Ch.36Chapter 36

The relationship between Lectar and Oneton couldn’t be described as good even as a courtesy, but Wendigo remained vigilant.

Their personality differences and poor teamwork were separate issues. Perhaps knowing each other’s flaws might even lead to excellent cooperation.

Wendigo filled his sword with mystical energy, ready to strike at any moment. He was prepared to cleave whoever attacked first.

However… despite waiting, neither of them made the first move.

“If you made a proposal, show an example first!”

“You fool. Is your head just for decoration? I can attack from a distance, so you should draw attention with your body!”

“……”

Wendigo was dumbfounded, even astonished, watching them pleasantly exchange nonsense about making the other a meat shield.

Even in this situation, they refused to take any losses. Weren’t they truly made for each other?

Wendigo stared blankly at their bickering before coming to his senses.

‘So the ancient tactic of drawing attention through madness wasn’t nonsense after all.’

Having enemies right before them yet undermining trust was that shocking.

Enough to make him hesitate about whom to strike first!

Fortunately, Wendigo’s dilemma didn’t last long. Something unexpected happened on the battlefield.

Oneton and Lectar, who had been glaring at each other, startled when the temperature dropped and looked around.

Fog was rolling in from all directions simultaneously.

“What’s happening?”

“… We’ve fallen into his petty trap. He wasn’t alone from the beginning.”

Setting aside whether he had any right to call others petty, perhaps a Djin was still a Djin after all.

Oneton clicked his tongue as he detected presences beyond the fog.

He had assumed Wendigo would fight alone this time as he had before, but to think he’d offer himself as bait.

Lectar shouted at the sky, realizing he’d been tricked again. In retrospect, it was obvious.

No matter what schemes a Djin might have, why would a Djin toy with his subordinates?

Lectar examined his warriors with a growl. His elites maintained their composure, but most warriors couldn’t.

After all, nothing good had ever come from being engulfed in fog!

While Lectar was troubled, Wendigo gazed at the fog with satisfaction. Just as Skadi had said, the fog spread widely without the slightest gap.

At this rate, the fog would swallow the warriors in an instant.

Moreover, warriors following Wendigo’s instructions were lurking in the fog. Those loyal fighters would be eager to bring glory to Wendigo.

Sure enough.

“Arrows! Arrows incoming!”

“Shit, shields! Raise your shields! If you don’t have one, hide behind a corpse… guhk!”

As arrows flew through the fog, warriors frantically sought cover. They trembled with fear as they dodged the arrow rain.

Being attacked by an invisible enemy was a terror difficult to endure without exceptional courage.

Lectar deflected arrows with his sword while growling.

“Damn it… at this rate, even retreating won’t be easy.”

Retreating amid flying arrows was practically begging for death. Above all, Wendigo wouldn’t let them leave easily.

The one fortunate thing was that the forest people’s craftsmanship wasn’t excellent, so their arrowheads were poor quality. Most arrows bounced off armor without penetrating.

If imperial crossbows had been available, the warriors would have died miserably, riddled with holes.

After deflecting another arrow, Lectar looked at Oneton. It was infuriating to see him untouched by any arrows.

“Oneton. I’ll lead the warriors in a charge. You should be able to exploit the Djin’s weakness.”

“… Of course.”

When Oneton answered from beyond the fog, Lectar inwardly sighed and raised his sword.

The sword burned brightly, drawing the warriors’ attention.

“Warriors, I understand your fear. I won’t deny that you fear the fog and the forest Djin.”

“So we’re retreating now?”

When one warrior among those gathered around Lectar asked, the warriors’ eyes lit up. Even the bravest warriors refused to fight under such adverse conditions.

Seeing their pathetic appearance, Lectar swallowed the curses that threatened to escape and continued.

“Unfortunately, no. I too wish to retreat immediately, but we’ve already entered the fog, and above all, the Djin won’t let us go. There’s only one way for us to survive.”

Lectar’s sword pointed beyond the fog. The warriors instinctively understood his thinking.

If they cut off Wendigo’s head, the fog would disappear, and the enemy’s morale would surely diminish once the Djin was gone.

It made sense… but the problem was they couldn’t trust it.

Considering what Lectar had shown so far, it was remarkable the warriors had followed him at all.

When the warriors looked at him with distrustful eyes, Lectar felt the urge to swing his sword at them.

But he couldn’t. He needed them to have any chance against the Djin.

Oneton, who had been watching, approached Lectar.

“Pathetic fool. Can’t even control your subordinates?”

“If you hadn’t caused so much trouble, the tribe’s support would have gathered around me long ago! It’s all your fault…?!”

Ignoring Lectar’s words, Oneton awakened the mystical energy within the warriors. They writhed in pain, clutching their heads.

Seeing the warriors gradually transforming into beasts, Lectar couldn’t contain his anger and swung his sword at Oneton. But the sword only cut through air without touching even a hair on Oneton.

“Oneton!”

“You should have persuaded them properly from the start. Shut up and use them to approach him. Then we’ll find a way.”

When Oneton’s sinister eyes flashed, Lectar fell silent, overwhelmed by his unusual aura.

Swallowing his pride, Lectar led the warriors. Though they drooled as if their reason had died, their strength would be sufficient.

“Charge!”

At Lectar’s command, the beast-men charged forward with horrific screams. Wendigo watched and raised his sword.

Though they were numerous, he could handle them with a little effort…

“Lord Wendigo! We’ll handle this!”

“Skadi? Good timing… huh?”

What entered Wendigo’s vision as he turned was Skadi and… deer skulls. Not just one, but more than ten skulls.

The deer skulls were actually warriors wearing bone helmets. Their attire was as far from ordinary warriors as their helmets.

The helmets were covered in magical patterns similar to those Skadi used, suggesting they were enchanted, and none wore armor.

At most, they wore animal skins like wolves or bears as cloaks, giving them a truly barbaric appearance.

“… Aren’t they too underdressed for warriors on the battlefield?”

“Hehe! Don’t worry. Their skin is tough enough to block blades, and their strength is as powerful as beasts.”

At Skadi’s gesture, the warriors raised their spears with a battle cry.

“Javelins!”

With one warrior’s shout, spears pierced through the fog, intercepting the charging warriors. Though not as overwhelming as Wendigo’s power, the spears impaled enemies in one thrust.

Intrigued by this sight, Wendigo’s eyes gleamed as he observed the helmets the warriors wore.

Unlike the crude magic of Djin, the intricate magic embedded in the helmets granted the warriors mysterious power.

‘So this is what Skadi was talking about.’

It was quite impressive. How did they create such items?

“Impressive. If they’re not difficult to make, I’d like to distribute them to all warriors.”

“Ah… th-that would be difficult.”

“Is that so? Are the materials hard to obtain?”

When Wendigo stared intently, Skadi fidgeted with her fingers and explained about the materials.

“I… I used a tiiiiny bit of Gicas’s entrails.”

“……”

Beyond being rare, the danger of it made Wendigo stare blankly at Skadi.

While not as potent as Gicas’s heart, the entrails weren’t exactly benign either.

However, Skadi had her justifications. She had verified their safety through numerous tests.

Helmets that imbued warriors with Wendigo’s energy.

These helmets were proof of Skadi’s excellence as a Summoner.

… If Skadi’s skill had been even slightly inferior, the negative energy from Gicas would have turned the helmets into cursed items that drove warriors insane.

As Skadi fidgeted with her fingers looking up at him, Wendigo turned to look at the warriors.

“Kill them! They are blasphemers who dared attack the Djin!”

“The Djin’s blessing is with us. Only the faithful deserve his protection, so do not fear death!”

Setting aside their fanatical worship, Skadi’s creations were quite good. Thanks to the helmets, the warriors were gaining the upper hand against the beast-men.

‘Still, I’ll have to scold her when we return.’

Creating something dangerous in secret was problematic. What if someone got hurt by mistake?

“Well made, but next time, tell me before making them. And… warriors, fall back from him. I’ll handle him myself.”

Wendigo was pointing at Lectar, of course. Lectar broke away from the beast-men and swung his flaming sword down at Wendigo.

Such an attack had no chance against Wendigo. He simply raised his sword to block it.

Despite the overwhelming difference in power, Lectar didn’t stop. Knowing that stopping meant death, he continued swinging his sword, looking for an opening.

Wendigo casually blocked the attacks and then raised his arm. At that moment, Lectar shouted as if screaming.

“Oneton!!!”

As if that cry was a signal, a bird flew down from the sky, targeting Wendigo’s arm.

The bird changed shape with the sound of crushing bones—it was Oneton. He pounced on Wendigo’s arm and sank his teeth into it.

Seeing this, Lectar sought his opportunity. If Wendigo was distracted by Oneton, he could behead him!

“A doppelganger, huh. You attacked me trusting in this?”

“… What?”

At Wendigo’s question, Lectar felt his heart sink. He forgot he needed to attack and looked at Oneton.

Now that he thought about it, something was strange. Why attack with weak teeth instead of magic? Especially when he had ranged attack options?

“Don’t bullshit me… don’t you dare bullshit me!”

“But it’s true.”

As Lectar wailed as if the sky had fallen, Wendigo grabbed Oneton’s doppelganger and slammed it to the ground.

The doppelganger fell apart pathetically and crashed into the ground. It must have been made with minimal mystical energy, as it revealed its true form at the slightest impact.

A single dead bird lay there.

“ONETOOOON!!!”

“You should have chosen your contract partner more carefully.”

While he must feel cheated, what could he do? It was his own fault for trying to backstab someone after getting what he wanted.

Lectar coughed blood and swung his sword. His sword blazed as if it would burn the world, fueled by his life force.

Wendigo swung his sword in response.

When the two swords collided, the pure cold energy in the ice sword swirled and devoured the flames. The mystical energy in Lectar’s sword shattered…

“I… I am from the Blue Mane tribe… I must return to the plains…”

“Foolish man. Did a lifelong con artist think he could be so easily deceived?”

The ice sword cut Lectar in half. He died a pitiful death, leaving behind regretful last words.

It was a miserable end for an ambitious man who had burned with desire to return to the plains and become king.

After briefly looking at Lectar, Wendigo turned to sense Oneton’s presence. He had expected him to have fled far away after sending a doppelganger to buy time…

‘Why has he stopped moving?’

Contrary to his expectations, Oneton was still trapped nearby. Upon closer observation, Wendigo sensed human presences around him.

For whatever reason, it was the perfect situation to track him down.

Wendigo dashed at full speed to pursue Oneton, and…

“The forest Djin has appeared! To prove our innocence, we must stop that wolf!”

“Damn you, Djin! You drove us to death, so you should die too!”

“You rotten-brained fools! Do you think you can escape his wrath by doing this?!”

“?”

There, warriors of the Blue Mane tribe were risking their lives to block Oneton.

They didn’t retreat even as Oneton’s claws tore off their arms, showing they were truly enraged.

Wendigo watched the desperate struggle with a bitter gaze. While he had encouraged the warriors’ betrayal…

‘How many crimes must he have committed for them to attack him like this?’

It was incomprehensible to Wendigo, who had always lived peacefully with people.

Looking at Oneton with contemptuous eyes, Wendigo created an ice spear and hurled it at him.