090 – Attending the Nymph and Haildo Reunion! #1
There were many insect-like demons inhabiting the crack.
Their characteristics included possessing “poison,” being armed with sharp “horns” or “claws,” or having a tough exoskeleton.
In this regard, this giant centipede possessed poison, horns, and claws all at once.
—Kaaahhh…!!!
The centipede screamed, its poisonous fangs dripping, shaking the surrounding air.
Not wanting to lose to that cry, Ahn Ahn stepped forward.
—Zzii…!!!
It was a very resounding shout.
Indeed, it was worthy of the grace of the emperor born to the honey ants.
Pat-!
Emperor Ant Ahn Ahn charged at the centipede.
—Zzii…!!!
Ahn Ahn climbed onto the centipede’s massive body and thrust its horn into the exoskeleton, causing a loud crack and inflicting a significant injury.
The centipede thrashed around as if in pain, and even its simple writhing was powerful enough to shake the ground and topple walls.
In this situation, even Ahn Ahn might sustain serious injuries.
I wanted to quickly form a magic zone to buff Ahn Ahn, but strangely, my body felt devoid of strength.
Especially, my thighs felt like they were being burned.
“Ugh, I messed up.”
As fatigue overwhelmed my body, Doctor Ari spoke.
“Senior! Stay still! I need to suck out the poison with my mouth! Please understand I have no impure intentions! This isn’t a lie! It’s a healing act!”
Ari soon placed her lips against my thigh, and with a strong suction, considerable amounts of poison were drawn out and spat onto the ground.
It was surprisingly ticklish.
“Hehehe!”
“Senior! Are you okay now?”
“Oh, thanks to you, I feel much better. Ari, that was amazing. Sucking out the poison must not have been easy. Weren’t you scared?”
“I was scared! Especially of that centipede! It looks so big and terrifying! I’ve lost confidence in dealing with demons, which is why I quit being a crack destroyer!”
Ari trembled as if scared.
It seemed she was being honest due to the effects of the “Flower of Truth.”
“I’m so embarrassing! As an Awakened, I’m scared of demons! When I see a demon, my hands and feet shake, and my heart races uncontrollably! Confessing this is also humiliating!”
Ari had always struggled with facing demons.
So, it turns out she had quit being a promising candidate to become a doctor alongside Seo Ye-rim.
I spoke to comfort Ari.
“Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. Not all Awakened individuals need to face demons. You’re helping in other ways.”
Pat-.
After hiding Ari behind me, I shouted towards Lee Jin-A.
“Hey! Can you immobilize it like you did with the Troll King last time?”
“For about 5 to 10 seconds!”
Lee Jin-A said that she could restrain the Troll King Kurish for just a fleeting moment.
But the fact that she could immobilize that giant centipede, which looked just as strong, for more than 5 to 10 seconds was extraordinary.
“Did she train without me knowing?”
“It’s only natural to want to do well with what you can do. No need for long talk. Let’s go. When I signal, attack immediately! Now!”
Pat-.
Lee Jin-A placed her thumb on her temple.
With that, the giant centipede’s movement stopped.
Swooosh-.
I drew my beam saber and ran swiftly toward the centipede.
I swung the lightsaber fiercely at what seemed to be its weak point, its antenna.
“Whirlwind Strike!”
Zuuuuuung-.
The crescent-shaped lightsaber struck the centipede’s antenna.
Kyaaaaah-!
I inflicted a significant wound.
—Zziieeeeeeek…!
“The exoskeleton is tougher than I expected! I planned to cut it cleanly, but it only made a scratch!”
It appeared that my B Rank magical output was insufficient to project enough power to bisect the centipede.
The problem was that the centipede, angered by the injury to its antenna, disregarded Lee Jin-A’s control and coiled around my body tightly.
—Kaaahhh…!
Is this how it feels to be suffocated by snakes?
“Ugh…!”
Grr, grrrr-.
My body was being tightened by the centipede’s grip.
“Ughhh!”
I gritted my teeth and managed to move my hands to draw the shotgun at my waist.
And I pulled the trigger!
Bang—!
With a loud noise, gunpowder and magic round scents escaped.
The centipede, which was hit by the magic round at close range, seemed quite thrown off and tossed my body away.
“How’s that? You feel tingling just like I do. I’ve got a thick spit too, which you underestimated!”
—Zzzeeeew….
Drip, drip-.
The giant centipede glared at us, oozing purple liquid from its wounded antenna.
—Zziiiiii…
When I thought those red eyes looked terrifying—
Paah-!
The majestic owl, Kalilnoi, which flew high, swooped down and landed on the centipede!
—Hoo, hoo…
Flap, flap-.
The two massive beasts rolled around in a fierce struggle.
Kalilnoi relentlessly attacked the centipede’s head with sharp talons, making me forget what I was doing and stare at the scene in awe.
Soon, Illinois chuckled.
“Birds are the natural enemies of insects…!”
Kalilnoi finally bit through the centipede’s antenna and fangs with its beak, tearing them apart with its claws.
From the sight of it completely destroying what I barely scratched, I was genuinely astonished.
—Zziiiieeek…!
Sruuuuu-!
Finally screaming, the centipede collapsed to the ground with a loud thud.
Thud-.
Kalilnoi, wings spread, stood atop the centipede’s body.
—Hoo…!
Was it in a good mood after defeating its opponent?
It let out a refreshing roar.
At that very moment.
“I can’t forgive this unjust treatment where my life was threatened by the giant centipede! I will take personal retribution…! Let’s do it…!”
Dududududududu-!
Nymph Illinois began to brutally beat the fallen centipede.
“This is the portion for me, Illinois! And this is for Inoi and Coris! And this is for Illinois, who couldn’t sleep in this early morning because of the need to wake up early…!”
Ssss-.
Then something amazing happened.
The centipede’s body gradually shrunk until it was the size of my palm.
—Zziiii….
Now that it was small, it didn’t seem threatening at all.
I wondered if it could be tamed at this point—just as I thought that, the centipede pounced toward my nape.
“What a little rascal.”
Before I could even react, the nearby Bang Bang leapt and covered the centipede.
—Hioooon…!
The ghost spider Bang Bang wrapped the centipede in its web.
The centipede’s binding was easily completed.
Goooong—.
Simultaneously, the crack began to collapse.
It seemed that this centipede was the core of the crack.
# # #
“In the end, we couldn’t take any of that gold.”
Lee Jin-A lamented as she looked at the closed crack.
It was indeed sad to remember all the treasures that had been piled within the crack.
“It’s a relief that no one was seriously hurt.”
I was the only injured one.
“I’m not that hurt.”
“Senior, you can’t die! The centipede’s poison might still be in you! We need to suck it out more!”
Yu Ari was nearly in tears.
It seemed that being attacked by the terrifying centipede left a big shock on her.
Was Ari really this emotional?
“Lee Jin-A. What’s the duration of the flower’s effects that we sniffed earlier?”
“About 10 minutes. If processed, its effects weaken, but the duration lasts a bit longer.”
So it meant Ari’s fluctuating emotions weren’t solely due to the Flower of Truth. It seemed she was just sad about me getting hurt.
My poisoned thigh throbbed a bit, but honestly, it was still within a comprehensible range.
Anyway.
The anomaly crack, “Dragon’s Nest,” was cleared.
In fact, “Centipede’s Nest” might have been a more fitting name for it.
As for what happened to that centipede—
—Zziii-.
I placed it into a transparent glass jar as if capturing an insect.
It was biting and smashing the jar with its fangs, as if it was about to break it.
“Muheh, this guy’s poison seems like it could be used by Illinois when cooking potions…! It’ll be taken by Illinois…! It’s like a pet centipede…!”
Illinois appeared eager to raise this formidable centipede.
Since I had no particular intention to take it along and do something, I handed the glass jar to Illinois.
“Very good…! Feeling very good…!”
# # #
“Fourth relic discovered in Korea!”
“Reported to be the wedding ring of the ‘Flower Goddess’ known as ‘Nanna’—.”
“With this, Korea’s relic count ranks third among OECD countries!”
Searching online news, I saw that yesterday’s discovery had created quite a stir.
Relics imbued with the power of the divine age.
How many of them you had—was as crucial a national competitiveness seed as how many S-Rank Awakened individuals a nation held.
“Ugh.”
As one of the discoverers of that relic, instead of enjoying a glorious interview, I had to lie in bed all day from yesterday until now.
I was burning up with fever and felt like my whole body was melting.
“Aah, I feel like dying. I remember having the flu once, and my fever reached 40 degrees. It feels just like that. I’m all dazed.”
“The centipede’s poison is no joke…! Inoi, I never knew such a strong centipede’s poison existed…! If I hadn’t sucked it out right away, my whole body would have turned mushy…!”
That’s what they said.
If Doctor Yu Ari hadn’t provided emergency treatment quickly, I would have been in serious danger.
“Senior. I put the recently developed anti-venom for you, so if you endure just a bit longer, you’ll recover soon. Truly. Who gets hurt while hugging an owl?”
Swoosh-.
Yu Ari placed a cold wet towel on my forehead.
Her gaze was on the owl, Kalilnoi, sitting beside me.
Snooze, snooze-.
Kalilnoi had squeezed into my cramped room and was sleeping beside my bed.
“This guy. He used to flee as soon as I got close.”
Kalilnoi had stuck by my side since leaving the crack yesterday.
It was quite surprising how it had suddenly drawn so close after being wary of me.
Especially in this disoriented state from the poison.
“Hahaha, it looks like you were cool when you took the centipede’s attack. Even I thought it was cool. But please don’t act so recklessly. If you get hurt, I hurt too.”
Grrr.
Yu Ari clenched her fist.
“I can’t believe I wasn’t able to protect you, even though I was right beside you. It’s my responsibility.”
“It can’t be helped. You’ve been out of fieldwork for quite some time. And in the end, you need to take care of yourself. There’s no blame to place on anyone else.”
I should have expected that a centipede demon would inherently have poison in its legs or fangs.
This fever was almost a punishment I was inflicting on myself.
And for reasons I wasn’t sure of—
It felt like, beyond just the fever making me hot, a feeling of ‘power’ was overflowing within me.
It felt as if my body had turned into a steaming hot forge.
It might sound strange to say that while I have a headache, I also feel abundant strength.
Also, oddly enough, blood seemed to gather in one particular area.
I was deeply uncomfortable with this situation and wanted to hide it at all costs.
If I could just move my hands, I would do something somehow.
I couldn’t even turn over.
What was I supposed to do?
“…Senior, I… actually have many things I haven’t told you… I….”
Ari trembled.
Her expression seemed very tense.
I spoke to comfort Ari.
“It’s okay. Everyone has things they want to keep hidden. And you’ve always been deep in thought. You can tell me when you feel like it. I can wait.”
“……”
Ari clenched her fist tightly.
And she appeared to gather courage as her expression brightened, stripping off her doctor’s coat and placing it on the blanket over my lower body.
I felt dizzy in various ways.
“…Aahhh….”
“Hoho, senior. Then please rest. And I caught a glimpse of my phone, and it looks like there’s a reunion this Friday for the first-year graduates.”
