Chapter 23

Chapter 23
## Chapter 23: The Forest of No Return (3)

—

The sea of emerald growth seemed to stretch on forever.

At some point, the vegetation had shifted from merely thick to a suffocating wall. Saplings, tangled creepers, wild weeds, and nameless blossoms choked the air, while swarming insects hummed through the damp, heavy shadows cast by the overgrown canopy. It was as if an obsessed painter had covered a canvas in layer upon layer of green, leaving no space to breathe.

Even with an axe and a sword carving through the mess, finding a place to plant a foot was a struggle. Thistles and thorns tore at their skin with every lurch forward. Clumps of goblin grass and burrs latched onto their trousers, and the tunics of both travelers were saturated with sticky sap.

They had managed to find a tiny patch of clear ground to rest the previous night. Throughout the ordeal, Kadim had remained silent. Having committed to this path, retreating was no longer a consideration, and he had placed his confidence in the merchant’s navigation.

However, as the sun began to dip below the horizon on their second day, the forest showed no signs of thinning.

Finally, Kadim felt compelled to speak.

“Hey, merchant.”

“Y-Yes… sir?”

“Are you certain of this route? We are still buried in this thicket—it doesn’t feel right.”

“Well, yes, I mean, that is…”

Duncan, whose posture was already defeated, seemed to shrink further. His frantic eyes searched the endless wall of trees for an answer he didn’t have.

He had been agonizing over their position all day. He suspected they had strayed, but he hadn’t found the courage to mention it. After the events of yesterday, he was terrified of the consequences.

*‘I should have just stayed quiet… I should be happy my head is still on my neck and not push my luck…’*

He regretted his silence, but he knew he couldn’t stall indefinitely. With a shaky voice, Duncan finally confessed.

“…I am truly sorry, sir. I believed we were on course, but it appears I was mistaken. We should have reached the open border plains by this hour…”

“…”

In this region, borders were not defined by continuous lines but by specific landmarks. Watch posts were positioned at intervals, leaving the vast stretches of land between them largely unmonitored.

In less strategic areas, these gaps were quite wide. Their intent had been to traverse a thin strip of woodland to slip through the widest of these gaps into the plains.

Instead, they were trapped in a woodland of impossible proportions. Kadim’s eyes narrowed as he gestured toward the map.

“Show me the map again, merchant. Does it show a forest of this magnitude anywhere near our entry point?”

“…N-No, sir. It does not.”

“…”

“The only nearby woods is Twin Winds Forest, but that’s a small patch you can walk through in a day… The only place large enough to keep us lost for two days is the Great Primeval Forest far to the south, where the elves are rumored to dwell…”

The Great Primeval Forest was located nearly a hand’s breadth away from their current position on the parchment. Given the scale, that represented hundreds of kilometers. Not even a traveler lost for a week could have wandered that far off course.

That left only a few grim explanations.

Perhaps they were walking in circles.

“We aren’t looping, sir. I’ve seen the notches from your axe on the trees we’ve passed…”

Perhaps the map was a forgery.

“This isn’t a cheap scrap of paper! I paid two thousand luden for this in a major city! It’s the same type the imperial trade caravans use!”

Perhaps a new forest had suddenly appeared.

“This map is only three years old, sir. A forest this vast couldn’t have grown in that time.”

Or, if none of those were true…

“…”

Regardless of the reason, they needed a way out immediately.

They needed to scout the area before night fully took hold. Kadim commanded the merchant to scale a tree and report what he saw. Eager to make amends for his mistake, Duncan scrambled up a thick trunk without a word of protest.

“Wait! I see smoke, sir! There’s a campfire burning over that way!”

“Understood. We’ll head toward it…”

—Shreek!

Suddenly, a creature lunged from the dirt with a furious hiss.

Kadim’s hand moved like a blur, catching it mid-air. Without a moment’s pause, he wrenched it apart.

Tssshk!

Scales tore and flesh gave way. The snake, as thick as a man’s arm, was ripped into two pieces. To prevent the head from snapping at him in its final moments, Kadim threw the upper half to the forest floor.

Then, the impossible happened.

“…!”

A new tail began to wiggle and grow from the bloody stump of the severed half. The snake, though smaller now, seemed even more vital. Flicking its forked tail, it vanished into the undergrowth in a heartbeat.

“…”

Duncan, having just slid back down the tree, looked on in confusion.

“What was that, sir? Did something… Eek! What is that thing?!”

Kadim stared at the remaining piece of the tail on the ground.

No new head grew from it. Satisfied, he kicked it away.

“We’re moving toward the smoke. If you see another snake, merchant, tell me immediately.”

“W-Wait, that thing was a snake?!”

“…”

Kadim remained silent and began walking in the direction Duncan had pointed out. Fearing he might step on a stray tail, the merchant stayed so close to the barbarian he was practically in his shadow.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

They had used campfires for warmth every night, but starting a fire in these woods was a gamble.

It wasn’t just the threat of a forest fire. In the suffocating darkness of a starless forest, a flame was a beacon. That brightness pulled in everything a traveler feared—from simple moths to ravenous beasts and desperate outlaws.

Kadim wasn’t careless with his fires, but he didn’t fear what they drew. He valued the heat, and he didn’t view monsters or bandits as a legitimate threat.

However, he wasn’t sure if the man sitting by the fire ahead of them felt the same way. Kadim glared at the figure.

The stranger had a twisted, protruding spine and limbs like dry sticks. He was draped in a tattered, filth-stained cloth, with old bandages wrapped tightly around his extremities. His only gear was a collection of rusted iron poles—perhaps shovels or crude staves.

His eyes, reflecting the firelight, were as milky and dull as a dead fish. When he turned his head, he revealed a mouth of jagged, yellowed teeth.

“Nazran.”

“…What?”

“That is my name. Nazran. Who are you?”

The greeting lacked any pretense of politeness. As Kadim watched him silently, Duncan stepped into the light.

“This is Master Kadim, and I am Duncan. He is a mercenary, and I am a merchant. What brings you to a place like this, Mr. Nazran…?”

Nazran let out a wet, rattling laugh. He lifted his bandaged limbs and gestured to himself.

“Is it not obvious? Where else does a hunchbacked leper with no fingers or toes go? I have drifted through the desolate corners of the world until I landed here.”

“…”

“It’s a fine forest. No one here to pelt me with rocks or spit on me… Though I do miss the salt. It makes scavenging easier, heh heh heh…”

At the mention of leprosy, Duncan scrambled backward in a panic. Kadim, however, didn’t move an inch, his expression cold and unreadable.

Nazran watched Kadim with a spark of curiosity.

“A leper doesn’t frighten you? Or is that just how you barbarians are? I’ve heard the steppe shamans have charms against the rot.”

“They used to. I wouldn’t know now.”

“Heh, I suppose so. It’s been a long time since your kind left the steppes to wander these lands…”

Duncan looked puzzled. He had assumed the barbarian was a fresh arrival from the mountains, unfamiliar with the civilized world. How could he not know about his own shamans?

Ignoring the merchant’s confusion, Kadim addressed Nazran.

“Tell me what you know of this place. This forest isn’t marked on our map.”

“Lost, are you? Why come to this gods-forsaken hole? There’s nothing here but monsters and those hiding from the light…”

“…”

“Ah, I see! You two aren’t exactly saints either, are you? Running from something? Heh, why bother running? Just rot away here with me.”

A flash of anger crossed Kadim’s face. Nazran flinched for a split second but quickly returned to his mocking laughter.

“Heh heh, just a joke… You have the eyes of a ghost, you’re a terrifying one. Fine. I’ll tell you what you want to know about the woods…”

“…”

“But surely you don’t expect the information for free?”

Duncan, sensing the barbarian was a hair’s breadth away from killing the man, stepped in.

“What do you require? We have a bit of gold or some dried rations—it isn’t much, but…”

“I have food enough, and what use is gold to me? Can I pay the beetles to bring me nectar? Heh heh…”

“…”

“I want… a tale. A story for a story. There’s something I’ve always wanted to ask a barbarian…”

His milky eyes fixated on Kadim. Kadim didn’t blink. Duncan shifted uncomfortably between them.

Then, Nazran asked something that stunned them both.

“They say the women of the barbarians are legendary in the furs… Is it true?”

“…”

“I’ve never touched a woman—my body is a ruin. But if the chance arose, I’d love to have a young barbarian girl. I bet they’d open their legs even for a leper if the coin was right, heh heh…”

The veins on Kadim’s forehead throbbed with rage.

In his past life as a modern man, his connection to the people of Atala had been distant. But after surviving his first life and enduring endless prejudice, his hatred for people like this had become a core part of him. These words were a direct stain on the honor of Atala’s shamans—his former brothers-in-arms.

He didn’t hold back his axe because the man was sick. Whether a man was dying or healthy, Kadim believed a mouth that spoke such filth deserved to be silenced.

He stayed his hand only because he noticed something off.

“…You claimed your fingers and toes were gone. Why are your bandages so full, then?”

Nazran’s grin didn’t falter.

“I’ve stuffed them with straw. It feels wrong to be empty—I have to make do.”

“…”

Kadim didn’t believe a word of it. He stepped forward and seized the man’s bandaged wrist.

As he began to pull at the cloth, Nazran’s face twisted into a grotesque sneer.

“Heh heh… You really want to see?”

“…”

“…You’re going to regret this.”

Kadim ignored the warning and ripped the bandages away.

What lay beneath was a cluster of nightmare flesh.

Dozens of individual fingers were growing out of the palm, sprouting thick and clustered like fungi in a damp cave.

“Gah!”

The sound of Duncan’s gasp and the whistle of Kadim’s axe happened in the same heartbeat. The steel blade sliced through the air in a shimmering arc.

Swoosh—crack!

The severed limb hit the dirt, the monstrous hand still twitching.

But Nazran didn’t scream. He actually looked pleased, standing perfectly still.

Tssshk, tzub-vub—

Slowly, two brand-new forearms began to push their way out of the bloody stump.

“I told you that you’d regret it.”

The haze vanished from his eyes, replaced by a deep, oily malice.

Nazran cast aside his tattered rags. Beneath them was no hunchback, but a torso equipped with two extra pairs of arms and an additional leg.

They were horrific. The extra leg at the base of his spine was as thick as a pillar for stability. The arms were elongated, possessing extra joints that defied human anatomy.

He looked like a botched experiment from a dark laboratory.

Despite his bulk, Nazran moved with terrifying speed. His six hands grabbed the iron rods and swung them at Kadim with murderous intent.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Kadim leapt back. One of the rods caught his cheek, leaving a thin trail of red. As Nazran prepared for a follow-up strike, he hissed through his broken teeth.

“You don’t learn, do you, barbarian? Your little toys won’t leave a mark on me, heh heh…”

“…”

“You poked your nose where it didn’t belong, and now you pay. Forget about leaving. I am the predator here—you are just meat…”

Nazran suddenly stopped, his taunt dying in his throat.

The barbarian was thrusting his axe and sword directly into the heart of the campfire, waiting for the metal to glow a dull, angry red.

The leper’s smirk began to fade. Kadim rolled his shoulders and spoke in a flat, dangerous tone.

“This is just overgrown brush that’s gone too long without a gardener… it’s time to trim the hedges.”

“…”

“And if I sear the cuts with flame, they won’t be growing back.”

The barbarian gripped the glowing hilts, his gaze as cold as winter.

Fire and steel were about to prune the monstrosity before him.