I Became a Wendigo in a Fantasy World

37 – 37th Episode

Sensing the coldness from behind, Oneton quickly moved his body.

“Kyaaa!!!”

“Tsk. Missed.”

Wendygo clicked his tongue. The spear he threw, with the intention of killing Oneton in one blow, only left a wound on his side instead of his waist.

Nevertheless, Oneton twisted his body, indicating that he wasn’t completely unaffected by the attack.

“How much power does this crazy spirit use!?”

Even though a battle between spirits usually meant killing the enemy with one efficient strike, this was excessive. The chilling cold that only seeped through the wound was consuming the spirit’s body!

Oneton gave up resisting the cold and tore off the wound with his nails.

Shaaak!

“I misjudged you, you bastard!”

As Wendygo’s spear flew towards him again, Oneton barely managed to rip off the frozen wound and launched his body away.

Due to his focus on avoiding the spear, he received some wounds from the warriors’ attacks, but he didn’t care. Compared to Wendygo’s assault, these wounds were insignificant.

Jaken glared hatefully at the retreating Oneton.

“I should have caught that bastard!”

The guy must… hold a grudge. It’s strange that there’s none when I think about his behavior.

Wendigo, who landed by Jakken’s side after driving the ground, roughly understood the situation from Jakken’s gaze.

Everyone becomes honest when facing a life-or-death situation.

If the chief is lost and a fog of war has descended, it’s not strange for warriors to rush at the spirits.

“… But why aren’t they rushing at me?”

Wendigo scanned the warriors. Most of them were filled with fear and awe, and very few were burning with resentment.

It wouldn’t be strange for them to be filled with anger towards Wendigo, who massacred their comrades.

“Will they rush at me too?”

“……”

Jakken barely held back a sob at Wendigo’s question.

Jakken calmly adjusted his posture. Facing Wendigo… he kneeled and shouted.

“Forest spirit! We foolishly failed to recognize your greatness and were deceived by that vile man. If you give us the chance to atone for our sins, we will dedicate our lives to redeeming our wrongs!”

“… What is this nonsense?”

Wendigo asked Jakken in disbelief. Oneton, too bewildered, glared at Jakken.

But Jakken’s words were sincere in their own way. In his mind, this was the only way to survive in the forest.

It was truly hard to understand, but at least in Jakken’s judgment, Wendigo was a rather benevolent spirit.

It spared his life, and above all, wasn’t it fighting to protect the forest people?

So… perhaps, if he sought forgiveness and paid the price, Wendigo might spare him.

Oneton, understanding the situation, let out a scornful laugh.

“What a foolish man. Did you throw the warriors into death with such a stupid belief? Is there such a spirit in the world…”

“So that’s how it is. It must have been a difficult gamble to make, considering the lives of the warriors were at stake. I will forgive your audacity on behalf of the warriors.”

“!!?!?”

Oneton was astonished when Wendygo’s hypocritical and foolish words came out of her mouth, which were hard to swallow.

Where in the world would you find a spirit willing to accept such foolish behavior?

It was clear that there was some trickery involved.

“However, there is a condition for accepting your apology.”

“Of course, there had to be some trickery…”

“I hope you don’t hold a grudge for the fight that started when your chief attacked the forest people. If you hadn’t come in the first place, there wouldn’t have been so much bloodshed in this forest.”

“…Are you saying I lost to such a scoundrel?”

If Jacen and the warriors were moved by Wendygo’s mercy, Oneton felt unjust for the first time in his life. He couldn’t believe that he had lost to such a scoundrel.

If it were him, he would have taken advantage of this opportunity to take everything, even their souls!

“No, wait. If I ask for forgiveness, maybe this scoundrel will let me go.”

Oneton barely held onto his sanity and decided to take advantage of Wendygo’s madness.

If he endured a brief humiliation, revenge would be possible at any time. For now, he had to bow his head, even if it was humiliating…

At that moment, a sharp sound of a spear accompanied by Oneton’s head being targeted and flew towards him. Oneton screamed as he cast a spell and barely managed to block the spear with a giant claw.

“Why do you forgive those useless beings but treat me with hostility?! It would be more beneficial for you to forgive someone useful like me!”

“You’re talking nonsense. Why would I forgive someone who betrays me without a second thought? Shut up and prepare to become the forest’s waste.”

“……”

Oneton couldn’t refute Wendygo’s argument and glared at her. It was clear that Wendygo’s words had a mysterious power that made the opponent angry.

Otherwise, his anger wouldn’t have boiled up to this extent!

When Oneton fled into the forest, Wendy followed and disappeared into the woods, chasing after him.

As the fog gradually cleared, the warriors let out a sigh of relief. At least they had avoided a bloody death.

But now… what should they do?

“Jaken, can we just leave the forest like this?”

“Since there were no instructions, it’s risky to move and risk getting into trouble. Let’s think a little more… huh?”

Jaken was taken aback when someone appeared beyond the fog. It was a beautiful woman who seemed out of place amidst the blood and corpses.

With her white hair and red eyes, she had an otherworldly appearance that couldn’t be denied.

Skadi approached with a gentle smile. Following her, the warriors wearing bone helmets revealed themselves.

Jaken and the warriors reflexively raised their weapons. They had been forgiven by Wendy, but the fact that they were dealing with spirits made them uneasy.

“It’s not like I forgave my subordinates, right?”

“The helmets are giving me chills. Are they imitating the appearance of spirits?”

While the warriors were on guard, Skadi stepped forward and reached out her hand to Jaken.

Jaken, in a bewildered expression, unknowingly took her hand.

“You’ve been through a lot because of the chief possessed by a demon.”

“Pardon?”

Jaken didn’t understand the situation and asked, but Skadi didn’t pay attention. In fact, it was easier to dig into a person’s heart in a state like this.

As she spoke, the warriors focused on her words as if they were possessed.

Oneton became a cruel and cunning demon.

Lectar dreamed of immortality and became a heartless betrayer to the demons.

The warriors became victims who trusted and followed such a chief. In fact, it wasn’t entirely wrong.

One-ton was indeed a brutal and cunning fellow, and Lektardo was undoubtedly a schemer.

If we were to nitpick, the warriors were more like bystanders than victims, but they hadn’t thought that far.

“Wendigo-nim was always saddened when facing the warriors. Whenever she wished for you to leave, she conjured up mist…”

“Well… we didn’t know any of that and fell for the chief’s deceit!”

“No wonder, unlike the previous chief, he had a bad relationship with spirits. They were both trying to use each other, it seems.”

Skadi was excellent at revealing this truth.

The warriors gradually became absorbed in her story.

* * *

Having fled for quite a while, Oneton pondered. There was no way to escape from Wendigo like this.

He had ventured too deep to escape easily.

At least he had to tie Wendigo’s feet to have a chance of fleeing.

“I don’t ask for much. Just enough to inflict injuries that make it difficult for him to move!”

Oneton turned around and rushed towards Wendigo, who was chasing from behind, maintaining the momentum he had when running.

Although he naturally enjoyed deceit and trickery, Oneton was not a violent spirit who feared combat.

As Wendigo, chasing silently, swung the ice sword, Oneton didn’t dodge but intercepted.

Bang!

“Regret challenging me!”

As Wendigo’s arm wavered, Oneton drew out mystic energy, creating a doppelganger. It was different from the shoddy one he made before to escape.

This doppelganger contained powerful magic, created not just to escape but to kill the opponent and remain unidentifiable.

Oneton’s doppelganger instantly targeted Wendigo from behind. Its claws, gleaming darkly, slashed across Wendigo’s back.

He didn’t scream, but Onethon was certain that Wendigo had been injured. He heard the sound of tearing.

“Where did that arrogant attitude go? Open your mouth and babble like earlier!”

Wendigo, adjusting his posture, once again swung his ice sword and charged at Onethon. With the noticeably slower speed, Onethon felt a sense of anticipation.

Perhaps he could not only tie up Wendigo’s feet, but also bring him down.

As the clone rushed forward once again, Wendigo turned his back to Onethon and stabbed his sword towards the clone. The clone tried to dodge, but Wendigo had the upper hand.

Wendigo’s hand fiercely grabbed the clone’s neck and stabbed the sword into it.

The cold air that burst out from the ice sword froze the clone. Onethon licked his lips and climbed onto Wendigo’s back.

“Even if you’re a spirit, you won’t be able to move if your throat is torn out!”

Onethon’s head swelled, and his large fangs aimed for Wendigo’s neck. Wendigo desperately tried to block his fangs with the ice sword, but…

Crack!

The ice sword couldn’t withstand the fangs and broke. The fangs dug into Wendigo’s neck.

Onethon silently rejoiced.

“I was deceived by that lunatic’s trick!”

Onethon thought that the fear he had felt was a delusion caused by Wendigo’s actions.

After all, that guy who wasted his magic like that couldn’t possibly have any power!

Wendigo also relaxed because he had always been facing opponents who had been deceived by his madness.

“It’s indeed difficult to control clones. Their movements are so sluggish.”

“!?”

Upon hearing Wendigo’s voice from behind, Onethon panicked and threw his body. But it was too late.

Spears flying from the forest pierced Onethon’s body. The ice spears filled with intense cold made his body heavy, and the root spears quickly grew and bound Onethon.

Oneton was in agony, but he couldn’t understand the situation. What on earth was the Wendigo he was dealing with?

“What… What kind of sorcery did you use to stay alive?”

“I only used the sorcery you showed me. This sorcery suits my nature quite well.”

The Wendigo revealed itself in the forest and snapped its fingers. Then, another Wendigo appeared from the woods.

At the ridiculous sight, Oneton froze.

“No way… No way it’s a doppelganger? That’s impossible. It’s too mystical to be a doppelganger!”

Oneton forced his restrained body to move and stared at the Wendigo he had been confronting, only to be petrified.

It was no longer the Wendigo. There was a wooden doll resembling the Wendigo, writhing with its head torn off.

Realizing that he had been facing a wooden doll made to resemble the Wendigo, Oneton screamed and inflated his body.

Was it because of embarrassment that he lost his reason?

Oneton scraped away the mystery he had cherished so dearly. The wolf, surrounded by black fur, stared at the Wendigo with eyes full of venom.

“Do you think I’ll just stand here and take it like this?”

“I won’t just let you take it. But it doesn’t bother me much.”

Thunk!

Freed from his restraints, Oneton lunged at the Wendigo, swinging his claws to bite off its head.

However, Oneton’s rebellion was his last. Spears flying from the forest pierced through his arms and chest.

“Kraaah!!!”

“It’s harder to control a doppelganger than you’d think.”

Only then did Oneton realize who had thrown the spears. Doppelgangers in the shape of the Wendigo, emerging from the darkness of the forest, were hobbling towards him.

At first, there was one doppelganger, then two, and in the end, there were six.

Upon seeing the six mysterious avatars, Onethon sighed.

“What a lunatic bastard…”

“It’s quite embarrassing to receive praise from the master as a disciple.”

Onethon felt a strong desire to shed blood. Having lived for quite a long time, Onethon could be certain of one thing.

The craziest spirit in the world was right in front of him!

As the mystery dispersed and the call of nature echoed, Onethon glared at Wendygo with contempt.

“I… I will never forget you. I will definitely come back and destroy everything you’ve achieved… Ugh!!!”

“Alright. I understand that you want revenge.”

As Onethon cursed, roots sprouted from the ground, blocking his mouth. Onethon tried to vent his anger, but something seemed off.

Could it be that Wendygo’s avatars were holding him tightly?

“…!!!”

“I was disappointed that I couldn’t eat the parasite I caught last time, but I’m glad I can eat you.”

As Wendygo’s nails dug into Onethon’s chest, he writhed in an indescribable terror.

He couldn’t understand it himself, but instinctively, he realized that his existence was in danger of disappearing.

As a spirit who knew nothing of death, that fear was more horrifying than that of a human.

If he could speak, he would have begged to be spared even as a slave, but Onethon’s mouth was firmly blocked by the tree roots.

Wendygo calmly tore out Onethon’s core.

As his core was lost, Onethon’s body quickly decayed and crumbled, but his heart continued to twitch and move.

“Eating the heart… It’s a bit distasteful.”

Recalling the previous experience, Wendygo created a prison of ice and roots around him.

When recalling the absorption of that wild boar fellow’s essence, there was a possibility that something might happen during this adaptation process, just like it did when absorbing the origin of the wolf guy… quite savage. Honestly, there wasn’t much that could be expected.

Thinking about the wild boar guy was never a pleasant sight.

The wendigo, wearing a necklace made of roots, tightened it around himself, directing his clones to guard the prison. Finally, he signaled through Skadi’s ice necklace. She should be able to assess the situation and handle it on her own.

Having completed all preparations, the wendigo opened his mouth wide and swallowed his heart.

The moment he endured the dreadful squelching sound and swallowed his heart.

The wendigo’s consciousness disappeared into the darkness.