Ch.29Chapter 29

The warrior Rektar brought back was not in his right mind.

His trembling eyes constantly scanned the surroundings, and his body was hunched as if ready to flee at any moment.

Rektar frowned at this behavior so unbecoming of a plains warrior. What on earth had he seen in the forest to be like this?

Oneton suppressed his anger and interrogated the warrior.

“Tell me. What did you see in the forest?”

“Forest… forest? Yes, we were in the forest. We were in the forest.”

The mentally broken warrior kept muttering the word “forest.” He was clearly not in a normal state.

Feeling frustrated, Oneton raised his heavy body and looked directly into the warrior’s eyes. The mystical power in Oneton’s eyes began to glow ominously.

Unlike most Djin who considered sorcery beneath them, Oneton was a Djin who believed sorcery could be useful when applied properly.

This was precisely such a situation.

When the warrior met Oneton’s gaze, he fell under the spell and gradually lost his consciousness. Rektar glared at Oneton, disturbed by the unsettling magic.

No matter how urgent the situation, this was crossing a line—the warrior was his subordinate, and Oneton had cast a spell on him without permission.

“Was there no gentler method?”

“Shut up. If you want to complain, blame the weakness of your warrior. How weak must he be to lose his mind after one defeat?”

It was a typical response from Oneton, who had a talent for getting under people’s skin.

Ignoring Rektar’s reaction, Oneton commanded the warrior:

“Recall what you saw and heard.”

“Forest… snow fog… giant…”

The warrior, Sekunda, slowly began to speak as he recalled his memories.

* * *

Sekunda, a dog beastman and warrior of the Blue Mane tribe, had entered the forest with his unit under Rektar’s orders.

The forest was colder and darker than any forest or field Sekunda had ever experienced, but he wasn’t worried.

‘How strong could those who hide in the forest possibly be?’

This forest was like the final destination for the defeated and the fugitives.

How famous must it be for even the beastmen living in the vast plains to call this forest the “End of the World.”

It literally meant that once you reached this forest, there was nowhere else to go.

…Though he was displeased that they had been pushed back to near such a forest.

‘How did the Blue Mane tribe end up like this…’

“Stop. I smell humans ahead.”

When Rokan, the goat beastman and great warrior leading the tribe, signaled, all the warriors halted at once.

They stared into the forest with their beast-like gleaming eyes. Though quite far and obscured by vegetation, they could clearly see a palisade.

It was a fairly large and well-built palisade, but the warriors weren’t concerned. For the nomadic tribes of the plains, raiding such structures was practically routine.

Such defenses would quickly crumble when large warriors struck them with their battle axes…

“Woof! Woof woof!”

“Calm down, calm down.”

The warriors glared at the wolf that was barking thoughtlessly.

It was a wolf that Oneton had forcibly included because he didn’t trust the warriors’ senses… and honestly, they didn’t like it.

It had a nasty temperament, ate enormous amounts, and was incredibly difficult to command.

They didn’t have to look far for an example—it was happening right now.

Rokan, who held the wolf’s leash, tried to calm it by pulling, but it wasn’t easy.

Not only was it excited, but having received a blessing, it had grown too large to control easily.

‘This beast. Has it inherited its master’s bloodlust for humans?’

But something about its howling seemed strange…

The great warrior sensed something in the wolf that wasn’t the typical ferocity of a hungry beast.

Could it be that even a blessed wolf was afraid?

‘That can’t be right?’

“Wait, snow fog is rolling in from ahead?”

“What?”

The warriors watched in confusion at the scene before them.

Snow fog was slowly spreading through the already dark forest.

As the fog gradually approached, the wolf bared its teeth in disgust and then…

“Wh-what!? Hey, you damn wolf!”

“Damn it, catch it quickly!”

It tried to turn and flee.

The great warrior shouted in astonishment.

How could a blessed wolf be frightened by mere fog?

Despite the wolf’s desperate struggle, the warriors held firm.

If this beast escaped, Oneton would surely blame Rektar, and an angry Rektar would blame the warriors.

“Whine, whiiine!”

“This damn wolf… huh?”

“What the hell. The fog is getting too thick!”

The snow fog engulfed the warriors in an instant. That was fine, but… the problem came next.

As the fog gradually thickened, something began to appear within it.

It was a giant.

A giant wearing a deer skull, exhaling fog from its mouth, was walking toward them.

A chill ran down the warriors’ spines.

Though the appearance of a giant was startling, it shouldn’t have been frightening…

‘Why am I afraid?’

The warriors had experienced monsters comparable to giants before.

Trolls and Ogres occasionally appeared in the eastern plains, after all.

So they weren’t warriors who would fear something merely for its size…

*Shing*

The warriors unconsciously drew their weapons, even without an order from Rokan, their leader.

One warrior pointed his spear at the giant’s legs and muttered:

“Th-that thing… it’s not leaving footprints?”

“!”

Could anyone believe that a giant at least twice the size of a human was approaching without footprints or sound?

The warriors gritted their teeth, realizing this was no ordinary being.

It was fortunate they had connections with Djin. Otherwise, they might have thought they were bewitched by ghosts and fled with their tails between their legs.

When the giant reached toward the ground, snow moved like a living snake, coiling around its hand.

The snow instantly transformed into an axe. Though it was a hand axe that seemed too small for the giant’s size, no one relaxed their guard.

…Nevertheless, the warriors couldn’t track the giant’s movements.

Something seemed blurry, and the warriors fell into confusion when they belatedly realized the giant had disappeared.

“What!? Where did it go!”

“It-it was definitely in front…”

As one warrior looked around, he froze when he noticed the others’ gazes fixed on him.

The warrior noticed that his surroundings had darkened, and shortly after, he realized it had become chillingly cold.

As the cold air brushed against his nape, the warrior looked up.

“…Ah.”

That was the warrior’s last word.

As the giant’s axe swung casually, the warrior’s head soared high into the sky.

Faced with the strangeness of no blood flowing and the giant’s presence that couldn’t be sensed despite being right in front of them, Rokan ordered with a scream:

“Attack!”

The warriors surrounding the giant moved, giving in to their fear.

Some swung swords.

Some brought down axes.

Some thrust spears, but…

“Wh-what!”

“This is insane!?”

The warriors’ weapons sliced through empty air.

The giant had dodged their attacks by bending its waist with a flexibility that belied its size.

The warriors tried to recover their weapons in shock, but it was already too late.

The giant swung its hand axe like a whip. Screams echoed as arms, legs, and for the unlucky ones, heads flew.

The giant grabbed the leg of the nearest warrior and swung him at the others.

Being cut by the hand axe was cruel, but being killed by a fellow warrior was even more horrific.

When scream collided with scream, a terrible sound of rupture erupted.

As screams and the smell of blood mingled chaotically, Sekunda fell into panic and dropped his spear.

Only one thought filled his mind:

‘If I don’t run, I’ll die!’

In Sekunda’s mind, there was no room for fighting spirit, let alone honor.

His legs instinctively fled from the giant without hesitation. While fleeing, Sekunda looked back.

When Rokan’s head, who had been cursing at him, was split in half, Sekunda turned away in shock.

There was no time to feel guilt. He would die if he didn’t escape immediately.

Other warriors seemed to have the same thought as they began to flee after Sekunda.

Unfortunately, they weren’t as agile as Sekunda.

“Aaaaargh!!!”

“Sekunda, Sekunda help!!!”

As the presence of his comrades diminished one by one, so did their screams and curses.

Sekunda was terrified of this fact. When nothing more could be heard, that moment would signal his death.

“Woof!”

“Huh!?”

Sekunda was startled by the wolf’s howl beside him as he fled.

There was the wolf, which had been the first to sense the danger, running with labored breath.

When their eyes met, Sekunda felt an ominous premonition.

It would be unsettling even if it were an ordinary wolf, but this one had received Oneton’s blessing.

“Get away!”

“Grrrr!”

In response to Sekunda’s threat, the wolf bit his leg.

The sharp teeth were enough to turn Sekunda’s leather armor, and the softer skin beneath, into rags.

Sekunda screamed and fell as his flesh was torn away. He tried to get up, but it wasn’t easy.

As the wolf fled into the distance, Sekunda resigned himself.

‘…So this is how I die.’

Accepting death, Sekunda felt a sense of emptiness. Oddly, once he gave up everything, his fear seemed to wash away.

He painfully turned his body to look at the giant. The giant had stopped not far away.

‘Did that wolf survive?’

That was unfair. Who in the world would want the creature that used them as bait to survive?

Fortunately, it seemed the giant had no intention of sparing the wolf.

The giant’s hand axe cut through the forest and split the wolf’s waist in two. Having witnessed this, Sekunda sighed.

“Ha, it wasn’t something we could escape from in the first place.”

The giant was slowly approaching. Or was it slow?

He couldn’t tell.

Though it was clearly in front of him, Sekunda couldn’t tell how fast the giant was approaching.

Only when the giant looked down at him from right in front did Sekunda clearly perceive its position.

When the skull cracked open, a pitch-black abyss entered Sekunda’s vision. It wasn’t wearing a skull—that bone was its head.

Then, was that its mouth… or could that even be called a mouth?

‘I don’t know… I just want this to end now.’

Sekunda stared at the giant’s mouth with empty eyes, praying for those teeth to tear his neck quickly.

However… the giant didn’t bite him. Instead, it put its hand into its own mouth.

“…?”

Sekunda froze at the incomprehensible sight. The giant took something out of its mouth…

“A seed?”

There was no time to resolve his confusion. The giant’s nail dug into Sekunda’s mouth.

Under the overwhelming force, Sekunda’s mouth was forced open. He screamed in pain as his jawbone was crushed.

“Aaaaaaah!!!!!”

Sekunda felt something piercing his teeth. Beyond the pain, he was terrified because he couldn’t understand why this was happening.

Why on earth would someone plant a seed in his teeth?

When the nail withdrew, Sekunda spat out a mouthful of blood. He hurriedly put his finger in his mouth but couldn’t remove the seed.

What kind of seed would someone stuff into a person’s mouth… he didn’t even want to imagine.

“What… what did you do to me!!”

“Quiet.”

Sekunda felt as if his heart was gripped and fell silent.

It was just one word, but its weight felt like a thousand pounds.

The giant stared into Sekunda’s eyes and said:

“I’ll spare your life, so return to your base. If you make it back safely, you’ll live… if not, I’ll leave it to your imagination.”

“What… what does that mean!?”

Sekunda reached out to the giant in confusion, but it had already disappeared.

He stared blankly at where the giant had been, and at his comrades who had become corpses.

It was too cruel to be a dream, yet too horrific to be real.

Sekunda clutched his jaw, feeling the throbbing pain in his gums.

The clear pain and the even clearer foreign sensation of the seed.

With these two sensations, Sekunda rose, limping. He no longer had the mental capacity to think.

He just tried not to forget the giant’s final words.

Whatever would happen if he didn’t return… he didn’t want to imagine it at all.

* * *

That was the end of Sekunda’s story.

Oneton frowned. He hadn’t imagined that the Wendigo itself would move directly.

“This undignified creature…”

“Who are you talking about? Do you know the identity of the giant this warrior spoke of?”

“Yes, I know, so wait a mom… wait.”

Oneton’s eyes flashed, and he bit off Sekunda’s head.

Hot blood stained the floor as Sekunda’s head rolled.

Had this Djin finally gone mad?

Rektar could no longer restrain himself and drew his sword.

“You insane Djin, you’ve finally crossed the line!”

“There’s a reason for this, so calm down.”

“Shut up! After biting off the neck of a warrior who barely made it back alive, your excuse is…!?”

Rektar’s angry shout turned to shock at the sight before him.

As if Oneton’s excuse wasn’t false, a seed fell from Sekunda’s mouth and burrowed into the ground.

The seed grew instantly, taking shape.

A massive body filled with muscle and a deer skull.

The tree that grew from the seed formed the appearance of the Wendigo.

After the sound of breaking wood…

-Oh. It works.

“You damn bastard…”

As the Wendigo’s form uttered these absurd words, Oneton growled, releasing his killing intent.