Chapter 26

Chapter 26
## Chapter 26: The Forest of No Return (6)

—

The second head lunged toward him, fueled by a scorching rage.

* Shhiik!!

Kadim braced himself, planting his feet like deep roots and dropping into a low, stable center of gravity. As the beast’s maw closed the distance, he drove both hands upward in a brutal, sweeping arc, his grip tightening on Mosquito.

“Hraaaargh!”

――――― Kwachijijijik!!

From the tender underside of the throat to the dense bone of the cranium and the thick, armored scales of its brow—the steel, propelled by inhuman power, split the massive serpent’s skull in a single motion. Gore and grey matter erupted like a snapping lash; the detached head rolled and spasmed as if possessed by its own frantic life, twitching in every direction.

* Sss, shiik! Shishishi!

Kadim refused to relent.

He swiped the crimson spray from his arm. Whipping his blade in a massive, whirling revolution, the sword stretched to its limit without losing a fraction of its momentum. The hydra’s heavy throat was decapitated with a single, clean stroke.

―――――― Tzugeugeugeok!

The massive frame shuddered like a burst pneumatic tube. From the raw, open stump of its neck, a relentless hiss of pressurized air whistled out.

* Sssik, ssssaaaah……

Even as the meat began to crawl and knit together amidst the carnage, the hydra struggled to mend itself. Kadim vaulted onto the stump, straddling the wound, and began a rhythmic, merciless butchery of the exposed flesh.

Puk, jjeok, puk, puk!!

Every new sprout of healing tissue was instantly drowned in fresh blood. The sword’s edge thirstily drank the spilling essence. The tide of blood energy surging through Kadim’s system grew thicker and more potent.

* Shhiik!

The third head darted in to stop him. Kadim mirrored his previous movement exactly. Sword poised, frame coiled low, then detonating upward with the strength of his legs to shatter the skull. The third head met an identical end, pulverized into a ruin of bone and scales.

However, the hydra had used that head as a sacrificial pawn. Capitalizing on the moment Kadim’s sight was clouded by gore, the fifth head struck with the speed of a lightning bolt.

Kwajik—!

His reaction was a fraction too slow; the fangs locked firmly onto his left calf. Kadim’s expression didn’t flicker with a hint of panic.

―――――― Tzugeok!!

He twisted his torso, channeling the full weight of his momentum into a devastating horizontal swing.

The frantic edge tore through the beast’s skull, shattering the upper jaw and snapping fangs simultaneously. The shredded mouth involuntarily surrendered its hold on his leg.

“……”

Kadim glanced down at the puncture wounds. His left leg, which had been nearly bitten through, had already mended itself perfectly. The lethal toxins within the fangs caused nothing more than a passing wave of lightheadedness.

A flicker of hesitation crossed the hydra’s remaining eyes.

* Shhiik!
* Shiiik!

The hesitation was brief; it retracted the mangled stumps and rotated its healthy heads forward to resume the siege.

It had been momentarily caught off guard, but its focus returned. Its fighting spirit remained high, yet the strength of this berserker was not the mindless, chaotic force it remembered from 300 years ago. Without its demonic kin to support it, the beast found itself struggling to contain him alone.

No matter how much it lashed out, it shared a single body. It could not endure a perpetual, multi-front war indefinitely. Furthermore, every time a head was fully severed, it split into two, which was beginning to overcomplicate its own movements.

At this pace, the hydra assumed the man would eventually tire and wither under the sheer volume of the assault.

That calculation proved to be a fatal error.

“Hraaaargh!!”

Instead of weakening, Kadim became increasingly more cataclysmic and savage as the minutes passed. The endless stream of demonic blood saturated his veins, pushing his adrenaline into a state of permanent overdrive. Every minor injury vanished the moment it appeared, rendered irrelevant by his healing factor.

If anything, it was the hydra that was forced into a desperate, defensive scramble.

The severed necks produced duplicates, swelling the head count, but each new manifestation was thinner and more fragile, their individual striking power diluted.

Kwadududuk!!

Kadim grabbed a cluster of the serpentine necks and wrenched them together with a sickening crunch. Scales and muscle tore like wet parchment, compressed into a singular mass of ruined meat. The hydra was left stunned.

Kadim cast the mangled flesh aside and buried his blade into yet another skull.

――――――― Tzok!

――――――――― Tzugeugeok!

The interval between his strikes was shrinking.

Now, his capacity for destruction was outstripping the beast’s ability to heal. The primary, central head watched the slaughter with growing anxiety. Kadim narrowed his eyes and shifted his focus toward it.

“Why hasn’t that head come at me?”

* ……Shik.

“It has something to answer for.”

A wave of cold terror washed over the central head.

In reality, the other heads were merely extensions—limbs. Only this one possessed true cognition and mastery over the biology—the core. If this head fell, the creature would revert to a state of mindless animal reflex.

Sensing its doom, the hydra tried to retreat deeper into the murky swamp. But Kadim vaulted over the mounds of fallen heads and torsos, closing the gap to the main neck in a heartbeat.

Spinning like a top in midair, he brought his weapon down with the force of a falling star.

――――――― Jje—ok!

* Siiiiiiiik!!!

He dragged the buried blade downward with all his weight. Scales were ripped away; the flesh was split in a long, jagged trench. Without a second thought, Kadim thrust his bare hand into the wound.

Groping through the viscous, warm tissue, his fingers finally clamped onto a solid wooden grip. It was the hand axe he had thrown earlier, which had been swallowed by the skull during its rapid regeneration.

Jjeojeok—!

He wrenched it free, splitting the brain matter in the process. The central head hit the mud with a dull thud. The light in all its eyes faded instantly. The hydra’s tactical mind vanished, leaving behind only a beast driven by survival instinct.

* Shik, shiiik!
* Shik, shik, shik!

The healing process hadn’t stopped completely. The fractured brains were already pulsing, attempting to fuse back together. But regaining its central consciousness was a distant hope. With an axe in one hand and a sword in the other, the blood-crazed warrior gave it no room to breathe, hacking away at the heads with mindless repetition.

Jjeok, puk, seok, jjeok!

Meat sprayed the air; fragments of bone whistled past. Venom and fluid geysered upward. If the creature insisted on mending itself forever, he would butcher it until it was too terrified to try.

The secondary heads made half-hearted lunges, but they were no longer a concern. They were the thrashing of a dying animal, not calculated strikes. A few quick slashes to their necks sent them recoiling in primal fear.

All the while, Mosquito’s steel continued to gorge itself on the endless supply of blood. Satiated to the point of overflowing, the blade pulsed with a deep, radiant crimson. Its wielder was no different. The sheer pressure of the blood-rage turned his scarred skin a vivid, angry red.

The demonic blood was a fountain that wouldn’t run dry—there was no fear of his strength fading. However, a different, inevitable problem was surfacing.

This power was not a cost-free blessing.

Kadim had clearly consumed far too much blood energy.

“Huff, huff, huff……”

His breathing was jagged; his muscles twitched uncontrollably. His veins throbbed against his skin, and his heart hammered against his ribs like a caged bird.

His awareness began to fray, like looking at the world through a heat haze. The edges of his vision were stained in scarlet. A sensation like molten lead boiled in his chest, thick and suffocating.

Fury and adrenaline fueled his violence; his arms moved with terrifying speed. With every swing, the hydra was reduced to a pulp of unrecognizable meat. It wasn’t enough. He needed to be faster, more thorough, erasing every trace of its existence until nothing remained.

Jjeok, seok, jjeok, jjeok, jjeok, jjeok!!!

Every impact drew more ichor.

As the concentrated blood energy began to evaporate from his skin like a red mist—

Tzubok…… Tzubbubbuk……

Kadim finally perceived that the hydra’s mending was slowing to a crawl.

“Huff, huff……”

He forced his arms to stop, gasping for air. He couldn’t finish it just yet. He waited until enough of the creature had reformed for it to speak.

Eventually, a small, weak serpent head pushed through the mass of ruined meat.

* Dam……n it…… Hurts like hell……. You brute……

“……”

* Shhiik, if the…… demons of the Demon Realm…… had been with me…… I wouldn’t have ended up…… like this……. As expected…… taking you on alone…… was impossible……

Kadim grabbed the serpent by its neck, his face twisted in a dark scowl.

“Give me an answer. How did you return to life, and what happened to my companions?”

* ……

“Remain silent, and I will ensure your death is a thousand times more painful and degrading than the last.”

The hydra’s bloodshot eyes rolled. Its scales stood on end from the sheer weight of his killing intent, but it seemed past the point of fear. It was spent, its will to survive extinguished.

Nevertheless, the demon decided to speak.

* Ironically…… those two questions…… lead to a single name……

“……What are you talking about?”

* Shhik, the person who pulled me back from the void…… and scattered the demons across these lands…… is one of your own comrades.

His red eyes widened.

A tremor of shock rippled through Kadim’s gaze. The serpent’s mouth curled into a mocking grin.

* Why……? You find that hard to swallow? Shhiik, but…… it’s the reality. Even if you deny it now…… the truth will find you……

“……”

* Or is it…… the sting of betrayal? A friend who fought at your side…… who hunted my kind with you…… now paving the way for us……?

“……Explain yourself. Name them, tell me where they are, and why they would side with the demons.”

* Ah, I can’t give you that……. That’s the part I want to keep for myself. Shhik, shuk, siii……

“……Answer me.”

* Beg all you like…… it won’t change a thing. Go on, wander the continent like a lost dog…… use those skills to find your traitor, son of the wilds……. Shuk, shuk, siii……

The serpent’s head went limp. Kadim’s frame shook with a violent tremor; he squeezed his hand shut and let out a guttural scream.

“ANSWER ME!!!”

Kwajik!

The neck was crushed into a pulp. Scales and gore oozed between his fingers. There was no response.

Livid, Kadim threw the remains aside and raised his weapons once more. He began to shred the house-sized carcass into ribbons.

――――――― Jjeok, jjeok, seok, seok!

Blood, meat, and fluids sprayed everywhere. The regeneration had finally ceased. Having surrendered its spirit, the hydra was no longer bound by its immortality.

――――――― Jjeok, seok, jjeok!

Gore and bone. The body began to settle into the muck of the marsh. There would be no more words. The hydra was truly gone. Not a single muscle moved.

――――――― Kwajik, kwajik, kwajik!

More blood, more meat. No—there was still hope. Deep in the pile, he saw flesh moving, mending. It wasn’t his imagination. Of course, the filthy demon was lying. It had died once, so it would do anything to avoid it again.

Kadim stabbed, slashed, and hammered with his axe, tearing at the meat. He wouldn’t stop. He would inflict so much agony that the beast would be forced to reveal everything. The healing continued. The flesh seemed to sprout like weeds no matter how many times he cut it back.

Bugureut, bugureureut, bugureureureut……

The massive corpse sank deeper into the mire, gas bubbles breaking the surface. The blood fanned out, turning the dark water into a thick, black-red soup.

But Kadim was blind to it. A deafening ringing filled his ears. His vision was a solid wall of red as the veins in his eyes began to burst.

――――――― Seok, peok, peok!

It was like standing on the deck of a sinking vessel, yet Kadim didn’t think to move. The hydra was still alive. He couldn’t leave until he had his answers.

His feet sank into the soft earth. The descent accelerated. It passed his knees, then his waist. Kadim didn’t care. His chest and then his shoulders went under—he remained focused only on the rising flesh he had to kill.

Just as the mud reached his lips, threatening to pull him under for good—

“……! ……!”

A vine whipped through the air and coiled around his torso.

The pull was weak. Yet, it was enough to snap the haze of his mind like a brittle thread. Kadim reached up and hauled himself upward; the mud gave way. Finding the shore nearby, he pulled himself onto solid ground with ease.

“M-my……! L-lord! Are you…… okay?”

A thin voice pierced the red fog: the merchant. But Kadim had no time—a piece of the hydra was still stuck to him.

* Shhiiiiiik!!

Kadim began hacking frantically at the serpent clamped to his left arm. The healing wouldn’t stop, but no words came out. With the face of a vengeful demon, he screamed until his voice cracked.

“ANSWER ME!! ANSWER ME!!! WHO BROUGHT YOU BACK!! WHO DID IT!!! SPEAK BEFORE I TEAR YOUR FACE OFF!!! ANSWER!!!”

He only stopped when the merchant grabbed his arm, sobbing in terror.

“My lord! My lord!! Stop! I beg you, stop! Y-you can’t do this! You must stop!! P-please, come back to us!!”

A sudden, sharp pain cut through the heat, chilling him to the core. Kadim stopped his assault and slowly looked down.

What he saw made his heart stop: his own left forearm, shredded into a bloody mess.

There was no hydra. It had been his own limb the entire time. It had been regenerating endlessly, fueled by the demon blood he had absorbed.

“……”

Duncan stood back, trembling, watching the warrior with a look of pure dread.

A heavy, suffocating silence settled over the swamp. It was as if the madness had never happened. The brutal performance was over.

Kadim looked up. The presence of the demon had vanished, and the magical fog had lifted—a clear blue sky was visible above. Yet, the world inside his head was clouded by a rising red mist, dark and impenetrable.

Two words fell upon his consciousness with the weight of a mountain.

Blood Mania.

The nightmare that had plagued his previous life, something he had tried so hard to forget, had returned.