Ed undid the bindings surrounding the door to the son of Alexander. But, before he opened the door, he created a small barrier using his Telekinesis. He guessed how the poison affecting the man inside may have turned into fumes, being the reason why the room was so tightly shut.
Helena kept looking back towards Ed as he opened the door. Doubt, confusion, hope, and finally, longing. She longed to her family, and the happy life she led, just two years ago. She turned her face and started to lead Merry to her ailing mother.
As Ed guessed, some poisonous fumes did indeed fill the room. Suika, being a poison slime by origin, had no issue with the fumes. But, Ed had no way to defend against it, so he relied on his Telekinesis and Wind magic to trap the fumes in a sphere. He approached Alexander's son and got a good look at him.
Unlike Helena, who had amber colored hair, close to red, and golden eyes. The man had thin golden hair and seemed to be well built. Ed couldn't confirm it, only guess, as the man seemed to be quite malnourished. Be it the fact that he was in a coma, or the poison's doing, he was in a bad shape.
The man was lying in a bathtub-like object, with medicinal herbs floating around. His complexion reflected his perilous state, as the poison seemed to be filling every vein he had in his body. He was dying.
"Seems like we don't have much time left, we need to act immediately. Suika, you have any ideas?" Ed didn't really know how to treat the man. He didn't have many Healing cards left, and he wanted to keep them unless it was imperative. Thus, he turned around to ask the opinion for the medical expert in his party.
"Uhm, I can try to suck the poison out while healing him, Suu. But, I don't know if I can do it without injuring him, Suu!" Suika answered him while jumping lightly. She spoke in a low voice as if she was afraid of waking up the poisoned man.
"How would you injure him?"
"I'll need to look around his body for poison, so I might end up tearing a vein, Suu! However, if the poison is in an obvious position, I can do it without a problem, Suu!!" Suika jumped a little stronger this while raising her hands in the air. She seemed rather excited about saving someone's life.
"I see. Then, if I guide the poison upwards, you'll be able to do it without any problems?" Ed asked one last question to confirm their next course of actions. He didn't forget to monitor the poison fumes exhaled by the man.
"Yes, Suu!"
Ed and Suika jumped to action. Ed deactivated his Berserk skill, freeing one of his extra brains from its effect. Although he couldn't use that brain for 24 hours, he didn't need it. With two brains, it was enough. He didn't need power this time, but precision and accuracy.
Ed injected the man with a wave of his KI. The KI acted as a probing device, searching through the body for any hurtful substances. It didn't take long for him to find out the clumps of poison inside the man's body, and he was shocked at their number.
'You must have fought your hardest for your family. Much like how your father did for his conviction…' Ed thought to himself as he entered step two.
After finding out the position of the clumps, Ed now needed to move them. He injected another, more powerful, wave of KI. The KI wave split and spread throughout the body of the man, each part attacking a poison clump. Due to the quality and quantity of Ed's KI, even though the poison tried to fight back, he managed to overwhelm the clumps. He drove them as far up as he could and marked their position in his head.
"Suika, you can find the poison here, here…" Ed pointed at the position where Suika needed to tackle.
"Okay, Suu!" Suika hovered her hand above the man's stomach. Then, her hand gradually changed into dozens of long spikes. The spikes 'attacked' the positions that Ed indicated. Each time they hit the water a 'plop' sound was heard.
Little by little, a purple liquid-gas started going up Suika's spikes. Then poison that Suika sucked didn't harm her and instead dissipated inside her body. "I'm done!" She needed ten minutes to finish with all the poison. Ed and Suika didn't get all the poison inside the man's body, but they got at least 90% of it.
"There's some left inside of his body. Use some Healing magic on him, and I'll give him a potion after he wakes up. As for these fumes…I guess burning them will do the trick," Ed said as he looked at the sphere of poison hovering in the air. A red glow shined through his eye as his Mangekyo Sharingan was activated. He winked, as the veins in his eyes became redder, and a black flame appeared inside his Telekinesis sphere.
The poison fumes were burned up immediately, not leaving even a single molecule behind.
*Cough Cough*
Coughing sounds were heard behind Ed and just as he tried to turn around, he heard an angry confused voice say, "Who are you? Where are my mother and sister?!" Alexander's son woke up just as Suika healed him a little. He was startled to see a golden little girl and tried to leave the bathtub. But, since he was too weakened, neither his hands nor legs could support him. He fell down, yet before his face could hit the ground, something caught him.
"My name is Edward Avalon. I'm the new master of the sect." Ed helped his up as he spoke.
"What do you mean-"
"I know that you are confused and afraid. But, for now, drink this, and let's go meet your sister and mother."
Ed handed the man a potion and helped him walk over to the door. He handed him a change of clothes since he was wearing nothing but underwear. The man changed and quietly walked with Ed. Question surging through his mind, he chose to push them down and only act once he confirms the safety of his mother and sister. He didn't even register the fact that Ed claimed to be the sect master, nor did he drink the potion. His brain only heard the words 'sister' and 'mother'.
Ed opened his Map and checked the position of Merry and Helena. He was rather surprised to see that the two red dots that he saw from before were no longer there.
'Did they have a change of heart, or am I just that convincing?' Ed thought to himself.
.
.
.
"Oh, Edward! We have a problem. This lady is never going to wake up!" Merry said as she saw Ed walk in, sending the hearts of those present into turmoil.
Enjoy!
Ed, Alexander's son and daughter, the twins. All of them stopped and looked at Merry with eyes that almost popped out of their socket.
'Come to think of it, I never taught her how to break such news to others…Again, it's my fault…' Ed thought to himself as he hung his head down in shame.
"What do you mean…? Am I going to lose my mother, just as I lost my father?" Helena's hand started to shake as they approached her face to cover it. She fought hard against the tears, yet she couldn't stop them. Alexander's son, still confused, stood there dumbfounded. An angel in front of him announced that his mother would never wake up. He couldn't make or the tails of the situation.
"Merry, why will she never wake up?" Ed decided to ask Merry about the reason for her words, in order to assess the situation.
"You see, I looked through her mind. It's not that she can't wake up, but more like she doesn't want to wake up. The loss of her husband and the fear of losing her son caused her to willingly enter a coma. Unless she comes to terms with what happened, she will never wake up."
Merry's explanation caused some hope to spark in the hearts of Helena and her brother. It was then that Helena noticed her weakened brother standing in front of her, causing her tears to spill out again.
"You big dummy…"
"Sorry for worrying you. Sir Edward, I hope that you can help out mother." Helena's brother walked a few steps away from Ed, limping on one of his legs, and bowed towards him. His request was not simple, yet he asked so sincerely that no one could have denied it.
"I was planning to do that. By the way, I didn't manage to catch your name."
"Asem, son of Alexander," Asem stated, seemingly proud of his name and origin.
"I see. Then, I need both of you and Helena to stand by Merry," Ed stated as he walked next to Merry as well. "Merry, can you transmit the thoughts of the two of them? I'm certain that is she knows her children are safe, she might get better."
"Hmm, I've never tried something like that before, but I guess it's doable!" Merry fluttered her wings, causing two feathers to emerge out of them. The feathers were controlled by her Nen, and they flew over to the foreheads of Helena and Asem.
"I'd like you to be quiet since I need to concentrate," Merry said as she put one finger on the forehead of the sleeping mother.
Ed activated his Gyo, and he could see two threads of light carrying the thoughts of Helena and Asem. Merry seemed to be successful in transmitting these thoughts, as everyone could notice the face that was like a statue, move a little.
"It's not enough. She needs closure; these two are not enough…" Merry states as she looked towards Ed, telling him with her eyes that he needed to step in.
"I see…Then connect me to everyone here."
"Everyone? You sure? You really sure?" Merry made sure to ask Ed twice
"Yes, I'm sure."
"Well, here goes nothing." Merry made three more feathers emerge, as they connected with the foreheads of Ed and the twins.
Ed started to think about his fight with Alexander. As the most enjoyable fight of his life, he could remember the scenes vividly. From his skirmish with Alexander before taking care of the other three commanders, to the short-lived finale. The two men standing in front of each other as they delivered their strongest attacks caused the hearts of those that saw it to beat hard.
The respect the two of them shared and the face of Alexander that his family never got to see. At that moment, Helena and Asem felt jealousy towards Ed. Finally, Alexander's last request caused them all to tear up. The sleeping mother's eyes had tears spilling out as well, as she slowly opened them.
.
.
.
"What's going on?"
"They say Master Alexander returned, he didn't die!"
"That's not it, you idiot, there's a new sect master. Apparently, he's still a kid."
"Whatever, we were asked to come, so we're here. The black wolf from earlier scared me to death. He suddenly appeared in front of me and asked me not to go outside."
"Yeah, he appeared in front of me as well. Apparently, some more members of Poison sect appeared again."
The citizens of the city started to murmur as they gathered in front of the sect. There, the largest plaza that could hold the 4000 or so villagers existed. They were packed there, waiting for the show to start.
Then, as if answering their expectations, the eight Elders that met Ed started to descend one by one. Then, two more figures flew down from the sky as well. It was Asem and his mother, Barsine. All ten of them stood on top of a platform made out of wood. It was sloppy, but the presence of the ten of them overshadowed it completely.
"It's Lady Barsine!"
"Master Asem is healed as well!"
"They look so thin…so weak…"
The citizens had mixed emotions. Some were happy to see the family of Alexander, but others teared up after seeing in that weak state. Another figure appeared abruptly in front of the ten that were already there. It was Ed, but since only a few noticed him walking with the guard earlier that day, they didn't react.
Ed withdrew the sect master's insignia, which everyone recognized. They turned around looking at each other while muttering. Ed manipulated the insignia with his Telekinesis and hanged it in the air for everyone to see.
"My name is Edward Avalon," Ed's voice spread all over the plaza, not missing any ear. "I'm the new sect master…" he confirmed the doubts of some of the citizens while enlightening others. "You've suffered, both because of me, and because of my absence…" Ed's words were not understood by everyone, but those that understood it frowned as they glared at him.
"However, from now on, no one will dare to mess with our glorious sect. the group of babbling buffoons that barged in this morning are no more. Anyone else that dares to say something else about our sect will suffer from the same fate. I'm the master of the sect now, and I can promise you that you will know no similar heartache that you suffered from this past couple of months. But first, we need to do something about your weakened bodies."
Ed pointed his hands a couple of times and made people look in those directions. His companions arrived from the distance, bringing with them the prey they had hunted.
Hello everyone! Enjoy the chapter!
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