Chapter 41: Boss – Toxicology Scholar Ian (5)

Boom!

“Huaaah—Ooooohhh—Roooooaaarrr!”

Blazing flames and a guttural roar exploded at once. Its limbs twisted and thrashed like it was being consumed by fire from within. This was nothing like before; there wasn’t even a shred of reason left in it. At first, blood only dripped from its wounds. But now—blood sprayed in jets from the gash in its chest, forming a firestream over ten meters long.

Felice and I scrambled out of the way. The fiery jet hit a tree behind us, and in an instant, the massive trunk was engulfed in flames. A wave of blistering heat washed over us, searing the skin. 

We thought poison was Ian’s deadliest weapon—but now it was burning its own blood as fuel!?

“Raaaaahhh!”

With a thunderous roar, it lowered its stance—flames burst beneath its feet, propelling it forward with explosive force. I dodged sideways—barely—but even so, the flaming shockwave from its charge sent me flying. Ian now resembled a humanoid meteor, blazing through the forest, no longer targeting individuals, just annihilating anything in its path.

Its burning blood sprayed in every direction. Wherever it landed, fire followed. Tree after tree ignited, and the inferno spread like a living beast. Choking smoke curled upward, and it hit me like a brick wall—this maniac was going to burn down the entire forest.

“Wait—stop—!”

But before I could even finish shouting, Ian had already torn off deeper into the woods. Felice and I exchanged a glance and rushed after it.

That direction… deeper in—that’s the rotted-face people’s village.

We can’t let it reach them.

“Yuhong! What do we do!?”

“Stop it!”

“How!?”

“Just stall it if you have to!”

Its blood was burning violently—that meant two things:

First, its fuel was limited. It didn’t have infinite blood.

Second, this was pushing its body to the brink. The extreme heat would only accelerate its collapse. In other words, this was its death throes—its final frenzy.

Felice and I sprinted into the burning forest. Everything had changed. Flames—everywhere. Orange and crimson light painted the world, and the smoke was so thick it clawed at the lungs. It was like running straight into a fire zone—but we had no choice.

Crack! Crackle-crack!

“Watch out!”

Flaming branches fell from above. We had to shield our heads and speed up. Ian—where was Ian!?

“There!”

Felice pointed. Between the burning trees, Ian’s flaming silhouette blazed like a possessed engine, rocketing back and forth. Its blood worked like an internal combustion engine, pushing it forward—but it had almost no control. Every collision knocked down entire swaths of forest, but in turn, large chunks of its body peeled away, exposing raw, decaying tissue. Left alone, it would burn itself out soon.

The problem was—how many people would die before that happened?

Tch!

I tracked its erratic movements, predicted its next charge, and then I slashed several times at a tree to my left. The runic dagger tore through the trunk, and with one strong shove, the tree crashed down, just as Ian charged in from that direction—

Boom!

Bullseye!

I hadn’t expected it to work the first try, but it did. Ian was pinned beneath the massive trunk. Now I just had to—

Whump!

A burst of flame exploded beneath it, blasting the entire tree trunk apart. Wreathed in fire, Ian launched into the air and flew deeper into the forest, propelled forward by the recoil of the blast alone. Just ahead, the rot-faced village was within reach.

***

Felice and I arrived about a minute later to find a hellish scene.

The outermost buildings of the settlement were already in flames. The fire was spreading with terrifying speed! Those who had remained in the village were screaming, fleeing in every direction, while that humanoid firestorm—

“Raaagggh!”

Ian had truly become a tiger among lambs. Each charge ignited another house. Each claw swipe tore another villager to shreds. Its movements grew faster, more erratic. It was nearing collapse, but also growing more savage.

Damn it all!

“Ian! Look over here!”

I pulled something from my waist pouch. It was finally time to use this, but my voice didn’t reach him. Who knew if he could even hear anything now. He rampaged on, radiating pure destruction, heading straight for the heart of the village.

“Yuhong!”

“Felice! Go help the others! Save as many as you can!”

“What about you!?”

“I’ll deal with Ian!”

My scalp was burning as I tore into a dead sprint. Run-down and cramped as it was, this village had taken us in. It had been our home, even for a little while. Its people had called us saviors.

I forced my way through blazing alleyways, past burning shacks, chasing screams.

“Help—help me—No!”

“No—please, no! Aaaahhhh!”

“I don’t—I don’t want—to die!”

“Eaaaaahhh!”

Every scream was a spike in my chest. Rage and sorrow overwhelmed me. I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I bellowed at the top of my lungs and charged forward at full speed.

Ian! Ian! Ian! Stop!

The village center was the plaza. An earth-shattering explosion erupted there. I dashed through the final alley, and the sight before me.

Fire.

Fire everywhere.

What was once a gathering space now resembled a gladiator’s pit in hell, encircled by waves of flame.

More than a dozen charred corpses lay at the edges.

And at the center was Ian’s body—nearly half destroyed.

And—

“You’re… not taking… another step!”

Jols.

Half his body was burned black, yet he still stood—brandishing a short sword—alone, blocking Ian’s path.

“Die!”

Jols lunged, sword raised. He knew full well the native villagers couldn’t hurt fog fiends—but still, he fought. With everything he had. For his home.

Ian merely tilted its head.

And then, its entire body erupted in flames.

“Guahhh!”

Jols didn’t even reach him—the explosion’s shockwave blasted him away. He crashed to the ground hard, wrist bent at a grotesque angle, his side nearly scorched to charcoal. Ian let out a shrieking laugh and raised its claw.

He was bout to strike.

“Look what I’ve got, Ian!”

“——!!!”

It finally reacted to my voice.

It froze.

Then slowly turned.

I waved a thick stack of papers at it.

To me, it was just a pile of useless documents.

But to Ian, if even a sliver of his mind as Grand Alchemist remained—

“Skreeeeeee!”

—he would recognize the experimental records I’d taken from the underground lab. The most important thing in his entire life. The proof of his brilliance. The culmination of his effort.

Sure enough, he dropped Jols and screamed at me instead.

“If you want it, come and get it!”

I hurled the records to the ground—and just as I expected, Ian forgot everything else, lunging straight for the papers. In that moment, I raised the purifying staff-spear—or rather, the broken Lustrous Core dagger—and slashed at him.

Boom!

Flames—two great jets of fire—clashed between us, colliding in a blinding explosion. The impact sent both of us staggering back. And for the first time, a flicker of surprise appeared in his dead, empty eyes.

I still held the runic dagger in my right hand.

And in my left—the Lustrous Core dagger—now burning with a fierce orange-red glow.

When filled with purifying power, the Lustrous Core glowed pure white.

But now, the flames and heat around us were being drawn toward it by some unseen force. The crystal turned orange-red like fire itself, radiating searing heat. The temperature surged through the iron-vine shaft into my palm, fusing my scorched flesh to the grip.

Who cares!

As the chieftain said, the Lustrous Core is a rare mineral, able to store vast amounts of energy.

And not just purifying energy.

Now that its purifying power was depleted, it made the perfect vessel for the raging flames around us.

“Come on, Ian!”

“Hsssss…”

“Round three begins, there won’t be a fourth!”

“Roooooaaarrr!”

==========

Toxicology Scholar · Alchemist Ian
 • Type: Beastform · Humanoid · Cyborg · Alchemist
 • Rank: Area Boss
 • Background: Ian Campbell, Grand Alchemist of the Royal Alessia Academy of Alchemy, lost his humanity in his relentless pursuit of knowledge. Conducting countless forbidden experiments, he transformed the once-prestigious academy into a living hell. Not only did he create horrifying alchemical abominations, but he ultimately remodeled his own body into a grotesque monster. Any gas he inhales and exhales becomes deadly toxin, capable of turning fertile land into a lifeless wasteland. He is the original source of the toxic corruption plaguing the ruined town and the culprit behind transforming native inhabitants into totted-face people.
 • Phase One: A beast roughly four times the size of a normal human, with four thick arms and three powerful legs. Its massive body is wrapped in rune-covered bandages, giving it the appearance of a beastlike mummy. 
Through gaps in the bandages, one can glimpse pitch-black skin, dense dark hair, and chaotically proliferating, spinning eyes.
It boasts overwhelming melee capabilities: secreting venom through its skin, releasing poisonous mist, and spitting toxic projectiles from its mouth. Its resistance to toxins is the highest known.
 • Phase Two: Once its internal toxins are fully depleted, Ian enters Phase Two. His body shrinks noticeably, the excess arms and legs rot away, and he reverts to a humanoid shape.
His attacks no longer carry toxin, but instead, his blood begins to superheat—igniting into flames upon contact with air.
In this state, his explosive power increases dramatically. He enters a frenzy of continuous attacks and, if forced to pause, unleashes a searing blood spray.
Though devastating, the intensity of this phase is unsustainable even for him; his body begins to deteriorate at a pace visible to the naked eye.