Chapter 24: Absolute Proposition (5)

“Here! Hunter Kang Ihyun! Over here!”

“Yes, I’m coming!”

Kang Ihyun wiped the sweat from his forehead as he hurried into the auditorium of the annex building. The annex was outside the main range of the gate, but the purple haze from the toxins the rescued students exhaled hung thick in the air.

Medical staff in protective suits and healers who appeared to be government-affiliated were moving from one collapsed student to the next, checking their conditions.

Ihyun’s face hardened as he looked over the students. Their condition was far worse than he expected. Their veins had swollen with a dark violet hue, bulging so much that they showed through their skin, and some parts were grotesquely distended.

“The toxins are spreading through their bodies in real time. The pace is so fast that even with skilled healers working on them, we can’t stop it.”

A medic in a gas mask explained as he approached. Ihyun went from face to face, looking closely at the students, then slapped his cheeks twice and steadied his gaze.

“At this rate, they won’t even make it to a hospital.”

“That’s right. The students are exuding poison from the infected areas. We have to deal with that first, then begin first aid.”

The medic explained that although they had already contacted nearby hospitals, bringing the students in like this was impossible. The toxins seeping from their bodies would endanger other patients.

“And right now, we can’t even perform emergency treatment.”

At those words Ihyun turned his eyes toward the auditorium. Healers who had been dispatched were trembling as they prayed over the students. Their eyes were already hollowed out, spent from pouring out too much holy power.

“No, no… please no!”

One healer lowered his hands as if the treatment was complete, but when the student’s arm swelled purple again, he panicked and resumed praying, nearly in tears. The medic sighed deeply.

“That is how vicious the poison is. Pour even a little less holy power into them and it immediately resurges.”

The healer praying again began to tremble violently, as if wringing himself dry. It was obvious he was forcing every drop of his strength out.

Moreover...

“Class 2–3 students coming through!”

From the Warp gate Lude had opened, more students poured out. He was still rescuing them in real time from inside the school.

Lude was doing his part, bringing them to safety. The rest was up to the healers and medical staff. But the poison was simply too strong.

[The constellation, Staff of Purification, frets that the atmosphere is so tainted with malice that its holy power cannot display its full strength.]

It was true. The holy power was being suppressed. The medical staff were exhausted. At this rate, they would run out of strength before healing even half.

“…We start by purifying the air!”

Ihyun sprang to his feet with his diagnosis. The airborne toxins had to be cleared first.

Then he would unleash a large-scale heal to give the students’ bodies enough resistance to survive until proper treatment. Just as in surgery, sterilization had to come first.

“I will purify the entire hall and everyone here at once. Turn on the air conditioning, and prepare for immediate transport!”

A medic by the door rushed to switch on the unit with a remote. Confirming it was running, Ihyun pulled from his inventory a dagger engraved with the shape of a fish on the hilt.

In the annex filled with violet miasma, Ihyun pulled his shirt up over his mouth, took a deep breath, and shut his eyes in resolve.

“Ugh…!”

He raised the dagger and plunged it into his opposite palm. His brows knotted, and a muffled groan slipped from behind his shirt. Blood dripped thick and fast onto the floor.

“Hah…”

He breathed heavily through clenched teeth, then yanked the dagger free. Blood streamed down, dripping steadily from the tip.

At the same time, the wound on his palm began to knit shut instantly. It was the privilege of the Archangel’s chosen vessel.

The pain remained, judging from the way he flexed and clenched his hand, but Ihyun pressed his bloody palms together and dropped to his knees.

Amid the groans of the poisoned and the haze of toxic mist, a man with bloodied hands began to pray.

“Our Father in heaven, we know your name is holy. We know your kingdom is soon to come.”

As he prayed, the blood upon the floor ignited into a golden sacred flame. The more he chanted, the more sparks of that flame spread into the air. Healers held their breath, sensing what was happening.

It was a variation on large-scale healing, overlaid with his own prayer.

Normally, mass healing was meant for treating minor wounds across many people, and few healers ever used it. The wider the scope, the greater the drain.

But here, holy power was not being poured out from him alone. The natural holy power in the world, in the very air, resonated with his prayer and was being drawn into the hall.

[Trait: Master of Good and Evil activates.]

[The Four Archangels turn their eyes to you.]

[The Staff of Purification stirs.]

[A great surge of holy power answers your call.]

Kang Ihyun, the second-ranked Hunter in Korea, seventh in the world, the one called the Golden Sacred Flame.

The sole vessel of the Archangel Raphael, the Staff of Purification.

He continued his prayer.

“In despair I see you. In temptation I see you. O my Father, in every agony of this world I know that you exist.”

Was it God who answered, or the angel? The flame at the center burst outward in all directions. The violet miasma shrank back, losing strength.

His hair glimmered with reflected golden light, and sweat beaded on his brow as he spoke the final words.

“So Lord, have mercy on us. Deliver us from evil. Grant us your compassion.”

He traced the sign of the cross. The skill activated.

[Priest Exclusive High Tier Skill: First Mass – Kyrie Eleison]

With a roar, what had been sparks of holy light became a blazing golden fire that washed over the students.

Groans quieted. The noxious haze vanished in the golden glow. Everyone stared, transfixed.

“Phew…”

Ihyun exhaled, stood, and looked around the hall. One of the priests clenched his fists without realizing it after seeing such a thing.

‘So it really works… this is what they mean by a healer-tank.’

Ranked 2 in Korea, 7 in the world. Number one among Priests globally.

A Priest of the Holy Knight subclass, though uniquely able to define both combat and healing alike.

Perhaps it was because of his constellation. Raphael, Archangel of Healing and leader of the Fallen. Ihyun was his only chosen vessel.

“For now the tide has turned. They can be moved to hospitals. Stay strong until the next wave of students arrives. Let’s save them all!”

He wiped his sweat and tucked his cross back under his shirt. The crisis had passed, the students were stable.

Healers nodded and returned to their charges. Ihyun had done his part. Now it was their turn!

* * *

“…What the hell is this?”

On the second floor, Lude frowned at the eastern mana-stone storage.

They were supposed to collect the old stone and replace it, but the compartment was empty.

Not empty exactly. Floating inside was a cluster of crimson ether.

[Looks like refined mana, Lord of Chaos mutters, tilting his head.]

“Mana?”

[Compared to a real mana stone it is nothing, but it seems to be just enough to keep the balance of the four directions, Lord of Chaos nods.]

“Really? Fair enough. The students were in relatively decent shape compared to the state of the building.”

If the miasma had filled the air, the respiratory system would have been first to collapse, yet the students Lude saw showed poisoning creeping up from their limbs.

That meant this substitute energy had at least kept them alive.

Which meant someone had noticed the missing mana stone and placed this refined energy in its stead. And there was no way it was the rescue crews.

Lude thought hard, then pulled out the phone Ihyun had lent him, since he could not open one under his own name.

After a short ring, the civil servant who had briefed them earlier answered.

[Hello?]

“This is Lude. I have a question.”

[Yes, go ahead.]

Lude stared at the empty compartment, choosing his words carefully.

“Who reported this gate?”

[Ah… it was anonymous. About ten minutes before the outbreak, someone reported signs of corrosion. From the voice it sounded like a young student.]

“Thank you. I’ll be replacing the mana stone now. Do not let anyone enter until I say it’s safe. It’s still dangerous.”

[Wait, is there some oth—]

Lude hung up. He slotted a new mana stone into the compartment. It glowed brightly.

With the balance restored, the other stones around the building flared to life, sending energy throughout the school.

The vein-like growths along the walls retreated into cracks. Lude remembered the Guildmaster’s words.

“All are non-awakened… she said.”

He approached one of the goats leading the last rescued class. When its leader looked up at him, Lude asked coldly,

“There are survivors upstairs, aren’t there?”

“Yes! In the library!”

“Why didn’t you say so?”

“You didn’t ask!”

The kid bleated cheerfully and went back to work. Lude stared at them with a mixed expression.

“Right. That’s how you guys were.”

He confirmed once again the pure malice of his constellation. He opened the sticker book he always carried and stuck one of the “Baddest Kid in the Universe!” stickers on the little goat’s horn.

“Good work. Share these among yourselves. Once you finish rescuing, return on your own.”

“What about you, Grandma?”

“I’m going to reclaim my character.”

Leaving the puzzled goats behind, Lude climbed the stairs with a grim face, grinding his teeth.

“Seriously, someone hiding their strength, huh. That’s supposed to be my specialty…”

There was an unregistered Awakener in this school.

The one who had noticed the disaster first, and prepared with their own power before the rescue teams ever arrived.

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