The All-Time Best Talent was F-Class Purification - Chapter 92

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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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92
Chapter 92 – An Elite Talent Awakened as an F-Rank Purifier
Ping—!
A bullet tore through the container’s thin steel plating and embedded itself just ten centimeters from Dr. Junk’s workbench, sending sparks cascading across the holographic keyboard as it flickered with static.
“Damn it! Stop shooting! You’ll corrupt my data!”
Dr. Junk threw himself flat against the floor in panic, yet his fingers continued their frenzied dance across the keyboard without pause.
“Park Jae-jung! Seal the entrance!”
The moment I shouted, Park Jae-jung positioned his massive frame directly in front of the container’s open shutter.
Boom—!
The Gigass Shield mounted on his left arm planted itself firmly against the floor. The container’s entrance, barely two and a half meters wide, transformed into an impenetrable iron wall beneath that single colossal barrier.
“There! That’s the bounty! Twenty-six billion!”
Dozens of shadows poured over the scrap metal heaps. These weren’t Blue Tower’s regular forces—they were Black Market bounty hunters and back alley mercenaries. Blue Tower’s leadership had clearly broadcast Moonglade’s coordinates across the Black Market Communication Network to incite this assault.
I couldn’t even count them all. At least forty, minimum.
A direct confrontation would exhaust us in a war of attrition. But numbers weren’t the real problem. Dr. Junk still needed eleven hours to complete his work. If I burned through my mana recklessly now, we’d never survive that duration.
“Money-mad fools.”
Seo Eun-ha gripped her staff.
“I’ll incinerate them—”
“No.”
From the darkness came a calm, measured voice. Han Ae-ri stood there, curved daggers gripped in both hands.
“I’ll go. We need to scatter their attention before they consolidate their forces.”
[Skill Activated: Presence Suppression & Shadow Treading]
Han Ae-ri’s form dissolved into the container’s deep shadows.
I tried to track her with my eyes, but it was impossible. Shadow Treading wasn’t mere concealment—it was perfect annihilation, severing footsteps, presence, and mana fluctuations entirely. Only she knew where she moved among those scrap metal heaps.
The first movement detected at the enemy’s perimeter came from the sniper positioned furthest back. A large man three meters above the scrap heaps, an assault rifle trained downward. If we didn’t eliminate him first, concentrated fire would shred Han Ae-ri the moment her concealment broke.
She understood this.
“Hey! Breach it! Move that shield and the twenty-six billion is ours—gack!”
The mercenary firing from atop the scrap heap fell silent mid-sentence. A cold blade erupted from the darkness, slicing cleanly across his carotid artery. He didn’t even have time to scream. His body collapsed soundlessly between the metal scraps.
Han Ae-ri didn’t pause. Before the surrounding mercenaries could turn their heads at the sniper’s fall, she’d already melted behind her second target’s back. A healer—the party’s lifeline. As long as the healer survived, the frontline warriors wouldn’t crumble.
Whisper.
A middle-aged woman in a welding mask froze mid-manipulation of her mana pad. Two curved daggers crossed and drove deep into her back. She tried to cry out but failed, collapsing to her knees instead.
“Aaahhh! What—what is this!”
“Someone’s under attack! Where!”
The enemy’s rear ranks descended into chaos. An invisible assassin’s ambush was terror incarnate to careless back alley thugs. Suspicious glances exchanged, formations crumbled. Han Ae-ri exploited that confusion, diving toward her third target—a man with a grenade launcher slung across his shoulder.
A grenade launcher. If that detonated, the container itself would be obliterated along with Dr. Junk’s equipment.
Her twin daggers pierced his wrist and knee simultaneously, and the launcher clattered to the ground.
But that was where it ended.
Ping!
“Gah!”
A stray bullet ricocheted off the metal and grazed Han Ae-ri’s calf. Her concealment shattered as she rolled across the floor, her ragged breathing audible even inside the container.
She was D-Rank. Three enemies eliminated through perfect ambush, yet her stamina and mana were already depleted. Head-to-head combat or multi-opponent melees weren’t her domain.
“Su-jin, cover Aeri!”
Han Su-jin urgently hurled a mana rope, coiling it around Han Ae-ri’s waist and dragging her into the container.
“Hah… gasp….”
Han Ae-ri collapsed to the floor, blood-stained dagger still clutched in her grip, breathing in ragged gasps. Her limbs trembled violently—the cost of pushing a D-rank body to its absolute limits.
“You did well, Aeri. Rest now.”
I patted her shoulder. It was enough. Thanks to her ambush, the enemies had panicked, lost formation, and bunched together in one place.
“Eun-ha.”
I gestured with my chin.
“Sweep them away.”
“Been waiting for that.”
Seo Eun-ha twisted her lips into a grin and thrust her staff forward.
“Inferno Storm!”
Kwaaaaaang—!
A colossal pillar of flame erupted from the staff’s tip, engulfing the clustered mercenaries. A true area-of-effect spell from an S-rank mage.
“Aaaahhhhh!”
Screams mingled with the collapse of charred bodies. In less than ten minutes, the first wave was eliminated.
A brief silence fell.
Park Jae-jung stood with his shield planted against the ground, breathing slowly and deliberately. Seo Eun-ha leaned on her staff, wiping sweat from her brow with the back of her hand. Everyone’s expressions were taut—twelve hours to endure would test anyone’s nerves.
Su-jin administered first aid to Han Ae-ri’s calves while channeling healing magic through her fingers.
‘Now it truly begins.’
The silence was unnaturally profound. The Black Market administrators should have intervened at such a disturbance, yet nothing came. That meant this territory was already completely under their control. The first attack had been nothing but bait to gauge our strength.
“How much time remains?”
“Only an hour has passed. Eleven hours left. One wrong move and the self-destruct mechanism inside the core will trigger the detonator.”
Dr. Junk muttered without taking his eyes from the monitor.
That was when it happened.
Uuuuung—!
The container floor vibrated with sickening intensity. Not mere footsteps. Dense mana compressed in the air, releasing its distinctive wave. This vibration’s density meant at least A-rank or higher entities were mobilizing in massive numbers.
Beyond the shield, silver-gray light began materializing between the darkened Scrap Metal Junkyard. The Blue Tower’s disposal unit—Cleaners. I tried counting the silhouettes as they emerged one by one, but soon gave up.
At least thirty. Probably more.
[Target identified. Deploying tactical formation alpha.]
The Cleaner Captain’s clipped voice crackled through the loudspeaker. They formed a textbook siege formation—shielded vanguard blocking the front, ranged firepower supporting from behind.
A world apart from those clumsy mercenaries. And at the center of their ranks, three squads of Cleaners lowered heavy magitech siege weapons from their shoulders, beginning to position them.
[Mana Siege Cannon.]
Corrupted blue mana began coalescing at the cannon’s muzzle. The air itself visibly warped from the concentration.
“Insane… they brought heavy anti-armor siege cannons!”
Dr. Junk screamed.
The stench of corrupted mana flowing from the muzzle pierced my nostrils. Thick, nauseating. Yet simultaneously, it stirred hunger.
“Move!”
I shoved Park Jae-jung aside and planted myself dead center in the entrance. Extending both hands forward, I opened my mana circuits to maximum capacity.
[Charging complete. Firing.]
Craaaaaash—!
Three siege cannons erupted simultaneously, spewing brilliant azure flashes. The heat alone licked at my face, searing my skin. In the 0.3 seconds it took for the distance to close, I calculated the energy density. If I couldn’t block it, the container would be obliterated.
“Purification.”
I stretched both hands forward. If I could absorb a single mana projectile, the principle remained the same. It was merely a matter of expanding the range. I spread the Purification mana as thin and wide as possible.
Shwoooosh—!
A pristine white barrier of mana erupted from my hands, colliding head-on with the azure barrage.
Crackle! Boom-crash-crack!
A deafening explosion tore through the air. The ground beneath my feet fractured. Tremendous pressure surged through my arms and shoulders, then began crushing my entire spine.
I gritted my teeth and held firm, but I was being pushed backward. One step, two steps. My heels scraped against the container floor as I retreated.
‘No. If I give ground here, it’s over.’
I planted my feet harder. I thickened the mana barrier further. The blue mana touching it instantly bleached white, sucked directly into my mana circuits.
A searing pain spread from my fingertips to my forearms, but I had to endure it to the end.
“Ugh…!”
When the barrage finally ceased, I exhaled sharply and straightened my knees. My hands trembled slightly. But the exhilaration of my previously depleted mana circuits flooding full overwhelmed the pain.
All the energy unleashed by the three siege cannons had been absorbed directly into me.
“So, what’s next?”
I lifted my head through the smoke, taunting them. I could see the Cleaners pause momentarily, witnessing their maximum firepower absorbed entirely.
But.
[Data modified. Target 1 possesses the ability to absorb and repurpose high-density mana.]
The Cleaner Captain’s visor gleamed coldly. They showed no panic. With elite precision, they immediately adapted their tactics.
[Cease magical weapon deployment. All units, switch to physical strikes and chemical warfare.]
‘Damn.’
They had been analyzing me from the start. Firing three siege cannons simultaneously wasn’t an attempt to overwhelm me with firepower—it was merely a test to measure the limits of my abilities.
The power to the mounted mana siege cannons cut off with a click. The Cleaners slung their mana rifles over their backs and drew conventional ammunition machine guns and grenade launchers from their waists.
Pure physical explosive weapons without mana. Chunks of metal my Purification couldn’t absorb.
“Park Jae-jung!”
Park Jae-jung hurled himself forward, slamming his Gigass Shield against the shutter with a thunderous crash.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat! Boom! Boom!
Relentless volleys of live ammunition and fragmentation grenades. The Gigass Shield groaned as if it would crumple at any moment, and my absorption barrier—which had withstood the mana barrage—became utterly useless.
I could see Park Jae-jung’s legs digging into the floor from the impact. Even a B-rank tank’s strength was being pushed back.
“You insane bastards! What the hell did you throw into the ventilation shaft!”
Dr. Junk coughed violently from the corner of the workbench. Dense green smoke was seeping through the small ventilation gaps in the container.
‘Nerve paralysis poison gas.’
“Cough! Hack!”
Han Ae-ri and Han Su-jin collapsed to the floor, coughing. Han Ae-ri, still recovering from her injuries, fell first. Han Su-jin followed, ceasing her healing spell and covering her mouth with both hands. The poison gas was a chemical substance. Since it wasn’t mana, my absorption barrier couldn’t stop it.
Only if my hands touched it directly could I purify it, but I couldn’t catch airborne gas spreading through the air one particle at a time.
“Seo Eun-ha! Use wind magic to push the gas out!”
“Got it! Wind Shield!”
Seo Eun-ha conjured a gust to force the gas outward. The green smoke seemed to be pushed toward the entrance, but live ammunition was pouring in from outside. Opening the shutter even slightly would invite a hail of bullets.
Gas accumulating inside, bullets pouring in from outside.
As long as Park Jae-jung held the line, they couldn’t breach from outside—but if this continued, we’d collapse first.
That’s when Dr. Junk’s hologram monitor began flooding with red warning windows.
“Damn bastards! They’re not just doing physical assault! They’re launching a cyber attack on my system from outside!”
Dr. Junk’s ten fingers flew across the keyboard faster than the eye could follow. Dozens of defensive code windows unfurled simultaneously across the holographic interface. Sweat streamed down his forehead.
“If I give even an inch, it won’t be a firewall that triggers—it’ll be a self-destruct sequence.”
Physical bombardment that magic couldn’t stop. Toxic gas strangling our oxygen. And invisible cyber hacking trying to obliterate our data. Three simultaneous attacks from three directions. If even one broke through, everything could end.
‘Stopping each one individually is possible. But all at once?’
I calculated rapidly. Purifying the toxic gas through mana absorption required direct contact. But if I moved to contain it, I’d abandon Park Jae-jung’s support. If I supported him, the gas would spread. Dr. Junk was holding the hacking alone.
“Su-jin, can you hear me?”
Han Su-jin, collapsed on the floor, lifted her head with difficulty.
“Forget healing. Just hold your breath as long as you can and block the ventilation shaft with your hands.”
“Okay….”
Han Su-jin crawled toward the ventilation shaft. It wasn’t a perfect solution. But it would buy us time.
“Eun-ha, change the wind direction. Not toward the entrance—toward the ventilation shaft.”
“But then the gas will flow backward toward the entrance?”
“Park Jae-jung is behind his shield, so he won’t take a direct hit. Right now, the priority is the people inside.”
Seo Eun-ha hesitated briefly, then adjusted her staff’s direction. The wind’s flow shifted. As the gas began streaming toward the entrance, the concentration inside the container gradually thinned.
“Park Jae-jung, just a moment.”
I approached him and positioned myself beside his shield.
“What are you doing?”
“I found a use for the mana I charged during the bombardment earlier.”
I pushed my hand through the narrow gap in the shutter. Incoming bullets grazed my hand. Blood spilled. I didn’t care. I spread purification mana as thinly as possible across my fingertips, sealing the trajectory where bullets passed through.
I wasn’t blocking the bullets themselves. I was detecting the trace amounts of contaminated mana residue in the Cleaners’ firearms and backtracking the trajectory of incoming fire.
‘There.’
Six firing positions revealed themselves.
“Eun-ha, two firing points each at your two o’clock left, ten o’clock right, and twelve o’clock front. You can just aim roughly beyond the container.”
“Roughly?”
“We don’t need to penetrate. Just scare them into ducking.”
Seo Eun-ha smirked and raised her staff. Not precision fire—suppressive fire. Six small mana bursts, minimizing consumption, flew in exact directions.
“What?! How did they find our positions?!”
The startled Cleaners paused their fire and took cover. In that brief gap, Park Jae-jung caught his breath.
Beep-beep-beep-beep!
“The bastards added another hacking layer! If I don’t break through in 1 minute, self-destruct activates!”
Dr. Junk’s voice reached us, now more urgent.
“Can you hold it?”
“30 seconds!”
30 seconds. The exact window before the Cleaners outside repositioned for their next volley.
“Park Jae-jung, just 30 seconds.”
Park Jae-jung gritted his teeth and nodded.
Rat-a-tat-a-tat-tat-!
Gunfire resumed. Another anguished wail erupted from my shield as my feet skidded backward. One step. Two steps. But I didn’t fall.
“Complete! We’ve held the line!”
Dr. Junk’s cry rang out, and the crimson warning windows extinguished in sequence, leaving only ragged breathing to fill the space. Gunshots still echoed from outside, but we’d neutralized one of the three threats.
The clock now showed barely 1 AM. Ten hours and thirty minutes remained. Inside this cramped, sealed container, we had to sustain this battle.
I exhaled deeply and gripped my dagger with renewed force.

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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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