Chapter 60
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: The Divine Doctor's Past
-----------------------------------------------------------------
It didn't seem like she was trying to hurt him.
That last attack wasn't aimed to kill, but was scattered on the ground to stop his advance.
Still, this was a nuisance.
“Spit it out.”
“…Aren’t you going to apologize to me?”
“……”
“I still can’t bear the humiliation you put me through.”
Chris was silent.
*Just what kind of terrible thing did Christian do to her?*
The girl’s emerald eyes, brimming with venom, were fixed on him.
This wasn't just some minor grudge.
*I’m busy. Should I just give a half-hearted apology and get this over with? It's not like I'm the one who did anything wrong.*
But then, a thought suddenly struck Chris.
*Wait, Marisa is fated to be framed and sacrificed this time.*
During this expedition, the Dark Magic House’s team would be annihilated.
The one who would be framed for it was Marisa.
Both her hands would be severed, and her eyes and tongue would be torn out.
*Well, whatever happens, it's none of my business.*
Still, considering the future incidents between the Dark Magic House and the Extreme Poison House, it would be beneficial to make one of their key members indebted to him—to make her his pawn.
To that end, Chris spoke.
He picked at his ear, his attitude as insincere as possible.
“My apologies. Is that enough?”
“……”
Marisa’s face turned red.
“You… you’re truly the worst.”
“You asked for an apology, and I gave you one. What more do you want me to drone on about? We’re done. Or are you still delusional enough to think we're engaged? Anyway.”
Chris smiled coldly.
“Aren’t you underestimating me?”
“…What?”
“Coming to find me all alone, so fearlessly. If I take you down here, this expedition will be our victory.”
Marisa’s expression changed.
Chris was declaring that he would subdue her right here and now!
*If I subdue her, she won't get framed.*
The way to prove Marisa’s innocence during this expedition was simple.
He just had to create an alibi.
How?
By subduing her, tying her up tight, and locking her away.
From Chris's perspective, it was a considerable favor, but Marisa trembled with rage.
Then, she let out a sharp laugh.
“Right, we’re enemies now. I’ll make you regret this.”
Marisa’s jewel-like emerald eyes glinted coldly.
“Including the humiliation you put me through last time.”
A crackling sound filled the air.
Poisonous energy began to boil from her body.
It wasn’t a single color.
A chaotic kaleidoscope of colors billowed out, a testament to the sheer variety of poisons at her command.
*She’s earned her moniker, ‘Mistress of Lesser Myriad Poisons.’*
Chris whistled inwardly.
A nickname earned for her ability to freely manipulate countless poisons.
It was how she, despite being born illegitimate, earned recognition from the direct line and became a powerful contender for the next generation.
“I’ll give you one last chance.”
The color of her emerald eyes changed.
In a flash, they turned a murky red, then white, then black, then green.
Her eyes shifted with every poison she summoned.
“Kneel and apologize to me this instant. If you don’t, my poisons will melt you into a puddle of blood.”
A gruesome warning.
Chris just picked his ear again.
“So much talking. Does the Extreme Poison House fight with their mouths? You sound just like those noisy bastards from the Alliance.”
“!!”
Marisa’s face became venomous.
*Fwaat!*
Magi erupted from her hand.
It wasn't just magi. The deep blue energy soon turned into a hazy mist.
It was ‘Demonic Poison,’ the technique of converting formless magi into a tangible toxin!
A skill on par with the Black Sword, usable only by those at 3-Star or above.
Marisa’s attack didn’t stop there.
Next, she took out small glass vials from her pocket.
They were poisons, as expected.
And they were no ordinary poisons.
Each one was a poison of the highest caliber.
At her current level, it was difficult to manifest multiple Demonic Poisons at once, so she resorted to throwing them with the skill of an assassin.
*Crash!*
The glass vials she threw shattered in mid-air, turning into gas and engulfing Chris.
Chris was enveloped in no less than five different types of poison.
Marisa said coldly.
“Now you will experience a hellish pain.”
The poisons Marisa used were not the kind that caused instant death.
Instead, they were cruel poisons that made one writhe in terrible agony over time before slowly leading to death.
Not just one, but five types of poison. Chris would surely suffer an unimaginably horrific pain.
“Apologize to me now. Then I’ll give you the antidote.”
“…An apology? No thanks.”
The same answer as before.
Marisa scowled fiercely.
“Apologize now! Or else you’ll die!!”
“I don’t think so.”
“Your bluffing won’t—!!”
Just then, the poisonous mist began to clear.
Marisa’s eyes widened in disbelief at the sight of Chris as the mist cleared.
He should have been rolling on the ground in agony, but he was completely fine, without any sign of distress.
He wasn’t pretending to be calm.
The poison had no effect at all!
“H-How?”
“Ah… about that.”
Chris let out a smirk.
“I made and took the antidote beforehand.”
“I-Impossible!!”
It wasn't just one type, but five different poisons.
And how could he have obtained the antidote for the Extreme Poison House’s secret poisons and taken it in advance?
“Ever heard of a panacea?”
“W-What?”
“I tried making something similar, a universal antidote that works on any poison. Seems to work pretty well, huh?”
An unbelievable explanation.
But it was half-true.
*It's not a poison imbued with will-thought; making an antidote for this kind of physical poison is simple.*
The poisons of the Extreme Poison House were divided into several levels.
Poisons with ‘physical’ properties.
Poisons imbued with ‘magical’ effects.
Poisons imbued with ‘will-thought.’
Poisons that create ‘phenomena.’
Among them, the poison Marisa had created was a physical one.
Although it was of the highest level among physical poisons, in Chris’s eyes, it was child’s play.
Of course it was.
“I actually have some expertise in medicine, you see.”
In the past.
Chris had held numerous occupations.
He was a former companion of the Hero.
He was also the leader of a large organization.
And among his many titles, there was this one.
Doctor.
No, to be precise.
He wasn’t just a doctor.
His medical skills were exceptionally outstanding. He was called a Divine Doctor and was even revered as a saint.
It hadn't always been that way.
Originally, he was merely a famous doctor, but through a fateful encounter during the Age of Ruin, he came to possess unparalleled medical skills.
The one considered the best among numerous renowned medical families, and one of the seven great families of the Alliance.
Also, the family known as the natural enemy of the Extreme Poison House.
The last disciple and 27th head of the ‘Divine Doctor Noble Family.’
That was one of Chris’s past titles.
***
“You’re insane.”
He had heard those words countless times from the Hero's party in the past.
And not just from them.
Everyone who knew Chris said the same thing when they witnessed his talent. It was just that insane.
“If you had learned swordsmanship or magic, the fate of the world would have been greatly different.”
They lamented it countless times.
But unfortunately, Chris did not learn swordsmanship or magic.
It wasn't an ironic coincidence.
Due to his circumstances, Chris absolutely ‘could not’ learn swordsmanship and magic.
If he had, the family he was born into would never have allowed it. They would have killed him without question.
Because of that, Chris deliberately lived with his eyes and ears closed to swordsmanship and magic.
*This damn bloodline.*
Chris let out a dry, cynical laugh.
In fact, in the past, Chris was born with a bloodline nobler than anyone else’s.
Across the entire continent, it would have been hard to find a nobler bloodline. But it was more like a curse. A damn curse.
Instead, he learned numerous miscellaneous skills.
It wasn't particularly intentional.
He happened to learn them while wandering the back alleys.
Just by watching others over their shoulders, he could quickly display skills beyond that of an expert.
Medicine was one of them.
He delved into medicine more deeply than the other skills.
*Healing people pays well.*
It was a profession that allowed him to live a decent life, treated with respect, and without anyone trying to hold him back.
If the First Great War hadn't happened, he might have settled down as a doctor for good.
But the First Great War, started by the Demon King of Bloodletting, threw his life into a terrible maelstrom.
He went through countless hardships, and then, he had a chance encounter.
“…Insane. Hah, why did I have to meet someone like you now? When I don’t have much time left to live.”
The sole remaining survivor of the Divine Doctor Noble Family.
The Divine Doctor Noble Family was once called one of the Alliance's seven great families, a family that received the respect of the whole world, but they could not escape the slaughter of the Demon King of Bloodletting.
She, the 26th head, did not have much time left when she met Chris.
In fact, she met her end exactly one week after meeting him.
She entrusted Chris with a heavy burden.
[…You are now the 27th head of the Divine Doctor Noble Family.]
She handed him the books containing the secret arts of the Divine Doctor Noble Family.
It wasn't the complete set.
The original consisted of 45 volumes, but they were lost when the family was annihilated, and Chris only received 15 of them.
Less than a third of the total.
Moreover, there was no master to teach him the secret arts.
For that week, she was gravely ill and hovering on the brink of death, so she could give him almost no instruction. He had to learn everything on his own.
But despite these terrible conditions, Chris managed to obtain a great ability.
*I failed to acquire the Divine Doctor's Healing Art, their unique restorative power.*
Instead, what he gained was medical knowledge.
Chris came to possess the greatest medical knowledge on the continent.
The poisons of the Extreme Poison House?
No matter how outstanding Marisa was, called the Mistress of Lesser Myriad Poisons, her poisons ultimately did not transcend physical limitations.
He could detoxify them at will.
However, it was limited to poisons on a physical level, and since he had created an antidote on the level of a universal panacea, gathering the ingredients was enormously expensive. He had easily solved that problem by shaking down his moneybag, Ruina.
“I-Impossible…”
Chris glanced down.
Marisa was subdued, tied up tightly with magical ropes.
*…The shock must have been great.*
Since her specialty, poison, hadn't worked, the outcome of the duel was obvious.
Of course, the power of the Extreme Poison House wasn't just poison.
They also possessed the continent's highest level of assassination techniques, but it was not enough to face Chris.
“W-What trick did you use?!”
“Hmm, nothing special.”
Chris answered nonchalantly while rummaging through Marisa’s belongings.
“The principles of physical poisons don’t really go beyond irritants, paralytics, neurotoxins, hemotoxins, allergens, corrosives, and necrotics. So it’s simple if you just make an antidote that has an antagonist effect on all of those principles at once.”
Marisa stared at him with a blank expression.
*What is that crazy bastard saying?*
*Is such a thing even possible?*
From a human physiological standpoint, it was absolutely impossible.
In fact, the formula for the antidote Chris used wasn't in the secret texts of the Divine Doctor Noble Family.
It was a new antidote Chris had created himself, using their secret arts as a reference.