“Literally one day, one day! And not only are you both injured again but you’re in even worse condition! I’ve never seen wounds like these… Xenthos’s injuries are all internal and Kenji’s injuries look like they’ve been forcibly torn and are constantly worsening.” Rin took a deep breath and took out a cigarette, lighting it and bringing it towards her lips. Just as she went to take a smoke a hand was placed over hers. Looking to her right she saw her husband Tachibana, gently pushing her hand down stopping her. Suddenly the cigarette went out and he shook his head.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu6RQFhcLrw
“Idomu… Look at them. I- I can’t help them… I-I can’t.. Idomu I can’t.”
“Yes. You can, you just haven’t used everything at your disposal. Let me help, you don’t have to take everything on alone dear. Please.” Rin took a deep breath and pointed at their bodies.
“It’s… it’s like their bodies are rejecting any form of assistance, like helping them is killing them… It’s- Urrrgh! What is going on Idomu? The demons are getting worse, day in and day out I’m patching someone up and everyone who I thought invincible is getting torn into by new things we don’t understand an- and now I’m scared y-you’ll-” Rin’s tears began to fall as Tachibana wiped them from her eyes and placed his hand on hers, a small portion of green energy.
“You can do it, I know you can.” Stepping aside, Tachibana would look towards her and begin to teach her how to use Sozo’s Energy. Slowly showing her how to spread it over each of the wounds, slowly but surely the wounds Kenji suffered were no more. It was so taxing for her, she nearly fell over. Tachibana caught her caressing her head with a smile.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq8kMnV0GUe
“Great for the first time my love, now you show me what to do and I’ll help Xenthos.”
“Okay. Okay… Phew… You- AH!”
“Huh?”
“Ngh… What the hell hit me?” To Tachibana and Rin’s surprise, Xenthos woke up. However he didn’t just awaken but it was as if all his wounds were nothing to him.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqqmrhyvl5d
“I feel sore, are the springs open?? I feel disgusting- Why’re you two looking at me like that?”
“Wh-Why are we-? YOUNG MAN!” Rin grabbed his ear and tugged on it as he leaned his head over.
“That’s my ear- That is MY ear!”
“You gave me a heart attack for hours and now you just suddenly jump awake like nothing is wrong with you?!” Rin shouted in anger at Xenthos. However Tachibana looked at him in sheer fascination.
“Curious. Your organs were in shambles, your flesh barely clung to your body and yet.” Examining him it became clear pretty fast, all of Xenthos’s injuries were nearly fully healed.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrSvM3AgcwK
“What could be the cause of this? This obviously isn’t anything like Reconstruction, you’ve healed down to the cellular level. And it was much too fast.” While Tachibana went through the possibilities Rin checked Xenthos’s arms and body raising up a small device and X raying him and noticing his organs were fixed and he didn’t seem affected from his encounter.
“It was just a few scuffs and scrapes, I’m fine.”
“It appears he is, the only proof of his encounter is nothing more than a few scratches and open cuts. It appears we can’t do anything more than we’ve done.” Rin wasn’t happy with that, she couldn’t just accept this. It goes against so much research she’s done to be as good of a healer as she is.
“Xenthos. Show your spirit energy.”
“Uh sure.” Raising his hand Xenthos would clench his fist and in moments a blue aura cloaked his fist before it vanished.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0jyBWQX9Kf
“That do it?”
“I see, now your other one please.” Xenthos followed her words before he stopped and looked to his left.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMV2i3SZy34
“Wait a minute, what about Kenji? You’re very attentive to me when he-”
“Believe it or not, Kenji is perfectly fine. He’s the one who carried you back to the village despite his injuries. One thing about Kenji is he’s basically unkillable… But this time I won’t lie. He did worry me. His body wasn’t patching itself together like it normally would. If it wasn’t for Idomu’s escapade with the professor… I wouldn’t have saved him this time.”
“Sorry to worry you…”
“Mhm. Hand. Now.” Continuing on Xenthos clenched his left hand and instantly he grit his teeth and felt his muscles flex and tense, a surge of red energy not only emitted from his arm but bled through his veins causing his arm to glow for a moment. Letting go he exhaled and finally caught his breath.
“What the hell was that?!”
“Honestly we don’t know, not one bit if we’re being honest but one thing’s for certain. You’re much different than everyone else, I’d even say we’re kindred spirits. Anomalies in this department.” Tachibana showed Sozo’s energy and then began to transition between colors, constructs, and various forms of magical energy.
“....I’m not understanding a thing you’re saying, what the hell do these colors mean? What am I?”
“A bridge to power yes, I heard of your first investment from Ms. Sānzu. You’ve got great destructive power, which isn’t surprising for Fiends to have. However, it's stunning that you’ve never invested in yourself beforehand.”
“What’re you getting at?”
“Simple. You’re no regular village Fiend are you? If I had to guess you’re not part of anything we’ve got going on are you?”
“Hm? Figured it would’ve gotten around by now but no, I’m not from around here. I’m not from this time either, I’m from the past as far as I know and my body’s been trying to chuck me back.”
“Which makes things even more sensible. You’re essentially a Fiend born out of time and thrown into his accurate time period. Lacking investment, your power was forced into a limited state…”
“Wait… If his body was in a limitation state and by being here and learning what we know it’s been released. Doesn’t that mean…”
“His body isn’t or shouldn’t be attuned to this level of power. We’ve got to do some tests and some other essentials, to make sure you’re okay.”
“This is all very confusing, you’re telling me I’m basically a super charged fiend with powers beyond the time period I was born in?”
“Pretty much, like me. A Gateway to latent power locked away from our world and if now there’s two of us. I think I can say for certain. The demons time in the spotlight is coming to an end soon.”
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