I Became The Only Healer In The Academy [EN]: Chapter 197

197

At that chilling voice, Padron stared at Sunghyun, his eyes wide. Just as his bewilderment began to form into a question, Lich interjected smoothly.

“You must receive healing during this subjugation.”

“O-okay.”

Padron, thinking he must have misheard, accepted Sunghyun’s healing and stood up again.

“…Not a bad feeling.”

Padron seemed genuinely surprised, as it was his first time receiving such potent healing for a major injury.

The large wound, which had bled enough to pool on the floor, vanished completely, as if it had never existed.

Without leaving even a scar.

“It seems the Grade 1 Gate’s boss is alone.”

Some time had passed since the boss appeared, but no other monsters had emerged.

The fact that there was only one opponent was a clear advantage. However, the immense magic power emanating from that single boss wasn’t exactly welcome news.

“How was it? Padron.”

“Solid. Strong.”

“Compared to the monster that came from the mutated Grade 2 Gate?”

“That’s insulting.”

Padron’s terse words carried significant weight.

Until now, Lich was the only one he considered stronger than himself. Padron was known for his arrogance, secure in his position as the second strongest in the world.

He was a Hunter who had earned that right.

From Padron’s mouth came words acknowledging another’s strength.

Beyond the distinction between monster and human, comparing them purely in terms of power, it bordered on reverence.

That’s how formidable the boss in front of him was.

There was no need for further explanation.

“Everyone, keep your eyes on the boss.”

Lich knew that the boss had attacked the instant Padron’s gaze had wavered.

He and Sunghyun were the only Hunters present who had fully registered the boss’s movements.

‘The situation isn’t looking good.’

Sunghyun remained deliberately out of the fray.

He observed the situation from directly behind Lich.

The absence of other monsters was indeed an advantage, but it also presented a critical weakness.

Regardless of the boss’s strength, the assembled Hunters included those with ranged and area-of-effect abilities.

However, if too many people targeted the boss, who was roughly human-sized, friendly fire would become inevitable.

“Hey, Sunghyun.”

“What.”

The address shifted to just ‘Sunghyun’.

Padron spoke without breaking eye contact with the boss.

“You can heal me while also mitigating the magic storms affecting the other Hunters, right?”

“That’s obvious.”

“Focus all your efforts on healing me.”

“…You’re planning to face it alone?”

In response to Sunghyun’s question, Padron shook his head.

“I’m brave, but not reckless. I can’t defeat that boss alone. I need everyone else’s power.”

Padron turned his gaze to the other Hunters.

In the meantime, the boss remained still, perhaps because Sunghyun had already anticipated its movements.

“Don’t worry about anything and unleash your attacks. It doesn’t matter if I get hit.”

“Pa, Padron?”

“No matter how much you are…”

“Stop with the useless talk. Remember who healed your wounds just moments ago. Think about who you should be worried about.”

Padron’s resolve was unwavering.

He determined that this method was the most efficient way to utilize everyone’s abilities in the current situation.

At Padron’s words, all eyes turned to Sunghyun.

They had just heard that Sunghyun had healed even the superficial wounds on their skin.

These were top-tier Hunters, so they had only suffered minor injuries from the storm, but less experienced Hunters would have lost limbs.

“Hey, Sunghyun. Go all out with the healing.”

“Okay.”

Padron smiled faintly, and Sunghyun returned a similar smile, as if in understanding.

Padron couldn’t have been unaware.

That Sunghyun absorbed the pain while healing.

It wasn’t about sharing the sensation.

He was taking it all upon himself.

The agony of the deep wound in Padron’s side that had nearly forced him to his knees, the stinging of the wounds tearing at the other Hunters’ skin—Sunghyun was bearing it all.

Yet, Sunghyun’s expression remained unchanged, unwavering, as he stood his ground.

“Yeah. Even that monster bastard acknowledges you, so why wouldn’t I?”

Padron muttered, feeling more at ease than ever before.

Padron, who had never acknowledged anyone except Lich until now.

But today, in this short span of time, he had added two more to that list.

He acknowledged the monster that had inflicted a deep wound as a force to be reckoned with, and he acknowledged Sunghyun as something more.

“Lich. I’m counting on you.”

“Understood.”

Before Padron charged towards the boss, Lich summoned all the legions at his command.

Among them was the monster acquired from the mutated Grade 2 Gate.

“First, let’s see how much it can handle.”

No sooner had Lich spoken than all the legions began to advance on the boss.

Looking at the sheer number of legions packed densely to the horizon, it seemed like the boss could be overwhelmed by numbers alone.

The boss remained stationary, observing the approaching legions.

Even as attacks rained down just before reaching its face, the boss didn’t flinch.

It wasn’t a feint.

Sunghyun hadn’t missed the boss’s movements.

“…It’s beyond imagination.”

Lich stared at the boss’s location with a slightly grim expression.

“Why?”

Because the boss’s figure was obscured by the legion, Sunghyun feigned ignorance and asked Lich.

“That boss…it’s not moving.”

“Is there a possibility it’s a doll, like the monster from the mutated Grade 2 Gate…no, right?”

At Sunghyun’s words, Lich shook his head emphatically.

“I don’t even want to imagine that a monster of that level is a doll and not the real boss…”

“Then what’s going on?”

“The boss…is taking the attacks head-on.”

As Lich explained, the boss was enduring all the legions’ attacks with its body.

It might seem like it wasn’t reacting because it couldn’t evade them, or because it knew they were beings it couldn’t kill, but Lich and Sunghyun knew the truth.

That it wasn’t worth avoiding them because they couldn’t even scratch its skin.

“It’s not that it’s not moving at all. It’s accurately dodging or blocking all the attacks from strong individuals.”

“Does that mean there’s some slight damage?”

“Yes, I think so. Padron, you heard everything, right?”

“Of course.”

Padron seemed to have regained his characteristic confidence.

Even the strongest of Lich’s monsters was clearly not stronger than Padron.

That meant his attacks could inflict significant damage on the boss.

“Let’s go.”

The plan was set, and all that remained was to execute it.

Padron, having made his decision, began to approach the boss, and Lich’s monsters, which had been densely packed in front, began to part to the left and right in accordance with Padron’s advance.

Little by little, the distance between the boss and Padron closed.

With each step, Lich recalled more of the legions he had summoned.

Leaving only the strong individuals that the boss had reacted to.

The legions that the boss had reacted to were all the giants from the Grade 1 Gate and the dolls from the mutated Grade 2 Gate.

The number wasn’t large, but it was a manageable amount that wouldn’t hinder Padron, who was the key to this battle.

“As Padron said, everyone, please focus on attacking without hesitation. Don’t forget that the more you hesitate, the more damage Padron and Hunter Kim Sunghyun will take instead.”

As if all remaining hesitation vanished at Lich’s words, all the Hunters stared at Padron’s path with determined expressions.

The remaining distance to the boss was minimal.

Perhaps sensing this, the boss stared directly at Padron’s approach, ignoring Lich’s almost completely withdrawn legions.

“I’ll tear you apart. Come on in.”

Whether the boss reacted to Padron’s spirited challenge or not, it began to advance as soon as Padron finished speaking.

A fight fought with only two fists, without swords or other weapons.

The same situation had occurred in the mutated Grade 2 Gate, but the stakes felt much higher here in the Grade 1 Gate.

Just before the boss’s and Padron’s fists were about to collide, Lich’s monsters targeted the boss’s openings.

Regardless of the opponent’s strength.

The inevitable gaps that arise during an attack.

If they were monsters from before becoming Lich’s legion, they wouldn’t have been able to perceive such subtle openings and movements, but now they were part of Lich’s legion.

Each possessed its own ego, but even the owner of that ego was Lich.

Just as Lich had anticipated the boss’s initial movement, he wouldn’t miss the openings that occurred during its attacks.

Attacks flew towards the boss from all directions except where Padron was.

While none of them were particularly powerful individually, they were attacks that couldn’t be ignored.

The boss’s left hand was aimed at Padron’s right side, which had been healed, but sensing the attacks from all directions, it quickly adjusted its trajectory.

The boss dodged Padron’s attack aimed at its face while simultaneously turning its body and swinging its left hand with the momentum.

With that single movement, the boss deflected all the attacks except those coming from directly above.

The boss had dodged and attacked simultaneously, but every attack leaves a fleeting opening.

And Padron wasn’t a weak or inexperienced Hunter who would miss it.

“This is revenge, you bug bastard!!”

The boss, having exposed its back to Padron during the swinging attack, tried to push off the ground to create distance, but Padron had anticipated this.

The moment the boss created distance, Padron also pushed off the ground, closing the gap just as quickly.

At the same time, the boss launched an attack to defend against Padron while turning its body, but the chance of such an unbalanced attack hindering Padron was almost zero.

Precisely the boss’s right side.

A perfect opportunity, completely unobstructed.

Instead of a fist, Padron spread his hand and thrust it straight into that side, just as the boss had done to him.

Thwack.