Chapter 63: Treatment

Chapter 63: Treatment

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After our long 12-hour journey, we've finally made it to HQ. Throughout this time, Ace narrowly escaped death multiple times. Whether it was our quick actions or Ace's incredible resilience, he just wouldn't succumb.

He battled a persistent high fever throughout, radiating such intense heat that any normal would have a hard time even touching him due to the heat.

As we entered headquarters, the urgency of the situation became glaringly evident. Without wasting a moment, we mobilised, swiftly placing Ace under emergency care.

"Tamayo-san! Please call Nezuko here. Fast!" Shinobu's urgent shout echoed through the room.

Tamayo swiftly nodded, using her superhuman speed to fetch Nezuko. The others, including Gyomei, were visibly fatigued after a relentless 24 hours of continuous running at maximum speed.

Shinobu proceeded to carefully unwrap the bandages she had tied around him. Her eyes widened in shock as she revealed the condition of his wounds.

Dark miasma emanated from the festering injuries, a disturbing sight. They were decaying from the inside out.

Dark veins snaked across all the veins in Ace's body, rendering his blood almost black. Oddly, both of his arms seemed untouched, the sun and moon symbols on his hands seemingly acting as a barrier against the relentless spread of the dark miasma.

Shinobu, undeterred by the ominous scene, initiated the process by meticulously cleaning Ace's body, diligently removing any foreign substances.

But the more Shinobu studied him, the graver her expression became. The dark miasma had insidiously infiltrated his organs, corrupting them, and it was only a matter of time before his vital systems would start failing.

"I have to take risks now; otherwise, it would be too late," she thought, determination lining her features, as she injected his body with wisteria poison.

Upon contact with the black miasma, the wisteria poison initiated an immediate struggle. The miasma fought back, attempting to overpower the poison, but Shinobu had used one of her most potent combinations, creating a fierce battle within Ace's body.

Typically, injecting someone with such a lethal wisteria dose would lead to death within an hour. However, in this case, the two substances engaged in a delicate balance, slowly chipping away at each other.

Before Shinobu could breathe a sigh of relief, her hope wavered as she witnessed the dark miasma pulsate, abruptly overpowering the wisteria poison. The dark miasma became even more volatile energy, trying to kill Ace even faster.

"Where the fuck is Nezuko?!" Shinobu cursed for the first time in a long while, frustration colouring her usually composed face as she injected another dose of a different poison.

However, the miasma seemed to have the ability to adapt, consistently overpowering Shinobu's efforts. In a matter of moments, she found herself almost depleted of all her poisons. It left her in somewhat awe of how the marks on Ace's arms managed to restrain such a potent miasma for as long as they did.

Yet, the marks had their limitations. They could only hold back the miasma for so long, now confined mostly to Ace's hands.

Just as Shinobu sensed the impending breakdown of Ace's organs, a sudden surge of blood splashed onto his body, igniting a crimson fire that enveloped him.

Glancing back, Shinobu's eyes widened at the sight of Nezuko in her demon form, positioned in front of the bed with a menacing horn atop her head. Nezuko,then continuously slashed at her own hands, letting the blood fall onto Ace.

The dark miasma sizzled upon contact with Nezuko's blood, attempting to resist her onslaught, but proved futile as she persistently showered Ace with her blood.

With a copious amount of blood coating him, the final vestiges of the dark miasma dissipated, leaving Ace with a clean but visibly injured body.

Huff. Huff.

Nezuko, eyes fixed on Ace's injured form, began salivating at the sight of his injuries, driven by her recent use of a substantial amount of blood. Before she could lunge at him, Tamayo swiftly intervened, restraining her in the nick of time.

She then meticulously tended to Ace's injuries, cleaning and dressing each wound with precision and carefully extracted the fragments of broken bones, ensuring no remnants remained that could pose a threat.

Having successfully addressed the major wounds and realigned displaced bones, Shinobu turned her attention to the smaller, more minor cuts on Ace's body. With meticulous care, she treated each one, ensuring there would be no infection or contamination afterwards.

Finally, she administered a high dose of painkillers and sleep inducers , trusting in Ace's body's natural regenerative abilities to take over during rest.

Huff. Haah.

Shinobu finally breathed a sigh of relief and lowered herself to the ground. The toll, both mentally and physically, over the past 24 hours had been the most she had ever experienced in her life. But now with Ace no longer in critical condition, she allowed herself a moment to rest.

However, the respite was short-lived as if the world didn't want her rest. Suddenly, one of the mansion's maids sprinted towards her, whispering something that left Shinobu visibly shaken. Her face turned pale, and Gyōmei, who overheard the conversation, clenched his fist so tightly that veins bulged on his forehead. If looks could kill, his expression would be that one.

- x - X - x -

Ten days later.

The atmosphere in the mansion had shifted. The once tense air had mellowed out a little, but there was still a different air to the atmosphere than before.

As the morning sun cast its gentle rays, Ace stirred in his sleep, gradually awakening from his sleep.

As Ace's eyes slowly opened, adjusting to the light, the room felt familiar, and memories of the previous events were momentarily hazy before rushing back like a dam breaking open.

A throbbing sensation reverberated through his head, and his eyes stung with a burning sensation.

"Damn, overusing both my brain and body, and those ethereal eyes at the same time is definitely a no go from now on ," Ace muttered, holding his throbbing head.

Surveying his surroundings, Ace realised he was in the Hq. medical ward, surrounded by bandages meticulously covering his entire body.

Attempting to move his hand, he was met with a sharp, aching pain shooting through his spine.

"Ooh!"

In contrast to the time when he was with Doma, where he could easily endure pain due to adrenaline, his now more sensitive body recoiled at even the slightest movement.

"You shouldn't move around much," a voice called out to him.

Turning to glance at the voice, Ace saw Shinobu and Yuki standing there.

Before he could react or say anything, Yuki dashed towards him like lightning, embracing his head in her bosom.

"Wait-" Ace attempted to stop her, wanting to say not to hug him tightly as his body still ached with pain. To his surprise, Yuki just embraced his head softly, tears streaming down her face as she choked on her emotions.

Ace, understanding the importance of letting emotions flow, chose to remain silent, allowing Yuki to release her feelings.

She cried for a long minute, holding onto him tightly. Ace felt his head soaked from her tears but stayed still, offering the comfort of his presence.

In the meantime, Ace stole a glance at Shinobu, noticing her haggard appearance. Dark circles adorned her eyes, and exhaustion was evident on her face. Her usual teasing smile was absent.

'Something must have happened beyond my fight with Doma. Shinobu wouldn't be this haggard just because of my injury with her mental control,' Ace thought.

Finally, after a long minute, Yuki released Ace before they both sat on the nearby bed, gazing at him.

"So, what happened, guys? Why are you two so tense and haggard?" Ace inquired.

Yuki and Shinobu exchanged a glance. Yuki, noticing the exhaustion on Shinobu's face, decided to explain everything to Ace.

Dawn was bittersweet for everyone in this room.

- x - X - x -

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