Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Demonic Cultist
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I stopped wrapping the bandage and rose from my seat. Then I slowly walked toward the mountain of a man with bandages slung over his shoulder—Byeok Cheonwi. With every step, the fishy stench of blood mixed with herbs and sweat stabbed at my nose. Groans echoed from all around, and the boisterous tales of valor from the squad members who'd just returned rang out noisily.
At the center of all that clamor was Byeok Cheonwi.
"You called for me, Squad Leader?"
I stood before him and clasped my hands in a formal salute. He nodded in satisfaction. His eyes scanned me up and down like a beast sizing up its prey—a gaze that would cow most martial artists.
"Word's reached my ears that your skills are something special. You roughly massage a guy with crushed bones, slap on some ground-up herbs, and he's up and running around good as new."
His words were praise, but laced with sharp intent to test me.
"You're too kind. The patients were just sturdy, that's all."
Byeok Cheonwi let out a hearty "Hahaha!" His booming laugh seemed to hush the surrounding noise for a moment.
"Humble, too. I like that."
He wiped the grin from his face and pointed to his own shoulder. Even through the bandages the senior physician had wrapped tightly, dark red blood was faintly seeping through.
"Take a look at my wound."
"My apologies, but your wound was already treated by the Senior Physician..."
"No one's questioning the Senior Physician's skills. But I want your opinion. About this unpleasant energy lingering in the wound."
His eyes turned deadly serious in an instant. I met his gaze, then shifted mine to the wound on his shoulder. I didn't need to see it up close to know. The sinister, chilling aura I'd sensed in the other squad members—that force hindering recovery and gnawing at their life force—was emanating from Byeok Cheonwi's wound in a density beyond compare.
I closed my eyes briefly and focused my mind. The mental energy I'd burned through treating countless patients was scraping bottom. My head throbbed.
'Damn, am I hitting my limit?'
That was when Bang Soso passed by my side, carrying wet cloths between the injured men.
"Senior Brother, you look exhausted."
She whispered just loud enough for me to hear. As she did, her hand brushed my side oh-so-naturally. Or rather, pretended to while guiding my hand to her waist. The soft, ample sensation. Without thinking, I lightly gripped that generous curve.
Squeeze.
In that instant, a tingling pleasure surged through me, followed by a fluffy warmth spreading from my palm throughout my body. My throbbing head cleared, and my depleted mental energy began to refill. The same astonishing effect as always.
Bang Soso flashed a bright smile as if nothing had happened and went on her way. Her smooth calf gleamed beneath the fluttering hem of her skirt. No one noticed that fleeting touch—except the Senior Physician far off, watching me, whose brow furrowed ever so slightly.
With my mind sharpened, I turned to Byeok Cheonwi.
"In my view... it looks like a kind of evil energy disrupting the flow of qi and blood."
"Evil energy?"
"Yes. It's not like a normal wound. This energy burrows into the body through the injury, blocking the meridians and hindering internal energy circulation. Like a living venomous snake slithering through the veins, devouring life force. The longer it goes, the deeper it roots itself."
Byeok Cheonwi's eyes gleamed brighter at my explanation. The squad members and physicians watching us looked stunned. Even the Senior Physician stroked his goatee with evident interest.
"Ho. The Senior Physician said something similar—'contaminated by Demonic Energy.' But not nearly as detailed as you."
Byeok Cheonwi smiled in satisfaction. He seemed to decide no further testing was needed.
"Good. Your skills check out. Now to the main point."
He abruptly turned and strode toward a tent at the edge of the training grounds.
"Follow me."
I trailed after him. Paeng Daesan saw me off with eyes full of envy and awe. We crossed the training grounds packed with the wounded and arrived at the most remote tent, guarded like a fortress by two elite Azure Dragon Squad members. A chill tension hung in the air around it.
At Byeok Cheonwi's gesture, the guards at the entrance opened it with tense expressions.
"On this mission... we brought back an item."
He said lowly as he stepped inside.
"Check it with your own eyes. Tell me if there's a way to treat it."
I followed him into the tent. The dim interior reeked of dampness and fishiness. And in the center was it.
A man bound head to toe in thick iron chains, gagged.
But no ordinary man. His skin was dyed a dark crimson, his eyes flashing with mad red fury devoid of reason. His muscles bulged unnaturally, twitching, and despite the chains digging into his flesh, he growled like a beast, glaring at me.
The Demonic Energy pouring from his body was incomparably denser and more malevolent than what I'd felt in the squad members outside. If anything, it was living malice itself.
"A Demonic Cultist."
Byeok Cheonwi's heavy voice rumbled from behind me.
"We captured one of the ones rampaging in the Secret Cave alive. But this one's condition is deteriorating. It's like... he's turning into something not human."
He was right. The man's body still held a human shape, but the energy within was no longer human.
'Incredible Demonic Energy.'
I swallowed dryly without realizing it. The tent brimmed with malevolent aura that clawed at my lungs with every breath, dizzying my mind. Any ordinary physician would fall ill just from exposure. The traces I'd treated outside were mere faint echoes. This was the source.
But.
'Compared to the Black Elder... this is nothing.'
That black-robed old man shadowing Cheonha Young. Compared to the blood-and-death aura he'd exuded, this was like a screaming child. His had been a silent abyss devouring all; this was a wild, uncontrolled storm. Manageable enough.
Byeok Cheonwi asked me. Expectation mingled with a hint of unease in his voice.
"What do you think? Can you... turn that thing back into a 'human'?"
I kept my eyes on the man as I replied.
"I'll have to try."
I approached without hesitation. As I drew near, his thrashing grew more violent. Clang! The chains screamed taut, and he whipped his head wildly, gagged mouth snapping at me like he wanted to bite.
"Graaaargh! Grrrrr!"
My mere presence seemed to inflame his madness. I reached out to place my hand on his forehead. In that moment, Byeok Cheonwi watching cried out urgently.
"It's dangerous!"
No matter. The man's head lunged like a snake, jaws wide for my wrist. But just before his teeth touched my skin, my eyes met his.
'Stop.'
My will surged as a hypnotic wave, commanding his chaotic mind directly.
Freeze.
His frenzied movements halted as if by lie. His mouth hung open in the air right before my wrist, frozen. His bloodshot eyes trembled faintly.
"...!"
Low exclamations escaped Byeok Cheonwi and the guards. Ignoring them, I gently pressed my palm to the man's damp forehead.
Then closed my eyes.
'Just like the Silkworm Devouring Poison. Only this time, the foe isn't a bug—it's the Demonic Energy itself.'
Focusing my consciousness, his mental world began to flow into my palm. I sank my mind deep into the layers of his subconscious.
Whoosh—!
My vision went black, and in an instant, I was sucked into a realm of pitch darkness and blood-red storms of chaos. Ear-splitting screams and curses echoed from all sides, the air thick with the stench of blood. This was the man's mind, fully consumed by Demonic Energy.
At the center of his mental world spun a massive dark crimson vortex, devouring everything. That was the Demonic Energy's core. I approached it. The closer I got, the pressure multiplied exponentially. Pain like my mind tearing apart assailed me.
Amid that agony, I pierced to the essence of the Demonic Energy.