An F-Rank Veterinarian Physically Heals an S-Rank Magical Beast - Chapter 59
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 59
After sucking the Banshee Queen into a vacuum cleaner (?), Kang Jin-hyuk and his party ventured deeper into the Valley of the Dead. The mist grew thicker, and the soil beneath their feet darkened to a blood-soaked crimson, squelching with each step. But the most unbearable torment was the endless whispers that circled their ears.
“Turn back….”
“This is no place for the living….”
“You will become like us….”
Cursed whispers from vengeful spirits. Any ordinary Hunter would have succumbed to mental contamination and lost their mind, but this party’s composition was anything but normal.
“Man, this is seriously annoying! Can’t you turn off the background music or something?”
Ma Dong-tak threw punches at the empty air in frustration. Because of his overwhelming Yang energy and muscle density, the vengeful spirits dared not approach him directly and merely lingered at a distance.
“Boss, that sound isn’t entering through your eardrums—it’s interfering directly with your brainwaves. Volume control is impossible.”
Kim Chun-sam answered while trembling. Traumatized from being possessed by the Banshee, he now flinched with a yelp at the mere sight of a small light.
“Chun-sam, you’ve got a Deus core installed. Can’t you use your computational power to create destructive interference against the curse frequency?”
Kang Jin-hyuk asked.
“Theoretically it’s possible… but I’m too scared to concentrate. My CPU cooler is showing signs of hyperventilation.”
“Useless bastard.”
Kang Jin-hyuk clicked his tongue. The real problem wasn’t his party—it was the martial artists from the Murim Alliance following behind. Having spent their entire lives cultivating qi, their spiritual senses were acute. In other words, they perceived ghosts more keenly and saw them more clearly.
“Eek! Th-there behind that tree! A woman in a white mourning dress is looking at me and smiling!”
The Huashan Sect Elder cried out in terror and swung his sword wildly.
“Compose yourself! That’s merely an illusion!”
Namgoong Cheon shouted, but his own legs were trembling.
“Alliance Leader… I believe something is clinging to my back… My shoulders feel impossibly heavy….”
Gae Bang Bang-ju spoke with a miserable expression. Behind him, the faint spirit of a small child clung to his back, giggling softly. At this rate, they wouldn’t even make it to combat—they’d destroy themselves through sheer terror.
“Sigh… This is why people with developed spiritual perception are such a headache.”
Kang Jin-hyuk opened his bag.
“Everyone, listen up. We’re now administering ‘psychiatric treatment.’ Open your mouths.”
What Kang Jin-hyuk pulled out were colorful pills.
“What is this? A spiritual elixir?”
“No. Choco Balls.”
“…Pardon?”
“Sweet food makes you feel better, doesn’t it? We’re triggering dopamine release to suppress fear. You know about the placebo effect? Just think of it as an ‘Invincible Diamond Pill’ and take it.”
Kang Jin-hyuk forcibly shoved chocolate into the mouths of the martial artists.
“Munch munch… Oh? It’s sweet! I’m feeling better already!”
“As expected from the spiritual medicine the Alliance Leader provided! Strength surges through me!”
The simple-minded martial artists quickly regained their composure thanks to the chocolate’s sugar and Kang Jin-hyuk’s shameless gaslighting. Of course, Kim Chun-sam muttered behind them, “That’s just a convenience store buy-one-get-one-free product…,” but Ma Dong-tak’s flick silenced him.
After walking through the mist for about thirty minutes, Ma Dong-tak, who had been leading, stopped.
“Stop. Something’s there.”
Ma Dong-tak’s bestial instincts sent out a warning. Kang Jin-hyuk felt it too. The damp air suddenly turned cold, and the ground trembled faintly.
Thud-thud-thud-thud…
Hoofbeats. Not just one—dozens, hundreds of horses galloping toward them. Yet no heartbeat of living creatures could be heard.
“Battle stations! Eyes forward!”
As Kang Jin-hyuk’s shout rang out, dark silhouettes burst from the mist. Skeletal war horses with rotting flesh, knights clad in rusted armor. But above their shoulders, there was nothing—no heads.
[Floor 13 Elite Monster: Dullahan Knight]
[Traits: Death’s Charge, Physical/Magic Composite Resistance]
“The… the head is gone! How are those things moving without heads?!”
The martial artists gasped in horror. The captain Dullahan, stationed at the vanguard and twice the size of an ordinary knight, raised his sword high. In his other hand, he clutched his own severed head. That grotesque visage twisted open its mouth and shrieked.
“Slaughter the living!”
Kuaaaah!
The Dullahan cavalry charged forward. They were no phantoms phasing through reality—they were undead, decayed yet possessing corporeal forms.
“Oh, now this is something worth hitting.”
Ma Dong-tak licked his lips. Fighting ghosts had been disappointing—the impact felt like striking jelly—but these armored creatures looked properly solid.
“Brother! Be careful! Those blades carry the Curse of Rot! One touch and your flesh melts—not tetanus, but dissolution!”
Kim Chun-sam shouted the warning.
“Then I just won’t get hit.”
Ma Dong-tak kicked off the ground.
Kwang!
He hurled himself directly at the charging cavalry. Not to evade—to collide head-on. Ma Dong-tak’s shoulder met the lead Dullahan’s steed.
Screeeech!!
By all logic, a man should have been trampled and sent flying. Instead, the horse flew. The beast shrieked as Ma Dong-tak’s shoulder check sent it tumbling sideways, and the knights behind it collapsed like dominoes.
“Haha! Strike!”
Ma Dong-tak seized the fallen Dullahan by the collar—or rather, by its armor—and hoisted it aloft.
“So where’d your head go, huh? Oh, tucked under your arm. My bad.”
Crack!
Ma Dong-tak’s fist pulverized the skull the Dullahan held. As the head shattered, the massive armored body collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.
“The weakness is the head! Target the skulls they’re carrying!”
Jin-hyuk issued the command.
“Understood! This time our blades should prove effective!”
Namgoong Cheon drew his plasma sword.
“With the light of science, I purify thee! Heavenly Thunder—Decapitation!”
Zing—slash!
The plasma blade carved through the Dullahan’s armor like cheese. The plasma sword acquired on Floor 12 made short work of the undead’s rotted plating.
“Plum Blossom Missile barrage!”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Huashan Sect Elders’ missiles rained down upon the cavalry’s center. Holy-attribute bombs enchanted by Luna—each white explosion reduced the Dullahans to ash as they shrieked.
Yet their numbers were overwhelming. Moreover, as the creatures fell, corpse poison and putrid blood sprayed in all directions.
“Kyaaaah!!”
Beris’s scream erupted from the rear.
“It splattered! On my robes! That rotten blood got on me!!”
A single drop of black blood had stained the hem of Beris’s white vestments. In that instant, the temperature of the battlefield plummeted.
“…Die.”
Beris’s eyes rolled back. The obsessive-compulsive’s breaking point had been shattered.
“Filthy things… vanish from this world! Sterilize! Incinerate! Exterminate!”
[Area Magic: Hellfire Cleaning]
Kuoooooh!!
Hellfire erupted from Beris’s staff. But the color of those flames was peculiar—not red, but a bluish “alcohol flame” like hospital disinfectant. She had begun to “clean” the battlefield.
“Burn them all! You germy abominations!”
Whoosh! Wherever the flames touched, the Dullahans evaporated in an instant. It wasn’t merely burning—their very existence seemed to be “disinfected” away.
“Wow… that older sister is genuinely terrifying when she’s angry.”
Kim Chun-sam clicked his tongue. Thanks to Beris’s area skill, more than half of the Dullahan cavalry had been wiped out.
But the enemies still held a trump card hidden. Treading over the remains of fallen subordinates, a colossal shadow emerged from the mist. A knight mounted on a Nightmare—three times larger than an ordinary horse, with a mane of flames. It was the mid-boss of Floor 13, clad entirely in black spiky armor: the [Dullahan Lord].
Unlike the other Dullahans, he did not carry his head. Above his neck was empty space, and from that severed surface, only a sickly blue will-o’-the-wisp burned.
“My head… give me back my head….”
The Dullahan Lord’s voice resonated not from his body, but through the very air itself.
“No head? He doesn’t even carry his head?”
Ma Dong-tak asked in bewilderment.
“He lost it. That’s why he’s so furious searching for it.”
I narrowed my eyes. The Dullahan Lord drew forth a massive “Bone Blade.” The sword stretched a full three meters in length.
“If you do not return my head… I shall take yours!”
Kwang!
The Nightmare kicked off the ground and charged. Its speed rivaled Ma Dong-tak’s own assault. The Dullahan Lord swung his blade.
“Danger! Dodge!”
I shouted, but Namgoong Cheon at the vanguard missed his chance to evade.
“Ugh! Protective Qi!”
Namgoong Cheon raised his sword to block, but the Dullahan Lord’s blade pressure transcended imagination.
Crash!
Namgoong Cheon was driven back ten meters. The plasma of his light sword flickered uncertainly.
“Lord! Are you unharmed?”
“Cough…! His strength… is formidable. That creature is in a different league!”
The Dullahan Lord did not pause. Ma Dong-tak rushed forward with a punch, but the Dullahan Lord deftly maneuvered his Nightmare to evade and countered.
“You coward, running around on that horse! Come down and fight!”
Ma Dong-tak shouted as if taunting, but the Dullahan Lord exploited his mobility to ravage the Murim Alliance’s formation.
As the battle grew dire, I spotted something in the corner of the battlefield, among the collapsed tombstones. My skill [Eye of Divine Will] gleamed, displaying Item Information.
[Item: Lost Lord’s Head]
[Status: Extremely Angry, Covered in Dirt]
“Ah. There it is.”
As I excavated through the soil, a helmeted skull rolled out. The Dullahan Lord’s head. It glared at me with bulging eyes, its mouth gaping.
“You wretch! How dare you lay hands upon my head!”
“Found you, you bastard.”
I seized the helmet’s horns like a handle.
“Hey! You on the horse! Stop right there!”
I held the skull high in the center of the battlefield and shouted. The rampaging Dullahan Lord froze as if struck by a lie. The will-o’-the-wisp above his neck flickered violently toward the head in my grasp.
“That is… my head! Return it at once!”
Durahan Road turned his horse’s head and charged at Jin-hyuk.
“Whoa! Don’t come any closer! One more step and I’m kicking this thing!”
Jin-hyuk positioned the head like a soccer ball in front of his foot, adopting a kicking stance.
“Ma Dong-tak! Kim Chun-sam! Make a goal!”
“Yes, understood!”
Ma Dong-tak chuckled and spread his arms wide to mime a goalpost.
“No! Stop! You cowardly bastards!”
Durahan Road yanked the reins of the Demon Horse urgently. The creature fidgeted in place, unable to move. Faced with the prospect of having its head used as a soccer ball, it was paralyzed.
“Good. Now we’re getting somewhere.”
Jin-hyuk grinned wickedly and tucked the head under his arm.
“Here’s the deal. I’ll return this head to you. Nice and clean.”
Jin-hyuk pulled out a handkerchief and carefully wiped the dirt-covered helmet.
“What do you want….”
A defeated voice emanated from Durahan Road’s body.
“Simple. A toll. And….”
Jin-hyuk’s gaze fixed on the Demon Horse that Durahan Road was riding. Black leather, blazing mane, and hooves that spewed hellfire.
“That horse looks pretty nice. Our Kim Chun-sam’s legs are a bit weak, you see.”
“Huh? Master? Are you letting me ride that horse?”
Kim Chun-sam’s eyes lit up.
“No. I’m going to fuse you with it.”
“…What?”
Jin-hyuk declared to Durahan Road.
“If you want your head back, hand over that horse and get lost. Otherwise, your head becomes Ma Dong-tak’s personal bowling ball from today onward.”
Ma Dong-tak made a threatening gesture beside him, pretending to search for finger holes.
“Grrrr… Human… demonic bastards….”
Durahan Road was furious, but he couldn’t afford to lose his head. If it was destroyed, he would cease to exist forever.
In the end, Durahan Road dismounted. Jin-hyuk tossed the head to him, and Durahan Road hastily caught it and reattached it to his neck.
“Mark my words… I won’t forget this humiliation!”
The moment Durahan Road reclaimed his head, he fled into the mist without a backward glance. His retreating figure looked somehow pitiful.
“Come here, Kim Chun-sam.”
Jin-hyuk grabbed the reins of the abandoned Demon Horse. The creature tried to resist at the change of master, but the moment Ma Dong-tak glared at it, it became docile.
“You’re… giving this to me?”
“That’s right. A fusion of robot and demon steed. The Centaur Project.”
Jin-hyuk’s eyes gleamed like a mad scientist’s.
[Skill: ‘Mechanical Medicine’ + ‘Soul Binding’ activated.]
Jin-hyuk separated Kim Chun-sam’s lower body and fused it onto the Demon Horse’s back. A bizarre yet wondrous surgery began as machine and demon beast merged into one.
“Aaaahhhhh! Master! This feels weird! My butt’s on fire!”
“Hang in there! Once this succeeds, you’ll become a ‘Hellish Mechanical Cavalry’!”
Moments later, the surgery was complete. Kim Chun-sam’s upper body connected perfectly with the Demon Horse’s torso. A hybrid creature was born—half robot, half demon beast, running on four legs.
[Kim Chun-sam (Centaur Mode) acquired.]
[Movement speed increased by 300%. Able to break through terrain.
“Ooh…! Master! I’m overflowing with power! Now I can bolt away faster than anyone when we need to escape!”
Kim Chun-sam lifted his front hooves and whinnied with delight. Ma Dong-tak clicked his tongue at the sight.
“Good grief, this is ridiculous. It’s downright grotesque.”
Beris was appalled.
“That beast reeks of dung! Get it away from me!”
But Kang Jin-hyuk was satisfied. Transportation secured. Combat strength enhanced. And the Durahans vanquished. Everything had gone according to plan.
“Well then, let’s ride comfortably. Chun-sam, transform into carriage mode. The Murim Alliance elders’ legs must be aching.”
“What? I have to pull a carriage too?”
“You’ve got to earn your keep.”
In the end, Kim Chun-sam found himself harnessed to a hand cart pulled from Kang Jin-hyuk’s inventory, carrying the Murim Alliance masters across the barren wasteland of Floor 13. The ruthless employer Kang Jin-hyuk’s conquest of Floor 13 was finally picking up speed.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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