Chapter 204
Chapter 204
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 204
Chapter Title: Muryong Great War (13)
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Seeing Yuri smiling at her, Susan's face immediately hardened.
‘No way?!’
Afterward, the amount of deep pinkish aura flowing from her increased dramatically.
That aura all surged straight toward Yuri.
Swooooosh-.
A swirling vortex of poisonous smoke with Yuri at its center.
But Yuri standing in the middle of it was utterly calm.
“Yawwwn!”
No, more than calm—he gaped his mouth wide in a yawn, as if wondering what on earth was happening to him.
After wearing that bored expression for quite a while, Yuri casually swung his hand.
Whoosh-.
In an instant, the deep pink poisonous smoke scattered in every direction.
Susan's eyes went wide at Yuri's gesture, which had completely severed her control over her own poison.
“H-How…?”
It was a question loaded with layers of meaning.
How had he noticed her control over the poison.
How had he broken it.
And how was he unaffected by the poisoning.
Meeting Susan's gaze brimming with shock, Yuri took a single step toward her.
“No matter how much of a total amateur I am when it comes to poison, there's one thing I do know. How to deal with a poison-using bitch.”
Yuri curled into a savage smile.
“You just smash her head in before the poison can spread everywhere.”
“…What?”
“But even knowing every one of your petty tricks, why do you think I wasted time chitchatting like an idiot?”
Susan's pupils quivered faintly.
To those eyes filled with confusion and doubt, Yuri flashed a broad grin and replied.
“There was one thing I wanted to check.”
Was he telling Susan?
Or just murmuring to himself?
Yuri's soft mutter rewound back to the day before.
* * *
Day 6 of the Muryong Great War.
And the evening of the sixth day since Johan had begun crafting the Harmonizing Spirit Liquid.
Yuri entered his lair, his eyes brimming with irritation.
“…This is gonna drive me insane.”
His nostrils, stuffed airtight with scraps of cloth, let out a childish whine.
Even so, the acrid stench stung his eyes to the point of tears.
“…This smell better fade, damn it. If I'd known, I'd have given him the training ground instead of my house!”
Why the hell did brewing medicine reek this bad?
But regrets wouldn't change a thing now.
What was done was done.
All he could do was pray for this foul medicine-making to wrap up fast.
The very moment Yuri fervently wished for it.
Wooooong-.
A heavy resonance suddenly echoed from somewhere.
Yuri whipped his head toward the source.
A bronze cauldron, continuously emitting cries, came into view.
‘Oh… finally?!’
The cauldron, which had been gradually tinting turquoise over the past few days, was now fully emerald green.
It trembled as it emitted a faint glow.
And that wasn't the only omen.
Crackle-.
Lightning suddenly flashed inside the cauldron, and the stench filling the room vanished in a blink.
Yuri's eyes naturally widened like saucers at the astonishing sight.
Huff-!
Yuri snorted lightly, dislodging the cloth scrap.
“Ooooh!”
With an excited roar, he charged over.
Just then, Johan opened his eyes.
“Huuuuh….”
Johan let out a long exhale.
His face, after six days with eyes shut, was etched with exhaustion.
As focus returned to his gaze, the first thing he saw was Yuri crouched beside the Harmonizing Thunder Essence, repeating “Wow, wow” endlessly.
At the sight, Johan's brow furrowed sharply.
“You little shit. When someone's eyes open after days, normal people ask about their well-being first, you know?”
“Old man, old man! Is this all done? It is, right?”
“…This punk.”
Snap-.
Yuri tumbled backward after a flick to the forehead.
But like rewinding footage, he rolled right back forward and squatted once more before the glowing, lightning-crackling bronze cauldron.
Normally, he'd throw a fit over the pain, but curiosity trumped it now.
“This a success? Right?”
Johan sighed at Yuri's sparkling eyes and nodded.
Too drained from crafting the Harmonizing Spirit Liquid to muster anger.
So he answered plainly.
“…It's a success.”
“Fully done? Complete?”
“When the light and lightning fade, that's true completion.”
“Ooh!”
Beaming with excitement, Yuri peered into the bronze cauldron with shining eyes.
“Ooooh!”
As the light and lightning inside slowly ebbed, his cheers grew louder by the second.
“Woooow!”
At last, the light and lightning fully vanished, revealing the contents, and Yuri's whoops tapered off.
“Ooh… Huh?”
When the contents emerged completely, his mouth snapped shut.
“…….”
Hands on his knees, crouched low, Yuri stared piercingly into the cauldron.
The sparkle in his eyes from moments ago was gone, replaced entirely by bewilderment.
Blink blink-.
He blinked repeatedly, even rubbed his eyes, then shouted in alarm upon confirming his sight was fine.
“Ol-Old man! It's busted!”
“Busted?”
Johan rose slowly and squatted before Yuri.
The two crouched across from each other, the cauldron between.
But their expressions couldn't have been more different.
Yuri's blatant fluster versus Johan's utter satisfaction.
He beamed.
“Puhahaha, came out perfect!”
“…Perfect? This?”
“Check out that gorgeous hue! Heh heh heh!”
“Gorgeous? This?!”
Johan scowled at Yuri's horrified reaction.
“What, punk! What's wrong with it?”
“Everything! The whole damn thing! Harmonizing Spirit Liquid, right? Right?!”
“This is the Harmonizing Spirit Liquid.”
“No way you can call this Harmonizing Spirit Liquid!”
“Then what the hell does it look like to you? Quit bitching.”
Yuri's gaze dropped into the cauldron.
Plop- bubble-.
The thick, murky black liquid bubbled up like it was boiling.
But it wasn't just black—that was the problem.
Subtle reds and purples swirled mystically within, like a rotting corpse's hand might burst forth from its depths any second.
How could anyone slap the pure, pristine name “Harmonizing Spirit Liquid” on something like this?
Yuri put it this way.
“…Freshly ladled, twisted netherworld sludge straight from hell?”
“Oh ho? Way better than slop. I'll use that from now on.”
Impressed by Yuri's flair for names, Johan stood and rummaged through the box he'd brought.
He pulled out a ladle and several empty bottles.
“Let's see, let's see…”
Eyeing the volume, he clicked his tongue.
“Tsk, even pounding in all those spirit medicines, and this is all we get?”
Scooping one ladleful into a bottle.
“This goes to that Ralph punk…”
Ralph Schnell would've screamed about the promised remainder—half a ladle plus five drops—but Johan casually took just the one.
He filled about six more bottles that way before sliding the cauldron toward Yuri.
“Here, your share. Drink up.”
About a third remained.
Yuri, who'd snatch elixirs even from a dead sleep, couldn't bring himself to grab the cauldron.
He squinted suspiciously at Johan.
“Old man, just out of an abundance of caution… you didn't get orders to poison me or anything, did you?”
“Why waste pricey poison killing trash like you? I could drill a hole in your skull anytime.”
Thwack-.
Yuri flew back from the forehead flick.
He rolled, sprang up.
“That hurts!”
“Like I always say, I hit you so it hurts. This punk bitches even when I hand him treasure.”
“…But no matter how you slice it, this doesn't look like medicine.”
“Hey, you! Do you know how good this is for your body?”
“How good? Boosts mana big time?”
“ Mana? Eh, mana won't drop, but don't expect much there.”
“What… then why drink it?”
Medicine with no mana gain?
Why bother with this crap?
Johan sighed at the blatant vibe from Yuri's stare.
“The Harmonizing Spirit Liquid carries thunder essence energy. Two main effects.”
“So neither is mana boost…”
Snap-.
“Gack!”
To Yuri tumbling backward again, Johan tossed a question.
“For folks like us who flit through split seconds, what's the most vital organ, in your opinion?”
Rubbing his forehead as he rose, Yuri answered without a second's pause.
“Eyes.”
It came from hard-earned experience.
No big deal at low realms.
But as his realm climbed, handling fortune veins and neural acuity became second nature.
As single seconds stretched longer in perception, he'd grown irked that his eyesight couldn't track his own movements.
That's why he answered instantly.
Johan smiled faintly.
“Looks like your training wasn't wasted. Right—eyes, or visual acuity, that's essential for we who wield extreme speed.”
He tapped the cauldron with the ladle.
“And drinking this Harmonizing Spirit Liquid will awaken an eye technique perfectly attuned to your neural mist.”
“…For real?”
“You think I got by on cons? Why else would the Harmonizing Thunder Essence be the Redner family's heirloom!”
Of course, that heirloom was now lost to history's dustbin, but Johan kept that bit to himself.
Meanwhile, conviction rang clear in Johan's shout, and Yuri inched toward the cauldron.
Spotting the shift in Yuri's gaze toward the “twisted netherworld sludge,” Johan smirked and revealed the second benefit.
“And second! The Harmonizing Spirit Liquid's energy—the world's purest thunder qi—will break down any impure substances invading your body. Poisons, naturally. Diseases… even booze.”
“What?”
“In other words, drink this, and you'll never fret over minor ailments, poisoning, or hangovers again for life! Incredible!”
Yuri's eyes bulged at the second benefit.
“Poisons… won't work?”
“Well, honestly, not every poison. But barring a few the bone clan deems taboo… you'll be immune even if you tried to get hooked.”
“……?!”
Yuri had been agonizing over poison issues.
And here was the fix, plunked right in front of him—so the “sludge” suddenly looked different.
Johan grinned at his utterly transformed gaze.
“Still passing? Fine by me…”
As he slyly tugged the cauldron closer, Yuri snatched it up.
“Thank you! Down the hatch!”
Gulp gulp-.
Fearing it'd be taken, he slammed it straight down his gullet.
His Adam's apple bobbed wildly.
Johan watched with gleaming eyes, chuckling wickedly.
“Oh, one more thing… the aftertaste is gonna suck. Just like you said—hell-scooped sludge flavor? Kehilhilhil.”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than the cauldron slipped from Yuri's grip.
Clang-.
The cauldron rolled across the floor.
“Gaaaaah!”
Yuri clawed at his throat, howling.
The onslaught of horrific flavor in his mouth locked his tongue and froze his brain alike…
Grulk-.
His eyes rolled back white in a flash, and he toppled sideways.
Thud-.
He sprawled motionless, like a corpse.
Not a drop remained in the spotless bronze cauldron rolling beside him.
* * *
Urk-.
Mid-recall, the ghastly taste resurfaced, blanching Yuri's face in seconds.
He choked down the rising bile.
‘Purely on taste… that was straight-up deadly poison.’
Even he, unflinching at most pains, blacked out cold before he could react—just from flavor.
It froze the tongue, scorched the throat, twisted the soul—a nightmare taste.
But effects aside from taste? Rock solid.
Snuuup-.
He drew a deep breath, and the poison-laden floral scent spread through his body.
The instant it did.
Crackle-.
Yuri sensed thunder qi surging fiercely within, shredding the poison to bits.
A wondrous, entertaining sensation.
By the time he'd savored the internal shift, not long after, the poison qi was gone clean.
Yuri grinned at Susan.
“You asked earlier why I picked you, of all people. Simple reason.”
“…….”
“You're the easiest mark.”
“You…”
“Gunter Rider aside, even easier than Goetz Roetner. That's why you.”
Susan ground her teeth at Yuri's jeer.