The Late Game Healer Is Way Too Strong – Chapter 254

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟓𝟒: 𝐈𝐭𝐞𝐦

“These beings tainted by this demonic energy! I shall punish them here and now!”

“Chieftain, we need to escape!”

“I shall stay and fight! Chupret, you must escape at once!”

Thus shouted Tasdma, the tribal chief, as he unleashed all his might upon his foes.

Whirling a massive iron chain, he utilized its centrifugal force to slam the enormous iron weight at its end downwards from above.

Weighing over 300kg, the iron sphere became a force akin to several tons of a truck when Tasdma infused it with his magical power and swung it mightily.

Shwoooooooooom!!

Certainly, an ordinary hunter would have been flattened beyond recognition, but his opponent was different.

“Ah, damn it. Always getting on my nerves.”

The blonde man with a sharp gaze took a drag on his cigarette, blocking the descending iron sphere with just one hand as he glared at Tasdma.

“Damn you. . . Do you even know what that thing is, yet you covet it?!”

“To be precise, it’s not us, but our superiors who covet it.”

“Foolish ones. . .! If mishandled, it could destroy the world. . .!”

“Save that bullsh*t for the little tribal girls.  Who the hell do you think I am, my uncle?”

Ryu Ji-hwan brushed back his disheveled blonde hair, dropped the iron sphere to the ground, and placed his foot upon it.

Tasdma tried to pull the chain to retrieve the sphere, but Ryu Ji-hwan’s foot strength was so immense that the sphere did not budge an inch.

“Crowel. It seems the one fleeing has the artifact. Kill him and take it.”

“I ain’t your underling.”

“In return, I’ll hold this uncle back.”

“Fair enough.”

Grumbling, Crowel unleashed his skill towards the fleeing Chupret.

[Mars: Aqua Prison]

Burble burble!

In an instant, azure droplets sprouted from the ground and coalesced into a massive aquatic prison the size of a large house.

“Glub. . . glub. . .!”

Trapped inside, Chupret frantically swam in an attempt to escape, but the Aqua Prison moved in the direction he swam, rendering his efforts futile.

His swimming gradually devolved into flailing, his face turned pale, and irregular bubbles rose to the surface.

“Chupreeeeeet! You bastards!!”

Seeing his dying son, Tasdma charged at Crowel with eyes filled with rage and murderous intent.

Yet Crowel did not even turn to defend himself or show any sign of surprise.

Shwish shwish shwish shwish!!

Seven blazing lances of fire pierced Tasdma’s upper body, pinning him to the ground.

“Kuhuck. . . Gurghk. . .”

“Hey, uncle. Wouldn’t it have been better if you’d just handed over the item from the start? Everyone would’ve been happy, ain’t that right?”

Ryu Ji-hwan squatted down and blew cigarette smoke into Tasdma’s face.

Blood flowed from Tasdma’s mouth.

“You shall never. . . escape the torment. . . of damnation. . .”

“Heh heh heh. Always a blessing I receive, though each time still sends a delightful shiver down my spine.”

Ryu Ji-hwan grinned widely and manifested another lance, plunging it into Tasdma’s heart.

Tasdma’s body convulsed briefly before going limp.

“Such mercy overflows from you.”

Crowel remarked sarcastically as he looked at Ryu Ji-hwan.

“I don’t have a hobby of torturing others.”

“Really? I didn’t know that. Then again, it’s the guys like ‘Six Fingers’ who love torture.”

“There are levels to criminals. Those bastards are just simple murder-hobos. Especially Tyron and Yuto. They’re crazy as hell.”

Ryu Ji-hwan twisted his lips as he mentioned their names.

“Looking at your expression. . . I take it you tried to approach them to recruit them into IZIZ?”

“We’ve all tried at least once. But we don’t accept just anyone. Those who can’t be controlled are rejected.”

“Strange. They seem to fit IZIZ’s goals perfectly.”

“What do you know, you tennis ball head? Do you even know what IZIZ’s goal is?”

“Aren’t you terrorists. . . to wreak havoc?”

“Then what is the purpose of <Pandemonium>?”

“We’re the Demon King’s world rulers.”

Ryu Ji-hwan looked at Crowel and threw the finished cigarette on the ground, stubbing it out with his foot.

“Listen carefully. IZIZ’s goal is refined chaos.”

“What’s that?”

“To bring down all systems, whether of the demon race or humans. And then rebuild everything from scratch.”

“Rebuild from scratch?”

“Yes. Everything.”

“. . .I see.”

Crowel knew well where such a mindset stemmed from.

“Hey, he’s dead. Release the seal.”

“Got it.”

Ryu Ji-hwan approached Chupret’s corpse and stared at his face before gently closing his eyelids with his hand.

Then, clicking his tongue, he searched the corpse’s clothes and found a palm-sized item.

The item appeared to be a kind of pendant, and as an artifact guarded for generations by an African tribe, it possessed immense magical power.

“Hmm. Comparing it to the list they gave us. . . it matches.”

Ryu Ji-hwan pulled up a hologram and nodded when the image matched an artifact on the list.

“But what is this for?”

Then Crowel muttered as if to himself,

“. . .Didn’t you know from the doctor?”

“No. I didn’t hear about this one either. Ryu Ji-hwan, do you know?”

“How the hell would I know, dammit?”

Ryu Ji-hwan was indeed puzzled.

If it was an artifact for attack, the excuse of preparing for war would make some sense, but the problem was that none of the artifacts they had stolen were related to attacks.

Most of the time, even the owners didn’t know the purpose or how to use them.

What was the purpose of this artifact?

“If I had known this, I would have asked these bastards before killing them.”

“I thought you were deliberately not telling me.”

“Oh, damn. . . Why the hell is the 〈Pandemonium〉 Hierarchy keeping this from me and making me run errands, that damn oldman.”

Ryu Ji-hwan frowned deeply as he scanned the artifact list again.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

Maryland, United States.

When they arrived at the airport, Siwoo and his party were subjected to a more thorough baggage inspection at the magical checkpoint.

This was because they had brought many items with them for their visit to Lockheed Martin, the leading company in the magical engineering defense industry.

Researchers from Lockheed Martin were even examining Han Tae-chi’s luggage together.

“This is going to take a while.”

Lo-an said, his impatience showing on his face.

“You can do your own thing if you have something to do.”

“Is there anything I can do? Samae asked me to buy her some souvenirs when I come. She said it seemed like I was the only one who was going out these days.”

“Well, it’s been a while since she brought her guild with her. But we can’t just bring the Guild Leader of another guild with us. You and Han Tae-chi are members of [Mad dog].”

【𝐔𝐠𝐡. . . 𝐌𝐚𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐠 𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐭, 𝐈’𝐦 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬. . .】

Pre , who had crawled up on Siwoo’s shoulder, said in a dying voice.

“That’s not motion sickness, it’s a hangover. You idiot.”

Siwoo scolded Pre, sounding sorry for him.

【𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥. . . 𝐖𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. . . 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲. . . 𝐔𝐮𝐩!!】

“Hey! You’re going to die if you throw up on my shoulder!”

Siwoo grabbed Pre and ran to the bathroom, where he held him upside down and shook him.

Drops of liquid fell from Pre’s mouth into the toilet.

【𝐄𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐤!!】

“Did you throw up everything?”

【𝐈’𝐦 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐝𝐢𝐳𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬. . .】

Siwoo grabbed Pre’s wriggling body and squeezed it like a stress toy, making him vomit out the rest.

【𝐊𝐮𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐧𝐠!!】

“Oh, gross. . .”

He then washed Pre like a washcloth at the sink, dried him with paper towels, and put him back on his shoulder.

Namir approached Siwoo after completing her special entry procedure and smiled brightly.

“Master, they said the baggage inspection is all done. But what’s that rag on your shoulder?”

“This? It’s Pre.”

“Oh, it’s Pre-nim. Thanks to him, the plane ride wasn’t boring. Let’s drink again when we get back to Korea.”

【. . . . . .】

Namir poked Pre, but he didn’t respond, as if he had passed out.

Then, a group of people approached Siwoo and greeted him very politely.

“Hello, Sir Min Siwoo. If you had contacted us in advance, we could have skipped all this troublesome process. . . I’m very sorry about that. I’m Howard Goodman, vice president of Lockheed Martin and chief researcher of the magical engineering department. Please call me Howard.”

“Hello, I’m Min Siwoo. Thank you for simplifying the procedure.”

Howard Goodman was a middle-aged man with a plump appearance and a gentle face.

Siwoo and his party followed Howard straight to the headquarters.

As expected of the number one defense industry company utilizing magical engineering, the scale of the headquarters was beyond imagination.

In addition to the impenetrable security and guards of four or five layers, the size of the vast research facility, the number of researchers, and the cutting-edge equipment made it feel like they had come to a future world.

Han Tae-chi, in particular, looked around the research facility with a face that was in a state of ecstasy, as if he had come to heaven.

“This way, please.”

Howard led them to an experimental space inside the research facility.

“I heard a general description of the items from the staff who went to help with the magical security search at the airport. Items that react to demonic energy elements?”

“That’s right. Can I show you a demonstration?”

“Yes, of course. But we don’t have any demonic energy here. . . Do you have any?”

“Yes, I do.”

Siwoo received the item that Han Tae-chi handed him and winked at Namir.

“If it is master’s order.”

She reached out into the void.

The demonic energy that extended from her fingertips flashed in the center of the laboratory, creating a black flame.

Siwoo infused the item with his magical power and threw it towards the spot where her demonic energy had gathered.

Crackle, crackle!!

The item, touched by the demonic energy, reacted violently and transformed the magical energy into electricity.

“This is. . .?!”

Howard couldn’t hide his surprise.

Not only did it simply react to demonic energy and convert magical power into a different elemental magic, but that magic was driving out the demonic energy.

“Normally, magical power is known to be a lower compatibility of demonic energy. However, the item we have developed also converts a certain amount of demonic energy into magical power. It’s not a complete upper compatibility, but it means that at least ‘neutralization’ is possible.”

“That’s amazing. . . Can I see the magic circuit?!”

In fact, Howard’s request was a bit unreasonable.

To compare it to other inventions, it was like asking to see the blueprints.

However, Siwoo could see the nature of a ‘research nerd’ like Han Tae-chi in Howard’s eyes, and he could easily respond to his request, but before that, he glanced at Han Tae-chi to ask for his opinion.

It was Han Tae-chi’s idea from the beginning, and Siwoo had improved and developed it, so it was natural for him to ask for his consent.

Han Tae-chi noticed Siwoo’s gaze and nodded vigorously, and Siwoo also gestured to Howard that he could see it.

Besides, Siwoo didn’t suspect that Howard would steal the magic circuit and make it into a Lockheed Martin invention.

Would they steal an invention from a hunter ranked 0th in the world and announce it as their own?

It was a crazy thing to do, even if they were prepared for death or worse.

The news spread, and even the top-ranked researchers flocked to the laboratory, which became quite crowded.

They looked at the enormous magic circuit that filled the entire wall and asked Han Tae-chi numerous questions, and were already discussing weapons among themselves.

“Firearms are definitely better for this kind of technique!”

“You ignorant firearms nerd! In this advanced era, who uses guns instead of lasers?!”

“Robot’s, pro, pro, prosthesis. Robot’s, pro, pro, prosthetic. . . .”

“You robot freak, you’re at it again! Why are you always trying to replace perfectly good human limbs with machines?!”

Siwoo smiled as he watched them, feeling like things were going well.

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