Ch.165Chapter 165

When reason was blurred, craving more blood of the clan carried great risk. In exchange for gaining immense power, one’s very existence could be swept away in the torrent.

Naturally, power gained at the cost of losing oneself was meaningless regardless of its magnitude. What use was power one couldn’t wield themselves?

‘Why am I doing this?’

That’s why Dencan was bewildered. This wasn’t something he had done willingly.

Dencan tried to reach out toward the blood rushing in like floodwaters.

But…

[How dare you try to resist at the moment when the clan’s secret wish is being fulfilled?]

With an ecstatic elderly voice, a hand extended from behind Dencan and grabbed his arm.

When the blood-stained—no, the hand that was blood itself—grabbed his arm, Dencan hastily turned around with a chill running down his spine.

An old man made of blood, whom he had never seen before, was looking down at him with a benevolent smile.

Dencan shouted at the old man in anger.

“I don’t know who you are, but it’s clear you’re a member of the clan. How dare you mock Dencan!!!”

Though Dencan’s anger erupted in a thunderous voice, the old man merely smiled, completely unfazed.

The old man grabbed Dencan’s other arm and whispered to him.

[Shouldn’t you first defeat the enemy before you?]

“!”

Despite Dencan’s resistance, when the old man moved his hands, Dencan turned his body and swung his sword toward the ice blade aiming for his neck.

Dencan was greatly surprised by his body moving against his will and his sword smoothly deflecting the ice blade.

But surprise soon turned to anger. Who wouldn’t be upset when someone else controlled their body at will?

“Stop controlling my body as you please!”

[Haha, not just your face but even your personality is similar. Blood is indeed blood. Do you still not know who I am?]

Like a marionette on strings, Dencan’s body moved according to the old man’s gestures. Against his will, Dencan drew forth mystical power and inscribed magic onto the blood sword.

Like throwing a spear, Dencan hurled the blood sword toward the Wendigo. The Wendigo casually swung its weapon, shattering the blood sword.

The fragments of the sword, soaring into the sky, emitted an ominous light before transforming into shackles that bound the Wendigo’s limbs.

The shackles connected to streams of blood rising from the ground, restraining the Wendigo’s body. The Wendigo clicked its tongue and applied more strength to its limbs.

With the sound of ropes snapping, the blood connected to the shackles broke and reconnected repeatedly.

The old man watched this and shook his head.

[You’re more dangerous than any Djin or Beast I’ve seen in my lifetime. You can’t face that monster at your level.]

Grind.

Dencan gritted his teeth. He wanted to deny it, but he knew the old man was right. What good was absorbing the blood of over a hundred clan members?

Through increasingly clear sensations, all he could feel was the Wendigo’s overwhelming mystical power that surpassed his own.

Even the widest lake cannot be broader than the sea.

Confronting it with power alone would be nothing short of suicide.

Dencan thought about how he had just deflected the Wendigo’s strike with his sword.

With swordsmanship of that level, perhaps that monster could…

[You must kill that monster to get what you want. That monster who is loved by—]

“Shut up!”

Though it was just a moment, the old man easily detected Dencan’s wavering.

[Oh my, I’ve never been like this before, so I couldn’t be considerate. Yes, for the sake of bringing back your friend who is loyal to that monster, that monster must not remain alive.]

The old man’s words echoed within Dencan. Dencan felt as if the unified flame of his murderous intent toward the Wendigo and his obsession with Dario was burning his heart.

[Leave it to me. If you surrender your body to me just once, I’ll kill that monster for you.]

Dencan was swept up in the urge to accept the old man’s offer. The blood flowing through his body boiled, shaking his mind to submit to the old man.

Ironically, what allowed him to resist the pledge of submission that was about to burst forth was the fact that he was a kind of apex.

Being “Dencan,” he had no reason to worship his ancestors. The clan worshipped their ancestors, but they served the living “Dencan.”

However…

“Urgh!?”

[Don’t ignore what your blood whispers to you. Can’t you feel their ecstasy even now?]

As the clan’s blood seeped into his body, Dencan felt pain as if his mind was splitting. Dozens of voices spewed anger at him, disorienting his mind.

As Dencan’s consciousness disappeared beneath the swamp of unconsciousness, the old man asked with a satisfied expression.

[Now, let me ask again. Will you surrender your body to me?]

Moving his head weakly, Dencan looked into the void and answered.

“… I will.”

Was the old man so pleased with Dencan’s permission?

The old man’s benevolent smile trembled, and the corners of his eyes curved. Unable to contain his joy, the old man opened his mouth wide and smiled cunningly with delight.

[Finally!!!]

The old man swallowed Dencan whole with his gaping mouth. The Wendigo broke free from its shackles and stared at the scene in bewilderment.

From what it heard, this seemed to be the elder that Dencan’s clan worshipped…

If its eyes weren’t deceiving it, wasn’t this ancestor trying to steal his descendant’s body?

“Your actions seem more vicious than a Djin’s.”

The blood forming the old man rushed into Dencan’s body, and the sound of breaking bones emanated from Dencan’s body.

It was clear the old man was up to something as he took over Dencan’s body. There was no reason to wait for him.

The Wendigo threw an ice spear before the old man could completely take over the body.

It seemed the old man couldn’t do anything during the possession, as the ice spear instantly pierced Dencan’s chest…

“… Doesn’t it hurt?”

“Hehehe, it’s been so long since I felt pain, it’s rather welcome in its own way.”

The old man… no, “Dencan,” who had completed the possession, grabbed the ice spear in his chest and curled his lips. He broke the spear in his chest and threw it to the ground.

As blood filled the wound, the broken spear fragments came out and fell to the floor. The wound disappeared instantly.

As if being impaled was nothing, Dencan took a deep breath and savored the preciousness of life regained after hundreds of years.

“Indeed, being alive is the best. How long has it been since I felt this cold air!”

“Is that what you say after taking over your descendant’s body?”

When the Wendigo asked in bewilderment, Dencan replied without showing any guilt.

“The bloodline was created to resurrect me in the first place, so isn’t it natural?”

The blood flowing through the clan’s bodies was his refuge, and the clan’s reproduction was merely a process of creating vessels.

From the beginning, the clan was created for a purpose, not out of love. Who would cherish the process meant to achieve a goal?

“Surely you don’t expect me to feel that foolish thing called love? Especially you spirits, the kind furthest from love.”

“Fortunately, I’m not a Djin.”

“Hmm…? Ah, I see. You might be a being superior to Djin.”

Dencan looked at the goosebumps on his forearm and nodded. Indeed, the mystical power he sensed from the Wendigo felt like a force that no “mere” Djin could possess.

After a moment’s consideration, Dencan said to the Wendigo.

“I promised this fellow I’d kill you, but it doesn’t seem worth it. I’ll disappear, so would you consider letting me go?”

“… It’s pitiful that people believed in and followed such a person as a hero.”

“Thanks to them, I got to taste the superiority of standing above Djin and Beasts, so it’s all good, isn’t it?”

Finding it absurd that Dencan was speaking sincerely, the Wendigo kicked off the ground and swung its ice sword at Dencan.

Dencan dodged the sword by bending his back with a displeased expression. His spine broke in the process, but Dencan was fine.

Taking advantage of his broken back, Dencan pushed himself away from the ground with his arms. He recovered his back with a little blood and also reattached his severed arm.

After healing all his wounds, Dencan asked as if he couldn’t understand.

“You’re quite emotional, aren’t you? Wouldn’t it be easier for you if I just disappeared quietly?”

“I’d hardly trust the words of someone who just threatened and stole his descendant’s body before my eyes. It would be much more reassuring to kill you now than to leave future troubles.”

“Tsk tsk, such lack of faith. My descendants believed in me and gave their lives.”

Did he conveniently forget that those sacrifices became meaningless deaths because of him?

As the Wendigo raised its hand, roots sprouted from the ground and grabbed Dencan’s legs. The Wendigo drew forth mystical power and charged toward Dencan.

Realizing he couldn’t avoid the fight, Dencan’s face hardened as he grabbed his own arm and…

CRACK!

“I wanted to keep it attached because it was pretty.”

“!”

He ripped off his arm as if drawing a sword. Dark red blood gushed from Dencan’s body like wine from an uncorked bottle.

Dencan waved his arm around as if it were a brush and chanted a spell.

The Wendigo swung its ice sword down at Dencan with full force. The sword, creating a storm as it descended, seemed about to split Dencan in half.

However, Dencan’s spell was completed before his head could be split, and the blood soaking the floor rose into the air, forming a curtain to protect him.

The moment the curtain and sword collided, faces of people appeared on the curtain’s surface, screaming in agony. Stone fragments scattered on the ground shattered, unable to withstand the sound.

The Wendigo clicked its tongue at the insane vibration transmitted through the ice sword.

“You have quite a lot of filthy tricks.”

“Human sacrifice was popular in my youth. Pain provides more mystical power than you might think.”

Dencan savored his clan’s screams as if they were music and swung his torn arm toward the Wendigo. Spears emerged from the pool of blood that formed outside the curtain, targeting the Wendigo.

The Wendigo retrieved its ice sword and swung it at the spears. Dozens of spear blades soared into the air, and Dencan seized the opportunity to lunge forward.

After jamming his arm back into place, Dencan created a blood sword with gleaming eyes. Not satisfied with that, he ran his fingers along the blade, casting a spell.

Dencan thrust the sword at the Wendigo’s shoulder, and the sword pierced through.

Dencan warned the Wendigo with a sinister smile.

“This will hurt quite a bit.”

Dencan released the sword and bounced backward, and the spell embedded in the blood sword was unleashed, burrowing into the Wendigo’s body.

The spell Dencan cast on the sword was a kind of curse that caused extreme pain. It was effective against Beasts and Djin as it grew stronger by consuming the host’s mystical power.

Dencan watched the Wendigo with great anticipation.

It was always a pleasure to watch those naturally gifted with mystical power scream in pain.

“How is it? Do you now regret rejecting my offer…”

“Would you shut up.”

“… Huh?”

When the Wendigo pulled out the sword as if it were nothing, Dencan blinked in confusion. It was far different from what he had expected.

There was one thing he hadn’t considered: the Wendigo’s body, containing an overwhelming amount of mystical power, had no room for a mere curse to penetrate.

Dencan paid dearly for this oversight. The Wendigo’s massive fist struck Dencan’s head directly.

Unable to withstand the impact, Dencan’s body tumbled over the ground and debris before crashing into a building.

With his limbs twisted, he looked like he could die at any moment, but…

“Cough, it seems I made a mistake due to being out of practice. My face is burning with embarrassment.”

“… It would have been better if you had just died quietly.”

Dencan got up, not even dying. It was truly remarkable vitality.

The Wendigo looked at Dencan as if staring at a disgusting insect.