Chapter 25: The Forest of No Return (5)

Hydra.

Normally, a demon has to grow three horns before it gets a name. But this one only had two, and the hero's party back in the day decided to name it anyway. It had put them through more hell than your average high-ranking demon, so it deserved it.

This demon definitely shared a lot with that monster from the myths, the original Hydra. Nine heads, necks that grew back when you cut them, and the fact that fire was the only way to stop the regeneration for good.

But in the original story, there was no mention of the damn thing coming back to life after being burned to ashes.

Kadim tensed his abdomen to stop his body from trembling. Then he locked eyes with Hydra's central head.

“We burned you to nothing. How did you come back to life?”

A forked tongue shot out as if it had been waiting for that question. The Hydra twisted its neck muscles with a sickening creak and lowered its head.

—Ssshiissshhk… And why should I answer that? You took my life before, and now you've taken my subordinate's life?

"..."

—That leper was a more useful fellow than I expected. Humans fear being killed by a leper with nine limbs far more than dying to some mere snake. Thanks to him, I collected quite a bit of pain and despair for a while.

"..."

—Well, I have no real regrets about his death. He played his part to the very end. Despite that pathetic body of his, his attachment to life was remarkably strong. He pumped out a huge, final burst of despair right before he died. It was perfect. Hiiisssss…

A look of dismay crossed Kadim's face. The Hydra looked down its snout at him and pushed its head closer.

—Behold, Son of the Wasteland. The proof of my ascension, wrought by your own ruthlessness.

Behind its eyes rose two complete horns.

One of them had a horn ring at the base and was much paler than the other. This was proof that not much time had passed since the creature had used pain and despair as a catalyst to evolve into a ‘High-Rank Demon’.

Kadim ground his teeth with an audible crack.

Killing the leper had been an unavoidable choice. But if he had known this was going to happen, he would have risked anything to find another way.

A high-ranking demon was a perfected being. Their power is on a completely different level from that of lower or mid-ranking demons. Without his old power, his old gear, and his old team, there was no way in hell Kadim could take one on.

And the demon knew it too. And the demon knew it

—Actually, I have a question for you. Don't humans die after a hundred years at most? How are you still alive after three hundred years? Did you receive some blessing from that primitive, dust-smelling god of yours?

"..."

—Then again, you’re not the only one from the old days who’s still kicking…

"...!"

It was like a bolt of lightning striking the crown of his head.

Kadim's eyes flew wide open.

His hand trembled violently around his sword grip. He knew he could be playing into the games of a crafty demon’s tongue. But even so, even if that was the case, he couldn't not ask.

"You saying you've seen someone else besides me?"

The forked tongue slid slowly in and out.

The demon was practically glowing with joy as it had found Kadim’s weak spot. Its wicked tongue flickered mockingly.

—Hssss... So that's what you want to know? Hmm. It wouldn’t be hard to tell you. But not for free, of course… I noticed you've gained a new companion...

"..."

—He looks completely useless. A coward who trembles just looking at a snake's corpse. I was so puzzled why you'd travel with such trash when your glorious comrades were... Or maybe it just makes you feel big and strong?

"..."

—But well... that one does have exactly one merit. His attachment to life seems quite strong.

The snake's mouth split into a chilling curve.

—Bring him here. Gouge out both his eyes and tear off all his limbs. Shredding his guts or skinning him alive wouldn't be bad either. As long as that trash dies in absolute agony... I'll tell you where your old companion is.

Kadim bit his lip hard enough to draw blood.

It was a classic demon’s deal. And a demon’s deal always had a sharp hook hidden behind irresistible bait.

"..."

Objectively speaking, sacrificing the merchant's life would be the right choice.

Demons cannot lie when making proposals and contracts. If he killed the merchant, the demon would definitely tell him about his companion's whereabouts, and that would certainly be true.

It wasn't like Kadim was attached to the merchant. His spirit wasn't soft enough to form bonds after just a month together. He didn't feel sympathy for the merchant either. If having a wife and kids back home was enough to spare someone, Kadim would never have been able to kill anyone at all.

The merchant wasn't useless, but he wasn't irreplaceable either. Nor did he have any aspect worthy of respect. To Kadim, learning the whereabouts of a companion who had slain an Archdemon with him was far more important than some weak man's life.

The truth was… the merchant had been right all along. When push came to shove, Kadim would have ditched him.

"..."

But there was no way in hell the merchant was going to die by his hand.

Objectivity is nothing but an excuse for the weak.

There wasn't a chance in a million he would accept this contract.

That's not how the Great Warrior of Atala lives.

For Kadim, demons weren't for making deals with. Demons were for ripping their skin off, tearing out their flesh, crushing their bones, digging out their guts, smashing their heads in, and jamming a knife in their artery to drink their blood.

He laughed at himself for even hesitating. Why was he even thinking about it? The answer was the same as it had always been, right in front of him. Was he really going to get scared now and negotiate with the enemy?

Better to go down fighting than live like a coward. He looked at the slitted pupils and gave the demon a crooked grin.

"How about you listen to my offer instead of that bullshit?"

—...

"I'll kill you cleaner than last time, and you tell me where my companion is."

A ripple of rage washed over its scales.

Rage settled in eighteen eyes and nine heads surged without hesitation.

—Since you have chosen to die like a fool, there's no need for further conversation.

A wave of killing intent rolled off it as the central head lunged.

—Hsss!

—————CRAAASH!!

The wet ground exploded. The head that carved a deep furrow in a single strike twisted and shot at Kadim again.

—Hsss!

Kadim ducked low and swung his sword up to meet the attack. The blade connected with the demon’s neck as it flew past, scraping a long gash across the olive-green scales.

Skrrrrt—!

But it didn't even leave a scratch. The edge of Mosquito couldn't penetrate the scales as hard as iron armor at all.

Hydra flicked its tongue, sending a disdainful look.

—What a pathetic sword. Did you steal that from some peasant’s kitchen?

"..."

The heads came at him again, without giving him a second to breathe.

—Hsss!

—Hsss!

This time it wasn't just one. The fourth and sixth heads from the side bared their fangs and charged violently.

—————CRAAASH!

He barely managed to dodge, throwing himself into a roll. The sixth head smashed into the ground where he’d been standing. But the fourth head twisted in the air, changing direction to come after him.

Kadim quickly got up and thrust his sword at its eye. But the fourth head was just a feint. The Hydra pretended to extend it while swinging the third head like a hammer from behind to strike his rear.

—————THWAM!

"Ugh!"

The blow was hard enough to break his spine. Kadim could only get up after rolling several times across the ground.

The central head lowered and looked puzzled.

—I don't understand. You can't even dodge a simple ambush like this? You don't seem to have aged in three hundred years, so why have you become so weak?

"..."

—Hssss... Don't tell me you're holding back?

He wasn't holding back. It's just that compared to his first run when he'd reached superhuman levels, this body was merely a somewhat trained mortal.

But Kadim was hiding a certain 'method.'

He couldn't use it yet. He had to save it for when all preparations were complete and the decisive moment came. Kadim silently raised only Mosquito again.

The Hydra muttered while glaring sharply.

—Stop this ridiculous act. If you don't use your full power, your corpse will soon be buried in the swamp.

—Hsss!

—Hssss!

And then followed a wave-like offensive that gave him no time to rest.

Each of the nine heads hid itself in the fog-like demonic energy before shooting out like a bolt of lightning to attack Kadim. They didn't just rely on ambushes either. Sometimes they’d just roar to intimidate him; other times they’d show themselves on purpose just to mess with him.

—Hsss, hsss!

The attacks came from everywhere at once. He couldn't dodge them all from the ground. Kadim leaped high to stomp on heads or jumped onto the body before leaping off to evade.

But there was too much to dodge. Dodging everything perfectly was ultimately impossible.

Crash!

He dodged the fangs striking down by a hair's breadth, but Kadim's body was already in shambles. He’d taken a few direct hits, and his collarbone and a couple of ribs were broken. The toxic fog was already making it hard to breathe, and now it was even worse.

"Huff, huff..."

Still, he'd stalled for enough time.

Glancing back, he saw light approaching through the bushes. Kadim ran toward it with all his might. For some reason, the Hydra just stood there watching him without giving chase.

When Kadim reached him, Duncan held out the torch, dripping with sweat.

"My lord, my lord, I'm, I'm sorry! The humidity made it hard to light the fire... Here's the torch..."

“Run. Get out of here before it comes after you.”

Kadim snatched the torch and shoved Duncan aside. Then he sheathed his sword and drew the throwing axe hanging at his waist.

Torch in one hand, axe in the other. He charged back into the fog, cutting through it like a whirlwind, and focused his will.

‘One shot. That’s all I get.’

HMMMMMM—

Was it his imagination? He felt a deep hum vibrating up his arm from the axe. It felt like the weapon itself was thirsty for blood.

The breathless sprint had built up enough momentum. Through the thick mist, he saw a blurry shape. The target was the Hydra's core, the central head. The moment those two protruding horns came into view, he hurled the axe with explosive force.

WHIRRRRR—!!

Like a flower of steel in full bloom, the axe flew true and hit the target dead-center.

—————CRUNCH!!

This time, the blade didn’t just bounce off. It shattered the scales and blew open the demon’s forehead.

The impact made its eyeballs pop out of their sockets. Poison sacs and skull fragments went flying as blood, venom, and brains splattered everywhere. The Hydra shrieked in shock and pain, its whole body convulsing.

—HSSSSSS!!!

But it would recover quickly even from that serious wound. He needed to burn it with fire to prevent regeneration. Kadim reached for his belt and pulled out a bottle of oil.

He hurled the oil bottle at the thrashing head with all his strength.

Then, waiting for it to dip toward the ground, he sprinted forward and threw the torch right after it.

FWOOOOSH—!

—HSSSSSSSS!!

The head went up in flames. The demon’s thrashing intensified. The smell of sizzling flesh rose, and the damp demonic energy mixed with acrid smoke, creating strange density shifts in the air above.

"Huff..."

Kadim took a deep breath. With the central head out of commission, the others should just be acting on instinct. He could take a breather, then pick them off one by one.

Just like in the old myths, the barbarian had once again incinerated the Hydra. He was about to take a breather when—

—...Did you think I'd fall for the same trick twice, foolish Son of the Wasteland?

CRUNCH—!

Without warning, fangs sank deep into his arm.

Actually, saying they "sank into" wasn't quite accurate. The fangs were so huge that they basically tore his left arm off. It was just hanging on by a scrap of skin.

It happened so fast that Kadim didn’t even have time to properly register the pain. The second head still held his forearm and wouldn't let go. He could only stare, totally stunned.

The regenerated central head was staring at him.

—Three hundred years ago, after losing my neck to your burning axe, I made a resolution. If there were such a thing as a next life, I would definitely obtain a body that regenerates even while engulfed in flames.

"..."

—By gaining a new horn and evolving, I finally achieved that wish. Now, there is nothing that can stop my regeneration. Even if hellfire covered this entire forest, I would shed my skin with budding new flesh and plunge the whole world into chaos.

His trump card was blocked. The enemy wasn't even scratched. He had suffered an unrecoverable serious wound.

It was checkmate. There was no way out.

Kadim let out a small sigh and gently closed his eyes.

He'd once had this thought.

How nice it would be if the story he was living in were like a video game scenario or a mythic heroic tale.

A story where you face all kinds of adversity but always overcome it with brilliant wit. A story where what you want comes to you through miraculous coincidences. A story where you rise from hardship and achieve everything you desire. A story that ultimately converges on a predetermined happy ending.

But his story wasn’t like that.

There was no predetermined happy ending in this world. No safety net to softly catch him if he failed. He had to walk a path where he could fall into the pit of destruction at any moment. He'd even returned to the starting point from what he thought was the end, so now he couldn't even tell if this path had an end.

And he was no hero, either.

He had no brilliant wit, no fortuitous encounters that came to him, and he sure as hell wasn’t noble. He had to hunt down his own allies, make his own tough calls, and slaughter every single one of his enemies so they couldn't come back to haunt him.

And in the end, what did that make him?

A demon of war, leaving bloody footprints wherever he walked.

A life with barely a speck of humanity left.

A story with nothing in it but pain and despair.

A story that’s just brutal, awful, and full of suffering.

"..."

But.

But.

Even so.

This story…

 

…is not about a weakling who gives up and dies.

 

—Hsss?!

The second head let out a sharp cry and quickly retreated. A stream of blood trickled down from the roof of its mouth. The central head narrowed its pupils into thin slits, unable to hide its astonishment.

—...How?

Kadim slowly raised his mangled left arm.

The hole was closing. New bone and muscle were already growing in, the wound healing right before the Hydra’s eyes.

Slowly, he lifted his sword.

His sword, having greedily drunk the demon’s blood, was now glowing with a faint red light. He could get a fresh supply of demon blood anytime he wanted in a fight. He just needed to land one hit, and Mosquito would drink its fill and feed the power to him.

True to a demon with regenerative power as its Unique Nature, the regeneration buff appeared most prominently.

But it didn't stop there.

His muscles swelled and his bones became hard as steel. His senses sharpened like a blade and a wave of powerful bloodlust surged from his very being.

All he wanted was to fight, to kill, to rip his enemy until it's done.

Befitting a High-Ranking Demon's blood, various powerful buffs were starting to stack up.

Kadim wore a savage smile on his lips.

“You talk a lot of trash, but your blood’s pretty good.”

—Hssss...

"But it's still far from enough. I need to wet my throat a bit more."

The snake's pale yellow eyes trembled faintly. A flash of memory from a bygone era came to mind.

The image of a berserker raising a blazing axe, burning with a lust for slaughter more fierce than hellfire, beheading all nine necks and drinking its blood.

The Hydra flicked its dry tongue and lowered its gaze.

Staring back up at it was that same berserker with his eyes glowing red from madness.

He looked exactly the same as he had 300 years ago, back in the Demon Scape.

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