One Piece: The Archangel's Guide

Chapter 16: Wendigo

In the dim world, a fear as if awakened from the depths of their genes caused most of the people present to shiver and tremble. They all stared with awe at the massive figure, barely visible in the night.

A humanoid form, an exposed elk skull, sickle-like claws, and huge, terrifying antlers. This combination made Louis instinctively think of a monster that often appeared in horror media in his past life.

"A Wendigo?" Louis slowly exhaled a puff of white air in the night, where the temperature had plummeted below freezing.

The Wendigo, a legend from the Native Americans of his past life. It was believed to be a monster created when a human, after committing cannibalism, became possessed by an evil spirit. Legend said it was often accompanied by extreme cold and blizzards and possessed astonishing brute force and supernatural witchcraft. Its stomach was a bottomless pit; all living things were its prey, but it had a particular fondness for human flesh. No matter how much it ate, its hungry stomach would never feel the slightest satisfaction.

In many works, it was often described as being thin as a rail with protruding ribs, its body covered in rotting fur, and looking like a living corpse that reeked of blood and filth.

But in Louis's exceptionally sharp vision, Yelena's appearance was not so exaggerated. Apart from her terrifyingly grotesque appearance, which was enough to cause nightmares, there were no signs of stench or decay.

A moment later, the same question rose in Louis's mind. "If legend says it's transformed from a human, then is it a Human-Human Fruit or a Deer-Deer Fruit?"

While Louis was lost in his wild thoughts, Yelena, transformed into a Wendigo, moved.

She instinctively turned her skeletal head with its terrifying antlers and looked at the uneaten food nearby. A hoarse voice, as if from the depths of hell, issued from the mouth hidden beneath the bone-white skull.

"Such powerful... strength..."

"!!!" At her words, all the Canaan survivors present trembled, their faces pale as they backed away. This had nothing to do with human emotion; it was as if their very genes, their instincts, were compelling them to get away from the terrifying beast before them.

Seeing this, the Red Hair crew also snapped out of their shock, thoughtful expressions appearing on their faces.

"This is..."

"It looks like that man-eating monster from the legends of some islands that are perpetually covered in extreme cold, right?"

"A Wendigo..."

Unlike the others who still had the presence of mind to chat, the young Uta was pale, her teeth chattering. She had already instinctively hidden behind Shanks, seeking protection.

Louis slowly stepped forward, positioning himself between Yelena and the food, and tentatively called out, "Yelena?"

"..."

Louis's voice allowed Yelena's reason to return.

"I'm... alright..."

Yelena lifted her arm, which now had ten sickles for fingers, and examined her transformation.

"!!!" But in the next moment, she was startled by her own terrifying voice and instinctively stumbled backward. She was then tripped by the long tail dragging behind her and fell on her backside, kicking up a large cloud of ice mist and snowflakes.

"..." Seeing this, the expressions of the onlookers changed subtly. Even the fear of the villagers lessened considerably.

Snowflakes danced in the air, looking magical under the moonlight. Yelena slowly got up, noticing the strange looks on everyone's faces. She felt a bit embarrassed, wanting to dig a hole and crawl into it.

Louis took in everyone's expressions, then looked at Yelena again and suggested, "Try out your abilities, Yelena!"

Yelena let out a sigh of relief. She stood up, pretending nothing had happened, and then trotted on her hooves to an open area. She held out one claw, and from her palm, ice extended, spreading rapidly. In just a moment, it formed into a massive war hammer about three meters long, entirely translucent blue and radiating a biting chill.

Then, she lifted the war hammer and slammed it onto the ground.

BOOM—

A sound like an explosion echoed for several kilometers. The ground trembled, and dust flew dozens of meters into the air. Cracks appeared, spreading out for over a hundred meters as countless slabs of rock and earth buckled and shattered. The violent shaking caused many of the Canaan survivors to fall to the ground unexpectedly, their faces a mixture of joy and shock.

Yelena froze, suddenly realizing that her current destructive power could easily harm her own subjects. She immediately lowered the war hammer, abandoning the thought of further testing. The next moment, she controlled her ability to retract the biting cold from the vicinity, allowing the temperature to return to normal.

After doing all this, she transformed back into her human form and went to help a few of the older villagers up.

"Is everyone okay?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't expect that just the aftershock would harm you."

However, the Canaan survivors all had faces full of joy. Seeing Yelena become stronger made them even happier than she was.

Not far away, the members of the Red Hair Pirates were also astonished, looking at each other in shock. Such power was rare even among the pirates of the Grand Line.

But Louis's thoughts were different from everyone else's. He was marveling at the magic of Devil Fruits. After Yelena grew from 2.2 meters to 6 meters and then changed back to her human form, her clothes were completely unaffected. In the end, Louis could only sigh in amazement. This truly is a shonen manga.

Because the Canaan survivors were too fragile, Yelena's plan to test her abilities was cut short. The people eventually relit the bonfire and quickly finished off the food that couldn't be stored. The Red Hair Pirates' doctor suggested that Yelena return with them to their ship for a more thorough diagnosis. But Yelena, feeling that her physique had been enhanced after eating the fruit and her pain had lessened, postponed it until the next day, using her duty to protect her subjects as a reason. Shanks, beating Hongo to the punch, readily agreed to Yelena's proposal and temporarily returned to the ship with his crew.

Late at night, Yelena put on her battered suit of heavy armor and walked out of her stone house. After checking on the condition of the injured, one by one, she went straight to the stone house that had been prepared for Louis.

She stood before the stone house for a moment, took a deep breath, and then raised her gauntleted hand to knock gently on the wooden door.

Soon, Louis opened the door and quietly stared at the fully armed Yelena.

Seeing Louis's expression, which suggested he had been expecting her, a trace of surprise flashed in Yelena's eyes. But she didn't dwell on it. She lowered her gaze, a look of apology on her face, and softly stated her purpose.

"Louis, can I ask you for a favor?"

Louis met her red eyes, his expression calm. "Are you going to demand an explanation?"

Although Louis had a guess as to what Yelena was about to do, he still had to ask clearly. If the answer wasn't what he thought, he wouldn't help.

Yelena shook her head, a resolute look flashing in her eyes. Her tone was peaceful. "No. Right now, I just want that race to disappear from this world..."

"..."

"Alright. Then I will help you!"