I Became a Wendigo in a Fantasy World

18 – Episode 18

“Cough! Why, why are you doing this?!”

“Shut up. While others might not know, you can’t fool me.”

Wendigo, strangling the young man was the embodiment of a malevolent spirit.

As Wendigo’s grip tightened, Geron cautiously drew his sword. Not because he feared the Wendigo.

He drew his sword because he trusted Wendigo. Wendigo was not the kind to act like this without reason.

‘Did Wendigo see through that young man?’

Geron, who had been shadowing Wendigo like a valet, knew that he had the power to perceive human character (specifically the ability to smell).

As Geron gestured, the warriors who had followed Wendigo raised their weapons. It was a move of faith.

“Geron, shouldn’t we stop the spirit? He doesn’t seem special…”

“You guys haven’t had much experience with spirits yet. He has the power to see a person’s past. He must have seen something in that guy.”

“That’s not exactly it…”

At Geron’s explanation, Wendigo was embarrassed.

He didn’t have the ability to read a person’s past. How can one read the past, anyway?

‘Again, Skadi has filled him with odd information.’

However, Wendigo did not correct him. The warriors who had joined us yesterday unsheathed their weapons at Geron’s words.

As the warriors pulled themselves out of the confusion and formed a battle stance, the gagged young man begging with his eyes let out a choking sound.

“Urgh! Save, save me…”

“If you don’t want to die, show your true colors. Or accept your death quietly.”

“Tch…”

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“Aahhhhh!!!”

“What, what is this!”

Right as the young man’s throat seemed to snap, his face grotesquely transformed. He drew a dagger hidden at his waist and lunged at Wendigo’s arm.

The warriors, taken by surprise, remained motionless. Could this apparently innocent youth who had seemingly angered the spirit actually be a villain?

Frantic, Geron raced towards Wendigo, shouting.

“Protect the spirit…”

Clang!

The moment the youth jabbed at Wendigo’s skin with his dagger, a clear sound rang out and the dagger shattered. Wendigo’s skin was left free of any scar.

“?”

“It seems like it was all in vain.”

In one swift motion, the Wendigo twisted the young man’s neck. With a bewildered expression still etched on his face, the young man drew his last breath.

When the surprise attack failed, the villagers drew out their concealed weapons.

Hammers, forked knives, scythes…

Shameful artifacts to call weapons, but their menace was unsurpassed.

The creatures with faces that suggested evil spirits spat blood as they charged at the warriors…past the Wendigo.

The Wendigo was flabbergasted.

“Unbelievable. Is this some sort of fake madness or what?”

“Kill it! Kill it! Kill it!!”

Warriors and villagers collided. Realizing their foes were not the innocent, the warriors wielded their weapons without hesitation.

The Wendigo paused in invoking the mystic arts.

‘Come to think of it, I know nothing about the warriors’ capabilities.’

For a Wendigo, who was not envious even of the power of gods, why should he care about the level of his devoted warriors? Couldn’t he just wipe them all out on his own?

Upon further reflection, it did matter.

No matter how strong, an individual cannot overtake a group. This is a fact known even without going far as to study Goguryeo’s watermelon tactics.

Of course, the Wendigo himself thought, ‘I can take on up to 100, right?’ but in life, implausible things always occur.

‘I’ve seen many monsters in my previous lives. Zhuge Liang, Lu Bu, Zhang Hu, Joan of Arc…’

Even those beyond human limitations, able to face hundreds or thousands of enemies, couldn’t surpass the constraints of a group. He may not be human, but he won’t be an exception.

Silencing his invocation, the Wendigo cautiously observed the warriors. The first to notice his gaze was Geron. He understood the Wendigo’s intention instantly.

“Everyone gather around! The spirits are watching us. We must not show them a shameful spectacle!”

“Yes!”

True to being the village head, Geron naturally gathered the warriors and formed a phalanx.

The shield-bearing warriors to the front, those with axes or swords in the middle, and finally, the spears to the rear.

“Die! Die!!”

As they collided, the shields of the warriors pushed the enemies back. With the momentum of their charge lost, a change overcame the warrior’s eyes.

The forest people were generally poorly armed.

Mostly armed with iron instead of steel, and the majority of their armors were made of leather.

Error

In truth, my statement was based on the clichés of a modern context… but still, Wendigo’s knowledge was half correct.

When Wendigo stretched both of his hands towards the ground, he grasped in each hand roots and a sword of frozen ice.

Brandishing his chilling ice sword, Wendigo charged towards his enemies.

“Stab them!!!”

His opponents hollered in return, holding out their spears and charging towards Wendigo.

Wendigo’s arms spread out like wings, and he swung his ice sword towards his enemies.

The simple leather armor could not withstand Wendigo’s immense strength. The enemies’ bodies spewed innards as they fell helplessly to the ground.

But, not all were swooped away by the sword.

“Even so, they say humans are smarter than monsters.”

“Die!!!”

Was he truly a warrior after all?

Some of them dodged the sword and came closer, swinging their weapons. Even the death of their comrades did not shake them, perhaps because they had lost their fear.

But their movements didn’t last long. The cold contained in Wendigo’s icy sword swept over them like a backlash, freezing their bodies.

Despite losing their fear, they were still living beings.

As the cold began to penetrate their bones, they died without being able to scream their last.

The enemies continued to charge fearlessly, despite their companion’s pitiful deaths… but Wendigo’s fierce sword strike allowed not a single blow.

Wendigo struck at his enemies’ necks and taunted them.

“You damn parasites. I don’t know what you are, but it’s all in vain. Bury yourselves deep in the ground as you deserve to be, and never come out to be spared.”

“Ugh! Go, go kill that abyss servants! I will embody my master’s wrath!”

Indeed, he was a command entity. When he realized that he couldn’t handle Wendigo with just his warriors, he changed his target.

As the warrior carrying the longsword yelled, the other warriors lowered their stance and threw themselves towards Wendigo’s back.

Running while vomiting blood certainly tired their bodies more than just running. Thanks to that, they managed to distance themselves quickly, but…

“Effort is in vain.”

Unless the Wendigo was a fool, there was no reason to leave them alone. He transformed an ice sword into a spear and hurled it towards the warriors standing at the forefront.

The spear, thrown like lightning, penetrated its target in a heartbeat and stuck straight up in the ground.

A parasite warrior, wielding a greatsword, laughed mockingly. What value could a single spear bring to battle?

“hehehehe, what use is it to kill just one…”

“Such a chatterbox.”

Tired of hearing the greatsword-wielding parasite drone on and on, he performed magic using the spear as a medium, and a strange event occurred. Frozen from the spear as the center, roots sprouted from the ground, charging at the enemies like a pack of enraged wolves.

The enemy’s feet got paralyzed and their ankles were caught in roots. Geron, taking advantage of the situation, spurred his fellow warriors.

“Wendigo is helping us. Cut their throats!”

A clash erupts between tens of Geron-led warriors and the parasite-enslaved warriors. Unsurprisingly, the tide of the battle turned in favor of Wendigo’s warriors.

Watching these unfold, the greatsword-wielding parasite twisted his face in rage.

“This… This bastard!!!”

“Surely a parasite like you wouldn’t dare talk about honor? For one who is ashamed enough of his own body to lust after others’… Surely you wouldn’t be so disgraceful.”

Wendigo didn’t say anything more. The taunt had been enough.

The parasite with the greatsword compressed his legs like springs and approached Wendigo at a speed beyond human capability.

The parasite’s greatsword swung at Wendigo’s throat. Wendigo, with icy calm, moved his ice sword to parry the attack.

Shocked at the surprisingly strong blow, Wendigo admired the parasite’s power.

“You have quite the power.”

“Jus…tice! I’ll fight you until your strength is drained!”

“I guess that’s possible. But I have no hobby of playing with parasites.”

Just as the greatsword-wielding parasite thought it was a taunt and was about to curse, a chill crept into his sword.

The sword’s blade began to crack, frost reaching towards the parasite’s hand.

The parasite’s eyes filled with horror. Realizing the sword was about to shatter, the parasite hurriedly retracted his sword.

“Too late.”

The sword broke with a clear sound, flinging frost-covered shards in all directions.

Wendigo managed to deflect the shards. However, the parasite with the greatsword was unsuccessful. Shards, flying like arrows, burrowed into the parasite’s body.

“Arrghh!”

With a dreadful scream, the creature collapsed. The Wendigo swung its sword, severing its limbs. As it was shattered, the limbs froze instantly, and the creature fell onto the floor. From the severed limbs, corpses of parasites gushed out.

“Poor creature, it’s over for you now.”

“Wa, wait…”

Ignoring its words, the Wendigo struck with its sword. After all, it was a tale told by parasites.

But… the Wendigo halted its sword. With a repulsive crackling sound, something was climbing up the throat of the parasite.

As the parasite’s mouth opened wide, a massive parasite revealed itself, its mouth dripping with blood.

[Damned spirit. I propose a deal …]

“What deal would I have with a parasite? Stop talking nonsense and die.”

[Wait. I’m not some lowly creature you imagine. Our mother… ]

Ignoring the parasite’s blabber, the Wendigo struck its sword down again. This time, the sword did not stop.

The Wendigo’s sword cleaved the mega-parasite, and it drew its last breath with a scream full of resentment.