The World After the Fall

'…What is this man?!'

The commander tried to pull out his sword away, but it did not budge. He was a powerful man who had almost reached the 5th stage. But the man stopped his strike bare-handedly. Even if his attack did not contain Spiritual Power, there was no one who could block his attack with their bare hands.

'[Order] doesn't work on him?'

He had lived a hundred years in this fortress but he had never seen this happen before, a man who was not affected by [Order] and could block his attack with just bare hands. Whoever he was, he was probably a powerful man.

"…I don't know who you are, but you must not block me from my duty. We're just trying to stop a bigger disaster from happening."

"Disaster?"

Jaehwan scoffed. "I don't think killing Karlton will solve the matter. Isn't your job to find the reason behind this rather than killing him?"

He was right. The commander knew what had happened. A group from the Golden Sky Clan had done something and corrupted Karlton's spirit. It seemed that he had jumped in to save the civilians, but so what? The criminals were gone and there was no evidence. And Karlton was going to become a Dead Man.

"I'm only working to uphold the law."

"The law. Yeah."

Jaehwan used [Suspicion] and examined Karlton's inventory.

'He has it.'

Jaehwan reached out and took out a book. It was a book of law.

"Let me see… Special law, Chapter 1 line 4… Once the subject reaches 95% corruption level and begins to Morph, he or she will be put to death at once. Is this it?"

"…Yes."

"So, if Karlton does not become a Dead Man, he will be saved?" Jaehwan asked as he took out a dark, black horn from his dimensional backpack.

"I think this will do."

One of the doctors immediately recognized the horn.

"A Garnak horn!"

The commander had heard that someone had brought in the horn of pentahorn, but he did not know that this man was the owner.

"We might have a chance!"

The doctors agreed and the commander sheathed his sword. The man was right. If Karlton did not become a Dead Man, he didn't need to be killed. However, the doctors didn't look too delighted.

"But there's a problem…"

The highest medicine usually sold were trihorns because it was hard to find someone who could process quadhorns or higher. The only one who might be able to do that was Meikal, the Vice Chief of [Twilight's Fall]. But it was too late to call the Vice Chief and they were not sure if the proud blacksmith would agree to make medicine with his skills. Yet, the doctors were shocked once again.

"Isn't this enough?"

The horn was crushed into turned into powder by Jaehwan. The doctors present trembled as they took the powder. They were not sure how much value this medicine held. The processed powder was sucked into the respirator and distributed to Karlton and Mino. As the horn powder was consumed, the corruption level stopped increasing and became steady. It did not purify the corruption, but it stopped the morphing.

Suddenly, the doctor tending to Mino shouted, "I-it's not working!"

The corruption level began to rise again.

"It's not stopping. Her stamina is too low to…"

A doctor quickly measured Mino's corruption level.

[WARNING! CORRUPTION LEVEL HAS EXCEEDED 95%. MORPHING WILL START!]

The doctors became frightened.

"It's too late…"

When the corruption exceeded 95%, there was no medicine that could stop it. The commander tried to draw his sword again but Claire shouted,

"Chunghuh, call Chunghuh! He can use 'Dead Man Slash'! That will give us a chance!"

"…Are you talking about the Doctor of Despair?"

One of the doctors frowned.

Chunghuh, the Doctor of Despair.

Every doctor knew his name. He was the only doctor who could save someone who had begun morphing. His unique skill, 'Dead Man Slash', allowed him to stop the transformation.

Jaehwan heard the doctors whispering to each other.

[But, what does that 'Dead Man Slash' skill do?]

[It's what the Doctor of Despair uses. I heard it cuts down the corruption itself.]

[How is that possible?]

Claire said, "Yes! The Doctor knows her! He will certainly help her out!"

"The doctor is within the inner keep. He will not come out for such a thing."

"…For 'SUCH A THING' you said?!"

Claire became enraged and tried to speak but the commander interrupted her,

"Move out."

His powerful energy made Claire and the doctors fall to their knees while screaming. The commander measured Mino's corruption level and said to Jaehwan, "I cannot stay put this time. You should move away too."

Jaehwan drew his sword and the air turned cold. Then Jaehwan turned.

"I will kill her. She asked me to do so."

The commander moved back. The doctors moved away as Claire bit her lip and watched Jaehwan. James paled and some guards looked away. Jaehwan looked at the woman lying on the cot. With her mask skill gone, her face was pale but still beautiful. She was the first human Jaehwan had met after he came to [Chaos].

Her name was Mino.

It was a name that he had never called. He did not know much about her. He didn't know what she had done, and why she was so weak-minded the fact that she was an assassin. Yet, he didn't want to know. He raised his sword. He was shown an imaginary line which showed Mino's death. It was only displayed when his senses reached their limits. If he followed the line, it would mean instant death for her. That was the best he could do for her now.

However, at that moment, the area began to change.

'What?'

Everything, except Mino and Jaehwan, turned white. Jaehwan used [Suspicion] and his senses grew. He had felt a similar thing when he met the succubus on the 66th floor of the Tower.

'It's a hallucination.'

Jaehwan glanced around while using [Suspicion]. There was no one other than Mino lying down. Jaehwan gripped his sword tightly, thinking to rip the space apart. Suddenly, he was surprised. There was an old man sitting next to Mino.

[My, my… little Mino. What happened to you?]

It was an old man dressed in dark clothes with a long, round hat. It seemed that the old man had not noticed Jaehwan.

[Poor girl… let me help you.]

The old man then squished Mino's cheeks this way and that, before breaking into a satisfied smile. Jaehwan looked at him quietly. After a while, the old man noticed Jaehwan and turned towards him in shock.

[HHHAA! Who are you?!]

He blushed like a man caught stealing and coughed.

[Y-you, young man, have a very noble spirit. How did you come here?]

Jaehwan did not answer and used [Suspicion], but it did not work. Many theories flashed through his mind. It was a man who suddenly appeared as he was watching a corrupted spirit.

'Is he the reason for the corruption?'

The man also gave him the feeling like that of the Dead Man. Jaehwan then remembered the whispers among the doctors.

'Dead Man Slash, right?'

The woman might live if this old man was killed. The old man kept on speaking.

[But why is the noble spirit eager to fight like that… like a five-year-old…]

Jaehwan's sword moved.

[W-what?]

The old man opened his eyes wide in shock and yelled,

[You, young man, must be taught a lesson!]

Then, a bright sword strike flash. With the shock, Jaehwan was forced back a step, and the old man staggered three steps back. Jaehwan was shocked.

'He blocked my attack?'

It was the first time that his [Slight Stab] was blocked. There were instances where someone dodged it or didn't die, but no one was able to block it. However, that wasn't the only thing.

It was a 'Slash' that the old man had used to block the stab.

The old man moaned.

[H-how did you block my 'Normal Slash'…?!]

It was a familiar name. The old man stepped back. It seemed his wrist was sprained from the strike and his sword had a crack.

[What are you?!]

The old man shouted as the hallucination shattered. Jaehwan knew he was back in the normal world. His sword was still at Mino's neck but something around had changed. He heard a voice.

"No… my precious quadhorn sword!"

Jaehwan realized it was the same old man's voice. He turned, and there he was, on his knees and wailing. He was shaking as he held onto the broken sword. The commander and Claire shouted at once.

"D-doctor of Despair…!"

"Chunghuh!"

It was the number one doctor from Gorgon Fortress, Chunghuh, the Doctor of Despair.