The Late Game Healer Is Way Too Strong – Chapter 222

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟐𝟐: 𝐈𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐚𝐢𝐧 3

Ugh.

The blade pierced past skin and muscle and struck the heart.

It was a cold, hard sensation that was different from stabbing a living being, running up the length of the blade.

There wasn’t even any blood gushing out.

Was this truly a living being?

Siwoo twisted the sword to pierce deeper.

It felt like he was fighting not a being with an essence or a physical form, but a shadow of a being that had already died and had only its form remaining.

Could he even kill it?

Siwoo looked at her, who was reminiscent of a zombie, and he naturally wondered about the nature of her existence and the principles behind her movements.

Just what had Penelshul made ‘this’ for?

『Argh! It hurts!』

Just as the sword was about to pierce deeper, Kim Eun-ju spread her wings and pushed Siwoo’s body away.

She clutched her pierced chest and distanced herself from Siwoo.

“Since you were already dead, wouldn’t it have been better for you to just stay in your grave?”

『Don’t make me laugh! If suicide was so great, why don’t you just do it yourself?!』

“I don’t need to do that since I’m not a being that goes against the laws of nature. But you should have already died.”

『Hah! Humans all die anyway! Does that mean we should just die as soon as we’re born?』

“You’re twisting my words. What I mean is that you should live according to the laws of nature. Just because winter comes doesn’t mean that new buds won’t sprout in the spring.”

『Shut up! Shut up! That has nothing to do with me! Ryu Ji-hwan was the one who did wrong, so why do I have to suffer the consequences!』

Kim Eun-ju covered her ears and loudly denied Siwoo’s words.

In fact, even Siwoo had nothing to say when he saw what Ryu Ji-hwan had done.

The bastard was still a bastard, and it was true that Kim Eun-ju was a victim, just as she had said.

However, that didn’t mean that the dead Kim Eun-ju should be allowed to live and move around, spewing out demonic energy.

〈Pandemonium〉’s test subject, a walking corpse, was a disgrace to the dead and something that hunters could not overlook.

“Ryu Ji-hwan will definitely be punished. So will the 〈Pandemonium〉 bastards. Do you understand?”

『No! I was given a chance to get revenge with my own hands, so why should I leave it to someone else?』

“I completely agree with that. I would have done the same thing.”

Siwoo had also entered HSIU to catch the bastard who killed his disciple, Min-jun, so he sympathized with her words.

Moreover, the law was the only means for victims to seek recourse, but it was also a tool that could never truly understand the victim’s resentment.

From Kim Eun-ju’s perspective, it would be difficult for her to feel like her pain had been acknowledged unless Ryu Ji-hwan was sentenced to death.

No, even if Ryu Ji-hwan is sentenced to death, it would only be a minimal payback, not compensation for her death.

『If you agree, then will you step aside? My back really hurts from where you stabbed me.』

“I’m sorry, but this is my job.”

Siwoo pulled out a handful of ether and pointed his sword at her again.

“You do your thing. I won’t say anything else.”

『Ugh! Instead of wasting your time on me, why don’t you go catch another one of those bad guys?』

“You’re a bad guy too. You killed Chae Woo-dam and Penelshul.”

Siwoo’s body tensed up and Balmung flew towards Kim Eun-ju in a long arc.

She gathers crimson demonic energy and materializes a long whip, which she swings at the approaching opponent.

Clang!

With a sound like the air itself was bursting, the whip wrapped around Siwoo’s sword, and as she yanked it, Siwoo let go of the sword without hesitation.

『Wh. . .?!』

A pathetically short struggle.

She used all her strength and lost her balance as her opponent let go of the sword.

Siwoo didn’t miss this opportunity and kicked Kim Eun-ju.

Thud!

『Cough!』

Thick, black blood flowed out of Kim Eun-ju’s mouth.

She writhed on the floor with a pained expression and let out a groan.

『Cough! Hack! Hack!』

Siwoo pulled Balmung, which had been wrapped around the whip, into his hand.

Kim Eun-ju gasped for breath, her shoulders shaking.

Just looking at her, she seemed like a frail woman who was crying out in pain.

“Tsk.”

Siwoo clicked his tongue and opened his mouth to speak to her.

“Aren’t you tired of putting on a show? Just get up.”

“Ugh. . . Aren’t you being too harsh. . . ? I can feel pain too. . . .”

Kim Eun-ju asked, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand.

“I can tell the emotions and lies of my opponents.”

『. . .』

“But I can tell even more when I use ether. For example, I can tell when you’re trying to trick me into letting my guard down.”

Siwoo had noticed her dark intentions from the beginning.

When using ether, he inevitably learned things by reading the subtle mana and demonic energy wavelengths of his opponents.

Like the pretense she’s putting on right now.

“How long are you going to keep up this disgusting act? I don’t even know if you’re really Kim Eun-ju in the first place.”

『Ugh. . . How. . . How. . . Cough, cough, did you know?』

Kim Eun-ju smiled sweetly, her sharp eyes forming crescents, as if she had just noticed.

『This is strange. I thought I was quite charming.』

She wiped away the sticky blood from the corner of her mouth and brushed off the dirt on her body.

『When did you realize I was acting?』

“When you were staring up at the sky in a daze.”

From the moment Pre had said that there was something strange about her, Siwoo had kept his mana detection focused on her.

Was this woman really the real Kim Eun-ju?

Devil’s blood, demon race demonic energy, a body that had died and come back to life.

From the beginning, it was difficult to believe that such a being could have a complete self.

And as expected, Kim Eun-ju’s words and emotions changed like a chameleon depending on who she was facing, and Siwoo was able to perceive this fact through ether.

“Your memories seem to be Kim Eun-ju’s memories, but who can prove that the one interpreting those memories is Kim Eun-ju?”

Instead of answering Siwoo’s question, she just curled her lips.

“Does that even matter? The fact that I exist as a being is undeniable.”

“Just because a corpse can talk doesn’t mean it’s alive. You’re just a talking zombie.”

『Hohoho. You really are someone I don’t like. I was trying to let things slide, but it looks like that’s not going to happen.』

Her mouth opened and dark, viscous demonic energy condensed.

Siwoo quickly erected a mana shield and materialized a spell in front of him.

It was too powerful of an attack to withstand with just a mana shield.

Ether energy flowed through the spell and constructed a magic circle.

Rumble!

As demonic energy was released from her mouth, a frigid aura surged out of Siwoo’s magic circle.

Crackle, crackle. . .!!

The freezing cold aura rapidly melted as it collided with her ferocious aura.

Crimson energy and azure energy growled at each other as if they were trying to devour each other, emitting a blinding light.

In terms of sheer demonic energy, it was by far the highest level of any opponent Siwoo had ever faced.

‘𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘳𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥. . . 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘵?’

Siwoo almost laughed out loud.

Balok or Orobas might have been stronger than her overall.

However, Kim Eun-ju overwhelmingly surpassed them in terms of demonic energy.

【𝐖𝐨𝐰. . . 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬.】

“Why. . . am I dying. . .!”

Siwoo said, glaring at Pre.

【𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠.】

“What. . .?!”

【𝐈𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞’𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲.】

Siwoo frowned at Pre’s words.

“So you’re saying. . . she’s. . . an ‘Ancient Diablo’ like you?”

【𝐍𝐨, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐭. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐫𝐚 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐫.]

Pre also tilted her head, as if she was just feeling it out.

“Let’s talk about this later!”

Crackle, crackle!

The demonic energy was rapidly approaching Siwoo, as if it would reach him any moment.

However, Siwoo calmly poured ether into the spell without showing any signs of panic.

Having a lot of demonic energy was great, but it wasn’t something that posed a life-threatening threat to Siwoo.

The only downside was that using ether for an extended period of time caused him endless pain.

Siwoo pulled out ether once more, as much as his mana pool could handle, and poured it into the spell.

Crackle, crackle. Boom!

『Ugh!』

She seems to have run out of demonic energy and is knocked away by Siwoo’s magic as she exerts her last ounce of strength.

Siwoo let out a breath.

The pain was unbearable, not because of anything else, but because he had used ether.

Of course, he had used Heal at the same time, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t feel the pain.

“Damn it. . . I don’t want to use it for a while.”

There was a taste of blood in his mouth and his vision was spinning.

He even gagged and wiped away the cold sweat that was dripping down.

Ether was a power that was originally used by dragons, the strongest monsters on earth, and that meant that one had to have a body as strong as a dragon’s to use that power.

Siwoo was strong, but he was nowhere near as strong as a dragon, and a human’s mana pool was too weak to withstand ether.

It felt like thousands of pieces of glass were cutting through his veins.

“Is she. . . dead?”

Siwoo muttered to himself, looking in the direction that Kim Eun-ju had flown off to.

【𝐈𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐫.】

Pre replied casually, as if he were talking about someone else’s business.

『Kuhuhu. . . I heard you were rank 0 in the world, but you really are quite amazing.』

At that moment, Kim Eun-ju revealed herself with a sinister smile.

In her hands were the limp bodies of Chae Woo-dam and Penelshul.

“Why are you carrying those? Are you going to turn yourself in?”

『Of course not. I was fighting you when all of a sudden. . . I got really hungry. So I brought them with me.』

It didn’t take long to figure out what she meant.

Crunch!

Kim Eun-ju’s sharp fangs dug into Chae Woo-dam’s neck and she began to suck his blood.

“—!!”

Siwoo’s body instinctively jumped back.

He had realized what she was doing on instinct.

『Hohoho, it’s already too late.』

Kim Eun-ju smiled, her eyes forming crescents as blood dripped from the corner of her mouth.

Thud!

At that moment, a cluster of thorns erupted from the ground and wrapped around Siwoo’s body, lifting his large form into the air.

【𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐞. . . 𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬?】

Siwoo immediately pulled ether from his core.

A huge wave of pain surged through his body as if he had been thrown into a fire, but he didn’t care.

The most important issue right now was that woman’s existence.

『I’ll eat well.』

She threw Chae Woo-dam’s body to the ground and then bit into Penelshul’s neck.

Rumble!

At the same time, a huge bolt of lightning shot out of Siwoo’s body and wrapped around Kim Eun-ju’s body.

Siwoo, who had freed himself from the thorns, gasped for breath.

Only the charred bodies of Chae Woo-dam and Penelshul remained where Kim Eun-ju had been standing.

Siwoo instinctively turned around and materialized lightning.

ZAP!

A powerful attack that seemed like it would engulf the entire area without any coordinates or anything.

『Kekeke. How can you hit a shadow with lightning?』

However, she laughed at Siwoo’s attack as if she were mocking him.

All the shadows in this space were ultimately her and not her.

“Ha.”

Siwoo bit his lip at the intense pain.

『What do you think? Should you just give up and offer me your neck?』

“Yeah. I’ll stop here.”

『Oh my? Hohoho. You’ve made a good choice. I’ll eat you deliciously.』

Siwoo groaned and let out a long sigh.

Was it because the pain was so great?

He had currently poured all the ether from his opened 1st core into his body.

The ether that was coursing through his body tore his mana pool to shreds, and he repeatedly healed it with Heal.

Blood flowed from his eyes, nose, and mouth.

A technique that could only be used by those who could fully absorb and use the core of a dragon.

Siwoo raised his arms, which had transformed to resemble the tough skin of a dragon.

“Half-Dragon Technique.”

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