Chapter 6: The Antidote

The first two demonic spiders were almost instantaneously burned to ashes, causing the ones charging at the forefront to be unable to stop in time, barely launching their attacks. One of the demonic spiders was incredibly lucky to touch Rayan's side rib with its claw, tearing a long and narrow wound under his black cloak, from which blood immediately sprayed. However, before it could continue its attack, the Twilight Blade executed a beautiful spin, chopping off its head.

The remaining demonic spiders, terrified, began to retreat, preparing to flee. But the Twilight Blade had already absorbed enough blood of Magical Beasts, its blade's radiance surged like a rainbow. With a few light swings from Rayan, the demonic spiders were cut in half, and the sword fire turned them into ashes immediately afterward.

The last and somewhat thinner demonic spider, having nowhere to retreat, was cornered by Rayan, only able to scream in terror, raising its foreclaws in a desperate attempt to intimidate.

The villagers, hiding until now, seeing the battle was decided, came running out of their hiding spots and shelters, emotionally shouting, "Kill it! Kill it!"

Rayan slightly frowned, Twilight Blade swiftly acted, cutting off the front claws raised by the demonic spider, then sheathed the sword, and calmly walked out of the corner.

The demonic spider, screaming, green viscous liquid continuously flowed from where its claw was cut off. Seizing the opportunity, it quickly jumped out of the enclosure, disappearing into the rising sunlight.

The villagers, who were just making a commotion, were all stunned.

"Your Excellency—"

The village chief, though still using a respectful title, had a hint of barely concealed anger in his voice, "Why did you let it go?"

Facing the accusing eyes of the entire Windwood Village, Rayan was not in a hurry to explain. His rib was aching slightly, and the priority was to deal with the wound that was cut open by the claw of the demonic spider during the fight.

Even facing the simultaneous attack of over a dozen demonic spiders, achieving victory with such minor losses was difficult, even for a Hero Level character. However, Rayan's delicate face showed no joy of victory, his determined lips still tightly pressed together.

He walked to a relatively clean spot, placed the Twilight Blade aside, and then undid his cloak.

The cloak was already riddled with holes; another tear did not matter much, but the shirt underneath was also torn, blood oozing out from the wound, sticking to the shirt, causing pain as if tearing whenever he moved slightly.

"Damn."

Rayan, with a fine wrinkle forming between his handsome eyebrows, murmured to himself, "I'm still not fast enough..."

If it wasn't for relying on the Twilight Blade and the temporarily absorbed blood of Magical Beasts, it would have been impossible for him to win with his current abilities.

...He must become stronger.

Rayan bit his teeth, tearing the torn fabric from the wound, the intense pain making his frown even tighter. He raised his elbow, carefully observing the narrow wound under his rib. Observing the wound helps in accurately treating it and in summarizing combat experience to avoid making the same mistakes.

The village chief instructed the villagers to clean up the aftermath in Windwood Village, then personally brought a basin of clean water, respectfully offering it to Rayan.

"Your Excellency, please forgive my tone just now, I was just anxious. Please clean your wound with this water."

The village chief sneakily glanced at the Twilight Blade next to Rayan's hand, then quickly looked away. He was very dissatisfied with Rayan's intentional release of the last demonic spider, but after all, Rayan had killed most of the demonic spiders, and the strength he displayed was not something an ordinary person like him dared to offend, so he had to hold back his displeasure for the time being.

"Thank you."

Rayan did not refuse the village chief's kindness. The claw of the demonic spider contained deadly poison, so the wound must be cleaned with water before using a coagulant to stop the bleeding. However, the wound was too narrow, and some parts near his back were unreachable for him.

"Your Excellency, let me find someone to help you!"

The old village chief, without another word, turned and waved towards the door of a distant house, "Ella, come over and help Your Excellency clean the wound!"

The door cracked open slightly, and a young woman's face appeared through the gap, timidly saying, "Grandfather..."

"Come here!" the village chief urged.

The woman named Ella seemed to be terrified by the gruesome scene outside, but she appeared to be even more afraid of disobeying the village chief's command. After hesitating for a moment, she slowly walked out from behind the door, her head hung low, staring at her toes as she approached Rayan, as if a heavy weight was pressing on her.

"Your Excellency..." Ella gave Rayan a stiff and awkward curtsy, clearly not accustomed to using such formalities. Her gaze was fleeting, occasionally darting towards the Twilight Blade next to Rayan, her body tense as if she feared that Rayan might draw the sword and strike her at any moment.

Her nervous demeanor made Rayan suspicious, but considering that the girl had not witnessed such a brutal scene before, he didn't take it too seriously.

"You useless thing, dilly-dallying, just embarrassing me!" the village chief scolded Ella sharply.

"I'm sorry, Grandfather, Ella was wrong..." Ella's voice was as thin as a mosquito's, her face nearly buried in her chest.

Her appearance was not remarkable; her nose was small, her cheekbones high, and a few freckles under her cheekbones were quite noticeable. Her large eyes were filled with fear, devoid of any luster, her lips pale from witnessing the cruelty, trembling. Her brown hair looked as dry and tangled as overripe corn silk. However, beneath her plain appearance, her skin was as white as freshly squeezed sheep's milk, and her chest was proud and firm, pressing against each other in her thin, narrow dress, almost jumping out.

—By village standards, Ella was indeed a beauty.

"Your Excellency," the village chief said with a hint of pride, introducing Ella, "This is my granddaughter, Ella. Let her take care of cleaning Your Excellency's wound."

Rayan's face felt slightly hot, "I, I'd rather do it myself." Being cared for by a stranger, especially by a maturely figured girl, made Rayan somewhat uncomfortable.

Without further ado, Ella knelt in front of Rayan, examining his wound while saying, "Your Excellency has killed those monsters and saved our village. It's Ella's honor to serve Your Excellency. If Your Excellency refuses, Grandfather will be angry at Ella." She looked up, her eyes filled with pleading tears.

"Then, okay."

Ella seemed more afraid of her grandfather than the monsters, and there was a strange aura about her. Rayan, lost in thought, was about to ask a question when his gaze inadvertently fell on Ella's snow-white chest. Her firm breasts swayed left and right with her movements of cleaning the wound, rippling like spring waves and intoxicating like summer's harvest wheat waves.

He quickly averted his gaze to something completely unrelated. The question he intended to ask was completely forgotten.

The village chief chuckled quietly, taking advantage of Ella helping Rayan clean his wound to voice his doubts, "Your Excellency, can you tell me why you didn't kill the last demonic spider?"

"It wasn't the last one."

Ella abruptly stopped her movements, then quickly resumed.

"Not the last one?" The village chief looked at Rayan, despair in his voice, "If there are indeed many demonic spiders, what shall we do with Windwood Village?"

Rayan said, "I let it live and not kill it so that it could leave a sulfur scent for me to follow, to completely eradicate their lair."

The village chief sighed with relief, "Your Excellency, we will forever remember your kindness to Windwood Village!"

Ella said softly, "Your Excellency, you're injured, would you like to rest in Windwood Village for a day?"

"Exactly, Ella is right!" the village chief eagerly agreed, "Your Excellency, you should rest! Replenish the necessary energy! It's likely that those Magical Beasts have suffered severe losses and won't strike back immediately." He deeply regretted keeping Rayan out of the village last night, making him endure the rain all night.

Rayan shook his head gently, "No need, after cleaning the wound and applying coagulant, I can leave. I have no kindness towards Windwood Village, what you need to do is just pay the agreed task fee."

The village chief quickly said, "I will gather your task fee right now! Ella, take good care of Your Excellency!" Saying this, he quickly turned and left.

Rayan, seeing that the wound cleaning was almost done, took out coagulant from his pack, opened the bottle, and handed it to Ella, "Trouble you to sprinkle coagulant on the wound." When speaking to Ella, his gaze was always elsewhere, as if he was afraid of being caught by Ella's glaringly white chest.

Ella carefully took the coagulant, as if afraid of making any contact with Rayan. After getting the coagulant, she first evenly applied it on her palm, skillfully rubbed it, then applied it on Rayan's wound. Her movements were careful and gentle, like a warm spring breeze.

"Have you nursed wounds before?"

Ella's face showed a trace of panic, "My father was a hunter when he was alive, so..."

Rayan nodded silently, then took out a tube of antidote from

 his pack. As soon as the cork was removed, a pungent, foul smell immediately emerged.

"What kind of medicine is this... it smells terrible!" Ella coughed violently, covering her mouth and nose, daring not to breathe.

"Antidote."

Rayan said, "...If the tavern owner didn't get it wrong." After saying this, he drank the green potion in one gulp, then closed his mouth tightly, not speaking for a long time. His face first turned iron blue, then flushed red, and finally returned to normal.

"Are you... okay?" Ella asked incredulously, her voice mixed with a hint of fear.

"I'm fine."

Rayan calmly looked at his wound, the coagulant beginning to take effect, the narrow wound on his rib visibly healing. "Thank you for everything you've done for me."

Ella's lips trembled slightly, apparently wanting to say something, but she swallowed her words. Seeing the village chief coming hurriedly with a bunch of coins, she quickly curtsied to Rayan and ran back into the house.

Rayan gently shook his head, while tidying up his clothes, he murmured, "Strange girl..."