Chapter 3: Doku Ryu no mori

The Doku Ryu Forest was an expanse of unforgiving wilderness, a labyrinth of gnarled trees and twisting roots that stretched endlessly in all directions. Legends whispered of the horrors that lurked in its depths, beasts so venomous that even their breath could wither plants, creatures so savage that no seasoned warrior dared to tread too far.

It was not a place meant for humans.

Yet, Li-Jua and Ishi ventured deeper.

They traveled by night. A deliberate choice. Less visibility meant fewer eyes watching, but it also meant greater danger. The nocturnal monsters of Doku Ryu were the true apex predators. Silent hunters. Camouflaged killers.

Ishi had been the one to suggest the nighttime travel, and to Li-Jua’s mild surprise, the girl didn’t seem even remotely concerned about the risks.

She should have been.

Li-Jua had spent her life studying the dangers of this forest. She had memorized the toxins, dissected the creatures, brewed antidotes from their corpses. The merchants who supplied her village often brought ingredients harvested from Doku Ryu’s treacherous grounds, and many of those who entered never returned.

And yet… Ishi walked forward without fear.

Li-Jua didn’t question her. She wasn’t the type to pry. If the girl wanted to be reckless, so be it.

But by the fourth night, as the trees grew thicker, the growls of unseen predators echoed all around them. The air was no longer just humid,it was thick.

It was poisonous.

"Ishi."

Li-Jua’s voice was calm, but firm. A warning.

The blonde noble turned slightly, a lazy smirk tugging at her lips. "Yes, my dear White Mage?"

Li-Jua ignored the teasing.

"You’re not stupid. You’ve noticed it, haven’t you? The deeper we go, the denser the venom in the air."

Ishi didn’t respond. She only tilted her head.

"A normal person wouldn’t have lasted this long," Li-Jua continued. "Most people would be violently ill by the second or third night,if they weren’t already dead.”

Her blue eyes narrowed.

"And?"

Li-Jua exhaled through her nose. Fine. She would cut to the point.

"I’ll put it simply. Unless you are completely immune to this type of venom, you are going to collapse soon."

Ishi raised an eyebrow, still looking too amused for someone in danger.

"And if you do, even with my magic, I won’t be able to cure you."

That finally seemed to get Ishi’s attention.

The young noble’s smirk remained, but her eyes sharpened.

Li-Jua folded her arms. "So tell me now, are you immune? Or just resistant? Because if you need it, I can cast a protection spell. It’ll hold for five to seven days, enough to get us out of here before the poison kills you."

Ishi chuckled.

"I was waiting for you to offer."

Li-Jua’s brow twitched.

"You knew the spell’s duration from the start."

Ishi’s grin widened. "Of course."

Li-Jua exhaled sharply, shaking her head. "You’ve been holding out, haven’t you? Trying to endure as long as possible."

"Ah, my dear healer, you’re so very astute," Ishi replied, eyes gleaming with that infuriating mischievousness. "I suppose I no longer need to keep up the act—"

Her words were cut short.

Suddenly, she collapsed.

Her knees hit the damp earth with a thud, her body folding forward as she coughed violently, splattering blood onto the forest floor.

Li-Jua’s breath hitched.

"Tch."

So, that was it. How stubborn could this girl be?

Had she truly calculated the risk? Or was this just pure arrogance?

Either way, she was dying. Li-Jua had to act fast.

Li-Jua began chanting the purification spell that would rid Ishi of the poison. If she wanted the enchantment to last long enough for the girl to survive the remainder of their journey, she had to focus, there could be no interruptions.

She took a deep breath and started:

"Dea venti, deus aquae, deus terrae.

Spiritus arborum.

Mater vitae et mortis pater.

Purifica servum tuum, qui innocenter praedae veneni hostilis incidit.

Pure..."

However, before she could finish, something lunged at them from the shadows.

A whip-like appendage, covered in jagged barbs, lashed toward Ishi’s head with lethal precision.

Without hesitation, Li-Jua threw herself in front of the attack. The barbs tore into her side, ripping through flesh and muscle, but she never stopped chanting.

"Dea venti, deus aquae, deus terrae.

Spiritus arborum.

Mater vitae et mortis pater.

Purifica servum tuum, qui innocenter praedae veneni hostilis incidit.

Pure..."

Blood dripped from her wound, staining the ground beneath her, yet she held her ground.

Ishi, now splattered with the healer’s blood, remained frozen in place. The venom had weakened her far more than she had anticipated, she couldn’t move.

Through the haze of pain and fear, she managed to shift her gaze toward the creature looming behind Li-Jua.

It was a Rafflesia. A nightmarish plant-based monster, infamous for its hunting methods. It impaled its prey with its venomous tendrils, keeping them alive just long enough to drag them into its gaping maw, a grotesque pit lined with rows of blade-like teeth.

Before Ishi could react, another tentacle shot toward them.

This time, Li-Jua moved again.

But instead of blocking it with her body, she took the hit directly to her face.

The impact was sickening.

The spiked tendril tore through her skin and muscle, crushing her cheekbone and twisting her once-delicate features into a mutilated, blood-soaked ruin. Flesh peeled away in ragged strips, and her eye was nearly forced from its socket.

And yet, she did not stop.

She kept chanting.

"Dea venti, deus aquae, deus terrae..."

Her voice never wavered.

"LI-JUA!!!" Ishi screamed, desperation and guilt surging through her like fire.

Tears blurred her vision.

This was her fault.

Her arrogance, her stubborn refusal to confide in Li-Jua, it had led to this.

Now, they were both going to die.

The Rafflesia’s tentacles tightened around Li-Jua, dragging her closer to its open maw.

But then, something changed.

Li-Jua wasn’t moving.

Or rather, she wasn’t being pulled.

She was pulling the monster toward her.

The monstrous plant twitched violently, its tendrils straining as if trying to break free. But it couldn’t.

Li-Jua wasn’t letting go.

Despite her ruined face, despite the excruciating pain, she kept chanting.

Minutes passed in an agonizing battle of will. The Rafflesia thrashed wildly, desperate to release the tendril embedded in the healer’s face.

But it was too late.

Li-Jua had bitten down on the tentacle with what remained of half her mouth, locking her jaw with an unyielding grip, and with the other half she was still doing her spell.

The creature screeched.

Its body convulsed violently, unable to escape, unable to fight back.

And then, the chant finnally ended.

The purification spell was complete.

Li-Jua rose to her feet, her body soaked in her own blood and the monster’s vile fluids.

The Rafflesia, still connected to her by the tentacle lodged in her face, writhed in agony. It couldn’t move.

With one monstrous pull, Li-Jua yanked the massive creature toward her.

The moment it was airborne, she leapt forward, twisting her body mid-air, and delivered a devastating kick.

Her foot tore through the monster's center, splitting its massive form in half.

A surge of putrid yellow bile and rancid gastric fluids exploded outward, drenching Li-Jua in the creature’s remains.

Silence followed.

Ishi could only stare.

Li-Jua—her face ruined, her body covered in blood and filth, stood victorious.

"Li-Jua, are you okay?!" Ishi called out desperately, staring at Li-Jua’s back.

"Huh?" Li-Jua responded without turning around. "What do you mean?"

She grimaced, shaking off the excess slime clinging to her.

"Ugh, damn Rafflesia… they smell absolutely vile. I hate them with every fiber of my being. You know," she mused, "when I was little, I had to eat a few of them every now and then to build up immunity to their poison."

Ishi couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

How could she be so calm?

She had just been horrifically wounded, her face torn apart, her body pierced by poisoned barbs, yet here she was, complaining about the smell as if nothing had happened.

"B-But… your face!!" Ishi stammered, wide-eyed.

"My face?" Li-Jua finally turned to her, tilting her head slightly.

Her face was still smeared with blood and the disgusting bile of the Rafflesia, but aside from that…

It was completely intact.

What had once been a shredded mass of flesh and bone was now flawless again, her smooth, ivory skin unblemished, her emerald eyes as sharp and piercing as ever.

"H-How is that possible…?" Ishi whispered in disbelief.

Li-Jua blinked, as if only now realizing what Ishi meant.

"Oh, the wound?" she said nonchalantly. "Well, the moment I noticed you were resisting the poison on the second night, I started casting regenerative spells on myself. That, combined with my naturally high regeneration from my training, lets me heal easily. But keeping such a strong spell active for two days straight burned through a ridiculous amount of mana."

She stretched lazily and sighed.

"Basically, I'm completely drained now."

She spoke as if it were nothing more than a mild inconvenience.

Ishi was speechless.

But before she could process everything, Li-Jua suddenly stepped toward her.

"But more important than my face…" Li-Jua muttered.

She knelt down in front of Ishi, tilting her chin upward with a gentle yet firm hand. Their faces were mere inches apart.

Her deep green eyes locked onto Ishi’s with an intensity that made her shiver.

At that moment, she didn’t look like a White Mage at all.

She looked like a knight.

A savior who had just pulled her from the jaws of death.

Ishi felt her heart race. Her face grew hot.

W-What was she doing? Was she… going to kiss her?

Ishi's breath hitched.

Then...

THWACK!

A fist came down hard on the center of Ishi’s head.

"YOU LITTLE SHIT!" Li-Jua roared.

Ishi yelped in shock as Li-Jua started yelling at her.

"Are you trying to get us killed?! What the hell were you thinking?! How long were you planning to resist the poison? Until your leg fell off or something, you absolute idiot?!"

Ishi clutched her head, eyes tearing up from the sudden impact.

"I-I’m really sorry!" she sniffled. "I take full responsibility! I thought I could endure it…"

Li-Jua sighed dramatically and approached her again.

Ishi flinched, squeezing her eyes shut, expecting another hit.

But instead, a gentle hand rested on her head.

Li-Jua patted her softly.

Her voice was suddenly much softer.

"It’s fine. There’s no need to cry," she murmured. "You're just a kid. We all make mistakes."

Ishi froze.

Her heart pounded even harder.

From this close, Li-Jua looked… ethereal.

Her white robes, now completely torn and drenched in blood, only made her seem more otherworldlya battle-worn angel, a beautiful yet terrifying guardian who had just faced death itself to protect her.

Ishi swallowed hard.

She had never seen anything so breathtaking.

Suddenly, Ishi snapped out of the daze caused by Li-Jua’s gentle beauty. Her overwhelming pride wouldn’t allow her to let that comment slide.

"What do you mean, a child?! I’ll have you know I bled by the blessing of the Moon Goddess long ago! I’m fifteen years old! How dare you call me a child? Besides, you’re not that much older than me!"

Li-Jua smirked, clearly amused.

"Ohh, so the little princess is already fifteen? How grown-up!" she teased mockingly. "Well, I’m older than you, which makes you the child, KID!"

Ishi fumed. Her cheeks puffed up in frustration as she prepared a sharp retort...

But before she could say a word, Li-Jua pressed a finger against her lips.

"Silence." Li-Jua’s expression suddenly turned serious. "Something’s close. Something much worse than the Rafflesia. We have to run. Now!"

A massive tree crashed down beside them, shattering the ground beneath it.

Something had snapped it like a twig.

That something landed in front of them, blocking their path with terrifying speed.

A dark purple dragon stood before them, its sleek, wingless body exuding a mist of toxic fog. Its razor-sharp claws gleamed as it prepared to strike.

Li-Jua knew exactly what it was.

The Doku Ryū. The Master of the Forest.

It had existed for eons, and no one who had ever seen it up close had lived to tell the tale.

What could they do?

Li-Jua was exhausted. Even if she fought, she couldn't guarantee Ishi’s survival, she had no mana left.

She had only one choice: distract the dragon long enough for Ishi to escape.

"Ish—" Li-Jua began, but was immediately cut off.

"Shut up, insolent White Mage."

Ishi’s voice was sharp, her tone arrogant. "You’ve already had your moment to shine. Now it’s my turn."

The noble girl reached into her pocket and pulled out the same stone from which Li-Jua’s staff had emerged.

Then, she began to chant.

The small stone started to glow.

But the Doku Ryū didn’t wait.

It lunged straight for them.

Yet Ishi was faster.

From the stone, massive jagged rocks erupted, sharp, covered in dirt and shards, piercing deep into the dragon’s scales.

The attack didn’t stop.

More and more stones surged forth, forming a whirling vortex of boulders.

An avalanche of flying rock engulfed the dragon, creating a colossal prison around it.

Minutes passed.

The swirling mass of stones had become a mountain.

Ishi staggered, panting.

"That should hold it… at least for now."

And then, she collapsed.

Li-Jua stood frozen.

She couldn’t believe it.

But there was no time for hesitation.

That spell had been powerful, but not permanent. The Doku Ryū was already beginning to break free from its makeshift cage.

Without another second of delay, Li-Jua hoisted Ishi onto her shoulder and ran.

She dashed through the dense forest, her body moving on sheer instinct.

Her mind, however, was racing.

Who the hell was this girl?

A noble… capable of casting magic that powerful? Could it be possible that..?

No.

Questions could wait.

Right now, they had to escape.