Ch.32Chapter 32

In the swirling snow fog, something glinted once again.

The experienced warriors immediately recognized it was a spear.

“Spears incoming! Scatter!”

A warrior’s shout awakened the others, but their reaction came too late.

With a vicious sound, a spear shot through another warrior and flew onward. As the impaled warrior flew backward with a scream, the others were terrified.

The power was simply unbelievable for what should have been a spear.

“Everyone, focus! No matter how powerful their throwing spears are, they won’t be able to throw them if we get close enough!”

At the command of Jacken, the warrior second in rank after Bokun, the warriors gripped their weapons.

No matter how shocked they were, warriors were warriors.

They weren’t so weak as to lose their fighting spirit just because one or two comrades had died.

The warriors clenched their teeth and charged. They didn’t know how far away the enemy was, but their determination to avenge this humiliation burned fiercely.

“Release the beasts! Charge the beasts!”

“Hunt down the enemy!”

As the warriors shouted and released the leashes, the beasts let out mournful cries and charged forward, pounding the ground.

In situations like this with projectiles flying, the vanguard always suffered the most.

Spears flew toward the heads of the beasts leading the charge.

BOOM!

“Shit, how is that even considered a spear?!”

“Shut up and run! Is this the time to question that?!”

The beasts hit directly by the spears were literally torn apart by their tremendous power.

However, Jacken noticed one possibility among the beasts.

Unlike the agile wolves and leopards, the boars and bears weren’t penetrated by the spears.

Jacken quickly moved behind a bear in front of him and shouted.

“Everyone, advance behind the larger beasts! The spears can’t penetrate them!”

The warriors, burning with the will to survive, desperately hid behind the larger beasts.

As if proving Jacken’s judgment correct, the spears could take the lives of bears and boars but couldn’t stop the warriors’ charge.

Naturally, the warriors’ morale stabilized. At this rate, they could reach the enemy beyond the fog!

“I don’t know who’s throwing these spears, but even if it’s a Djin, I’ll kill them for sure!”

“Damn it. I can barely see ahead—what kind of nonsense is this?!”

Having escaped immediate danger, the warriors showed their original ferocity and strengthened their resolve.

However… unlike the other warriors whose heads were filled with heat, Jacken suffered from an inexplicable unease.

‘Something’s wrong!’

Without reason or evidence, Jacken bit his lip at the signal his instincts were sending.

Though his mind couldn’t understand, his instincts kept warning him to flee.

“Jacken. The fog is getting thicker. It’s becoming difficult to identify our surroundings!”

“I know… but don’t worry too much. The enemy can’t see us either. Besides, unlike them, we have our beasts!”

When a warrior running beside him warned Jacken, he spoke as if to comfort the warrior. In reality, he was trying to comfort himself.

Spears were still flying from the front, and even the beasts with their sharp senses couldn’t detect the enemy’s presence, so at least they weren’t surrounded…

‘Wait. The beasts can’t find the enemies?’

Jacken felt a chill run down his neck.

There was no way beasts blessed by the Djin couldn’t find the enemy.

But this realization came too late.

As the warriors were about to pass a large tree, something flew toward them, cutting through the fog.

Jacken, who had fallen back while lost in thought, realized it was an axe.

A large, crude axe was flying toward the warriors’ waists.

‘I need to dodge!’

Jacken instinctively threw himself to the ground.

Unlike Jacken who made a quick judgment, the warriors charging with heightened aggression couldn’t react fast enough.

Their only desperate attempt was to raise their shields or weapons to defend against the flying blade.

Naturally, such attempts were futile. The axe shattered their shields and weapons, then cleaved the warriors in half in an instant.

CRACK!

With the brutal axe strike, the warriors’ bodies were split in half and flew into the air.

Jacken looked up at the unbelievable sight with his mouth open.

Entrails and blood soiled the ground as the thick fog momentarily dispersed.

《Foolish ones. Engrave in your souls that you die because you dared to invade my territory.》

“It’s, it’s a Djin!”

There stood the Wendigo, its eyes gleaming ominously.

As the eerie, mysterious voice pounded in the warriors’ ears, they swallowed dry saliva in tension.

“Get lost, you damn Djin!”

“Turkin! Wait…!?”

One warrior, unable to overcome his fear, charged at the Wendigo. Jacken watched the charging warrior hopelessly.

Foolish one. How could he face a Djin alone!

Jacken’s thoughts were correct.

The scattered fog gathered again, and the warrior was dragged into the fog with the Wendigo’s hand around his neck.

“AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!”

《Congratulations. Today you will die and become fertilizer for the forest. And fertilizer… is best when torn apart and scattered.》

Before the warriors could help, terrible screams erupted from beyond the fog.

More frightening than the sounds of tearing and ripping was the desperate screaming of their comrade.

What kind of torture could make a warrior scream so desperately? It was impossible to even imagine.

《You should never have come to the forest. Or at least, you should not have touched what is mine.》

“What the hell did we touch?!”

“Calm down and stay together! We can’t face it alone!”

As the Wendigo’s voice echoed from all directions, the warriors couldn’t regain their composure.

The fear that the Wendigo might appear behind them at any moment was eating away at the hardened warriors’ minds.

The beasts were the first to break.

No matter what blessings they received, they were still creatures that followed their instincts.

“Woof! Woof woof!”

“Damn… the beasts are running away!”

The sinister mystique that drove humans mad was even more terrible for beasts with senses sharper than humans.

Despite Oneton’s blessing, the beasts began to flee in terror. They didn’t care that blood was flowing from their throats and eyes for disobeying orders.

Seeing this pitiful sight, the warriors had to admit it. This wasn’t a battle but a one-sided hunt.

And a hunt where they couldn’t predict when or where the hunter would appear!

“Damn, just as I thought! Jacken, we need to escape too!”

“Now’s our chance with the beasts fleeing. If we escape now, we can use them as bait…!?”

《Foolish ones. Why would you think I’d be interested in mere beasts?》

The Wendigo, shrouded in fog, appeared from somewhere and swung its axe with gleaming eyes.

The warriors attacked the Wendigo desperately. Their attacks, honed over years on the battlefield, were certainly threatening, but…

‘It’s like striking a rock!’

Swords and axes couldn’t cut through the skin, and spear tips broke from the impact.

At best, Jacken’s sword left a faint mark on the Wendigo’s skin… but it was barely a scratch.

What awaited the warriors who failed their attacks was the Wendigo’s merciless axe.

The warriors became pieces of flesh embedded in the ground from the axe strikes wrapped in cold energy.

“My skin… my skiiiin!?”

“Kuhek! Can’t… breathe!?”

Avoiding the weapon didn’t mean safety. As the cold energy seeped into the warriors’ skin and lungs, they writhed in pain and collapsed one by one.

“Shit…”

“Run… everyone run!!!”

Realizing there was no chance of winning, Jacken picked up a fallen axe and shouted to the warriors.

The warriors, understanding they had no way to fight this battle, chose to flee.

‘I’ll… I’ll buy time.’

Not knowing how long he could hold out, Jacken raised his axe with trembling hands and faced forward.

Jacken’s wavering gaze focused on the Wendigo, dimly visible in the fog.

With the fleeing warriors behind him, Jacken bit his lip to suppress the scream that threatened to burst out.

Without the metallic taste of blood and the numbing pain, he felt he might beg for his life and run away.

“Come on. A warrior of the Blue Mane tribe will face you!”

《Hmm…》

Jacken’s appearance was truly pitiful.

His hair was a mess from the swirling wind and bitter cold.

Frost had settled on his skin, making it seem he might freeze to death at any moment.

His legs and arms trembled, defying their owner’s will.

As the Wendigo approached step by step through the fog, blue rippled in Jacken’s eyes.

But Jacken didn’t run away. To save the warriors, even if just a little, he needed to draw the Wendigo’s attention here.

As the Wendigo’s massive form leaned down, Jacken met its eyes.

‘I’m going to die.’

Jacken sensed his own death. He realized that the moment the Djin before him swung its axe, he would die without any resistance.

However… the Wendigo didn’t swing its weapon.

《Your pure scent and concern for your comrades are truly beautiful. Why does a warrior like you follow someone as vicious as Oneton?》

“… I don’t follow Oneton. I only pray for the safety of our tribe.”

《Then it’s even stranger. If you pray for your tribe’s safety, why do you become Oneton’s dog and oppress the forest people?》

“……”

Jacken closed his mouth without answering the Wendigo’s question. It felt like the doubt lingering in his heart had been exposed.

Why was the Blue Mane tribe shedding blood against an unknown Djin in this forest?

Was there any reason for warriors’ blood to be meaninglessly spilled for a mere deal between the chief and this Djin?

《…Well, fine. Honorable warrior, out of respect for your noble action, I’ll specially spare your life.》

“!”

Jacken’s eyes widened.

If he hadn’t misheard, the Djin just said it would spare his life… would a Djin do such a thing?

“Is, is that true?”

《I only took your comrades’ lives because I had to protect what’s mine. I don’t enjoy taking lives.》

As if it wasn’t a lie, the Wendigo slowly backed away from Jacken. As the Wendigo’s form disappeared into the fog, its voice echoed through the forest.

《As a warning, considering your honor, never step into the forest fog again. If you set foot in the fog once more…》

《Death will find you.》

That was the Wendigo’s final warning.

As the fog retreated and the surroundings returned to a normal forest, Jacken’s legs gave out and he collapsed.

He felt his neck and heart, checking if he was still alive. It was hard to believe he had survived.

Realizing he was alive, Jacken sighed heavily and looked around.

Seeing the horribly dead bodies, the warning engraved in Jacken’s mind echoed in his ears.

Beware the fog.

Jacken stood up abruptly, his face pale.

“This, this is no time to waste!”

Jacken, who momentarily lost his balance and fell, groaned as he got up again.

There was no time to waste. He needed to return to the tribe and inform them of this.

That they must never, ever approach the fog.

And…

‘…I need to confront Oneton and the chief. What reason could there be to do this in a forest where such a being dwells?’

In the eyes of the limping Jacken, the flames of discord flickered.