Chapter 314: Episode 314

Kamibarez’s ’Hemorrhage’ spell had been a direct hit. The scorpion, having crashed back to the sand, writhed in agony, spraying blood from its wounds.

“Ugh!”

But Simon’s state was also rapidly deteriorating as the poison spread through him.

“Simon! Are you okay?”

He was far from okay, but he forced a nod. “It’s trying to escape. Let’s finish it now.”

The moment he spoke and reached out, the monster turned its back. The armor near the tip of its tail parted, and a thick cloud of poisonous smoke hissed out.

Simon had no time to react before he was completely engulfed. The toxic cloud billowed outward, closing in on Kamibarez.

’We can’t both get poisoned!’

At least one of them had to stay clear to make the antidote. Simon flung his arm out, and a skeleton’s Bone Armor flew like a ray of light, instantly equipping itself onto Kamibarez and shoving her backward.

“Ahhh!”

By a hair’s breadth, the poison smoke enveloped the spot where she had been. Kamibarez, now clad in bone, was sent flying, collapsing in a heap far from the danger.

Simon gasped for breath, his eyes fixed ahead. The impact had broken Kamibarez’s concentration, releasing the ’Blood Thread’. Now free, the scorpion was already digging into the sand to escape.

“Kamibarez…!” Simon shouted, dropping to one knee. “After it…!”

“Simon!”

He couldn’t hold on any longer. He collapsed. Kamibarez, who had been about to give chase, ran to his side with a look of horror and knelt before him.

“Simon! Wake up! Please, Simon!”

Tears welled in her eyes. Simon forced a weak smile to reassure her, then gestured with his hand.

“…Get the poison first.”

“Ah, yes!”

They could hunt the scorpion later; the antidote had to be made now. She hastily retrieved her antidote kit and pressed a sheet of oil paper against Simon’s wound. The paper absorbed the venom, turning a sickly green.

“Please press down firmly,” she urged, her voice trembling. She was terrified and confused by Simon’s collapse, but her training took over, and she moved with a necromancer’s sense of priority.

’I have to make the antidote. That’s the only way to save Simon!’

Fortunately, the poison cloud hadn’t fully dissipated. Though poisoned and barely conscious, Simon summoned a skeleton from his subspace, took a paper from his own kit, and handed it to the undead. Unaffected by the toxin, the skeleton dashed into the smoke, absorbed the poison, and returned.

“Kamibarez, here… the components from the smoke.”

In stark contrast to Simon’s pained state, the skeleton he controlled moved with brisk efficiency.

“Th-thank you.” She respectfully took the paper with both hands and placed it in her kit. “With this… we’ve collected samples of both the blade and smoke poisons.”

“S-Simon, you have to rest now!”

“I’m fine.” Even poisoned, his mind was clear enough to command his undead.

Kamibarez tended to Simon, her eyes darting around nervously. The scorpion could attack again at any moment.

“L-Let’s find somewhere safe!”

She stored the antidote kit in her subspace, wrapped an arm around Simon’s waist, and slid her other under his knees. With a small grunt, she tried to lift him.

’…Haha.’

The difference in their builds was simply too great. Her posture was dangerously unstable. She trembled under his weight but held on, channeling her jet-black to reinforce her strength.

“I-I’ll save you, Simon!”

She took one difficult, wobbling step after another. Seeing her struggle so earnestly brought a faint smile to Simon’s face, even through the haze of the poison.

“…Put me down, Kamibarez. I can walk.” Besides, being held like this was agony. At this rate, his back would give out before the poison did.

“How can you possibly walk in your condition?”

“I have a way.”

Simon disassembled two skeletons and willed the pieces to attach to his body, forming a suit of full-body Bone Armor. Its true value was its function as a powered exoskeleton. Though his own limbs were limp, he controlled the armor with his mind, slowly forcing himself to his feet. He took a shaky step, then another, and soon he was walking with a steady, mechanical gait.

“Let’s go, Kamibarez.”

She stared from behind, her expression one of pure awe.

’…Simon is so amazing.’

He was afflicted with a potent toxin and could pass out at any second, yet he was calmly analyzing the situation and methodically implementing solutions. He seemed so incredibly capable, so mature.

’Hmm.’

Simon, on the other hand, was wrestling with a dilemma. He had considered sending Kamibarez away and using his divinity in secret, but he quickly dismissed the idea.

’My current ’Cure’ isn’t strong enough to neutralize the poison of a Danger Level 5 monster.’

’Cure’ was a holy magic art that neutralized status ailments, but he had focused his training on healing and neglected it. He had been overconfident, relying on the partial immunity he’d gained from Professor Byulya’s Venomology class. It was a painful oversight.

’…It was a matter of focus. I had to make a choice. For now, I have to trust in the Venomology antidote.’

They left the desert behind and entered the relative safety of the forest. Simon lay on the grass, conserving his energy by directing his skeletons, while Kamibarez focused entirely on preparing the antidote. Her Venomology grade was among the highest in their class, second only to her skill in Hemomancy. Even Simon had to rely on her expertise now.

“I’ll begin,” she whispered, placing her hands on her chest and taking a calming breath.

First, she needed to analyze the poison. She placed the venom-soaked paper onto a sheet of three-layered, tricolored paper. As the poison spread, it changed the color of each layer.

“…The red paper turning yellow indicates a neurotoxin-type chemical route.”

She opened her Venomology textbook and began her analysis. “The blue paper turning black is a sodium route. But since the red paper showed a chemical route, in this case…”

Muttering to herself, she placed various other reagents on the poison samples, noting the color changes in her notebook. She checked its solubility with a drop of solution and its corrosive properties with a lump of fat from her kit. No matter the poison, if she could identify its components, she could create an antidote.

Meanwhile, Simon’s skeletons were busy gathering wood for a fire. They built a pyre of branches and dry leaves, erected a support, and hung a magic cauldron over it.

“Analysis complete!” Kamibarez announced, having finished with both poison samples. She wiped the sweat from her brow and turned around. “S-Simon!”

He had lost consciousness. Shocked, she dropped her notebook and rushed to his side. His forehead was burning with fever.

Simon was in grave danger. The evaluation didn’t matter; his life was all that did. With a look of grim determination, she reached for the pendant around her neck, her thumb hovering over the button to forfeit the exam.

A skeleton tapped her on the shoulder. It made an X with its bony arms, then used a quill to scrawl a message in her textbook.

<I’m fine. Absolutely do not give up.>

“…Simon.”

She leaned down cautiously, pressing her ear to his chest. His breathing was regular, his pulse still steady.

“Ah!” Realizing how close she was, Kamibarez shot up, her face beet red.

“…If I really can’t hold on, I’ll press it,” Simon’s voice rasped, barely a whisper. “Go make the antidote.”

“S-Simon.”

Her eyes trembled. After a moment’s hesitation, she stood, brushed the dirt from her knees, and squared her shoulders.

“Pl-please wait just a little longer! I’ll be right back!”

“Okay.”

Kamibarez snatched up her textbook, tucked it under her arm, and sprinted into the forest. She slightly released the seal on her abdomen, activating the vampiric blood of the Ursula family.

’Just like how Simon always saved me!’

She flew through the trees, her feet barely touching the ground.

’This time, I’ll save Simon!’

She identified and gathered herbs with practiced speed, picking flowers and carefully placing them in a basket in her subspace.

A pack of Hound Dogs, common forest monsters, appeared, growling. She paid them no mind, her focus entirely on her task. With one hand, she plucked an herb from the ground; with the other, she fired a blood bullet over her shoulder without even looking.

The hounds yelped and fled.

“Next!”

She consulted her textbook. “A werewolf’s gallbladder. Are there even werewolves in this forest?”

It was impossible to create a perfect antidote in the field. She would have to find substitutes with similar properties.

A horde of goblins swarmed her.

“Out of my way!” she roared, unleashing a devastating wave of blood magic that laid waste to her surroundings. The monsters reeled back, stunned by her ferocity. The other goblins held their comrades back, chittering that the human was insane.

But such a commotion was bound to attract bigger things.

“Grrrrr!”

The alpha of the pack, the master of the forest, appeared: a giant Crimson Bear. It blocked her path.

“Move!” Kamibarez shrieked, her eyes glowing with a crimson light. A murderous jet-black aura erupted from her body. The Crimson Bear flinched and, to her surprise, began to slowly back away.

’Found it!’

Ignoring the beast, she dashed past it, plucked the White Serpent Flower—a crucial ingredient—and stored it in her subspace.

’Simon! Please wait!’

—

’Ugh.’

While delirious from the poison, Simon discovered a new training method. In his half-conscious state, he could perceive the inner workings of his body and the flow of his jet-black with profound clarity.

Professor Byulya’s lessons had paid off; the elements within his body were actively fighting the poison. He could feel his system adapting, creating antibodies.

In this state, he found he could control the very elements that were resisting the toxin. He began to guide them, forcing the foreign substances into one isolated area.

’Here.’

He summoned a short sword and made a small incision on his stomach.

’Cure.’

He felt the poison rapidly neutralizing. He used ’Heal’ to close the wound and continued his internal battle.

’It’s a waste of time to just lie here being poisoned.’

He was teaching himself the higher stages of ’Blood Poison,’ Byulya’s ultimate goal. At the same time, he was finally training ’Cure,’ which he had long neglected.

’So this is the kind of training you can do when you’re poisoned. This is actually pretty fun.’

He was truly an addict to effort. Simon’s body was defiantly trampling over its ordeal and ascending to a higher plane.

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