The Poison That Wouldn't Let Go

“Aaagh!”

The demonkin screamed.

I swung my dagger without mercy and reaped another one of their lives.

“Whew... Is that the last of them?”

The moment I muttered those words, a system message appeared.

“Yes.”

With the system message, the fog that had blanketed the territory vanished completely, and the fortress walls expanded to swallow the entire domain.

That makes four territories now...

Starting from the DMZ, I'd attacked Poison Baron's original holdings and wrested two of them away. And now, with Gaeseong added to the count, the Baron was probably fuming by now at having his lands stolen by mere humans.

“Looks like this side's done too.”

Just then, Won-ae emerged from a nearby building. She'd finished her sweep and sprinted over to join me.

We had split the territory down the middle — east and west — and cleared our respective halves. I took the east; she took the west. I'd trusted her with it, and she'd worked just as hard as I had, which was exactly why we'd managed to claim the two territories so quickly.

“So, how about it? Straight to the next territory?”

“Fine by me. You?”

“I'm still good to go, apparently.”

Since we were both still in decent shape, we decided to push on to the next territory. So far we'd claimed Gaeseong and Zones 17 and 16. Special regions like Gaeseong and the DMZ had official names, but everywhere else seemed to be classified by nothing but numbers.

What number will this one be?

The first two we'd taken had both been clustered around Gaeseong. This time, we were heading not toward Gaeseong's surroundings but in the direction of Pyongyang — to close the distance to where the Baron himself was, even if only a little.

“We're here.”

After a short sprint, a clearly demarcated boundary came into view. Cross that line, and we'd be standing in our destination.

Since it wasn't my territory, the system flagged us as intruders. Won-ae and I picked up the pace, heading straight for the heart of the domain — take down the administrator at the center, and this land would be ours too.

“There it is.”

“I see it.”

Before long, the territory's center came into view. A cluster of buildings stood there, unmistakably the core — anyone could tell at a glance.

“Let's clear it fast and move on.”

“Got it.”

“Then I'll go first.”

With those words to Won-ae, I accelerated. Drawing my dagger, I cut down the demonkin standing guard in a single sweeping motion.

Shrk! Shrk!

The two sentries died without ever making a sound. I moved faster still.

Gaeseong and the two zones before it — I'd attacked those deliberately, to gauge the quality of the enemy command structure. And having fought them, I could say with confidence: the demonkin and demon chain of command was a total mess. Built on the law of the jungle, it crumbled at the slightest pressure.

All I have to do is wipe them out anyway.

Incompetent commanders? Innocent demonkin? There was no such thing. The only innocents in these territories were the humans being worked to death as slaves. In the three territories we'd already cleared, we'd freed every one of them and sent them toward the DMZ.

Let's finish this as fast as we can.

I drew out the broken sword hilt and reshaped it into a massive axe, then unleashed Whirlwind.

“Hup!”

Holding my breath, I spun my body to its limit, dealing damage across a wide swath. Anything the axe touched — buildings included — was blown to pieces.

“There's no way something this powerful is just a rare item.”

However the Hero was born, and however much this thing ran on mana instead of the original demonic power, there was no way a weapon packing this kind of force could rank as merely rare.

Maybe I should hunt down the blade later...

I was still mulling it over when Won-ae pulled up beside me.

“You finished them all without even leaving any for me?” she said, in a sulking voice.

“Looks that way. Try keeping up a little better next time.”

“Hmph!”

Won-ae huffed indignantly at my teasing. She knew better than anyone that she couldn't match ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my speed.

But why hasn't the message popped up yet?

Normally, the moment you annihilated a command structure, a message like 'Would you like to claim this territory?' should appear.

Don't tell me something survived that attack?

Lucky bastard. Because if it hadn't, there was no way anything could have lived through that strike.

“Hah... this is turning into a hassle...”

“Why? Don't tell me there's still someone left alive?”

Won-ae's eyes lit up at my sigh. I couldn't see them behind her mask, but I knew it anyway. Right now, they were sparkling.

“Let's just find whoever it—”

The instant those words left my mouth, an attack came screaming down from the sky.

I switched the axe into a greatsword to block it — but the strike wasn't aimed at me.

“Kyaaah!”

The attack grazed Won-ae's arm and shot past. Startled by the sudden assault, she let out a scream. For her as she was now, a demonkin's attack was simply too fast.

“Useless wretches, the lot of them.”

I looked up at the demonkin circling the sky. Judging by the demonic energy I could feel, it was absolutely a lesser strain, not an upper one. And since it had wings, among demonkin it would be a full-fledged demon.

If I fight it with daggers alone, we're about even — but if I use my footwork, I should have plenty of room.

I was still running the numbers in my head when Won-ae, who had been standing beside me, collapsed.

“Won-ae?!”

“Haah... haah...”

She who had been so full of energy mere moments ago was now gasping for breath. And then the demon watching the scene from the sky opened its mouth.

“His Lordship's poison seeps in not only through breath, but through skin and wounds alike. But tell me — why is it that the poison has no effect on you?”

It was almost comical, how obligingly it explained its own poison's properties — but that wasn't what mattered now.

At this rate, Won-ae is going to die.

Awakened ones carried a measure of poison resistance. But the reaction Won-ae was showing was that of someone fully succumbing to poison — which meant her resistance was worthless here. And if the poison couldn't be resisted, she would die just like this.

As if I'd ever stand by and let that happen.

She'd been my friend before my regression, and she was my comrade now. I had no intention of letting her die so meaninglessly.

“Hang on just a little longer.”

Saying that to the collapsed Won-ae, I turned to face the demon soaring overhead.

My unique skill, which had failed to function properly since my regression, had finally activated — probably because this demon had descended in its complete form.

“Well then, if poison doesn't work on you, I, the great Ryusve—”

“Shut it.”

“Huh?”

“I told lesser demons to shut their mouths.”

The thing had been yammering nonstop no matter what I did, and considering it was that very talkativeness that had poisoned Won-ae, I was getting angry.

“You insolent piece of livestock—!”

The demon must have truly despised being cut off mid-sentence, because it trembled with barely contained rage. I ignored it entirely and stepped straight into my footwork.

I poured half of everything I had into the attack.

The sky cracked open, and shards of it rained down.

The demon, oblivious, kept muttering away to itself.

“To think livestock like you would dare address the great Ryusve—”

“Shut up and die, lesser demon.”

“Again! You dare interrupt the great Ryusve—”

I cut it off and struck. It had been trying to introduce its name this whole time, but I had no desire to hear it — and it didn't deserve to be heard.

“Gaaah!”

Shredded into a lump of meat by the falling fragments, the demon dropped to the ground. The moment it died, the system message appeared.

“I claim it.”

The moment the message appeared, the poison fog hanging over the area dissipated entirely. I rushed to where Won-ae had fallen.

“Haah...! Haah...!”

Her breathing was even more ragged than before. I hurriedly pulled out an antidote, peeled off her mask, and poured the antidote into her mouth.

“Don't spit it out — swallow.”

I covered her mouth as she instinctively tried to expel it, whispering quietly by her ear. Whether my words got through or not, Won-ae swallowed.

“Kuhak!”

Then came an immediate adverse reaction — the antidote and the poison were colliding inside her. And the victor was not the antidote, but the poison. The tips of Won-ae's arms and legs began turning black.

Damn it!

I didn't have enough stat points left to buy a higher-grade antidote. The only thing remaining was the other option — forcing the poison out of her body from the outside.

It's the only way.

I laid Won-ae down on flat ground and sank to my knees beside her. Closing my eyes, I set my mana in motion, deadening every sense until nothing remained but the mana itself.

The poison is circulating through her whole body.

It was coursing through her along her blood vessels. The one mercy was that it hadn't yet spread to her heart or brain.

Push it out slowly... carefully...

I began feeding my mana slowly into Won-ae's blood vessels to drive the poison back. Perhaps it was thanks to my Hundred Poisons Immunity trait — wherever my mana approached, the poison recoiled.

Just keep pushing it all out like this.

But just as I was nearly finished, the thing I'd feared most finally happened.

“Kuhak!”

My mana and Won-ae's own power clashed inside her body. My mana, working to expel the poison; her power, which had finally rallied and was now rejecting all outside mana; and the poison besides. If this continued, her body wouldn't hold.

She can't withstand it.

Her body was already struggling with two clashing forces — and now mine had been thrown into the mix on top of them. It would break her apart.

Nothing for it... I just have to try.

Mana was my power and mine alone. Other Awakened had tried to acquire it, only to be beaten back by the rejection of their own inner power, and never managed it. That was why this method existed as pure theory, never once tested in practice — because by the time the theory had been established, there ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was no one left to try it on.

I will dominate her inner power with my mana.

Immediately, I directed my mana not only at the poison but toward her power itself. It resisted fiercely, but mana was a force that stood above it. It had no choice but to submit to my control.

Feed it into her heart and brain very, very slowly...

One careless stream of mana into the brain or heart could leave her a simpleton — this had to be handled with the utmost care. Controlling three things at once — the poison, my mana, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her power — I poured every ounce of my focus into the task.

System messages seemed to be flashing somewhere, but I was pouring my entire concentration into the work and never even noticed them.

It has to move with absolute precision...

One wrong slip — even a single hair's breadth — and not only Won-ae but I would die as well. With that thought burning in my mind, I kept my mana in motion.

At last, I brought her inner power fully under my control.

Now all that's left is the poison.

Moving my mana and her power in tandem, I began driving the poison out of Won-ae's body.

I had no idea how much time had passed. My senses were growing dull and distant — and just as I thought that, I finally succeeded in driving every last trace of the poison from Won-ae's body.

“I did i—”

I tried to shout it, but with my concentration suddenly released, the thread of my consciousness snapped right there and then.