Chapter 365: Is That How You Cauterize A Wound?
Luca was about to inform them that everything was alright and they don’t need to panic.
When—
"Hero! Your hand!" Thea’s urgent voice called out from the side, breaking his train of thought. "Look at your arm! You’re losing too much blood!"
Luca looked down and he realised it was true.
Dark blood was pouring from his split forearm at an alarming rate, pooling heavily in the grass.
Along with the blood, a sudden, unfamiliar wave of lightheadedness washed over his brain, making his knees feel slightly soft.
’Oh, right.’ Luca thought, a dry chuckle escaping his lips. ’Bleeding out...I forgot that’s a thing that can actually kill mortals.’
Instead of panicking, the novel feeling of physical weakness actually made him smile again.
The centaurs, watching him bleed profusely while wearing a relaxed, happy grin, cringed back in renewed horror.
"Look...he’s doing it again..."
"He really enjoys it...he’s loving the pain..."
"He’s a complete monster..." Poppy whimpered, hiding behind Thea’s hair.
Luca ignored the whispers. He knew that if he bled out completely right now, he’d actually faint.
And dying from accidental blood loss in front of a bunch of horse-people would be a ridiculously embarrassing way to end his legacy.
"Give me a second." Luca muttered.
He raised his uninjured left hand, snapping his fingers. A small portal rippled open in the air beside him.
He shoved his left arm deep inside, rummaging through his hoard of modern commodities.
"Where is it...I know I stashed one in here somewhere..."
He mumbled softly, tossing aside a box of instant noodles and a spare pair of sneakers inside the pocket dimension.
"Ah! Got it!"
With a triumphant grin, Luca pulled his hand back out, holding a small, metallic red cylinder attached to a black rubber hose and a metallic nozzle.
It was a heavy-duty industrial blowtorch.
Luca flipped the safety latch, pressed the ignition trigger, and FSSSHHHH—a roaring, brilliant blue cone of intense flame shot out from the nozzle, sizzling loudly in the open air.
The centaurs gasped, backing away in utter shock.
"WHAT IS THAT?!"
"A MAGIC TOOL?!"
"HOW IS IT CREATING BLUE FIRE WITHOUT MANA?!"
To a race that had never seen modern industrial tools, the blowtorch emitting a terrifying blue flame looked like a strange, dangerous artifact from an alien civilization.
Poppy’s fear was momentarily eclipsed by child-like wonder. She grabbed Thea’s arm, shaking it frantically.
"Thea! Look! What is that?! How is it making pretty blue fire?! I want one!"
Thea, however, was more concerned about what Luca was planning to do with it.
"Hero, what are you—"
But before she could finish, Luca brought the flame directly to his open wound.
SHHHHHHHHH—!
The sound was horrific. A sizzling, crackling sound, like meat being thrown onto a hot grill.
The smell of burning flesh filled the air, making more than a few centaurs gag.
Luca’s face contorted in pain, but he didn’t scream. He didn’t even grunt.
He just pressed the flame to his wound, cauterizing the flesh, sealing the blood vessels, stopping the bleeding.
The centaurs watched in horrified fascination.
"He’s...HE’S cauterizing his own wound." One of them whispered.
"With fire."
"Doesn’t that hurt?"
"Look at his face. Does he look like he’s in pain?"
"He’s smiling..."
"He’s definitely a masochist."
"He’s definitely crazy!"
Poppy had turned away, unable to watch.
"That human is so scary." She muttered. "I don’t want to face him anymore. Let’s just run away."
But Sigrid watched, and as she watched, she felt a strange sense of admiration blooming in her chest.
’He’s cauterizing his own wound with fire.’ She realized. ’Without any anesthetic. Without any hesitation.’
She had seen warriors do terrible things to themselves in the heat of battle.
She had seen soldiers bite down on leather straps as field medics amputated their limbs.
But she had never seen anyone burn their own flesh with such...casualness.
’He’s been through worse. Much worse. This is nothing to him.’
And that, more than anything, made her realize just how outclassed she truly was.
—
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Luca turned off the blowtorch. The flame died, and he looked at his arm.
The inside of his wound was now completely charred, blackened and crusted over. It looked like someone had taken a branding iron to the inside of his arm.
But the bleeding had stopped.
’Man...’ He thought, nostalgia washing over him. ’Reminds me of the day I first got summoned to this world and got roasted in that fire. Good times.’
’I wonder how Lily is doing. I hope she’s set up her new bakery by now.’
He tossed the blowtorch casually back into the portal and let the rift snap shut.
The clearing was dead silent and every single centaur from the youngest recruit to Commander Sigrid herself were staring at Luca with a look that transcended fear.
To endure an injury like that, to burn your own flesh to a crisp without batting an eye, and then to chuckle about it afterward...
They realized then that they weren’t dealing with a normal warrior.
They were dealing with a monster whose sheer willpower was incomprehensible to mortal minds.
Luca flexed his charred, split hand, testing the mobility. It was completely dry of blood now.
Satisfied, he turned his attention back to the wide-eyed, speechless centaurs.
"Alright." Luca said casually, pointing his blackened, split hand at Sigrid. "First off, stop looking like somebody died. And second, Sigrid, stop trying to cut your own arm off."
Sigrid bit her lip, stepping forward hesitantly.
"Hero...please, you don’t have to hide your suffering to spare my feelings. I know I have inflicted a horrific disability upon you—"
"It’s not your fault, you idiot." Luca interrupted, rolling his eyes.
Sigrid blinked. "What?"
"I said it’s not your fault." Luca repeated, resting his good hand on his hip. "If it’s anybody’s fault, it’s those Goddesses up in the sky."
Sigrid, Thea, and Poppy all looked at him in total confusion.
"The moment your sword came down." Luca explained lazily. "A divine notification hit my brain."
"Turns out, due to some ancient ritual technicalities and karmic balances, whenever I engage in a formal sword fight with a centaur...my Hero abilities get completely sealed."
He held up his split, charred arm, waving the pincers slightly.
"I basically reverted back to a completely normal human the second our blades touched."
"No super strength, no invulnerability, no instant healing." He smiled faintly. "I was just a regular guy taking a full-force blow from a centaur commander."
"So relax." He said reassuringly. "You didn’t beat the Hero with secret power, and I didn’t let you win to mock you. The universe just decided to throw a weird rule at us mid-fight."
The moment Luca revealed that he was a normal human right now, murmurs of pure shock rippled through the assembled centaurs.
"How could this possibly be?" One asked, her voice filled with disbelief.
"The Hero turning into a mortal?" Another said, shaking her head. "This has to be a joke."
"It really is a joke." A third centaur said, looking at Luca with a mixture of pity and confusion.
"He used to be the strongest existence in the entire world. The same human who stopped an entire war...But now he’s just a mortal?"
Even she felt pity for him, and she had been ready to fight him moments ago.
Others began whispering among themselves, their voices growing more urgent and fearful.
"Will this affect the war between us and the humans?"
"Are they going to attack us right now, now that they know the hero is not the hero anymore?"
"Are we going to go to battle again?"
This was the question on everyone’s mind. They all knew that the very reason the war had stopped was because of Luca.
But now, if the human continent figured out that Luca was a mortal with no significant power at all, did that mean they would attack again?
What was even worse was the fact that recently they had learned about the existence of the heroes from the human side as well.
And unlike Luca, there were multiple of them on their side!
Just the thought of what would happen if those overwhelming beings came over to conquer them was terrifying.
Even Sigrid and Thea exchanged nervous glances.
They were commanders. They were supposed to be unshakeable.
But even they could feel the cold fingers of fear wrapping around their hearts.
—
"Hold on. Hold on. Don’t make your own assumptions."
Luca’s voice cut through the growing panic like a blade through fog.
"Don’t make your own assumptions." Luca said, his tone casual. "I didn’t finish explaining."
He held up his sword, pointing the blade toward Sigrid.
"This restriction only activates when I’m facing a centaur in a sword fight."
He gestured to the blade, then to Sigrid herself.
"She wields a sword against me, and I become a normal human. That’s the condition."
"And not just her..."
He looked around at the assembled centaurs, his gaze sweeping over them.
"Any of you. Male or female, it doesn’t matter. The moment you come at me with a blade, I lose my powers."
A beat of silence as they processed this.
Then Luca’s lips curled into a smirk.
"But of course." He continued, his voice taking on a dangerous edge. "If anyone else were to try the same thing—a human, a beastman, a dragon—I’d still have my full abilities."
The relief that washed over the crowd was almost palpable. Sighs of release. Shoulders dropping from where they had been tensed up to their ears.
"So you really don’t have to worry about the humans invading you anytime soon."
Luca said, and then his smirk turned into something darker, more dangerous.
"In fact...I’d actually want them to invade."
A collective shudder went through the centaurs.
"Then I’d get a proper chance to meet all of them."
His voice dropped to a low, almost playful tone.
"And send them flying back after...playing around with them a little."
He said it as if the other heroes were nothing more than toys. Playthings. Distractions on a boring afternoon.
Nonetheless, everyone looked relieved.
"Thank the goddess." One said. "I thought we were finished for a moment."
Another centaur, even younger, spoke up with a shy, embarrassed tone.
"I’m ashamed to admit it, but...I was scared. Even though I’m a knight, the thought of going to war with humans again terrified me. I feel so weak for feeling that way."
The girl’s cheeks burned with shame, and she looked like she wanted to disappear into the ground.
But then, a warm hand landed on her shoulder.
She looked up to see one of the older centaurs, a scarred veteran with silver streaking her hair and a gentle smile on her weathered face.
"There’s no need to be ashamed of that, child."
The younger centaur blinked. "But I—"
"You are not a soldier who goes to war for tyrants."
The veteran said, her voice steady and kind.
"You are not fighting to conquer lands or spill blood for the sake of ambition. You are a knight, who’s sole duty is to protect our lady."
She squeezed the girl’s shoulder.
"The fact that you did not want to kill, even in defense of your queen, tells me that you still have the true centaur spirit within you. That is nothing to be ashamed of. That is something to be proud of."
The younger centaur’s eyes glistened. Around them, other centaurs nodded in agreement, murmuring words of encouragement.
Luca watched the exchange with a thoughtful expression.
These weren’t soldiers. They weren’t warriors hungry for battle and conquest.
They were protectors. Guardians. And there was something admirable in that.
—
But while the mood had softened, Sigrid’s gaze had grown sharper.
She was studying Luca with an intensity that hadn’t been there before. Her eyes roamed over him, assessing, calculating.
And slowly, a thought began to form in her mind.
A thought that brought with it a very small, very dangerous smile.
"Hero." She said slowly, her voice carrying a weight that made the others fall silent. "Does this mean that our duel is...useless now?"
Luca caught the tone immediately. His eyebrows rose slightly.
"Why would you say that, Commander Sigrid?"
Sigrid tried to suppress the smile that was threatening to spread across her face. She failed.
"After all." She continued, her voice deceptively casual. "You have no more powers. Of course, if you were to face me at your full strength, I wouldn’t stand a chance. But now..."
She let her gaze travel over him, from his wounded hand to his ordinary human frame.
"You’re just a mortal. I don’t think you’d last a single second against me."