Chapter 48
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Plenty
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- Hey, Park Seha! You watching this!
Choi Yuna's desperate scream flowed through the communicator.
- I can't even get close right now!
The workshop's large monitor displayed the current situation in stark clarity. The split screen showed both the underground area where Yuna was and the top floor where the S-ranks were locked in confrontation.
"......"
On the screen, the massive golden tree at the center of the underground cavern was overwhelmingly imposing just by existing.
Kuuuung...
Dense energy swirled like a storm around the tree. The screen flickered with static from the intense waves. Even watching it made it hard to breathe.
"W-Wait a second!"
Yuna's body was covered in wounds. Red burns like scorch marks. And that was just from getting briefly close to the Sun Branch. Was there a way?
"Ugh."
I desperately recalled the info I'd seen in the Alchemy Gallery.
The Sun Branch was a pure crystallization of life force. And Yuna's injuries. Clearly, the excessive life force pouring from that tree was acting like physical force, blocking access.
"...Then."
The solution was surprisingly simple. Hadn't I dealt with this kind of thing countless times?
Counter it with the exact opposite force to cancel it out.
The opposite of life force. Demonic energy. And I had a potion made using it. Unconsciously, my eyes drifted to the black vial sitting on one corner of the workbench.
- Kwarrrrang!
While I hesitated, a massive explosion erupted from the screen showing the top floor.
Cheon Hyuk-jin's single strike shattered the dozens of layers of mana barriers like glass. The other S-ranks weren't faring much better. The situation was spiraling out of control.
The Cheon Hyuk-jin captured on camera seemed to have given up maintaining a human form. Or could you even call that human?
His body was breaking apart and his skin cracking under the rampaging power, but the Sun Branch fragment embedded in his heart forcibly kept him together.
A grotesque body repeating destruction and regeneration. It looked just like a single demon beast.
- Kraaaah!
He didn't even seem to feel the pain. He endlessly unleashed power outward. Golden energy swirled around his body, pressuring the three S-ranks. They were all focused solely on defense, anxiety flashing across their faces.
'No.'
There was no time. If they fell, it was all over.
I realized I couldn't hesitate any longer. My lips were parched. No matter how dangerous the solution I'd found, there was no other way.
"U-Um... Yuna."
I grabbed the communicator with a trembling voice.
"There's... a way to break through it, but... that method is kind of..."
- What is it! Why!
Yuna's urgent shout came back.
"Disrupter..."
The crystallization of demonic energy that collapses mana circuits.
"If we use that to offset that power to some extent..."
- Yeah?
Yuna seemed to grasp what I meant instantly. Rough breathing mixed in over the communicator.
- You mean if I douse myself in that, I can get through?
"Huh? Uh... Y-Yeah, but... N-No! Your mana circuits could get wrecked!"
She didn't seem to fully grasp the risk, so I practically screamed it.
"The wounds you get going inside. If the Disrupter seeps in through those...!"
- I know.
"...Huh."
- Someone has to do it.
I couldn't argue with that.
And it was so very her.
"...Ha."
If Yuna was going to do it, my role was to minimize the risks as much as possible.
"Then drink one Recovery Potion before dousing yourself with Disrupter, and keep another in your mouth. You have to hold out as long as you can."
Then Chun-sik chimed in with support.
"Master. I did the math."
Chun-sik pointed to the complex data on the tablet.
"Current status... Body activation at max from overdose of buff potions. Recovery Potion regeneration. Factored in the barrier's density and Disrupter penetration speed."
I clutched my throbbing head and added a few more variables to the data he'd brought.
"Time for Disrupter to seep into barrier-inflicted wounds. Including Recovery Potion, the limit you can endure is... 15 seconds?"
"Correct. Any longer and permanent damage to mana circuits."
15 seconds.
She had to pierce that powerful barrier, reach the Sun Branch main body, and chop down that massive tree in that short time.
"You hear that?"
- 15 seconds? Plenty.
A firm, unshaken voice.
- No time to think. Let's go!
"Wait! Hey! Choi Yuna!"
I didn't even have time to stop her. On the screen, Yuna pulled a Recovery Potion from her belt, downed it in one gulp, and took another into her mouth.
Then, without hesitation, she upended the glass bottle of Disrupter from her pouch over her head.
Chwaaak—!
Inky black liquid covered Yuna's body. Ominous energy enveloped and flowed down her.
The die was cast. Now I had to do what I could.
"Chun-sik!"
I rushed to the workbench. Chun-sik had the materials ready.
A neutralizer to suppress the Disrupter's effects. No Sun Branch for the core ingredient, but I had to prep the rest in advance. So it could be administered right there on site!
I focused all my senses on my fingertips. Failure was not an option.
Choi Yuna, drenched in Disrupter, threw herself at the golden barrier.
Chiiiiiik—!
The moment her body touched the barrier, a horrifying sizzle rose along with acrid smoke as her flesh burned.
Inky Disrupter and golden life force. The polar opposite powers clashed violently on her skin. Black energy and golden power bit into each other and vanished.
It was definitely different from before. The strain on her body had clearly lessened.
"Kuh...!"
But the excruciating pain remained.
Through the gaps of peeling, burning skin, she felt the alien energy of the Disrupter. But faster than that, new flesh sprouted, forcibly filling the gaps.
It was a close call. If regeneration had lagged even a moment, that ominous energy would have torn straight into her mana circuits.
Choi Yuna gritted her teeth and took one step at a time toward the Sun Branch. The searing pain of burning flesh and the twisted sensation of wounds regenerating eroded her entire body.
Choi Yuna staggered but didn't stop. Her eyes were fixed solely on the massive tree ahead. In her wake, inky residue and dark red blood splatters littered the ground chaotically.
'Just a bit... more...!'
The closer she got to the tree, the fiercer the pressure. Even the Disrupter started getting pushed back.
Kwajik!
Then, the overwhelming force cracked her left leg bone severely.
"......!"
She lost balance and collapsed. Her vision blurred. But she had no luxury to lose focus.
'Can't stop.'
She swallowed the last potion down her throat. Explosive regenerative power raised her body once more. Ignoring the pain, she dragged her leg and squeezed out her final strength.
One step, another.
"Ha!"
Finally, Choi Yuna reached right before the Sun Branch's main body. At the base of the massive tree, where it connected to the roots!
She mustered her last strength and raised her sword high. All remaining mana concentrated on the blade, azure sword energy blazing like a inferno.
"Uwaaaaaah—!"
The moment Choi Yuna roared and slammed her sword down.
Kwaaaaaang!
All the pent-up power exploded outward.
"Kuhahaha!"
Cheon Hyuk-jin burst into mad laughter. Before him was Choi Ki-cheol, who had stubbornly held out. It had been long. Time to end it.
He gathered overwhelming golden mana into his greatsword. Immense power that warped space condensed at the tip. Confident of victory, he charged at Choi Ki-cheol.
But.
Suuu...
The energy enveloping Cheon Hyuk-jin's body vanished in an instant. As if it had never existed.
"......!"
The Sun Branch fragment embedded in his heart lost its brilliant glow.
The Sun Branch had been severed.
"N-No...!"
With the infinite life force supply cut off, his body— forcibly sustained by the rampaging energy— collapsed in a flash. Regeneration stopped, and the destroyed flesh crumbled horrifically.
A momentary gap appeared in Cheon Hyuk-jin's charge.
A fatal blank to him, intoxicated by overwhelming power. The S-rank hunters wouldn't miss this critical chance.
Puk—!
A crimson blade protruded from Cheon Hyuk-jin's body. Inky energy spread from the wound, unraveling the remaining body reinforcement.
And then.
"Th...!"
Before he could utter a word.
Sgak.
A sharp sword sliced through Cheon Hyuk-jin's neck.