Chapter 98: Resolution (1)

Erio Pine’s eyes widened even further.

‘What… what the hell is that monster!’

It was already well known that Kang Geom-Ma was strong. Recently, in a duel within the dimensional space, he had defeated one of the continent’s stars, solidifying himself as an unparalleled prodigy.

People called him the “Saint of Sashimi.”

Although the nickname might sound like a joke, Kang Geom-Ma’s skill was undeniable. That’s why Erio had considered multiple variables and studied strategies to counter him in case they ever crossed paths. But all her efforts crumbled like a bursting bubble.

Suddenly, her legs faltered, and her knees began to tremble.

Though Paul had not realized it during his fight, Erio, who had been watching, was utterly horrified.

Kang Geom-Ma’s strength was beyond any expectations. Moreover, the pressure he exuded didn’t just weaken her will to fight—it made it disappear completely.

“How can this be possible? And on top of that, he’s only seventeen, with a face still as soft as a child’s. How can a human like him exist, regardless of age?”

He was someone whose depths of power could not be measured.

A monster. No, more than that…

“A demon.”

The word she had been repeating in her mind slipped from her lips. Then, Kang Geom-Ma’s dark eyes locked onto her.

Step.

The sound of a single step made Erio feel as if her entire body had frozen. Kang Geom-Ma moved forward, his empty, cold gaze fixed on her.

“Don’t come any closer!”

Erio screamed desperately. Every hair on her body stood on end.

But Kang Geom-Ma’s steps continued.

“You’re a demon, stay away!”

Hearing those words, Choi Seol-Ah let out a small, sarcastic laugh. How could a villain like Erio Pine call someone a “demon”? It was ridiculous. Seol-Ah shook her head, feigning pity.

Step.

Another step forward. Erio’s face turned completely pale.

In her mind, there was only one thought repeating over and over.

‘I’m going to die, I’m going to die, I’m going to die…’

Finally, she clenched her teeth and forced her paralyzed mind to move.

‘No matter what, I have to survive.’

First, she needed to live. Then, there would be time to think about revenge.

She looked around, searching for a way out. Should she try to escape? No, after seeing how fast Kang Geom-Ma wielded his blade, she knew she had no chance of running away.

What if she launched a magical attack to distract him and then fled? But she didn’t sense any magical power in the air. She quickly glanced at Paul’s severed body.

‘Could it be that… he consumed all the magical energy?’

Now that she thought about it, Paul had been preparing to cast magic even before she could use hers. Paul had boasted about his power, yet he was torn apart in an instant.

No matter how strong magical power was, its total amount wasn’t infinite. If used excessively, it would eventually run out.

However, something felt off. The amount of magic Paul had used before his death wasn’t that much—why? A fleeting question. But Erio quickly figured out the answer.

Erio quietly turned her head.

A cold sweat broke out on her forehead.

Her eyes landed on the sashimi blade.

A ferocious force radiated from the knife, repelling the magical energy in the area. She wondered if that was possible, but it was the undeniable reality.

“…”

Meanwhile, that crazy monster was still approaching. There was no time to waste.

Without hesitation, she grabbed the unconscious Saki by the hair and lifted her up.

“If you take another step, I’ll rip this bitch’s head off!”

With a swift motion, she shaped the earth into a sharp dagger and pressed it against Saki’s jaw.

At that moment, Kang Geom-Ma’s steps came to a halt.

Yes, there was no safer method than taking a hostage. Erio slowly moved towards the stairs, using Saki as a shield.

Just as she was about to reach them, something felt off.

She glanced at Saki and noticed something strange—the dagger that should have been embedded in her clavicle was gone. The wound was still bleeding, but the blade had vanished.

“Wh-what does this mean?”

At that instant, Saki’s lips moved.

“It hurts… let me go already.”

“…!?”

Before Erio could react, Saki pulled out a hidden knife from her chest. Gripping it in a reverse hold, she plunged it deep into Erio’s abdomen.

Squish!

“Argh—!”

The curved blade pierced through her navel, puncturing her intestines. The venom coating the weapon quickly spread through her bloodstream.

“Aaaahhhhhh!”

Erio screamed in agony, collapsing to her knees. Saki, exhausted, staggered toward a nearby wall, struggling to keep herself upright.

With her face twisted in pain, Erio lifted her head and asked.

“How… how did you do it?”

Saki let out a weak chuckle. Her light blue hair fell over her face as she gasped for breath.

“You put on an act before… why couldn’t I do the same? Besides… in my family, we always build immunity to poison. Archers like us coat our arrows with venom to gain an advantage.”

She took a deep breath, trying to steady herself.

“…Idiot.”

Erio cursed in a distorted voice.

The poison had spread to her neck, making the veins in her body stand out in a dark purple hue. Her facial muscles twitched, but most of her internal organs were already failing.

Saki, too, had exhausted all her strength. But with great effort, she straightened her back and continued speaking.

“I didn’t block the poison with an aura, I just… slowed my heartbeat. If I had taken a second longer, I probably would have died.”

Erio clutched her lower abdomen, lifting her eyes in fury. But the poison had reached her brain, and her vital functions were shutting down.

“…Ah.”

With a final breath, Erio’s eyelids closed, and darkness consumed her vision.

A faint groan—that was Erio’s final will. Immediately, her life force flickered out completely.

Thud.

Saki, completely drained, let her head fall forward.

Her body wobbled, about to collapse, when a firm hand caught her face.

She looked up, barely able to keep her eyes open.

The face she had longed to see at the brink of life and death was there, looking at her.

“I’m the one who’s dying here. Why do you look like that?”

“…Still, you saved me just in time.”

“……”

“And about that request I made a few days ago…”

Saki smiled faintly, resting her face against Kang Geom-Ma’s chest.

“Please… let me stay like this a little longer.”

***

Ryozo leaned against my chest. Her already pale face had lost all color, and her breathing was weak and uneven.

Even that faint sound of breath seemed ready to fade away, like a candle flickering under the wind.

“Ryozo!”

“……”

Even though I called her name loudly, Ryozo only slightly moved her lips, as if she wanted to respond, but suddenly she started coughing.

“Cough, cough.”

With every cough, blood spilled from her wounds and her mouth. Alarmed, I quickly assessed her condition.

A jagged wound cut across her chest, making it clear she had taken a nearly fatal blow. Though it seemed to have barely missed her vitals, the damage was severe. The damp, suffocating air inside the tower prevented her bleeding from stopping.

I glanced aside for a moment. Though Ryozo’s condition was grave, Leon’s—lying about ten steps away—was even worse.

It seemed like a miracle that he was still alive. His side was destroyed, and one of his arms was so damaged that it looked like a torn rag.

It was urgent to act immediately. If I hesitated any longer, both of them would be lost beyond salvation. I clenched my teeth and, after taking a deep breath, tried to stay calm.

‘At times like this, you have to keep a cool head.’

Nothing is more useless in a critical situation than the feeling of despair. I quickly assessed their conditions and made a decision.

‘First, I need to stop the bleeding.’

I took off my uniform jacket and, with a quick motion, cut the edge with the sashimi knife. Then, with my bare hands, I started tearing the fabric into strips.

“…What is he doing?”

Choi Seol-Ah tilted her head in curiosity, her eyes filled with confusion.

Despite the urgency of the situation, she looked at me with a mix of fascination and detachment. Seeing her face completely devoid of empathy or concern, even when someone was on the verge of death, made my blood boil for a moment.

But what could I do? Her ability to feel emotions had probably faded long ago. I didn’t have time to scold her.

‘After all, she gave me the sashimi knife and helped me get through this.’

Reaching out to her for a weapon had been a risky bet. If Choi Seol-Ah hadn’t handed me the sashimi knife, I would probably have been finished right then and there.

However, for some reason, she abandoned the villains who used to be her allies and chose me, even declaring that she would serve me as her new master.

Maybe it was because of the stallion emblem of the Corps Commander, or perhaps due to some kind of emotional connection I couldn’t understand. The only thing certain was that I had benefited from her decision.

At that moment, Rachel and Senior Ha-na also arrived on the fifth floor. Rachel, whose face already looked haggard, was completely stunned upon seeing the scene before her. She quickly approached me and asked in an alarmed tone:

“…Wh-what happened here?”

“I’ll explain later. Rachel, Senior Ha-na, please bring Leon here.”

Both nodded, still bewildered, but obeyed. Even Choi Seol-Ah, who seemed lost, began rolling up her sleeves to help.

‘She has a strange way of grasping things.’

If she had continued staring at me without doing anything, I probably would have lost my patience entirely. But before I could even tell her what to do, she was already moving.

Rachel approached Leon, but her eyebrows furrowed in disgust. He was completely covered in blood, barely breathing in weak gasps. Since Rachel interacted with him frequently, it was understandable that her expression darkened.

Rachel requested the help of Senior Ha-na and Choi Seol-Ah. Under normal circumstances, she would have roughly thrown Leon over her shoulders, but in his current state, a poorly calculated movement could further twist his fragile bones.

The three of them worked together with extreme care to drag Leon over to where I was and laid him down.

Seeing him up close, his condition was even worse than I had anticipated.

His broken bones had pierced through the skin at the elbow, and his side was bleeding even more severely than Ryozo’s.

This wasn’t a case for first aid—it required immediate surgery.

“Is Leon going to die like this?”
Rachel murmured with a worried expression.

I shook my head and replied.

“No, he won’t die.”

“What…?”

“I’ll save him.”

My low and firm tone seemed to calm her, and Rachel nodded. Then she asked me,

“What should I do?”

“First, we need to realign his bones and stop the bleeding. If we don’t do it soon, it will really be too late.”

“U-understood.” Rachel swallowed nervously. Then, I turned to Senior Ha-na and continued speaking.

“Senior, Rachel, hold Leon firmly so his posture doesn’t shift. I’ll take care of the rest.”

“Understood,” Ha-na responded calmly, which made me give a slight smile of gratitude. She seemed to pick up on my intent and responded with a small smile of her own.

“And what about me…?”

Choi Seol-Ah, who had been timidly watching from the side, awkwardly asked as if she were waiting for a task. Her eyes gleamed, resembling a puppy waiting for someone to throw a frisbee.

I tossed her the pieces of fabric I had just torn and said,

“You… no, Instructor Kim, use this to stop Ryozo’s bleeding.”

Choi Seol-Ah quickly understood, nodding, and began working skillfully, wrapping the cloth around Ryozo’s upper arm and applying pressure to stop the bleeding.

Meanwhile, Rachel and Senior Ha-na knelt down and held Leon’s arm firmly.

“Huff.”

I exhaled deeply, trying to steady my mind. I needed absolute concentration.

I would have to realign the bones that had pierced through his flesh and put them back together. I had never done anything like this before—I had only sliced fish spines, not repaired human bones.

I lifted Leon’s eyelids with my index finger to examine his eyes. His pupils were unfocused, completely blurred.

‘Is this what they call a coma?’ I thought. A single wrong move could send him straight to death from the shock.

However, if I left him like this, he would die anyway. I had no choice but to try.

The plan was to use the [Blessing of Transfer] to channel the [Blessing of Regeneration] into Leon’s body and numb him.

Then, I would quickly realign the broken bones and immediately apply the [Blessing of Regeneration] to stimulate cellular multiplication in the damaged bones and tissues.

The plan seemed perfect in theory.
If this level of precision and recklessness had occurred on Earth, it would have been clearly impossible.

But in this world, the rules are different.

‘The Blessing of the Sword God.’

When this blessing manifests, the mind cools like ice, and the senses sharpen to an almost lethal edge. These two traits drastically increase the precision of movements.

However, if I don’t also use the Blessing of Pain Insensitivity, the extreme pain will overwhelm me. Saving someone while drowning in such excruciating pain that I might spit blood?

I’m not a saint or anything like that. But if he dies, who will face the Demon King? Without Leon’s unique blessing, the [Blessing of Miracles], there is no way to defeat the Demon King. The system has literally set it up that way.

‘Ah, fuck.’

On top of that, the Blessing of Pain Insensitivity only lasts about seven more seconds. If I go over that time, the effect will wear off, and Leon will wake up from the “anesthetic.” Everything must be done within that window. Cold sweat dripped down my cheek.

‘…In my past life, I owned a sashimi restaurant, and now I’m a surgeon in this world?’

I swallowed the sigh that was about to escape and bit down hard on Murasame’s hilt.

I needed both hands free to treat Leon, so this was my only option. I tilted my jaw slightly and loosened the sword’s sheath.

[Your ingenuity increases the level of your mind.]

[Containment ability adjusts the process to the user’s skills.]

Shing⎯

[The Blessing of the Sword God, ‘Excellence,’ has been activated.]

I immediately reached out toward Leon.

***

A few seconds later, thanks to the speed of the intervention, both Ryozo and Leon began showing visible signs of recovery.

The bones were realigned, though somewhat crudely, and the bleeding had significantly decreased.

“Ugh!”

However, blood started flowing from my nose, running down to the edge of my jaw.

“Geom-Ma!”

My body collapsed, exhausted, into Rachel’s arms. They were warm.

“…Haha… damn it.”

It felt as if every part of my body was being slowly crushed. But I found myself letting out a weak laugh, having squeezed every last bit out of the pain reduction effect at level 2.5.