The Poisonous Healer

The plan was simple.

Approach the Giant Treasure’s chest together with Yuk Cheolwan, and spray my blood.

The moment my blood would touch its crust, cracks would instantly form.

Yuk Cheolwan would then seize that opportunity to drive Exa's blade into it.

"That seems simple enough.”

Yuk Cheolwan nodded with a determined expression.

Tankers are inherently skilled at enduring, and among the knight classes, they possess the greatest strength.

Under certain conditions, they can inflict the highest level of damage.

However, there was one variable in this strategy.

"This is the first time I'm letting someone else wield my weapon."

"Huh?”

"It'll probably be quite painful just to hold it."

Yuk Cheolwan then confidently took Exa in his hand.

"Hunter Chun Haesun. I may not be good at many things, but I excel at enduring. No matter what pain comes....."

Sizzle.

"Aaaagh!"

Despite his earlier confidence, Yuk Cheolwan let out a frail scream, making his bold demeanor seem utterly misplaced.

If we hadn’t been in the middle of a fight, I might have doubled over laughing.

"No... You've been fighting all this time while holding this? It's like…..”

Countless streams of Black Aether had flowed into Exa over time.

Even without actively infusing Aether, anyone else would suffer the agony of their skin burning.

After gripping it for just a moment, Yuk Cheolwan's eyes turned bloodshot.

As if the pain wasn't enough, symptoms of poisoning had already begun to set in.

"I'd rather just grip the blade directly at this point.”

Yuk Cheolwan clicked his tongue as he received healing.

However, he showed no intention of backing down from the plan.

Though the pain was considerable, his determination to endure it was evident.

"If you hold Exa together with me, it should be bearable."

"Okay."

Yuk Cheolwan and I turned our gaze back toward the Giant Treasure.

After using 'Fragment,' its movements became sluggish for a while.

Seeing its body twitch again, it seemed like it was about to use that damned skill once more.

"This will be the first and last attack we do together to either bring down this monster or bring our own demise."

"I'm prepared."

"Wh-what should I do?"

From behind, Bisu's anxious voice reached us.

I wonder.

In a situation like this, what could Bisu, whose only skill is stealth, possibly do?

Under normal circumstances, I might have snapped, ‘Staying out of the way is helpful enough’.

However, Bisu, too, had rushed into the danger zone alongside Yuk Cheolwan.

All to help me.

So instead of a reprimand, I offered different words.

"Pray to God. For us.”

“……?”

I hoisted Yuk Cheolwan halfway onto my back and drew Aether onto my legs.

In terms of knight rank, he was two ranks above me, but when it came to ‘mobility’, I was far superior.

Yuk Cheolwan weighed at most 100kg.

A weight that Poison Steps could easily handle.

Swoosh.

I dodged the Giant Treasure's swinging arm and landed on its chest.

Since I reached close range, it unhesitatingly transformed parts of its body into ‘Fragments’ and fired them.

Swish.

I spun around, using my body to shield Yuk Cheolwan.

Not to protect him.

Because the more wounds I had, the more blood I could spill.

Splash— splatter—

"Ugh…..”

There are things in life that you just can't get used to, no matter how many times you experience them. Pain is one of them.

The sensation of the world's hardest object piercing through your body is something you can never adapt to.

Drip.

Blood gushed profusely from the wounded area.

It was enough blood to wash my face with it.

But I decided to push myself one step further.

Grit.

I clenched my jaw so hard that a grinding sound escaped, then yanked out the Pranium fragments embedded in my body.

Squelch.

"Kyaaah!"

Bisu's scream echoed from below.

She must have thought I'd lost my mind.

An excruciating wave of pain washed over me, leaving my mind hazy.

A pain even more intense than when my body was pierced wracked my entire being.

But in return, there was a gain.

The amount of blood that had been flowing suddenly increased, staining the Giant Treasure's skin with a large amount of blood.

Sizzle…..

I wanted to collapse right then and there, but I forced my eyes wide open and observed the changes.

Finally, the surface of the Pranium, which had been gleaming with a brilliant hue, began to grow dull.

“Now!!!”

I called out to Yuk Cheolwan, and as if confirming it himself, he drew in an immense surge of Aether.

"Uwooooooh!!”

The Aether of a Poisoner and the Aether of a knight.

Exa, infused with both energies, plunged deep into the Giant Treasure's chest.

Clang!!

The ear splitting sound echoed.

Whether it was due to the hardness of the Pranium, my eardrums felt like they were about to burst.

"Did we get through?!”

A hopeful voice came from Yuk Cheolwan.

But soon, his face was completely covered in despair.

'Damn it...!’

It didn't work.

Even though the two of us had poured all our strength into that strike, unfortunately, the Pranium refused to allow the blade to penetrate.

'So this is how it ends.'

We had no Plan B left.

This plan wasn't devised with failure in mind from the start.

The Giant Treasure's massive shadow loomed over us, as if foretelling our demise.

"Ugh...!!”

To make matters worse, the Pranium, which had lost its color, began to gradually regain its radiant glow.

If its skin returned to normal, we wouldn't even have a sliver of hope left.

Drip.

Tears of blood streamed from Yuk Cheolwan's eyes.

The side effects were beginning to show from holding Exa for too long.

That, in a way, was also a warning sign for me.

It meant I had no more healing energy left to give him.

"Uwaaaaah!!"

Even in that state, Yuk Cheolwan was scraping together every last bit of his Aether, using it to the very end.

At this rate, he might cross the Underworld River before his wife does.

Well, I was in no position to talk.

My vision was gradually blurring.

Under normal circumstances, I should have conserved my energy until my body recovered, but with all my focus directed into Exa, my recovery was barely progressing.

They say even the strongest cannot overcome their weak eyelids.

I simply couldn't keep my eyes open any longer.

Just before my vision completely vanished beneath my falling eyelids,

Humm.

“……!!!!”

It was hot.

An indescribably intense heat suddenly enveloped my entire body.

But this heat didn't feel painful.

A pleasant sense of elation and fighting spirit.

These sensations were realigning my disoriented body.

'What is this?’

The Aether energy, which had been drying up, now surged like a spring as if nothing had happened.

Did Yuk Cheolwan have some special skill after all?

Puzzled, I turned my head to look, but it was in vain.

He, too, was staring at me with wide, astonished eyes.

"Huh... Hunter!!"

When I glanced around, a faint, hazy energy was enveloping both Yuk Cheolwan and me.

At the same time, a warning message arrived from V1.

[A new form of energy has been detected in Exa. Three different types of Aether are currently coexisting within Exa.]

[Warning: The allowable limit of Aether has been exceeded. If not stopped immediately, Exa will sustain critical damage.]

Who would stop in this situation?

I raised my voice toward Yuk Cheolwan.

"Push!!"

"Ugh!!"

I didn't know where this energy came from.

But thanks to this energy, the strength of both Yuk Cheolwan and myself doubled, and as a result, changes began to appear in the Pranium, which had seemed eternally impenetrable.

Thump...

Yuk Cheolwan’s face no longer looked human.

It had already been several minutes since he gripped Exa, and with the rampant abuse of Aether pushing him into an 'overdrive' state, his body was clearly in an unimaginable condition.

There was no more time to drag this out anyway.

We mustered the last of our strength and poured it into Exa.

"Yaaaaah!!”

CRACK!!!!!!

With the sensation of something tightly blocked finally giving way, the Giant Treasure thrashed violently.

–Groouuuuuu.

Yuk Cheolwan and I were flung aside by its convulsions.

CRASH!!

My back slammed against the rugged Pranium ground, and my eyes shot wide open.

It was the kind of pain that jolts you awake just as you're about to lose consciousness.

I wanted to turn my head to check on Yuk Cheolwan, but I didn't have even an ounce of strength left to move a single finger.

Did we succeed?

I definitely felt the impact.

"Chun Haesun!!"

Bisu's voice echoed from a distance.

Judging by how her voice was getting closer, it seemed she was running toward us.

"You crazy bastard! Were you trying to get yourself killed?"

Bisu scolded me while looking at the gaping hole in my side.

"I did it because I want to live."

"Damn it. Even when you look like you're about to die any second, your mouth is still alive….."

"What about the Clan Leader?”

"Barely hanging on to life. Just like you."

"That's a relief..."

Just as I was about to breathe a sigh of relief, my vision started to shake.

This time, it wasn't pain blurring my vision.

The Giant Treasure, standing tall, was genuinely shaking.

As if it was about to collapse at any moment.

"...Damn it."

Hey, don't joke with me.

We risked everything, and before we can even see the outcome, are we really ending like this, like dried squid?

"Hey, fuck!"

Bisu shouted angrily, then wrapped her arm around me.

She then started dragging Yuk Cheolwan’s arm and sprinted at full speed.

She was stronger than I thought.

The moment we moved away, the Giant Treasure's massive body crashed to the ground.

BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It sounded like a meteor had struck.

I glanced back and forth between the Giant Treasure and the Aurum Bloom beside it.

The Giant Treasure had collapsed, while the Aurum Bloom remained unharmed.

Then there was only one conclusion left.

The blade of ‘White Dream’ had pierced through it.

"We did it...!!"

Even lying down, I clenched my fist tightly.

We finally did it.

We pierced through the unrealistically tough physical level 'S' hard body.

"Hunter Chun Haesun!!!!"

Yuk Cheolwan crawled over and grabbed my hand.

Not only were his hands trembling, but his shoulders were shaking uncontrollably as well.

It seemed like his entire body was overwhelmed by intense emotion.

"I knew you could do it, Hunter...!!"

"It wasn't me. We did it together."

Yuk Cheolwan, who had been lost in emotion for a while, suddenly flinched.

Then, he stretched out his thick hand.

"Hunter. But…..”

On his palm lay the shattered pieces of a device.

They were the remains of Exa, broken into fragments after being forced to contain three massive types of energy.

The advanced device that once transformed freely according to its user's will.

It held out until the very end, but eventually, after breaking through the iron wall of Pranium, its lifespan came to an end.

“......”

Thank you.

It’s all thanks to you.

For a moment, I gazed at the fragments of Exa before carefully taking them into my arms.

Right now, it was time to focus on the next steps rather than lingering on emotions.

"Ugh..."

Yuk Cheolwan's condition was worse than I had expected.

Cases where someone pushes themselves too hard with Aether and ends up half-crippled are more common than you'd think.

Even Yoo Jiwon, who was unlucky enough to mess around during the Hunter Qualification Test, also suffered significant damage.

After meticulously healing his condition, I climbed aboard the Giant Treasure with Yuk Cheolwan.

Meanwhile, Bisu gathered our belongings and carefully placed the Aurum Bloom in the pouch she'd prepared.

"From now on, speed is crucial."

The rare herb and the dungeon's boss mob share one body and mind.

While it's sleeping, it doesn't matter, but once the boss mob dies, the flower withers shortly after.

After taking the Giant Treasure down, we needed to leave the dungeon as quickly as possible.

"Anyway, what should we do about this?”

"Hm?"

"The weapon you were using is completely shattered….."

"...Ah. There's nothing to say.”

Yuk Cheolwan seemed to think that the only reason I, a 'Healer,' could take down monsters was because of the weapon called 'Exa.’

Strictly speaking, it wasn't entirely wrong, but in reality, the source of all Exa's power came from me.

Squelch.

Suddenly, I bit my little finger, and Yuk Cheolwan flinched in surprise.

"Hunter... What are you..."

Drip, drip, droplets of blood fell to the ground.

The blade of ‘White Dream’ was lodged within the cracked Pranium.

Drops of blood trickled down the blade, seeping into the body of the Giant Treasure.

Sluurp…

The area of erosion, once only the size of a palm, gradually began to expand its reach.

The earlier golems severed their own bodies to stop the poison from spreading, but this one, intoxicated by the ‘White Dream’, was practically defenseless.

Slowly, the Giant Treasure's body turned gray, and soon its entire form was dyed in the color of death.

The King of poisons.

The Poisoner's venom had severed its breath in an instant.

"What in the world... is this...!!!”

Perhaps because he had only seen me wield a dagger until now, Yuk Cheolwan looked at me with an expression of disbelief.

He must have realized it clearly now.

That I was completely different from ordinary healers.

"Hunter Chun Haesun... What exactly are you...??"

Facing his bewildered expression, I could only give a faint smile.