Dawn pierced the mist that hung year-round over the Eternal Night Peninsula.
The first rays of light brought no warmth; instead, they illuminated a suffocating sea of steel and fangs.
"Thump! Thump! Thump!"
The dull beat of war drums, like the heartbeat of a giant, hammered against the earth stroke by stroke.
With every strike, the pebbles on the ground danced in response.
At the edge of the Blackthorn Forest, rows of towering ancient trees were brutally pushed down, letting out a series of mournful groans.
Then, a black torrent surged in.
It was a coalition army of three thousand fully armed monsters.
Leading the vanguard were a thousand five-meter-tall cyclopes with knotted muscles. They wielded massive spiked clubs, leaving deep footprints in the earth with every step.
In the sky, two thousand harpies blotted out the sun. Their sharp screeches converged into a wave of sound powerful enough to rupture eardrums.
On the flanks and in the rear of the formation were dense ranks of lizardman spear-throwers, their tongues flickering and eyes gleaming with cruelty and greed.
This was a massive army capable of destroying a human fortress.
Their killing intent reached the heavens, their baleful aura stifling.
Positioned at the center of the army was a massive chariot pulled by eight mammoths.
The cyclops lord, Gorm, sat perched upon the chariot, holding a blood-dripping femur in his hand. His single eye was filled with overbearing arrogance.
"Listen up, boys!"
Gorm stood up and let out a roar like thunder.
"Ahead lies the lair of that so-called ‘Pale Demon’!"
"We’re going to tear that black tower into ruins! We’ll grind every single bone inside into powder!"
"For gold! For territory!"
"Kill—!!!"
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
The roars of three thousand monsters merged, forming a physical shockwave that completely blew away the mist ahead.
The full view of the Benevolent Heart Clinic was finally exposed without reservation before the coalition.
However.
When Gorm saw the scene before him, his hand—which was raised mid-air, ready to order the charge—froze stiffly.
It wasn't just him.
Bloodfeather, the harpy queen in the sky, nearly forgot to flap her wings and fall.
Even Saak, the lizardman leader hiding at the very back and ready to flee at any moment, was dumbfounded.
Because.
They did not see the heavily guarded defensive works they had imagined.
There were no terrifying magic turrets (they were covered by tarps).
There was no little girl running around hacking people with great scissors.
Nor was there a dullahan riding a flaming motorcycle.
The heavy black iron gates of the castle were currently... completely wide open.
Not only were they open.
On the level clearing in front of the gate, a row of long tables covered in pristine white tablecloths had been set up.
Above the tables hung a bright red banner, even adorned with a few colorful balls.
Written on it in large characters in the common tongue, with a sharp script that exuded an undeniable sense of professionalism, was:
【Benevolent Heart Clinic’s First Large-Scale Rural Medical Outreach Event Site】
【Today's Specials: Free Registration, Free Physical Exams, Half-price Amputations!】
And behind that row of tables.
Sat only three people... no, three creatures.
In the center, naturally, was the legendary "Pale Demon," Victor.
He had changed into a brand-new, crisply ironed lab coat today. A pair of gold-rimmed glasses rested on the bridge of his nose. Holding a fountain pen, he was looking down, scribbling in a thick registration ledger.
His demeanor was focused and serene, as if he were not facing an army of three thousand, but a group of elderly people lining up for free eggs.
To his left was the red-haired she-devil who had traumatized Saak, Elizabeth.
She wasn't wearing her blood-pumping tight suit today; instead, she had changed into a dignified nurse uniform. Holding an abacus and a box labeled "Payment Desk," she let out a bored yawn.
And at the very front.
Stood a little girl less than 1.2 meters tall, emerald green all over, and as bouncy as jelly.
She held a thick stack of flyers in her arms, standing on her tiptoes as she looked toward the surging army of monsters with an expectant expression.
The wind blew.
The banner fluttered.
Aside from that, there was dead silence.
This bizarre atmosphere caused the originally aggressive monster coalition to instantly fall into a state of philosophical confusion: "Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?"
"This... what kind of trap is this?"
Gorm stared with his single eye, looking around warily.
"An empty fort strategy? Or some kind of large-scale illusion?"
He didn't believe that demon would be so defenseless.
Those open gates and that smiling doctor looked like a gaping bloody maw, waiting for them to jump in of their own accord.
"Boss... do we charge?"
A cyclops lackey nearby swallowed hard and whispered.
"Charge my ass! What if there’s an ambush?"
Gorm smacked the lackey on the forehead, but his voice was kept very low.
"Let's see the situation first!"
Just as the two sides were at a standstill and the atmosphere reached a peak of awkwardness.
The man sitting behind the table finally looked up.
Victor adjusted his glasses, glanced at the magic-conduction pocket watch on his wrist, and then frowned, a hint of displeasure appearing on his face.
"You're late."
His voice wasn't loud.
But with the reinforcement of the system's amplification magic, it spread clearly across the field, even drowning out the echoes of the war drums.
"The notice clearly stated that the free clinic starts at eight in the morning."
"It’s already eight-oh-five."
Victor tapped the table with his fountain pen, making a crisp "tap-tap" sound that seemed to drum against the monsters' frayed nerves.
"Even if there are many of you, you must have a sense of time."
"Since you're here, don't just stand there dazed."
He pointed to the empty aisle in front of him, his tone as natural as if he were directing a crowd of patients coming in for a cold.
"Line up."
"Those with minor injuries go to Bobo on the left to get a flyer. Those with serious injuries come to me to fill out a form."
"You, the one-eyed guy riding the elephant. You're the tallest. You lead the way and come over to get your blood pressure measured first."
Gorm: "???"
He pointed to his own nose, his face full of disbelief.
"Are... are you talking to me?"
"Duh."
Victor rolled his eyes, wearing an expression that said 'this patient’s brain isn't working well.'
"Who else is riding an elephant here besides you? Besides, I can see your eyeball is severely bloodshot and your neck is enlarged. These are clearly symptoms of hyperthyroidism caused by high blood pressure."
"Stop dawdling and get over here. There are thousands of patients waiting behind you."
"I..."
Gorm felt as if a mouthful of old blood was stifled in his chest, nearly exploding on the spot.
I’m here to kill people!
I’m here to seize territory!
I’m one of the strongest overlords in this region!
You’re actually telling me to go get my blood pressure measured?!
This is an insult!
This is a blatant insult!
"Roar—!!!"
Gorm could no longer contain himself.
He leapt down from the chariot, smashing the massive femur into the ground and creating a large crater.
"Human! Stop playing your tricks here!"
He pointed at Victor, his single eye spraying literal sparks of fury.
"Open your eyes and look clearly!"
"We aren't here for medical treatment!"
"We are a coalition! An army come to trample your pathetic clinic!"
"I am the cyclops lord Gorm! I will tear you into pieces! I’ll take that vampire of yours and make her..."
"Quiet!"
A low shout, not particularly loud but carrying a strange majesty, interrupted Gorm’s roar.
Victor set down his fountain pen.
He took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose, his face showing that specific, impatient expression a doctor has when facing a family member shouting in the hallway.
"This family member... oh, no, this patient."
Victor put his glasses back on, and a cold light that made one's heart tremble flashed in his dark eyes.
"I don't care if you're a lord or what."
"Once you enter my territory, you have only one identity—a patient."
"Shouting in a hospital is not only uncivilized, but it also disturbs the rest of the other patients."
He stood up.
In that instant.
Although he didn't release any mana fluctuations.
In the eyes of all the monsters, that originally thin human figure suddenly seemed to become incomparably tall.
Behind him, the black castle seemed to come alive; countless invisible eyes opened in the shadows, staring fixedly at them.
A sense of trembling from the depths of their souls instantly crawled up the spines of every monster.
"Also."
Victor pointed to the large red cross emblem above the gate.
"I don't like the word ‘kill.’"
"We are a place of healing and salvation; we are only responsible for ‘eliminating the focus of infection.’"
"As for whether you want ‘conservative treatment’ (taking medicine) or ‘radical surgery’ (physical excision)..."
Victor’s lips curled into a menacingly "kind" smile as his hand slowly reached under the table.
There lay his beloved, newly fueled Rusty Saw of Redemption.
"That depends on your current attitude."
"So..."
"Don't shout."
"This is a hospital."
"Keep it quiet."
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