Chapter 112
Chapter 112
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 112
Chapter Title: Surgery, Sparring, and the Demon
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Jaewon entered the operating room to remove the shrunken cancer cells.
"Take good care of him."
"Don't worry. Let's grab a drink when you wake up."
I bumped fists with Jaewon, and as the anesthetic took effect, his eyes slowly closed.
"Even though the size has reduced, there's still a lot to operate on today. This won't be an easy surgery, so everyone follow along carefully. First, the surgical sequence."
The lead surgeon gave the final briefing to the assisting doctors and nurses.
"Let's begin."
After the briefing ended, the lead surgeon, standing on Jaewon's left, made an incision in his chest. I grabbed Jaewon's outstretched right hand and channeled vitality into him.
The surgery proceeded smoothly. Whenever Jaewon's vitality dipped, I replenished it.
An unexpected variable arose: because he received so much vitality, the incision sites began healing slightly. This forced us to speed up the surgery.
Since this was an experimental surgery and treatment, it could be refined over time.
Even after the surgery ended, I continued infusing vitality, and Jaewon woke up quickly.
"How do you feel?"
"It doesn't... hurt. It healed this easily?"
"It's not that easy, man. An S-Rank Hunter stuck around for days treating you."
"Yeah, it's great having an S-Rank friend."
I couldn't handle every patient like this on my own. But within the World Tree's influence, cancer could surely be conquered by combining it with modern technology.
"Want a drink?"
I slyly pulled out the bottle I'd brought.
"...For real?"
"I'll fix your liver if it gets wrecked."
"No!"
A nearby nurse shrieked. She was a young woman whose voice was surprisingly loud for her small stature.
"Just kidding. Hahaha."
I quickly tucked the bottle away.
* * *
I stretched thoroughly on the electromagnetic plate training ground. I'd increased the iron's weight, so the electromagnet pulled at me with 50% more force than before.
"There aren't many boxers among Hunters, so I'm glad to spar like this."
Hong Long stretched alongside me.
"Shall we start?"
Hong Long's Tai Chi Fist could deflect or redirect an opponent's force with minimal effort. If I could learn that, it would help me immensely against brute-force fighters.
I threw my right fist slowly, yawningly so. Hong Long matched it, slowly swatting it away with his open palm. He then spun his body, stepping forward to thrust his elbow at my face.
Moving slowly let me observe Hong Long's motions even more slowly. His defense and attack flowed seamlessly, without waste.
I stepped back to dodge the elbow and slightly increased my speed, throwing a left fist.
Hong Long matched the speed increase to defend.
"You can use skills too, so don't hold back on attacking."
I aimed a low kick at Hong Long's thigh, which had been focusing passively on defense.
"Then I won't hold back."
He jumped to evade the low kick and thrust a kick at my face. Even in midair, he twisted fluidly, amplifying the force.
I raised my arm to guard my face.
Thud!
Shock spread inside my blocked arm. It was Hong Long's skill, Fa Jin, which destroyed enemies from within. Unlike my method of brute-forcing aura inward, its penetrating power was far superior. Of course, if I armored my body, it would negate even more.
"Heh... Doesn't it hurt? That could've burst an ogre in one hit."
"That wasn't full power, was it?"
"If I went full power, your arm would fly off."
"It wouldn't."
I subtly scratched at Hong Long's pride as an S-Rank Hunter.
"Want me to get a little serious?"
For the first time since we started sparring, Hong Long charged first.
I threw a fist at the incoming Hong Long. He lowered his stance, slithering past like a snake, and slammed Fa Jin into my abdomen. But most of it was nullified by my skin, and the transmitted shock only rattled my muscles and organs slightly.
"Are you even human?"
"I hear that a lot!"
I swung fists and kicks relentlessly.
I wasn't using Boost to learn the technique, and the electromagnet added resistance, so my speed was much slower than Hong Long's. Naturally, I took a lot of hits.
But from getting hit so much, his attacks started feeling familiar.
I swatted away Hong Long's Fa Jin hand, spun my body, and aimed an elbow at his face.
"Oh... Learning that fast? This might be a loss for me."
Hong Long backflipped to evade.
"You're still far off."
I beckoned him with my fingers like Bruce Lee.
Now I focused on receiving attacks with my forearms, shoulders, and legs, redirecting them.
"Hm?"
I raised my arm to block a high kick. My forearm clashed with his shin, and afterward, a foreign sensation stirred inside my arm.
No time to worry about it as continuous attacks came; I threw a fist, which Hong Long ducked under and upward-struck from below.
Boom!
My left arm exploded from the inside.
Hong Long dropped his combat stance and approached.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, just surprised. What was that?"
"I hit it with one Fa Jin but it didn't work, so I layered qi several times and detonated it all at once."
"I didn't block much with my arm?"
"Attack and defense are one. While deflecting or bouncing your attacks, I infused qi through shoulders, back, and legs. Expand your imagination. Broaden your attack range."
Hong Long slowly demonstrated defensive motions while explaining.
"...But doesn't it hurt?"
As I nodded along, Hong Long asked.
"It's bearable."
I shook my arm, then clenched my fist tightly.
"It's healed already?"
"My skill is regeneration, after all."
"Heh..."
"Keep coming. Even vital spots like the head are fine—go full power."
"You're serious?"
"Always."
After hours of sparring, both Hong Long and I were drenched in sweat.
Dodging his attacks was hard with my heavy body. Trying to redirect on contact let Fa Jin seep in, accumulating qi inside me until it exploded once it built up enough.
It wasn't Eres-level damage, but in my power-restricted state, he was a perfect sparring partner.
Thanks to that, my Strength, Vitality, and Agility stats each rose by 1. My internals toughened up from breaking and regenerating several times.
"Huff... huff... Shall we call it for today?"
Hong Long sat exhausted on the floor.
"Sure? Have you adjusted to life here now?"
"The Awakening Bureau has taken good care of me. But are you okay?"
"The angel issue? I'm worried too... but there's not much I can do right now."
"Powerless civilians are the trickiest."
Hong Long nodded in understanding.
"Exactly. They're just deluded by angels, not facing reality."
"Then make them face reality, right?"
A young boy's voice came from behind.
"...Gaph?"
A boy with two horns on his head wore black overalls and a bowtie.
"You recognize me?"
"The presence... No, but why? How?"
"If Eres can come, why can't I?"
"But... you're a demon?"
"Not all demons are bad, and there's no law saying Eres can't have bad intentions. I've never taken Earth's souls anyway. I'm here now to deal with a common enemy."
His childlike speech felt off coming from a great demon.
Gaph hopped lightly into the air and perched on the edge of a first-floor building roof.
"The angels?"
"They hate souls multiplying. That's why they side with the Destruction God grinding this universe to make a new one—to keep the total soul count fixed."
"As expected... They were cooperating with the Destruction God."
Otherwise, they wouldn't deliberately wreck Earth like this.
"Gaph, what's in it for demons to get rid of angels?"
"More souls mean more harvest for us, right?"
He grinned with a child's face, but endless greed shone in his eyes.
......I have no intention of allying with such a black-hearted bastard. Get back to hell."
Not attacking the angels first was my lifelong regret; now ally with a demon? I armored my body in case of attack, and Hong Long stood behind me.
"You think you can act so cocky just because I look like this?"
Gaph wiped the smile from his face, and black clouds spread around him. But before they could expand much, space warped around Gaph, trying to suck him in.
"Ah, okay. I won't. Calm down."
Gaph reined in his demonic energy and raised both hands. He'd entered with Earth's permission, it seemed, and hostility triggered expulsion.
"See? Earth protects itself, so I can't be hostile to Earth's beings."
"It doesn't make sense. Angels are trying to destroy Earth—how did they cross over unscathed? Didn't you and Lady Eres face strong restrictions?"
"How could those small fries compare to the Incarnation of Darkness, King of Demons? They probably paid a heavy price too. No one crosses Earth's dimensional barrier without cost."
That explained why legion commander-level foes rarely crossed—some restriction. Like the gate-opening tower's material.
After the angel incident, I'd contacted Tellus, but got no angel info. The Incarnation of Light and Eres weren't responding to Sonorim's prayers either.
In this situation, a foe who got expelled for hostility toward Earth was worth hearing out to break the deadlock.
"So... how do you plan to deal with the common enemy? If it involves killing civilians, forget it."
As I armed myself—
"Why say something so scary? Demons gotta demon, right?"
Gaph grinned mischievously.
* * *
Shouts echoed from the holy site of the faithful in Korea.
"Those are fakes! I'm the real angel!"
A massive angel, 4 meters tall with six wings, hovered in the sky yelling.
"Those aren't God's servants! They're just monsters in disguise!"
A new angel—even bigger, with more wings and a brighter halo—called the previous ones fake, plunging believers into chaos.
"Don't believe them! That's a demon! A demon in disguise!"
The usually calm Angelus shouted loudly.
"Yeah! Well said! You demon scum! Demons wearing angel skins!"
The angels twitched as if to charge, but spotted me standing there with arms crossed before the six-winged angel and held back.
They knew my power. I wished they'd charge.
"You demon scum!"
A hunter in the crowd slashed one Angelus with his sword.
"Kyaaak!"
The fallen Angelus's skin melted away, revealing hideous black skin, horns, bat wings, and a sharp tail—a textbook demon.
"I-It's... real! Real demons!"
People fled in panic.
"W-Wait! That one wasn't one of us! That's the fake!"
"You're the fake, aren't you?! Demon after all! Abandoning your comrade the moment they die!"
No matter what the Angelus and Archangelus said, the crowd was already in full panic.
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