The Martial Unity

STEP

STEP

STEP

The loud footsteps of the Emperor of Harmony echoed across the medical facility as he made his way to its innermost intensive care units. Numerous Martial Masters and Sages posted along the way for security moved out of the way as he passed through.

His golden eyes were grave.

Severe.

CLACK

The final set of doors in his way, guarded by the Mountain of Fortitude and the Drunk Dame opened as he reached them, revealing a large hemispherical dome-like medical chamber within.

Across the exteriors were an array of doctors, nurses, and other assistants that monitored several screen with biomedical data with great care and attention. An air of intensity occupied the entire room.

STEP

The Emperor of Harmony halted as he arrived before a cylindrical glass container suspended to the brim with a special fluid. His eyes softened as his gaze fell upon the individual suspended in the fluid with numerous tubes and other medical instruments placed in and around his entire body.

His black hair swayed amid the fluid.

His skin had taken on a pitch-black tint to it, giving him a deathly luster.

“…How is he?”

Emperor Rael’s tone betrayed his concern.

“Entirely fine,” the Divine Doctor’s tone was frozen as always. “This level of medical care is entirely unnecessary for someone in his condition.”

The man’s apathetic words drew a flash of displeasure on the face of the Emperor of Harmony.

“He was poisoned by the most powerful poison in the entire world.”

“…Be that as it may, he has clearly overcome it.” The Divine Doctor’s mirthless smile was devoid of warmth. “The poison is no longer an agent of death. It’s an agent of life within him. He can no longer survive without it in his Body.”

Emperor Rael’s expression with a hint of grave severity. “…Isn’t that very bad?”

“Why would it be?” the Divine Doctor’s tone was light. “Life is life. No matter what form it takes. As long as he alive, it doesn’t matter what is or isn’t in his body.”

Emperor Rael was unable to bring himself to simply accept these simple words. “It’s said to be a poison of death itself. It killed twenty-one Martial Sages and countless beasts and monsters.”

“Then I suppose your son is simply more powerful,” the Divine Doctor remarked with an intrigued expression. “According to the intelligence report that you have supplied me, your son was afflicted with the poison before he broke through to the Sage Realm. It is a miracle that he managed to avoid dying right then and there.”

“…He must have consumed a fruit from the Tree of Healings,” Emperor Rael realized. “He did take one for emergencies. He must have deemed it worth it in the grave severity of the situation that he was in within the Gu.”

The Divine Doctor pondered the new information. “In that case, I suppose it’s not entirely impossible. Yet what piques my fascination is not merely the fact that he has integrated an extraordinarily lethal poison into his biochemistry through darwinian evolution, but also the fact that he managed to breakthrough to the Sage Realm at all.”

The Emperor of Harmony’s eyes sharpened at those words. “What is that supposed to mean?”

The Divine Doctor gazed at Rui’s suspended form with inhuman curiosity.

“Why, nothing at all.”

A glint of suspicion flashed in his eyes as he studied the Divine Doctor.

He knew that there was something that the man was not telling him. He also knew that he shared a connection and a relationship with Rui that he didn’t quite understand. He knew that Rui had kept many things from him regarding what had happened between him and the Divine Doctor in the Beast Domain.

Regardless, now was not the time to probe into this matter.

For now, he simply wanted his son to recover.

His gaze shifted to another cylindrical glass container beside the one containing Rui.

“What about her?”

The Divine Doctor shifted his gaze to the suspended form of Amare with even greater interest and fascination.

“She who returned from the dead.”

A hint of surprise flickered in Emperor Rael’s eyes. “…You can tell?”

He hadn’t conveyed everything that the deployed Martial Sages had reported to the Divine Doctor.

“It’s transparent.” The Divine Doctor beheld her with his chillingly inhuman gaze of curiosity and fascination. “This one was, at one point, completely dead. Most likely several minutes into her death. And yet…”

The light of greed in his eyes flared, “…and yet, she has been restored to life flawlessly.”

A venture that even he had failed in.

The soul transference ritual was a ritual that allowed one to leave behind the legacy of one’s self.

It didn’t allow for true resurrection.

However, what he was beholding before him was perfect revival. A perfect overcoming of death.

“Almost perfect.”

His gaze shifted towards the brain scans that he had put her through.

The truth had become evident to him in the blink of an eye.

“Returning to life from the realm of death only to be thrust into eternal darkness, trapped within the depths of one’s mind,” his smile was devoid of empathy. “How fascinating. Perhaps this is the price of resurrection. To undo death only to get a fate even worse than death.”

Emperor Rael’s eyes grew grave. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means exactly what I said,” the Divine Doctor remarked. “He has restored her mind, soul, and her consciousness. Her entire brain. However, her consciousness is trapped within her cerebral cortex and is neuroelectrically isolated from the rest of her brain and mind. In other words…”

The Divine Doctor’s smile remained frozen.

“…’She’ is trapped in a world of endless darkness. She cannot perceive the outside world. She cannot control her body. She is in prison. Imprisoned within the depths of her mind for what will feel like an eternity. Not to mention…”

A hint of cruel fascination emerged in his eyes. “Time flows differently in the sense of self perception. Every second in the outside world will feel like one thousand seconds to her.”

The air chilled as Emperor Rael’s expression crumbled with grave severity at this horrifying revelation.

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