Chapter 129: Aftermath
Silence.
It took several seconds for the spectators to realize that the fight was over.
It had all lasted only three minutes, a ridiculously short time considering the intensity and ingenuity displayed by both fighters, now left in critical condition.
Ana Lebert remained frozen, eyes wide, mouth slightly open. She didn’t know who to rush to first... or even if she could truly be of any help given the extent of the damage.
"Take a deep breath, will you?" Iris said, patting her on the shoulder.
Her face was surprisingly calm, almost smiling, as if the duel that had just unfolded before her eyes hadn’t affected her in the slightest.
"Sirius can wait. Help the other guy recover his limbs first."
Ana nodded mechanically, letting herself be guided by her words. She moved toward Kritos and took care of him first.
As for Sirius, Lucy rushed to his side, doing her best... which meant, in reality, nothing particularly useful.
Ana retrieved Kritos’s severed limbs. Like Sirius, he had lost consciousness after Gramm’s flick, who, strangely, hadn’t moved since the end of the fight.
"I can’t stitch his limbs back... What’s the point?" Ana wondered, surprised by her own calmness.
"Don’t worry. That guy will handle it himself. Just do what you can."
Ana hesitated for a second before following Iris’s instructions.
She brought the severed limbs closer together as if trying to reattach them.
At first, nothing happened.
Then suddenly, cells began regenerating at a speed visible to the naked eye. Nerves reconnected, followed by bones, then muscles.
Ana was stunned.
She turned her head toward Iris, searching for an explanation.
Iris sighed.
Explaining how Kritos’s resonance worked sounded terribly boring to her. She much preferred leaving that role to Sirius.
Fortunately for her, Kritos regained consciousness at that moment.
"If you’re awake, you can deal with that later. Go fix your mess."
Iris gestured toward Sirius with her chin. He was still unconscious, but his stomach was beginning to mutate in a disturbing way.
If this kept going... Iris feared the worst.
Kritos almost clicked his tongue, but simply pointed at his legs, which had not yet fully recovered.
Iris sighed a second time.
With Ana’s help, she lifted him and dragged him over to Sirius.
Kritos slowly placed his hand on Sirius’s now glowing stomach, then pulled it away.
<< Restructuring >>
A pain far more violent than anything Sirius had experienced so far jolted him awake. He clenched his teeth, enduring it in silence until his body returned to normal at least, by Kritos’s standards.
Once it was done, Kritos felt his ether reserves completely drained. His own regeneration stopped.
However, both of them were now out of danger.
Gramm, who had been watching the scene, nodded slightly.
"Good. That’s enough for today. We resume tomorrow."
"Huh?!" they all shouted in unison.
But a simple snap of his fingers ended all protest.
They fell asleep instantly.
---
Sirius was dreaming.
He was sitting in a luxurious villa, sipping a cold cocktail under a radiant sun. A gentle breeze brushed against his face. No worries. No training. No Gramm.
Absolute peace.
Then
"Wake up! Anyone even a minute late will run two extra laps!"
The shout tore through his dream.
Sirius opened his eyes, greeted by a dull pain spreading throughout his entire body... followed by a sinister gurgling from his stomach.
Without thinking, he dashed toward the bathroom at a speed worthy of a revolver bullet.
What followed was... indescribable.
Fifteen long minutes of agony.
An experience not even his worst enemies deserved.
When he finally came out, drained of all energy and dignity, he realized he was over thirty minutes late.
Result: ten extra laps, running at full speed in front of an armored jeep.
"...I’m going to die."
Then came firearms training, where his stomach caused him to miss his shots.
He literally collapsed during the lecture that followed—which was, ironically, about the importance of punctuality.
The day passed in constant pain.
Between muscle soreness, his rebellious stomach, and the training, Sirius reached a level of suffering rarely matched.
When he finally lay down on his bed that evening, he felt on the verge of collapse.
"If I survive this... I’ll become a legend."
He closed his eyes, ready to sink into a much-needed sleep.
Knock knock.
("I don’t care who it is... go away.")
He stayed silent, hoping they’d think he wasn’t there.
Knock knock.
Knock knock.
The sound persisted.
With a resigned sigh, Sirius opened the door.
Kritos.
As if that wasn’t enough to irritate him, the guy looked perfectly fine.
("Damn psychopath...")
"Yeah?" Sirius said, clearly annoyed.
Kritos, impassive, asked:
"Have you observed any side effects or mutation?"
Sirius pretended to think seriously about the question.
"No."
("I’ll deal with it myself. If I tell him anything, he’ll never leave me alone.")
Kritos seemed to read his thoughts... but, surprisingly, didn’t insist and walked away.
"Finally, some peace..."
Sirius was about to close the door.
"Hey, genius!"
Lucy blocked the door with her foot.
"Did you ignore me on purpose all day? Do you have a death wish?"
Sirius sighed inwardly. If he didn’t find a way to calm Lucy immediately, he might as well say goodbye to his peace.
"How could I dare? That would be like depriving myself of the sun... or oxygen... to deprive myself of your presence," he said with a bright smile.
Silence.
Lucy froze.
Her cheeks took on a faint pink tint.
"Uh... right... I’ll leave you, idiot."
She turned on her heel, flustered.
Sirius closed the door with a satisfied smile.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures."
But barely had he enjoyed his victory when
Grrrrrr...
His stomach.
"...Of course."
Too exhausted and lazy to go out, he grabbed a bag of chips.
Two bites.
Then
"No... no... not again..."
He sprinted to the bathroom.
An hour later, he came out pale, drained, almost translucent.
He collapsed onto his bed like an abandoned corpse.
"Tomorrow... I quit living..."
His eyelids closed.
Finally.
But just before drifting off
He felt a presence.
Someone was there.
He didn’t even have time to react.
Darkness.
