Chapter 29
Terminally Ill, but It's Okay — Episode 29
The snake Demonkin, Kiat.
The moment I decided to face him, I had run through the fight in my head over and over.
How could I win?
And one of the conclusions I reached was this: the first attack absolutely had to be blocked with [Auxiliary Authority 1].
[Auxiliary Authority 1] Absorption absorbs non-physical blows without any risk, which made it the optimal move against Kiat, who aimed for sudden, powerful strikes.
Krrrzzzt.
Anyway, the instant Greed and the snake-shaped bastard's Demonic Energy collided, my vision flashed white.
For a moment they held firm, but the Demonkin's Demonic Energy, denser than a Monster's, soon swallowed my right hand.
Before I could do anything, it surged past my forearm and up to my shoulder.
......Is this thing even working?
Just as I began to suspect I was about to be devoured whole—
Shhhhhrp.
A strange suction force activated from the hand swallowed by the snake's maw.
The bastard's Demonic Energy, which had been surging confidently up my arm, suddenly lurched like someone whose collar had been caught in a door.
That was the beginning.
Shhhhhhhhrp—
As the suction force grew exponentially, the energy reversed course.
Helplessly, like dust being sucked into a vacuum cleaner.
['Greed' blocks the opponent's non-physical attack.]
[Absorbs a certain amount of Demonic Energy.]
[Seal Release Rate: 86.5%]
Wait, it absorbs this too?
While I was pleasantly surprised, the black Demonic Energy vanished.
Once my vision cleared, I came face-to-face with him.
There stood Kiat, the Demonkin Kim Mi-young had fought—also Blue Grade like Midas, but more dangerous.
The bastard narrowed his already-slitted eyes even further and snarled.
"......You blocked it? Who are you? You don't look like some lowly Taehak student."
As thick killing intent seeped out, the air around us churned.
"S-sir."
Baek Sa-young, who had struggled to his feet, raised his sword again and stood beside me.
But maybe because I'd been so immersed in the Special Mission Taskforce role?
An inexplicable rage suddenly surged up, and before I knew it, I shouted.
"Who told you to interfere when I'm dealing with a Demonkin like that?"
As a frost-like pressure burst out, Baek Sa-young flinched in surprise and stepped back.
But I was just as surprised myself.
Against an opponent I could not afford to underestimate, I was spouting provocations like this.
But the heightened emotion was something even I couldn't control.
Grind.
The inexplicable hostility grew stronger as time passed, to the point that blood ran from my tightly clenched fist.
Just as I thought this wasn't a simple personality infection—
An unexpected message appeared.
[The bloodline of a sorcerer family that abhors demons meets the unyielding dignity of a prestigious house, awakening a dormant trait.]
「Adversary of Demons」
Description: A bloodline trait found among a select few of the Geunwon Sulga, who once served as the vanguard in the Great Demon War. It has not yet been fully awakened. All stats increase by 5%, and some Demonkin traits are nullified.
......So this was why?
It was even more surprising because it was a trait I knew well.
Adversary of Demons.
This was a bloodline trait unique to sorcerer families that even the original Park Ha-yul had never obtained—a top-tier talent that displayed tremendous power against Demonkin.
To think that acquiring the dignity of a prestigious house would help in this way.
......In that case.
Maybe treating him like this was actually more advantageous.
For now, I acted as my instincts led.
"Heh heh, surely that isn't referring to me?"
I spoke flatly toward Kiat's grinning face.
"Who else would I mean but you? That overgrown piece of vermin is lying there after being taken down by a single student."
"Ah, I can't argue with that. Even I admit Midas is a maggot."
"Admit?"
I twisted the corner of my mouth into something between a smile and a sneer and asked him.
"Do you think you're any different?"
"What?"
"You look the same to me. Aren't Blue Grade Demonkin all about the same?"
"...You really don't want to die a clean death, do you?"
In the end, Kiat's expression hardened and his tongue flicked out.
My goal had been to provoke him and draw out another of his traits.
And sure enough.
"First I'll cripple you, then tear off your limbs one by one."
In that instant, intense Demonic Energy surged from Kiat.
Hissssss—
Then his pupils narrowed to thin slits like a snake's, and a sticky force rushed toward me.
This was probably fear.
One of the snake traits he prided himself on, which imprinted terror on another's mind and drove them mad.......
"......."
But my surroundings were silent. As if nothing had happened at all.
"...Why?!"
[Trait, Adversary of Demons, activates.]
[Blocks Kiat's trait.]
And then the opportunity I had been waiting for arrived.
Using a powerful trait always came with a price.
"Cough."
I murmured quietly toward Kiat as he spat up a mouthful of dark blood.
"Now it's my turn. If you're not a maggot, prove it."
Feeling my heart thud hard and low in my chest, I activated a trait.
[Activating trait, Manifestation.]
First, I poured in all my remaining mana and summoned a proper First Sword at 40% performance—
"One isn't enough."
Then I prepared the second sword I had saved because there had been no worthy opponent: Yeon Gaesomun's Second Sword.
Performance limit: 40%. Time limit: 10 seconds.
With no mana left, the target of equivalent exchange was...... none other than my own lifespan.
"I pay 3 days of my remaining time as the price."
I had sworn not to use it recklessly, but if I wanted to be certain of driving him off, there was no other choice.
A moment later, a dagger identical in form to the First Sword revealed itself.
[Yeon Gaesomun's Second Sword (Replica)]
[Performance Limit: 40%]
[Description: One of the five swords said to have been carried by Yeon Gaesomun, the Dae Magniji of Goguryeo. A type of illusion sword that confounds enemies. Its power increases when wielded together with the piercing First Sword.]
[Effect: Senses +30%, Multi-Splitting]
And so, the black First Sword and the white Second Sword—
Two daggers differing only in grip color were now held in both hands.
"Watch closely."
I spouted an embarrassing line to Baek Sa-young and launched the two swords in quick succession.
Whoosh—
The Second Sword opened the path first.
The Second Sword, which had been advancing serenely, soon split.
Two, then three, then five. Seven. Then ten.
The trajectories were utterly varied.
Like shells converging from multiple directions on a single target, they flooded Kiat's field of vision.
"Ptooey. They're still nothing but scraps of metal!"
Kiat spat out a mouthful of dark red blood and summoned the sword-snake form once more.
The black snake reared up to its full height and blocked Kiat's front.
He had switched to a defensive posture.
That was his losing move.
"First Sword."
The other dagger, its absolute-hit effect active, had already looped wide and taken position behind him.
His gaze stolen by the Second Sword, his defense focused entirely on his front.
And his body was already compromised by having his trait nullified.
All of it spelled his defeat.
Shunk.
In the end, the First Sword, surging in from behind in a surprise attack, pierced through his chest.
"Kh."
And then came the follow-up bombardment.
Amid a short scream and the writhing snakes, twenty Second Swords drove in.
Among them, the single one with substance pierced through his thigh.
Simple as it was, from the receiving end it was the kind of coordinated attack there was no avoiding.
All of it happened in less than a few seconds—literally in an instant.
"......Since when could you use flying sword arts too?"
At Baek Sa-young's shock, the black snakes soon vanished.
Then Kiat appeared, kneeling on one knee.
"A dagger that moves according to its master's will. Heh heh, so that was your weapon?"
But there was no trace of panic despite death staring him in the face.
His eyes were smiling, and I knew the reason too.
Because it wasn't his real body.
He soon withered like dry tree bark, then began to crumble.
"S-sir."
"No need to be surprised. It's a shed skin. Another one of the snake's traits."
It had been the same in the original work.
True to his meticulous, cunning nature, he had fought while hiding his real body separately.
But it hadn't been meaningless.
He had drawn on more than 70% of his true body's power, so he would lie dormant, unable to move, for a while.
And before long, we would meet again.
That was part of the process leading into the next main episode, so for the sake of the larger goal, I had to let him live.
"I've got the gist of it now, so let's meet again. Next time, I'll definitely kill you...."
With those words, he completely crumbled away.
Scattered by the wind, he vanished without a trace.
From that moment, messages began pouring in, but I ignored them for now.
"Baek Sa-young!"
"Sa-young, where are you?"
The Special Patrol Team had arrived right on cue.
First, I approached Midas and absorbed his Demonic Energy.
[Absorbs the Demonic Energy of the Demonkin, 'Midas'.]
[Seal Release Rate: 97%]
Then I spoke to Baek Sa-young.
"I'll leave the cleanup to you, as promised. As you can see, this isn't completely over yet."
"I'll handle that myself. More importantly...... will we meet again?"
"If the opportunity arises......."
I turned my back on Baek Sa-young, whose disappointment was plain to see.
For now, I headed in the opposite direction from the Special Patrol Team.
But where do I go?
If I keep going this way, I'll be getting farther from the entrance.......
I'd made a cool exit, but I had no plan for what came after.
* * *
The disappearance case was wrapped up without further incident.
The Special Patrol Team arrived soon after, escorted the missing people back to the temporary base, and handed them over to the local police station.
They had achieved results well beyond the original objective. After finishing her report, Kim Mi-young smiled brightly and spoke to Baek Sa-young.
"They said there's going to be a medal ceremony too?"
"What? I only did what I was supposed to do......."
Baek Sa-young, his whole body wrapped in bandages, scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"No. It's unprecedented for a student who's only in his second year to defeat a Demonkin and save people."
"......Ah, well, I guess."
"But did you really do it alone?"
Kim Mi-young asked in a soft but quite serious voice.
Of course, she wasn't doubting Baek Sa-young's skill.
But she herself had struggled quite a bit just finding the magic space and making her way into the seonangdang, and Blue Grade or not, a Demonkin was still a Demonkin. Given the circumstances, too many things did not add up for her to believe he had handled all of it alone.
After a moment of deliberation, Baek Sa-young opened his mouth.
"......Actually. I didn't do it alone."
"Right? Then who......."
"The Special Patrol Team. And further, the whole of Class A did it."
"What?"
"Luck was on our side too. One of the Demonkin happened to be away."
Kim Mi-young eventually let out a small laugh.
She found it rather ridiculous that, instead of praising such a humble, upright student, she had been doubting him and prying into the story.
"Understood. Good work. The other students are probably waiting, so go on out and eat."
Baek Sa-young bowed his head and leisurely left the office.
But the moment he exited, he leaned against the wall and clutched his chest.
Phew. A false report, huh.
He had gritted his teeth and tried, but it felt like forcing himself into clothes that didn't fit.
Just looking into Kim Mi-young's eyes made his heart pound like it would burst.
"What are you doing here?"
At some point, a brusque voice spoke.
It was Park Ha-yul.
He had heard that Park Ha-yul wasn't feeling well and had rested today.
Maybe because of that, his already pale face looked even more gaunt.
"Everyone seems to be looking for you. You shouldn't be hiding out here."
"Hide? I'm not hiding. I just came from meeting the teaching assistant. And what about you? Shouldn't you be resting? Why'd you come all the way out here?"
"I have to eat. I'm on the verge of starving to death right now."
"Ah, food."
"Let's hurry. It'll all be gone by now."
Park Ha-yul grinned and walked ahead.
Baek Sa-young steadied himself and moved to follow.
But then.
"Huh?"
A strange sense of déjà vu struck him in that moment.
That back. For some reason, it looked familiar.......
"What are you doing? Aren't you coming?"
When Park Ha-yul turned around, Baek Sa-young shook his head vigorously.
"Of all people to mistake him for."
That person and Park Ha-yul.
Baek Sa-young let out a small, incredulous laugh at the enormous gap between them and hurried his steps.