In a Female-Dominant World with a 5:1 Gender Ratio, I Saved a Girl as a Kid, and She Said She Wanted to Be My Bride—Who Would’ve Thought She Was a Princess… - 32

Chapter 32: The Forest of No Return and the Invisible Thread Hanging from the Sky

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(Alto’s POV)

When I leapt over the tall stone walls surrounding the academy and landed in the nighttime wasteland, it felt as though the taste of the air had changed. It was different from the greenhouse-like atmosphere inside the academy, protected by magical barriers. A biting cold pierced my skin, and the wind carried a scent faintly reminiscent of rusted iron.

I raised my collar and looked up at the night sky. The moon peeking through a break in the thick clouds was stained an eerie shade of red. Inside my coat, I carried that tattered journal. My destination lay to the north: the “Forest of No Return.” It would have taken half a day by carriage from the royal capital, but I had no time to waste swaying leisurely in one now.

“…Let’s go.”

I focused my awareness on my lower abdomen and accelerated the circulation of magic power within my body. A technique that wrapped every muscle, tendon, and bone in a membrane of magic power—Body Enhancement magic.

Bang!!

With a sound like the ground exploding, I launched forward like a bullet. The scenery streamed backward at tremendous speed. As the roar of the wind assaulted my ears, my thoughts alone became ice-cold. While running, I kept thinking. The disease known as Magical Erosion, which was eating away at Lilianna. And the unquantifiable void of darkness slumbering within me.

At a glance, these two phenomena seemed unrelated, yet I could not shake the feeling that they fit together like matching pieces of a puzzle. If she was “excessive light,” then I was “endless darkness.” If she was a “receiver” that broke from absorbing too much energy from the world, then I was the “drain” that carried that energy away somewhere else. If a godlike will truly existed in this world and had brought us together…

Was it for salvation? Or for the sake of some grotesque experiment?

Several hours later.

As the sky began to pale, an unnatural sight spread out before my eyes. Beyond the wasteland stood a forest that had appeared suddenly, like a massive black wall. The “Forest of No Return.”

Its name was said to come from bitter irony: once you entered, you would never lose your way again—because you would never leave alive. It was considered one of the most dangerous regions in the kingdom. But the reason I stopped was not only because of the forest’s ominous reputation.

“…What is this flow of magic power?”

Within my field of vision, I could see the torrent of magic power coursing through the world. Normally, magic power drifted gently through nature, circulating through living beings and the land itself—organic, fluctuating, like the flow of a river.

But this forest was different. From the sky above it, countless thin lines of light were raining straight down, like vertical shafts of rain. It was a geometric, inorganic sight, as if innumerable threads dangling from the heavens were forcibly suspending the trees and creatures of the forest.

“…This isn’t natural.”

I raised my alertness to its maximum and stepped into the forest. The moment I entered, it felt like another world. Giant trees blocked out the sky, leaving it dim even though it was daytime. Mixed with the scent of damp soil was that same sharp, rust-like odor that stung my nose. The air prickled, as if it were electrically charged.

Rustle.

The bushes ahead shook. I immediately lowered my stance and focused magic power into my right hand. I hesitated to use that ominous “darkness,” but if it was to save Lilianna, I would use poison or curses without hesitation. What emerged was a single wolf.

A monster native to this region, a Forest Wolf. But it clearly differed from the form depicted in bestiaries.

“…Grrr, ga, gagah…!”

Its body length was more than twice the normal size. Its fur had peeled away entirely, replaced by something like black crystal covering its skin. And most disturbing of all was its movement.

Ignoring the natural limits of its joints, it jerked in stuttering, frame-by-frame motions, as if a marionette were being forcibly manipulated by invisible strings. Its eyes glowed blood-red, devoid of intelligence—or even the survival instinct of a living creature. All that remained was killing intent, blindly obeying an order code that screamed, eliminate.

“A mutated specimen…?” 

I muttered. 

“No, this is different.”

As if responding to my words, the wolf kicked off the ground.

It’s fast!

Acceleration beyond the physical limits of muscle, so reckless I could almost hear its fibers tearing apart. I pushed Body Enhancement to full output and leapt sideways, narrowly evading its claws. The massive tree behind me, struck by the wolf’s swing, fell silently as if it had been cleanly sliced by a razor-sharp blade.

“Tch—this thing…!”

I thrust out my palm and released Impact without chanting.

Boom!

The wolf was blasted away, tumbling across the ground. But it rose immediately. Despite its ribs surely being shattered and its organs ruptured, it showed no sign of pain, moving as if its nociception did not exist.

“Is it a zombie!?”

No blood flowed from its wounds. Instead, a black mist seeped out, writhing to seal the injuries. I narrowed my eyes and attempted to analyze the wolf’s internal structure.

“…!”

I sucked in a breath at what I saw. There was no magic stone, the organ responsible for generating magic power, inside its body. Instead, those same “threads of light” pouring down from the sky were embedded in its back, forcibly supplying enormous amounts of magic power from an external source. This wasn’t battery-powered. It was hardwired.

Was the forest itself—or something far beyond the sky—serving as the power source that drove this monster? External force or… Forced interference? It was like a puppet. It was like a terminal being driven beyond the laws of biology by someone else’s will. There was no way such a creature could occur naturally.

“GRAAAAH!!”

The wolf roared and charged again. Its entire body began glowing red, a suicidal assault fueled by excessive magic power supply. Any instinct for self-preservation was completely absent.

“…You’re in the way!”

I stepped in, slipping into the wolf’s guard. Visualizing the severing of its magic power supply line, I wrapped just a thin layer of magic power around my right hand. I concentrated that abhorrent darkness into my fingertips alone.

Slash.

My hand blade swept through the “invisible thread” connecting the wolf to the sky. There was no physical resistance, but an unpleasant sound, like a circuit being severed, echoed inside my head.

In that instant…

The wolf, frozen midair as it lunged, stopped like a puppet with its strings cut.

Thud.

Its massive body fell to the ground, completely motionless. The red glow faded from its eyes, and the black crystals covering it crumbled away like sand.

“…Is it dead?”

Or perhaps it had been dead from the beginning. All I had done was sever the power source that had been forcibly animating a corpse. As I steadied my ragged breathing, I looked down at the collapsing remains of the wolf. Then I slowly lifted my gaze, peering up through the dense canopy toward the sky. I saw nothing.

Only the red moon and heavy, overcast clouds. And yet, my skin felt it. From far above the clouds, something was watching this forest—and us—with a cold, merciless gaze, pressing down with overwhelming pressure.

Was this “magic”? Was this the true nature of the warm, mysterious “magic power” we had studied? If so, it was far too inorganic, far too violent.

“…What is this forest?”

The man named Gideon, mentioned in the journal. A former court mage, branded a heretic despite his status as a sage. Had he, too, realized the true nature of these “threads from the sky” within this abnormal forest? From deep within the woods came countless rustling sounds. Not one or two. The entire forest had begun to stir, writhing to eliminate the intruder.

“…Fine.”

I clutched the journal inside my coat, pressing it over my heart. No matter how many monsters appeared, it didn’t matter. Unless I unraveled the twisted mechanisms of this world, I would never be able to save Lilianna.

I spread my aura thinly across my body and took a step into the lightless depths of the forest.

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