The Indomitable War God

Chapter 12

The words hung heavily in the air, and for a brief moment, the entire pharmacy went silent. They both stared at Sebastian with shock, then the pharmacist snapped.

“What nonsense!” the pharmacist snarled, his face flushing red with anger. “Do you have any idea what you’re saying?!”

His voice rose sharply, breaking the tense silence as he glared at Sebastian with unbridled hostility

“Who do you think you are? How dare you interrupt a consultation and spout such baseless claims?”

“My claims are not baseless.” Sebastian replied coolly, but his indifference only made the pharmacist more furious.

“You ignorant fool!” he barked angrily. “Do you even understand the least thing about medicine? Or are you just talking to hear your own voice?”

Evelyn remained silent, but her expression had grown colder. Her sharp eyes rested on Sebastian, studying him carefully. There was no arrogance or attempt to show off in his attitude, only certainty.

“On what basis are you making that claim?” Evelyn finally asked, her voice calm but laced with displeasure.

Sebastian paused slightly, and for a moment, it seemed like he wouldn’t respond, but when he did, his tone was as flat as ever.

“The condition you’re treating isn’t simple internal deterioration. It’s a variant of Black Vein Erosion Syndrome. The redleaf ginseng and crimson heartroot will only overstimulate circulation and accelerate the collapse.”

“I knew you were just a phony.” The pharmacist—Gareth Cole—let out a cold laugh, his eyes filled with ridicule. “Black Vein Erosion Syndrome? Where did you hear that from? A children’s textbook? That’s not even a recognized classification in modern medicine.”

“I’ve seen it happen before, and the standard treatment killed two of those patients within 48 hours.” Sebastian replied coldly.

“Redleaf ginseng boosts vitality and crimson heartroot stabilizes cardiac rhythm. That combination has been validated through multiple clinical applications. What exactly are you basing your claim on? Guesswork?”

“Amateurs like you shouldn’t speak on things you don’t understand,” Gareth continued sharply, then turned to face Evelyn, his tone turning respectful again.

“Doctor Evelyn, please don’t mind him. People like this don’t know their place. He probably overheard something and is trying to sound knowledgeable.”

Evelyn didn’t respond, and her gaze remained fixed on Sebastian as he turned to leave.

“Wait.” She called out. Her voice was calm, but it carried a natural authority that made the pharmacist, Gareth Cole, fall silent instantly.

“You seem quite confident,” she said. “Since you’ve already dismissed my prescription, what would you suggest instead?”

There was a faint trace of condescension in her words. She didn’t actually care about Sebastian’s response. She was just indulging his baseless opinion out of curiosity.

Sebastian turned and gazed at her once before he spoke.

“Mix three grams of Nightshade orchid root with one gram of Moonshade bark. Add frostleaf mint to suppress the agitation, then refine it with seven drops of diluted silver dew extract.”

The moment the words left his mouth, Gareth scoffed loudly.

“That’s absurd!” he snapped. “Nightshade orchid root is too volatile for internal use, and the moonshade bark is known to destabilize the nerves. That combination is completely contradictory!”

Evelyn frowned at Sebastian’s words and then shook her head in disappointment. “I thought you knew what you were saying, but it’s obvious you don’t.”

“Those herbs don’t even align,” she said coldly. “One stimulates while the other suppresses. If they’re used, the best-case scenario is that they’ll cancel each other out. The worst-case scenario? They’ll accelerate systemic failure and kill the patient within hours.”

“If you don’t understand the condition,” Evelyn continued, her tone turning colder, “you shouldn’t speak so casually about someone’s life.”

Gareth nodded in agreement. “Exactly! This is why amateurs should stay silent instead of pretending to be experts.”

“The imbalance is the treatment. The Nightshade and Moonshade don't cancel each other out. They create a controlled conflict that forces the blockage to break. The frostleaf mint neutralises the conflict, and the silver dew extract regulates the temperature of the reaction."

Sebastian’s expression didn’t change in the slightest, and without waiting for their responses, he walked out of the pharmacy without another word.

If they didn’t listen to him and worsened the patient’s condition, they had only themselves to blame.

After Sebastian left the pharmacy, Gareth let out a cold laugh.

“Unbelievable. He’s completely delusional. I haven't seen such a confident fool in years."

“What a lunatic,” he sneered. “These days, anyone dares to act like an expert.”

He turned back to Evelyn with a polite smile. “Doctor Evelyn, please ignore him. His words have no merit whatsoever.”

But Evelyn didn’t respond. Her brows were slightly furrowed, her thoughts clearly elsewhere. Her eyes lingered on the doorway long after Sebastian had disappeared, her frown deepening slightly.

‘…The imbalance is the treatment?’

For some reason, that sentence refused to leave her mind. She tapped her fingers lightly against her arm, replaying his words in her mind.

She hesitated for a brief moment, then, without a word, she turned back to the counter.

“Prepare both prescriptions.” She said calmly.

“Both…?” Gareth blinked. “Doctor Evelyn, you can’t possibly be considering that charlatan’s—”

“Just do it," Evelyn snapped.

“…Yes, of course.” Gareth said resignedly and did as he was told.

*

Outside, Sebastian walked calmly along the street, the small package of herbs in his hand. He had already pushed the encounter in the pharmacy to the back of his mind.

Right now, the only thing that mattered was returning and refining the herbs. His injury had lingered for too long. If he left them unattended, it would slow down his plans.

He walked calmly and turned into a quieter street, one that led directly back to the Nine Dragons Pavilion. It was almost empty as it was still quite early in the morning, but Sebastian enjoyed the silence.

At that moment, a black van suddenly screeched to a halt in front of him, blocking the street. Before the van had even fully stopped, the doors were thrown wide open, and different vicious-looking men jumped out of the vehicle one after the other. In less than ten seconds, Sebastian was surrounded.

Sebastian frowned and looked around, and with a single glance, he could count at least thirty of them. They had spread out in a loose circle, making sure to cut off every possible exit.

The men had various tattoos and gold chains and brass knuckles, and they all had matching tattoos of a black shark. Some held dangerous weapons like knives while others held wooden bats and steel bats.

Sebastian looked at them calmly, as if he were looking at nothing more than a group of stray dogs blocking his path.

A man stepped forward from the van. He was taller than the rest, his build thick and imposing, with a jagged scar running from his temple down to his jaw. He was bald, and his eyes were sharp, filled with a cruel sort of amusement. He wore a black shirt, and he was heavily tattooed from head to toe.

This man was none other than Quide, the leader of the Black Sharks.

He looked Sebastian up and down, then let out a low chuckle.

“So you’re the one.”

Sebastian didn’t respond but stared at him calmly and unfazed.

“You’ve got some nerve,” he continued, his voice slow and mocking. “You dare to offend Young Master Cameron and still walk around like nothing happened?”

“You must be new here, aren’t you?” Quide’s smile widened slightly, but there was no warmth in it.

Sebastian slipped one hand into his pocket, his posture relaxed. “If you have something to say, just say it.”

The casual dismissal made several of the men glare at him, and they all released murderous auras. Quide’s eyes narrowed, but he quickly let out a short laugh.

“You’re straight to the point, and I like that, so I won’t waste time either.”

His expression darkened, and a few of the men behind him cracked their knuckles, grinning viciously.

“You’ve offended someone you shouldn’t have. So now, you pay the price.” Quide tilted his head slightly, as if offering mercy. “But Young Master Cameron is a reasonable man.”

“As long as you kneel here, apologize properly, and beg for forgiveness…” he smiled cruelly, “…we’ll only break your legs.”

“And if you don’t, we’ll break every single bone in your body, drag you to the brink of death and kill you.

The street fell silent, and the snow continued to fall between them.

Sebastian let out a faint, almost amused breath, and a sneer tugged at the corner of his lips.

“Is that all?” His voice was low, calm and bored. Sebastian’s gaze sharpened, a cold glint flashing through his eyes. “You came all this way just to say something so meaningless?”

The air seemed to grow heavier. The men around him shifted uneasily, and an inexplicable chill crept up their spines.

Quide’s face darkened completely, and his expression turned to ice.

“You really don’t know when to stop,” he said coldly. Then, as if remembering something, he let out a mocking chuckle.

“Ah right. There’s one more thing I almost forgot.”

He leaned in slightly, his voice dropping to a whisper that carried clearly in the silence.

“While you’re standing here acting tough, your fiancée’s precious company is already collapsing.”

“Her investors have pulled out, and there will be no supply of essential materials to her anymore.” Quide smiled, satisfied.

“And by the time we’re done with you, there won’t be anyone left who can save you.”