The Red Wolf’s Funeral

Darsan, who had been turning into a monstrous beast, returned to the form Barkal first encountered, as soon as the ‘tendon’ vanished from his body.

What on earth is going on?

Even before he could ask that question, the ‘Red Wolf’ approached Darsan.

Barkal watched the ‘Red Wolf’s’ actions carefully. Thrag must have revealed himself in this way to explain something.

The wolf pressed his face to Darsan’s neck and began to lick it.

Just as Barkal was about to ask the reason, he noticed that something was deeply embedded in Darsan’s neck.

The tendon moving about even here.

Tendons that could only be seen in the Abyssification dungeon were embedded in Darsan’s neck.

“When did this start…?”

Although the moving tendons usually only stuck to the body, he had never seen them burrow underneath the skin like this.

That meant those tendons had formed quite some time ago.

When he realized that, the wolf looked at Barkal. As Barkal peered into those crimson eyes, a scene flashed through his mind.

The inside of a dungeon.

But this wasn’t the dungeon of Lagmor Mountain. It was an unfamiliar dungeon he’d never seen before.

“Thrag, what is it you wish to show me?”

Even at Barkal’s question, the wolf simply stared at him silently.

The scene in his mind shifted quickly. By the time it seemed to take shape, Darsan appeared in the wolf’s eyes.

Not the Darsan overpowered by the ‘tendon’ now, but his appearance in life.

A massive greatsword held high.

At his feet was a barbarian, seemingly one of his own kinsmen, kneeling and collapsed.

— “You will die and forever remain a barbarian.”

Darsan’s voice rang out, monotone. With that, the greatsword came down, and the kneeling barbarian’s head rolled across the ground.

“Urhan’dal.”

Barkal murmured the name of the decapitated barbarian.

He knew him. He was the one who had taught Barkal how to shoot a bow.

“Is this meant to stir up my thirst for revenge, Thrag?”

The wolf’s gaze remained unchanged, even at his question.

Was it to provoke Barkal’s anger by showing Darsan’s deeds in life? Or was there something else to be said?

Barkal could not tell, but he quietly played along with the wolf’s actions.

Another barbarian appeared next.

“Reendorne.”

If Darsan was a blood brother, reendorne was close enough to be called a sworn brother.

Of course, he was also close with Darsan. In fact, it was thanks to Darsan’s introduction that Barkal had first started speaking with him.

— “The Red Wolf will remember you.”

Reendorne’s head also met Darsan’s blade, and in an instant, it was separated from his body.

Though witnessing such a horrific scene, Barkal did not close his eyes. Instead, as if to return the favor to Darsan, he only tightened his grip on the axe in his hand.

Even in that memory,

it was Darsan who killed the fellow barbarian.

“Is it enough?”

As his fury reached its peak, Barkal’s emotions turned cold instead.

As he asked in a voice that had sunk deep, the vision began to shift again.

The three barbarians who had just been slaughtered by Darsan. They were conversing with Darsan.

— “This dungeon is undergoing Abyssification.

― “If left alone, our tribe could be in danger.

― “What will you do, brother?”

Abyssification?

At the familiar word, Barkal opened his eyes wide.

— “I will kill the dungeon master. I cannot endanger the tribe.”

Darsan answered his fellow barbarians. Only then did the scenes Thrag had shown begin to make sense.

Urhan’dal, the first to die,

had ‘tendons’ clinging to his body.

— “I cannot go any further! Not before becoming an abomination! Let me die as a barbarian!”

Darsan raised his greatsword.

— “You will die and forever remain a barbarian.”

Next was Reendorne, the second to die by Darsan’s hand.

He, too, had tendons stuck to him.

— “This is as far as I go. I only wished someone would recognize that we saved the tribe.”

Darsan lifted his greatsword.

— “The Red Wolf will remember you.”

And then, for the next barbarian,

Darsan offered his farewell, eyes wide, and brought down his sword.

“My brother, Darsan, killed his kinsmen.”

However—

“Was it all for the honor of his kinsmen?”

At Barkal’s question, the wolf nodded. The reason Thrag had blocked him was purely to protect Darsan’s honor.

Realizing this, the wolf began to show another vision.

Darsan clearing the dungeon. After slaying the dungeon master, he closed the dungeon that was undergoing ‘Abyssification’.

His body was covered with ‘Abyssal Tendons.’

— “Thrag, it’s fine if you don’t remember me. Take care of the brothers who died first.”

A scene of Darsan slitting his own throat with the greatsword.

Then, the scattered ‘tendons’ latched onto Darsan’s dead body, reattaching his head.

Darsan did not die by a necromancer’s hand to become an undead.

He did not betray his kin.

Until the end, he acted for the sake of the tribe.

He acted for the honor of his brothers.

— “A wolf leaves its pelt when it dies, and a barbarian leaves his honor.”

The last conversation with Darsan surfaced in Barkal’s mind.

— “If I die and leave behind my skin, I entrust the honor of our family to you.”

Did Darsan sense his own death from the outset?

“Thrag.”

Barkal asked,

“Is it your wish that Darsan died as a barbarian?”

At the question, the wolf closed his eyes. That became his answer.

The god of the Red Wolf Tribe.

Even though Thrag had blocked him this way, the outcome—Darsan’s beheading—would not change.

However, Barkal realized what it was Thrag wished for.

Rather than dying as a ‘traitor,’

Thrag wanted Darsan to be given a ‘barbarian’s’ funeral.

“Grrrrrk.”

With a boiling sound, Darsan slowly rose to his feet.

As Darsan gripped his greatsword and prepared to fight, Barkal also gripped his axe.

“My brother, Darsan.”

A calm voice spilled from Barkal’s lips.

But that voice was not quivering because it could not contain boiling rage. Barkal was no longer angry.

“Mighty Thrag’s Red Wolf!”

Barkal lowered his body, facing the charging Darsan.

“I shall speak with you, through iron!”

* * *

Crash!

Axe and greatsword clashed, sending out a tremendous sound and a shower of sparks.

The roar was so deafening I almost covered my own ears.

“Kahahahaha!”

Even amidst that explosion, Barkal laughed over and over, as if finding some joy in all this.

It looked like madness, but I understood. This was the state of mind in which a barbarian bid farewell to his comrade.

“Should we… help him?”

Serena asked, but I shook my head.

“This isn’t our place to interfere.”

“That… does seem to be the case.”

While we exchanged those few words, Darsan’s greatsword sliced through the air and missed. Barkal did not miss the opportunity, bringing his axe down onto Darsan’s side.

But before Barkal’s ‘World’s Precipice’ could reach its target, Darsan brought up his arm and deflected the axe’s trajectory.

Only just. Though I had been observing the fight between Darsan and Barkal, I could see.

It was different.

Certainly, this battle was different than those I’d seen from Darsan so far.

Before, Darsan’s body, controlled by the ‘tendons,’ relied only on strength.

But just now, what Darsan showed was undoubtedly a segment of ‘martial technique.’

Whether it was a reflex from his subconscious or a fleeting moment of clarity, I was not sure.

At that, Barkal smiled.

“Darsan!”

He shouted, as if to be heard by Darsan who might have regained a sliver of sanity.

From the ‘World’s Precipice’ in Barkal’s hand, a brilliant light began to shine.

“The Red Wolf will remember you!”

Then, a strike faster than a flash hammered onto Darsan’s greatsword.

Crack!

The blow was so fast it was hard to follow even with the eyes. The greatsword in Darsan’s hands shattered.

“I too will remember you!”

With those words, the next blow followed without pause.

With that blow, Darsan’s head was severed.

Simultaneously, the ‘tendons’ entwined around Darsan’s body burst out in all directions.

That was when I stepped forward.

Raising the ‘Shard of Vespers’ once, the tendons lost their strength and began to collapse to the floor.

“The Red Wolf will remember you.”

Uttering those words, I moved toward Barkal. When he saw me, Barkal looked over and flashed a wide grin.

“Thank you, my brother.”

“There is nothing to thank me for. It was only natural.”

“There is nothing in this world that is given. If anything, this is a moment that truly deserves thanks.”

Of all the smiles I had seen from Barkal, this felt the most relieved.

Because of his skull helmet, I could not fully see it, though.

“Thrag…”

Barkal began looking around.

“What are you searching for?”

At my question, Barkal shook his head.

“No, it’s nothing.”

What’s he trying to say? Did he perhaps see Thrag?

As an Apostle, it would be possible for him to commune directly with the gods.

“But Barkal, there’s one thing you mustn’t forget.”

“What is that?”

“This dungeon is not over yet.”

I reminded Barkal, who looked like he might relax, of one fact.

Darsan was the reason we came to this dungeon, but as long as we’d entered, we still needed to kill the ‘dungeon master’.

“I understand!”

Barkal nodded vigorously.

—

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