The singing of the birds brought harmony, and the reeds danced together with the wind. It was peaceful, but amidst the peace was the sound of a stifled groan coming from a boy and with it was the sound of his nails clawing the wooden floor.
Between his nails were blood and dirt.
Bloodshot eyes and bulging crimson veins with a trail of crusted blood going down his face.
The searing blood flowed faster over time, quickening his descent to madness. Akko'Isa gritted his teeth as he dragged his bleeding body to the kitchen. Blood was already escaping from the corners of his mouth, burning even his skin.
Akko went to the small cabinet and pulled himself up to find the knife. With all that he had, Akko'Isa pulled himself up, and when he got his hands on the blade, he collapsed on the ground. With his back against the cabinet, Akko pressed the knife on his neck….
He took a deep breath—
Slash!
He slit his neck, the carotid artery burst open, and his blood flowed out like a fountain.
Sssss
The sound of melting echoed in the room whatever it touched. Corroded by the darkness, it ate everything that it touched. Akko'Isa finally relaxed as the blood in his body settled to an acceptable amount. He breathed out, waiting for the wound on his neck to close.
Akko'Isa was not a cultivator. He cannot circulate spirit energy as it gets expelled almost immediately, and he has no heavenly physique either.
But because of his state, Akko'Isa possesses an abnormal amount of vitality that was potent enough that an injury of such a degree could be considered nothing serious.
Though the curse of the Crimson Heart Gem was burning his body day in and day out, it had mutated and changed his constitution that it granted him a superior regenerative ability. He was not a cultivator, but his regeneration was faster than any cultivator he had met.
Even his Father was not a match. Though he hadn't tried it, Akko'Isa was pretty sure even if he severs an arm, there was a good chance it would grow back. He was a freak of nature.
Feeling the blood escape his system, Akko'Isa could feel himself calming down. His heartbeat also returned to normal, as well as his breathing.
He waited for the wound to finally close, for he had to clean the mess he made… a minute, five minutes, and ten minutes passed, the blood still flowed. The slit on his neck remained open.
'Huh… something's… wrong….' The wound had yet to close after so long, and blood continued to gush out. Losing his strength, he fell on the cold hard floor; his vision gradually grew dark, and then his body numbed, slowly losing all sensation.
Akko'Isa did not panic. There was no fear behind his eyes, only blissed at the sensation of feeling nothing. The stabbing pain wasn't present, the burning was nowhere to be found, and the inconvenience of feeling his limbs ripping apart with every move wasn't there.
Clearly, he was dying — but Akko'Isa was the farthest from being terrified. Akko was calm as could be because he knew that… he could never escape the pain.
Then, he died, only to open his eyes again. Akko'Isa had been taken from his dreams to the real world, where his torture continues.
The stabbing pain in his head, the sensation of his ligaments being ripped to shreds, the boiling feeling when a breeze of warm air touches his skin. The unfathomably torturous reality of his life reminded Akko'Isa that he was back in the real world, where death could not touch him and take him away.
"That was a nice nap, such pleasantness." Akko wanted to go back and die once again, "Did I fall asleep while learning my numbers?"
He stretched his body and noticed the position of the shadows, "Oh, it's almost lunchtime."
Akko got up and went to the kitchen, where he took their kitchen knife and went outside. Behind their house, outside of everyone's judging eyes, Akko cut his wrist to let out any excess blood.
Sssss
The same sound it made in his dreams reverberated when Akko's blood touched the ground. However, unlike in his dream, the wound closed up almost immediately, and he had to repeat it ten more times before reaching the required level.
To others, the act of slitting the wrist was difficult. Their bodies would reject the idea of harming themselves. Normally, when you hold a knife against another living creature, you will grow weak as your guilt takes over.
However, that feeling doesn't amount to anything when it comes to the softness of one's grip when one holds it against their own body. Trembling like you're in the middle of a storm, the force would be no stronger than a quarter of what you have.
But Akko'Isa didn't experience such a hindrance. To him, a cut is what a mere pinch is to others. Since he was seven, he had taken the task of slitting his wrist before lunch to avoid an overflow. His Father would always shake and apologize, so he took it upon himself to free Ares from the pain of hurting his son.
As noon drew closer, Akko'Isa heard footsteps arriving. It was his father's. Akko'Isa lightly tapped his face and revealed a bright smile.
"Akko! I'm home!"
Carrying the knife, Akko'Isa turned around and went to face his father.
Akko never cries; he smiles, for he understood that it would bring joy and pleasantness to his father. He would smile; he had no right to cry because he was not the only one in pain.
He managed to live this long and experience life because of his Father. Akko'Isa retains his ability to smile because of Ares.
Akko'Isa wishes to repay his father, and even though death's release is his only respite in this life, it could not compare to being with the person who showered him with affection since his birth. Akko'Isa loves his father too much to ever embrace death, "I'm here~" thus, Akko'Isa would smile to put his father at ease.
***
Ares was welcomed by his son, and then, he saw the blood evaporating from the knife.
"Akko, did you finish bloodletting?"
"Yes!"
"That's good, then, come on, let's eat lunch; Aunty Zhu just gave me food." Ares raised a simple wooden box container.
Obviously, he was worried about his son, but Ares tried his best to avert his attention. He picked up Akko'Isa to spare him the pain of moving around while simultaneously taking the knife away.
They entered their house, and Ares prepared their lunch.
Inside the box container was a set of what looked to be fried shrimps. As they were far from the sea, these shrimps were not what they seemed.
"Ohhh! Turas!"
They were actually a critter found in the lakes living underneath rocks. These critters are often called River Roaches; fried, they were called Turas. They were a delicacy in poverty-stricken places or just basically outside the cities.
These things just so happen to be Akko'Isa's favorite food, and because they were prepared by the Village Chief, Aunty Zhu, the young lad was even more excited.
After offering a prayer to the Great Beyond, the father and Son partook in consuming the bounty they were given. Akko'Isa wolfed down his food, but Ares was slow to eat his….
"Is something the matter, Father?" Akko'Isa asked.
"…" Ares mulled over the things he wanted to say, but he couldn't think of a way to speak his thoughts.
"Father?" Akko'Isa could feel something was wrong, "Wait… father, don't tell me… is your hemorrhoid back? I knew that medicine was a sham."
"What? No, I'm all good with down south."
"Then don't worry about a thing, Father. Lighten up, or else mother will get mad at you." Akko'Isa joked, and Ares could not help but let out a light laugh.
The mood lightened for Ares to finally say the words he had been keeping to himself, "Akko, listen—"
Ares began telling his son about the Five Ring Ashes that his uncle brought for him to suppress the effects of the Crimson Heart Gem. However, the upcoming Blood Moon that Old Mikal foresaw was a risk they would have to take if they wanted to start the process.
The Blood Moon activates the Crimson Heart Gem to overflow with twice the intensity during such a time, "You will risk an overflow twice, the amount you ever experienced, and because of the improved rubbing oil that Old Mikal gave us, the effects had been neutralized. If we stop using it and the Blood Moon arrives, then you will—"
But, when Ares raised his head to look at his son and finish his words, he paused.
"A-are you serious, Father?" Akko'Isa dropped his spoon and caused the soup to splash around. His hand was shaking, not from the effects of his disability but because of disbelief from what Ares just said, "I-it can be suppressed? That means… the pain will stop?"
Akko'Isa's eyes shone brightly. Hope finally appeared in his never-ending suffering.
He was the son that smiled because he did not want to worry his Father. He had grown accustomed to the pain and what he had to do.
But at the end of the day, the truth remains as it had always been.
Akko'Isa wanted to experience nothing.
Ares saw that luster in his son's eyes and answered him, "Yes, there is a chance."
Akko'Isa never feared the consequences.
***
"Okay, there was no cauldron as you asked me, but I borrowed Aunty Zhu's Giant Rock Bear Pot. Will this do?"
In the middle of a clearing in the forest nearby was Ares, Akko'Isa, and Old Mikal.
In the Shadows was Allen and his people.
Ares showed the giant pot he borrowed from Aunty Zhu.
Old Makil looked questioningly at Ares' intelligence, but he was no better at providing a cauldron, so he let it pass, "Well, let's get this over with. Just fill the pot with water and prepare the mud I asked for, then cover the pot's body with mud."
"Sure!" Ares did not hesitate to follow instructions.
It was already night, just around midnight, when the Blood Moon replaces the pale moonlight. Ares approached Akko'Isa, who could hardly keep his heart in check and was busy with bloodletting.
Old Mikal looked over the crouching boy's shoulder, "You seem excited, Akko."
"Of course, once this is over, I will be able to cultivate, as Grandpa said! Wait, will Grandpa teach me his methods once I get spirit energy in my body!? But, I'll learn Father's Martial Arts, so can I still learn your cultivation method, Grandpa? Won't I experience deviation?" Akko'Isa excitedly inquired.
Old Mikal laughed at his enthusiasm; such genuine joy at the mention of cultivation was not something he would often see. Often, cultivators, though they practice cultivation religiously without mistakes, hate the path they tread.
Sometimes it is because their lives were forced upon them; other times, they are unsatisfied.
"Hohoho, of course, you can. Cultivation Method is the art of harnessing the spirit energy to refine one's body and soul. Martial Arts is drawing out the spirit energy to exhibit martial prowess, so you can learn them together. Who knows, maybe you'd improve upon your father's Martial Arts."
Akko'Isa threw his arms in the air as he was overjoyed to know he could train in their ways.
Old Mikal ruffled his hair and then just watched the boy continue bloodletting.
In Old Mikal's hand was the rubbing oil, ready to be applied to Akko'Isa at the first sign of the moon turning red.
It was a few minutes before midnight, and with a tensed body, everyone waited.
Ares finished his tasks, and he, too, was the same.
Ten seconds before midnight, everyone in the clearing and those in the shadow paused to raise their heads and observe the sky. They waited, and waited, and then… the crimson dread never arrived.
Ares, Old Mikal, Akko'Isa, and even Allen all celebrated within all at the same time.
"Let us begin!!"
Old Mikal had Akko'Isa get naked and enter the pot, where they were beginning to warm the water.
The pot was covered with mud mixed with the Five Ring Ashes and other materials that Mikal prepared.
In the pot, Akko'Isa could feel the rising temperature, and as he raised his head and saw Old Mikal holding the lid, "Are you afraid, Akko?"
"…no, I trust Grandpa."
Old Mikal smiled sweetly and then said, "That's good to know. Don't worry, Grandpa will cure you. Now, once I close this pot, you will feel a shortness of breath, do not panic; just breathe as I thought you before, okay?"
"Yes."
Closing the pot, Old Mikal had the anxious Ares cover the lid with mud and then seal the entire thing to ensure no steam escaped.
Old Mikal saw him finish, and as he picked up a box lying on the side, he opened it and took the last handful of glowing orange ashes to his palms and scattered it above him, "Ares… leave."
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"… I'll leave everything to you, Elder Mikal."
With one last show of respect, Ares left per Mikal's orders.
Five Ringed Ashes is a commodity that's rarer than rare. To create it, an assortment of Spirit Beasts' Hearts, Bone Marrow, Liver, Pancreas, and the burning feather of the mythical vermillion bird was needed.
Every ingredient would be dried, crushed, and placed in a conical furnace that goes down for ten layers. The goal is to turn the ingredients to ash.
It goes from one to ten, the First Layer being the lowest quality and the tenth the purest. Only a handful of Hegemons could produce them, and it was an item sought out by all.
The uses of the ashes vary, but to Alchemists, it's most helpful in being a good agent that initiates cohesion for dans. Its pure components and purifying effects also allow it to enhance specific medicines. But now, Mikal planned to use its purifying properties and hidden attribute to seal the Crimson Heart.
The glowing orange specks of dust particles descended onto Mikal, practicing a breathing technique.
Inhale and then exhale, Mikal felt the flow of energy. His body slowly experienced change. His hunched back straightened, and then the air around him shifted. His wrinkles disappeared little by little, the looseness it had disappeared.
Time turned back for Mikal, and right before Ares' eyes.
'This is the real Old Mikal?' Ares couldn't believe what he was saying.
He was well aware that Old Mikal was someone who carried with him a rich and mysterious past, but he didn't think he was someone of this caliber, 'Was his words true?' he was beginning to doubt.
Old Mikal tore the bandages showing his scarred arms. He snarled and then spat out black grime, 'Let's begin.'
The dust particles entered his body and, from between his palms, burst out a blue flame that engulfed the entire area. The temperature drastically rose, even standing fifty meters away was not enough for Ares and the others in the shadow.
Mikal waved his hand and commanded the blue flames darted away from Mikal's palms and mixed with the blaze underneath the pot. The woods turned to ashes upon contact with the blue flames.
Mortal elements could not even contend to a celestial entity.
With the flames replaced, Mikal gained control of everything his flames touched.
Everything was extinguished in its present, even the wind. Everything around the flame was below everything, and at its appearance, almost instantaneously, Mikal felt his blood boil from the backlash of the fire.
'Dammit, Guxur, calm down….'
The flames did not listen. It raged and was about to overcome the barrier brought by the Five Ringed Ashes when, suddenly, the beast within was chained.
The flame's roar ended with the sound of the wind.
Mikal had his hands together and forced the flames under his control.
It could not run wild any longer.
With its rage calming down, Mikal took in a deep breath, and then, he moved his body to command the flames.
His movement was as though he was dancing, smooth and without an error. The blue flames followed his movement.
Whoosh!
The pot was sent flying up, and Makil took a portion of the flame and split it in half. From the left and right, the fire devoured the pot.
From different sides, flames crashed on the pot. No side was left untouched. The flames bashed on the pot again and again like sonorous war drums of a battlefield.
Inside the pot, Akko'Isa felt like he was being cooked alive. The heat was starting to get to him, and his breathing hastened with every tremor.
Boom!
BooM!
BOOM!
It sounded like a gone that announced and at that instant. The temperature was inconceivable, Ares and Allen had already retreated, fearing of being cooked alive, yet the weirdest thing was the water inside the pot remained half full, or rather, it was slowly increasing.
It rose and approached Akko'isa's neck; simultaneously, bits of crimson light escaped Akko'Isa's pores and orifices. He was quickly losing blood. Searing pain enveloped him like no other, but, Akko'Isa held on.
The rhythmic beat outside continued, and after ten minutes, it showed change when the uneven mudball was transformed to a perfect shining orange sphere — Mikal finally breathed out!
'The Five Ringed Ashe's has already melded with the pot, but I haven't still managed to call upon its essence, and that's why the Crimson Heart Gem has not given any sign of being suppressed. My flames aren't strong enough to make it cry.' Mikal was the premier expert in the Blood Moon in the continent, 'Akko is the only being in existence who had lived past the incubation period… I cannot fail him. I am Urac Mikal, and I repay my debts.'
Mikal had only lied to Ares and Akko a single time.
He didn't abandon the gold and riches of his previous identity.
Mikal didn't abandon anything; instead, it was the other way around.
Everyone in the Sundering Peak abandoned him.
Mikal was the premier expert in curing ailments connected to the Blood Moon. He found the cure to the Miasmic Poisoning, the Black Puss, and even the Spirit Eater Phenomena.
After his latest discovery of how to sense an incoming Blood Moon, he set out to find the cure to what was the cause of many young people born with Spiritual Roots — the Crimson Heart Gem.
A rare condition only those born under a Blood Moon and have the mother struck down by Devils. It was a rare case that had killed children after being tortured for all their lives.
Mikal set out in an endeavor to find the cure to such a condition, and for the next fifty years, Mikal spent his life searching for a way to stop the tragic deaths of children.
In his journey to find a cure, he had to do things he didn't want to do, like dissecting the corpses of children.
Mikal opened no less than a hundred corpses in hopes of learning something and forming a cure.
Years would pass, and he would discover many things that would suppress the effects of the Crimson Heart Gem, the [Heavenly Blood Oil] that stops the Overflow Phenomena during a Blood Moon, and in his latest venture, Mikal made a breakthrough that the Ringed Ashes could suppress the Crimson Heart Gem.
Many celebrated his discoveries. Mikal opened the gates for children to live up to 10 years instead of just five.
However, after another fifty years, his research hit a dead-end, and that's when everything flipped on his head.
Those he saved previously were beginning to die, many of their parents cursing Mikal for giving them false hope. They screamed in his face that if not for him, they could have freed their children much sooner.
Those who sang his name cursed at him, shouting that he was cruel for bringing false hope.
Mikal's name began to get dragged in the mud. And those who hated him plotted to take him down through this. Those he thought to be his loyal subordinates pointed their swords at him wanting to take his place at the throne of the Sundering Peak.
They even took the hands of the Sovereigns and tried to kill him. After Mikal staged his death by temporarily separating his soul from his body, extinguishing the flames in his Soul Lamp, Mikal escaped, gravely injured and on the brink of death.
He ran away carrying with him nothing but his final discovery that could theoretically eradicate the Crimson Heart Gem. In his hand, Mikal held the chance to possibly save millions in the future.
But remembering the curses they showered him, the derision, and how they looked at him like he was a monster, he felt nothing but bitterness.
'When they needed me… they celebrated my name….' but when he struggled, they vilified him. In his despair, Mikal turned his notes to ashes… and decided that it was better to finally rest.
But as he lay on a pool of his own blood, he met a peculiar boy. Akko'Isa, a boy who smiled in the face of his hardship. Mikal met the only boy who survived to live up to nine years old without any particular medicine.
At that moment, Akko'Isa became Mikal's hope. And by examining such a fascinating person, Mikal decided to use his final discoveries to help save the boy who showed him the light.
When he was cured, Mikal gave the boy the Heavenly Blooming Oil, and when Akko'Isa shed tears as he no longer felt the pain… when Ares hugged him tightly, thanking him for giving his son a sense of relief.
At this moment, Mikal remembered why he was doing his research.
The old man was reminded why he became a doctor.
It wasn't to gain recognition.
It wasn't to earn untold riches.
Nor was it to etch his name in history.
No, all of his hard work was so he could see others smile.
So that no one else will lose someone important to them.
That they wouldn't suffer to see their family fall in front of them as he did.
He wanted them to spare them the pain.
At that moment, Mikal vowed to cure Akko'Isa, and that he would one day return to the Sundering Peak and share his discovery so he could save the future generation.
He was abandoned by the riches of the Sundering Peak and, in turn, gained the gift of enlightenment.
'I will not let this fail….' Mikal would die before he let the process fail, 'I need stronger flames… Guxur… devour— '
The Bead underneath his navel opened, and the blue flames entered his heart and spread into his body. His lifeblood was prepared to be eaten, and the Flames of Heavenly Dew did not care for his life.
His eyes turned blue, and his entire body lifted from the ground. He flew ten meters up in the air, the same level as the sphere.
The Heavenly Dew Flames devoured and devoured, it grew stronger, and Mikal became weaker.
The old man did not care.
'Let's do this!' Mikal pulled the sphere to him and stopped it an inch away. Holding up his right, a tiny speck of blue flames formed in the middle of his palms.
"Roar— Guxur."
A beam of azure flames came out, engulfing the sphere.
The mud was blown away and the pot melted to nothing but a puddle.
And what was left was a perfect golden sphere with a soaring phoenix carved on its shimmering surface.
Out of breath, Mikal's body returned to being that of an old man's.
From the sky, he fell, followed by the golden sphere.
"Old Mikal!"
"… d-don't worry about me… the process is not over yet! If we don't do it fast, the Devil inside the Heart Gem will devour Akko!"
Ares caught Mikal, whose body returned to its drained self. Short of breath and vitality, Old Mikal lifted his hand and pointed at the sphere.
"Feed the Phoenix… the Heart Gem…."
"Ho-how can I do that?"
Mikal handed Ares a silver ax adorned with hundreds of runes, "This is the Brutal Silver Ax of Lidal. When I tell you so, use all your strength to strike the sphere and destroy it. If you miss the timing, everything would have been for naught."
Only now did Ares feel the heaviness of the Ax he was given.
Ares waited for Mikal's signal.
The sweat on his forehead fell from his cheeks and onto his chin.
His hand trembled, and he could feel his legs starting to grow soft.
Ares had to punch it awake to keep it from totally falling asleep.
Mikal watched the sphere intently, and then, his eyes widened, "Ares now!"
ZOOM!
The ground exploded when Ares took his first step. He put his everything in a single move, and with a roar, he struck the golden sphere with all his might!
The runes on the ax glowed, bursting into flames upon making contact with the sphere!
Whoosh!
Flames erupted from both sides then transformed into twenty blue fire snakes, 'A Mythical Weapon?'
The spell came alive in response to Ares' swing. The power of the twenty blue fire snakes slithered and struck the golden sphere.
BOOM!
An explosion that rocked the Forest almost blew Ares away. The ax sucked his spirit energy dry, but Ares bit his lips and pushed on!
"Aaaaaaaaa!" he roared, and so did the snakes.
"The Mythical Weapon is acknowledging his determination... it's accepting him as its rightful master!" Mikal was overjoyed, "Ares, that's good! Now! Call its name!
Ares' veins were devoured and transformed; the mark of twenty serpents slithering up his neck was branded on his body! He didn't know its name, Mikal didn't tell him anything, but a word in his head appeared.
It reverberated, and so, he shouted the words for the world to hear, "Brutal Fang!"
Ares' eyes glowed with a savage crimson light. The blue flame snakes transformed to the color of blood, and the markings surrounding his body were changed to the same hue. It burned him, but the power surging within intoxicated his mind!
Ares retrieved his hand and jumped!
Coming from above, Ares wielded Brutal Fang as if it was an extension of his body!
SLASH!
He rendered the air and cleaved the golden sphere with the roar of a bloodthirsty snake with a single swing!
The Golden Sphere cracked and exploded.
Ares was blown away, his body crashing to a tree! He coughed up blood; the backlash of unleashing a mythical weapon ate away at his body. His eyes became heavy, but Ares bit his tongue. The pain kept him awake, and his determination gave him the strength to stand.
"Akko!" he shouted, anxiousness plaguing him.
It was then that an orange bird shot up to the skies.
Scriiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeee!
The cry of a Phoenix pierced the heavens a from the billowing wind, came walking out Akko.
His body was without blemish, and his eyes were filled with disbelief. Akko'Isa looked at his hands, his body, and then at his Father, by the tree.
A single tear fell on the corner of his eyes as his body trembled, "I-it doesn't hurt… Father, it doesn't hurt anym—huh? Father, why are you looking at me like that?"
He asked as Ares looked at him in horror, and so did Mikal and those in the shadows.
Confusion settled on the boy's mind, he wanted to ask, but when he opened his mouth, he felt something warm going down the corner of his mouth.
He touched it and saw red.
"Blood?" Akko'Isa didn't know what was happening, but it was at that moment that he felt something was wrong. It wasn't painful, but something was definitely wrong; he felt something poking out on his forehead.
Akko'Isa grew terrified; he looked at his father, "Father… what's happeni—"
PshhH~
Akko'Isa vomited blood and cried blood! He fell to his knees, and his attention was drawn to the night sky.
His eyes rolled to the back of his head as it reflected the silver moon. Akko'Isa felt his blood boiling, he kept on bleeding, but he wouldn't die, no, he couldn't.
Akko'Isa experienced a severe Overflow.
Even after forming litters upon litters of blood around him, he wouldn't die.
The light of the sky changed from silver to crimson.
Akko'Isa opened his mouth.
KRIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
A demonic screech uprooted the surrounded trees!
The weakened Mikal raised his head with trembling lips.
It was then that he remembered the premonition he received.
"A Bleeding King beckons the Crimson Moon."
Mikal had always thought that a Devil King would appear to destroy another province. That a descent was bound to come, but he couldn't be any more wrong.
"The Bleeding King wasn't going to arrive due to a Blood Moon… it was the other way around…."
From Akko'Isa's temple, horns protruded.
The Blood Moon was to welcome the arrival of the Bleeding King.
And that was Akko'Isa.
The young boy was in the process of becoming a Bleeding King.
An unrecorded phenomenon was happening right in front of him.
But, something within him told Mikal that this was nothing to be surprised about, 'So that's what's happening… this is not good….'
"Akkooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!" with his bones sticking out his leg, Ares dashed towards Akko!
He didn't know if he could do anything, but he didn't care.
He couldn't think that far.
His first response was to get to his son.
To hold him….
Appease his pain.
A shriveled hand caught and dragged him to the ground.
"Let me go!" Ares shouted, "My son needs me! Unhand me~."
"CALM DOWN!" Mikal's roar almost deafened Ares, but it brought back his sanity.
"Stop panicking, you fool!" Mikal shouted.
"Bu-but, Akko, he's… this is all my fault… I shouldn't have allowed something like this to happen…." Ares' tears fell.
He didn't blame anyone other than himself.
He allowed this to happen. He was hurting his son because of his decision.
Mikal saw this and shook his head, "No, it's my fault… I didn't think that the Crimson Heart Gem truly was alive and would actually use the Sealing process as a way to perfect a vessel."
"Wha-what? A vessel?" Ares was confused.
"Before, I saw the Crimson Heart Gem as a condition that mutates and tortures the patient. But I was wrong, the Crimson Heart Gem is not just an affliction, and though I am only 70 percent sure, this is not an affliction and is instead a parasite."
"A parasite?"
Mikal nodded, "It changes the body and five it ten times the vitality of a normal person. This grants the host a surplus of life to counter the corrosion of the Crimson Heart Gem sustaining the vessel… and then, once the vessel is purified. The Crimson Heart Gem forces flesh and blood to be refined by breaking and rebuilding from birth until the vessel breaks. When the vessel is ready, the Crimson Heart Gem will awaken and transform its host to an unstoppable incarnation of calamity, known only as a Bleeding King."
The Bleeding King was a creature bo a different dimension, one of the few with a consistent form compared to other Devils.
"Then… what's going to Akko?" Ares realized what Mikal was saying, and dread set on his face.
But, Mikal pats Ares on the head, "Don't worry, as I said, I'll cure Akko. I cannot reverse the mutation, but I can stop him from becoming a Bleeding King… but the seal will most likely last no more than a month instead of five years, and the Bronze Dragul Sangre would no longer be of help, and we will need something more potent."
Mikal said, and Ares grabbed the old man's leg, his eyes trembling as tears streamed down his face, "I'll do anything… please save Akko."
With a smile, Mikal nodded, "I knew you'd say that."
Mikal motioned to the people hiding in the shadows.
Allen came to his side, and Mikal told him, "Take Ares to the village and activate this when you get there."
Mikal handed Allen a black disc plaque with intricate lines and symbols carved on its surface, "It will not be enough with your spirit energy alone, so have those people in the shadows help you. It should activate the bare minimum function. I will only give you five minutes to go there so be sure to run with all you have, okay? Move quick, or else the Phoenix will disappear."
Allen didn't dawdle and left almost immediately soon after receiving the plaque.
"From the tears of the Cosmos, you came alive. Your existence is bound to my soul and my soul to yours. Open thy heart and show them, your magnificence." Mikal threw everything on the wind in response to its arrival.
Mikal put his fingers together and placed them near his forehead with his open hand.
A blue dot appeared in his glabella.
Mikal's sensitivity to spirit energy explosively improved, and as he waited four and a half minutes, he felt the flow of spirit energy shift.
He turned his attention east and saw the formation of an azure dome forming.
'They're faster than I thought....' he laughed, "Now, Akko, let's seal that thing inside you."
Mikal closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them, his pupils transformed to slits, reminiscent of a serpent's.
Hong!
For five kilometers, massive spiritual pressure bore down upon everything.
It reached the village, and the azure dome shook, threatening to break.
Even inside the protective barrier, the Mortals fell one by one.
The people in the village collapsed, and Allen watched from the village and saw a tower of azure light coming down from the heavens. He remembered myths about people who conquered the heavens and seized the earth in awe and revelry.
'… he's a Celestial being….' Ares could not believe his eyes.
Mikal stood across Akko in the clearing and smiled, keeping his thoughts to himself.
He clapped his hands together and opened his mouth to chant a mantra.
"In thine name, shall the Heavens Open!
"With thine voice, heed my call!
"With thine soul, remember thy name!"
On the Western Hemisphere of the Continent, everyone watching the sky saw eight stars moved to form a constellation that had been thought to have been destroyed!
A commotion that shook those who knew began as this could only mean one thing — The Azure Serpent lives!
In the skies, a flat circular plane spanning a kilometer manifested.
A painting of a sleeping serpent coiled around a mountain was on the circular plane's surface.
The painting was surreal to witness and even more so when the serpent in the picture moved.
The serpent opened its eyes, and the mountains exploded into a magnificent blaze that engulfed everything.
Mikal formed a sign with his fingers as he whispered, "Guxur...."
Inside the painting in the skies, the serpent moved closer to the edge, and then it stopped right as it was about to exit the painting. An ansible wall stopped it from moving forward, but that was enough.
Mikal seized control of the Phoenix and had it rise into the skies, "Engulf."
The Phoenix opened its mouth and absorbed the celestial energy seeping out of the painting. Its once orange form transformed to azure. A speck of the Heavenly Dew Flame was enough to overwrite its essence.
However, the manifestation of the Five Ringed Ashes wasn't changed.
The Heavenly Dew Flame was created by an Alchemist who was an expert in enhancing the medicinal properties of the ingredients without altering its attribute. The Five Ringed Ashes' manifestation may have changed, but its effect did not dwindle. Instead, it was enhanced ten times its efficacy when it absorbed everything offered.
Mikal was already out of breath, but he only needed to do one last thing! He gathered what little he had on his hand and whispered, "Descend."
Fwu!
The Phoenix descended directly onto Akko's body from ten thousand meters as it should've done originally! But now, it was clad in blue flames.
From Akko's body appeared a manifestation of a shadow with giant horns. Its presence alone caused the air to change and be filled with absolute dread.
The shadowy figure roared, and the Phoenix screeched.
Whoosh~
The two clashed.
BOOM!
The energy from the clash of the two entities ravaged ten kilometers worth of land.
The forest was stripped a significant portion of its trees, and the barrier shook and wailed threateningly as if it would fall.
Allen and his men poured everything they had in the plaque to ensure it wouldn't crumble.
Lasting for no less than ten seconds, the explosion finally settled down.
Allen and the others collapsed as their spirit energy and vitality were drained, leaving them dried with no more strength.
And with the shockwaves disappearing, the moon also returned to its original state.
The clearing was no more as a giant crater had taken its place.
Mikal held the unconscious Akko with his remaining left hand in the middle of the giant crater.
The right hand he used to command the Phoenix's descend had been rendered to nothing but ashes, yet the old man did not care.
The boy he saw as his own grandson now breathed, and on his chest was the mark of an outstretched Phoenix Wings.
In Akko's heart was the shadow of the Bleeding King being pinned down by an azure phoenix.
"…the phoenix manifestation used Guxur's essence to transform itself to a spirit. He even formed a Spirit Bead; the seal should last for six months… you are lucky, Akko." Mikal laughed, sensing that Akko had actually been transformed to that of a cultivator.
Due to the Heavenly Dew Flames' attribute, it was not just the Five Ringed Ashe's efficacy but also the source of the Phoenix's core. From ashes, the Phoenix was reborn and forced Akko's body to create a spirit bead, transforming him from a mortal into a True Spirit Realm Cultivator.
Mikal touched his chest, and with a flash of green light, he managed to pull a blanket. He couldn't move, so this was the best he could do to keep Akko warm, 'We need to leave this place before they find me.'
***
"You've only healed, Ares. Are you sure you're ready to go?" Mikal asked, standing outside the cave treated as temporary lodging.
Ares swung the brutal ax and lightly jumped, "This thing increased my regenerative capability, and you've already set my bones in place."
Old Mikal was still worried, but before he could say anything, Ares waved his hand, "I already wasted a month, and we only have four months before the seal is destroyed, and Allen had already gathered the information we needed. With Brutal Fang, I'm sure we can get the last piece without a problem."
"If only I could've foreseen this, then we wouldn't be so pressed for time like this. I'm sorry for this old man's lacking skills." Mikal apologized.
Ares stopped Mikal from lowering his head, "Elder Mikal, please, don't lower your head. No one could've known something like that would happen."
Seeing the old man do something like that was something he couldn't bear to see.
Old Mikal sacrificed his arm for his son; Ares couldn't possibly ask for more, "You're already done so much for us, Elder Mikal. I'll do my part now."
Ares said his farewells to Mikal, who entered the cave and watched Ares disappear into the forest.
Ares walked for a hundred meters until he saw Allen waiting for him while eating an apple, "Let's go, Allen."
"Yes…." Allen responded as his face began to twist with uncertainty.
"What is it, Allen?"
"Nothing, it is just… are you sure about this, brother-in-law? Didn't you swear to Older Sister you wouldn't come back to this side?" Allen wanted to confirm.
"…this is the only way to save Akko. Despite sharing no blood with Akko, Elder Mikal risked his life to seal the Bleeding King. As his father, I'm willing to break any promise if I can save my son… even if that means I need to return to being a demon."
Ares didn't slow down his steps.
Allen bitterly smiled, staring at Ares' back, "If that's your decision, I will honor it, brother-in-law."
"Thank you, Allen. Now, tell me again, where is this Phoenix Blood Crystal?"
Ares sets out to find the last piece that will save his son.
His eyes oozing with determination.
Uncaring what he must do to achieve his goals if it means it would save his son.