An F-Rank Veterinarian Physically Heals an S-Rank Magical Beast - Chapter 65

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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 65
A metallic screech like the suppressed cry of a beast echoed across the cold stone floor. The Lich King, the lord of death who had dominated the Valley of the Dead, was now being utterly crushed beneath an absolute force he had never experienced in all his existence.
“Release me this instant! How dare you lay your profane hands upon me! I am one who has mastered death itself, a god who commands eternity! Do you truly believe your pathetic brute strength can suppress me?”
The Lich King thrashed and twisted his skeletal frame, but the weight pressing down upon him was far from light.
“Now, now, patient. If you keep thrashing about on the operating table like that, I’ll have to resort to a cudgel instead of anesthesia. Please hold still. My hind legs are naturally quite heavy, you see.”
Kim Chun-sam, possessing the lower body of a Nightmare wreathed in hellfire, grumbled as he pinned the Lich King’s arm bones firmly with his two massive front hooves. Transformed into a centaur form, Kim Chun-sam’s weight reached several tons, and combined with the Nightmare’s inherent flame properties, the Lich King’s bones crackled and charred.
“Gaaaah! You cursed metal beast! Remove your filthy hooves at once!”
“Oh dear, the patient still hasn’t come to his senses. Brother! This one keeps moving—could you secure him more firmly?”
At Kim Chun-sam’s cheerful cry, the towering mountain of muscle standing at the Lich King’s head grinned wickedly and bent down. It was Ma Dong-tak. He rubbed his hands together, flexing his massive forearms, then roughly pressed down on the Lich King’s shoulder blades as it lay prone on the ground.
“Don’t you worry. I’ll bind him very securely. Director! Patient is subdued! Let’s open up that chest cavity right away! This skeleton’s so cold it’s trying to chill my muscles!”
As Ma Dong-tak’s tremendous grip was applied, a bone-chilling cracking sound erupted near the Lich King’s clavicle. The Lich King’s empty eye sockets blazed with sickly blue flames, flickering wildly as absolute terror seized him. His magical barriers and deadly curses were useless against these crude, brutish physical fighters. To them, he was nothing more than an assembled toy made of bone.
“Well then, shall we begin the thoracotomy in earnest?”
Kang Jin-hyuk approached, twirling an adamantium scalpel in his thickly gloved hands. His eyes still burned with brilliant golden light, the Divine Eye skill still active. In his vision, the grotesque black magical tumor nestled deep within the Lich King’s chest cavity, at the heart of his being, was crystal clear.
“Director Ma. Once I make the incision with the scalpel, immediately grip the ribs with both hands and spread them apart. Since we don’t have a retractor, I’ll have to trust in those magnificent pectoral and latissimus dorsi muscles of yours.”
“Hahaha! Just trust me, brother. These lats of mine can tear open steel doors without breaking a sweat. Spreading a few ribs is child’s play.”
“You madmen! Are you truly in your right minds?! To forcibly pry open the thorax of the living—or rather, the dead! Such barbaric acts cannot possibly be called medicine! Stop this at once!”
The Lich King shrieked in horror. Though he had spent centuries dissecting corpses and crafting rag golems, facing the prospect of becoming a frog on an operating table filled him with unprecedented dread.
“Be quiet, patient. You’re the one who cultivated this illness. Carrying such a massive malignant tumor inside your body while pretending to be immortal—as a physician, I simply cannot turn a blind eye. Now then, we begin.”
Kang Jin-hyuk spoke coldly and drove the tip of the adamantium scalpel into the Lich King’s sternum.
Screeeeeech—!
A bone-chilling metallic sound echoed through the Cathedral as hard bone and the barrier of magical force, tougher than steel, scraped against the blade. Without hesitation, Kang Jin-hyuk drew his maximum mana into the hand wielding the scalpel and carved a single, unbroken line from the sternum upward in one fluid motion. As the adamantium’s cutting edge combined with Kang Jin-hyuk’s precise surgical technique, the bone structure and malevolent magical barrier covering the Lich King’s chest split cleanly in two.
“Gaaaaaaah! You! How dare you desecrate my sacred form!”
“Now, Director Ma! Open it up!”
The moment Kang Jin-hyuk gave the signal, Ma Dong-tak thrust his massive hands into the gap between the Lich King’s severed ribs.
“Hrrrraaaaaah!”
Ma Dong-tak pulled outward with a thunderous shout, pouring all his strength into both arms. Veins bulged from his straining biceps and triceps, his shirt tore down the back, and his enormous latissimus dorsi muscles spread like butterfly wings.
Crack! Snap! Screeeech!
The Lich King’s ribs screamed beneath Ma Dong-tak’s tremendous strength. Though they had been reinforced by centuries of dark magic, they were nothing but dry kindling before strength that transcended human limits. At last, the Lich King’s thorax was completely wrenched open on both sides like a great gate flung wide.
“Okay! Thorax open! Director, we have visual!”
Ma Dong-tak gasped heavily, holding the ribs spread apart on either side.
Inside the gaping chest cavity of the Lich King. There was no heart, no lungs. Only rotting pus and sickly blue miasma drifted like fog. And at the center, near the third vertebra of the spine, hung the grotesque mass Kang Jin-hyuk had described.
A lump of flesh formed from countless strands of black magical force tangled and knotted together. A parasitic existence that pulsed obscenely and ceaselessly spewed dark magic. The vessel of the Lich King’s life and the chronic malignant black magical tumor that had rendered him immortal.
“It’s really there! Ugh, how disgusting! You carried something like that inside your body?”
Beris, maintaining a barrier from a distance, gagged at the sight of the horrific mass.
As the tumor was exposed to outside air and light, it began to convulse like a living creature. Dozens of black tentacles sprouted from the tumor’s surface, lashing out like poisoned stingers toward Kang Jin-hyuk. It was a desperate struggle for survival.
“Luna! Sterilize the wound!”
Kang Jin-hyuk quickly withdrew and shouted. The elf Luna, who had been standing by, uncapped a bottle of holy water brimming with the power of spirits and poured it generously into the Lich King’s open chest cavity.
“Wicked germs, perish! Feel the wrath of the spirits!”
Sizzzzzzzzz—!
“Gaaaaaaaaaah! It burns! I’m melting! My soul is dissolving!”
As potent holy water cascaded into the thoracic cavity, the black tentacles sprouting from the tumor shriveled and burned like earthworms doused in acid. The sickly green miasma that had filled the Cathedral was swept away by the purifying power of the holy water, transforming into white steam that dissipated into the air.
The Lich King now wept tears of cyan flame from his hollow eye sockets, his anguished screams echoing through the chamber. With all pride and dignity cast aside, his desperate pleas for mercy painted him as nothing more than a pathetic specter.
“No… please… don’t touch that… I concede… I’ll surrender all my research data and treasures… just spare my life….”
“What can I do, patient? I’ve already begun the forced surgery without your consent. And besides, once you’re dead, everything here becomes mine anyway. It’s illegal for a doctor to accept bribes from a patient, after all.”
I crushed the Lich King’s final hope beneath the merciless logic of capitalism. I gripped the adamantium scalpel once more and reached toward the black magical tumor, now shriveled and defenseless after being struck by holy water.
“The magical circuits around this cancerous mass are incredibly complex. One wrong move could trigger a chain reaction that destroys this entire space. But don’t worry. My scalpel never wavers by even a fraction of an inch.”
My golden eyes precisely identified the dozens of critical magical conduits connecting the tumor to the spine. My hand moved with such blinding speed that it became invisible to the naked eye.
Slice, slice, thud.
Precise and merciless incisions. With each pass of my scalpel, the black magical threads nourishing the tumor severed one by one. The Lich King’s body convulsed violently like a kite with its string cut.
“Final vessel… no, the core nerve line. Excising now.”
I drove my scalpel deep into the thickest black magical stem embedded at the very base of the tumor, lodged in the center of the Lich King’s spine.
Whoooosh!
“Aaaaaaaaa-!”
A death cry so terrible the Cathedral seemed ready to collapse. It echoed across the entire 13th Floor Valley of the Dead, causing every monster and spirit to tremble.
I extracted the massive black magical tumor, now completely separated from the spine, with my bare hand. The grotesquely pulsating mass went still the moment it left my grip, like a heart that had lost its life. Simultaneously, the sinister aura of dark magic that had enveloped the Lich King’s body began to dissipate like smoke.
“Surgery complete. Tumor extraction successful. Thank you for your cooperation, Director Ma.”
I held the tumor aloft and declared the operation finished.
“Hahaha! That was thanks to your excellent incision technique, hyung! Ugh, these bones reek. I want to wash my hands already.”
Ma Dong-tak released the Lich King’s ribs he’d been holding apart and brushed his hands clean. The ribs, now unsupported, collapsed and crumbled to the ground. Kim Chun-sam also withdrew from the bones he’d been standing on, stepping back.
Robbed of the tumor that was the source of his life—or rather, his immortality—the Lich King was now nothing but a pile of desiccated bone fragments scattered across the floor. The cyan flames that had burned fiercely in his hollow eye sockets now flickered precariously like a candle about to go out.
“My… my tumor… my perfect immortality… ending so pathetically….”
The Lich King’s voice no longer carried the arrogance of a sovereign lord. Only the lament of one who had lost everything remained.
“You sure love perfection. But what kind of immortality is it to keep a dead body alive by scraping together the resentment of others? You were just a patient infected with a malignant parasite. Now get some proper rest. And if you end up in hell, at least get your license first.”
With my cold final farewell, the last spark of magical flame in the Lich King’s eyes extinguished with a soft pop.
At the same moment, the Lich King’s skeletal form crumbled into fine ash and collapsed to the ground. The Plague King who had ruled the Valley of the Dead for centuries, conducting countless biological experiments, had finally met eternal rest—or complete annihilation.
[The ruler of Floor 13, ‘Lich King’, has been defeated!]
[The curse shrouding the Valley of the Dead has been lifted, and the mist disperses.]
[Clear rewards are being calculated. Massive amounts of experience and loot are being distributed.]
A clear blue system window materialized in the air, officially declaring our party’s victory. The cyan miasma and stench of decay that had filled the Cathedral rapidly dissipated as purification took hold. A cool breeze blew in through the shattered windows of the Cathedral, bringing fresh air.
“Waaaaah! Master! We did it! We defeated the 13th Floor boss!”
Kim Chun-sam bounced excitedly on the Nightmare’s four legs, cheering. Beris finally relaxed, lowering his barrier and releasing a relieved sigh.
“Phew… finally it’s over. And that disgusting stench is gone too. Jin-hyuk, put that revolting lump in your bag quickly! It’s going to start smelling!”
“Do you know how valuable this is? This black magical tumor can be used as material for top-grade magical amplification potions when given to alchemists. The price is whatever we ask.”
I hummed contentedly as I sealed the extracted tumor in a special containment vessel and stowed it deep in my inventory. Today’s surgical fee would be more than covered by this alone.
Just then, a strange groaning sound came from a corner of the Cathedral.
“Ugh… my head… what happened to me….”
“Cough, cough… my whole body aches….”
With the Lich King dead and the original host controlled by the Won-hyo virus gone, the Murim Alliance masters who had been turned into zombies and knocked unconscious by Ma Dong-tak began regaining consciousness one by one. The dull ashen pallor covering their skin faded, and their green-tinted veins returned to normal.
“Lord! The elders are waking up! It seems the curse of the demon has been lifted!”
The surviving martial artists cheered and rushed to their fallen comrades. Namgoong Cheon also helped the Huashan Sect Elder to his feet, tears of relief glistening in his eyes.
“Elder! You’re safe! When you transformed into that dreadful monster, you nearly gave this old man a heart attack!”
“Ugh… Alliance Leader… I’m mortified. My head is throbbing as if it might split open. It feels as though someone struck the back of my skull with a boulder….”
The Huashan Sect Elder touched the massive lump on the back of his head and furrowed his brow. Ma Dong-tak pretended not to notice, keeping his gaze fixed on the ceiling, while Kim Chun-sam averted his eyes and pressed his lips together.
Jin-hyuk approached the elite masters of the Murim Alliance with a satisfied smile, a small stack of invoices and a pen materializing in his hand as if by magic.
“Ah, wonderful—you’ve all regained consciousness. I’m truly relieved. A moment longer and you would have all departed this mortal realm to become subordinates of the Lich King over there.”
At Jin-hyuk’s courteous greeting, Namgoong Cheon bowed deeply.
“I am grateful, Alliance Leader. Without you, we would have all become helpless slaves to that monster, turning our blades upon one another. This debt of gratitude, the Murim Alliance shall carve into our very bones.”
“Oh, there’s no need to carve anything into your bones. As a physician, I was merely fulfilling my duty. However….”
A peculiar, distinctly capitalistic smile spread across Jin-hyuk’s lips.
“The ‘physical vaccine’ I administered to you elders, the specialized treatment fee for purifying the Lich King’s curse, and the centaur limousine rental fee for transporting you all to the Cathedral—I’ll need to settle the bill for all of that. I assure you, the price for your lives is quite reasonable.”
“…Pardon? What… what fee….”
“Free medical treatment is illegal, Patriarch. Now then, sign here. If you don’t have cash, you’ll need to transfer all those demon bones you collected back there from your inventory.”
Namgoong Cheon’s hands trembled as he accepted the lengthy invoice Jin-hyuk extended. In an instant, the man who had been his savior transformed into a merciless, cold-blooded loan shark.
The curse of the 13th Floor Valley of the Dead had ended. Yet the elderly masters of the Murim Alliance would come to realize, once again with bitter clarity, that true hell was the debt-collector’s noose that Jin-hyuk had wrapped around them. His pockets grew heavy with coin, and their footsteps toward the 14th Floor grew considerably lighter.

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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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