The Nature of Possession

388 – EP.14 The Sword of the North-1

***

The frozen ground of the battlefield was solid. She was a single tree, rooted in the ground and swinging her greatsword.

The rough, toothless greatsword roared as it tore through the winter air.

With a clear, cracking sound, the shattered sword’s scream flew into the sky. Torn to pieces, it turned away from its original form and flew away.

She took a deep breath, resonating with the greatsword, and let it out through her mouth. Several of the approaching goblins paused.

The torso of the swaying twigs blocked her path. The only emotion she felt was discomfort.

To get closer to her retreating prey, she raised the greatsword she had been swinging down on.

The huge weapon, lightly stuck in the ground, oozed wet dirt like drool.

He doesn’t say things like, ‘Get out of the way.’ or ‘Open the way.’ A true warrior must speak with power.

That’s the culture of the tribe.

Leaning on the greatsword, he swung it sideways, his tightly braided black hair sticking to his cheek.

As if cutting well-cooked meat, the body of the squirrel was gently split. The split upper and lower body fell to the frozen ground.

Another rascal lunged at her with his sword drawn. His body was thrown to the side, probably because he thought his balance had been lost.

It was a textbook attack. And she found the behavior laughable.

The North, the wilds, the snowy fields, the fighting was different from the textbooks.

Her left hand, which had placed the sword down, grabbed the hand of her opponent who was holding the sword, and she bent the other hand so that the tip of the weapon was pointed at his stomach.

She could see him muttering with a puzzled look on his face, but it didn’t matter to her. She just continued to forcefully dig into his stomach.

His blood-red entrails spilled out onto the snowy field. His death would become food for the earth.

As the bodies of the thorns collapsed, the hidden path was revealed again.

‘Prey!’

Her eyes gleamed like a beast’s.

The attack from earlier must have worked, as there was a large diagonal wound carved into it. Red blood gushed out from between the roughly gaping wounds.

My heart ached. It was truly heartbreaking to see the thing I treasured most in the world marred by a black mark.

However, even at the moment of going into battle, I never thought that I would be able to catch my prey without getting hurt.

She picked up the abandoned sword again and ran towards her prey.

If you can reach out and grab the collar of your prey that has lost its will to fight, and turn back, this battle is over.

This hunt would be the most glorious of her life. Her arms, adorned with leather straps, reached out to her prey’s neck.

A blue tattoo sparkled from his wrist to his elbow.

The tattoo of the hunt. The glorious mark of a tribal child’s successful hunt on his own strength, showing off his presence even in urgent moments.

***

The man opened his eyes to the noise bothering his ears, saw a hand in front of him, and reflexively swung his arm.

The arm he was swinging was holding something that looked like a sword. The weapon, which was ambiguous as to whether it was a sword, with only the handle and the bottom of the blade remaining, scattered the last of its remaining energy.

The hand that was flying towards my face as if trying to squeeze it stopped because of the weapon I was holding.

As if reading the trajectory of the sword, the hand quickly widened the distance, eventually minimizing the damage by allowing a slight slip.

Blood flowed out through the shallow cut lines. It was nothing compared to the blood that stained the man’s chest red.

“The bleeding has stopped.”

It wasn’t something she said after seeing the blood flowing down her hand. Her eyes were turned to the man’s chest.

Through the gaps in the tattered armor, the man’s bare chest was revealed.

Blue eyes, black hair, blue tattoos on his face and body, clothes that look like animal skin, and a greatsword in his hand.

A savage and a warrior. He seemed to have his feet on the ground between the two.

She raised her greatsword again, and brought it down upon his head.

The pressure created by the heavy greatsword sounded his alarm.

He threw down the weapon he was holding. It was a quick and clever decision.

He rolled forward with his feet, his weapon flying away.

The first thing that arrived was the thrown object. It landed on her shoulder.

The woman didn’t even scream as the blade dug into her body. She just swung down her greatsword.

The next person to arrive was a man. He hit the handle with his palm.

The sword embedded in the woman’s shoulder dug deeper, as if striking a nail with a hammer.

He had to throw himself sideways without even being able to confirm the success of his attack.

Because before he knew it, the great sword had swept through the area where he was.

He rolled on the hard frozen ground. As he stood up, the woman pulled the sword from her shoulder and threw it toward the ground.

“Something has changed. Weren’t we moving according to the manual?”

To the woman’s question, the man remained silent.

Blood, sweat, and heat began to melt the permafrost. The frozen moisture in the ground turned the soil into mud.

The man and woman felt their bodies sink a little.

“Are you saying you’ve been hiding your skills this whole time? Whatever it is… it’s fun.”

Yes, the more difficult the hunting, the more enjoyable it is.

“Do your best, Duke!”

The warrior woman drew her greatsword and stamped her foot. Mud was splashed, but soon the greatsword came right up to the man’s nose.

‘What are you going to do without a weapon!’

Every time the prey made this attack, the sword would swerve out of its orbit.

But now that his beloved disease was gone, he wouldn’t be able to attack with the near-magical skill he used to have.

Her heart pounded. Her body tingled at the sight of another side of her prey.

Come on, entertain me more!

That way, when I hunt you, my happiness will deepen!

As the greatsword reached his face, the man moved.

He turned to the side, his shoulders tense as he extended his legs.

Huh, I heard the sound of someone taking a short, deep breath.

And still. A sharp pain I had never felt in my life began to spread through my abdomen.

“Whoa!”

She flew backwards with a single scream.

They rolled and rolled in the mud. The glorious sight painted with the blood of the enemy was covered in mud.

She raised her head, gnashing her teeth.

The sight of the prey seen from a low vantage point was definitely different from before.

The prey withdrew its outstretched fist and spoke briefly.

“Yeomryun-gong, one fist.”