Karim was defiant.
“If you think you can threaten me with force, you might as well cut my throat. I don’t know about Jamir, but I have no intention of surrendering.”
“You seem to misunderstand something, but I really came here to make a deal with you. And the one who attacked first was you!”
Eurius sheathed his sword.
“…!?”
Karim did not relax his guard, and finally Eurius brought up the main point.
“Join me in capturing that man Jamir. Then I will turn a blind eye to the army you sent to the southern part of the empire.”
“Is that all you offer? Just by looking at the people behind you, I can tell that you could go and cut Jamir’s throat yourself if you wanted to.”
Karim made a face of disbelief. But Eurius looked serious.
“If that were possible, wouldn’t you have caught him long ago?”
“Hmm…”
Karim, who was groaning, was finally able to infer that Eurius did not come to the desert as an ally, even though he did not know what his purpose was.
‘But how can I trust this guy?’
It was a situation where he could end up driving away a fox and bringing in a tiger. Karim had no choice but to be cautious.
“Sigh…”
Eurius let out a sigh as if he was frustrated.
“I was going to save it for the last negotiation card, but I guess I have no choice.”
‘What trick is he up to this time?’
Karim made a suspicious expression again, and Eurius finally asked him the question he wanted to ask the most.
“Is it true that the king of Partia has become weak from a simple old age? I don’t think so, do you?”
“…!?”
Karim’s eyes widened.
That was the biggest reason why he and Jamir started to clash.
“Judging by your reaction, it seems like I’m not completely wrong. Am I right?”
“…”
“I guess it’s hard for you to believe me easily since I’ve been with that man Jamir for a long time. Let me explain a little bit.”
Eurius told Jegal Geon, who was standing next to him, to take off his helmet.
He had been disguised as a knight, so Karim didn’t notice him until now, but when he saw him, he opened his mouth.
“A man from the east? But what does that have to do with anything?”
“You may not know this well since you grew up in the desert, but our empire has been trading with the Hwan Empire in the east for quite a long time, so we get a lot of information from there.”
He looked at Jegal Geon with a smug face and began to explain.
“Actually, in the east, they don’t have healers like in this continent, so their medicine is very advanced. The friend I brought with me is not actually my subordinate, but someone who knows a lot about that kind of knowledge.”
“…!?”
Karim looked surprised and Jegal Geon maintained a poker face on the outside, but he was quite flustered inside.
‘The east may be superior in using qi for internal injuries than this place, but I’m not a doctor.’
Of course, the martial artists of the east learned some basic knowledge about blood vessels and the human body along with their martial arts training, so they were not completely ignorant.
But Jegal Geon was a pure martial artist!
He was not a doctor who specialized in medicine. So Eurius’s words were nothing but nonsense.
‘What is he thinking?’
“If you give us a chance to examine the king of Partia’s symptoms, we will try to find a way to heal him.”
Karim thought for a moment and then gave up with a resigned expression.
“Honestly, this condition of yours is very difficult. It’s absurd to show my father to someone who has drawn a sword against me.”
‘He seems almost convinced.’
Eurius sighed inwardly.
“But if I didn’t do this, would you have accepted my terms? I’m glad that your ears are not deaf ears, but you’re too stubborn.”
This was why he had no choice but to subdue Karim with something close to intimidation.
If he could have eliminated Jamir by force, he wouldn’t have had to do this and he would have had a chance to build his trust slowly, but in this situation, he didn’t think he could see the king of Partia at all.
‘It’s called old age, but the symptoms are too similar to my father’s in my previous life.’
It was common for old age symptoms to gradually lose strength and die one day, but as far as he knew, both the emperor and the king of Partia had no serious illnesses until a few years ago.
‘If it’s really old age, then there’s nothing I can do, but judging by Karim’s reaction, it seems like my guess is somewhat correct.’
“My father is recuperating in the depths of this palace. He has been unconscious for several months now…”
“Do you know how long ago he started having health problems? And what exactly are the symptoms?”
“He started to get sick a little bit four years ago. And a year ago, he became comatose and recently he can’t even get up.”
‘It seems like Jamir didn’t lie about the king’s symptoms.’
He had heard about the king’s symptoms roughly on his way here, but he asked again just in case, and the answer was the same, so it seemed like he didn’t need to doubt Karim.“Can’t you trust me once and let me see him? I heard that you’ve tried everything you could, but nothing worked.”
Eurius spoke in a light tone, but he tapped his sword on his waist, indicating that it was still half a threat. Karim finally had to indicate his surrender.
“I will show you to my father. But if you have any other intentions, you won’t get what you want even if you cut my throat.”
As he followed Karim from behind, Eurius recalled the conversation he had with Cheongryong Sangdan a while ago.
‘If my guess is right, I might be able to find some answers.’
“I have a question for you about the magic sect. Can you answer it?”
“What is your question?”
Jegal Hwayoung answered quickly.
“Is there any way or poison in the magic sect or other places in the eastern continent that can slowly kill people naturally? Something that even the healers of the Healing Church can’t detect.”
She thought for a moment and then gave an answer.
“I’m not sure if the priests can diagnose it, since there are no healers in the east. But if it’s just a matter of slowly driving someone to death, I think it’s not impossible for an expert who specializes in poison.”
“Hooh…”
“Or as you said, there might be poisons that have such effects. Do you need an investigation?”
“Can you show me a list of such methods later? I think I might need it sometime.”
“Understood.”
***
Following Karim, Eurius was led to the deepest part of the palace.
There, an old man lay stiffly on a bed. He looked so frail that he seemed to be half a skeleton.
“I’ll examine him now.”
Jegal Gun lightly grasped the old man’s wrist. It was a place commonly called the pulse in the East. He sent his inner energy into the old man’s body and checked his condition. He couldn’t help but feel puzzled inwardly.
‘There is no sign of any turbid energy or poison in him. Why did they ask me to play the role of a doctor?’
“…”
“Hmm…”
The two exchanged secret glances.
“Karim, please wait a moment. It seems that I have found the problem, but I need some time to discuss it with him.”
“Really?”
No one had been able to find out the cause until now and only diagnosed it as old age.
Was there another reason? Karim stared at him with a half-pale and half-suspicious face.
On the other hand, Jegal Gun was in a situation where his heart could jump out at any moment. He had clearly sent a signal that there was nothing wrong.
‘Are you crazy? What do you trust to say that?’
Jegal Gun and Eurius, who came out of the room for a moment, looked at each other with serious expressions.
“In my opinion, he seems to be poisoned by something. What do you think?”
“I’m sorry, but I couldn’t find anything abnormal.”
“Have you ever heard of [Formless Poison]?”
“…!?”
Jegal Gun’s face changed in an instant. He hadn’t thought of that possibility.
“Are you saying that the reason why the old man is like that is because of that?”
“It seems to be certain.”
‘If it says so in the stats, there’s no way it’s wrong.’
[Al Saladin]
Job: King, Intermediate Warrior
Strength: D- Agility: D- Intelligence: A Willpower: A+ Force: B+ Force Aptitude: B+
(Your physical abilities are greatly reduced due to the effects of being poisoned.)
Disposition: Good, Gentle
[Traits]
Poisoned – You are in a state of being eroded by a powerful poison (Formless Poison).
“As you may know, Formless Poison is one of the most vicious poisons made by the Demon sect. It is a liquid that is colorless and transparent, and it is impossible to detect it by normal means.”
Eurius paused here with a troubled expression.
“So I have a favor to ask you…”
“What kind of favor?”
“What is blood path? I know how to detoxify it, but I don’t know what it means.”
“…!?”
Jegal Gun looked dumbfounded.
He knew about Formless Poison and how to detoxify it, but he didn’t know what blood path was?
‘I didn’t know that the help message would be so unhelpful (?)’[Help – Viewing Formless Poison.]
[Formless Poison – A deadly poison made from compressing the poison extracted from more than a hundred kinds of poisons. It is a liquid that is colorless and transparent, and it is impossible to detect it by normal means.]
‘What about the antidote?’
[You need one 4th stage martial artist who can control their inner energy (force) and move it to every corner of their three meridians, and two 4th stage martial artists who can help maintain their force connection. Combine their inner energy and burn away the poison.]
Eurius couldn’t hide his absurd expression at this point. So to detoxify this Formless Poison or whatever, he needed three martial artists who had reached the superhuman level?
And when he searched for what three meridians were, it was even worse.
[Three Meridians – There are eight large main vessels in the human body called Eight Extraordinary Meridians…]
‘I guess I have no choice but to ask him.’
And when he asked him, the answer was disappointing.
“So you’re saying I have to study.”
“Yes. In Hwan, they teach this as a basic when you enter martial arts, but it seems that it’s not like that in the Western Continent.”
“Is there no other way? I think we need to do some emergency treatment at least.”
“Well, there is one way, but…”
Eurius’s face brightened up.
“What is it?”
“It’s just that I can inject some of my inner energy into you and show you the way. It’s impossible to reach every corner of your three meridians, but I can do it for the big main vessels.”
His tone was cautious. In fact, injecting one’s inner energy into another person’s body was a dangerous act that was rarely done in Hwan unless they were relatives or close friends.
If the other person had a bad intention, they could inflict serious damage. But Eurius, who didn’t know much about that, readily agreed.
“That sounds easy. I appreciate it.”
“…”
A moment later
Karim, who had lost his calm expression, asked anxiously.
“Are you saying you can really cure my father?”
“It’s a difficult condition, but I think I can at least alleviate the symptoms a bit right now.”
According to the information he had checked with the help message, the horror of Formless Poison was not the poison itself, but the fact that it secretly infiltrated the three meridians of the human body and caused the symptoms to worsen again due to the poison that came back up.
‘But I can handle the poison in the big places by myself, right?’
Three superhumans were a condition that he couldn’t meet anyway. But if he wanted to gain Karim’s trust, he had to show him some possibility of treatment, didn’t he?
“Then I’ll guide you and you just need to direct your inner energy to burn away the poison.”
Eurius held the old man’s wrist for the first time and started to inject his force into the old man’s body following Jegal Gun’s instructions.
A small amount of force flowed out from Jegal Gun, who had his hand on his back, and showed him the way through his body.
“This is where the poison vessel is.”
‘So I just need to stimulate it and burn away the poison that comes out, right?’
As soon as Eurius poured a huge amount of force into the place called the poison vessel, a strange energy started to leak out.
He began to gather and burn away that energy carefully.
‘This is not an easy task. No wonder it requires three superhumans.’
Even though he was only burning away the poison in one place, sweat beads formed on Eurius’s forehead, who was a superhuman.
“Next is the thoroughfare vessel.”
“I got it.”
In this way, Eurius burned away all the poison that was located in the big main vessels.
It was only an emergency treatment, but it would have some effect.
“You were telling the truth!”
Karim spoke to him with a slightly excited tone.
As he said, the old man’s complexion had returned to a reddish color from being pale as a corpse.
‘I’ll be exhausted if I do this a few more times.’
While grumbling inwardly in his worn-out state, he heard Jegal Gun’s voice in his ear.
“Then I’ll retrieve my inner energy that I injected into His Majesty’s body.”
If someone else’s inner energy remained in their body, it could cause a collision with their own inner energy and result in injury.
But as soon as he tried to retrieve his inner energy from Eurius’s body, something unexpected happened.
“…!?”
“What’s wrong?”
“There seems to be a problem.”
Jegal Gun was momentarily flustered.
The inner energy that he tried to retrieve didn’t move at all, but rather was being sucked into Eurius’s side.
“Hmm?”
YEurius also felt the energy coming into his body and hardened his face. What was going on?
Ding!
[Death God Martial Art – You are absorbing the energy of Azure Dragon’s Breath.]
‘Absorbing?’