A Dangerous Journey
It had already been four days since we entered this forest. Out of nowhere, an old story came to mind.
They said the Forgotten Forest lay in the northwest of the Empire. Once feared as a demonic realm, even that terror had faded over time, leaving it abandoned and ignored by all. It was a worthless stretch of land, home only to dangerous beasts. It possessed no special resources, nor did it hold any commercial, military, or strategic value. Perhaps a mine or two might be found if one searched thoroughly enough, but the Empire was already a resource-rich nation. There was no reason to waste funds trying to develop such a treacherous wilderness. Because it was so utterly devoid of value, neither humans nor demons bothered to venture near. Thus, the forest in the northwest vanished from the world's eye. The Empire had merely annexed it on paper at some point; they had never actually managed it. Naturally, in the novel, it was only ever mentioned in passing—a mere footnote stating, 'There is a forest in the northwest.'
But now, we were learning firsthand exactly why this place had once been called a demonic realm.
Clang! A sharp, clear ring of metal echoed through the trees.
Damn it! I definitely deflected that.
The shock that traveled up my arms was unbelievable. My sword was instantly deflected, throwing my stance completely off. Honestly, it was a miracle. If I had tried to stand my ground and block it head-on, my blade would have snapped in two. I had managed to slice its wrist as I pulled my sword back, but it didn't seem to do any real damage.
Our opponent this time was a monster. If half-hardened lava were to take human form, it would look exactly like this. Red light seeped through the cracks of its ash-gray, stone-like body. It looked more like blood than fire, but its appearance inevitably brought to mind cooling magma. It walked on two legs like a human, swinging its arms like weapons. While its lower body was normal, its upper torso was grotesquely bloated. For starters, its arms were absurdly long—spanning nearly four meters when fully extended. The sheer thickness of those limbs promised brute, ungodly strength, and its razor-sharp claws resembled iron talons. Just moments ago, I had watched it effortlessly slice a thick tree in half. We had exchanged blows a few times, but it was a tough nut to crack. Fortunately, I had recently acquired a rather useful card of my own.
"Sirien! Now!"
"Hiyah!"
The axe Sirien threw buried itself deep into the monster's crown. A flawless, clean hit. Her unexpected talent was on full display. After I had praised her a bit, she had started throwing everything she could get her hands on, and it seemed her practice was finally paying off. Granted, I'd had to scold her when she threw a fork at me, but there was no denying that her throwing skills had improved by leaps and bounds.
If it had been a human, having a chunk of iron embedded in their skull would have sent them straight to the afterlife. But monsters didn't play by those rules. Enraged by the sudden strike, the beast let out a deafening screech that shook the entire forest. "Screeeeeech!" Its eyes, dripping with raw malice, locked onto Sirien. But she was now weaponless. And there was no reason for an unarmed girl to fight such a monster. Naturally, Sirien turned and ran without looking back, and I stepped in to block its path.
"Good job! I'll finish this, so go hide."
No reply came back. Because I had told her not to. She was a fast learner once she was taught. There was no need to reveal her location to the enemy when I could just call her back once the fight was over.
Unlike wild beasts that sometimes hunt in packs, monsters always roamed alone—unless they were under the control of a powerful Demon King or a dark mage. Of course, even a solitary monster was far more dangerous than any ordinary predator, but facing them one-on-one made things much easier. And in our case, there were two of us. Since we only had one axe, I only had one chance to utilize Sirien's support, but that single opening was more than enough.
A single distraction, a momentary lapse in its stance, was all I needed to land three or four clean slashes. The monster's black blood sprayed in all directions. Moreover, this beast couldn't understand human speech. While I had to keep my guard up for any potential second or third ambush, for now, I could focus entirely on this single opponent.
Its claws are as sharp as honed blades. Its strength is far beyond that of any normal beast. If I take even one direct hit, I'm dead.
If we were comparing raw physical abilities, I stood no chance. Strength, reach, speed—I was outmatched in every category. But wasn't martial arts created precisely to overcome such disparities? While the monster possessed a vastly superior body, it was cursed with abysmal intelligence. Its field of vision was narrow, and its movements were excessively large. Because it relied on instinct rather than reason, I held the upper hand in strategy. Just like now. The monster's arm lunged straight at me. A thrust was difficult to block, but easy to dodge. I ducked low, and its claws buried themselves deep into a tree trunk. With its monstrous strength, it would pull them out in no time, but my blade was faster.
"Screeech! Khhhk! Grrrr!" With a clean slice, I severed its arm. The monster shrieked in agony, thrashing wildly. While it vented its useless rage on the empty air, I took a step back to catch my breath.
"Looks like I made you mad."
The monster looked ready to tear me apart, its eyes rolling back in fury. I welcomed it. The stump of its severed arm was already writhing, beginning to regenerate. Dragging this fight out would only disadvantage me. I couldn't let its humanoid appearance fool me; it was no different from a wild beast. Monsters were creatures driven solely by instinct and aggression. Just one. If I could dodge just one decisive strike, countering would be simple. I widened my eyes, tracking its every movement. Dodging its attacks had confirmed one thing: its anatomy was remarkably similar to a primate's. To move its arm, the muscles in its back contracted, and its chest pushed forward in the exact same sequence. Its eyes were locked onto me, clearly telegraphing its next move.
Here it comes.
Its legs tensed like a drawn bowstring. My eyes didn't miss the shifting of its muscles. The launch was so fast it was barely visible to the naked eye. But 'barely' didn't mean impossible. Its remaining right arm lunged forward, poised to crush me. Blocking was pointless. Trying to parry those claws would only result in my sword—and my body—being shattered to pieces. My only option was to use its own momentum against it. The speed it couldn't control would become its undoing. I threw my body aside at the last second, gripping my hilt with everything I had. The moment I thrust my blade into its path, a jarring recoil surged up my arms.
"Ugh!"
It worked. The bisected halves of the monster tumbled miserably across the forest floor. But I couldn't afford to stand idle. If it were the type to die from being cut in half, Sirien's axe would have finished it off earlier. When fighting monsters, a decisive finishing blow was absolutely mandatory. Until they were completely dead, you had to assume they could regenerate at any moment. I rushed over to the severed torso, sliced off its head, and stabbed its chest. The heart was the key. Feeling my blade strike something hard, I thrust it in repeatedly until it shattered. Only then did the monster stop screaming, its body stiffening. But I hadn't anticipated what came next.
"Screeech!" The monster's body suddenly ruptured, showering me in a torrent of black, viscous blood.
"Tsk. This is going to leave a scar too."
The blast itself hadn't been that powerful. Half of the monster's body was already gone, and its heart had been shattered, so its final struggle was far from fatal. An acidic fluid—likely stored inside its body—had sprayed over me, but it only slightly melted my skin. Thanks to my quick reflexes, only my left arm took some damage. Still, it looked like it would leave a scar. The deeper wounds from our fight at the cabin had already scarred over, and this would be no different. I was finally starting to understand why Rajen's body in the novel had been so covered in scars.
"We're out of bandages. What do we do?"
"I'll just untie the one on my right arm."
"Okay. Give me your arm. I'll do it."
From the cabin all the way to this forest, the fighting had been relentless. New wounds were forming faster than my body could heal the old ones. As a result, we had finally run out of bandages. Sirien gritted her teeth, staring intently at my wound as she wrapped the recycled bandage around it.
"Hmph... Stop getting hurt. It makes me sad."
"It's not like I'm doing it on purpose. Ah, make sure to wrap it with the clean side facing in."
"I know. I'll be careful."
Sirien's first-aid skills had become quite proficient. The girl who used to panic at the mere sight of a drop of blood from a needle prick back at the castle was now handling blood-soaked bandages without batting an eye. While it was a positive change for our survival, it left a bitter taste in my mouth. If I had been stronger, could I have kept her living as a sheltered flower in a greenhouse? There was no way to know.
"Oh, you're bleeding here too."
"Huh? What's that? I didn't even realize I was hurt there. Must've been a stray branch. Just leave it. It'll stop bleeding on its own soon."
There was a small cut on my other arm, slowly trickling blood. It wasn't deep, and the bleeding was minimal, so it really would have been fine to leave it alone. But Sirien's sudden action was more than enough to startle me.
Chu. Her soft lips pressed against the cut. I felt a slight suction as Sirien began to suck the blood from the wound.
"W-What are you doing?"
"Exactly what it looks like. Sucking the blood."
"Why...?"
"To make it heal faster...?"
Since when does that make a wound heal faster? I was utterly flabbergasted, but Sirien just stared back at me, looking completely baffled as to why I was reacting this way.