Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Part 18

“Why does healing make me colder and more painful?!”

“I-It's because... my constitution is a little unusual...”

“Unusual? Don't make me laugh! You're doing this on purpose, aren't you? Trying to screw us over!”

Roberan approached threateningly.

Seo Hwarin trembled and backed away.

Tears gathered in her eyes.

She felt wronged.

She truly had done her best.

She knew her mana was different from everyone else's.

So whenever she healed someone, she desperately tried to filter out the strange energy.

But the more she suppressed it...

The weaker her healing became.

No... I need to suppress it more...

She instinctively bit her lip.

Inside her body...

The exact opposite of a Saintess's power was coiled tightly.

Black.

Sticky.

Deadly.

“Leader, let's just abandon her.”

The Mage beside them spoke irritably.

He knew the party could barely function without a Healer.

Yet he did not hide the disgust in his eyes.

His healing magic was far weaker than Hwarin's...

But at least he could use some.

“Honestly, she keeps ruining our rhythm. Every time I get healed by her, I feel disgusting. I can't even focus afterward. It was the same the last time she healed me.”

“Haa... I only brought her because she was cheap. Damn my luck.”

Roberan stared coldly at Seo Hwarin.

He did not look at her as a companion.

He looked at her like defective equipment.

Or roadside trash.

“Get lost. You're expelled from the party.”

“W-What? W-Wait! Right here?!”

Seo Hwarin desperately grabbed Roberan's pant leg.

“We're in the middle of an Orc base! How am I supposed to leave alone?!”

“Why should I care? Crawl down by yourself or become Orc food.”

His answer was merciless.

Roberan kicked her away.

Thud!

Seo Hwarin rolled helplessly across the ground.

Dust covered her white clothing.

“Let's go. More Orcs are gathering. If we waste any more time, we'll get surrounded.”

“P-Please! I was wrong! I won't even heal anymore! I'll carry your luggage! Just take me to the portal!”

“Shut up! Get lost!”

The party turned away without looking back.

But they only managed a few steps.

“Chwik! Humans!”

“Meat! There's even a soft female!”

Dozens of Orcs poured from the ridges and valleys.

Orc Warriors armed with rusty axes and serrated blades.

They had completely blocked the humans' escape.

“D-Damn it! When did so many gather?!”

Roberan hurriedly drew his sword.

There were more than thirty.

The remaining four party members were already exhausted.

They could not handle this many.

“Grrrr... Kill them! Skin them!”

“ROOOOAR!”

The Orcs narrowed the encirclement.

Their murderous gazes passed over the party members...

Then stopped on Seo Hwarin, who was still sitting on the ground.

“Eek...!”

She trembled and backed away.

There was nowhere to run.

The party that had abandoned her stood ahead.

Savage Orcs surrounded her from the sides and behind.

I'm going to die.

Her instincts screamed.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Her heart raced.

As her fear reached its limit...

Something deep inside her began to move.

No... Don't come out...!

Seo Hwarin desperately suppressed her power.

As the life-giving power of the Saintess weakened...

Black and sticky energy rushed to fill the empty space.

Death Energy.

Her second power.

The authority of a Necromancer.

Her instincts told her exactly what would happen if she stretched out her hand.

She could dry the blood from those green monsters.

She could rot their bodies until nothing remained.

But she could not allow that.

If I use this... I won't be human anymore.

She bit her lip until it bled.

Even if she died...

She wanted to die as a human.

Every time she used this Death Energy...

The darkness consumed more of her.

In the past, she had used her Necromancer power several times.

Afterward, she had spent nearly two months feeling like someone else was living inside her body.

“Mage! Put up a barrier!”

Roberan screamed.

BZZZZ.

The Mage moved his staff.

A shield appeared.

But Seo Hwarin was outside it.

“Chwik!”

WHOOSH!

An Orc's axe came down toward her head.

Then...

BOOM!

A heavy explosion echoed through the battlefield.

“...?”

Roberan froze.

Seo Hwarin froze.

Even the Orc holding the axe stopped.

Because the Orc's head had exploded like a ripe watermelon.

THUD.

The headless corpse collapsed at Seo Hwarin's feet.

Dark red blood spread across the dirt.

“Chwik?! W-What?!”

“Who's there?!”

The Orcs turned.

Through the thick cloud of dust...

Two men approached.

“I'm a little late.”

A calm voice came from the dust.

A black-haired man with sharp eyes.

A cold sword in his hand.

Behind him stood a huge man holding a shield like a castle wall.

Han Yugeon.

Cha Mincheol.

“Mincheol.”

“Yes, hyung!”

BANG!

Yugeon's order fell.

Mincheol slammed his mace against his shield.

[Giant's Roar]

“ROOOOOOAR!”

“CHWIIIIIK!!”

It was the wide-range Taunt skill Mincheol had possessed from the beginning.

The Orcs immediately turned toward him.

Humans were right in front of them.

Yet they ignored everyone else and rushed toward Mincheol in the distance.

That was close.

Yugeon looked at Seo Hwarin.

If he had arrived slightly later...

She would have released her power.

The calamity of Floor 78.

The Queen of Corpse Flowers.

The worst boss who, in Yugeon's previous life, slaughtered countless Awakeners and turned an entire floor into a land of death.

Yugeon had arrived moments before the seed of that tragedy sprouted.

Step.

Step.

Shing.

Yugeon slowly approached and drew the Godslayer Sword.

Slash.

Slash.

SLASH SLASH SLASH!

His blade moved smoothly.

Orc heads began falling.

Yugeon's walking speed did not change.

He simply moved his sword lightly from side to side.

Yet every Orc that charged him lost its head.

“W-What the hell... is that guy...?”

Roberan swallowed.

These were Orc Warriors.

Even if his entire party attacked together, they could barely handle a few at once.

Yet that man was cutting them down as easily as weeds.

“Chwik! He's strong! Stop him!”

An Orc Captain roughly three times larger than the others pointed his weapon forward.

But a giant shield charged through the Orcs.

“Not happening!”

BOOM!

SCRAAAAAPE!

Mincheol charged like a bull.

Several Orcs were pushed backward.

Even in pure strength...

They could not stop him.

“Good job, Mincheol.”

A terrifying killing intent poured from Yugeon.

Ding!

[You have activated Heaven-Annihilating One Sword.]

The gigantic Orc Captain stood in the distance.

Yugeon swung toward him.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

“What the...”

CRAAAAACK.

The Orc Captain...

And the wasteland itself...

Split in half.

“Ch-Chwik!! Run!!”

Their leader died.

The land itself had been split open.

The surviving Orcs fled in terror.

“Whoa... You made a canyon.”

Once the battle ended, Mincheol lowered his shield and stared into the newly formed crack in the ground.

It was so deep that the bottom could not be seen.

All from one swing of a sword.

Yugeon walked toward Seo Hwarin.

“Are you okay?”

“Ah...”

Yugeon held out his hand.

She stared blankly up at him.

A black-haired man.

Deep, calm eyes.

It felt as though those eyes could see straight through the darkness she kept hidden inside herself.

“H-Hey!”

Roberan finally recovered from his shock and rushed toward Yugeon.

“Who are you?! How are you that strong... No, wait. I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Roberan, leader of the Flame Awl Party. If you're interested, perhaps we could work together...”

“Get lost.”

Yugeon cut him off coldly.

He did not even look at him.

“...What?”

Roberan's face twisted.

“Get lost? You think you're something because you're strong? Hey! Are you ignoring me? Do you know who I am? And that Healer is one of our party members! You can't just...”

Shing.

The Godslayer Sword stopped beside Roberan's neck.

Cold sword energy brushed his skin.

Roberan gasped.

The killing intent was even stronger than when Yugeon massacred the Orcs.

“You abandoned her.”

Yugeon's voice was low.

“You called her useless and threw her away. You even left her outside the barrier. And now she's suddenly your companion?”

“Th-That's a misunderstanding...”

“Say one more word and I'll cut off your head too.”

He meant it.

Roberan understood instinctively.

This man would not hesitate to kill another person.

He stumbled backward.

“L-Let's go! He's insane!”

Roberan and the remaining party members fled.

They did not even glance at Seo Hwarin.

The woman they had abandoned.

They only cared about escaping alive.

Yugeon approached her.

Seo Hwarin shrank back.

“D-Don't come closer... I-I'm...”

Yugeon did not stop.

He held out his hand.

“Can you stand?”

Seo Hwarin hesitated.

She looked at her own hand.

Faint black energy still swirled around it.

If she touched him...

He would know.

He would realize she was something wearing the face of a Healer.