"Could it really be a demon..." Rugg panicked. The god he had prayed to hadn't come; instead, he'd summoned a demon from hell! Had it come to claim his soul?
"That's the 'false god's' corpse? Was it killed by the demon?" Someone couldn't believe what they were seeing.
The sight before him left Tryndamere deeply shaken, but he managed to stay calm.
Even he would have stood no chance against that beast, which was why he had wisely led his people away instead of trying to fight it.
The Mysterious Person who could kill the "false god" was far beyond anything they could stand against.
"What 'false god'?" Ato pointed at the enormous boar behind him. "You mean that? It's just an animal that happens to be a little large. You've got a fire going, and you want food. I can give you some."
"In fact, it was that thing that destroyed our tribe." Tryndamere forced himself to speak. "Who are you? Why are you willing to give us food? What do you want?"
"Of course, I have a condition." Ato changed tack. "And it concerns only you, Tryndamere. If you make a deal with me, the beast is yours."
"I accept." Tryndamere agreed without hesitation, not even noticing that Ato knew his name.
"Aren't you going to ask what the deal is? What if I want your soul?"
"Fine." Tryndamere's expression didn't change. The only thing he cared about now was the survival of his remaining people, even if it meant giving up his life.
"I..." Ato was at a loss for words. "All right. Your soul is no use to me, actually. I'll tell you the real terms in private."
Rugg and the others watched in silence as Tryndamere and the Mysterious Person walked out of sight. No one said a word to try to stop him.
As long as Tryndamere agreed to the demon's terms, the beast would be ours! There was enough meat to feed everyone here for half a year!
Their eyes gleamed with hunger, but not one of them dared step forward and cut off a piece.
Meanwhile, Tryndamere followed Ato around behind the boar, waiting for his fate to be decided.
"I need to find Ornn and have him make me a Sword Sheath." Ato looked at Tryndamere's expression, as if he were heading to his death.
"Sure is a world that judges by appearances! You old relic, how many people have you made misunderstand me?"
"What? A Sword Sheath! That's definitely a... good idea," Aatrox muttered.
"I thought you'd be strongly against it."
"The Celestial Body is gone. It's just a Sword Sheath. There's no place for me in this world anymore. Perhaps if I stayed in a Sword Sheath, I could feel again as I did under Setheka's command. Maybe I could find a sense of belonging."
Does turning into a sword make your thoughts swordlike, too? Ato wondered to himself.
The greatsword could speak, and Tryndamere was sorely tempted to make a comment, but he quickly suppressed the urge.
It seemed Rugg's prayer to the gods had failed. Instead, a demonic man had appeared.
If he could trade his life for food for his people, his soul would find peace under the protection of the Three Gods.
"Take one of my attacks with your body. Once you've recovered tomorrow, take this meat and head west to find the Avarosa Tribe. Join them. That's the deal. Can you do it?"
Ato figured that if he didn't spell it out, Tryndamere's muscle-bound head would never understand.
"What?" Tryndamere picked at his ear. "Take your attack... recover by tomorrow..."
"Your body needs to be altered," Ato explained. "This is the only way."
"I'll infuse your body with Flesh Magic. It'll remain inside you and alter your body over time."
"Tomorrow morning, you and your people will head west and look for the Avarosa Tribe. They've set up camp not far to the west."
"Why me?"
"Indeed, why you?" Ato gave him a meaningful smile.
"Anyway, those are my terms. Accept them, and you and your people get the meat."
"Besides, the harshest part of winter is almost here, and the Avarosa Tribe needs food, too. Think of the meat as your dowry for marrying into the tribe."
"What does marrying into a tribe mean? What's a dowry...?"
Tryndamere regretted not learning more words from the tribe's shaman when he was young. All he understood was "take an attack" and "find the Avarosa Tribe."
Still, he thought these terms were far better than death. If he could live, who would choose to face death?
"I'm ready. Come on." Tryndamere spread his arms, took off his fur shirt, and stood with his body forming a cross, ready to take Ato's attack.
"...You have a noble spirit."
Ato stepped back, drew the Demonic Sword of the Dark, controlled his strength, and summoned the sword's power to manipulate Flesh Magic. Then he brought it down diagonally across Tryndamere's body.
"Ugh... Ah..."
Tryndamere gritted his teeth, his face contorted in pain.
A horrifying wound ran from his left shoulder to above his right leg. Blood poured from it, and it was deep enough to expose bone. But on closer inspection, a red glow could be seen entering the wound.
Tryndamere fell to his knees and gasped for air. The massive blood loss left him pale, and the intense pain kept him teetering between consciousness and unconsciousness, but he endured it.
"A warrior worthy of respect," Aatrox exclaimed. "The moment the blade touched his skin, I could tell this was a body worthy of me."
"If I devoured his flesh, I could recover at least half my strength. Then, if I ran into those Angel Sisters again, they'd better watch out. I'd make them taste the agony of noble angels falling to earth."
"Only the older sister could taste it. The younger one's already on the ground..." Ato muttered.
"But at least I don't have to agonize over whether to kill his people. It looks like they're already out of options. As expected, when there's a problem you can't figure out, don't think about it yet. In the end, it'll all work itself out."
Tryndamere was in tremendous pain, so he didn't hear the two of them speaking in deliberately hushed voices.
Within minutes, the bleeding had stopped, and Tryndamere was able to get to his feet, leaning on the boar.
Ato walked over and gently patted him on the shoulder. "You've earned this. But remember your task for tomorrow."
At the other end, the anxious survivors finally saw the two of them return.
The first thing they noticed was Tryndamere, covered in blood and marked by a vicious wound. They stirred uneasily, but at least Tryndamere was still alive.
Ato smiled, thinking he looked friendly, and said, "I've got what I wanted. The boar is yours now. Who wants to come over and shave it?"
Before you continue