Chapter 41: 41

Swordmaster Healer – Episode 41

TL: Boko

Editor: Ren

Chapter 14 – Mysterious Visitor (2)

“Let’s take a quick break before we go!”

Myung Soo’s voice echoed inside the empty clearing. In the battle moments ago, Myung Soo and another A-rank Hunter had been injured, and one B-rank Hunter had been fatally injured.

Furthermore, they had been in the dungeon for six hours, so they needed a break.

Sung Joon distanced himself slightly from his party members and waited for Rishubalt. He had ordered Rishubalt to scout ahead to confirm whether there was indeed an ambush.

“My lord.”

Rishubalt had returned.

“Was I right?” Sung Joon whispered.

Rishubalt nodded his head and said, “Just as you said, my lord, there are several monsters waiting in ambush.”  

“I could feel their killing intent,” replied Sung Joon.

“If they encounter the ambush without preparation, I believe half of the assault team will die,” continued Rishubalt.

Rishubalt had been following Sung Joon for six hours and had watched the assault team fight, so he was able to estimate their skills.

“I think nine out ten will die,” Sung Joon said coldly.

He could warn them again, but they wouldn’t listen, so he wouldn’t waste his time.

“Mr. Kang Sung Joon! Drink this!”

Sung Joon had been whispering to Rishubalt in a small corner, but Seol Ah ran over to him and took out something.

Canned coffee.

“It should be tough for you. Drink some caffeine and hang in there!”

The other Hunters were also drinking canned coffee.

“Thank you,” Sung Joon said and drank the coffee she gave him.

“Let’s get going!”

As soon as their short break ended, the Hunters got back into formation and advanced forward.

In the bleak, uneasy silence, only Sung Joon looked around, preparing for an ambush.

“Mr. Sung Joon? What’s wrong?” Seol Ah cautiously asked as Sung Joon was busily looking around.

“It’s nothing,” he replied.

“Please don’t be so tense. Hehe…” she said.

She had only spoken to him a few times, yet she tapped his arm and laughed cutely.

“What ambush… there’s nothing here,” an A-rank Hunter snorted. He glanced back at Sung Joon.

“What are you doing? Why are you drawing your sword?”

Sung Joon had drawn his sword, so he had become suspicious, but then… something came out of the darkness and brushed past him.

“What…”

His head dropped and rolled onto the cold floor. The headless body weakly fell to the floor.

“A-Ambush… AH!”

The B-rank Supporter Hunter belatedly realized that it was a trap and tried warning the party, but due to the pitch-black blade piercing his chest, he couldn’t finish.

“They’re Dark Assassins!”

Dark Assassins were extremely high-ranked, even amongst other A-rank monsters. Dark Assassins continued to appear. Sung Joon counted nineteen of them when they came out of the darkness.

“Defensive formation!”

Seol Ah’s guards joined with the regular assault team, and the three B-rank Hunters got into a defensive formation. Sung Joon raised his left hand, in order to help the fallen B-rank Hunter, but stopped and shook his head.

‘He died instantly.’

His heart had been destroyed in a single strike.

“Argh!”

Sung Joon turned his gaze in the direction of the scream. One of the B-rank Hunters had fallen, having been stabbed repeatedly by three Dark Assassins.

“Heal!”

He didn’t die, though. Sung Joon quickly cast ‘Heal’ on him and the brilliant white light enveloped the fallen Hunter’s body.

The three Dark Assassins had sensed the flow of mana and turned their attention to Sung Joon.

“H-Help us!” Seol Ah yelled.

At the sudden turn of events, Seol Ah urgently requested help, but Ki Chan and Myung Soo were fighting with the Dark Assassins, so they couldn’t help her.

“My lord, they’re coming!” Rishubalt cried.

Sung Joon was also fighting against two Dark Assassins. Since they were A-rank monsters, Sung Joon unhesitatingly manifested his aura.

Rishubalt continued, “The duration of your aura is four minutes! I’ll start the countdown!”

Aura could cut through anything.

Sung Joon glanced at Seol Ah. The Hunters who had guarded her had all fallen, except for one. Her last guard swung his two swords fiercely, but it seemed like he wouldn’t last long.

“Heal!”

Sung Joon simultaneously used his Heal and threw himself toward Seol Ah. When he arrived, all the guards were dead, despite him using his Heal.

The Dark Assassin threw its dagger at Seol Ah.

Its sharp screams shook the large corridor. Sung Joon stepped in front of her and blocked its dagger. When its dagger made contact with his aura-clad blade, it split like soft tofu.

The now-weaponless Dark Assassin tried to take another dagger from its chest, but as soon as it reached its hand in, Sung Joon quickly withdrew his sword and decisively stabbed the Dark Assassin.

Sung Joon had pierced its head and it shook. Eventually, it couldn’t resist anymore and it died, leaving behind a black ‘core’.

For a high-ranked monster, its core was akin to its body. Its ‘core’ would disappear after some time, just like other monsters’ bodies.

“M-Mr. Sung Joon…” said Seol Ah.

When her life had been in danger and her guards had died, Sung Joon had appeared, like a prince charming, and moved her to tears.

“Duck!” said Sung Joon.

There were still a lot of Dark Assassins left. Pushing her head down, Sung Joon swung his sword in a wide arc diagonally.

The three Dark Assassins that thoughtlessly approached all died, leaving behind their ‘cores’.

‘My stamina…’ he thought.

It wasn’t easy to take on the high-ranked Dark Assassins. He had used most of his stamina.

“Absorb!”

Sung Joon used Mana Absorption to recharge his stamina and mana. The mana leaked out of the remaining cores and seeped into him.

He had now recovered both his stamina and mana, and also recharged his aura. However, there were still a lot of Dark Assassins.

Sung Joon decided to increase his synchronization rate by 1%.

He drew his mana and overcame his limit.

“Your synchronization rate is at 15%! You’ve transcended!” Rishubalt reported.

When Sung Joon hit 15%, his entire body started to fill with power. It was only a 1% increase in his synchronization rate, but now, he was much different from before.

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His sword flashed in the darkness as he swung his sword at the approaching Dark Assassins, and they fell helplessly.

“Absorb.”

He finished off all the Dark Assassins and raised his hand, absorbing their mana. A part of his consumed mana and stamina were recovered.

“Ugh…”

Perhaps because she had barely escaped death, Seol Ah couldn’t speak easily.

“Please relax. It’s all over,” Sung Joon said, stroking her hair.

After Sung Joon comforted Seol Ah, he turned his head and surveyed the surrounding situation. Other than Sung Joon, all the other Hunters had fallen.

“The party was practically annihilated,” Rishubalt said.

Sung Joon nodded his head. The damage was larger than he had expected.

Sung Joon moved quickly in order to search for survivors but then…

“P-please wait… Please don’t leave me here and go off alone…”

She had followed them into the dungeon with such vigor but seeing her now… When faced with the fear of death, she was just one woman.

Sung Joon sighed and opened his mouth.

“Then let’s go together.”

“Thank you.”

Sung Joon walked with her to look for survivors, but all of them were dead. He hadn’t gone far before he came across Ki Chan’s corpse a little ways away.

Seol Ah gasped. When she saw the gruesome corpse, she covered her mouth and retreated. His neck had been half torn out and he had stab and slash wounds all over his body.

He must have been stabbed repeatedly.

“O-over here!” Seol Ah said.

Sung Joon ran to her voice. He found a fallen Myung Soo who had bled profusely, but was still alive.

“Heal.”

“Ugh…”

As soon as Sung Joon cast ‘Heal’, Myung Soo’s wound began to heal and he regained consciousness.

“Ugh… it really hurts…” he groaned.

Sung Joon cautioned, “Your wounds are still severe. Please don’t move.”

Although he had poured mana into his Heal, the wound wouldn’t heal quickly, due to its severity.

“Is it… serious?” Myung Soo asked.

“I’ve saved your life, so don’t worry,” Sung Joon said calmly.

“Thank you… I survived thanks to you.” Myung Soo smiled faintly and then thanked Sung Joon.

Eventually, his wounds were sufficiently healed and he stood, surveying the area.

“N-no way… Are they all…?”

“Dead. We’re all that’s left,” Sung Joon said.

It might have been cold-hearted but they were really all dead. That was the truth. It would be better to tell him in advance.

“Ah…”

Myung Soo had just heard that his party had been annihilated and was shocked, so he couldn’t easily speak.

The ‘Ace’ was famous even among the regular assault teams. Since their days as B-rank Hunters, Ki Chan and Myung Soo had grown together and developed a regular dungeon assault team together.

Although not all their members had entered the dungeon, losing Ki Chan and another A-rank Hunter was catastrophic to their regular dungeon assault team.

It was to the point where Myung Soo had felt like he had lost everything. His grief was enormous.

“You can move now,” Sung Joon said.

“…Thank you.”

Myung Soo stood. He had been fatally wounded but Sung Joon had poured a ton of mana into his Heal, so Myung Soo had recovered enough that he wouldn’t have trouble moving.  

“They really are all dead.”

His party members had all fallen, scattered here and there, and their bodies had begun to go cold.

“It seems like we’ll have to give up on this dungeon run. Do you agree?” Sung Joon said.

After the last battle, he had absorbed the monsters’ mana and Rishubalt had confirmed that his synchronization rate had risen to 15%. However, he didn’t have the confidence that he would be able to defeat the A-rank dungeon’s Boss.

His rating would go down by a lot but he thought it was better than dying.

“I agree,” Myung Soo said.

“It’s unfortunate that our ratings will go down, but there’s nothing we can do…”

The three people left the dungeon and took a taxi to the Dungeon Bureau.

Seol Ah sent a message to someone during the taxi ride. When they arrived at the Dungeon Bureau, men wearing black suits appeared.

Seeing them, Sung Joon instinctively grasped the hilt of his sword.

“I-it’s alright. They’re people I know,” said Seol Ah, shaking as she opened the car door.

She still hadn’t calmed down. Seol Ah walked arduously and joined up with them.

“May I ask you something?” she asked Sung Joon.

“Yes.”

“Was there a reason you saved me first?” Seol Ah asked.

Sung Joon smiled.

“It was repayment for the coffee.”

“Repayment for the coffee…?”

“That was a joke. Ms. Seol Ah, you were the closest to me. Is that enough of an answer?”

Seol Ah smiled laboriously.

“It’s enough.”

Seol Ah nodded and ordered the black-suited men to do something. She pointed at her phone and communicated with them through texts, so Sung Joon had no idea what she had ordered them to do.

She finished her ‘texting’ conversation and gazed at Sung Joon again.

“Don’t worry too much about your rating.”

Then, with the support of the black-suited men, she got into a black sedan.

Eventually, Sung Joon stopped watching the back of the now far away sedan and turned his head around to Myung Soo.

“After I turn in the magic stones, let’s go and check how much our ratings have fallen,” Sung Joon suggested.

If they failed a dungeon run, they wouldn’t be able to claim ownership of the magic stones, so they had to either return the magic stones or leave them in the dungeon.  

Myung Soo weakly nodded his head.

The two Hunters went to a Dungeon Bureau clerk.

“We want to know how much our ratings have fallen.”

“Please wait a moment.”

The clerk typed on their keyboard and checked their records. The clerk looked at Sung Joon and spoke.

“Today your rating hasn’t dropped at all, Hunter.”

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