episode_0392

***

A piece of news ran through the snowy fields.

[The humans inside the wall injured the tribe’s great warrior.]

The children of Mother Earth gathered together. A tribe living at the mouth of a mountain, a tribe living on a mountainside, and a tribe living far away in the plains.

Everyone gathered in front of Daejeon Temple, carrying their horses and weapons.

“It’s war.”

After finishing the meeting, the chief came out.

“There is no need to go to war.”

The great warrior standing in front of the chieftains spoke while avoiding eye contact.

Even though I only fired one arrow, I was despised by the Duke. What would happen if I started a war?

When I remembered those eyes full of hatred again, my body suddenly trembled.

“This is not your decision. Daejeon Temple represents the glory of Mother Earth. Because that blood was spilled on the ground, the humans inside the wall will have to pay the price.”

The One-Eyed Chief said.

“But I’m the one who goes first…”

“That was your mistake. From their perspective, they would think that we are picking a fight over something pointless. Still, I can’t help it. Because this is the rule of the tribe.”

“Chief.”

“Not only the Council of Chieftains but also the Great Shaman agreed to this. You must not say any more.”

The chieftain’s group passed before her.

“Ah….”

Because of me.

Because of me, the snowfield tribes go to war.

How much sacrifice must be made?

She felt a heavy sense of responsibility for the blood of innocent people that would be drenched on the earth.

If I hadn’t done that…

Then, I think of the Little Duke again and bite my lip.

Bright red blood flowed from between my teeth where I bit down hard.

The blood of the Great Warrior, said to represent the glory of Mother Earth, fell to the ground again.

‘Self-harm is not punished?’

She asked questions about the blood she shed, but no one paid attention.

The day of war was approaching.

***

The fight against the humans inside the Wall resulted in many sacrifices.

Three months into the war, we had to lose as many warriors as one tribe.

The walls they erected were thick, high, and intimidating.

The spears and swords of many warriors had to be broken by its body, which was stronger than that of any other prey.

Daejeon Temple should have appealed to stop the war at that point.

But he would have done so if he hadn’t listened to what the soldier on the wall said in five battles.

[Because of you guys, our Little Duke can’t even get married! You barbarians!!]

Even on the battlefield where arrows were raining down, that voice could be heard clearly.

I want to hear more details.

The great warrior picked up the spear that had fallen on the battlefield and threw it.

The tense muscles caused the spear to fly in a straight line and pierce the shoulder of the screaming soldier.

The soldier who was staggering fell outside the wall, and the Great Warrior caught the falling soldier and threw him to the ground.

[What do you mean?]

[Well, what.]

[The Little Duke couldn’t get married? What are you saying.]

[What a stupid question… Argh!]

As the great warrior twisted his spear, the soldier’s screams became louder.

[answer. What does the war have to do with the reason why the Little Duke can’t get married?]

[Kaaah, everyone, asking the obvious and damn it!! Is it possible to have a wedding during a war!!!]

For a moment, her eyes flashed as if lightning had struck her head.

So… you’re saying you can’t have a wedding if there’s a war going on?

The corners of his mouth slowly rose.

[It’s a barbarian warrior! Aim for there!]

At the shout of the soldier on the wall, an arrow flies towards the Great Warrior.

Using the dropped soldier as a shield to block them, she closed her eyes.

It seemed like I had found a reason to go to war.

***

The war was prolonged.

It wasn’t a battlefield where arrows flew and blood splattered every day.

The Children of the Earth, who suffered much damage, changed their strategy to guerrillas, and the damage to the humans inside the wall, who often had to go out to the snowy fields to gather, increased.

Duke Wiltenfrom, the guardian of the Wall, was a cautious man.

As befits a duke who had faithfully protected the North for decades, he did not use his soldiers emotionally.

But only once did he personally lead his troops outside the wall.

When the warriors who rode out for the guerrillas returned, they were greeted by a village where everyone, including women and children, had died.

That was the duke’s warning.

The warriors who lost their daughters and wives cried out, and the feeling of revenge began to gnaw away at their hearts.

The war that started with a single drop of Daejeonsa’s blood gradually began to build a tower of hatred.

After the annihilation of the village, Duke Wiltenfrim, who was in great spirits, was decapitated and fell from his horse during the next expedition.

This is because they could not withstand the offensive of the barbarians who used the village as bait to ambush them.

The entire empire was shaken by the terrible death of the Grand Duke of the North, and the Minor Duke became a duke.

On that day, the Little Duke, who had a big heart and bright smile, disappeared, and another Duke of Wiltenfrom, who looked exactly like his father, was born.

The minor duke, who became a duke, tore off the limbs of eleven warriors and displayed them on the wall.

Daejeonsa had imperial citizens who came out to gather tied to horses and ground to death.

If a duke kills a barbarian,

The great warrior slaughters the people inside the wall.

Hatred builds up, tears gather.

The first drop of blood is forgotten, and the wheel of causeless killing continues.

***

“I caught it like this.”

The Great Warrior, who received the Duke’s kick to the shoulder, now recalled a hazy past.

Their relationship started as a saber-toothed tiger.

And war and hatred.

“Even your hateful eyes are sweet now.”

The great warrior showed a blood-stained smile.

The great warrior laughed even though his heel was still crushing his shoulder.

I was glad to see the duke’s face so close.

A war that started with an impulsive arrow.

Daejeonsa had a heavy heart at the war that was triggered by him.

Even in my dreams, I could hear the cries of warriors groaning from injuries and tribesmen crying over the loss of their loved ones.

So she needed something to support her.

I needed something to rationalize.

Why should we continue this war?

Why we must win this war.

“That is you. I will have you!”

Pick up the great sword with your good arm and cut it.

With his swinging sword, the man with the body of a peacock did not miss the loophole.

“You said you didn’t need weapons, right?”

After the man finished speaking, Daejeon felt a strange feeling.

A sharp wind blew once.

“?”

The feeling of holding the great sword disappeared.

Feeling in my hands wasn’t the problem. Before I knew it, my body was falling apart.

When I came to my senses, I was kneeling in front of the Duke.

Suddenly, a small sword was in the duke’s hand.

“Ha-”

You cut the tendons in your legs and threw your arms off without even realizing it.

Daejeon looked dumbfounded at the vast gap.

“Are you hiding your skills?”

“Do you think that was the case?”

In response to the man’s question, the Great Master shook his head.

Then, he opened his eyes as if he realized something.

“You. It’s not a duke.”

At the words of the Great Master, the Duke slowly nodded.

“Why do you think that?”

“I confronted the duke dozens of times. The movement of swinging the sword, the shape of holding the sword… everything is different from the peacock.”

“You have a good sense of vision.”

The man with the appearance of a peacock was truly impressed.

“I want to ask you one question.”

The great warrior spoke, spitting out a handful of blood.

“Tell me.”

“Where is the Duke?”

“He died. I took over this body when he died.”

“…Is that so, the Duke died in that attack? I guess I was too absorbed in the fight to control my strength.”

The great warrior grimaced in pain. It certainly wasn’t the pain caused by the sword.

It was clear that it was a pain that was gnawing at my heart from a deeper place than that.

“Okay. I can only enter the bodies of those who are dead or cannot be revived.”

“Then the duke’s soul is already there.”

“He must have gone to the afterlife.”

“I see…”

The great warrior lowered his head and looked at the ground.

The great warrior’s blood fell on the ground.

“Hehe….”

The Great Warrior laughed as he saw the blood soaking the ground.

“What’s funny?”

“I thought it was a reward for being greedy.”

“Someone said that people who take on challenges are beautiful.”

“Wonderful words.”

The man with the face of a peacock plunged his sword into the ground and watched the battle coming to an end.

At the point when the Great Warrior was on his knees, the barbarians had no intention of running any further.

They resisted the soldiers’ spears, but were impaled and fell from their horses.

“Then will you continue to live in that body?”

“I guess so. Until I die.”

The man said as if he was bored.

“You. You asked about tattoos earlier, right?”

He was a great warrior who was proud of the blue tattoos on his body. The man who remembered it nodded.

“I lied to you.”

“What is it.”

“There are also tattoos that engrave personal shame.”

“Really?”

“That’s right. It is a tattoo given to a defeated warrior.”

The great warrior straightens his back.

Even as she knelt down, her eyes did not waver.

His sweaty, tangled black hair fell sloppily on his shoulders.

She barely raised her free arm.

“This is it.”

Her index finger pointed to her neck.

“A long horizontal tattoo is inscribed here.”

“…I see.”

The man, who understood what she said, nodded.

“The color of the tattoo is red, and the carving tool is a sword.”

As soon as the great warrior finished speaking, the man pulled out his sword from the ground and cut it horizontally.

With the sword swung in a straight line, the head of the great warrior flew into the sky.

At the last moment, what caught Daejeonsa’s eyes was a blue sky without a single cloud.

“……I’m not in a good mood.”

The man muttered while looking at the same sky that the great warrior saw.

It was the sky of the twenty-second world.