Chương 9: CHAPTER 8: THE MANOR’S CRISIS

"Stop right there, you absolute idiots," a voice cut through the chanting, chillingly calm and razor-sharp. The resident alchemists froze, their glowing blue casting circles flickering out as they spun around in sheer disbelief. Commander Vikrama-Zin choked on his breath, his hand remaining locked on the pommel of his longsword as his heavy plated armor creaked in the sudden silence. Standing at the threshold of the private chamber, my timid, slouched posture was entirely gone.

My spine was straight, and my eyes flashed with the cold, absolute dominance of an AIIMS Delhi chief medical consultant taking over a botched trauma bay.

"Who allowed this boy to interrupt?!" the lead alchemist roared, his face flushing deep red with anger as he pointed a trembling, ring-covered finger at my chest.

"We are channeling high-tier purification to cleanse the Lord's mana core! This room is under strict isolation! Commander, remove this brat!"' Abe saale! (Hey, brother-in-law!)' I thought, my left eye twitching violently beneath my messy bangs as I looked at the shimmering, unstable magic swirling around the canopy bed.' Akalkand ek number ke! (Absolute fools of the highest order!) These textbook merchants are literally cooking the patient alive. They have no concept of cellular toxicity.'

"If you cast that third stanza again, his heart will rupture before you finish the line," I said, my voice cutting through the room with a clinical weight that made the armored guards hesitate. I didn't stagger, and I didn't wait for permission. I stepped directly past the front line of soldiers, my eyes locked onto Lord Kaelen Ryuma's ash-grey skin. The air in the private chambers was suffocating, thick with the scent of burning incense and the sour, unmistakable odor of active tissue decomposition.

Lord Kaelen lay flat on his back, his jaw locked in a rigid, tetanic spasm. Across his bare chest, thick, jagged veins of pure, shimmering silver were pulsing macroscopically, spider-webbing upward toward his clavicle and down toward his hepatic pathways. My SSS-Rank diagnostic HUD was already flashing orange, running a comprehensive toxicological analysis over his entire system layout.

[SYSTEM: CRITICAL VITALS DROPPING] HEPATIC ENZYMES: ELEVATED (400%) PATHOLOGY DETECTION: NOT A NATURAL MANA PARASITE TOXIN IDENTIFIED: VIPER-SERUM NIGHTSHADE EXTRACT (POTENT SYNTHETIC COMPOUND)' In gadhon ki purification magic poison ko aur tez faila rahi hai (The purification magic of these donkeys is spreading the poison even faster) I analyzed, my mind operating with cold, clinical precision.

'The viper-serum component acts as a massive vasodilator, while the nightshade extract binds to the phospholipid bilayers of the liver cells, causing rapid vascular necrosis. They think it's a mana backfire, so they are blasting him with energy, which is literally forcing the toxin straight into his superior vena cava!'

I looked up, my gaze shifting from the panicked, sweating alchemists to Commander Vikrama-Zin and the elderly, well-dressed Head Butler, Master Harukant, who stood trembling by the corner of the bed, his fingers clutching a silk cloth. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"This isn't an illness," I stated, my voice dropping into a heavy register that anchored the entire room.

"The Lord of the Manor has been poisoned by an incredibly potent, manufactured synthetic toxin. Your purification circles aren't cleansing him—they are acting as an internal pump to finish the job."

"A-Assassination?!" Master Harukant gasped, his hands shaking so violently against his dark vest that he stumbled half a step backward.

"But... but the kitchen security... the taster..."

"Loud speaking is only going to increase his heart rate," I snapped, completely ignoring his level disparity as I walked straight to the bedside, my hands reaching into my new spatial bag.

"The poison is attacking his hepatic pathways and causing acute liver failure. Look at his sclera—the yellowing has already bypassed the ocular margins. His blood pressure is tanking because his vascular system is clogging up with crystallized nightshade residue. If I don't perform an emergency localized vascular decompression to mechanically drain the contaminated blood block within the next three minutes, his core will collapse. Move back and give me space." The lead alchemist stepped forward, his teeth bared.

"Absurd! You cannot cut into a Lord's flesh with common tools! Commander, slay this heretic!"

"Silence!" Vikrama-Zin bellowed, his sharp eyes darting from the flatlining Lord to the absolute, unyielding clinical confidence radiating from my face. In a world governed by status and levels, an F-Rank rookie speaking to a high-ranking commander like a subordinate was insane—but true medical authority is an absolute language.

"Alchemists, drop your casting. Step away from the bed. Guards, if anyone moves toward the boy, take their arms." The room went dead silent. The alchemists dropped their circles, muttering curses under their breath as they retreated to the walls. I pulled the two lightweight, matte black short daggers from the spatial pouch at my belt.

I didn't have time for proper sterilization, so I grabbed a flask of high-proof cleaning spirit from the alchemist's tray, doused the blades thoroughly, and stepped right over the Lord's exposed torso.' No anesthesia, no proper clamps, no modern suction,' my mind calculated coldly.' I have to perform a direct localized venotomy on the hepatic portal system. One slip of the blade, and the internal hemorrhage will kill him before the toxin does.'' System,' I commanded internally.

'Channel 'Micro-Cellular Suture' to form an absolute cellular block around the hepatic portal vein. Prevent any further toxin backflow, but do not trigger cell division yet.'

[System: Unique Skill 'Micro-Cellular SUTURE' activated.] [Application: Tuning mana circuits to localized chemical blockade...] A faint, luminescent gold-blue glow enveloped my fingertips. Moving with the blinding, automated muscle memory of a veteran practitioner, I brought the tip of the matte black dagger down. I made a precise, micro-incision—exactly four centimeters long—parallel to the right costal margin, cutting straight through the epidermal and muscular layers to expose the localized vascular block.

Lord Kaelen's body instantly convulsed, a muffled scream tearing through his locked jaw, but my left hand remained pressed against his ribs like an iron vise, anchoring his torso. Dark, unnaturally thick blood—flecked with shimmering, metallic silver crystals of the nightshade compound—began to ooze from the wound.

"He's mutilating the Lord!" an alchemist shrieked.

"Quiet!" I roared, my eyes narrowing as my mana slid directly through the open cut. On a cellular level, my SSS-Rank passive showed me the jagged silver crystals attempting to bind to the tissue. My mana micro-filaments wrapped around the metallic invaders like microscopic forceps, dragging the parasitic clusters backward against the natural current of his blood. Using the fluid dynamics of his remaining heart pressure, I guided the contaminated, black-flecked sludge upward toward the incision opening.

With a sudden, wet hiss, a thick stream of dark, poisoned blood erupted from the cut, splattering into an empty iron basin on the nightstand. The moment the main blockage cleared, a rush of healthy, bright crimson blood washed through the vessel.

[SYSTEM: TOXIC LOAD DECREASED BY 85%] [HEPATIC CORE PRESSURE: STABILIZING] [HEMOGLOBIN SATURATION: RISING / VITAL COLLAPSE AVERTED] Lord Kaelen Ryuma's violent chest tremors stopped instantly. His jaw relaxed, his complexion began to flush with natural color, and his rhythmic breathing returned. Without waiting a single second to celebrate, I ran my glowing finger across the margins of the incision, unleashing a controlled burst of active restoration.

The cellular membranes re-aligned, the tissue layers aggressively knit themselves closed, and within three seconds, the skin sealed shut, leaving behind nothing but a clean, faint pink scratch. I stood back, wiping my blades with a linen cloth, my arms slightly sore from the rapid mana exertion. I looked up at the stunned faces in the room.

"He's stable. The immediate necrotic failure has been arrested. But the poison was highly synthetic, meaning it had to be prepared by someone with access to rare alchemical components." I let my eyes sweep across the frozen alchemists before looking back at the commander.

"Someone inside this very manor mixed this deliberately." Master Harukant and Commander Vikrama-Zin stared at the flawless skin of the Lord, their faces turning completely pale as my words sank in. The treason was officially exposed, and the silent, terrifying hunt inside the manor was now live.