To Hell with Being a Saint, I’m a Doctor

Chapter 132: The Collaboration Of Divine Magic And Modern Medicine

Ray, carrying Zik and crossing the forest, bit his lip slightly.

The situation was quite serious.

His skin, embroidered with wounds, was one thing, but his insides were completely shredded.

The transverse colon was perforated, and it seemed the kidneys had been grazed.

Just from the visual examination, the situation was bad, but if he were to open the abdomen, he would find something more horrific.

‘It’s been twenty minutes since he died…’

Frankly, Ray wasn’t sure if he could fully utilize his past medical skills here without modern medical equipment.

No assistants, no anesthetics.

No nurses, no assistants, no instrument technicians. Could he really manage with his own skills alone in this place?josei

Finding a flat area, Ray spread his clothes on the ground and laid Zik on them.

The clothes, made of the finest silk, would serve as an excellent makeshift operating table.

Ray’s divine power purified the dust in the air.

In such a situation, perfume and an air purifier were truly appreciated.

“Clean.”

He recited the incantation to maintain a sterile state for himself and Zik.

There was nothing proper, but it was time to start the surgery.

If he delayed any longer, even Ray would be out of options.

He created small scalpels with mana.

Maintaining the scalpels required concentration, which made the surgery several times harder than in the modern world.

With a rounded blade, he carefully opened Zik’s abdomen.

His eyes, once deemed divine in the modern world, began to check all the conditions.

He lifted the organs slightly to identify the problems, like a skilled engineer pinpointing faults in a machine.

‘The organs can be sufficiently repaired, but…’

Absurdly, there was a lack of blood.

However, in the middle of the forest, obtaining blood was impossible.

Even if he could, there was no way to test the blood or know if Zik would accept it.

Ray clenched his teeth.

In this place, problems unthinkable in the modern world could lead to death.

He had grown too complacent until that moment.

He had neglected to prepare or substitute medical supplies for emergency surgeries and had failed to accumulate sufficient medical knowledge.

Thus, a situation like this had become inevitable.

Looking down at Zik’s cold body, Ray began doing what he could.

He skillfully repositioned the organs.

Drawing forth a thread of mana, he stitched the perforated transverse colon together and sutured the slightly lacerated kidney.

Mending the skin wounds also didn’t take much time.

His almost miraculous dexterity was evident throughout.

But that didn’t mean Zik began to breathe again.

In such a dismal environment, where he couldn’t even measure blood pressure, his options were exhausted.

That’s when Iriel arrived.

“Zik!”

She must have spotted them from afar and rushed to their side.

Seeing Zik lying there dead in such a horrific state, Iriel shook her head.

“He’s already dead…”

“…”

He had no words to offer.

Saving lives was his vocation, yet in this predicament, he was powerless to resurrect the fallen.

But just when he thought all hope was lost, Iriel started to act in an unexpected manner.

A tremendous surge of divine power erupted from her.

Her divine power enveloped Zik in a warm embrace.

Ray’s stitches, the pierced abdomen, and even the eyes reverted to their original condition.

The saint’s divine magic had mended Zik’s body, once a mere corpse.

Ray’s eyes widened at the miraculous event.

“That’s it!”

“…Pardon?”

“We might still be able to save him!”

Bewildered by his seemingly nonsensical words, Iriel shook her head once more.

“…Unfortunately, Ray, even divine magic has its limits. It’s clear, we can’t resurrect someone who is already dead.”

“I know. It won’t be divine magic that saves him - it will be me.”

With those words, Ray positioned himself in front of Zik.

Then, without any hesitation, he incised Zik’s chest.

Iriel was aghast at his actions.

“Ray! What on earth are you doing!”

“Healing.”

“Who heals by inflicting more wounds! Besides, Zik is already dead!”

She spoke in a flustered manner, clearly panicked.

A saint gone mad is indeed a terrifying sight.

“Reviving the dead? Does he think he’s some kind of lich?”

Is he delving into dark magic because he’s exhausted all other knowledge?

Whether Ray was aware of her thoughts or not, he remained focused solely on Zik.

Iriel stepped in front of Zik to prevent any further action.

“I cannot allow you to continue touching his body.”

“There’s no other chance to save Zik than right now. Step aside.”

“I don’t understand what you’re trying to do. He’s already gone. I understand you cared for him, but this won’t bring Zik joy.”

“Huh…”

How could he explain? It seemed impossible.

In a world nearly devoid of medical knowledge, explaining to Iriel seemed futile, and there was no time for long explanations.

If he couldn’t revive Zik while the body was still relatively intact, he would be truly lost.

Reviving him would be futile if the brain cells had died.

Ray halted his hand and looked straight at Iriel.

“Trust me. Just as you are a saint, so am I. What Zik needs right now is my intervention.”

But Iriel was equally obstinate.

“How can you resurrect someone who has passed? That’s the domain of gods. Are we humans now to meddle with their will?”

“It doesn’t concern me whose will it is. If they say death is divine will, then I am the one who challenges it.”

“Empty words! He is no lich! You can’t bring him back to life!”

Their views were irreconcilable, and understanding eluded them.

Further discussion seemed fruitless.

There wasn’t much time left to attempt to save him.

Ray concentrated mana and declared,

“If you’re going to be obstinate, then try to stop me by force.”

The sheer intensity of his mana instantly forced Iriel back.

As she struggled, she continued to be driven away.

“Krugh! So it has come to this!”

“I didn’t want it to come to this.”

Even as he spoke, the barrier of mana relentlessly pushed her further away.

Only Ray remained standing near Zik, maintaining a complex mana barrier that demanded intense concentration.

He secured the barrier with a single incantation.

“Shield.”

A transparent, spherical barrier enveloped them.

Ray then let go of the mana barrier.

This shield was strong enough to withstand any interference from Iriel.

Now he could likely perform the surgery without concern.

From outside the barrier, Iriel’s shouts pierced the silence.

“Ray! What you are doing is definitely wrong!”

“…”

“Ray!”

“Silence.”

Completely cutting off any external noise, an ideal operating environment was created.

Yet, he couldn’t bear to completely cut her off from Zik, understanding her worry.

Carefully, Ray opened Zik’s chest.

The body looked surprisingly normal.

The blood supply was adequate, and the organs appeared healthy.

If he worked quickly, there was a chance to save him.

Ray meticulously cut around the ribs, safeguarding the heart and lungs.

Upon opening the chest, the still heart was exposed.

As anticipated, it showed no signs of beating.

An Automated External Defibrillator (AED) would have been perfect, but such technology was nonexistent in this realm.

Ordinarily, brain death would have ensued by now, but Iriel’s divine magic had preserved Zik’s body in the critical window.

The crucial four minutes after cardiac arrest.

Resuscitating him before brain damage reoccurred was crucial.

Ray began manually massaging the heart.

He felt the familiar sensation from his past life in the modern world through his hands.

He rhythmically compressed the heart with precise timing and adequate force, channeling a mild current from his fingertips.

“Lightning.”

He uttered the spell with a minimal amount of mana.

The goal was to employ an extremely low current.

Like an AED, the principle was to send a weak electrical charge to the heart.

A heart normally beats due to the orderly electric signals from ventricular and atrial cells.

An AED corrects arrhythmias or cessation of beats with faint bioelectric currents.

He continued the massage, and the introduction of regular currents elicited a significant response.

Thump—

A heartbeat began to return.

Encouraged, Ray gradually increased the heart’s pace.

The blood circulated more quickly, and the heart established a distinct rhythm.

With the heart in motion again, blood flowed throughout the body, delivering oxygen to the brain.

Of course, this rapid treatment was largely due to Iriel’s assistance.

Since the heart had stopped in an otherwise healthy body, massaging it wasn’t challenging.

Even Ray was astonished by the remarkable synergy of divine magic and modern medicine; it was almost like a cheat.

As Zik’s body normalized, Ray deactivated the spells restraining Iriel.

“Cancel.”

The transparent sphere that barred entry vanished, and Iriel quickly moved closer.

“Ray! Do you realize what you’ve done?!”

“It’s over. Heal him.”

Ray curtly dismissed Iriel’s concern as she neared, as though he had anticipated her arrival.

At this, Iriel frowned slightly and cast her divine magic on Zik.

“Sigh… Heal.”

As high-grade divine power flowed into Zik, his chest, which should have been open for surgery, mended without leaving a trace.

However, the difference was that his heart now beat.

It seemed impossible to revive the dead with divine power, yet healing someone who had been brought back to life appeared entirely within reach.

“…How does this change anything…”

Iriel, about to speak, suddenly turned her head at the sound of steady breathing.

She placed her hand near Zik’s mouth and felt his breath.

Her hands began to tremble.

“This can’t be… He was surely dead… I confirmed it…”

In a world like this, such an event would be inconceivable.

Not only reviving the dead, but even treating simple diseases often lacked adequate remedies in this world.

But the narrative is different in the modern world.

News occasionally reported miraculous events: someone presumed dead in the morgue revived, or a patient’s condition dramatically improved against all odds. Such occurrences weren’t unheard of.

These incidents were often labeled as miracles, yet Ray, being a doctor, had fabricated these so-called miracles through medical intervention.

For him, massaging a patient’s heart within the critical window was routine.

But in a world where medical knowledge was scarce, such an event could only be interpreted as miraculous.

Iriel, who had always seen death as the will of the gods, gazed at Ray, who had challenged death’s finality, and asked,

“Ray… Are you truly a Saint…?”