Chapter 128: The North (12)

The first one to charge was a beastman covered in white fur. He flaunted his bulky muscles, like a bear’s, and charged towards me with his arms spread wide. After narrowly dodging his embrace, I punched him in the side, and his body crumpled like a doll before being shot out like a bullet.

“Kkwaaeeeek!”

With a dying scream, he disappeared into the snowy mist, and another beastman charged at me. This one was a wolf with its body covered in scars. He charged headfirst, as if to devour my head, while two hound beastmen leaped towards me simultaneously from the side.

I grabbed the wolf beastman by the head and swung him like a club, shaking off the hound beastmen. My center of gravity shifted abruptly, and I heard the sound of the wolf’s neck bones shattering. The wolf, who had been struggling as if about to open its mouth any second, spasmed like a puppet all over, staring blankly into the air.

“Kuaaang! Kaang!”

“Uwooooh!”

The surrounding beastmen let out roars and closed the distance slightly. To create distance, I wildly swung the wolf beastman corpse I was holding and yelled.

“Hey, you fucking bastards! Can’t you guys talk like people?”

They didn’t seem to have any intention of conversing in the first place. Because even as I cursed them out, they threatened me with their mouths agape, completely unfazed. One of them, aiming for our backs, met Lorena’s sword and went to the afterlife. A red stain bloomed like paint in the snow, and the newly falling snowflakes erased both the tracks and the bodies.

How many times had we fought like this? Sweat poured down my head like rain, and my breathing grew ragged. Fighting these guys in the middle of the snowfield while also maintaining my body heat was seriously draining my energy.

There were still over 10 beastmen watching us, and Lorena was also sweating, keeping watch around us. And Alice, her face pale blue, was clinging tightly to me. Her eyelids fluttered as if she might faint any second, yet she pretended to be fine.

“I-I’m okay. D-Dad. I-I’m not cold at all.”

“I’ll get us out of here soon.”

But realistically, there was no way to escape from here. The beastmen surrounded us, burning with hostility, and we couldn’t move fast enough to break through their encirclement in this snowfield where our feet sank deep.

They just watched us, standing still. Their beastly eyes glinted in the white darkness, watching us like customers browsing goods at a slave market. Lorena’s hands trembled. She clenched her lips and scowled.

The sweat was cooling down. Having expended her energy all at once, Lorena swayed, enduring the cold. In this snowfield, they no longer needed to fight us. Alice’s lips had turned so blue they were almost purple, and her whole body was shivering. Lorena grimaced, feeling the cold seep into her body.

The beastmen had no problem freezing us to death right here in the snowfield. Frozen meat wasn’t exactly a rare commodity in this cold wilderness.

“D-Dad. I-I-I’m not cold. I’m not cold, so, y-you don’t have to say it, and I’m sorry, so…”

Alice wasn’t doing well. We had been lingering in the extreme cold for far too long. Lorena and Alice were both on the verge of freezing to death from the cold, not from the beastmen.

If I were alone, I could probably escape. I could vow revenge, grow stronger, and then mourn the deaths of my daughter and Lorena.

But if I broke through the encirclement and ran away alone, and if Alice and Lorena died because of it, what would be left for me?

Unpleasant memories.

Regret that would last a lifetime, stemming from my powerlessness.

Only melodramatic, sensational sadness awaited me, that much was certain. Alice’s room would be empty, and a funeral parlor would handle the arrangements. Amidst a lavish funeral I could never afford in my lifetime, I would tell Isabel I was sorry.

I imagined Isabel’s crying face. I pictured Alice lying in a glass coffin. Alice, lying there as if asleep.

With a beast’s cry, I returned to reality.

Alice, her eyelids heavy, nodding off; Lorena, her body stiffening, seemingly unable to react properly. Reality was just as miserable as the imagined funeral.

Ah.

“You fucking bastards.”

I raised both my arms.

“Your boss is a psycho obsessed with men, right?”

The beastmen flinched. Their eyes darted towards one spot, as if wondering how to respond to that. The largest beastman among them reluctantly nodded. He resembled a snow leopard, with a thick neck like a log that looked like it could withstand cannon fire. I waved my hands and said.

“If you guarantee the safety of these two women, I’ll go with you.”

Alice hadn’t properly heard my words. But even so, she clung tightly to my clothes, as if sensing I shouldn’t go. Lorena shook her head and said.

“Evan, we can fight. We’re okay…”

“Hey, who do you think I am?”

Lorena looked back at me at those words. Those eyes, looking at me with worry, gave me a feeling similar to Isabel’s. I knew all too well what emotions lay behind those tearful eyes and how to shake them off.

“What do you think a great demon like me would do against those guys? Take care of yourselves. We’ll be back with our heads held high.”

The snow leopard beastman spoke.

“Those women will come too. They’ll freeze to death trying to reach the village from here. Our home is closer, so we’ll let them warm up and treat them there.”

I said with a laugh.

“Fuck, I thought you guys couldn’t talk?”

“Get on.”

Following the snow leopard’s instruction, the beastmen approached. A beastman with soft fur carried Alice on his back, and she burrowed into the fur like a kitten, trying to find comfort. Lorena looked at the beastmen with unease before reluctantly mounting one, and I was carried on the snow leopard beastman’s back.

Just as they had driven us into the blizzard, they raced through the forest at the speed of a dog sled. Amidst the rapidly passing shadows, discerning the forest’s terrain felt impossible. All I could tell was that their hideout was deep in the forest, and each one of them was a formidable warrior.

The wind whipping against my face was cold. And I was truly scared, not knowing what would happen next. I muttered softly, so the snow leopard couldn’t hear.

“Fuck, I should’ve just run.”

Like a honeycomb, holes were clustered densely into the winter mountain’s rocky face. Campfires burning in each hole made me feel as if hundreds of beasts were staring at me. The beastmen on guard bared their teeth upon seeing me riding the snow leopard, but I ignored them.

Alice, carried by the furry beastman, was immediately taken to the warmest spot upon arrival in the village, where female beastmen began examining her condition. Lorena had her weapons confiscated, but they didn’t put her in handcuffs or shackles, seemingly guaranteeing her safety.

I dismounted the snow leopard, who stretched and said.

“If you don’t resist, we won’t bother you. Those two women are your hostages. Act wisely and respectfully. Especially, don’t use those kinds of… expressions you used in the snowfield in front of our boss-nim.”

I had no desire to provoke them. Both Alice and Lorena were in no condition to resist. If the beastmen decided to harm them, the two women could end up as my breakfast tomorrow. After confirming their safety, I followed him deeper inside.

The beastmen’s village was equipped with the essentials. There were tanners who made leather into clothes, and merchants selling meat. There were also merchants selling human goods, though most didn’t look particularly happy.

I looked around and asked.

“Who are you selling to?”

The snow leopard answered.

“We used to trade with humans who came hunting in this forest. They brought us useful items, and we gave them meat or hides. It was possible because our former boss-nim was from this northern region.”

“Former boss-nim?”

“The current boss-nim is from the Demon Realm. He came from the Demon Realm, killed our boss-nim, and took his place. The current boss-nim rapes or kills any human who enters this forest. Lately, he even sends people out beyond the forest to hunt humans. You two just got caught by chance.”

“I see.”

This meant they hadn’t targeted us from the start. Would this have been avoided if we had left just one day later? Regardless, I felt truly fortunate that I hadn’t sent Lorena and Alice away alone.

The snow leopard said to me.

“You can go inside here. Demon.”

Before me stood a massive tent. Laughter spilled out from within, along with the sweet scent of alcohol.

I asked the snow leopard.

“Are you satisfied with your life right now?”

The snow leopard didn’t answer. I asked him again.

“You must want to live like you used to, right? Don’t beastmen have pride?”

“Hurry up and go inside. And don’t put up any futile resistance. Resisting ones all end up like this.”

The snow leopard pointed a finger towards a cage. Inside, humans were tightly bound with collars. I looked up at the nameplate attached to the cage, and it read:

[Room of Repentance]

“Mmph! Mmph! Mmph!”

A gagged man shook his head violently towards me. Blond hair and tanned skin. I knew this man.

“Fuck, are you Orland?”

“Mmph! Mmph! Mmmph! Mmph!”

Orland nodded frantically, shouting. The snow leopard asked me.

“Do you know him?”

“No, I don’t know him.”

I said that and entered the tent. Behind me, Orland’s screams continued to echo.

“Mmmmmmph! Mmmmmmmph!”

Fuck.