Chapter 17 – The Guardian of Blackwood
The giant didn't move.
Neither did the Watchmen.
The wind swept across the open field, carrying the scent of damp earth and blood through the tall grass. Around the towering creature, the remaining Abominations stood unnaturally still, their heads lowered as though they were soldiers awaiting orders.
Brook's grip tightened around his sword.
His breathing slowed.
The creature's glowing crimson eyes never left him.
"…You should not have come here."
Its voice echoed across the plains, deep enough to vibrate through the ground beneath their boots.
Lieutenant Graves was the first to break the silence.
"What in God's name is that thing?"
Captain Mercer didn't answer.
He couldn't.
In twenty-eight years as a Watchman, he had never seen anything like it.
"It spoke…" one of the younger Watchmen whispered.
"They don't speak."
"They aren't supposed to," another replied.
Crowley remained unusually calm.
His eyes studied the giant from head to toe, almost as if he were trying to remember something rather than identify it.
Brook noticed.
"You know what it is?"
Crowley didn't answer immediately.
"I know…"
He paused.
"…that this isn't an ordinary Abomination."
Before Brook could ask another question, the creature took a single step forward.
The earth trembled.
A second step followed.
Every Watchman instinctively raised their weapons.
Captain Mercer drew his sword.
"No one advances."
"We hold our ground."
The giant stopped nearly thirty meters away.
Its body was covered in dark, stone-like armor, broken only by glowing crimson cracks that pulsed faintly beneath the surface. Two massive horns curved backward from its skull, and its hands ended in long black claws that looked capable of tearing through steel.
It slowly looked across the line of Watchmen.
Its expression didn't change.
Then it looked back at Brook.
"You carry…"
Its voice rumbled once more.
"…the scent."
Brook frowned.
"The scent of what?"
The giant didn't answer.
Instead, it tilted its head slightly, almost as though it were confused.
"Impossible…"
Captain Mercer stepped forward.
"If you understand us, then answer me."
The creature's gaze shifted toward the captain.
"We did not come here for war," Mercer continued. "Yesterday your kind gathered outside our Wall. Today they attacked my men."
His voice remained firm despite the danger.
"Why?"
For several long seconds, the giant simply stared.
When it finally spoke, its answer confused everyone.
"They were afraid."
Brook exchanged a glance with Graves.
"Afraid of what?"
The giant slowly turned its head toward the distant Blackwood Forest.
Its crimson eyes narrowed.
"…The King wakes."
The words sent a chill through Brook's body.
Captain Mercer took another careful step.
"What king?"
The giant looked back at him.
Then…
It smiled.
Not with malice.
With pity.
"You still do not know."
A low growl spread through the remaining Abominations.
The giant raised one clawed hand.
Instantly, every creature fell silent again.
Brook couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"It commands them…"
Graves whispered.
Mercer's jaw tightened.
This changed everything.
Abominations weren't mindless.
At least…
Not all of them.
Without warning, one of the younger Watchmen panicked.
He broke formation.
With a shout, he charged toward the giant.
"For Shinokuni!"
"No!" Mercer yelled.
It was too late.
The young soldier swung his sword with everything he had.
The blade struck the giant's armored forearm.
Clang.
The steel shattered into dozens of pieces.
The Watchman froze.
His eyes widened.
The giant looked down at him.
For a brief moment, Brook thought it would kill him.
Instead…
It gently pushed the frightened man backward with one enormous finger.
The soldier stumbled and fell into the grass, completely unharmed.
The battlefield fell silent again.
Even the Abominations seemed confused.
The giant looked disappointed.
"You are children."
Its deep voice carried no hatred.
"Fighting shadows while the night approaches."
Captain Mercer slowly lowered his sword.
Brook had never seen him hesitate before.
"What are you?"
The giant looked toward the sky.
"We…"
It stopped speaking.
Its head suddenly turned toward the western forest.
Every Abomination reacted at the same moment.
Their ears flattened.
Their bodies stiffened.
Crowley noticed immediately.
"Something's coming."
Brook followed the giant's gaze.
The forest had become unnaturally quiet.
No birds.
No wind.
Nothing.
Then…
A deafening roar erupted from deep within the Blackwood.
The sound was unlike anything Brook had ever heard.
It wasn't merely loud.
It felt alive.
The roar rolled across the plains like a physical force, bending the grass and shaking the earth beneath them.
Several Watchmen dropped to one knee.
One covered his ears, crying out in pain.
Brook felt his heart pound violently inside his chest.
Even the giant reacted.
For the first time since it appeared…
Fear crossed its face.
It turned toward Brook one last time.
"You…"
Its voice was urgent now.
"…must live."
Brook's eyes widened.
"What?"
"You are not ready."
The giant slammed one massive fist into the ground.
The impact sent a wave of dirt and stone flying into the air, creating a thick wall of dust between the Watchmen and the Blackwood.
"Retreat!" Captain Mercer shouted.
"Fall back to the Wall!"
No one argued.
The expedition immediately began withdrawing in formation, dragging the injured with them.
Brook glanced back over his shoulder.
Through the dust, he could barely make out the giant standing alone.
It wasn't following them.
It was facing the forest.
Waiting.
Then the trees exploded outward.
Something enormous burst through the tree line.
Brook only caught a glimpse.
A colossal black limb covered in crimson markings.
Claws longer than wagons.
An eye the size of a house opening in the darkness.
The giant roared and charged without another word.
The two titans collided with a force that shook the plains.
The shockwave swept across the fields, knocking every Watchman off their feet.
Brook hit the ground hard.
His ears rang.
When he looked up again, the dust had swallowed everything.
The battle beyond the haze was invisible.
Only the thunder of impacts echoed across the wilderness.
Captain Mercer grabbed Brook by the shoulder.
"Move!"
Brook forced himself to his feet.
The expedition ran toward the Wall as the sounds of the unseen battle continued behind them.
None of them spoke.
None of them looked back again.
But one question echoed in every mind.
If that creature was afraid of whatever had awakened in the Blackwood…
Then what kind of world had humanity been hiding from all this time?