The All-Time Best Talent was F-Class Purification - Chapter 71

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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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71
Chapter 71 – An Elite Talent Awakened as an F-Rank Purifier
The road leading south from Block 9. After navigating through the labyrinth of the Shantytown and passing through Block 12 and Block 13, the landscape became desolate. The warmth of human presence vanished, leaving only the skeletal remains of crumbled concrete and rusted rebar exposed to the harsh air.
Block 15. A colossal landfill situated at the edge of the Lower District, directly beneath the garbage disposal outlet of the Middle District. For over a decade, industrial waste and scrap metal from the privileged cities above had accumulated here, forming mountain ranges of refuse.
I paused mid-stride and gazed upward at the faintly visible Anchor Tower in the distance.
‘About two weeks, I’d say.’
Roughly two weeks ago. The Core Energy’s wave reversed, and with a deafening roar, the Tower’s spine snapped, sealing the path to the sky. A week prior, Park Jae-jung, Seo Eun-ha, and my colleagues had boarded the Blue Tower’s transport ship and ascended.
The debris that had rained down when the Tower exploded still jutted from various places in Block 15, releasing wisps of smoke.
Crackle. Crunch.
With each step, reinforced glass shards and metal fragments beneath my feet crunched. Invisible particles of contaminated gas drifted through the air—a concentration lethal enough to cause cellular necrosis or mutation in ordinary humans. But my A-Rank reconstructed body filtered out such wavelengths naturally.
‘I need a weapon.’
This sensation of emptiness in my hands. As an A-Rank, I could handle most monsters bare-handed, but the efficiency difference between fighting with and without a weapon was like night and day.
That’s why I’d come here. To find materials for a new weapon.
Screech… screech-screech…
Then, an unpleasant noise echoed from between the towering garbage mountains. The sound of metal grinding against metal. A bone-chilling friction as steel was gnawed away.
I didn’t break stride, my gaze sweeping toward the source. Atop a half-crushed abandoned truck, a massive insect covered in silvery-gray metallic carapace was tearing into the hood.
‘Metal Eater. D+ rank.’
Two meters long. Jaws that could devour steel and a hardened alloy shell that deflected ordinary blades. To lower-tier Hunters like Kim Seok-hun, it would be a nightmare. But to my eyes now, it was merely a mass of mutated energy.
I scanned through its interior as if seeing through it. The irregular wavelength of Core Energy flowing beneath the hard carapace. And deep within the overlapping section of its dorsal plate, the core embedded there.
‘Simple structure.’
Chirp.
Its antennae rose as it sensed me. Not the scent of metal, but the wavelength of living biomass. Recognizing me as an intruder rather than prey, it leaped from the truck.
Screech!
A two-meter steel monster charging like a tank. Scrap metal scattered beneath its footfalls. An ordinary Hunter would have raised a shield or executed evasive maneuvers.
But I didn’t dodge. There was no need to clench my fist. I simply extended my left hand lightly. The Alchemist’s Hand trembled faintly, attuning itself to my will.
Thud!
The moment it closed to within one meter of me, I pivoted slightly, using its own charging momentum against it, and tapped the center of its dorsal plate with my left palm.
It was less a blow than a touch.
“Purify.”
Through my palm, high-density pure mana penetrated its core. The monster’s body, maintained by mutated Core Energy, began to unravel. The moment my purified mana made contact, the twisted energy bonds that held it together were forcibly severed.
Whoosh!
Ssssss…
A single touch. No scream, no impact sound. The muscle and organs composing its body scattered into dust alongside pure white light, dispersing into the air. Essence Restoration. The mutated life force returned to nature, leaving only unmutated matter behind.
Clatter.
The silvery-gray metallic carapace, now devoid of life force, became an empty shell that fell to the ground. Like an insect’s discarded exoskeleton, it was hollow within.
I kicked the empty carapace with my foot. It rolled away with a light sound.
I gazed down at my palm. Had I possessed white fangs, I could have pierced only the core with minimal mana expenditure. Purifying the entire body through bare-handed contact resulted in unnecessary mana waste.
‘Inefficient.’
The absence of a tool wasn’t about feel. It was about not wasting energy on small fry like this.
I continued climbing the garbage heap. A couple more Metal Eaters attacked along the way, but the result was identical. Contact and annihilation. They turned to dust the moment they touched me, leaving only masterless steel shells rolling across the ground.
But there was something odd about the situation.
‘…Their numbers are too few.’
Block 15 was infamous as a breeding ground for Metal Eaters. Abundant metal waste and mutated core energy—a paradise for those creatures. In a junkyard of this scale, dozens should normally swarm together in packs, yet I’d encountered only four so far.
And all of them had been acting alone, scattered and dispersed rather than forming groups. As if they were fleeing from something.
‘This is strange. Is something here?’
I heightened my vigilance another notch and climbed toward the summit of the garbage heap.
At last, I reached the peak. The vista opened before me, and the heart of Block 15 came into view.
And then I understood why the Metal Eaters in this territory had scattered and gone into hiding.
“…So that’s it.”
A black puddle. A dark lake formed by leachate seeping from countless metal scraps. And in its center, a massive metallic mass. A container. But not one for ordinary cargo.
Its surface bore no corporate logo—instead, it displayed the words [CAUTION: HEAVY MATERIALS] alongside the mark of the Tower Construction Alliance. This was clearly a materials warehouse that had fallen from the upper construction site when the tower collapsed. The very materials that formed the tower’s skeleton.
Which meant the metal inside that container was the hardest, most mana-conductive substance obtainable on the ground level.
‘Titanium-adamantium alloy. Or perhaps mithril reinforcement.’
My eyes narrowed. Inside lay the materials to craft a weapon to replace my white fangs—or perhaps something even superior. I had to obtain it. Only then could I pierce through the hides of monsters cloaked in mutated core energy and cut down Dominion’s mechanical soldiers.
But as expected, the prize was not unguarded.
Kuuuuu—
A massive shadow rose from atop the container. Three times larger than an ordinary Metal Eater, its entire body covered in pitch-black dark iron. Not a mere monster, but a variant that had evolved by consuming high-concentration core energy.
‘Iron Shell. C+ rank.’
The apex predator of this territory. The reason the other Metal Eaters remained in hiding.
It was attempting to gnaw through the container’s outer wall, but the alloy was too special—its teeth left only marks without piercing through. For the creature, this container was a tin of the most delicious energy in the world, yet it couldn’t open the lid and was growing desperate.
I descended the slope slowly, observing the beast. Six crimson eyes. Two massive pincers shaped like saw blades. Its carapace was layered in multiple plates, and between the gaps, dark vapor seeped out.
And one thing more.
‘…Has it cleared the area?’
Within a thirty-meter radius of the container, the metal debris that should have littered the ground had been neatly removed. No—not removed. Consumed. The creature had deliberately cleared the obstacles to sense anything approaching its territory.
‘More intelligent than I expected.’
Not a simple predatory monster. It possessed territorial awareness and tactical thinking. True to its C+ rank, even its brain had evolved.
Krrrrr….
It had detected me. All six crimson eyes turned in my direction at once. It stopped gnawing at the container and slowly pivoted its body.
Kieeeee….
A low, rumbling sound. A signal to leave. It didn’t yet perceive me as a threat—merely as an annoying presence that had wandered too close to its feeding bowl.
“That tin is mine.”
At my words, the creature’s eyes narrowed.
“Move.”
It didn’t budge. Instead, it drove its pincers into the ground, assuming a threatening stance. The wavelength it emitted was different from an ordinary variant—befitting its C+ rank. I could feel the surrounding core energy rippling around it as its center.
But to me, it was merely a gatekeeper protecting materials.
If I still had the white fangs, a single thrust would have ended it. I would have aimed for the gaps in its carapace, piercing straight through to its core, then channeled purification through it. Three seconds would have been enough.
But I no longer have that dagger. It remains at the bottom of the Dimensional Rift, sealing the world’s fissure. So this fight is special. My first hunt to forge a new weapon.
“…Let’s begin.”
I ignited pure white purification flames from the gauntlet on my left hand. Simultaneously, I concentrated mana into my feet and kicked off the ground.
Kuung!
A leap powerful enough to make the Junkyard itself cry out. My body shot forward like a projectile toward the creature.
Kieeeee!
The Iron Shell unleashed a roar, spreading its massive pincers wide. A stance accepting direct confrontation. Spines like those hidden within its carapace suddenly erupted from its back as the shell opened.
‘It’s going to be tough.’
With that size and density, simple contact alone wouldn’t allow purification to penetrate. I’d need to crack the shell and touch the core directly. Without tools, doing this barehanded would be quite the tedious task.
Boom!
My downward fist and the creature’s enormous pincer collided head-on in midair.
Zzzziiing—
The shockwave traveled up my wrist to my shoulder. The Alchemist’s Hand hummed as it absorbed the vibration. Definitely solid. If a regular Metal Eater was a tin can, this Iron Shell was armored like a tank.
Kieeeek!
The creature didn’t yield. Instead, it used the rebound from the collision to swing its opposite pincer like a scythe at my waist. A chilling gust of wind washed over me. If it grazed me, even my A-rank body would be cleaved in two.
Whoosh.
I twisted my body in midair, dodging the attack by a hair’s breadth. The creature’s pincer sliced through the empty space where my afterimage lingered, and the force of it tore the door off an abandoned car behind me.
‘Fast.’
Agile for its size. I closed in on the creature the moment I landed. Trading blows head-on wouldn’t be efficient. I needed to target the thinner sections of its shell—the joints and seams. But then—
Screeeech—
The creature suddenly backpedaled. It wasn’t fleeing. Simultaneously, it opened its maw and released an eerie, ultrasonic wail.
Kiiiiiiii—!
A frequency that shattered eardrums. Not an attack—a signal.
‘What?’
In an instant, the sound of metal clattering erupted from all directions.
Clang. Clatter. Screech screech.
Metal Eaters hidden throughout the Garbage Heap burst forth simultaneously. One, two, three… over ten D-rank Metal Eaters began to encircle me.
‘…Damn.’
They hadn’t scattered and fled earlier. It was an ambush. The Iron Shell had hidden its subordinates in advance and instructed them to surround any intruder.
I let out a hollow laugh at the absurdity.
“Hey, are you seriously using tactics on me?”
The Iron Shell clacked its pincers together in response, making a loud noise. As if mocking me.
Kieeee!
The Metal Eaters rushed at me all at once. Steel fangs and claws pouring down from twelve directions simultaneously.
‘How annoying.’
To be honest, twelve D-rank creatures pose no real threat to me now. I just need to make contact with each one and purify them. The problem is that the Iron Shell won’t stay idle while I do.
Boom!
Taking advantage of the gap created by the Metal Eaters surrounding me, the Iron Shell charged forward, kicking off the ground. Using subordinates as bait while the main body launches a surprise attack—a tactic far too cunning for a wild monster.
“You bastard.”
I cursed and swung my left arm. Purifying flames erupted from the gauntlet in a fan-shaped wave.
Whoooosh!
Three Metal Eaters closest to me were engulfed in light simultaneously. Without even a scream, they scattered into dust, leaving only their steel shells rolling away.
But in that brief moment, the Iron Shell had closed the distance to right in front of me.
Boom!
The creature’s claw came slashing toward my left side. My defense was too slow. There was no way to dodge.
‘Damn it.’
I reflexively raised my right arm to block the claw.
Crash!
My body was sent flying sideways from the heavy impact. Though I’d managed to block it with my arm, the force was no joke. My forearm throbbed with a sharp, tingling pain. If I hadn’t been A-Rank, my bones would have shattered.
“Ugh.”
I rolled across the Garbage Heap and barely managed to get back on my feet. Looking at my right forearm, the leather armor was torn, and beneath it my skin was scraped raw, blood trickling down in crimson streams.
It was a sensation I hadn’t felt in a long time. Since becoming A-Rank, I’d never suffered a wound worth calling a wound.
Screeeech!
The surrounding Metal Eaters rushed at me again, sensing weakness in their prey. Iron Shell followed leisurely behind them. It seemed the creature intended to finish me while its subordinates tore me apart.
I looked down at my bleeding forearm. And I smiled faintly.
“Hey.”
I spoke toward the Metal Eaters.
“Your master has one thing wrong.”
They hesitated. Perhaps surprised that I was smiling.
“I’m not the type to grow weak when I’m hurt.”
I raised my left hand. On the gauntlet’s surface, the flames of purification flickered back to life. This time, far more intensely than before.
“It’s quite the opposite.”
If I said anger made me stronger, it would sound like a hero’s tale.
The truth was simpler—I hated taking losses. My blood had been spilled, so I needed to extract payment in kind. Call it a merchant’s instinct.
“You’ve seen my blood. Now you’ll pay the price.”

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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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