Standing over the fallen King of Giants after their battle, the King of the Wall stared down with a cold, emotionless gaze, watching the giant's broken breathing and muffled groans.
The King of Giants tried to speak, but no voice came out—stuck in his throat, strangled by defeat.
Blood ran down the King of the Wall's face as clouds smothered the sunlight. Then, carried by the wind, he heard a faint, hoarse whisper forcing its way through trembling lips.
"Bo...y... please... do not follow this path... blindly..."The giant's mouth moved, but his voice barely escaped. After a few seconds, another whisper, even weaker:
"Look... toward the horizon... Nameless King..."
With a final, faint smile, the light in his eyes faded away.
Turning his back, the King of the Wall walked toward the horizon. Wounded, exhausted, and holding a sword shattered to pieces, he continued forward.
That moment never left his mind. Even after a year, he remembered every detail perfectly—the cold, empty gaze he carried after a battle that pushed him to his limits, and the realization that a challenge like that might not come again so soon.
Sitting on a small hill after yet another battle, he had behind him a sea of blood and destruction: shattered walls scattered across the ground, human corpses twisted into horrific shapes.But ahead of him, birds were singing. The wind moved the trees, rustling his torn clothes. The grass swayed in gentle waves.
Then something landed on his hair.
Rolling his eyes upward, he saw a small bird—and without noticing, a faint smile formed on his face.
After observing the peaceful scenery for a while, he rose and walked into the forest, traveling for hours until night fell.
Reaching a cave, he gathered the wood he had collected and lit a fire. Sitting beside the flames, he watched them consume the sticks little by little.
During quiet moments like this, a question always echoed in his mind:
'What is… or what does a name mean?'
And, as always when this thought surfaced, sleep slowly overtook him.
When he opened his eyes again, sunlight filled the cave, pushing away the darkness. Picking up his sword, the giant resumed his journey.
Days passed like this.On another day—this time cloudy—he noticed a forest. Or rather… a dead forest.
No birds.No animals.Even nature avoided it.
Curious, the Nameless King stepped into the strange, silent woods
Entering the forest, the Nameless King noticed that besides being a forest with dead trees, there were almost no animals there except crows.
With every step he took, the stench of rotten flesh grew stronger in his nostrils, bothering him a little.
Even being used to battlefields, that smell of rotten meat still caused him discomfort.
After some time walking through the dead forest, he found the corpse of a giant sitting and leaning against a dead tree. The ground beneath it was soaked with dried blood, with several cuts on the body.
The Nameless King simply stared at the scene with empty eyes. After all, that being had found its own…
'Peace…'
It was his greatest desire—peace. After so many battles he had fought and granted this wish to so many… to so many…
'Enemies… and they never did the same for me. Isn't that… a little…'
Unfair. Yes, to the Nameless King this was unfair. He had killed countless warriors, strong and weak, epic battles, honorable ones, and even boring ones. But in the end, all of them ended the same way.
'The ending after those battles was… emptiness. Warm blood on my hands and my sword buried in my enemy's body. It's always the same ending.'
The crows watched the Nameless King, the wind blew, and the wet soil was crushed under the giant's feet.
"Cro-cro."
The cawing made the Nameless King turn around, drawing his sword with eyes craving blood.
But he rsaw nothing—only mist forming. Turning and walking again, the rain began to fall.
After some time walking under the rain, he sighed.
His ears detected something—footsteps.
Turning around and drawing his sword, he cut through the trunk of a zombie giant.
Dodging another attack, he swung his sword vertically.
The blade sliced through two raindrops before reaching the giant's chest.
Eyes widening, he dashed, leaving marks on the ground, cutting down the creatures that approached.
Then he saw a kind of throne made of bones, with a being sitting on it.
There was an expression of boredom on the giant's face. He raised his hand, and all zombie giants stopped attacking.
Raising an eyebrow, the Nameless King was confused.
'W-what?! Why did they stop because of that pale giant?'
Stepping down from the throne, a sudden pressure forced the Nameless King to his knees.
'Why… why am I trembling?'
Yes—after a long time, the Nameless King trembled. His hand shook so much he couldn't even hold his sword.
"What's wrong?" —a heavy, hoarse, dead voice spoke. "Aren't you going to pick up your… sword?"
Cold eyes. Only cold.
That made the Nameless King sweat down his spine. His hair stood on end.
"You… are afraid, Giant?"
Gripping his sword until his veins bulged, the Nameless King slashed.
The pale giant vanished like a shadow—or a blur.
The Nameless King only felt something grabbing his head.
And pressing hard.
"Agh."
'He's going to crush my head.'
He tried to move any part of his body, but he couldn't. He was…
'I'm… paralyzed… I… can't move!'
His breathing grew heavy, but not from fear of dying—
but from excitement. The excitement of death.
Then the pressure stopped.
"You passed my test!"
A test?! Everything he went through was a test?
'Absurd…' he thought.
And yes, it was absurd—but it excited the Nameless King, because he still had to surpass another powerful being like the King of Giants.
"In this state, you will never surpass me. You are still weak and insignificant… Nameless King."
Those words wounded his pride. Besides the humiliation in the fight, the pale giant insulted him with truth.
"How could someone like you kill him? It's ridiculous," said the pale giant.
'Ri-ridiculous?!'
How could the Nameless King be ridiculous? He had killed the King of Giants—that was his merit, an unmatched achievement. Grinding his teeth in frustration—
After a moment staring at each other, the pale giant said:
"I will grant you a new purpose, fake King…"
Looking dead as a corpse, he continued:
"The King who has no name or purpose… Nameless King."
Those words touched his cold, stone heart.
'A new purpose?'