Ch.127Chapter 127

Armored spiders were monsters that never formed groups. When born, they were only the size of small beasts, but they grew at a terrifying rate over time.

As their bodies grew larger, naturally their appetite increased as well.

Unless they had some sense of kinship, these creatures were so aggressive they would even devour weaker members of their own kind…

“KIEEEEEEK!!!!!”

“Protect the children! Get the mammoths ready! The mammoths!”

“Damn it… we’re in a forest, it’s hard for mammoths to move around here!”

The warriors rushed to respond as dozens of armored spiders charged forward with horrifying screams.

However, their most important fighting force—the mammoths—couldn’t move easily because of the trees.

Larisa, the tribe’s greatest female warrior, bit her lip as she commanded her warriors.

“Clear away those damn trees and bring in every mammoth you can! The rest, prepare your javelins!”

Despite facing this unexpected situation, the warriors calmly aimed their massive stone spears toward the armored spiders.

As the armored spiders charged forward with terrifying momentum, smashing through trees, Larisa threw her spear with all her might once they came within range.

Following her spear, dozens more flew toward the armored spiders.

The smaller spiders might not survive the impact of the stone spears, even if the larger ones could withstand it.

“KIEEEEEEEEEEK!!!”

“What?!”

But the spears were blocked by the giant armored spiders that had moved to the front.

Most of the spears shattered upon impact with their rock-like shells, and those that did penetrate didn’t go deep enough to cause significant damage.

Even the experienced female warrior Larisa couldn’t hide her confusion, along with the other warriors.

In their understanding, armored spiders weren’t monsters that sacrificed themselves for their own kind.

They were cunning creatures that would use each other as bait if anything… how could this be happening?

Larisa sensed that this attack was no ordinary occurrence, but there was nothing she could do.

The armored spiders had already reached them, dripping disgusting saliva and revealing their teeth as they clicked their four-part jaws.

“Everyone, draw your weapons! The older ones will fight the big ones with me! The rest of you handle the smaller ones!”

“Damn woman. Always working us old folks to death!”

“Leave if you don’t like it!”

Despite her words, perhaps she had no intention of leaving the work to the younger warriors.

The warriors summoned by Larisa took their positions beside her, staring down the giant armored spiders.

They might not be able to guarantee their survival if they blocked the monsters’ charge, but they couldn’t show weakness in front of their children.

They would block the charge even at the cost of their lives!

“Step aside.”

“Huh?”

Pushing aside the resolved warriors, Wendigo stepped forward and thrust his ice sword into the ground with both hands.

When Wendigo’s will, connected to a great flow of mystical energy, was transmitted to the surrounding trees, roots burst from the ground like a collapsed dam.

Dozens of ropes formed from hundreds of intertwined roots grabbed the legs of the charging armored spiders.

“KIEEEEEEK!?”

The armored spider, as heavy as it was large, tripped over the root ropes and fell. The Hrimtur warriors looked at Wendigo with surprised expressions.

They had thought his appearance was strange… could he really be a Djin?

“…I’m not a Djin, so stop looking at me like that.”

“He read my mind! He must be a Djin!”

“……”

Did they realize how clearly their emotions showed on their faces?

When a young warrior recoiled and regarded Wendigo with suspicion, the others looked at him with disgruntled expressions.

Larisa clicked her tongue. She was displeased with the young warrior’s behavior.

What rudeness to speak that way to someone who had helped them…

An older warrior who seemed to share Larisa’s thoughts approached the young man and struck him on the head. The sound was like hitting a solid watermelon with a bat.

“Aaack! F-Father?!”

“You’re not a child anymore, yet you believe nonsense about Djin reading minds? Don’t call yourself a warrior in public!”

Flinch.

Warriors who felt guilty about something looked around nervously and pretended not to notice.

The fathers and mothers among them looked at their children with disappointment.

Mistaking someone for a Djin was considered extremely impolite.

Larisa smiled and expressed her gratitude to Wendigo.

“I had no idea you had such abilities! I should tell my daughters to seduce you instead of Angrid’s boyfriend.”

“I must politely decline. Hrimtur women are too aggressive for my comfort. And…”

“Behind?”

Wendigo cut off his words and pointed behind himself.

Larisa’s gaze naturally shifted beyond his back. What entered her vision was a stone club flying like lightning.

KWADUDUDUK!!!

The armored spider’s tough shell crumbled like dry leaves, and the stone club burst through its abdomen.

The giant armored spider that had blocked the warriors’ spears at the front died without even a death cry.

Watching the scene, Larisa smiled at the familiar ground-shaking.

“It’s the chieftain! The chieftain has arrived with the mammoths!”

“Kill those damned armored spiders right now!!!”

“Yes, Father!”

Voltorn, mounted on a mammoth, raised his axe and roared. His proud sons led their mammoths in a charge toward the armored spiders.

The trapped spiders panicked and moved their sharp legs, but the tough roots wouldn’t easily release their grip.

With earth-shaking trumpeting, the mammoths trampled and rammed into the armored spiders.

The sturdy tusks of the mammoths pierced the spiders’ bodies, causing them to scream in agony.

Wendigo gave a thumbs-up to Gulmarg who had reached his side.

“I didn’t expect you to kill it in one blow. Impressive.”

“It’s thanks to you for binding its legs. I need to make a good impression on my father-in-law. I’ll go ahead.”

Without waiting for a response, Gulmarg leaped forward and grabbed his stone club.

He withstood the spiders’ sharp legs and teeth with his rock-hard muscles and skin, showing off his inner ferocity as he shattered their shells.

Larisa watched him with an incredulous expression and muttered.

“That cunning Angrid… this is how a quiet saber-tooth catches a male.”

“Ahem.”

If she had known earlier, she would have told her daughters to be more aggressive.

Swallowing her regret, she ran off with the warriors to hunt the armored spiders.

* * *

Though the Hrimtur were initially shocked by the anomaly of armored spiders forming a group, they quickly regained their composure thanks to Gulmarg and Voltorn’s efforts.

There were quite a few spiders, but not many were large enough to be threatening, and even those had their heads or backs shattered by Gulmarg’s club.

Wendigo didn’t actively participate.

Why should he steal attention on a stage meant for Gulmarg?

Wendigo’s efforts weren’t in vain, as the warriors surrounded Gulmarg, discussing his strength.

“How do you throw a club to shatter the shell of such a huge armored spider?”

“In all my life, I’ve never seen a warrior kill a mature armored spider as easily as hunting a walrus. Even an Ogre shouldn’t be this strong.”

“If you’re free tonight, would you like to spend some time with—”

“Get lost! Touch Gulmarg with those lecherous fingers and our friendship is over!”

…Of course, it was inevitable that he would attract female attention.

When a female warrior gave him a heated look and reached toward Gulmarg’s private area, Angrid swung her blade in warning.

Even warriors had their code of honor—one couldn’t seduce another’s husband.

The female warrior retreated with grumbles at her friend’s sharp warning, and other persistent women were dragged away by their loyal friends.

Wendigo pushed through the warriors surrounding Gulmarg and offered his fist.

“You made a good impression on your father-in-law.”

“Wendigo, thank you for your help.”

Noticing that Wendigo had gone through trouble for his sake, Gulmarg returned the fist bump with gratitude.

How could he not be thankful when his friend, who was treated like a king, went through such trouble for him?

Angrid, who had been watching their friendship with a smile, spotted Voltorn slowly approaching with his mammoth beyond the warriors.

Voltorn’s expression was truly complex.

Though he was displeased that someone had proposed to his precious youngest daughter, as a match for her, he couldn’t have asked for better…

His face held the complicated emotions only a father could feel.

Angrid ran to her father with a beaming expression, climbed onto the mammoth, and rested her head on his shoulder.

“Angrid!”

“Father! Surely you can’t be dissatisfied with such an exceptional man, rare even in our tribe?”

“Nnngh…”

While there might be fathers who don’t want to give their daughters to unworthy men, there are none who dislike entrusting them to worthy ones.

Voltorn didn’t consider Gulmarg weaker than himself. If his axe was a treasure imbued with lightning power, Gulmarg’s body was like lightning itself.

Unable to make cowardly excuses, all Voltorn could do was groan.

Glance.

“Hmm? You’re satisfied, right? Aren’t you happy to have him as your son-in-law?”

When his daughter playfully punched his back with what passed for affection, Voltorn looked at his sons one last time.

Since they cherished Angrid, if any of them mentioned even one flaw about Gulmarg…

“Father, that Ogre is truly a monster created by nature! Who else could be more suitable as Angrid’s husband?”

“It’s a shame there’s no way to pass down the sight of an armored spider’s shell bursting from a single club strike to future generations.”

“……”

Overwhelming violence sometimes captures a man’s heart.

The sight of Gulmarg bursting armored spiders with his overwhelming strength was enough to win over even Angrid’s prickly brothers.

With his last defense crumbled, Voltorn looked at his daughter’s face with a gloomy expression.

Between her cute scars, her eyes sparkled brilliantly.

Indeed, no parent can win against their child. Voltorn sighed and lowered his head.

“Very well. I permit the marriage… whoa!”

“Dad!”

Angrid was overjoyed when her father relented and permitted the marriage, embracing him from behind.

Voltorn was startled and grabbed his daughter’s hands.

When had his daughter’s hands, once so small, grown so large…

Accepting that it was time to let go of his youngest daughter, Voltorn stroked Angrid’s hand with a bitter expression.

Wendigo watched the tender scene between father and daughter and smiled inwardly.

The sight of a happy family shares joy even with others…

“Excuse me…”

“Hmm?”

Momentarily lost in thought, Wendigo came to his senses when someone spoke beside him.

He found himself surrounded by several Hrimtur women.

The Hrimtur woman who had spoken fidgeted with her fingers nervously, but despite her seemingly shy behavior, the green blood on the mace at her waist confirmed she was indeed a Hrimtur woman.

She gathered her courage and spoke.

“I heard from that Ogre that you’re also a powerful warrior. If you don’t mind, would you like to spend some intimate time with me…?!”

“Egala! Stop acting coy when it doesn’t suit you and move aside! Wendigo, was it? Let’s spend a passionate night together!”

“This bitch is cutting in line!? Get lost before I smash your skull!”

“……”

Wendigo looked at Gulmarg in disbelief. Had his friend helped with his marriage only to pass on this troublesome situation?

However, Gulmarg was excitedly holding hands with Angrid, engaged in conversation, and didn’t notice his gaze.

Wendigo slowly backed away, looking for an escape route.

“I’m sorry, but your offer is too much for me. You might not realize, but my head is a deer skull…”

“Look at that wild physique. Don’t you feel his beast-like charm?”

“And what about his head? I find it quite exciting, thinking of it as a magnificent helmet…”

“Ah, damn it.”

Wendigo fled with a curse.

The attention of women with incomprehensible emotions was a kind of fear he had never experienced before.

As he ran away, the female warriors formed a hunting formation and pursued him like experienced hunters.

Larisa watched the women with a contented voice and murmured.

“That’s youth for you. Mmm-hmm.”

She left, hoping that her daughter would catch him.

* * *

Fortunately, Wendigo wasn’t caught by the Hrimtur women.

Above all, it wasn’t polite to continue proposing intimacy when a guest had refused, and Angrboda wouldn’t stand by watching her son-in-law’s friend being troubled.

When Angrboda’s stern command came down, the Hrimtur women could only drool like tigers with prey in sight, suffering in frustration.

As days passed, Gulmarg and Angrid’s marriage became a certainty…

“They say there’s no time for a wedding ceremony because of the armored spiders.”

“My, what a truly unfortunate situation, but isn’t your love strong enough to endure such sorrow?”

Dario Kaffustin, growing concerned about the work piling up, tried to angle for a return when Wendigo informed him about Gulmarg’s news.

However, his dream was shot down before it could even take flight.

Wendigo gave Dario a puzzled look and chided him.

“The wedding day is one of the most meaningful days for a woman, so that can’t be true. If it were, Voltorn would be furious enough to take Gulmarg’s head.”

“What? Then…”

Dario trailed off with an awkward smile, sensing something ominous.

“They decided to hold the wedding after solving the problem. We’ve come this far, so we should see Gulmarg get married before leaving… is that alright?”

When Dario collapsed upon hearing this, Wendigo asked him with a concerned voice.

Dario answered in a half-resigned voice.

“It’s fine. If Your Majesty wishes to stay, what can I do about it?”

He hadn’t even expressed his feelings to Elhemina yet, and here he was, suffering because of someone else’s wedding.

…His side felt unusually cold today.