Chapter 28

Chapter 28
## Chapter 28: Twin Canyon (1)

—

A scene of quiet woodland.

Densely packed foliage sprouted from every branch, while fragments of sunlight pierced through the canopy like light leaking into a dilapidated attic. Thick brush and tangled undergrowth cluttered the ground, but the strangeness had vanished. This had returned to being a mundane forest, indistinguishable from any other.

The haunting pressure and unnatural phenomena that once plagued these woods had been tied to the presence of a potent reverse-spawn demon. Once that entity was banished, it was only a matter of time before the environment reverted to its natural state.

Still, the sheer scale of the woods remained daunting. The supernatural growth spurts had ceased, but the massive trees already standing weren’t going anywhere. Kadim and Duncan were still looking at another half-day of trekking to clear the area.

Fortunately, the end of their grueling march was within reach. Duncan shimmied up a trunk to get a better vantage point and let out a triumphant yell.

“Master! The village is visible! We’re almost there!”

“……”

They had spent seventy-two hours straight navigating nothing but forest trails. Assuming their direction was true, they had surely crossed over into the lands of the Alliance.

According to the trader’s information, the Free City Alliance was technically a vassal of the Lucaonia Empire. In reality, it functioned as a sovereign state. A former emperor had essentially traded away direct control for a hands-off approach, granting them self-governance because the frequent demonic incursions made the region a bureaucratic and military nightmare to manage.

Duncan had argued that even a high-ranking Arch Paladin couldn’t simply barge in here. A figure of such power entering the territory without a formal invitation would trigger a diplomatic crisis. This meant they were finally safe from the harassment of holy knights.

Duncan slid down the bark with the agility of a rodent. His gait toward the settlement was full of energy. The promise of payment in gold and gems had transformed his mood entirely, and he was now rambling incessantly.

“The people of the Alliance actually respect Atalans! Usually, they see them as disciplined warriors with a strict code! I mean, you’ll always have idiots who think they can treat your kind like property… but nobody would be that suicidal in front of someone like you, Master!”

“……”

“Wait until you see the major hubs, Master! The Alliance boasts cities like Deluta, Vesta, Galenta, and Agon. They are colossal! If you stand in the middle of Deluta, you’ll see more people in one square than you’ve likely seen in your entire life!”

“……”

Kadim found the commentary mildly ironic. He had lived in a metropolis of ten million people in his past life. Nevertheless, he remained silent, absorbing whatever cultural details he could from the man’s chatter.

“The route we’re heading for is the ‘Golden Highway.’ It spans the whole Alliance from Deluta to Vesta. It’s arguably the safest path on the continent, patrolled by guards and even sanctioned by the mages of the Magic Tower…”

The merchant’s voice trailed off into a whisper. His confident stride faltered. Noticing the shift, Kadim slowed his pace and focused his gaze ahead.

There was a disturbance in the brush up ahead.

The situation became clear almost instantly.

— Hiss! Ssss!

“Get them off! Get them away from me!”

“Dammit, I’ve been bitten! Is this a viper? It has to be a viper!”

“Look out! They’re coming from the rear too—”

— Hiss!

“Aaargh! My leg!!”

“……For fuck’s sake.”

A group of about twelve individuals, poorly armored and likely mercenaries, were flailing their weapons like panicked children. It would have been a farce if the stakes weren’t so high. Several men were already on the ground, overwhelmed by the carpet of serpents closing in.

The demon was gone, but the snakes it had summoned remained. They no longer possessed the ability to knit themselves back together when sliced, but that mattered little to the dying men. The sheer volume of venomous fangs was enough to finish the job.

“This is bad… they’re going to be wiped out…”

Duncan shifted from foot to foot, looking worriedly at the mercenaries and then at the barbarian. Kadim’s expression was a mask of cold indifference, showing no empathy for the men in the clearing.

The trapped mercenaries eventually spotted the two onlookers. Their faces twisted from terror to desperate hope as they screamed.

“A barbarian! Look, it’s a barbarian mercenary!”

“Help us! Over here! There are too many of them!”

“Get in here and kill these things!”

“……”

Kadim didn’t move an inch. He stood with his arms crossed, watching the scene with a hollow stare. The mercenaries’ pleas quickly turned into demands.

“Hey! Are you deaf? You, barbarian! Do something!”

“Why are you just standing there? Are those blades just for decoration?”

“Quiet, Torenon! We’re the ones asking for a hand—don’t piss him off!”

“Look at him, he’s treating this like a theater show! I— watch out!”

“Aaaargh!”

That was the breaking point. Kadim began to walk a wide circle around the chaos. The mercenaries erupted in a chorus of rage as he turned his back.

“Where do you think you’re going?! You bastard, we’re dying here!”

“You son of a bitch! Do you even understand human speech?!”

“I’m remembering your face, barbarian! And the little guy with the goatee! You keep walking, but you’ll regret this later, you pieces of shit!”

Duncan winced at the threat. He hurried to catch up to Kadim, whispering nervously.

“Master… I know they were incredibly disrespectful, but shouldn’t we have stepped in? Watching people get slaughtered right in front of us feels…”

Kadim shook his head dismissively.

Through his experiences with deception and backstabbing in this world, he had developed a strict code. He would not risk his life for anyone unless three specific criteria were met:

No immediate threat during the rescue. No lingering threat after the rescue. A guaranteed reward.

These mercenaries failed every check. Saving them would put Duncan at risk, there was no way to trust them afterward, and they offered nothing in return.

In fact, the situation was worse than it appeared.

“Most of them handled their blades like amateurs. Their armor was ill-fitting and mismatched. They were likely wearing equipment they stripped from corpses.”

“……!”

Duncan’s eyes widened.

Looking back, he realized the gear did look salvaged. It wasn’t uncommon—mercenaries who ran out of work often turned to banditry.

Duncan hadn’t seen the signs, even though he was looking at the same men. It reinforced the fact that the barbarian wasn’t just a brute; his tactical awareness and intuition were leagues beyond a normal person.

Relieved, Duncan followed Kadim’s lead. They left the screams behind and pushed forward.

Suddenly, Kadim stopped.

“……Is something wrong, Master?”

“……”

“A problem…?”

“……No. It’s nothing.”

He took one final look over his shoulder before resuming his pace. Duncan tilted his head in confusion but didn’t linger.

—

A small wooden building sat nestled in the village, smelling of pine and old sawdust. A worn-out sign dangled from a rusted chain.

‘Eckl’s Feast’ served as the solitary inn and pub for this frontier outpost of the Alliance. The proprietor’s cooking was passable, and it usually served as a local hub—though recently, a band of roaming mercenaries had effectively occupied the place.

Today was different. With the mercenaries out in the woods and two strangers having arrived, the locals had crowded back in for the first time in weeks.

Tabletops were cluttered with hearty loaves, boiled tubers, and bowls of dense stew. The villagers formed a tight circle around the center table, where a nervous Duncan and a stoic Kadim sat.

One villager leaned in, eyes wide.

“You truly walked through ‘The Forest You Can’t Return From’?”

“……”

“……Y-Yeah. We did.”

“Incredible! You’re the first people to ever come out the other side and reach us! So many brave souls went in searching for answers and were never heard from again…”

The room erupted in whispers. A young girl pushed through the crowd.

“How did you do it, misters? My mama says that place is crawling with giant snakes and monsters! Did the big mister kill them all?”

“Now, child, let the men talk…”

“But seriously—how? You didn’t encounter anything? That forest earned its name for a reason. No one goes that deep and lives…”

“Actually, one person did! That strange woman who looks for old ruins, the one with the bag of dusty relics!”

“Right! The scholar from the university. She claimed there was a beast that mesmerized travelers and a demon the size of a manor…”

Duncan hesitated, unsure of how much to reveal. He looked at Kadim, who was busy tearing into a piece of bread. Taking the silence as permission, Duncan reached into his pack.

“Don’t be alarmed. This is a trophy from the great warrior sitting beside me—he took down that manor-sized demon by himself!”

Duncan produced a massive, shimmering olive-green scale.

The room went silent as the villagers stared at the object.

They tried to imagine the size of a creature that would shed a scale that large. People reached out to run their fingers over its surface.

However, the awe soon turned to skepticism.

“Wait, is this even a scale?”

“It doesn’t feel organic.”

“It looks like a piece of painted scrap metal.”

Clang, clang!

When tapped, it gave off a distinct metallic ring. Brows furrowed; Duncan’s face turned bright red.

“N-No, I swear, it was a demon with skin like metal…”

His stuttering only made things worse. The villagers pulled back, their voices lowering into suspicious murmurs.

“……Seems a bit suspicious, doesn’t it?”

“Are they trying to swindle us with junk…?”

“What are we supposed to do with a piece of iron…?”

“They probably can’t sell it to a real mage without getting caught…”

“The whole ‘crossing the forest’ story sounds like a lie now…”

Duncan tried to defend their honor, but Kadim didn’t care. Whether these people believed them or not was irrelevant. He just wanted to finish his meal in peace.

As Kadim dunked a potato into his stew…

**Bang!**

The front door was kicked open with enough force to rattle the walls.

“……Huff, huff.”

A mercenary holding a sword stumbled in, gasping for air, followed by a handful of others armed with hatchets and clubs. They were covered in filth, blood, and sweat.

Kadim and Duncan recognized the faces immediately.

“……Gasp!”

“……Hrk.”

The villagers scattered like prey. The lead mercenary’s eyes landed on the table.

“Are you fucking kidding me? You’re here.”

“……”

“Hey, barman! Who gave you permission to seat outsiders? We told you—this place is off-limits to everyone but us!”

“I-I’m sorry…”

“Bullshit. We’re out there bleeding for this village, almost getting slaughtered, and you’re hosting a banquet? You think it’s funny to treat us like garbage?! Huh?!”

“N-No! Please, sirs! I’ll get them out right now, just a moment…”

The innkeeper began shooing the villagers out. They didn’t need much encouragement. But Kadim remained in his chair, patiently waiting for his bread to soak up the broth.

As the trembling innkeeper approached their table…

“Hold on. Leave those two right where they are.”

The mercenary’s eyes were burning with malice.

He marched over to their table and delivered a heavy kick.

**Crash!**

The table flipped, its legs splintering. Bowls shattered on the floor, wasting the food. The mercenary leveled his sword at Kadim’s throat.

“Fate’s a bitch, isn’t it? I told you I’d remember you.”

“……”

“I bet you enjoyed the show while we were being eaten alive. Four of my brothers are dead. If you’d stepped in, we might have saved a couple. But you’re just a coward… a pathetic, spineless coward…”

“……”

“……You walked away and left us to rot—now you pay the price. No use begging now. Keep your head still while I take it, barbarian.”

Kadim didn’t offer a defense.

He didn’t mention that they were looters. He didn’t point out that their own incompetence was what killed their friends.

He simply finished the mouthful of bread he was chewing, swallowed, and spoke:

“You’re right about one thing. I do have a regret. I regret not ending you back there.”

“Ha, listen to this guy… Yeah, I bet you do. If you’d killed a few snakes, you wouldn’t be about to die like a dog in a pub…”

“No. Not the snakes—you. I should have finished your group right then and there. It was a lapse in judgment.”

“What? You little—”

Without standing up, Kadim’s leg lashed out, connecting with the mercenary’s shin.

**Crack!**

The bone snapped like a dry twig, the leg folding in the wrong direction. The mercenary collapsed instantly. Jagged white bone tore through his leggings.

“G-Gahh…”

Kadim rose smoothly, bringing his heel down on the man’s jaw with the force of a falling anvil.

**Snap—crunch!**

The lower jaw was obliterated, the bottom half of the man’s face caving in. His head bounced off the floorboards with a sickening thud. The wood beneath him splintered as he went limp, his body twitching in a pool of gore.

“E-Eh… ah…”

The violence was so sudden and absolute that the air seemed to leave the room. The remaining mercenaries stood frozen.

“……What?”

“Did he just…?”

“How…”

Kadim took a moment to stretch his shoulders. He unhooked the axe from his belt and gave the innkeeper a calm nod.

“The soup was a bit thin. I’m going to pay for a better meal, so bring out the good stuff you keep hidden away.”

“……Y-Yes?”

“Don’t worry about the meat. I’ll provide my own.”

The mercenaries’ faces went from pale to ghostly white.

Kadim bared his teeth in a predatory grin and launched the axe.