Ch.62Chapter 62

A person’s path in life varies according to their innate character and talents.

Even with a violent temperament, without the gift of violence and charisma, one ends up as merely a thug. But with talent, it becomes possible to decorate a page in history.

In that sense, Gelmir was a summoner who had decorated a page in history among the northern summoners.

His bravery to cut down enemies directly on the battlefield, his charisma that prevented subordinates from daring to rebel, and his cruelty to kill even his own flesh and blood if necessary.

Born with these traits, he knew no fear and always acted simultaneously with his thoughts, but…

“Huh, huh huh. What I saw wasn’t even your true form.”

The Wendigo, who had no intention of hiding, slowly walked out of the fog.

Gelmir felt fear for the first time in a long while. He couldn’t help but marvel at the Wendigo’s body.

Its giant body, reminiscent of a titan, was covered in pitch-black skin that was either beautiful or terrifying, and the deer skull that appeared to be its head emitted an ominous glow like the burning souls of the dead.

Gelmir unconsciously gripped the axe and sword that had been with him his entire life and glared at the Wendigo.

‘I’d rather believe I’m having a nightmare. What kind of creature doesn’t even give off a presence?’

Among all the Djin and beasts he had encountered so far, none were as peculiar and bizarre as the Djin before him.

He could overlook the unfathomable mystery and lack of presence. After all, the world was full of incomprehensible things.

But there was one thing he couldn’t understand.

Gelmir frowned and asked the Wendigo.

“I really don’t understand your thinking. Why did you drive us away?”

The Wendigo, who hadn’t expected Gelmir to ask, stared at him blankly.

Are you really asking because you don’t know?

“Strange. Don’t you think you only drove away those who are cunning, petty, and vicious, even by their own standards?”

“I haven’t lived my life so foolishly as to not know that. I even lost an eye for overlooking such things, so I couldn’t possibly not know.”

“Then are you asking despite knowing the answer?”

The Wendigo asked as if questioning why he would ask something so obvious, but Gelmir firmly shook his head.

Gelmir readily admitted that they were all summoners with notorious reputations, including himself, but he didn’t think that was reason enough to be driven away.

“The deal between a summoner and a Djin is essentially a battle. A battle to get what you want from the other party for minimal cost.”

‘As expected of a summoner, he’s out of his mind.’

Gelmir spoke seriously, but the Wendigo grimaced and ignored him.

If the Wendigo could make expressions, Gelmir would have swung his axe in humiliation, but unfortunately, the Wendigo couldn’t make expressions.

Unaware of this, Gelmir laid out his thoughts as if revealing truths discovered through long years.

“A deal is an act of deceiving the other party to gain profit. It’s no different for deals between Djin and summoners. So whether the other party is evil or good, there’s no reason not to make a deal if there’s profit to be had.”

“You certainly have a thick skin, probably due to your years of experience. By that logic, no merchant would be without a sword, and even bandits could become merchants.”

“… Surely you’re not pretending not to know? Do you really not know how many such people exist in this world?”

“……”

When Gelmir looked at him strangely, the Wendigo was at a loss for words. Indeed, it wouldn’t be strange if merchants in this world were former robbers.

Considering what happened to the human-faced beast, merchants in this world were certainly quite mad…

“Let’s stop this trivial argument. We’re not on speaking terms anyway.”

The Wendigo raised his ice sword and exuded killing intent.

Gelmir raised his weapons and cautiously probed the possibility of negotiation.

“Is there any chance you’d accept a peace negotiation? I’ll pay dearly for my rudeness, so let’s rebuild our relationship from the beginning.”

“What reason is there for a wolf that has bared its fangs once not to bare them again? I have no intention of taking such a risk.”

“Do you think you can return unscathed after facing hundreds of warriors, even if you are a Djin that encompasses the forest?”

Gelmir sincerely didn’t want to fight. Fighting the Wendigo with all his might wouldn’t be worth it in terms of profit and loss.

Contrary to his original plan, it was impossible to establish a hierarchical relationship with the Wendigo for trading.

It would be more beneficial for future plans to pay the price for rudeness and repel the warriors.

If he could persuade and absorb the warriors who had lost their chieftain, then again…

“Honestly, it might be burdensome if I faced you alone.”

“Yes. So let’s make a peace treaty…”

“But who said I was alone?”

“… Damn it.”

Gelmir bit his lip, recalling the truth he had been forcibly ignoring.

As I thought, he didn’t come alone!

<■■■■■■■■!>

The Wendigo’s roar engulfed Gelmir.

The talismans protecting Gelmir’s body shook violently and shattered as they protected him, but they couldn’t suppress the roar.

The roar pushed away the fog that covered the forest.

“It’s the Djin’s signal!”

“Protect the forest! Repay the Djin’s grace with your lives if necessary!”

The warriors who recognized the chilling roar as the Wendigo’s signal began to act.

Dozens of arrows were fired at the enemies, and blood-hungry wolves charged through the forest at their handler’s command.

When warriors wearing bone helmets charged forward, surrendering to fanatical fervor while singing cruel hymns, the alliance warriors couldn’t regain their composure.

“Wolves are coming from behind! We need to stop them right now… Argh!”

“Shields, those with shields need to block the arrows quickly! We’re all going to die at this rate!”

“If you have time to talk about shields, stop those madmen first! Before all the damn shields are destroyed!”

How well could even the most loyal warriors respond when they had lost their chieftain in such a confusing situation?

Gelmir glanced at the miserable scene and rushed toward the Wendigo.

He instinctively realized that unless he defeated the Wendigo, there was no way to escape alive.

As he ran, Gelmir pulled out a bronze chain from his chest and threw it at the Wendigo.

Clank!

“I command the chain, bind this Djin to this land!”

The chain that instantly wrapped around the Wendigo’s arm exerted its power according to Gelmir’s command. It trapped the Djin in its physical form, preventing it from escaping.

Djin are beings who extremely dislike wasting their mystical power.

If they couldn’t abandon their physical form and escape, Djin had no choice but to either compromise or fight with the resolve to return to nature.

Of course, Gelmir was aiming for the former. He judged that even the Wendigo would compromise if the losses became too severe.

‘… It has no effect at all?’

Unaware of Gelmir’s intentions, the Wendigo was merely puzzled. After all, it was no constraint at all for the Wendigo, who didn’t even know if it could leave its physical form.

Unaware of this, Gelmir summoned his magic. The tattoos inscribed with giant’s blood made his body large and powerful, and the magic imbued in his armor, shoes, and bracelets assisted him.

Having completed his preparations, Gelmir let out a battle cry and swung his axe at the Wendigo’s legs.

‘He’s fast!’

The Wendigo was considerably surprised by Gelmir’s agility. He was as fast as Oneton among those the Wendigo had seen so far.

The ice sword drew a large arc as it aimed for Gelmir’s neck, but Gelmir, aided by magic, quickly avoided the ice sword and left a wound on the Wendigo’s leg.

It was a small wound, but the Wendigo frowned.

“That axe also has a spell on it. And a very nasty one at that.”

“This axe has been with me all my life. What better material could there be for a summoner!”

Gelmir’s axe had been with its owner throughout his life, had drunk the blood of hundreds, and had beheaded five beasts and two Djin.

Such items had mystical powers imbued in them even without summoners casting spells. It was a kind of naturally occurring magic.

Among such items, Gelmir’s axe had a particularly nasty power imbued in it, forcing unceasing bleeding on the opponent and aggravating wounds.

‘With this, I can drag that guy to the negotiation table!’

Gelmir burned with fighting spirit as he barely avoided the Wendigo’s ice sword.

If he could inflict more and more wounds, even the Wendigo would grimace and attempt negotiation!

‘This magic isn’t as impressive as I thought. Just a power that prevents wounds from healing?’

Having identified the nature of the spell, the Wendigo healed the wound with mystical power without a moment’s hesitation.

Of course, the spell imbued in the axe resisted, but it didn’t matter. The overwhelming wave of mystical power shattered the spell embedded in the wound.

“Not much to it.”

“!?”

When the Wendigo recovered from the wound as if it were truly nothing, Gelmir was shocked and hesitated.

The spell imbued in the axe was not one to be taken lightly. In the past, a warrior who had been slightly cut by the axe blade had died because the wound wouldn’t heal, such was the severity of the spell…

“How much mystical power do you have to use such a brute force method!?”

“I have no reason to answer that.”

Flinch.

Gelmir was startled when the Wendigo’s ice sword flew toward his neck and tried to dodge.

However, Gelmir, who had frozen in shock, found it difficult to avoid the ice sword.

Slash!

“Ugh!?”

Though he barely avoided having his neck severed, Gelmir’s shoulder was cut due to a moment’s carelessness.

The Wendigo had said that the spell imbued in Gelmir’s axe was nasty, but in truth, the Wendigo’s mystical power wasn’t much different.

As severe cold spread from the wound, causing the flesh to rot, Gelmir endured the oncoming pain and pulled out a potion from his chest.

A healing potion made from troll liver, snake skin, and dozens of herbs.

Gelmir hastily created distance and poured the potion into his mouth. The Wendigo had no intention of giving him such an opportunity, but…

“I command the sword. Strike him with lightning!”

The sword made from the bones of a lightning wolf flashed and spewed lightning.

As the lightning flew toward him, the Wendigo swung his ice sword at it. When he sensed that he couldn’t avoid it, his body moved instinctively.

Of course, there was some calculation behind it.

The calculation that his sturdy body could withstand lightning!

‘Surely I won’t die from being struck by lightning!’

Fortunately, his calculation was accurate. When the ice sword and lightning collided, the lightning dissipated with a thunderous sound.

Gelmir clicked his tongue when the lightning failed to inflict significant damage and rushed toward the Wendigo again.

‘Even if I get injured, I must inflict a fatal wound!’

As he was cut by the Wendigo’s sword, Gelmir gained conviction. The conviction that there would be no second chance if he failed to land a proper hit.

Gelmir, who had summoned the giant’s power to the point of damaging his body, caused the spell imbued in his sword to go berserk.

The sword cracked and began to emit light.

Gelmir swung the sword fiercely at the Wendigo. When the sword, imbued with the sole determination to cut him, collided with the Wendigo’s ice sword…

Boom!

With an explosion, thick lightning shattered the Wendigo’s ice sword. The Wendigo looked at Gelmir with great surprise.

He hadn’t expected the ice sword to shatter.

And Gelmir saw that gaze as an opening and dove in.

Gelmir swung his axe, aiming for the Wendigo’s shoulder.

“Die!”

“!”

Crack!

Gelmir’s axe dug into the Wendigo’s shoulder. Gelmir was about to make the spell imbued in the axe go berserk as well.

At that moment, the Wendigo’s hand grabbed Gelmir’s arm. Gelmir tried to shake off the Wendigo’s hand but couldn’t.

His arm began to freeze slowly.

“It hurts. No, does it not hurt? I’m not sure.”

“Damn…”

Gelmir, who had pushed his magic to the limit, tried to cut off the Wendigo’s shoulder, but…

When the Wendigo’s other hand grabbed the axe, ice grew and engulfed it. The axe failed to go berserk and was sealed.

“I wanted to kill you cleanly if possible…”

“Let go!!!”

With both hands sealed, Gelmir spat blood and cursed, but the Wendigo didn’t care at all.

Even without being able to use his hands, the Wendigo could easily kill Gelmir.

Crunch!

“Cough…”

The Wendigo’s teeth bit into Gelmir’s shoulder and neck. No, “tore apart” would be a more accurate description.

With half his neck, shoulder, and part of his upper body torn off, Gelmir spat blood and felt dejected.

‘I’ve lived too long. To make such a reckless plan without knowing his true nature.’

Only at the very end did he acknowledge his mistake.

The Wendigo left some parting words for the dying Gelmir.

“In your next life, live virtuously.”

“Bull… shit.”

Gelmir, who never expected to hear such advice from a Djin, briefly cursed before breathing his last.

* * *

With the death of Gelmir, who was essentially the leader of the alliance, the morale of the alliance immediately plummeted.

It was useless even when other chieftains and summoners shouted at the top of their lungs. The tide of battle had already turned too much.

Even if they could somehow deal with the arrows, wolf riders, and bone-helmeted warriors, the Wendigo still remained.

“I, I surrender!”

“Please spare us! We were merely deceived by Gelmir!”

Even warriors who valued honor feared death. As one by one they began to surrender, warriors without exception threw down their weapons and begged for their lives.

Of course, with the warriors surrendering, there were no summoners or chieftains left. After all, what could those who had set out on an expedition using numbers as their weapon do when they lost that weapon?

All the bound summoners and chieftains could do was curse the world, curse the incompetent warriors, and curse the dead Gelmir.

And even that they couldn’t do when the Wendigo appeared.

The Wendigo, who had joined his subordinates, pointed at the prisoners and asked a nearby warrior.

“Why are they frozen like that?”

“Well, you see…”

The warrior, unable to utter disrespectful words, avoided the Wendigo’s gaze.

Watching this, Geron sighed and gestured for the Wendigo to lower his head.

When the Wendigo lowered his head, Geron carefully whispered.

“It’s because there’s blood on your mouth, sir.”

“Ah. I had forgotten.”

The Wendigo only then remembered that Gelmir’s blood was on his mouth and nodded.

Indeed, it was natural to be afraid when a giant with blood on his mouth looked down at you.

“Well, that’s fine. Geron, prepare to send a dispatch.”

“A dispatch, you say?”

When Geron asked in puzzlement, the Wendigo pointed at the chieftains and summoners and said.

“They have dispatches to send. Please arrange for those who can send them as quickly as possible.”

“I still don’t understand the reason… but I understand.”

Geron gathered parchment and charcoal from somewhere and distributed them to the prisoners.

The prisoners turned pale and pleaded with the Wendigo.

“Please, please spare us!”

“We will serve you loyally! If you wish, we will even offer the virgins of our tribe as sacrifices, just please spare our lives!”

“Have you suddenly gone mad? I’m not asking you to write your will.”

When the prisoners misunderstood, the Wendigo corrected them with a serious expression. However, the prisoners didn’t easily believe the Wendigo’s words.

In this situation, what dispatch could they send if not a will?

The Wendigo clicked his tongue and ordered them.

“Summon all those with succession rights to the forest.”

“What?”

A chieftain questioned the incomprehensible order. In response, warriors struck the chieftain’s head with the hilt of a sword and began to trample him.

“How dare you question the order!”

“Be grateful your head is still attached!”

“Aagh! I’m sorry. I’m sorry!!!”

The chieftain writhed, beaten to a bloody pulp by the warriors’ severe beating.

Watching this, the prisoners hastily picked up the charcoal and began writing dispatches.

Though they didn’t understand the reason…

They didn’t want to die from such a beating.