Duel with Freyr (2)
Freyr groaned weakly, his gaze unfocused as he searched for me, unaware of how close I had drawn. I stared down at his face with a blank expression. Blood pooled beneath his shattered skull, spreading across the ground. “Freyr. I hoped you wouldn’t come here. But since you did, it means you’ve thrown away whatever bond we had. You’re nothing but trash. We were never friends to begin with. Even though I didn’t like you when we first met, you were the only person my age I’d met in this world, so I tried to trust you. And look where that got me.”
“I-I never… betrayed… anyone…!”
I didn’t want to hear it. I furrowed my brow and pulled the trigger without hesitation. Thwip! Thwip! Thwip! Three arrows flew in rapid succession, piercing his throat, philtrum, and forehead. “Ghk!” With a final, agonized cry, Freyr’s life ended. I looked down at his wide-eyed corpse for a moment before crouching to pull the arrows free one by one. It felt cruel, extracting arrows from a dead man’s face, but I couldn’t afford to waste them. Marcus had used nearly all our arrows during the chase from the refugee camp, and we had precious few left.
Once the arrows were recovered, I stood. Before leaving, I offered Freyr a parting word. “Your squadmates will be joining you soon. I’ll make sure of it.”
This mountain was riddled with traps and snares I had set to protect Dana from beasts and monsters. In other words, it was my territory. Even if a hundred men came for me, I had nothing to fear. From the moment I first met Freyr, I had suspected our relationship would end like this. Getting close to him would only bring danger. He was a different breed entirely. I had seen the trouble he would cause and tried to keep my distance for the sake of the future. Yet here we were. If Nancy hadn’t fed me that lie about being sold to some mad alchemist for experiments, my ties with Freyr would have ended long ago. Then again, I couldn’t blame everything on Nancy. The choice had been mine. Maybe thirty percent her fault, seventy percent mine?
I hoisted Dana onto my back once more and muttered to myself as I melted into the darkness. “To think the traps I made to protect someone would end up killing people instead… How ironic.”
“Hyunwoo! You’ll never make it out of here alive! Kekeke!” Kembuk’s voice rang out, accompanied by the sound of rustling foliage drawing nearer. I set Dana down and checked her condition before parting the dense thorn bushes nearby. In the center of the thicket was a pit I had dug earlier for hiding or ambushes—just deep enough for one person to sit in.
“Stay hidden here while I deal with the rest. I’ll come back for you.”
Dana met my eyes with an anxious gaze and gave a faint shake of her head. She didn’t want me to go? What surprised me more was that she was struggling to climb onto my back again despite her exhaustion. What was this? Did she want me to stay, or did she want to come with me? It was the first time I had seen such a clear display of emotion from her, and it felt strangely refreshing. At the same time, it made me happy. If she had grown attached to me the way I had to her, that would explain it. If she didn’t care, she would have remained expressionless as always. The urge to protect her surged even stronger.
“Dana, listen to me.” I held her gaze for a moment before speaking. “If we want to survive, you need to wait here quietly. Bringing you along will only slow us down and put us in more danger.”
My earnest persuasion had no effect. She tried even harder to climb onto my back. Even if she had grown fond of me, this girl was unusually forward today. She had always been detached and indifferent—why the sudden change? It was one thing if her feelings had shifted gradually, but this abrupt flip was disorienting.
“Where are you, Hyunwoo! If you’re nearby, say something! Like this! Coo! Coo! Coo! Coocoocoocoo!” Kembuk’s voice echoed again from nearby. “You cowardly bastard! You’re nothing but a scared little pigeon! Coo! Coo! Coocoocoocoo! Here, I’ve got food for you. Come on! Coo! Coo! Coocoocoocoo!”
A laugh escaped me. He still didn’t know Freyr was dead. If he did, he wouldn’t be mocking me like this. Realizing Kembuk was close, I grew anxious. I looked at Dana seriously. “This isn’t the time to be stubborn. The enemy is nearby.”
I quickly lifted her in a princess carry, bent down, and carefully lowered her into the pit at the center of the thicket. As I turned to leave, she reached for my collar, but I pulled away swiftly. “This is my wish. Please stay here. I promise I’ll come back.”
“D-Don’t go…!”
I froze just as I was about to exit the bushes. It had been so long since I’d heard her voice—clear and beautiful, like the sound of a xylophone. But there was no time to marvel at it. “I’m not abandoning you. I’m leaving so we can both survive. Stop being stubborn and wait.”
Without meeting her eyes, I threw the words over my shoulder and hurried out, rearranging the thorn bushes to look natural again. Once I confirmed no one was around, I set off to hunt Kembuk.
Soon enough— “There you are, you pigeon bastard!”
When I revealed myself, Kembuk grinned. His face looked as battered as Freyr’s. Had they all taken some kind of drug before leaving the mountain stronghold? “Over here! I found him! I, Kembuk, found Hyunwoo!”
While he shouted into the air, I turned and began running as if fleeing. My plan was simple: appear briefly, then lure them straight into the traps and snares. After committing murder once, the second time felt almost effortless. I was even pondering the easiest ways to kill resisting humans. Killing Freyr had erased any lingering guilt about taking a life. Or perhaps I had simply overcome it.
As I fled from Kembuk, I spotted a tree with a red thread tied around it and slowed my pace. After scanning the area and examining the ground, I stopped at a specific spot. “What, already tired? Heh.”
Kembuk caught up quickly, wiping sweat from his brow with the hand holding his sword and smirking. “While running, I realized I could take you down easily. Figured I’d finish you here.”
“What? You’ve got to be kidding me.”
My cold taunt made Kembuk’s eyes flare with rage. “You worthless piece of shit. Do I look like a joke to you? Do you even know that the plunder squad is made up of the best fighters in our bandit group?”
“Don’t know. So how about we settle this right now? One-on-one.”
I replied calmly and drew my dagger, then extended my left hand toward him, beckoning. My boldness seemed to amuse him; he snorted. “Maybe you’ll come to your senses once your limbs are chopped off.”
Pretending to speak casually, Kembuk suddenly lunged forward with his sword raised high. “Die, you son of a bitch!”
Instead of engaging, I immediately stepped back. The moment his foot landed on the ground in front of me, the earth gave way beneath him, and he plummeted into the pit. “Aaaagh!”
A scream echoed, followed by the sickening sound of his body being impaled. Peering into the hole, I saw dozens of sharpened stakes piercing him like a honeycomb. One had gone through the back of his head and emerged from his left eye. “Ghk…!”
He was still alive, groaning faintly as he stared up at me with his remaining eye. What was he thinking? Anger? Resentment? Emptiness? Or perhaps his entire life was flashing before him?
“See? I told you taking you down would be easy.”
I flashed him a grin and spat into his right eye. Just as I was about to walk away, another crisis emerged.
—There he is!
—Found him. That bastard!
Voices suddenly rang out through the golden orb. —What do we do? Should we wait for the squad leader? Or take him down now, just the two of us?
—I’ve got an idea. You go out and draw his attention. I’ll sneak around and stab him from behind.
Listening closely, I recognized the voices of Dovar and Gegangs from the 4th squad. —Nice plan. I thought you were an idiot, but you’ve got brains when it counts.
—Shut up and get moving before he runs off again.
—What if he sees me and bolts?
—Idiot. That’s why you approach him friendly-like. Tell him we’ll spare him, or that we’re on his side, or pretend to drop your weapon and surrender. Just buy as much time as you can.
Unfortunately for them, I had no intention of playing along with their schemes. If anything, they were going to play into mine. I looked around like a meerkat, feigned suspicion, then took off running without warning. My sudden action startled Dovar and Gegangs, their voices rising in panic as they burst from the bushes and gave chase.
“Stop right there!”
“You think you can get away? Stop before we beat you senseless! Stop, you bastard!”
I ran just fast enough for them to keep up. After all, I needed to lead them somewhere specific. They had no idea they were walking straight into a death trap.