Rising swiftly from the bed of Barong, whose smoky remains lay scattered about, Wisesa still cried out Alicia's name in an attempt to halt her heedless wanderings. But the girl marched on as if the world around her had faded into nothingness.

Wisesa stepped forward, positioning himself directly in Alicia's path. Her complexion was ashen, and the veins in her face stood out starkly. Her right hand clenched to the torn, bloodied cloth of her left sleeve. Surely the necromancer's undead would mistake her for their kind. But no dead had ever a glimmer of defiance burned in their eyes like her own, and her brows knitted in resolve instead of hunger. Disillusionment dripped from her face like raindrops. Whatever thoughts or words may cross Alicia's mind, Wisesa could only hope they align with the expectations he had held from her all along.

"I called you earlier," Wisesa stated.

Alicia inched. "Please. Just leave me alone..."

How could that man have abandoned her and revelled in celebrating Alicia Crimsonmane's passing? A sense of guilt had already taken root within him. Wisesa blocked her path again.

Alicia's voice trembled even more with anger. "I told you... leave me alone!"

The sulking girl's plea remained unheeded. Wisesa crouched down and examined her wound from afar. Her hand, now a deep shade of blue and rigid, lay clawed and immobile. To make matters worse, the discolouration had crept from the side of her neck to her chin through her blood vessels.

Wisesa shook his head. "Oh, man. Nah, man, nah... You're dying, missy, dying like a pale dead pig! Your wounds are really bad. The poison from the Leyak has spread."

"So...? What do you care?"

Wisesa tried to maintain an air of detachment, believing that hiding his outburst of conscience would preserve his image as composed and principled. "I... don't care," he lied. "I simply want to where you're going, missy."

No answer from Alicia, at all. She thought Wisesa was mocking her after that heartless lad had so callously cast her into the clutches of five fanged monstrosities. For Wisesa, however, the destination of the Camelot girl was no mystery—not to Camelot, of course.

"You won't make it to the village gate alive! Not with the poison in your system!" the lad added.

“I’ll go to Ki Semar’s greenhouse.”

“You won't even make it to the main road!”

"I'll treat myself with Orb."

"Why not do it now?"

"And t-take the opportunity to kill me while I'm weak?" Alicia whimpered, turning her head. "No, thank you."

Alicia's attitude was grating on Wisesa's nerves, and it irked him even more when he could reflect on it as his own. The situation between the two was reversed now. Wisesa confronted her once more, "Come on, you know a mage can't heal themselves by relying on their mana alone. They'll only die because their life force is used up to heal wounds!" The lad walked slowly after Alicia. "Even if Arcane increases magic power, you'll pass out because you don't have the strength to endure all that pain, then die lying down. Is that what you want?"

The only sound that reached Wisesa's ears was the dragging of feet, a very clear answer for him. Wisesa paced back and forth, sweating. His nibbled fingernails betrayed the inner turmoil he felt as his conscience warred with the dark whispers of Barong.

"Alright, that's enough!" Wisesa rushed towards Alicia. Alicia could hear the pattering of the man's feet, and without hesitation she summoned Orb from her waist rucksack, pointing at Wisesa with one hand like a man with half of his body dead.

"Wisesa! I swear, if you push me, I'll end you!"

Wisesa stared at Alicia for a moment before his fist landed squarely on her blue-tinged arm! The entire wilderness was thrown into an uproar in horror at Alicia's blood-curdling scream. She crumpled to the ground, her body rolling in agony, and Orb slipped from her grip.

Alicia moaned, cursing vehemently with spittle flying. "Cursed, w-wretched being...! Cursed…, cursed ye be!"

As for Wisesa, he ignored the protest and picked up Orb with both hands. Of course, the blistering was rewarded to him. Although the swearings and gritted teeth in his mouth could not be contained, Wisesa still forced himself to carry the Divine Grace back into Alicia's rucksack.

"Damn, that hurts!" Wisesa wagged his hands. The blistering sensation was not just a false sense. "Look what your ball fella did to my hand!"

Alicia's body was lifted despite her struggles. She flailed and fought back, raining punches down upon Wisesa's hands and even his head. She even attempted to bite the man's arms out of desperation, but unfortunately, the young man's arms were under her chest.

"Wh-what are ye doing?" Alicia panicked.

"That's it, don't talk anymore! Your wound is getting worse!"

Alicia fought back. Within seconds, tears streamed down her face.

"Let go of me, let go! I've had enough of you! I hate you! I HATE YOU! Away from me, ya cursed creature! I dinnae want tae lay eyes nor talk with you again!”

Wisesa endured the girl's outpouring of hatred and anger patiently, until it melted into a sob on its own. "Yes, yes. You're late to the party just like the others. Didn't I tell you I have done them all first?"

Then Wisesa hoisted Alicia onto his shoulders. The girl's legs did not stop flailing weakly against his stomach in hateful kicks, along with a barrage of fists from behind. Speaking of energy depletion, Alicia was more than willing to spend her life force on hurting Wisesa, even if it brought her one step closer to the Gates of Hades.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Where are ye taking me? Want to hide my corpse? Stop it! Whatever yer depraved thoughts are, stop!" Alicia continued to berate him.

Wisesa almost fell over. "Miss! You're already heavy, stop moving!"

"You idiot! Let go of me! Let me go!"

"You're the moron! Do you want to die here? You need immediate treatment!"

"Lies! You want to kill me! You want to kill me!"

Amidst the bespectacled girl's thrashing, Wisesa scanned his surroundings. Alicia's screams were right in his ears, but the foreign noises were clearer. A shiver ran through his body. He beheld the sky. It was indeed getting dark, and there was never a pleasant scene in the middle of the forest at night.

Wisesa made a hissing sound. "Did you hear that?"

"What? Stop haverin'! You! Must! Let! Me! Go!" Alicia's scream grew louder.

"Shit!" Wisesa cursed under his breath. "We need to get to the hut quickly!"

Wisesa sped through the forest with Alicia on his shoulders. He no longer cared if the woman kept spouting off about how much she hated Wisesa and never wanted to see him again anywhere in the world. All he cared about was: the moon was already making its appearance, and a series of threatening sounds kept coming to his ears. It was curious that Alicia remained oblivious to these sounds.

The old hut he lived in was no longer gaping, apparently. Wisesa crashed through the front door and threw Alicia straight onto the bed. It was as if Wisesa had never learnt how to treat a lady from her mother, so much so that the girl's cries were intensified when her left hand landed hard on the mattress, unfortunately, woven with rattan.

Wisesa rummaged through the cupboard. He found a chest of fragrant blooms and a small sack of unknown contents. Just as his foot was about to step into the doorway, Alicia suddenly sprang up, pedalling her foot down with all her might to get ahead of the man.

"Oh, no, no, no!" Wisesa went into a frenzy. Whether it was instinct or he just liked being rude to ladies, he suddenly kicked Alicia in the stomach, causing her to crash back to the bed!

Her coughing intensified the urge to vomit her entire intestines. The sting of a bite wound had already attracted her spirit to the afterlife again, and the kick made the thought of escape the bottom of the list.

Wisesa stepped out into the yard, where he sprinkled the white powder from the small sack. After a complete white circle had encircled his house, he covered it again with a scattering of flowers from the chest.

Wisesa walked back into the hut, and there he saw Alicia, huddled against the wall, eyes wide with fear. Her gaze was fixed upon him as if staring into the eyes of a psychopathic killer or sexual predator.

"I need some Arcane might!" Wisesa urged.

Alicia was still wincing, still cradling her injured hand. "T-to Hades with you...!"

A deep exhale from Wisesa's nose. He knew how foolish he was to expect the Kalimasada blessing from the lass he had dreamed of disappearing. Wisesa had no choice but to perform the mysterious ritual himself. He went outside again, sitting cross-legged and muttering the sacred words. His hands danced rigid motions, dominated by the clapping of shoulders, thighs, and the ground.

As the last stanza of the mantra echoed in the still night air, flames flickered to life in front of him, tracing the outline of the circle of flowers and white powder. For a moment, the night was alive with the dancing fire, until the flames slowly died out and Wisesa could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Alicia remained lying in Wisesa's private room. The blue poison had partially covered her body. Her only movements were the rise and fall of her breathing, as she wrestled against the cold sweat drenching her body.

Wisesa did not enter in the same hurry as before, and on his hands, a small folding table and a set of clay vessels filled with various seeds, herbs, flowers, and other ingredients. He placed a large-mouthed vessel on the table, filling it with white sand and placing hot charcoal on top. To the sand and charcoal, he added incense powder and a different set of flowers than those used earlier. The smoke rose and filled the room, bringing a soothing aroma to Alicia's sinews as she inhaled it.

"What’s… the m-meaning... of t-this smoke?" Alicia was still stammering. "Y-you... want to kill me... while… I’m d-drunk...?"

"No."

"Y-you ... want ... to enjoy m-my body, hm?" Alicia occasionally winced. "Make me... feel worthless... before y-you strangle me... to... death?"

Wisesa sighed again, eyes rolling. In her half-drunk state, the lass was still an ace at throwing out high-profile accusations. "If just once... you don't hold prejudice against me like the others?"

"A-after what you did to me?"

"Yes, that's right. After what I did to you."

"Not my fault… people have always d-despised you..."

What a slap to that young shaman!

Wisesa decided to feign deafness. He again put a pinch of orange and yellow coloured powder into the vessel. The scent of the smoke was not only becoming more fragrant, but also gave a warm feeling inside all chests. He rubbed his hands together before resting them on the vessel while chanting a spell:

"Wit jati pitu ing gunung

Wit jati pitu aku negor

Kaping pitu mantra iki gulung

Ping pitu laramu digawa menyang bokor

Aku sumerep aji ngangkap pati

Urip mati, mati ora kelakon"

The shaman recited the same incantation seven times before grasping the hot charcoal and squeezing it. His hand was unfazed by the heat, in stark contrast to his past experience with Orb. He withdrew his hand, then took off his belt, offering it to Alicia.

"W-what...?" asked Alicia, puzzled.

"To gag you," replied Wisesa. "If you don't want it, fine."

Alicia was still reluctant. Wisesa did not care. He tossed the belt onto the girl's thigh and then took hold of her hand. Alicia did not resist; she was too weak. Only anguished sighs and piteous whimpers came out of her mouth.

"P-please," Alicia whimpered. "D-don't do this—"

Wisesa squeezed her blue hand and Alicia screeched like a slaughtered animal!

The Camelot girl was already gasping for breath after screaming like a woman in labour, but Wisesa's alternative medication was merciless. He massaged Alicia's arm—precisely around Ahool's bite mark and cuts of the Leyak's tongue. The wounds erupted with a torrent of blue fluid, intermingled with the girl's blood, spilling into the waiting vessel. Her cries echoed through the forest, a symphony of suffering that chased the birds from their perches, lest they be caught up in the maelstrom of her agony.

Alicia clamped down on Wisesa's leather belt, using it as a means of distraction from her pain, though the suffering was far from abated.

Slowly, Alicia's azure hue began to fade as the last ounce of the ethereal blue liquid continued to be gathered and moulded to her wound under Wisesa's gentle massage.

"Almost there! Almost there!" Wisesa continued to rub her hands together.

Alicia let out a muffled groan while shaking her head—a signal to the bastard shaman that her soul threatened to soar beyond the heavens. Wisesa burst into laughter the moment he deftly drew the last toxic drop from Alicia's being.

After a series of tumultuous and torturous screams of Tartarus on earth, Wisesa's healing session finished with satisfactory results. Thankfully, Wisesa did not reside near any prying neighbours who might have suspected the conjugal battle that had transpired within his walls (the night animals took the role, but what could they do to Wisesa?). Alicia could not find a pillow to prop up her dazed head (Wisesa snatched it away). She lay there, helpless and on the verge of fainting. Her once tempestuous breathing was now restored to a tranquil rhythm. Nevertheless, this act of contrition did not absolve Wisesa of the penitence he must pay for his devillment. []