The All-Time Best Talent was F-Class Purification - Chapter 61

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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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61
Chapter 61 – An Elite Talent Awakened as an F-Rank Purifier
Without a moment to catch our breath, I unleashed the Holy Breath + Purification combo on the remaining four members. Beads of sweat formed on Han Su-jin’s forehead. Simultaneously maintaining S-rank healing on five people was clearly draining her mana reserves to their limit.
“Haa… haa… Everyone’s pulse has returned to normal.”
Han Su-jin wiped the sweat from her forehead and exhaled in relief.
“Seung-ryong? Try to wake up now!”
Park Jae-jung gently tapped Lee Seung-ryong’s cheek. But Lee Seung-ryong only let his head loll without even twitching. His breathing had stabilized into a raspy rhythm, yet he remained unconscious as if trapped in deep slumber.
“Why is this happening? Isn’t he fully recovered?”
Park Jae-jung asked in confusion.
“He’s still in a state of complete exhaustion.”
Han Su-jin explained. We had saved his life, but walking on his own feet was currently impossible.
“Then there’s no choice. We’ll carry him and run.”
We each hoisted an injured member onto our backs. Park Jae-jung took the bulky Lee Seung-ryong, while Seo Eun-ha carried Ju Mi-sung—though she grumbled the entire time, lifting him with a single finger as effortlessly as a feather. The rest of us divided the remaining wounded between Han Su-jin and myself.
That was when it happened.
Thud. Thud.
Dozens of footsteps echoed from the corridor beyond the open warehouse door. Simultaneously, a wave of murderous intent crashed over us.
“What are you rats doing in my warehouse?”
Men filled the corridor. The one standing at the front had a face half-covered in burn scars, his expression brutish and menacing. In his hand, he wielded an enormous chainsaw radiating crimson mana. It was Mad Dog, the guild master of Iron Fist.
“Not satisfied with destroying my workers, now you’re stealing from me?”
Behind him stood at least thirty elite organization members with weapons trained on us. These were different from the thugs we’d encountered in the lobby earlier. Each one radiated killing intent comparable to C-rank hunters.
“Jae-jung, Su-jin. Take the wounded and fall back.”
I carefully transferred Han Ae-ri, whom I’d been carrying, to Lee Ji-young.
“Eun-ha.”
“Yeah.”
Seo Eun-ha set Ju Mi-sung down on the ground and cracked her neck. The sound of vertebrae popping echoed.
“Now that I’m rid of this dead weight, I can actually fight.”
“We need to clear a path. As fast as possible.”
“Got it. That chainsaw bastard is mine.”
Whirrrr—Whirrrrr—!
Mad Dog activated the chainsaw. The blade spun ferociously with a deafening roar.
“Shred them!”
“Kill them!”
The organization members surged through the narrow corridor.
Boom!
Seo Eun-ha struck first. As she thrust her palm forward, a fiery inferno swept in a straight line down the corridor. But these men weren’t fools. Those in the front row raised massive shields, blocking the flames.
“Mage! Scatter!”
They scrambled up the walls and ceiling, charging toward us.
“Boss! Three o’clock!”
At Lee Ji-young’s shout, I reflexively drew my dagger.
Slash—!
A dagger shot from the darkness, only to be deflected by the purifying light. It was the Assassin who had been hiding. I drew my own dagger and instead of thrusting upward beneath his jaw, I drove my fist into his solar plexus and shoved him back.
Thud!
“Park Jae-jung! Break through!”
“Got it. Come at us all at once.”
Park Jae-jung swung a Gigas Shield with one hand while carrying Lee Seung-ryong on his back. The raw power was staggering. Two Organization members who charged at him were struck by the shield and slammed into the wall.
We fought at a disadvantage, burdened with our cargo, but we refused to retreat. There was nowhere to retreat to. Behind us lay only a dead-end freezer.
That was when Mad Dog rushed at Seo Eun-ha with a crazed laugh.
“S-rank, my ass! A little girl playing with fire!”
Crash!
The chainsaw and the flaming blade Seo Eun-ha conjured collided. Sparks scattered in all directions.
“Where do you get off running your mouth? Your breath reeks.”
Seo Eun-ha’s eyes turned glacial. The crushing force of her grip suppressed the chainsaw’s rotation.
Crack!
In a pure test of strength, the chainsaw’s blade snapped clean off. An S-rank’s physical prowess was monstrous incarnate.
“Wh-what…!”
Seo Eun-ha’s fist drove into the stunned Mad Dog’s face.
Boom!
Mad Dog’s nose erupted with blood as he tumbled backward. Crawling across the floor, he grabbed his radio and screamed.
“Blow it up! Bury these bastards!”
My heart sank. Self-destruct? Were these lunatics really going to level Ma Seok along with everything else?
Vwooooom—!
That was when it happened. The ceiling trembled as if about to collapse. But this wasn’t from explosives.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud—!
An enormous roar. Wind that shook the entire building. Screams erupted from Mad Dog’s radio.
[Boss! S-something from the sky…! Aaaahhh!]
[The rooftop! The rooftop…!]
“What is it? What’s happening?”
Mad Dog shouted, but the radio went dead.
Lee Ji-young hurriedly adjusted her glasses and peered toward the window.
“Ch-Chief! Look there…!”
Through the small ventilation window of the basement corridor, a massive shadow descended upon the shopping mall. A searchlight’s powerful beam swept across their position.
[This is the Blue Tower 3rd Mobile Unit. Iron Fist, disarm yourselves and surrender.]
The building-wide loudspeaker announcement. The oppressive voice drained the color from the Iron Fist members’ faces.
“Bl-Blue Tower…?”
Mad Dog trembled and retreated. No matter how fierce the Lower District thugs were, they were nothing but rats before the massive power that dominated the city.
“Rescue has arrived!”
Han Su-jin cheered.
But I couldn’t feel relief. Blue Tower mobilized an entire unit just for this? Simply to save us? My gaze fixed on the mutated Ma Seok pile that Mad Dog had been guarding inside the freezer.
‘No.’
My instincts screamed a warning. They weren’t saviors. A larger, far more ravenous predator had arrived.
“Let’s head up. We need to break through while they’ve lost their momentum.”
I shoved through the disoriented organization members and bolted toward the staircase. I had to survive. And I had to get these people out alive. But with each step toward the rooftop, my legs grew inexplicably heavier.
Whoooosh—
The rooftop wind was fierce. The descending pressure from the Blue Tower transport ship made my body sway. Blue Tower operatives in protective suits descended like ants, rushing past us toward the cargo elevator.
“Who are those people? The patients are here, aren’t they?”
Seo Eun-ha shouted in exasperation, but the operatives ignored her. They were heading for the cargo elevator entrance that Park Jae-jung had forced open. Inside were stacks of mutated Ma Seok boxes hastily brought up from the underground warehouse.
“Resource acquisition is the priority. Load the Ma Seok first.”
“Escort S-Rank Hunter Seo Eun-ha to the VIP Room! Everyone else goes in the cargo hold.”
The shout came from a man who appeared to be the Chief Researcher. Only then did the situation become clear.
‘Rescue was never the objective.’
They had come knowing. These massive quantities of mutated Ma Seok that Iron Fist had accumulated—they knew its value and came as scavengers, nothing more than hyenas. We were merely incidental cargo, thrown aboard while they transported the stones…
“Hey! People are dying and you’re prioritizing rocks?!”
Park Jae-jung vented his fury, but the operatives mechanically hauled the Ma Seok boxes onto the transport ship. I clenched my fists. But there was no time to argue now.
“Park, just endure it. We need to board first.”
I calmed my colleagues and loaded the wounded onto stretchers, shoving them into the cargo hold. With Ma Seok boxes filling the space, people had to crouch in corners like cargo themselves.
“This way, Seo Eun-ha.”
The researcher gestured politely to her, but she brushed his hand away.
“Forget it. I’m staying with my friends.”
She dropped onto the cargo hold floor and grasped Ju Mi-sung’s hand. Watching her forsake S-Rank privileges to honor her loyalty, my chest tightened.
Now it was my turn to board. Lee Ji-young extended her hand.
“Boss! Hurry!”
“Right, let’s go.”
I placed my foot on the boarding ramp. In that instant—
Crackle—!
White sparks erupted from my body, colliding with the transport ship’s barrier and producing a harsh screech.
[Warning. Energy field interference detected.]
[Engine output unstable. Takeoff impossible.]
The interior lights of the transport ship flashed red. The researcher jumped in alarm and blocked my path.
“Stop! You, step back immediately!”
“…What?”
“Don’t you see the readings? The wavelength emanating from your body is corrupting our engine control codes!”
The researcher thrust a tablet at me. The graph on the screen was oscillating wildly.
“What were you doing down there? Your very body is resonating with the gas energy! If you board, the engine could explode!”
It was Blue Tower’s misunderstanding. The purifying energy flowing through my body has an extreme incompatibility with the contaminated gas above ground. The powerful magnetic field generated as these two forces repelled and clashed with each other was disrupting the transport ship’s sensitive sensors.
But there was no way to explain my ability to them.
“Then what? You’re telling me to get off?”
“Yes! We can only depart once you disembark.”
The Blue Tower Researcher’s voice was resolute.
“And according to the data… you must remain in this sector to suppress the gas pressure from the ground. If you leave, this entire sector will explode and take us with it!”
It was absurd. They’d secured all the Ma Seok, and now they were telling me to stay here and die to prevent an explosion.
“What the hell are you talking about!”
Seo Eun-ha burst out from the cargo hold, crimson flames erupting across her entire body.
“Hey, you charlatan bastard. The engine will blow? Before that happens, should I blow your head off first? If Tae-hyun doesn’t board, I’m destroying this whole thing!”
“P-please calm down! This is a scientific matter. If this person boards, we all die.”
“I don’t care! Either we all die together, or we all live together.”
Park Jae-jung raised his shield and blocked the entrance.
“We cannot abandon the representative. We would rather get off ourselves!”
I was grateful. So grateful I could cry. But precisely because of that gratitude, I had to make a choice.
Though they’d received treatment, the Lee Seung-ryong Party—addicted to that Ma Seok—needed to reach the hospital immediately. Any delay here was dangerous. And if I forced my way aboard and the engine actually stopped, or the Fissure exploded?
‘I have to stay.’
I took a deep breath and arranged my face into the calmest expression I could manage.
“Eun-ha, Jae-jung. Please, calm down.”
I smiled and waved toward them.
“Actually, the researcher might be right. My body feels strange. I’ve had a fever since earlier.”
“Hey, Lee Tae-hyun. What are you—”
“And the Blue Tower made me a separate proposal.”
I glanced sideways at the researcher and lied. He was quick-witted. He understood my intention and closed his mouth.
“If I stay and calm the gas here, they said they’ll send a VIP private aircraft to pick me up later. They’re offering substantial compensation too. When would an F-rank like me ever receive such treatment?”
“Don’t lie. Your eyes don’t blink when you lie.”
Seo Eun-ha’s voice trembled.
“I’m serious. Eun-ha, please go first and help treat the people. I’ll catch up soon. And Jae-jung, I’m counting on you.”
I gestured to the researcher.
‘Close the door.’
Kuung— The hydraulic hatch began to slowly seal shut.
“No! Hey! Open it! Open the door!”
Seo Eun-ha tried to hurl a flaming fist at the closing door. But I gently pushed her inward. One last time, I looked into her eyes. She was crying. Her—the woman who seemed like she’d never shed a single tear in her life.
“Tae-hyun!”
“Representative!”
The cries of Lee Ji-young and Han Su-jin, Park Jae-jung’s anguished wail—they all reached me. Then the door sealed completely.
Shwooooosh—!
The transport ship’s anti-gravity engines ignited with blue flames. The massive vessel lifted into the void.
I tilted my head back, watching where the transport ship was heading.
The sky above the Lower District isn’t a real sky. Six hundred meters up. A colossal steel plain blocking the Lower and Middle Districts—an artificial plate. It was our ceiling and the floor of those living above.
Whooooom—
In the center of the plate, a massive hexagonal Sector Gate slowly opened. Brilliant light poured through like a gateway to heaven. The transport ship ascended rapidly toward that radiance.
Watching the vessel grow smaller, I thought: Beyond that gate lies clean air, warm sunlight, and a safe city. But once the gate closes, I’ll be trapped again beneath this dark, humid steel ceiling.
Kuuuuung—
The moment the transport ship passed through, the gate sealed heavily shut. The thread of hope that had been that light vanished, and the Lower District’s characteristic drab artificial illumination and darkness descended once more.
A perfect severance.
My throat tightened. But I didn’t cry. There was no time to cry.
“You’re spouting nonsense about private jets now….”
A bitter laugh escaped me. Blue Tower wouldn’t be coming back. They’d gotten what they came for. I’d been abandoned. Left in this contaminated land.
“Kraaaaaaah—!”
“Screech, screech….”
The moment the transport ship’s engines faded, the cries of monsters rose from the lower floors as if they’d been waiting for this signal. Iron Fist’s remnants had fled, but mutants drawn by the gas now filled the Shopping Mall.
I sat perched on the rooftop railing, staring down at my ruined hands. Hands tinged with white light. This power had imprisoned me here, yet only this power could save me.
‘Perhaps it was for the best….’
I had no burdens now, no one I needed to protect.

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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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