Chapter 39: Boss – The Toxicology Scholar Ian (4)

“Grrrkkk-k-k-k-k-k-k-k…”

Ian rose from the shattered mass of wood and stone.

It shook its head, flexed its body, still in decent condition. But a feeling close to frustration took shape in its mind.

It had assumed that its full-force charge would instantly flatten those two slippery little creatures. Yet that one—yes, that male—had dodged at the very last second.

Irritating.

But also interesting.

What a fascinating little pest.

Ian bent the knees of its seven limbs—then shot forward like a cannonball. Every fallen branch and broken trunk in its path was blown aside. Its whirling, scattered eyes had already locked on its two prey, and it barreled straight toward the space between them.

“Yuhong! You—!”

“I’m fine… I’m fine—tsk”

Boom!

The ground shook as it crashed down from above, the sheer impact splitting the earth. The pair tumbled and rolled away in a mess of limbs and dirt, but they had dodged. Their coordination was exceptional. They attacked in tandem from either side: one wielding a dagger, the other a rapier—both weapons originally crafted by Ian itself.

That band of thieving scum.

Vermin, no doubt, but the runic weapons could still deal real damage. Ian had to parry with claw-tips. Its limbs swung with agile precision, effortlessly deflecting their strikes. The female was especially quick, darting in and out with light steps, lunging for openings like a tenacious wasp. The male was nimble too, but his movements carried a hint of strategy. He kept trying to counterattack, even aiming to deflect Ian’s claws with his dagger. Naïve.

Ian raised one arm high, then slammed it down, while a second arm further back prepared a sweeping strike to cut off his escape. Perfect.

Except—the boy didn’t retreat.

He darted in, close enough to feel the air shift from the downward smash, and slashed viciously toward Ian’s torso. Ian was forced to abort the sweep and block the blow instead. But as it did, the boy quickly pulled back and struck toward the first claw Ian had slammed down. That blade nearly hit the elbow joint—close.

Meanwhile, the wasp-like female kept up her maddening dance.

Ian, a master multitasker, could operate its left and right halves independently, and the eyes scattered across its body provided flawless vision. Even so, this constant harassment grated on its nerves.

Annoying—but it had to admit, these two, especially the male, were nothing like the trash it had fought before.

Still vermin, yes—but stronger vermin. Not docile lab mice, but wild rats—rats that bit down and refused to let go.

Even so—

Thud!

All of Ian’s claws rose at once, fanning out like a peacock’s tail. The female leapt back at once, but the male—

“Guhhh!”

Let out a strangled grunt as he barely blocked the strike with his blade, only to be sent flying several meters, crashing into a nearby tree stump in a heap. His movements slowed, staggering, breathing hard, his face tinged with a sickly purplish hue.

Ahhh. Ahhh. Ahhhhh.

That corrosive wound on his left arm—poor little rat. You really thought some blessed cloth over your nose and mouth would protect you from my toxins? Laughable!

He suddenly yanked two crude syringes from his waist pouch and stabbed them into himself—so that was it. A powerful healing potion and a stimulant.

Even in its twisted form, Ian’s alchemist instincts instantly identified the brews. Crude in composition, but strong enough to buy time. Just a little.

Let’s see now.

You filthy rat, how long can you last?

Shall I try this next?

Let’s find out.

***

“Gah… gah… gah… ah… ahhh…”

The rasping breath that escaped my throat didn’t even sound like my own voice.

“Ahh… gah… ngh… ugh…”

It hurts. It hurts so much. Breathing is impossible. My head is heavy, and I feel sick. My strength is draining away. It’s like thousands of ants are crawling under my skin.

“Gah… gah… huhh…”

What do I do? What do I do? My head… it’s spinning. My mind—it feels like being drunk on strong liquor, only magnified dozens of times… Damn it… Think… Think… Keep thinking… Don’t stop thinking… Ngh!

My knees buckled. I nearly collapsed. With the last of my strength, I fumbled out the high-grade healing potion and stimulant and jabbed both into my body. Agonizing pain surged through my veins, jolting me into momentary clarity. The pain from the toxin dulled a little, but only a little. What now? What now!?

Ian—

What is it…?

What’s it doing?

It suddenly curled into a ball.

Its four forelimbs wrapped tightly around its body, three hind legs tucked in, torso coiled up. At a glance, it looked just like a pill bug.

On the other side, Felice was equally baffled. She seemed ready to rush over to help, but what could she do when I was poisoned? I signaled for her to hold back. We had no idea what Ian was planning. Better to be cautious.

Gululu, gululu, gululu…

A strange bubbling sound gurgled from within Ian’s body, like boiling water. The coiled mass of its frame pulsed with small rhythmic expansions and contractions—no, more than that. At some point, the toxic mist it constantly emitted had stopped entirely. Was it out of poison? Or had all the toxins been drawn inward?

A powerful sense of dread surged through me. Felice felt it too.

I considered trying to run in and slash its head, but I could barely stand upright. That sickening numbness had already spread from my left arm to the rest of my body. Damn it. How much longer can I last?

Then Felice suddenly pulled out one of the crude explosives—the ones the rotted-face people had given us before we left. She glanced my way, and I nodded after a moment’s hesitation.

She took a deep breath, raised the bomb high, aiming it at Ian—

Plunk!

—but a strange sound stopped her in her tracks.

Plunk! Plunk! Plunk! Plunk!

Like the thunder of a furious heartbeat. It was coming from Ian. The frequency of its swelling and contracting was accelerating. Its body trembled violently like—like—

A time bomb?

“Run! Now!!!”

“Wh-Where!?”

“Anywhere! Just get away from it!”

Spurred by my shout, Felice turned and bolted. She glanced back in worry, but didn’t stop. I too turned and sprinted in the opposite direction from Ian. Move! Faster! Faster!! My body was sluggish from the venom, my mind woozy and fading—only raw survival instinct kept me going. Get away from it—get away from it!

Boom!!!

I looked back just in time to see Ian erupt in a burst of dark purple-black liquid, an explosion of toxic matter that instantly spread outward in all directions. The poisonous spray didn’t just form a mist—it was a dense tide of large droplets, far thicker than the fine particles of any typical fog.

Oh no—

I barely had time to yank my cloak over my nose and mouth before a wave of toxic vapor crashed down and engulfed the entire forest edge.

***

Purple-black.

Purple-black everywhere.

Everywhere she looked, that color had swallowed the wild forest. Even with her eyes wide open, Felice could only barely make out the faint outlines of trees flickering in and out of sight within the dense, violet-black fog. Most of her vision was completely obscured. The stench in the air—sickly sweet and rotten—was more overpowering than anything she had ever experienced. The high concentration of venomous droplets saturated the air. Just squinting stung her eyes with piercing pain. Even the blessed cloth was no longer enough to stop the poison—each breath drew in trace amounts, and just walking through the fog was enough for the acid in the toxin to scorch her skin.

“Guh—koff, koff—Yuhong, where are—koff! Koff!”

Felice stumbled through the haze, her sight so limited she felt like a headless fly. It was as if her entire body had been submerged in acid—burning, prickling from scalp to sole. Every breath she took left her feeling more poisoned, more clouded. Her strength drained rapidly. Her head grew heavy. Her vision began to darken.

But none of that mattered compared to the one thought that truly gripped her—

That she had become separated from Zhou Yuhong.

“Yuhong—say something—Yuhong!! Please—guh—koff koff koff! Ugh…”

Coughing violently, she staggered against a nearby tree. Her legs were growing weaker and weaker. When she turned her head, she saw the tree—once lush and healthy—had withered entirely. The trunk was ashen and lifeless, the leaves shriveled and dead, and the grass beneath it had already decayed to rot. Ian’s venom spared no living thing.

“Guh… ah… aaaughhh…”

“Save… save me… divine envoy… lo—rd…”

“Wh-why… I… why…”

Scattered on the ground were rotted-face people, struggling to breathe through the toxic fog. These were the ones who had survived Ian’s initial assault, but now they writhed in agony, their arms reaching toward Felice, begging for salvation. Her heart ached. These people, these innocent people, had endured ten years of pain and sickness, only to be slaughtered now by the Mist King’s toxin. She wanted to help them. She truly did. But—

“I’m sorry… I have to… find Yuhong… koff…”

To Felice, the most urgent priority was reuniting with Zhou Yuhong.

If she had to choose between helping a crowd of rotted-face people or finding Zhou Yuhong, her heart would, without hesitation, choose him.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…”

And so, she turned away from them, no longer looking at their pleading faces, and hurried into the fog.

“Divine envoy—!?”

“Please, I beg you—please—!”

“Don’t… don’t leave us… no…”

***

“Cough—ugh… cough—ugh… cough…”

I stumbled through the high-density poison fog, my strength draining faster and faster. The world spun around me, my vision warped; I wouldn’t be surprised if I collapsed and died at any moment. All I could do was drag myself forward, lurching from one tree to the next, pausing to gasp for air with each step. I was barely clinging to life. My consciousness drifted along the edge of darkness. Dizzy… so tired… I need to stay awake… I… need to…

Felice—where is she? We got separated… I’m worried. Really worried. But what gnaws at me even more is Ian.

Ian…

Ian!!

“Ian! Where are you—where are you?! Show yourself!—cough cough cough!—ugh…”

Of course, no answer came. Where the hell was Ian? It had to be lurking somewhere in this vision-blinding fog, watching everything from the shadows. Damn it. What if it’s already heading toward the rotted-face people’s settlement on the forest edge!? If that’s the case, then they’re already doomed. Who knows how far this toxic fog has spread?

“Ian…!! Felice! Booker! Chieftain! cough… cough— where are you all…”

“…Lord Yuhong?”

“!?”

Through the mist, I saw it—light, faintly flickering not far away.

And a voice. A human voice.

“Chi—Chieftain…?”

I staggered toward it, stumbling over myself—and yes, it was the chieftain. He lay on the ground, barely breathing but still conscious. A faint golden membrane shimmered around him, shielding him just enough from the venomous air. His iron-vine staff lay fallen beside him on the ground.

“Chieftain… are you… still with us?”

“Don’t worry about me… it’s enough that you’re alive… cough… I’m sorry… I truly… have no strength left.”

“I understand! Just rest here, alright?”

“This fog…”

“It’s Ian, it’s the Mist King… I’m sorry… We came too late… It got here first… It was my misjudgment… because I…”

“This… isn’t your fault… It’s all of us… All of us… In any case… please, I beg you… run.”

“What?”

His voice was weak, but the light in his eyes still shone.

“Run… don’t worry about us anymore… We’ve clung to life for ten years now… maybe this is… our limit… I’m sorry… We should never have dragged you all into this… Go… If even one of you can survive… that’s enough… There might still be time…”

He was serious.

This wasn’t reverse psychology; it was a heartfelt plea for me to run.

They say a dying man speaks only the truth.

But… I’m sorry. I don’t think I can run anymore.

The venom has already eaten too deeply. I probably only have a few minutes left. Unless I pin everything on defeating the Mist King, I have no other options.

But even so—

“I made a promise…”

“Hm?”

“I swore I’d never watch a companion die in front of me again. I swore it.”

So—

“I’m going to make sure you live. Even if I have to stake my life on it!”

I bent down and picked up the iron-vine staff he’d dropped.

“Lend me this. I’ll be right back!”

Once I confirmed he could still hold on a few more minutes, I forced myself forward, burning through the last dregs of strength, running in the direction I thought I remembered. And in the distance, I could almost see Rena smiling at me.