Chapter 41: Hotse's Tale (3) - The 999 Scratches
Kutrin poured every ounce of her strength into escaping the strait. It took half a day for her body to recover enough that she could walk.
"Damn it all!"
She vomited blood from her mouth but kept running. The path that had four travelers on the way in, she now ran alone. She didn't bother wiping the red tears welling up in her eyes. As long as the tears flowed, she didn't even need to blink.
By the time Kutrin arrived at the elf forest, she stood frozen, at a complete loss for words. The forest had turned into hell itself.
The grumpy old elders, the always-energetic kids—everyone was dead, dead, dead! Nothing lived. Old and young alike, all corpses.
The beautiful wooden structures were all engulfed in flames. This tragedy dwarfed even the massacre of the Ku clan ten years ago.
"No... this can't be..."
Kutrin murmured in a daze. Kubelin had become a complete monster. Thinking of her now brought not even a shred of affection. She was insane. A monster maddened by blood.
Blood oozed from her tightly gripped kukri handle. Kutrin held her breath and crossed the mountain of corpses and swamp of blood.
Squelch! Squelch! Squelch!
The moist, soft moss still let out a beautiful sylophone sound with every step. The only difference was that what seeped out cold wasn't clear dew, but bright red blood.
Huff! Huff! Her red breath spread into the air. The deeper she went, the thicker the stench of blood and burning grew.
"...!"
Kutrin halted. The forest where she'd played as a child. The place carpeted in soft moss. There stood Kubelin.
Her body was covered in wounds. Arrows, burns, frostbite scars, sword cuts—every inch marked. Yet Kubelin stood calmly despite it all.
Around her lay the corpses of several elf warriors, necks and waists severed. The forest was already reduced to ashes from the fierce battle. Blazing flames consumed everything under the sky.
Surrounding Kubelin were thirty warriors of the 'Ki' clan. And at their forefront stood Kutrin's adoptive father, Kirtan, the unified leader of the seven tribes.
"...Your reign of evil ends here."
Kirtan spoke to Kubelin in a low voice. His gaze was ice-cold. Not a flicker of fear before the legendary monster, the Bloody Elf.
Kutrin cautiously circled behind a tree. In her hand was the bow and arrows left by Kaili.
Glancing down at Kaili's bow, a twitch ran across her eye.
"...!"
A single yellow wildflower was nocked in the bow. The image of Kaili shyly smiling as she handed over the flower flashed in her mind, and Kutrin bit her lip hard.
Come to think of it, yellow wildflowers were her sister's favorite.
Creak...
As she nocked the arrow, the yellow petals pointed far toward Kubelin.
Then.
Kubelin's mouth, which had seemed forever sealed, opened.
"...Why did you do it?"
Short words. But a trembling voice. Seeing Kubelin's agitation for the first time, Kutrin instinctively lowered her arrow a fraction.
"What are you talking about?"
Kirtan frowned and asked.
Kubelin spoke again.
"Ten years ago. Why did you lie to me?"
"..."
Kirtan fell silent for a moment. The Ki clan warriors exchanged confused glances, not understanding.
Kubelin continued.
"Ten years ago, you lied to me. You said the 'Ku' clan was going to sell the other six tribes to the giants."
"..."
"So I slaughtered my entire clan."
Kutrin, hidden behind the tree, widened her eyes until they nearly tore. What was this?
Kubelin went on.
"To find the giant tribe that supposedly traded with our clan ten years ago, I killed countless giants."
"..."
"And from the last giant I slew, I heard it. Ten years ago, they tried to trade with us Ku clan, but our chieftain Ku Yak firmly refused."
"..."
"What was your intent in showing me the site where they met and twisting their conversation?"
Kirtan wiped his mouth with his hand at Kubelin's words.
"You believe the giants? They're vile creatures."
"At least the one I fought wasn't that type. More trustworthy than you, even."
Kirtan fell silent again.
"..."
Soon, he began recounting the old tale.
"It's true to some extent that the Ku clan was plotting rebellion. There were such elements among them. But Chieftain Ku Yak stopped it well. That's also true."
"..."
"The territorial dispute with the giants was escalating. We needed a great warrior to drive them off. We had to pin our hopes on the Bloody Elf legend."
"..."
"But we couldn't let another tribe create a Bloody Elf. They lacked the numbers, and above all, they were pure folk with no rebellion plans."
"...So you exiled the suspicious Ku clan?"
"Yes."
"To check the Ku clan, equal in numbers to your Ki clan."
"I won't deny it."
"You planned to use me to wipe out the Ku clan and the giants?"
"Spot on, one after another. You're sharp."
Kirtan grinned.
After a silence, Kubelin asked again.
"Why did you send my sister as an assassin?"
Kirtan's eyes flashed.
"You don't know?"
"..."
"One's missing, isn't it?"
At Kirtan's beaming words, a chill ran down Kutrin's spine behind the tree. Ten years ago, her sister's words replayed slowly in her mind.
'You know? Excluding you and me, the Ku clan numbers exactly 99.'
Kirtan pinched his brow irritably.
"Ten years ago, didn't you kill 99 of your kin? Because that tenacious brat Kutrin survived."
"..."
"You knew, right? That her heart was on the right side. No way his own sister didn't know."
"..."
"You're not a complete Bloody Elf. I wanted to make you the finished product. Just like this!"
Suddenly, crimson aura began seeping around Kirtan's body.
"Gasp!?"
One Ki elf swallowed hard.
Crunch!
Kirtan grabbed a clansman's head and crushed it barehanded.
"Argh!"
"The Lord's gone mad!"
The elves scattered from Kirtan. But his sword moved like a beast starved for millennia, mercilessly tearing into the fleeing elves.
"Hmm... Getting drunk on blood is the only flaw in this body."
Kirtan licked the blood dripping down his sword flat. His eyes and hair had turned bright red.
Bloody Elf.
He smirked at the expressionless Kubelin.
"Over the past ten years, I tormented your sister half to death!"
"..."
"With such vicious loneliness and vengeance she couldn't even sleep! Daily hellish training! All to make her come find you and die by your hand!"
"..."
"But even that failed, huh. Worthless trash."
"..."
"I'm done with you now. If you're not complete, you're no different from the rest. Just trash. No reason to let you live."
At that moment, Kirtan's body elongated sharply.
Clang!
Kubelin's sword clashed with Kirtan's.
Groan...
Kubelin's bastard sword was already in two pieces. She barely blocked Kirtan's blade with it.
"Oho! Such power even without becoming a full Bloody Elf! Pure training and asceticism brought you this far!? What talent! Truly the incarnation of 'Ku'! Such a pity! What a waste!"
"..."
Kirtan relentlessly pressed Kubelin. The forest flames roared fiercer. Kubelin could only retreat helplessly.
Thud!
Kirtan's sword pierced Kubelin's thigh. As she staggered, his aura fell like a guillotine.
Clang!
Kubelin's body bent sharply.
"..."
But she prepared for the next strike without giving up. Likely her final one.
"Hahaha! Impressive! Had you become complete, I'd have taken you as my mate to propagate the species! Such a shame, such a shame!"
Kirtan readied his final blow. Kubelin did the same.
Then, the unexpected happened.
As Kubelin swung her sword, someone blocked her path.
Stab!
The nearly shattered bastard sword pierced something.
In that instant, Kubelin's blank expression cracked. She stared ahead with wide, disbelieving eyes.
Her sister. The one she'd killed everyone else for, but couldn't touch.
Kutrin stood before her now.
"S... Sis..."
"Kutrin!"
Kubelin hurriedly cupped Kutrin's face with her hands. Warmth was draining rapidly.
"N... Now it's a hundred..."
"Kutrin! Don't talk! I'll pull out the sword now!"
"Even you, Sis... live in a happy world..."
Those were her last words. Kutrin's head drooped.
"You! You! You!?"
Kubelin could only shake Kutrin's shoulders, speechless.
Kirtan watched the scene blankly.
"O... Oh! Incredible!"
He cheered at Kubelin repeatedly.
Her golden hair was gradually turning red.
"Now you're proper at last!"
"..."
"You and I have transcended elves! We're super elves! The only two of a new species in this world!"
"..."
"With eyes opened to a new realm, don't you see? How worthless and empty the obsessions we've clung to!"
"..."
"Come with me! As my mate, you have the duty to propagate the Bloody Elf spe—!?"
Kirtan's words cut off.
The tip of the kukri Kubelin had picked up pierced his heart precisely.
"Guh!"
Kirtan staggered back, spewing blood. Kubelin stepped forward.
Her body in tatters.
"Die."
Whoosh— Kutrin's kukri swung.
"Urgh! You bitch! I babied you as my future mate!"
Despite the blood fountain from his heart, Kirtan swung his sword. The Bloody Elf's vitality was monstrous.
Boom!
Kubelin flew back, still gripping the kukri, landing where her sister's body lay.
"Kuh... Killing you... would be a waste... but no choice."
Seeing the vengeance in Kubelin's eyes, Kirtan felt chills. He decided she had to die.
Kirtan advanced slowly, sword raised.
Then.
He sensed the air around him shift oddly.
"What?"
Looking around, something was wrong. The trees were all dying. No—the entire forest was dying.
Frost-covered grass yellowed and withered, slumping like it had been tossed into a midwinter plain.
Simultaneously, the sky darkened, and everything turned white. Freezing over.
"Wha—?"
Kirtan gasped at the frost encasing his body. He couldn't guess the circle of magic. The tribe's strongest mage was 8th circle, but even his ice magic wasn't this potent.
"Kutrin..."
Kubelin stroked her dead sister's face. Frost began forming around them too.
But the frost on Kubelin felt different. Like it was protecting her.
"Eeeek!"
Kirtan's gaze locked on one spot as he thrashed.
A distant cliff. A massive carved face statue there emitted blue light from its eyes.
The Ku clan's origin, the noblest mage in all elf history: 'Ku'. Was his legendary 10th-circle ice magic manifesting now? Why?
Kubelin turned her gaze.
Kutrin had left the world without closing her eyes. Her final glance wasn't at her sister's face.
It was a small rock. Unbroken amid the carnage.
Its surface bore 999 scratches.
"Gaaaaah!"
Kirtan screamed in the brutal cold. Even a Bloody Elf's body couldn't withstand it!
His form shattered into countless ice shards, swept away by the frost storm without a trace.
"..."
Kubelin, holding Kutrin. She gently closed her sister's eyes.
With eyes shut, the sisters remained—the only two in this frozen world.
Time passed.
A very long time.
Kubelin was still in the ice. Clutching her sister's yet-warm body, enduring, enduring.
In the bone-chilling cold, the Bloody Elf held on, hugging her sister. Chewing over the agony and frost again and again.
Then.
Beyond the ice that had frozen all, a strange breeze blew.
"...?"
Kubelin forced open her heavy eyes. Intense light poured in. The ice was melting.
And a hand reached toward her.
Not too hot like red fire. Not too cold like white ice.
The perfect warmth, neither hot nor cold.
A pink palm.
"I... I'm... drunk... hic..."
Hotse staggered over, thoroughly smashed on makgeolli, and plopped down. At the farthest edge of the palace, behind the Pink Dragon Knights' barracks. A small mound without even a tombstone.
Hotse stabbed the kukri into the dirt before it and flopped onto her back.
"Ma! Sis is... doin' fine... hic."
"Today... rode... that shaky... train~... but a crow-like... fella showed up... an' Sis... struggled a bi~t..."
"Better fighter... than me? Nah~... course no~ot."
Finishing, Hotse tilted the bottle to her mouth and shook it dry. A few pathetic drops fell.
"Damn~ Bloody... Elf... body so... damn... tough... even after... a billion years... won't... stay down..."
"..."
"Th' booze... fadin'... feelin' it... creepin' back."
Hotse pressed her forehead. As the alcohol wore off, her head cleared.
Tsss...
The tips of her golden hair began turning red.
If she sobered up fully, big trouble.
"Gotta go! Outta booze!"
Hotse shot up.
"Silly girl. Won't even catch ya."
She smirked at the mound.
Without looking back, she added,
"Anyway... y'know... got some fun, if dim-witted pals now. Livin' good. Just like ya wanted... a peaceful world."
Hotse rubbed under her nose with a finger.
Then yanked the kukri and strode off.
....
A light breeze tickled the gravesite.
Hotse didn't see it.
Behind the mound, down the gentle slope. Yellow wildflowers had bloomed across it.