Chapter 210: Chapter 80
The heavy, pressurized doors of the ICU hissed open, and the air within shifted instantly, becoming several degrees colder.
Shirohara Retsu stepped into the sterile sanctuary of machines and quiet monitors, her presence cutting through the frantic energy of the dical staff like a scalpel through silk.
The lead surgeon, a man who had spent thirty years at the top of his field, turned with a reprimand on his tongue, but his eyes widened until the whites showed and he nearly dropped his equipnt.
"Y-You are—!?"
"Miss Shirohara!?" another doctor gasped, stumbling back to give her a clear path. "We didn’t know you were coming! The patient’s vitals are unstable, the internal hemorrhaging is—"
"Move aside," Retsu ordered. Her voice wasn’t loud, but it possessed a terrifying, absolute authority that brooked no argunt.
She stood beside the bed, staring down at Seijirou.
He looked smaller amidst the nest of tubes and the rhythmic, artificial puffing of the ventilator.
And to any other observer, he was a tragedy of trauma and broken bone, but to Retsu, he was a masterpiece that had been slightly scuffed.
In fact, for a fleeting, dark mont, she contemplated a "perfect" plan: she could stabilize him just enough to keep him alive but leave him paralysed from the neck down.
At that ti, he would truly be hers.
He would never leave the safety of her clinic, he wouldn’t be able to go around and play with other won again.
He would just be her beautiful, silent doll.
But she saw the way his fingers twitched—the unconscious remnant of his will to live.
She sighed.
"Don’t worry, Seijirou," she whispered, her fingers grazing the cool skin of his forehead. "I’ll fix you up."
With a practiced, hypnotic fluidity, she snapped on a pair of surgical gloves.
And unlike others, she didn’t reach for the scalpel or the chemical coagulants, and instead, she produced a roll of long, slender acupuncture needles that shimred with a pale, ethereal blue light.
The doctors watched in stunned silence as she began the treatnt.
Unknown to them, she didn’t just target the nerves; she was stitching his fragnted Ki pathways back together.
Every needle she inserted was a like lightning rod, drawing the chaotic, leaking energy of his Origin back into his core and sealing the spiritual leaks that were draining his life force.
*
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*
Outside in the hallway, the world had slowed to a grueling crawl.
"It has been a few hours," Rindou noted, leaning her head back against the cold hospital wall, sighing worriedly.
That woman was insane. Can she really treat Seijirou?
"You think Retsu-sensei can actually help him?" Emi asked, her voice small. She was huddled in her chair, her hands still faintly trembling from the aftereffects of the Oversoul. "Not to doubt anything. But isn’t she a school clinic nurse?"
"She should be able to," Erina said, her voice firm despite the tears she had shed, her hands clasped in her lap. "She is one of the best doctors in the world for a reason. And that’s not even accounting for her Ki and her knowledge of supernatural physiology. If anyone can bring him back from the brink, it’s that woman."
"True," Hana added, leaning against the far pillar with her arms crossed. She looked exhausted, her hair ssy from the confrontation with Retsu in the street. "That woman’s a bitch—believe , I know—but she’s damn good at her job. She won’t let him die. She’s too obsessed with him for that."
The silence returned, punctuated only by the distant hum of the hospital’s ventilation system.
Hakari remained standing by the door, like a silent guardian of the Kageyama bloodline, her eyes never once leaving the frosted glass.
Just then, the "In Use" light above the ICU flickered out as the doors opened, and Retsu walked out, followed by a trail of doctors who looked like they had just witnessed a miracle.
Retsu looked tired—a rare sight—but her eyes were sharp.
"He’s stable," Retsu announced, peeling off her gloves, her gaze swept over the group, lingering for a second on Hakari. "The internal damage has been repaired, and his Ki pathways are being reinforced. He will wake up tomorrow morning at the latest. His body just needs ti to process the damage he accumulated."
A collective, audible sigh of relief swept through the hallway.
Yukina slumped in her seat, Renji let out a shaky laugh, and Rei finally stopped her silent prayer.
"At least you’re reliable at a ti like this, Retsu," Hana said, a hint of genuine gratitude breaking through her usual annoyance.
The tension finally broke, and the group began talking happily, the heavy cloud of dread finally lifting from the corridor.
*
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*
At this mont, high above the Shinra Region, a shadow moved that no satellite could track.
The wounded entity that had escaped Seijirou on the rooftop hovered in the cold upper atmosphere of the Shinra Region as it observed the sprawling neon grid of the 24 Districts below.
It was bleeding essence, its core cracked by Seijirou’s final spear, but its malice remained intact.
It scanned the sea of humanity, searching for the specific resonance of "Wicked Hearts"—those whose greed, lust, and cruelty acted as a beacon for the Void.
And it found thousands of them.
Recalling the final, hateful wish of its previous host, the Mister, the entity made a decision and didn’t seek a single host this ti.
Instead, it shuddered and began to to split itself into hundreds of microscopic, oily shards that rained down upon the city like a black, invisible snow, seeking out the most depraved souls to use as parasites.
And in 6th District, the district that borders the 24th District, inside a penthouse office that overlooked a bustling red-light district, a handso man with soft pink hair sat bathed in the blue light of a dozen monitors.
On the monitors, it showed the videos of old n having sexual relations with young teenage girls.
And the man watching these was Koenji Yosuke.
To the world, he was a charismatic college senior student, popular to the younger naive girls.
To the underworld, he was a forr District Leader for the Bully Society’ 6th District Branch, but had left the Society and joined the Rebel Council, becoming one of its enforcers.
And as the forr district leader, just like the Sosuke of the 24th District, Yosuke had his own "business" to maintain his lifestyle.
And he kept this business even after rebelling.
But unlike Sosuke’s business where he was only asking for protection money from the gangs of his district, Yosuke’s specialty was the "Love Trap."
Using his natural beauty and a calculated, sociopathic charm, he would target young, vulnerable girls, making them completely and utterly devoted to him.
Once they reached a point of total psychological dependence, he would ask them to "test" their love.
And this test is just another word of asking them to sleep with wealthy, elderly businessn for business purposes.
Sosuke would then record everything and use them as a bargaining chips for a better deal.
Just then, a sharp knock sounded at his door.
Yosuke imdiately minimized the surveillance videos of his various "properties" and leaned back.
"Co in."
The door opened to reveal a bald, morbidly obese man in an expensive Italian suit. He looked flushed and satisfied, adjusting his tie. "Yosuke, my boy! I am very satisfied with this new one. Naomi, was it? Excellent quality. As per our deal, I agree to increase the investnt funds by 20%. My secretary will be here tomorrow morning to finalize the paperwork."
"My, thank you, Mr. Nayima," Yosuke said, his smile perfect and practiced. "I knew you would appreciate her. I’ll be waiting for your call."
Mr. Nayima laughed, letting out a wet sound of entitlent, and left the room.
A few seconds later, a girl walked in. She was a beautiful girl with long black hair, but her eyes were hollow, and her movents robotic.
Her white nightgown was crumpled, and her hair was a ss; she looked completely disheveled.
She looked at Yosuke, and for a mont, a flicker of life returned to her expression.
Yosuke stood up and t her halfway, his voice turning soft and lodic as he caressed her cheek with a thumb. "As expected. You really are the best, Naomi. Thank you for doing this for us. You’ve helped our future imnsely today."
The girl suddenly burst into tears, clutching at his sleeves. "Yosuke-kun... I can’t... I don’t want to do this anymore... please... it hurts. I only want to be with you... can’t we just stop now?"
Yosuke’s eyes went cold, though his hand remained gentle. "Naomi, you know how I feel about people who quit halfway. Is this the extent of your love for ? Was everything you told
just a lie?"
Naomi flinched.
Seeing this, Yosuke knew she can still be persuaded, so he sighed, pulling his hand away. "Alright. If that’s how it is, you don’t have to co tomorrow. I’ll find soone else who actually cares about my success."
"No! No! Please, don’t say that!" Naomi shrieked, falling to her knees and grabbing his legs. "Don’t abandon ! Please! Yosuke-kun, you’re the only person I have left in this world! I ran away from ho for you! I abandoned my family! If you leave
now, I will have nothing!"
"Then, can you please continue proving your love to ?" Yosuke asked, tilting her chin up. "I promise, tomorrow will be the very last ti. After that, we’ll take the money and leave this city. We’ll be free to pursue our love without any interruptions."
Naomi’s eyes brightened with a desperate, pathetic hope. "R-Really? The last ti? Tomorrow is the end? O-Okay! I’ll do it! I’ll do anything for you, Yosuke-kun!"
"Thank you, darling," Yosuke smiled, his voice devoid of any real warmth. "Now, go and get cleaned up. I still have work to do."
"Alright! See you tomorrow, Yosuke-kun!" Naomi wiped her eyes and left the room, a tragic smile on her face.
The mont the door clicked shut, Yosuke’s smile vanished as he sat back down at his desk, his expression one of pure boredom. "How annoying. I’ll have to replace her soon; she’s starting to break."
He took out his phone and scrolled through the images of girls his subordinates has sent him; girls that they investigated to be hopelessly naive and easily corrupted.
His hands stopped on the image of a beautiful, cheerful young woman with long black hair and green eyes.
"...hmm, Kirara Hiyori, first year University Student, studying in Otsuki University. Alright, I’ve decided, she’d be by next target."
He pocketed his phone and once again reached for his mouse, but he stopped as he felt a sudden, icy chill in the room.
Behind him, a small, oily black creature, covered in dozens of lidless eyes and tiny, chattering teeth, appeared from the shadows behind his chair.
It didn’t attack. Instead, it began to seep into his shadow, its eyes blinking in unison with Yosuke’s heartbeat.
Yosuke gripped the edge of his desk, a sudden, dark power surging through his veins.
He looked at his reflection in the dark monitor, and for a split second, his pupils turned into vertical slits, and a slow, nacing grin spread across his face.
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