I Became The Only Healer In The Academy [EN]: Chapter 129

If Seonghyun hadn’t called out his name, Inhwan would have undoubtedly been pierced through the heart from behind without even deploying a barrier, dying on the spot.

Of course, even with Seonghyun calling his name, it only changed the point of impact from his back to his front.

‘Am I… going to die like this?’

It felt as if time had stopped.

The black aura arrow, poised to pierce his heart at any moment, was emitting a fierce energy right in front of him.

‘Was I… being greedy?’

Was Tier 2 too early?

Or had he overestimated his own strength?

Or was he relying too much on Seonghyun, who was now looking at him with such urgency?

‘…No.’

Everything was the problem.

Tier 2 was too early, he had overestimated his strength, and he had relied on Seonghyun.

All of it was true.

To avoid this arrow, he should have moved the moment it was fired—no, the moment the energy began to gather.

‘…So this is a life flashing before my eyes.’

It was as if God was giving him time to think, knowing he wouldn’t have the chance to do so anymore.

Once he finished contemplating what went wrong, memories from his early childhood began to surface.

The moment he was born, his first steps, his first words.

Fighting with friends, fighting with his parents, fighting with monsters.

It all happened in an instant.

Those memories, like sparkles, flashed before his eyes and then sank back below the surface.

‘…Not a good day to die.’

Inhwan slowly closed his eyes.

His heart area already felt dizzy, as if the black aura was gripping and constricting his heart even before touching it.

“…”

He felt nothing.

Was it because he was already dead?

“Wake up.”

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Using authority to intercept was too late, and with that level of energy, a single sword wouldn’t be enough.

Seeing Inhwan’s barrier disappear without any resistance, the magical power of that arrow clearly overwhelmed Inhwan’s own.

‘If his heart is pierced, can I save him by using healing immediately?’

That was the first thought that came to mind.

The thought didn’t include blocking the arrow at all.

‘Wait.’

Was it the urgency and anxiety of Inhwan potentially losing his life?

He couldn’t think of a way to block it, even though there was one.

‘I still have a long way to go.’

The faint smile he had just held vanished in an instant, replaced only by relief.

‘Descent [ability to move instantly to any light source near a person of faith].’

Even though it was a dim desert, darkness didn’t mean there was no light.

Seonghyun used Descent to move directly in front of Inhwan.

Just before the arrow reached Inhwan’s heart.

He began to emit magical power, just like when he blocked the assassin’s attack and the pillar of fire during his sparring match with Inhwan.

“Wake up.”

His eyes were closed so comfortably, his expression like someone accepting death.

“You’re not going to die.”

Seonghyun emitted as much magical power as he could, knowing he couldn’t afford to be pushed back even slightly by this energy.

“Wh, what is this!”

“Wh, what is this magic power…”

The guild members who were blocking the arrows flying from the front, the guild members who were preparing to counterattack against the subsequent attacks.

Even Section Chief Cha, who was blocking the arrows with a rift to fill Seonghyun’s empty spot as he moved to save Inhwan.

Sangyeon, who was preparing to attack.

Even the monsters that were showering arrows.

Everyone’s gaze was fixed on Seonghyun.

It wasn’t the amount of magical power a human could emit.

It was an indescribable amount of magical power, as if the very source of magic had appeared.

“Ma, magic power…”

The magical power, which was enough to stun not only allies but also enemies, didn’t show any dramatic signs like shaking the ground or distorting the surrounding terrain.

However, that immense and pure magical power.

Magic power itself was very important to hunters, like life itself.

But with this pure, high-concentration magic power being emitted, as if the oxygen level was 100%, even breathing became difficult.

“Se, Seonghyun, I’m, I’m going to die because of you…”

Seonghyun, who was focused on blocking the arrows, immediately withdrew the magic power he was emitting upon hearing Inhwan’s voice.

Naturally, the arrow turned into complete ash in the air the moment he emitted the magic power and disappeared.

It was an arrow made of magic power in the first place, like a small fire meeting a large fire and merging naturally.

“Are you okay?”

“Hoo, thanks to you.”

Even though he had only briefly stepped into the realm of death and pulled back, Inhwan felt goosebumps all over his body from the lingering fear.

“There’s a boss over there. I’m going to head over there now, so here. I’m trusting you with this?”

“…Of course.”

Seonghyun patted Inhwan’s shoulder a couple of times and quickly moved towards the direction the arrow had come from.

“Thank you.”

It wasn’t just about saving him.

If it hadn’t been for Seonghyun just now, he would have been lying on the ground with his heart pierced in an unsightly manner.

He had been slightly, just slightly, careless, but clearly the Tier 2 boss was on a different level.

“Let’s stay calm.”

But even so, Seonghyun entrusted this place to him and moved on.

To him, who might make a rash decision due to the fear and terror of almost dying.

“I’m not even scared anymore.”

He had briefly patted his shoulder as he left, and since then, he hadn’t felt any fear at all.

It felt as if the fact that he had almost died had never happened.

“I’ll intercept some of the arrows! Section Chief Choi and ranged hunters, please provide support!”

“Yes!”

Now it was his turn to make up for the spectacle he had just shown.

Inhwan’s maximum magic power amount might be fixed, but the amount of magic power he could use was infinite.

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“So, it’s here.”

After passing a few sand hills, when the guild members’ figures were barely visible, he felt a huge energy nearby.

‘To fire arrows with that much power and accuracy from this distance…’

Perhaps Seonghyun had also been a little careless.

Until now, no one had appeared so strategically in battles with monsters.

It was easier to deal with a simply strong opponent, but an opponent with strategy, even if they were slightly less strong, was a challenge that transcended any era.

“Come out.”

He spoke towards the source of the felt energy, but as expected, it didn’t seem to want to come out.

“You know it too.”

Seonghyun incinerated the arrows flying from behind without even looking at them, simply by emitting magic power, and continued speaking.

“These tricks don’t work.”

As if in response to Seonghyun’s words, a surge of energy was momentarily felt behind the sand hill on the left.

‘Found it.’

Seonghyun, who had instantly moved in front of the hill, blew away the sand hill itself without needing to check behind it.

“..?”

But the surge of energy was different from what Seonghyun had expected.

The energy felt from the small sphere lying on the ground was maintaining an unstable state, as if it would explode at any moment.

“Tsk.”

Any other hunter would have had to avoid that bomb-like sphere.

But there was no need to do so.

Seonghyun grabbed the sphere in his hand and took the explosion head-on.

He could just push it away with magic power anyway.

“It seems like hiding is your hobby.”

The magic power that condensed around Seonghyun in an instant.

The magic power he had emitted while blocking the arrows earlier hadn’t affected the surrounding terrain at all, but this time, its nature was slightly different.

Not the kind of magic power to protect or block something, but a fierce magic power filled with killing intent.

“You shouldn’t find hobbies in battle.”

As he emitted the magic power filled with killing intent in all directions, the sand hill couldn’t withstand it.

The entire range of sand hills around him was blown away.

If it hadn’t been sand, it wouldn’t have been blown away like this, but this was a desert.

And as soon as the sand hill was blown away, an arrow flew towards Seonghyun again.

“This can’t be all of your abilities.”

He didn’t dodge, nor did he deflect it with his hand.

He simply walked slowly towards the direction the arrow had come from.

Towards the monster, twice his size, aiming at him with an even larger arrow.

‘Looking at the power, that must have taken quite a bit of mental focus and use.’

From now on, there would be no more unconscious carelessness.

He would never do such a thing as probing an opponent with close combat, no matter which door he went through or which opponent he faced.

Hundreds of swords appeared in the air with a single gesture from Seonghyun.

“…Blocking my sons’ arrows wasn’t all you could do.”

Would things have been different if they had targeted this man from the beginning?

He briefly had that thought, but looking at the swords that had appeared now, it didn’t seem so.

“He is a stronger being than any human… no, any being I have ever faced.”

But he had no intention of giving up.

‘My sons, fight with all your might.’

The monster, who had ordered his sons to fight the man’s companions, threw his bow to the side and created the shape of a sword, just like he had created the arrows.

‘I have to make those swords useless.’

Ranged combat was meaningless now.

If the distance widened even slightly, it was clear that not only his limbs but his entire body would be pierced by those swords.

If so, he had to engage in close combat as much as possible to prevent him from using those swords.

If he didn’t want to be stabbed himself, there would definitely be restrictions on using them.

The monster, who had created the sword, rushed towards Seonghyun.

A completely different battle aspect than before.

‘The opponent doesn’t even have a sword…’

He was clearly vulnerable in close combat.

He thought that as long as he was careful of that endless magic power, he would be fine, and he thought that was true until he got right in front of him.

Before he saw Seonghyun’s sword.

“Th, that’s the Sword of Remembrance?”

“You know this sword?”

This changed the plan.

That sword was definitely the Sword of Remembrance.

The fact that this man had the sword that he should have meant that something had happened to him.

But the plan had changed for Seonghyun as well.

He had been planning to quickly deal with this monster and clear the door, but now he had information to find out.

“I think I need to have a little chat with you.”

“Shut up!”

Judging from the monster’s agitated voice, it seemed to be quite related to the owner of the Tier 5 door he had dealt with before.

But he had no intention of dragging out the battle.

As long as he didn’t kill it, this monster wouldn’t lose its life.

The situation itself of having to use healing on a monster was quite stressful, but information related to the future was worth it.

“Seeing as you gave up the bow, did you think I was weak in close combat?”

“…”

But unfortunately, those swords were just one of Seonghyun’s abilities, not all of them.