certain of the suspicion hidden in his heart.

That the spirit before him was absolutely not an ordinary spirit!

Lektar strongly manifested the mystery flowing through his entire body. The form of the blue wolf, long worshipped by the Blue Mane tribe, incarnated through his body.

Lektar, now a nearly perfect werewolf, swallowed the beastly nature trying to burst out and pointed his flame sword at Wendigo.

“You damn spirit bastard. Just what scheme are you plotting in this forest to go this far!!!”

“Scheme? I’m truly fighting to protect my people.”

“Don’t bullshit me! Though I may not be well-versed in spirits, I know well that you lot aren’t the type to do such things for your subordinates!”

Wendigo looked at Lektar as if bewildered, but Lektar was certain. It had been strange from the start.

Both the spirit fighting to protect humans and urging them to leave the forest were odd. Why would a spirit do such things?

Above all, what was Lektar’s own reason for coming to the forest? Wasn’t it for the evil act of human sacrifice!

It wasn’t so strange for Lektar to suspect that all of Wendigo’s abnormal actions were due to being disturbed in some evil ritual.

“I don’t know what you’re up to in the forest, but it’s definitely not normal. Without gathering mystery through wicked spells, there’s no way to explain your power!”

“… Think what you want.”

It’s said that only fools engage in verbal battles with those who have already decided their answer and are just making up reasons.

Such people never admit that their answer is wrong.

Moreover, agreeing with such foolish ideas would be idiotic…

‘… More are wavering than I thought. Are they all idiots?’

As the warriors listening to Lektar’s sophistry exuded the scent of resolve, courage, and belief, Wendigo felt his insides tightening.

To agree with such stupid thoughts. Were the Blue Mane tribe warriors all fools?

Wendigo looked at the warriors as if they were pathetic, but the warriors had their reasons.

The word “evil” fit quite well with what they had suffered so far.

‘He does look exactly like a bad guy.’

‘Maybe he’s killing the warriors so cruelly for some kind of spell?’

‘Perhaps those swept up in the snow fog lost their minds because they were bewitched by that spirit?’

With a little thought, he might have realized that his own actions were more suspicious than he imagined, but Wendigo didn’t think about it seriously enough to reach that point.

While Lektar’s acting like a hero while forgetting his own misdeeds was disgusting, it wasn’t a bad thing for Wendigo.

At least he would fight with his life on the line, so taking his head would be easy.

Responding to Wendigo’s call, an ice sword entwined with roots rose from the ground. Wendigo grasped the sword in one motion and pointed it back at Lektar.

“There’s really no scheme… but if you want to die that badly, I’ll kill you. Come at me.”

“Ha! Did you think I wouldn’t charge just because you said to!”

At Lektar’s bold cry, the warriors rushed in… except for Lektar himself.

Wendigo couldn’t help but admire Lektar’s shamelessness. As expected of someone who kept a spirit like Oneton by his side, wasn’t his face too thick!

‘I even waited for him to transform, how petty.’

“Honorable warriors of the Blue Mane, awaken the souls of your ancestors!”

Befitting warriors who guarded Lektar, they were no ordinary warriors. As the warriors drew out the hidden mystery in their bloodlines, they became beasts.

Wolf, bear, yak…

Wendigo lightly swung his sword at the bear-man who stepped forward. He intended to test the opponent’s strength.

The bear-man tried to block the ice sword with his shield. As expected of a bear beastkin, he seemed quite strong, and the shield was made of solid steel, but…

Crack!

“You monster… don’t block his attacks! His cold energy penetrates!”

As the ice sword’s cold instantly froze the shield, the bear-man quickly threw it away while shouting.

“Ancestors, watch over us!”

The bear-man swung his axe, aiming for Wendigo’s legs. Though the bear-man’s build was quite large, Wendigo was even larger, so he thought to make him kneel first.

However, Wendigo’s sword was faster than the axe. Not only was the speed unfitting for his size, but its power was also too strong.

The massive sword blew away the bear-man’s arm in one strike, arm covered in tough hide and all. The bear-man swallowed his bursting scream and swung his claws.

He was determined to leave at least one wound before dying.

“Graaah…”

“Shut up.”

Whack!

Before the bear-man’s claws could touch Wendigo’s body, Wendigo’s fist struck the bear-man’s head.

The blow was so strong that the bear-man’s head was torn off and smashed into the ground. No, it would be more accurate to say it exploded.

At this overwhelming violence, the warriors felt their guts freeze.

They must absolutely not charge alone!

“He’s alone. Surround him and attack!”

“Throw spears, throw spears! If you don’t have any, shoot arrows!”

The warriors moved nimbly to surround Wendigo. Their actions were like those hunting a dangerous beast.

The problem was that Wendigo wasn’t just dangerous.

As sharp spears flew in, Wendigo deflected half with his sword and roared at the other half.

At the roar that brought primal fear along with freezing cold, the warriors froze in place.

And what entered their eyes was Wendigo’s massive ice sword.

“Shit.”

Whether it was hide toughened by mystery or hard bones, nothing was of any use. Wendigo’s ice sword raised a blood mist as it cut through the enemies.

Watching this scene, Oneton approached Lektar’s side.

“Oneton! What the hell have you been doing!”

Of course, while warriors were being one-sidedly slaughtered, no kind words could come from Lektar’s mouth.

This time, even Oneton couldn’t brazenly retort. He had certainly pushed all the losses onto Lektar.

At first, he had only released the beasts and was waiting for a chance to cut off Wendigo’s breath.

However, even in this situation, one had to be able to state their position confidently to be a spirit. Oneton began to flap his sinful mouth.

“I’m sorry. But listen to what I have to say.”

“What talk? There’s never been a time when following your words turned out well, do you think I’m a fool to believe you again!”

“… But this time is different. Think about it. How much mystery could he have left after rampaging like that? Now’s our chance to take him down.”

Oneton’s words were logically correct. A spirit’s strength is determined by how deep and vast their mystery is.

Not only the giant arm Wendigo summoned, but even the shockwave wasn’t something that could be achieved with little mystery. He must have consumed an enormous amount of mystery.

Above all…

“Think carefully. If you don’t kill him now, do you think the tribe will forgive you?”

“That’s…”

Lektar couldn’t guarantee that.

No matter how much they say victory and defeat are the vicissitudes of war, it was unreasonable to think the tribe would forgive him when warriors had been massacred.

Probably if he returned like this, his head would certainly fly.

Noticing that Lektar’s emotions were wavering, Oneton pushed his feelings further.

“Look behind you. The guy you hate so much is gathering the warriors.”

“!”

Lektar’s gaze turned to Jaken behind him. Jaken was somehow managing to gather the surviving warriors.

Of course, it wasn’t easy for warriors swept up in shock to return to battle. Right now, they were no different from outsiders to the battlefield.

The problem was that when the battle ended, they would return to the tribe.

What if the returning warriors collectively supported Jaken and raised a rebellion?

It was quite a plausible speculation. Hadn’t Jaken consistently opposed Lektar’s opinions and insidiously incited the warriors?

He put on a hypocritical act of caring for the warriors, but inside he was surely aiming for the chief’s position!

The only option left for Lektar now was to defeat Wendigo and use that prestige to suppress the tribe’s discontent.

Or else, to flee, bearing the dishonor.

‘I absolutely can’t do that.’

Swallowing his uneasiness, Lektar extended his hand to Oneton.

“I’ll work with you just this once. There won’t be anything like this again.”

“Hmph. Be grateful for the honor of helping a great spirit.”

Oneton reluctantly raised his foot and placed it on Lektar’s hand.

Indeed, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

This sight of them uniting their intentions for the first time was surprisingly… disgusting, Wendigo thought.

‘Well suited for those full of thoughts of betrayal inside.’

However, he didn’t deny that he needed to be tense.

Having cut down the last warrior’s neck, Wendigo glared at them without losing his tension.