"Ahem… Jax Ackerman, you may have defeated me, but you cannot defeat the Marleyans."
Skog spat out a mouthful of blood and forced himself into a sitting position. His voice was weak, yet filled with stubborn arrogance.
"Eldians cannot win. Aligning with Marley is the only real path."
My expression remained cold and unreadable.
Without a word, I drove a knife deep into Skog's left thigh. His scream echoed through the trees. Before he could recover, I fired an arrow through his right shoulder, pinning him firmly against the tree behind him.
I ignored his cries.
Grabbing his collar, I pulled him closer and forced myself to restrain the urge to kill him on the spot.
"Tell me something," I said through clenched teeth. "You want to side with Marley? Fine. That is your choice. But why did you target Hank's family?"
My grip tightened.
"Hank treated you well, didn't he? Why would you do this? Why them? Do you have any humanity left at all?"
By the time I finished speaking, my voice had turned into a roar.
The images that had greeted me when I returned home flashed through my mind again. The blood. The silence. The lifeless bodies.
Tears streamed down my face before I could stop them.
Skog struggled to breathe for a moment.
Then suddenly he laughed.
At first it was quiet, but it quickly grew louder until it turned into wild, unhinged cackling.
"Hahahaha..."
My fist smashed into his face.
The laughter continued.
I followed with a brutal knee to his chin, then an elbow strike across his cheek.
The laughter stopped immediately.
"Pfft."
Skog spat two broken teeth onto the ground. Blood dripped down his chin as he spoke again, his voice filled with contempt.
"As descendants of devils, they should feel honored. Consider it repayment for the sins of their ancestors. You people should be grateful."
His eyes burned with twisted pride.
"We are all Eldians. Helping the Marleyans is our honor. That Jaeger and Hank, people like them, they simply did not understand what was good for them."
A bitter laugh escaped my throat.
Someone breaks into your home, murders your family, then tells you that it is an honor and you should feel grateful.
Any sane person would draw their blade and end that bastard's life within five steps.
I kicked him hard across the face, cutting off the rest of his words. Then I yanked the dagger out of his thigh.
Skog let out a muffled scream.
I felt nothing.
"Enjoy my revenge," I said quietly.
A flash of fear appeared in Skog's eyes, but he quickly forced himself to remain defiant.
"The Marleyans will not let you go."
I sneered and raised the dagger.
At that moment, distant wolf howls echoed through the forest.
In the wilderness, the scent of blood attracts predators.
I remembered reading that line in a book once.
Judging from the sound, it was not a single wolf. It was a full pack.
I let out a quiet chuckle.
Instead of killing him, I used the dagger to carve several additional wounds across his body. None were fatal, but each one would bleed heavily.
Then I wiped the blade clean using the uniform of a dead Military Police soldier lying nearby and slid the dagger back into its sheath.
Skog remained silent through the entire process.
Several minutes passed.
Soon I saw pairs of faint green lights glowing between the trees.
Eyes.
I quickly climbed up a nearby tree branch.
"The wolves are here," I said calmly, looking down at Skog as he struggled helplessly beneath the tree.
"Why don't you tell them about the glory of the Marleyans? Maybe you can convince them to join Marley as well."
"Awooo..."
The wolves answered with chilling howls as they approached.
Compared to the lifeless corpses scattered across the clearing, Skog was far more appealing as living prey.
Skog began screaming curses at me, using every vile insult he could think of.
The wolves paid him no attention.
More howls rang out as several gray wolves lunged forward.
They tore into him without hesitation, ripping chunks of flesh from his body.
Skog screamed and tried to fight back with his fists.
It only made things worse.
The wolves grew more frenzied, their jaws tearing into him again and again as his desperate resistance proved completely useless.