479 The Virus’s Side Effects

In the laboratory of the Machine Revolutio Tower.

Bloed was lying inside a capsule with his eyes closed as though he was sleeping. Occasionally, his body shivered slightly in pain, but he calmed down after a few seconds.

The capsule was emitting light intermittently as it scanned Bloed's body carefully. The process repeated several times, until finally, the capsule lit up with green light.

Bloed immediately opened his eyes and heaved a sigh. The capsule opened immediately, allowing Bloed to exit it.

As soon as he exited the capsule, Regina approached him with a tablet in her hands.

"How are the results?" He asked.

"Just as we feared, master," Regina replied with a worried expression. "Although your idea was successful and your cells mutated to be able to hold mana, they became much stronger than normal. Right now, the metabolism of your body is a mess, and some of your internal organs are on the verge of failure."

"Which organs?"

"… Mainly the lungs and the heart."

"As I expected, huh." Bloed let out a sigh with a heavy expression.

It had been two days since Returning Dusk attacked academy city, and the situation in the city had returned to normal.

Although many students died during the attack and the city received heavy criticism due to it, the fact that it managed to repel and kill several enemy demigods without losing any of their own gave the city the respite necessary to overcome the wave of critics.

According to Bloed's prediction, Academy City would lose a big part of its students and inhabitants after this, but the city would continue working normally despite that.

It was a good result considering the scale of Returning Dusk's attack.

But although Academy City's situation was not that bad, the same could not be said about Bloed.

When Bloed returned to the Machine Revolutio's tower, he was bleeding from his nose, ears, and eyes; and his body was spasming violently due to the pain.

It was due to the virus he injected into his body to make it able to wield mana.

Although Bloed was successful and the virus achieved the purpose for which it was created, it came with heavy side-effects that Bloed didn't expect.

Just as Regina said, his metabolism had become unstable, and several of Bloed's internal organs became unable to endure the burden of his new body, starting with his lungs and heart.

"… Master, if you continue like this, you could die," Regina said with a grave and concerned expression.

Bloed nodded with a bitter expression. He knew that Regina was right. Even now, his entire body was filled with pain.

He walked to a nearby table and grabbed a vial on it. After hesitating briefly, he drank it down.

A few seconds later, he felt the mana in his body calming down and the pain fading quickly.

"Don't worry. I'm thinking of a solution. And I won't die anytime soon as long as I drink this regularly." He said as he shook the empty vial in his hand.

This vial was something that he created when he discovered the problem caused by the virus. Its purpose was to suppress the mana in Bloed's body and nourish his internal organs to heal the damage caused by the mana.

As long as Bloed drank it regularly, he did not need to worry about the side effects too much. However, this was not a lasting solution. If he used mana actively, his mana would become active and injure his internal organs again, plus, he estimated that this medicine would stop being useful after a few years.

Before then, Bloed needed to find a solution to his current predicament.

'Should I try another Body Enhancement Surgery?'

Body Enhancement Surgeries were the method the Human Confederation used to strengthen the bodies of ESPers and soldiers, and Bloed had gone through it once when he was in the spaceship.

However, a person must not go through more than one Body Enhancement Surgeries in ten years. Otherwise, there was a risk of genetic collapse.

When Bloed remembered that, he shook his head. It was not a good solution.

'I guess I need to think of something soon, huh.' He thought to himself as he put on his clothes.

"Let's go, Regina. We will visit little Gina. I need to ask her something."

"But master…"

"Don't worry, I'm alright. It's not as though I'm going to die suddenly."

Regina put on a hesitating expression before nodding and following Bloed.

When they arrived at Gina's room, Sara received them.

"How is Gina?"

"… She is alright," Sara replied to Bloed with a slightly complicated expression. "My lord, Gina said that she has something to tell you."

Bloed was startled before smiling wryly. "So she already knows why I'm here."

"I told her to not force herself, but she did not listen to me," Sara said with a sigh.

When Bloed entered the room, he saw Gina lying on her bed with a feeble expression.

"My hero, you are here."

"Gina, are you alright? How have you been feeling?"

"I'm alright, just a bit tired after using my powers too much. Right, my hero, I saw something about the person that killed Number Eight."

Bloed could not help but feel slightly guilty.

"You should not use your powers in this condition."

"… Sorry, I wanted to be of help." She smiled sheepishly, making Bloed unable to become angry with her.

Bloed thought that he was a hypocrite. Even though he told Gina that she should not use her powers in her current condition, he came here precisely to ask her to use them.

In the end, he just decided to ask about her vision.

"What did you see?"

"Darkness, darkness, darkness, and someone searching for a ray of light."

Bloed, Regina, and Sara were stunned.

"What does that mean?" Bloed asked.

"… I don't know, but I have the feeling that you will understand it eventually."

Bloed fell deep in thought.

He had witnessed the accuracy of Gina's visions more than once. He knew that if she had a feeling, it was most likely true.

In other words, as she said, he would understand the meaning of her vision eventually.

"… I guess it's something at least." He smiled bitterly to himself.

"My hero, I worked very hard this time. Don't you think that I need a reward?"

Bloed was stunned, but he soon understood Gina's intentions and smiled wryly.

"So this was the reason you used your powers in your condition, huh?"

"Huh? Did you say something?"

Bloed felt helpless when he saw Gina feigning ignorance like that.

"Okay, what do you want?"

"Hmm… How about a kiss?"

"Gina." Sara's voice sounded.

"Okay, okay, sister, I'm joking, don't glare at me like that. Just a hug is fine… Although a kiss would have been nice."

Sara rolled her eyes and looked at her lord with a helpless expression.

Bloed did not know whether to laugh or to cry, however, it was true that Gina worked very hard this time.

Thus, he walked towards Gina and hugged her gently.

"… So nice…" Gina heaved a soft sigh, but then, she felt something soft in the corner of her lips.

The honey-haired girl was stunned, but before she could react, Bloed had already moved away.

"W-Wait, my hero! T-That was–!"

"Rest well, little Gina, I will come to visit again."

"My hero, w-wait!"

"Adios." Bloed bid farewell with a chuckle, leaving the speechless Regina and Sara behind.

Once Bloed was gone, though, Regina's expression turned serious as she looked at Sara solemnly.

"We need to talk."

"Huh? What is it about?"

"I will tell you later. See you tonight on the training floor."

Sara was stunned. Regina almost never talked with anyone other than Bloed, but now, she told her that they needed to talk?

She was confused.

But before she could ask Regina for an explanation, the Valkyrie was already gone, leaving behind a confused Sara and a flustered Gina.

...

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