I Became The Only Healer In The Academy [EN]: Chapter 187

187

At the sight of that monster, all of America’s top-ranked Hunters wore the same expression.

Why couldn’t they sense any magical power from that monster?

Even though it was floating in the air.

“You all look like a bunch of morons.”

The monster in the sky slowly descended to the ground, speaking as it did.

Without the slightest hint of caution, it settled right in the middle of the Hunters.

“What is it? A human? Ha… this isn’t fun.”

The monster’s appearance was indeed very similar to a human.

Except for its grayish skin.

It seemed to be a little over 2 meters tall, and the muscles on its body were perfectly balanced.

If its skin were flesh-colored, it would look almost exactly like Padron.

Even its *mal-tu* [manner of speaking] was very similar.

“Well, you’re just humans, so it probably won’t be very interesting, but there shouldn’t be any variables.”

The place where the monster settled was right in the center of the swamp that was beginning to solidify.

The monster slightly raised its foot and lightly tapped the ground once.

Then, the swamp that had begun to solidify began to revert back into a swamp.

Several times faster than it had solidified.

Padron, who had been watching the scene and the change, cleared the bewildered look from his eyes and spoke with the look he usually showed.

“Hey, Ash.”

“…? Ash?”

The monster, momentarily pondering what Ash meant, soon understood and flicked its tongue, saying:

“Such insolence… Ash?”

“Yeah, you little punk. Come here.”

No one stopped Padron’s words and actions.

They just watched.

Sung Hyun, as well as everyone else present, knew.

Why they couldn’t sense any magical power from that monster.

The monster before them wasn’t just similar to Padron in appearance.

If it appeared as a 2nd-tier Gate boss, transformed into a body without a single trace of magical power, there was only one answer.

An overwhelmingly strong physique.

Padron, who could be considered the representative of those with such power, couldn’t help but feel a surge of competitiveness.

Naturally, the boss felt the same way.

The boss’s gaze remained fixed on Padron.

“Oh… come to think of it, you’re quite buff for a human.”

Padron frowned at the boss’s gaze, which scanned him up and down, and said:

“What are you barking about, you Ash punk.”

At Padron’s reaction, the boss’s lips slightly curled up, and it began to laugh out loud.

“Kahaha!!”

The swamp vibrated with the sound.

“I’ve lived longer than you, so let me tell you something: usually, scared little babies growl like that.”

“Ah, a baby?”

“Yeah. Kid.”

As if no further conversation was needed, Padron clenched both fists and began to circulate magical power throughout his body.

Just circulating magical power was enough to cause the swamp around Padron to recede.

There was no testing the opponent’s level, no saving a trump card to prepare for any potentially unfavorable situations.

From the moment he made eye contact, Padron went all out, charging at the monster.

The ground at that spot caved in as he kicked off and charged, and the swamp, which had been calmly maintaining its place, began to flow slightly.

“Hmph!”

Padron’s attack was straightforward.

An attack in the direction he charged, towards the place where he first stared at the monster.

It was such a straightforward attack that everyone present could predict where Padron would attack.

Even an ordinary person who had learned a little martial arts could figure it out.

How could Padron, who only unleashed such straightforward attacks, have become a top-ranked Hunter?

The answer was simple.

Even if they predicted the straightforward attack, they often couldn’t avoid it, and even if they did, they couldn’t avoid all the subsequent attacks.

At the very least, they had to block it, and from the moment they first blocked that attack, the outcome of the fight was determined.

“Kekek.”

The monster chuckled as it watched Padron charge.

Just as everyone present knew, and just as they all thought the monster would know, the monster also knew exactly how and where Padron would attack.

However, this time, it didn’t move as everyone expected.

It didn’t evade Padron’s attack but blocked it with its body.

Accurately identifying Padron’s fist flying towards its face, the monster smiled brightly, as if very satisfied, and threw a punch just like Padron.

The fist, which didn’t utilize magical power, gave off the impression that it wasn’t a very powerful attack.

The monster’s fist wasn’t aimed at Padron’s fist.

Just as Padron was aiming for its face, the monster also aimed for Padron’s face.

Padron also immediately realized that the monster was aiming for his face, but he liked that even more.

He had only seen this kind of reaction once before.

Other than in battles that took place in his imagination.

Thus, Padron’s and the monster’s fists simultaneously struck each other’s faces.

A clear, ringing sound, as if iron were colliding with iron.

At the same time, a tremendous amount of magical power erupted from Padron’s fist, while the monster’s fist merely pushed out air due to its rapid speed.

Powerful attacks that pushed back the swamp with just one shockwave, revealing the bottom.

The first sound heard was something crunching and breaking.

And the sound that followed was Padron’s groan.

“Keuk!”

Padron took a step back and rubbed his face, wondering if his cheekbone had slightly cracked.

“…Ssibal [damn] Ash punk. You’re damn tough.”

On the other hand, the monster’s face was perfectly fine.

Of course, it had slightly bent its knees from the impact.

But its knees hadn’t touched the ground.

“Kahaha!! Are you even human, you bastard? Are you a monster?”

“What? A monster? You’re dead today.”

Padron put strength into the side of his face where his cheekbone was cracked.

Then, he suddenly tapped his face a few times with his fist, and as if he was ready, he looked at the monster and slowly approached.

“Is that okay? There must be some damage.”

Sung Hyun muttered as he watched the battle, and Richie, who was next to him, must have heard him, as he answered instead.

“He’ll be fine. Padron’s physical restoration ability is beyond imagination. Of course, it’s difficult to recover from cuts or injuries where something is severed.”

Padron and the monster slowly approached each other.

Only the sound of their footsteps could be heard around them, and soon they were close enough to touch if they reached out their hands.

“I’m going to kill you.”

“Kekek, you’re strong for a human, but you can’t beat me. Kid.”

“You *gae-ssibal sae-kki* [son of a bitch]!”

With Padron’s last curse, their battle began.

Staying in place, never moving their feet first.

A primitive battle that felt so ignorant and barbaric.

In fact, the word ‘battle’ didn’t even suit it.

The word ‘fight’ was the most appropriate, but the power these two were emitting was comparable to a war.

Just like when their attacks first exchanged, each time their fists touched each other’s bodies, the shockwaves were gradually pushing back the swamp on the ground.

“Kahaha!!”

“You’re laughing, you *ssae-kki* [son of a bitch].”

Even as he said this, Padron’s expression looked more excited than when he had done anything else.

The surrounding Hunters were also taking damage from the shockwaves, but Padron didn’t care about that right now.

While satisfying his desire for a primitive battle that he had never been satisfied with, Padron was growing.

He already knew from the moment they exchanged their first attacks.

That this monster was stronger than him in terms of physical ability alone.

“Keuk!”

Padron’s short, concise groans and the sound of bones cracking continued to be heard, but Padron didn’t back down at all.

The bones that had cracked or broken were reattached even as they fought, and those places became harder and stronger than before they were broken.

The other Hunters all watched this spectacle.

The situation was unfolding in such a way that Padron could handle it well enough without them stepping in.

Until others appeared.

“…They’re coming.”

The first to notice this was Sung Hyun.

As Sung Hyun spoke and looked somewhere in the distance, the other Hunters who had been watching their battle also looked in that direction.

“…Wh, what is that?”

“Could that be…”

There were a total of 7 people who entered the Gate today.

Some of America’s top-ranked Hunters couldn’t come due to their circumstances, so only 7 Hunters had entered.

But the gray-skinned monsters visible in the back, no matter how you looked at them, were the same as the monster Padron was fighting.

And the number was exactly 6.

If you added the monster Padron was fighting, it was exactly the same number as the 7 top-ranked Hunters who had entered this Gate.

“Hunter Kim Sung Hyun.”

“Yes?”

“Stay behind me.”

Richie immediately stood in front of Sung Hyun.

Because he was the only one who could protect Sung Hyun in this place right now.

“You must never be separated from me.”

“I understand.”

He didn’t necessarily want to be protected, but he didn’t intend to refuse it either.

Since it was a situation where he didn’t have to reveal his strength, it was probably the best situation.

Besides, looking at the faces of the top-ranked Hunters here right now, they wouldn’t be pushed back by those monsters.

Usually, monsters that were strong in physical attacks were quite weak against magical attacks.

‘Well, Padron seemed to be getting pushed back because he was fighting so recklessly.’

Sung Hyun used his original ability, which he hadn’t used in a long time.

Weakness Detection.

‘Huh?’

But there was something strange.

The location of the weak points was different for each monster.

For some monsters, it was the back of the head, for others, it was the elbow, and for others, it was the heel.

One questionable point came to mind, but since it wasn’t certain yet, Sung Hyun decided to hold back his words for now and observe further.

“I will protect Hunter Kim Sung Hyun and face two of them. The rest of you can all handle the others, right?”

“Of course!”

“Don’t worry.”

In the meantime, the monsters had arrived right in front of them.

“A human.”

“Really? It’s a human?”

“…”

“Annoying…”

Somehow, their personalities were all different.

It was almost as if they had been made that way on purpose.

“Ptooey! How dare a lowly monster *sae-kki* [bastard] act so presumptuous towards me.”

In the meantime, Padron, who had finished his battle with the monster, spat on the monster whose arms were torn off and lying on the floor, and showed a triumphant expression.

“Hey! Now that it’s over, let’s go…”

When he turned around, there were 6 more of the monsters he had just dealt with.

“What?”

“Mr. Padron? Please take on one more.”

“Ri, Richie?”

“Hurry! We can’t have Kim Sung Hyun fighting them, can we?”

“Ha, I don’t like moving for that *sae-kki* [bastard], but these guys are fun anyway.”

Padron cracked his neck a few times to the left and right, as if he was done warming up, and stepped to the forefront of the Hunters.

The monsters, who had been talking among themselves, suddenly stopped moving and simultaneously fixed all their gazes on Padron.

“Wh, what is it? This unpleasant gaze.”

Only for a moment, before they turned their gazes away again as if nothing had happened.

That brief pause, as if they were receiving new instructions from someone, made Sung Hyun’s doubts grow little by little.