Chapter 54: Chapter54-Rank up! Advancing to Iron Rank!
By then, it had already recovered its second broadsword and was charging at full speed.
I shifted my full attention to the weapons floating around me.
The two swords hovered at either side of my body, while the needles gathered in front of me, waiting for my command.
Keeping my eyes fixed on the approaching Orc King, I gave the order in my mind.
Charge.
The instant the command left my mind, both swords and every needle shot toward the Orc King.
They closed the distance in the blink of an eye.
The Orc King reacted at once, raising both broadswords to meet the attack.
With two powerful swings, it knocked my swords off course.
The needles, however, were a different story.
There were simply too many of them.
While the Orc King’s attention was fixed on the swords, the needles slipped through the openings in its defense and struck its face.
That had been my plan all along.
I’d sent both swords and every needle toward its face, knowing the larger blades would draw its attention and create an opening for the needles.
Several buried themselves deep into its flesh.
Most importantly, a handful drove straight into both of its eyes.
"RAARGHHH!"
The Orc King roared in agony.
Its broadswords slipped from its grasp as it instinctively clutched its face. Thick streams of blood poured from its ruined eyes.
A heartbeat later, it snatched both weapons back off the ground and began swinging them wildly in every direction.
Even blind, it refused to stop fighting.
It lashed out with desperate, uncontrolled swings, relying on instinct alone in the hope of hitting me.
Watching it stumble around in pain brought an unconscious smile to my face.
After everything it had done to me, seeing it suffer felt strangely satisfying.
The feeling passed almost as quickly as it came.
I let the smile fade and focused on the Orc King again.
Blood still flowed freely down its face, but the wounds around its eyes were already beginning to close.
Its regeneration was working.
Tch...
I couldn’t allow it to recover.
I reached into my storage ring and took out several healing potions along with a few bottles of AB negative blood.
Eden immediately noticed the bottles.
"I get the healing potions," he said, studying them with curiosity. "But what’s with those? I’ve never seen a potion that red."
I glanced at him and shook my head.
"That’s because it isn’t a potion."
He frowned.
"Then what is it?"
A small smile appeared on my face.
"You’ll find out soon enough."
I turned my attention back to the Orc King.
"For now, just sit back and enjoy the show."
With that, I shifted my attention back to the Orc King.
Without hesitating, I hurled the healing potions and bottles of AB negative blood at it one after another.
The instant they shattered against its body, the Twin Blood Effect took hold.
The healing potions began melting the Orc King’s flesh, while the blood desperately tried to heal the very wounds the potions were creating.
The two effects clashed relentlessly, tearing its body apart and repairing it at the same time.
"RAARRGHHH!"
The Orc King’s roar shook the entire jungle.
Already in agony, it let out an even louder scream as the pain intensified several times over. It staggered forward before breaking into a frantic run, charging in no particular direction.
A second later, it slammed headfirst into a massive tree.
The impact made the twelve-foot tree shudder violently. Instead of stopping, the Orc King kept smashing its head against the trunk over and over again.
I stared at it in disbelief.
...Did it lose its mind?
It certainly looked that way.
As I watched, I noticed something else.
Its regeneration had stopped.
The wounds across its face no longer healed. Its ruined eyes remained ruined, and even the burns left by the healing potions stayed exactly as they were.
The Twin Blood Effect had completely shut down its regeneration. Which meant the Orc King was permanently blind now.
A grin spread across my face.
I seriously love the Twin Blood Effect.
It never failed to shut down a monster’s regeneration.
Curious, I glanced toward the tree branch where Eden had been sitting.
Let’s see what kind of reaction he’s...
The thought died halfway through.
The branch was empty. He wasn’t there anymore.
"...Where’d he go?"
Then it clicked.
I turned around and found Eden standing only a few steps behind me.
The grin he’d been wearing earlier was gone.
Instead, he was staring at me with an unusually serious expression.
"What was that?" he asked quietly.
I blinked.
That wasn’t the reaction I’d been expecting.
"I told you," I replied. "It’s called the Twin Blood Effect."
I gave him a faint smile.
"Pretty surprising, right?"
Instead of answering, he walked over and rested a hand on my shoulder.
His eyes never left the shattered bottles scattered near the Orc King.
"Was that... human blood?"
"Yeah," I answered. "Donated blood. I got it from a hospital. Why?"
His expression grew even more serious.
"Why did you need to use human blood?"
That explained everything.
Right... he’s one of those genuinely good people.
He opened his mouth again.
"Answer me. Why..."
I raised a hand, cutting him off.
"Relax. The blood had already expired a long time ago."
The tension in his face disappeared almost instantly.
"Oh..."
He rubbed the back of his head, looking a little embarrassed.
"Sorry. I overreacted. I didn’t..."
"It’s fine," I said before he could finish.
"I get it."
I smiled. "You’re just a good guy."
Eden scratched the back of his head and gave an awkward smile.
"Alright, but seriously... what was that? What exactly is this Twin Blood Effect you were talking about?"
"Well... it’s a bit of a story."
I explained everything from the beginning.
I told him how I’d discovered the Twin Blood Effect, how I found out that combining human blood with healing potions created it, how I’d first tested it on the monsters inside the Special Rank dungeon, and how the two opposing effects completely canceled a monster’s regenerative ability.
By the time I finished, Eden was staring at me in disbelief.
"What?" he said. "Bro... that’s incredible. You’re a genius."
"I know," I replied with a grin. "Thanks."
Eden chuckled, but his excitement quickly took over.
"Do you realize how important this is? We could save so many lives with it. Countless hunters wouldn’t have to die anymore. We should tell..."
I raised a hand before he could finish.
"No."
My answer was calm but firm.
"I’m not revealing this to the public. Not now. Not ever."
He frowned.
"Why?"
"Because the moment people hear it involves human blood, my family’s reputation is finished." I shook my head. "Do you really think the public will care that the blood is expired? They won’t. All they’ll hear is ’human blood,’ and that’ll be enough."
Eden fell silent.
He lowered his gaze, thinking it over for several seconds before letting out a quiet sigh.
"...Yeah. You’re right. I didn’t think of it that way." He hesitated before speaking again. "Still... couldn’t we at least try to explain it to them?"
I looked him straight in the eye.
"I told you because I trust you."
My expression hardened.
"And I need you to keep this between us."
He parted his lips to reply, but I spoke first.
"If you tell anyone, whether it’s the public or even one other person, and I find out..." I paused for a second before finishing. "Then that’s the end of our friendship."
Silence hung between us.
Eden didn’t answer.
He simply looked at me, the conflict on his face impossible to miss.
Part of him wanted to share the discovery and help people.
The other part didn’t want to betray the trust I’d placed in him.
After several long seconds, he quietly nodded.
I returned the gesture with a small nod of my own.
"Thanks for understanding."
With that conversation behind us, I shifted my attention back to the Orc King.
It was still slamming its head against the tree, green blood running down its face and dripping onto the ground.
I guided both swords into position behind it, carefully lining them up with the back of its neck.
Just as I was about to send them forward, something flashed through my vision.
Eden had disappeared.
An instant later, he appeared in midair behind the Orc King.
Before I could even react, his sword traced a clean arc through the air.
The Orc King’s head slipped cleanly from its shoulders.
I stood there, staring at the scene in disbelief.
"...What the hell?"
"Eden, what-"
Before I could finish the question, he appeared in front of me, grabbed my wrist, and teleported us beside the Orc King’s headless corpse.
The massive body lay on the ground, thick streams of green blood pouring from its severed neck. Even without its head, it continued to convulse violently, its limbs twitching with lingering life.
Normally, the sight would’ve grabbed my attention.
Instead, I clutched my head the instant we arrived.
"Ugh..."
The sudden teleportation left the world spinning around me. A wave of dizziness hit so hard that I struggled to keep my footing.
Eden frowned.
"Bro, what are you doing? Finish it!"
Still trying to steady myself, I blinked at him in confusion.
"...What?"
He clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"Seriously? You’re weak as hell."
Before I could respond, he grabbed my right hand, pressed my sword into it, and wrapped his own hand around mine.
Then he guided the blade forward.
The sword plunged straight into the Orc King’s heart.
The headless body convulsed violently for a few more seconds before its movements gradually slowed.
Finally, it became completely still.
Silence settled over the battlefield.
At that moment, a series of familiar system notifications appeared before my eyes.
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[Congratulations, Host! You have been rewarded with 1000 Monster Essences for slaying a Rare Rank Monster! The Monster Essences have been added to your Character Profile!]
[Congratulations, Host! You have met the essence requirement to level up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
...
[Your current level is 100!]
[Congratulations, Host! You have met the essence requirement for a rank up!]
[You have ranked up!]
[Your current rank is Iron!]
[Congratulations, Host! For ranking up, you have been rewarded with 8 Attribute Points!]
[Congratulations, Host! Your "Free Attribute Points" section has been expanded to 30 points!]
[Congratulations, Host! Your Skill Slots have increased from 2 to 3!]
[Congratulations, Host! You have also been rewarded with a Lucky Draw for your rank up!]
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