When we arrive at a fork in the Labyrinth, I tell Slayer Ban to throw her jacket, which the tracker is still stuck on, far into the left tunnel. Despite looking doubtful, she reluctantly obeys my instructions. Both of us run inside the right tunnel as far as we can go for several seconds. The moment I tell her that we're far away enough from those bloodlusted Nons, I carefully place the injured wizard on his back.
The stab wound in his chest is obviously a very deep cut. I shake off my worries whether or not my healing skill can currently stop the huge blood loss he's having seeing his face has gotten paler. I raise my right hand over the wound only to remember that my current {Healing Skill} can only be activated with my MP usage with the Guideline's notification appearing like this.
[You are unable to use {Healing Skill} due to your MP usage currently being deactivated.]
[Please wait for 24 hours for your MP usage to be reactivated by then.]
Darn it! There's a parent dying in front of me! Wait…my healing potions…I can still use…
I must've made another shocked look as another notification pops up when I try to summon one bottle of it.
[As part of the penalty, you are not allowed to use any healing-related items.]
[Please also wait for the next 24 hours.]
“This isn't funny, Amergin!!”
I must've scared Slayer Ban with my sudden shouting. Either she's afraid Mr Seo can find us with my voice having an emotionally vulnerable tone or that I'm acting out of character. Regardless, I could care less about what she's thinking of me now. All I can now is figuring out how to save a father whose chest has yet to stop bleeding. I sound like I'm cussing when I hurriedly explain to her some sort of ‘Plan B’ while I take off my hoodie to tie it around the wizard's body to prevent it from getting any colder.
“Darn it! I thought a penalty involves restricting one action, not two actions! Ban Ha-na, you run ahead of me and use your sensory perception to the max. I'll follow you.”
“What…Carrying him in that state will lead us getting caught easily, Kang Joo-yeon! Anyway, you're not an F-rank anymore so why can't you heal…”
“Someone restricted my mana usage, okay?!”
“...”
“Please, Ban Ha-na. Just this once…”
“Slayer…Kang…”
“Mister, don't talk anymore. Your bleeding will get worse…”
Then, he lifts up his bloody right hand to open his grimoire which is still being held in his left hand. The same spell’s aura becomes visible, forming another line that obviously leads to the Labyrinth’s gate. My eyes widen at the sight of him coughing out more blood from his bloodstained mouth. He interferes with my repeated warning to him as he says, with all his breath, these words that sound apprehensive to me.
“Follow that path and you two are able to reach this Labyrinth's gate in no time.”
“Mister, this isn't the time to show off your magic! If you keep on…doing this…”
I grit my teeth so hard for I want to hold back my tears that start to well up in my eyes. Otherwise, I might lose my mind being pinned to the feeling of uselessness caused by my reckless decision back in that chamber. Then, somehow this kind of feeling is being substituted with numb confusion because the young father says his next words as though he feels content with what's happening right now.
“Slayer Kang…believe it or not…I was a coward…that I wasn't able to save anyone… from the last raid I was in. I hated myself…that people said I survived because…I was magically the strongest of that team. I don't want to be remembered…like that.”
“What are you…”
“That’s why…if I died, it's because…I wanted to help you two…survive with no regrets.”
The next thing I know is the sound of my voice getting louder than usual with feelings of confusion and frustration heard in my conversation with him.
“Don't you have a family to go back to, mister?! Don't you want to live longer?! What about your daughter?! She'll be devastated to know her father… got killed…because of my mistake…”
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“Joo-yeon, we all make…mistakes. After all…we're human. That's why…I want to be remembered as…a Slayer who did the right thing...at his last breath."
He then slowly takes my right hand; his left hand places his grimoire in it. I can feel something is lighting up my amber eyes, and the Guideline's notification pops up with a message that makes me feel more devastated.
[The Iubhaile Grimoire has been fully authorised to Participant Kang Joo-yeon.]
And sure enough, the grimoire disappears into thin air, or more accurately, digitalised into the Guideline's storage.
“Hey, Kang Joo-yeon! I can hear footsteps coming! Let's go!”
I’ve yet to move from my kneeling spot. I hear muffled scoldings coming from Slayer Ban until the clearer words from the wizard's bloodstained mouth has me pull myself together from my downward spiral full of guilty numbness.
“Slayer Kang, please…survive…That way…those monsters who are after you two…won't have their evil deeds…go unpunished. That's my…last wish.”
“Mister, you're…a selfish man for saying that…”
“Hehe…indeed I am. But I do want…to live longer…I want to see my daughter…my family…opening a restaurant…Eugh…Indeed I'm a selfish man…leaving them alone…here…”
And he says a word no more once the light in his eyes has faded away. Before I feel like letting a teardrop fall from one of my wet eyes, Slayer Ban grabs my right hand. She pulls me upwards. I zone out, running at the same pace as hers, and leaving behind his lifeless body wrapped in my hoodie. I stay silent as it becomes another coping mechanism for me in bearing witness to innocent people dying in my sight.
As a matter of fact, Slayer Ban never says anything to me while we run towards our only exit. We just keep running, following the visible path left like a last good deed from the wizard himself. For the next five minutes or so, I instinctively slap my hand from her grip on it.I can feel the glare she's giving me along with the “What's wrong with you?” tone, angrily asking why I stop running now. Her declaring statement that both of us are gonna be killed by a remorseless businessman makes me feel more upset than ever, leading me to think about how she can stay this calm after witnessing so many deaths today.
Just then, we hear someone throwing something at us. Our eyes widen when we see a yellow-colored spherical flask being smashed between us. It's the Alliance's version of Explosion Potion. We are unable to run away as the explosion impact happens immediately after the item’s glass breaks upon the floor we were standing at. My body slams against a nearby wall. My vision gets blurred along with the loud ringing in my ears. I can feel the right side of my head bleeding which nearly covers my right eye.
I try my best to keep my eyes open, and that's why I see Slayer Ban also suffers the same injuries like I have caused by the explosion impact. Even though she doesn't look like she's on death's door, the left side of her cheek and hands have major bruises. Her face has a despairing look indirectly saying she doesn't want to die today.
“Are they dead?”
“They better be. It's a good thing the third teleportation device is placed here behind that large rock several meters from this Labyrinth's gate.”
“Those devices must've cost a fortune, Mr Seo. I hope we can find your bandwagon soon.”
“Yes, I hope so. To think that the wizard's grimoire alone was able to slay the Bulgasari with every spell it got…that book should at least cover half of today's profits if we can't find the mined crystals.”
“Actually, I'm surprised that inquisitor girl over there is an A-rank Slayer.”
“And yet, she's no different from those simpleton low-ranked Slayers.”
I hear them laughing wickedly when discussing the inquisitor subclass being useless and that the point of existence is questionable. Some of them complain in between their conversation of how their hard day's work has come to waste.
“Everyone, search for the grimoire in that girl's hoodie. She must've hid it there.”
“Okay, Mr Seo. Come to think of it, she looks fine despite having a terrible attitude. Boys, let's savor the moment, huh?”
Listening to that last sentence makes my blood boil higher than my own heartbeat. And that's when I lose my sanity as I say this inwardly in my mind.
This is unfair. Unfair…Unfair…UNFAIR…UNFAIR…UNFAIR…UNFAIR…UNFAIR! UNFAIR! UNFAIR! UNFAIR!!!
“That's not true, my lovely bride.”
That same voice…
I don't know how exactly he does it, but I feel time literally stops inside this Labyrinth. It's more like he places some dimension space to make those sickening predators and that greedy businessman stop moving. Slayer Ban is still in the same helpless position as I am. The only difference is that I'm able to see what's happening, seeing how I can still listen to him whose voice belongs to the same sadistic unknown man.
“Inside these Labyrinths, everything is fair. Of course I know you can't do anything due to the penalty, but trust me that's it's for fairness sake. Oh, Kang Joo-yeon. You're the only strong being I acknowledged unlike those pathetic waste over there who only knows how to take advantage of the weak. That's why I'm gonna give you a chance to show that you'll be my greatest masterpiece I've ever cultivated.”
The notification pops up in my sight with the same ‘Ding’ sound. I can only stare despairingly at what it says that exudes malicious intentions towards my fragile soul.
[The Moderator offers the Special Mission - Slay Your Enemies to Kang Joo-yeon.]
[Once you accept this mission, the ‘Berserk Mode’ skill will temporarily increase all your stats by 25 for 5 minutes.]
[Warning: Failure to complete this mission will result in the possession of Kang Joo-yeon’s body as a long-term penalty.]
So that's your…motive…you freak…
“Hahahahaha! You're more lovely when saying those spiteful words to me, my dear bride! But do know that this is all for your sake, Kang Joo-yeon. After all, this is exactly what you need right now, don't you?”
Then, the time freeze dimension has vanished as one of Mr Seo's men is standing right in front of Slayer Ban’s unconscious body. His right hand reaches out to touch her inappropriately until I grab and hurl a medium-sized rock, which is right next to my right hand, on that filthy hand. He yelps in pain, clutching his bruised hand. I can see everyone's faces looking shocked to see me slowly standing up.
“That healer…she hasn't fainted yet?”
“But that explosion is a D-rank item so how is she…”
I interrupt their upsetting comments about my durability. This is the first time I feel anger within me, and yet, I feel a sense of desperation wrapped in the cold air only I can feel while talking to them; my voice sounds colder than ever.
“How many times have you done this?”
“Huh?”
“Ten? Twenty? Maybe a hundred. For the past several years, the Alliance's three leaders can't prove you're doing sinful acts behind their backs. I guess they're so lawful that they can't execute you without any proof of your ruthless schemes.”
“You're right, Weakest Healer! It's a good thing those three Slayers are willing to turn a blind eye for the sake of funding future raids!”
Alas, I give in to laughing maniacally like a madwoman who just lost something precious in front of these traitors. The few blood stains on my gray shirt and face must've made an impactful impression given their temporary scared looks on their faces. I stop laughing to give them a warning with foreboding words to them.
“If that's the case, that's your decision, huh?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Your decision to try killing me with no regrets.”
Everyone stays silent to my last sentence of cold words that might have made one of their heartbeats stop for good. A bearded male assistant of Mr Seo snorts at me. His words are filled with disrespect to the many souls he has killed while working for Mr Seo.
“Yeah, we'll have no regrets killing you. If you wanna blame someone, blame yourself for being weak, Ms Weakest Healer.”
As he takes his aim at me with Maorga’s mana-powered crossbow equipment, he shoots an arrow in a split second. The next moment must have been the most unbelievable thing Mr Seo and his men have witnessed in their lifetime. I grab the arrow in my left hand in that split second. The next moment has me slash the bearded man’s body exactly in half with Talos’ Thermal Rondel in my right hand. The smell of burnt skin and vaporised blood fill the tense atmosphere. I stare blankly at my enemies looking horrified to see me, a healer, being able to perform a merciless attack on a human being.
[Number of Kang Joo-yeon's enemies slayed: 1/7]