Chapter 1: Urubuzu ni nage rareta

Her first assignment was meant to be a mere formality, a trial mission to integrate her into one of the empire’s elite adventuring squads. The team she was assigned to was composed of hardened veterans, each a master of their craft. Their task was straightforward, clear a dungeon that had been deemed a minor threat to trade routes, a routine extermination of monsters too weak to pose any real danger. Li-Jua, as a newly appointed Healer, was expected to observe, to support when necessary, but otherwise remain in the background.

Draped in the white robes that marked her as a healer, her long chestnut hair cascading down her back in soft waves, she followed the group in silence. Her deep emerald eyes scanned the dungeon with detached boredom, taking in the damp stone walls, the faint glimmer of torches reflecting off slick surfaces. She was supposed to feel honored, to feel excitement at the prospect of beginning her illustrious career. Instead, she felt nothing.

At first, everything went as expected. The team moved through the corridors with practiced ease, dispatching weak creatures without breaking a sweat. Li-Jua remained at the rear, staff in hand, watching as blades clashed, spells ignited the air, and enemies fell one by one. None of them required her assistance; they were too skilled, too efficient. It seemed this mission would pass without incident.

Then everything went wrong.

The dungeon was not what it seemed.

The creatures they had been slaughtering so effortlessly had not been weak at all. They had been watching, analyzing, waiting. The moment the adventurers let their guard down, the real threat emerged. The walls trembled as hidden passages opened, revealing monstrous figures, far larger, far stronger than anything the team had anticipated. These were not mere beasts. They were intelligent hunters, feigning weakness to lure their prey into a false sense of security.

The air filled with the sound of steel meeting flesh, of desperate cries and the sickening crunch of bones being shattered. Warriors who had once stood invincible were tossed aside like dolls. Assassins who prided themselves on their speed found themselves outmaneuvered. Mages had their incantations interrupted by claws and fangs before they could even complete a spell.

Blood soaked the floor. Screams echoed off the dungeon walls.

Li-Jua stood still, watching as the elite of the empire were torn apart.

She could have healed them. She could have rushed forward, casting spells to mend their wounds, to buy them time to fight back. That was what she was trained to do. That was her purpose.

But she knew it wouldn’t matter.

Healing was meant to prolong battles, not turn the tide of a slaughter. These adventurers, so arrogant in their superiority, had already lost. Their bodies were broken, their strategies useless. Trying to save them would only mean throwing herself into the chaos and dying alongside them.

And she had no intention of dying here.

The air was thick with the stench of damp stone, rotting flesh, and the sickly-sweet scent of fresh blood. The once-steady glow of the adventurers’ torches flickered erratically, their light casting grotesque shadows across the dungeon walls. The silence that followed the initial massacre was suffocating. Li-Jua stood amidst the carnage, her white robes now painted in deep crimson, her emerald eyes flickering with something unrecognizable, something primal.

Around her, the creatures stirred.

They were not ordinary beasts, nor simple dungeon monsters. These were abominations, twisted mockeries of wolves, standing on two legs, their bodies contorted into unnatural shapes. Their skeletal structures jutted at odd angles beneath their matted fur, their elongated limbs twitching as they flexed their claws, each digit ending in jagged, black talons designed to rend flesh from bone. Their snouts, filled with rows of needle-sharp teeth, dripped with thick saliva, the remnants of their last meal still clinging to their putrid gums.

And their eyes… their glowing, red eyes burned with intelligence.

They had set a trap. They had lured the adventurers in, studied their movements, their tactics, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

But now, they hesitated.

Because something was wrong.

The Healer was not cowering.

The Healer was not trembling.

The Healer was standing amongst their dead, a smile slowly curling across her lips.

Then, she moved.

The closest beast barely had time to react before Li-Jua’s bare fist slammed into its snout. A sickening crack echoed through the chamber as its skull caved inward, its jaw snapping like brittle glass. The creature’s body jerked violently as it was lifted off the ground by the sheer force of her punch, sent hurtling backward into the dungeon wall. The impact was devastating, bones shattered, organs ruptured, and in an instant, it was nothing more than a twitching pile of broken flesh.

The other wolves lunged.

One came from her left, claws swiping for her throat. Li-Jua ducked low, twisting on her heel before driving her elbow into its ribs. The sound was unmistakable, like dry twigs snapping beneath a heavy boot. The beast howled in agony, but before it could recover, she grasped its thick fur, yanked its massive head down, and brought her knee up with explosive force. Its skull split upon impact, a grotesque spray of blood and brain matter splattering against her pale skin.

Another beast pounced from behind, jaws wide, aiming to tear her shoulder apart. Without looking, Li-Jua sidestepped at the last moment, allowing its momentum to carry it past her. She caught its arm mid-air, twisted, and with a brutal snap, tore it from its socket. The monster shrieked in unbearable pain, but its cries were cut short when she drove the jagged end of its own severed limb through its throat.

More came.

Fangs glistened in the dim light, claws sought her flesh, but Li-Jua was a storm. She was not a trained warrior, nor a master martial artist, she fought with pure instinct, with an animalistic rage that surpassed reason. Her small frame moved with impossible speed, weaving through attacks with an unnatural grace, her every strike fueled by raw, unrelenting power.

A wolf beast lunged at her from the front, she met it head-on, gripping its skull with both hands and squeezing. It thrashed, claws raking at her arms, but it was useless. Her fingers dug deep, crushing bone, and with a sudden wrench, she ripped its head clean off its shoulders.

She was covered in blood now, her white robes a distant memory.

The beasts hesitated.

They had never encountered something like this.

A Healer who did not heal.

A woman who tore through them as if they were nothing.

A predator amongst predators.

Then, the ground trembled.

A guttural growl, so deep it sent shivers through the air, echoed through the chamber. The remaining beasts backed away, their once-murderous eyes now filled with something else. Fear.

From the darkness, it emerged.

The Alpha.

A monstrosity among monsters, standing nearly twice the size of the others. Its fur was darker than the abyss itself, matted with grime, blood, and viscera, some its own, most belonging to the countless victims it had devoured. Its mouth, filled with jagged teeth, foamed with thick saliva, strings of it dripping onto the stone floor as its lips curled into a feral snarl. Its red eyes burned with an unquenchable hunger, locked onto the lone girl standing amidst the carnage.

Li-Jua inhaled deeply, her chest rising and falling with exhilaration. Her pulse quickened, but not in fear.

Excitement.

For the first time in her life, she felt alive.

The Alpha did not hesitate.

It lunged forward, the sheer force of its movement shattering the stone beneath its feet. Its claws, each one the size of a dagger, slashed through the air toward her, aiming to cleave her in two.

Li-Jua did not dodge. She knew she could heal herself later, she felt invincible.

She stepped into the attack.

The Alpha’s massive paw met her forearm, but instead of slicing through flesh, it halted, stopped by something unbreakable. The impact sent a shockwave through the room, dust and debris erupting from the force. The beast’s eyes widened in disbelief.

She was just… stronger.

A grin stretched across Li-Jua’s bloodied face.

Then, she struck.

A single punch.

A single devastating, bone-shattering punch, aimed directly at its skull.

The impact was cataclysmic.

The Alpha’s head snapped backward with such force that its spine twisted unnaturally. The wet sound of bones fracturing, of muscles tearing apart, was drowned out by the thunderous boom that followed. The beast’s massive body was lifted off the ground, its momentum carrying it across the chamber until it crashed into the stone wall with such violence that the dungeon trembled.

Its body slumped.

Its chest rose and fell once.

Then, nothing.

Silence.

Li-Jua exhaled, licking the blood from her lips.

And she smiled.

For the first time in her life, she was free.

For the first time in her life, she did what came naturally.

She fought.

Not as a Healer. Not as the support they expected her to be. But as the warrior she had always been, buried beneath years of forced training.

By the time the dust settled, she stood alone.

The creatures lay in pieces around her, the dungeon walls splattered with evidence of their annihilation.

She turned to face to what remains oh her team, expecting perhaps gratitude, or at the very least, relief.

Instead, she found only fear.

A Hero Turned Pariah.

They did not thank her.

They did not see her as their savior.

Instead, they whispered amongst themselves, their gazes filled with suspicion and horror.

"A Healer shouldn’t be able to do that."

"She didn’t even use magic…"

"What if she set this up?"

By the time they returned to the city, the rumors had already spread. Li-Jua was no longer seen as a prodigy, she was seen as a threat. The Adventurers’ Guild, the Imperial Court, and even her own clan looked upon her with distrust. It was impossible, they said, for a Healer to possess such power. She must have been a spy, an enemy infiltrator, someone who had orchestrated the entire event to gain their trust.

The verdict was swift.

Stripped of her status, accused of treason, she was cast into the depths of the imperial dungeons. Shackled in cold iron, left in the darkness beneath the castle, she was given only one fate, execution at dawn.

Her clan did not defend her. They had never wanted her in the first place. The adventurers she had saved did not speak for her. To them, she was something unnatural, something dangerous.

She hated all of them. She cursed all of them on her mind, and swore she would destroy all of their joy and happiness one day.

But fate was not finished with her yet.

As the night stretched long, the heavy silence of the dungeons was broken by the soft creak of a cell door swinging open. A figure, cloaked and hooded, stood before her. No words were spoken. No explanations were given.

A key turned in the lock. Chains fell from her wrists.

With nothing left to lose, Li-Jua stepped through the open door, leaving behind everything she had ever known, stepping into the unknown.

Into her freedom.