Wendigo (2)

Sir Brock, having slain the spider-woman, was so overwhelmed by shock that his legs gave out, leaving him unable to move.

“Are you alright, Sir Brock?”

Zebec stepped in to support him.

“I… I’m sorry. I must look pathetic.”

“The mental toll must be heavy. But we’re not done yet…”

There was still danger.

‘And that danger is going to be your wife.’

Zebec couldn’t bring himself to say that out loud.

Just then, the surrounding sounds vanished. It was as if they had been absorbed, like cotton soaking up water.

Without anyone saying a word, they all instinctively looked up at the sky.

Above the dense fog, a mountain loomed. Rising from the mist-covered ground like a cloud, the mountain was so immense, so majestic, that it hardly seemed real.

And yet…

The mountain was moving.

“That… is the Nether monster?”

Azadine frowned.

The creature was an enormous, fur-covered beast. Cloaked in gray fur, its form was humanoid yet also bear-like, as if it were a grotesque hybrid of the two.

What set it apart was its sheer, awe-inspiring size and an undeniable sense of wrongness radiating from it. Looking at it made every hair on his body stand on end, as though he were gazing at something that should not exist in this world.

At that moment, the monster raised one of its forelimbs—or rather, it intended to. Because of its sheer size, it seemed to be moving in slow motion from their vantage point.

Then, a whirlwind erupted from the ground.

“Damn it! It’s coming!”

Azadine and his group immediately took cover beside a stone wall. But could a man-made structure possibly withstand a strike from such a colossal beast?

As expected, the monster’s enormous forelimb swiped at the ground, tearing through the wall—and directly into Sir Brock, who hadn’t yet managed to escape.

“Hiiik!?”

Sir Brock shuddered in terror… but nothing happened.

Like an illusion or a mirage, the massive beast’s forelimb passed right through him.

—Gwooooooooh!

However, the violent winds that followed sent Sir Brock tumbling across the ground like a tossed pebble. He was hurled through the air and crashed into a discarded wooden beam.

“Guh…!”

“Oh, gods! The Nether monster! It hasn’t fully manifested in our world yet, but it won’t be long now! If it’s already affecting the wind, it’s almost here!”

Scott McGreen, the orc necromancer, clung to a rope tied to his reclaimed wheelchair, shouting in panic.

“That thing… is actually going to materialize? Soon?”

Azadine looked up at the mountain-like beast in horror.

Sir Brock had survived because it had yet to take on a fully physical form. But if a monster that size were to become solid…

Its mere existence would be a catastrophe. A single step—or even a stumble—would be enough to trigger an earthquake.

“We have to kill the sorceress before it fully manifests! If we don’t, everything in this area—including us—is doomed!”

“But the… the sorceress…”

Sir Brock pulled himself to his feet. He had been swept away by the storm, but his full plate armor had absorbed most of the impact, allowing him to stand.

“You’re telling me… to kill my wife?!”

“……”

Everyone fell silent, staring at him in shock.

“If you had managed your household properly, none of this would be happening!”

Brand delivered the blunt truth.

“I know I made mistakes! But this is too much! Why do I have to suffer such a cruel fate for something everyone does?!”

“You’re still just a child, aren’t you? Hm?”

At that moment, a distant howl echoed.

A gust of wind blew, and the massive Nether monster, previously looming over them, began to fade. Its form grew transparent—then vanished entirely.

“It’s gone?”

“It hasn’t disappeared! It still can’t fully manifest in this world. The Light of the Crown is preventing it from crossing over!”

As Scott explained, the spiderwebs around them suddenly began to freeze over.

Dark energy gathered around the bodies of the dead Nagas and were-rats trapped in the webbing. The corpses began to rise.

“Necromancy?!”

“It’s not me.”

As Scott clarified his innocence, the corpses began to mutate.

—Crack… Crrrkk…!

Their skeletal structures shattered and their skin split open. Thick, coarse fur—like that of a Kerim mountain goat—sprouted from their flesh. Horns emerged from their skulls, and their breath exuded an ominous chill.

“So this is what’s been freezing everything solid…”

A new monstrosity had appeared before them—a creature resembling the colossal Nether monster, but on a smaller scale.

“…And that’s what happened.”
Azadine finished explaining the situation to Shati, then drew the sword at his waist to inspect the blade. It was chipped and bent beyond use.

“So that’s why you came here?”

“Yeah. That so-called Bell Tower of Karagala was nothing compared to it. That thing was a moving mountain.”

“The Bell Tower of Karagala is huge, you know?!”

“I’m sure it is. But have you actually seen it with your own eyes? It collapsed when the Naga Empire fell, so no one’s seen it since.”

“Ugh. Still…”

“Now’s not the time for a pissing contest between the Naga Empire’s ruins and that monster. If it fully manifests, it won’t matter whether you’re Yaegas God Tribe or Kurt God Clan—everyone is screwed.”

Azadine flicked the blade with his finger, clicked his tongue, and leaned the sword against the wall. Then, he glanced at the trapdoor entrance Shati had used to come in.

The trapdoor at the top of the stairs was too small for Azadine, Ismail, Mediam, or the Kerim mountain goat they had brought along. Even the knights’ horses couldn’t get inside.

“Sweater, you stand guard here. And… hmm.”

Azadine retrieved weapons from his saddlebag. He hesitated between a gleaming longsword and a decent steel blade before deciding to strap both to his waist.

“Their fur is so thick that normal blades wear down too quickly.”

Then, he pulled out a short spear and handed it to Brand, who had broken his weapon fighting the monsters.

“Thanks.”

“No, I should be the one thanking you. Sir Zebec?”

“I could use a replacement as well.”

Zebec’s steel sword had also dulled. It could be salvaged if sharpened, but there was no time to carefully hone a blade.

“Damn, we’re running out of weapons fast.”

Azadine grumbled as he pulled more weapons from his goat’s saddlebag and distributed them among the group. With the reduced load, the mountain goat happily kicked its hooves.

“I’m hungry. Got anything to eat?”

Even in this situation, Scott was looking for food.

“Well then, shall we head into the underground tunnels? Sir Brock, since you’re the lord here, I’ll leave the guiding to you.”

“I don’t know them well myself. When I inherited the fief from my father, I took a tour of the tunnels once. But back then, all I was told was that an ancient city had sunk beneath the ground, and a new village was built over it. The old city became part of the underground sewer system.”

“So you don’t actually know the paths?”

“There are maps—large bronze plaques placed in each district. If we can transcribe them, we won’t get lost.”

“Hmm. I see. Does your wife know the layout?”

“She probably does.”

“That’s… bad news.”

After finishing their preparations, Azadine’s group retrieved supplies from their horses and goats, then hacked off the arms and heads of the fallen Naga corpses with axes.

“Let’s go!”

“So… what are you people?”
Sir Brock asked, unable to contain his curiosity.

“I’ve been wondering the same thing.”

Guillaumevalt was equally intrigued.

“Haha! We are seekers of chivalry!”

Brand puffed out his chest proudly.

“……”

“Ugh, what a load of crap…”

Shati groaned, running a hand through her hair.

“Well, this one’s a prisoner, and that one’s a convert who chose to become a mercenary rather than a captive.”

“Wait, what?! Why do I get different treatment from that orc?!”

“You ran away. Again.”

“I healed you guys, though!”

“That’s why you’re still alive. Otherwise, I would’ve killed you already.”

“Hah! If you listen carefully, you’ll notice that means you don’t actually want to kill me. Hahh… well, I do tend to enchant humans with my looks.”

“All right, quiet down. If we make noise in the tunnels, we’ll alert the enemy to our approach.”

Azadine started walking silently. As he, Ismail, and Mediam moved, even their footsteps made no sound.

But…

—Clank.

—Clatter.

No matter how hard they tried, the knights in metal armor couldn’t avoid making noise.

The worst offender was Brand. His armor was a crude mix of leather and iron plates, which clattered like junk metal with every step.

“…We’ll just have to abandon stealth.”

Azadine gave up quickly and moved forward.

“Are you sure? It’s really dark.”

“Ah…”

Azadine’s eyesight allowed him to see clearly even in total darkness. But most of the others weren’t so lucky. Even Ismail and Mediam, both from the Aragasa lineage, couldn’t see in pitch-black conditions like he could.

“Here.”

Scott picked up a stone from the ground and muttered an incantation. The stone glowed faintly with magic.

It was a simple colorless light spell, but Scott enchanted multiple stones and handed them out to the group.

The fact that he didn’t seem concerned about mana consumption suggested that a spell like this was trivial for him.

‘Well, he does like to boast about being a genius. Guess he’s not completely talentless.’

Azadine accepted the light stone, held it in his hand, and continued forward.

The underground tunnels should have been damp and reeking of moss and mold due to the seepage from above. But strangely, there was no smell at all.

The air had frozen solid, turning any moisture into ice. The walls, once covered in moss and fungus, had also frozen over, crumbling into brittle shards.

“It’s cold.”

“The chill seems to be settling downward. It’ll be even colder below.”

“The floor is ice.”

Azadine’s group cautiously wrapped themselves tighter in their cloaks as they descended deeper.

Eventually, they arrived at the confluence chamber, where household waste water and underground streams merged.

Sitting there, gripping an axe-spear, was an orc.

Opposite him stood a woman—black-haired, dark-skinned, and possessing a voluptuous figure. A Vthuma woman.

“Lise!”

Sir Brock recognized her immediately and called out.

“You dare call my name, Brock?!”

“I… I was wrong!”

“Do you even understand what you did wrong?!”

“Well, that…”

“Alright, enough. We’ve got bigger problems than your marital dispute. Let’s all take a deep breath and calm down.”

Azadine stepped in before their emotions flared any further.

Meanwhile, Scott McGreen recognized the orc standing opposite Brock’s wife.

“Wait… Walter?!”

“And you’re Scott? Ha! Last time I saw you, you were rolling around in a wheelchair to avoid muscle strain. But now you look ripped.”

“Work’s been busy. What’s going on here?”

“Ask her. But don’t get between us.”

“…Excuse me.”

Scott picked up a stone from the ground and tossed it into the space between the orc and the lady.

—Crackle!

A burst of lightning erupted from thin air, shattering the stone instantly.

If a mere rock had been obliterated like that, one could only imagine what would happen if a person stepped forward.