Chapter 86

The phoenix that burns eternally has been a dream-like animal to people since ancient times.

Its endless vitality, reviving without dying, was captivating to those who could be injured and die at any time.

However, if the secret of the phoenix’s eternal life was accompanied by pain, everyone would be disgusted.

What’s the point of not dying if it’s a life no different from an endless hell of suffering?

In that sense, Damian was an even more terrible existence than the phoenix.

“I’ve dealt with many spirits, so I know them well. Honestly, your kind isn’t all that great!”

Damian, wreathed in flames, ignored his broken ankle and charged towards Wendigo.

Wendigo swung his ice sword at Damian. The ice sword, swung with an eerie sound, cut off Damian’s right arm in one go, but…

Whoosh!

“An amputation is quite thrilling too. The scream my flesh lets out as it faces the world!”

“The real curse is that cutting out that tongue of yours is useless since you regenerate.”

Flames spread around Damian’s wound as if there were invisible trees, and from within, bone, flesh, and skin sprouted out.

Wendigo clicked his tongue and concentrated mystery in his mouth.

Damian’s eyes sparkled as he drew the sword and axe from his waist.

He had no intention of dodging at all. Why would he wastefully avoid new pain that had come to visit him?

Damian’s axe and sword spewed red light and struck Wendigo’s leg hard.

He didn’t intend to cut it off in one blow like before. It was clear that even if he drew out the witch’s power to the fullest, he couldn’t sever the spirit’s tough muscles.

It wasn’t a foolish thought like dragging it into a long battle…

The moment Wendigo let out a roar, Damian raised the corners of his mouth, dropped his weapons, and leapt towards Wendigo.

The roar tore Damian’s skin and froze his blood and flesh. However, the curse that took Damian’s pain as a sacrifice persistently burned him and exerted its power.

Crackle crackle.

“If it feels so good, how about freezing to death?”

Damian’s body burned hotter than ever before. The shimmering heat haze that rose up obscured Wendigo’s vision and…

Swish.

Because of this, Wendigo didn’t know that Damian had drawn out a hidden dagger.

The flame in the shape of Damian pounced on Wendigo. Wendigo suppressed the flames by exploding cold energy, but Damian’s aim wasn’t arson.

“My ancestor must have really hated spirits.”

A plain but strangely unsettling stiletto revealed itself.

Its shape, extremely focused on stabbing, showed a will to definitely pierce the opponent.

Wendigo looked at the stiletto curiously. He had felt a similar energy somewhere before.

This energy, filthy like sewage, was surely…

“Gikas?”

“I don’t know who that is, but what a strange name? Still, it’s fortunate if it’s a familiar power. It should be sufficiently unpleasant!”

Even if an evildoer tarnishes the family honor, the bloodline flowing in their body doesn’t change.

The stiletto gladly welcomed its owner’s bloodline and drew out power. The stiletto, dyed pitch black, flew towards Wendigo’s neck.

Wendigo clicked his tongue and tried to deflect the dagger with his ice sword. However, the power dwelling in the dagger denied the spirit’s power and turned the ice sword to powder.

The stiletto smoothly pierced through Wendigo’s body.

Wendigo’s body staggered, and Damian stepped back, certain of victory.

“Don’t feel too frustrated. My ancestor supposedly dedicated the rest of his lifespan, except for 4 days, to the gods to obtain that dagger.”

Whether shamanism or magic, one principle was always upheld in the world.

Strong power comes with a corresponding price.

Power obtained by offering one’s entire life, which anyone born with a mortal fate wouldn’t treat carelessly.

Such power, dyed only with murderous intent towards someone, couldn’t be weak.

[ ■■■■■■■■! ]

Wendigo’s roar echoed around. Damian savored the pain felt from his bursting eardrums and barely holding eyes, feeling regretful.

“If my master hadn’t told me to face you seriously, you could have become quite a good companion… It’s truly regrettable.”

Damian had no intention of killing Wendigo at all.

Even when his ribs were broken and internal organs torn by Wendigo’s kick.

Even when his limbs froze from Wendigo’s ice sword and roar.

All those moments were thrilling sensations he hadn’t felt in a long time.

‘A pleasure that can’t be felt even on the battlefield.’

To Damian, who had grown tired of ordinary pleasures(?), Wendigo was an excellent spirit who could become a good companion.

That’s why he genuinely intended to regret Wendigo’s death, but…?

“Why aren’t you dying?”

As Damian was dumbfounded, a storm of cold energy swept around Wendigo.

---

‘It’s weaker than I thought.’

Wendigo thought as he gathered the energy of the stiletto stuck in his cheek.

It was surprising that the ice sword crumbled, but Wendigo wasn’t without ways to block the attack.

He could have uprooted trees to blow Damian away, or bitten off his head the moment he flew in…

There were various ways to counter Damian if he thought about it, but the reason he deliberately took the hit was purely out of curiosity.

He wanted to gauge how strong relics… ancient artifacts used externally were.

‘It doesn’t seem that strong, contrary to expectations?’

It wasn’t that there was no effect. For a moment, he felt strength draining from his entire body, but…

For Wendigo, that was all. As soon as mystery drained from his body, new mystery filled it completely.

Wendigo silently looked at Damian, who was staring at him with surprised eyes.

Damian realized that Wendigo had been leisurely dealing with him.

Did he find himself foolish for running his mouth without knowing this?

“Hu, huhahaha!”

Damian burst into laughter without knowing why. He just found himself ridiculous for having been arrogant against such a monster.

Although defeat loomed, Damian didn’t choose the path of becoming ashes.

The red flames burning Damian’s body turned black.

The black flames instantly melted Damian’s armor, and the melted armor dug into Damian’s body.

“Forgive my foolishness. I misjudged my opponent and was thinking about what comes after.”

“What vicious flames.”

“My master has a bad personality. No, to be precise, should I say the one behind my master is bad?”

The black flames blazed fiercely, using Damian’s life as fuel.

Wendigo realized that these flames were a kind of burnt offering. And he instinctively knew that whoever the recipient was, they were certainly not a good being.

There was no way a being that lends power in exchange for one’s life could be good.

Damian pointed his greatsword at Wendigo.

Wendigo created a large and massive ice sword and pointed it at Damian.

“Is there really a need to go that far?”

Wendigo asked Damian out of pure curiosity. Honestly, it was an incomprehensible action.

Whether that sword reached him or not, Damian’s death was inevitable. The black flames burning Damian were that ominous.

Damian burst into laughter with his half-burnt face.

“I tarnished my family’s honor for my personal desires, but… I am still a knight. And a knight should know how to give his life for his master.”

“If you weren’t a pervert who enjoys pain, it might have been quite moving, but coming from you, it just sounds awkwardly dirty.”

“And well… I’m bound to die by your hand once everything is over anyway, so I wanted to enjoy a pleasure I could taste only once in my life.”

That was the end of the conversation.

Damian charged at Wendigo, immersed in ecstasy as if about to lose consciousness. When Wendigo entered his range, he swung his sword without a moment’s hesitation.

Wendigo admired the black-burning greatsword.

There was no trace of the skill he had shown so far in the greatsword, but he instinctively knew.

That this attack couldn’t be avoided.

‘I’ll respond.’

Wendigo kept pushing mystery into the ice sword. The ice sword cracked as if about to explode at any moment, but he paid no attention.

The ice sword containing extreme cold and the flames that seemed about to burn the world collided head-on.

Creak!

‘It’s breaking.’

Wendigo sensed that the ice sword would break. But he didn’t back down.

An inexplicable faith made his heart as calm as a clear lake.

“!”

The ice sword and black flames collided violently like two snakes hating each other, and the first to break was Wendigo’s ice sword.

However, Damian let out a despairing laugh.

“You’re too much even at the end.”

“I’m sorry.”

From within the broken ice sword, an ice sword with a beautiful blade incomparable to the crude ice swords made so far revealed itself and burst forth with clear cold energy.

The cold energy erased the black flames, and Damian’s greatsword couldn’t withstand the cold energy and shattered.

Damian’s posture crumbled.

His legs flew off, and his arms, now kneeling, also flew off.

Wendigo looked into his eyes and asked:

“Do you have any last words?”

“No. I have no regrets at all. Among the joys I’ve tasted… this was by far the best.”

Wendigo let out a laugh of disbelief.

Who would have thought that the eyes of the purest pervert would be the clearest and cleanest among all the eyes he had seen so far?

Wendigo withdrew his sword as a final mercy and let him enjoy the pain he loved so much.

“Before you go, I’d like to ask. Was that black flame also power given by the witch?”

“I’m still a knight, so it’s a bit…”

“If you want, I could gouge an appropriate spot with an ice needle.”

Wendigo made an offer considering Damian’s preferences. And Skadi, who had already dealt with his subordinates and was sending her ice dolls to his side, heard this conversation and…

‘Even Wendigo-nim can be whimsical sometimes.’

She couldn’t help but chuckle at the outrageously absurd proposal.

How could a knight who risked his life to keep his loyalty accept such a shallow offer?

“Come to think of it, I’m going to die anyway, so I think I can be forgiven this much.”

“!?”

However, Damian wasn’t so single-minded as to maintain his honor until his last moment.

After all, the reason he abandoned his family was to enjoy greater pain, so it wasn’t strange.

‘That thing… is a knight?’

… Of course, to others, he just looked like a madman.

Wendigo created an ice needle of appropriate size and stabbed it into Damian’s body.

The cold energy that penetrated through the melted armor slowly spread throughout his body.

“Oh… the combination of heat and cold is quite something. I wish I had known earlier.”

“Stop with the perverse talk and answer the question.”

“Of course… the black flame isn’t my master’s power. No matter how great the witch’s power is, how could such a thing be possible?”

While witches symbolized the transformation of this world, that didn’t mean they were beings great enough to overturn the world.

Respecting Wendigo who had shown him a final kindness, Damian answered honestly.

“This, this is grace bestowed by the one my master serves. The power to burn the world.”

“Is that being a god?”

To Wendigo’s question, Damian answered by raising the corners of his mouth.

Wendigo didn’t think it was particularly strange.

Hadn’t Allfather himself coveted Skadi and Syr?

‘There’s no law saying other witches can’t attract the attention of gods.’

Wendigo asked his final question.

“Who is that god?”

“The one who will burn the wor… Huck!”

Damian couldn’t finish his sentence and exhaled deeply.

Wendigo instinctively sensed what had happened.

“Oh dear.”

Damian breathed his last without finishing his words. However, his expression was surprisingly peaceful.

Wendigo didn’t blame Damian for dying without revealing the identity of the flame.

It was natural for him to die, being in such a mess even with his tenacious life…

“Skadi. There’s no need to confirm if he’s dead, but.”

Shake shake.

As the ice doll approached Damian and checked his condition, Wendigo was puzzled.

No matter how he thought about it, the reason for Damian’s death was clear.

Anyone could see he had clearly exhausted his strength from the intense battle…

After a moment, the ice doll closed the corpse’s eyes, stood up, and stared at Wendigo.

“Is there something strange?”

The ice doll nodded, creaking.

The ice doll scribbled words on the ground with its finger.

[ I checked because something seemed odd about how he died… ]

“And?”

At Wendigo’s innocent question, the ice doll wrote and erased repeatedly. It couldn’t find an appropriate term.

In the end, Skadi chose the easiest word to understand.

Death during sexual activity.

“……”

Wendigo stared blankly at the ice doll in disbelief.

Skadi, though it wasn’t herself, moved the ice doll’s face to avoid his gaze. Honestly, even she who confirmed the cause of death was dumbfounded.

“Huh.”

Wendigo let out a hollow laugh as he looked at Damian’s dead face.

Damian’s face was peaceful to the point of being annoying.

As if everything had been burned white.