The All-Time Best Talent was F-Class Purification - Chapter 98

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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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98
Chapter 98 – An Elite Talent Awakened as an F-Rank Purifier
Exactly twelve hours had passed.
As my eyelids opened, the first thing that entered my vision was the ceiling. Stained concrete. A faint emergency light blinking at irregular intervals. The rhythmic hum of an old ventilation fan. Nothing seemed to have changed, yet the sensations within my body were entirely different.
I slowly pushed myself upright. The muscle soreness remained, but it was no longer the debilitating kind where even a finger’s movement had been impossible. I carefully traced my mana circuits. They were full and taut, like a reservoir brimming with water.
‘Good.’
Looking around, Seo Eun-ha sat with her back against the wall, eyes closed in a serene expression—impossible to tell if she was truly asleep or merely resting. Han Ae-ri lay curled on the floor, her short sword cradled in her arms, breathing quietly without a trace of restlessness.
Only Dr. Junk remained awake, illuminated by the glow of his terminal.
I caught sight of his back hunched before the screen. It was clear he hadn’t left his post all night. One hand cradling his chin, his eyes were weary yet sharp as they studied the display.
“You haven’t slept?”
I approached quietly and asked.
“When would I have time? There’s a mountain of data to go through.”
Dr. Junk pointed at the screen. Data extracted from the memory chip was organized into folders.
“I opened the early sections of the Project Chimera files last night. Kang Chang-gyung handed over test subjects to Dominion, and Blue Tower reverse-engineered the magical engineering cores that resulted from the process, absorbing the technology as their own. It wasn’t a simple transaction. It was joint development.”
“Will it serve as evidence?”
“Sender, recipient, date, amount, even experimental progress reports—everything. It’s the kind of material you can bring to court.”
I stared at the screen for a moment, then turned away. How to use this information was a problem for later. Right now, there was something more pressing to handle within this bunker.
I shifted my gaze toward the operating table.
There lay Park Jae-jung, our Moonglade’s great shield, motionless as death. The only change from twelve hours ago was that the convulsions of agony had slightly diminished from his face.
It wasn’t complete stability—it was the quietness of a body that had exhausted itself beyond the limits of suffering, abandoning all response. Without the magical engineering supports Dr. Junk had installed, his lower half would have lost all form. That massive scar of destruction was now ours to bear.
Then, a quiet sound came from beside the operating table.
It was Han Su-jin.
Han Su-jin sat on the floor, holding Park Jae-jung’s hand. I’d thought she was asleep, but her eyes were open. I couldn’t tell when she’d awakened. The mana storage ring I’d created for her was clutched tightly in her hand, and her gaze held the resolve of someone who had already accepted everything.
“Su-jin, you’re awake? How are you feeling?”
“Yes, Guild Master. I’m at 100%. I’m ready to begin whenever you are.”
Han Su-jin’s voice was quiet. There was no tremor in it. Since she’d steeled her resolve last night, fear hadn’t disappeared—she’d simply chosen to sit beside it.
But transferring another’s pain into one’s own body. And having to endure the terrible physical impact of a colossal magical golem’s strike with bare flesh. That terror was far beyond what I could easily comprehend.
Seo Eun-ha and Han Ae-ri stirred awake. Seo Eun-ha rubbed her eyes, then looked toward the operating table and bit her lip with a hardened expression. Han Ae-ri said nothing, simply leaning her back against the wall. Both clearly hadn’t slept properly all night.
“Sigh.”
Seo Eun-ha exhaled slowly.
“Tae-hyun. Are you really… really going to do this? There’s no other way, right?”
I nodded calmly toward Seo Eun-ha.
“Yes. Don’t worry too much. You trust me, don’t you? I won’t leave a single scratch on Su-jin.”
Seo Eun-ha looked at me, then slowly closed her eyes. She didn’t try to stop me. She knew she couldn’t.
Dr. Junk rose from his terminal and approached the operating table. He fastened his blood-stained gown and laid out blood packs and monitoring equipment.
“I’ll monitor the vital signs. If Han Su-jin’s heart rate drops below forty beats per minute or if I detect mana backflow signals, I’ll forcibly disconnect. At that moment, no matter what you say, I’m cutting the circuit. Understood?”
“Understood.”
“And you.”
Dr. Junk turned his head toward Han Su-jin.
“The moment you activate the skill and the destructive energy flows in, your instincts will absolutely try to block it. Your muscles will tense and your circuits will try to close. You have to suppress that. You need to keep your circuits open so his mana can flow through. Understood?”
“I understand.”
“You’ll feel pain no matter what. You have to endure it. You can scream if you need to, but don’t lose consciousness under any circumstances.”
Han Su-jin nodded.
Dr. Junk exhaled sharply. He seemed about to say something more, then simply closed his mouth. The verbal preparations were complete.
Then, a small sound came from the operating table.
“…Ugh….”
It was Park Jae-jung. I thought he was completely unconscious, but his fingers trembled faintly and his lips moved slightly.
“…Pro…tect….”
That was all. Silence returned. I couldn’t hear exactly what he said, but I had a vague sense of it. Either protect Han Su-jin, or thank you for protecting her… either way, it didn’t matter.
Seo Eun-ha squeezed Park Jae-jung’s hand tightly for a moment, then released it. She turned to look at me and spoke in a low voice.
“Tae-hyun. Bring them both back. Without fail…”
It wasn’t a command or a request. Just the tone of someone stating the obvious.
“Yes.”
I approached Han Su-jin’s side and knelt on one knee. I clasped her small, cold hands between both of mine. The ring pressed firmly between our palms. I could feel the compressed mana contained within it.
“Close your eyes. When my mana enters, don’t try to force it out. Just let it flow naturally.”
Han Su-jin slowly closed her eyes. She exhaled a shallow breath. The tension drained slightly from her shoulders.
I drew mana from my dantian and gathered it at my fingertips.
“Synchronize.”
Mana began flowing into Han Su-jin’s body through my fingertips. Carefully, without rushing. Like water seeping into parched earth.
Han Su-jin’s circuits initially contracted minutely. Her instincts were responding to the intrusion of unfamiliar mana. I didn’t force it. I followed slowly, matching the pace at which her circuits opened.
One second.
The sensation was still only touching the surface. I could feel her circuit’s outer wall exploring the nature of my mana.
Two seconds.
The circuits opened further. Han Su-jin’s body heat transmitted through my fingertips. How cold her hands were right now. How rigidly frozen they were beneath that coldness.
Three seconds.
And then something clicked into place perfectly.
Han Su-jin’s heartbeat sounded as if it were pounding in my own ear. The weight of air her lungs drew in, the chill her fingertips felt—all overlapped with my senses. Our two hearts found a single rhythm as our circuits slowly synchronized with each other.
And then emotion transmitted through.
Fear. Real fear that seemed to bore into the very bone. That was what Han Su-jin felt right now. But beneath that fear, deeper still, lay something else. Something burning hot and solid.
The resolve to save her comrade. It stood firm at the center of Han Su-jin’s being, unmoved, as if it were far older than the fear itself.
‘This person will be fine.’
Certainty came to me.
“We’re connected. Let’s begin.”
I whispered softly. Han Su-jin opened her tightly sealed lips. Her voice trembled, but it didn’t break.
“Substitution.”
That was the moment.
Something rose from Park Jae-jung’s body as he lay on the operating table. It wasn’t light. It wasn’t matter with form either. It was dark crimson and murky—pure destructive energy seeking to shatter and tear.
The mass of destruction left behind when the four-meter Steel Golem crushed its legs. What had remained coiled within Park Jae-jung’s body, unable to fully dissipate, now found an exit and erupted outward.
That vicious energy tore through the air and shot toward Han Su-jin’s body.
“Gaahhh!”
Han Su-jin drew in a sharp breath.
Through our synchronized senses, that impact transmitted to me in full. A sensation like a massive hunk of metal striking both knees simultaneously, like a colossal press machine crushing my legs. The fleeting instant where bone’s resistance collided with destructive force intent on shattering it.
“Ugh!”
My teeth clenched without my realizing it.
Dark bruises began spreading across Han Su-jin’s legs in real time, a sickly cyan hue blooming beneath the skin. I could almost hear blood vessels rupturing beneath the surface. A grotesque pressure twisted through bone and joint. The limit of what her knee could endure. That limit was being devoured second by second by destructive energy.
“Tae-hyun!”
Seo Eun-ha lurched forward urgently. Han Ae-ri reflexively grabbed her arm, holding her back.
“You can’t touch him. The connection will break.”
Han Ae-ri’s low, cold voice. Seo Eun-ha clenched her fists and froze in place. Dr. Junk’s fingers accelerated across the monitor.
‘It’s fast.’
The speed at which destructive energy was consuming Han Su-jin’s body far exceeded my mental calculations. If this continued even one more second, her legs might turn to powder.
I forced my eyes wide open. I seized my consciousness before it could be swallowed by agony, concentrating every ounce of my mana toward Han Su-jin’s lower body.
“Purification.”
Fwoooosh!
From the point where our clasped hands met, a blindingly pure white light flooded the bunker.
The crimson-tinged destructive energy clawing into Han Su-jin’s body collided head-on with my white mana attempting to annihilate it, turning her blood vessels and muscles into a battlefield.
Skreeeeeee.
A horrific tearing sound erupted, like ice water poured onto a red-hot iron plate. The destructive energy thrashed, desperate to shatter Han Su-jin’s bones, while my purifying light incinerated it the instant it took form.
“Nngh…!”
I gritted my teeth hard enough to crack them. As I burned away the destructive energy, my own mana ignited at a ferocious rate. Extreme heat erupted from my mana circuits. A searing sensation climbed up my wrists and elbows.
“His heartbeat’s becoming irregular!”
Dr. Junk shouted, eyes fixed on the monitor.
I was losing ground.
A wave of destructive energy surged faster than my purification, raking across Han Su-jin’s left knee before I could stop it. A cry escaped her lips, and through our synchronized connection, a burning sensation flashed across my own left knee.
‘More. Deeper. Not a single trace remains.’
As long as I felt what Han Su-jin felt, this connection could not be severed. I concentrated deeper with every ounce of mana that burned away. If destructive energy was a crashing wave, I had to evaporate it before it ever reached shore.
The cyan bruises spreading across Han Su-jin’s legs began vanishing like a lie wherever my purifying light touched. The moment it arrived, I incinerated it. Before cracks could form in Han Su-jin’s bones, I erased the very concept of destruction from existence.
“Han Su-jin! Don’t you dare let go of my hand!”
“I won’t… I won’t let go…!”
Even as tears streamed down her face, Han Su-jin gripped my hand even tighter. The trembling strength in that grip conveyed an unwavering will not to release until the very end.
Within the purifying light, a desperate tug-of-war across the boundary between life and death continued with agonizing slowness.
Fwoooosh—!
Within the storm of light that bleached my vision white, time flowed as though caught in a spider’s web.
The mana surging through my hands into Han Su-jin’s body was nothing short of desperate. The S-rank physical destructive force delivered by a four-meter Steel Golem. It was no mere poison or disease. It was pure violent intent to crush bone and tear muscle.
Each time that vicious energy tried to climb up Han Su-jin’s fragile legs, my purifying light tore into it and broke it apart.

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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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