Chương 82: Drug

Ch 82 - Drug Evan's mind raced as he faced Reid. His brother's expression was cold and unreadable, giving nothing away. This was exactly what Evan had been trying to avoid. Wreathed in demonic energy, he looked just like every abomination Reid had ever put down. Would his brother even hear him out? Probably not, given how much he resembled the part. Still, Reid's gun wasn't pointing at his head, so maybe there was a sliver of hope left.

The two brothers faced each other without speaking while the distant clangs of weapons and shouts of fighters still battling across the island filled the silence between them. The longer Reid stared at him, the more Evan wanted to squirm and disappear into the earth. Was there truly no way to turn off this damned ability? System, do something! Evan thought, but the unhelpful blue square didn't even bother showing its annoying face. Was Reid planning to glare him to death?

It sounded ridiculous, but this was Reid, and Evan was seriously starting to wonder if it might actually be possible, since his brother was the overpowered protagonist who had taken down a Demon King. All Evan could do was hope that if Reid decided to kill him, he'd at least make it quick. Reid took another step forward, and Evan barely stopped himself from flinching. He forced himself to hold his ground, hoping that as long as he didn't make any sudden moves, Reid would hesitate before shooting him.

Instead, Reid raised his hand and placed it on Evan's shoulder, and a torrent of Sacred Light flooded into his body, clashing with the demonic energy already coursing through him. The two forces fought for dominance and tore through his insides as though a war had broken out inside his own flesh.

"Ack!" Evan doubled over as agony ripped through him, his entire body feeling as though it were being torn apart from within. Reid didn't stop. He continued to pour Sacred Light into Evan, ignoring every groan and hiss that escaped his brother's lips, until the demonic energy was burned out of him piece by piece. The darkness receded slowly, and his human face and body emerged again in its place. The moment it was over, Evan's legs buckled, but Reid caught him before he fell.

He cupped his brother's face and tilted it upward, his golden eyes sweeping over Evan's features before he let out a breath.

"Good. I was worried for a second." Evan could only grunt in response, his entire body now aching from the ordeal.

"I'm sorry, that must have hurt," Reid said, and this time the Sacred Light flowing into Evan was warm, soothing the damage instead of tearing through it. Evan slumped against Reid and let his brother work, telling himself that at least the warning had done its job. Reid hadn't blown his head off, and that alone felt like a win.

"Evan!" Reika emerged from the forest, with Masaru following behind her.

"You're alive!" Evan managed a thumbs-up, then let his arm fall.

"My daughter said there was another S-rank monster here," Masaru said as he approached them.

"I assume you've already handled it?" His gaze drifted toward the corpse of the Leshy, whose head was nowhere to be seen.

"Yes," Reid replied. Reika opened her mouth, but Evan silenced her with a glare. She caught his meaning at once and pressed her lips together, saying nothing more.

"What about the monsters around the island?" Reid asked.

"I've dealt with the worst of them. There are some smaller ones left, but the backup Awakeners have arrived and should be able to handle them," Masaru said. Evan felt his eyelids growing heavier despite Reid continuing to channel Sacred Light into him and heal his wounds. Was this a side effect of the skill? The thought barely crossed his mind before exhaustion dragged him into darkness.

Feeling Evan's body lean even more heavily against him, Reid looked down and realized that his brother had lost consciousness.

"It seems your brother needs some rest," Masaru noted.

"Let's take him to the villa." They traveled back as a group, with Reika filling them in on everything that had happened before Reid and Masaru arrived. She explained the sudden Rift Outbreak, how they had discovered that Hiroto and several other teenagers had been kidnapped, and how she and Evan had chased the kidnappers into a strange S-rank Rift that had been opened using a device. Then she recounted the battle that followed. Reid's expression darkened with each word.

Reika hadn't mentioned any demonic arts practitioners, but everything about this incident pointed to them. The Leshy had clearly been empowered by whatever sacrificial ritual those same people had performed. It seemed that no matter which world he found himself in, cultists of the dark arts were always the same brand of insane. After laying Evan down in his bed, Reid checked him over again. The demonic energy that had cloaked him was gone, but some still clung to him. Reid wanted to purge it all, but held back.

Loath as he was to admit it, his brother had a talent for the dark arts. Leaving Evan to rest, Reid headed toward a nearby bedroom, where he found Hiroto lying unconscious on the bed with Reika and Masaru standing close by. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Would you like me to try to heal him?" Reid asked.

"That would be most appreciated," Masaru answered. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Reid placed a hand against Hiroto's chest and channeled Sacred Light into him. Hiroto had several light bruises, likely from being tied up and tossed around during Reika's escape from the Leshy. Beneath those minor injuries, though, something unusual lingered in his mana, which made it sluggish and unresponsive.

"What's wrong with Hiroto?" Reika asked.

"I believe he's under the influence of some sort of drug," Reid said.

"I've used my healing ability, but I'll need to treat him several more times and give his body time to recover before he wakes up. Don't worry. He should be well enough to wake tomorrow." Masaru frowned but nodded.

"I see. Thank you for your help." The two men left Hiroto's room, leaving Reika behind to keep watch over her brother. They walked through the empty hallway before stopping beside a window. The fighting had nearly died down, and people were already cleaning up the damage from the Rift Outbreak. Perhaps they should count themselves lucky it had happened on an isolated private island rather than in the middle of a District, where the casualties could have been far worse.

"There aren't many substances capable of knocking out an S-rank Awakener," Reid said.

"Hiroto may still be young and inexperienced, but it would take something incredibly potent to leave him that vulnerable. Whoever used it knew exactly what they were doing." Masaru drummed his fingers against the windowsill for a moment before finally speaking, his voice grave.

"Something that dangerous would be heavily monitored. Even finding it on the black market would be difficult."

"Exactly. You'd either need a dose so large that administering it unnoticed would be almost impossible, or something strong enough to work in small amounts and evade detection entirely," Reid said. Masaru rubbed his eyes.

"You have quite a difficult task ahead of you, Mr. Konoe. I don't usually involve myself in other people's family matters, but Hiroto is different. He's my brother's friend, and I've grown quite fond of him. He's a good kid, so I can't help but wonder why you've treated him this way." Reid gave Masaru a pointed look, which the older man met without flinching. They held each other's gaze for several seconds before Masaru turned away, a complicated mixture of emotions flickering across his face.

"Being a father isn't easy," Reid continued.

"But you need to try. Whatever your reasons, don't take your children for granted. Hold onto them while you can. Because one day, you might realize your own choices have pushed them too far away." He walked off without another word. Masaru would likely dismiss everything he'd said. To the man, Reid was probably just a kid playing adult, someone who didn't understand parenthood or the real world. But Reid couldn't have stayed silent. Watching a father lose his way was something he couldn't bear.

"Father!" a young girl cried. Reid clenched his fists as he walked.

Reika sat on the edge of the bed, her attention on her unconscious brother.

"What an idiot. Do you have any idea how much of a headache you are? And you're just lying there, sleeping it off." Her voice dropped.

"You said you changed. You said you were stronger. And yet here you are, needing me to bail you out again. Moron." She drew her legs up and wrapped her arms around them, but the chaos in her mind had yet to subside. The night's events looped through her thoughts on repeat. To think that F-rank Evan had been hiding something like that. What ability was it? Shapeshifting? Some kind of transformation? Whatever it was, it had been powerful enough to stand against the empowered Leshy.

Then why was Evan registered as F-rank? Was he another secret S-rank like Hiroto? If so, perhaps Reika didn't need to feel so ashamed about losing to the two of them. Her thoughts circled back to Hiroto, still lying motionless. Whatever they had given him was powerful enough to knock out an S-rank Awakener and leave him unconscious for this long. The realization made her stomach twist. How had Hiroto ended up in such danger?

It couldn't have happened long ago, and judging by his condition, he had probably ingested it through food. She doubted he would have let someone press a cloth soaked in a powerful sedative over his face without putting up a fight. The door opened, and her mother strolled into the room.

"Reika! There you are. I was so worried about you!" She hurried over and pulled Reika up from the bed, hugging her.

"When those monsters attacked, you were so reckless! Running off to fight like that!"

"I'm sorry, Mother, but I'm an A-rank, and it's my duty to face a Rift Outbreak," Reika said.

"I suppose you're your father's child. I tried to find you, but you were nowhere to be found. Where did you go, and..." Her mother glanced at her brother.

"What's wrong with Hiroto?"

"He was drugged and kidnapped. I don't know why they targeted Hiroto, but whoever they are, they're clearly capable of things we don't fully understand. They somehow opened a portal to an S-rank Rift, and I suspect they may have been behind the Rift Outbreak as well. What concerns me most is how they managed to incapacitate Hiroto in the first place."

"Oh dear, that is rather concerning. So you were the one who rescued him?"

"Yeah, well, it was Evan and me…" Reika said, trailing off.

"Is that so?" The door swung open, cutting off their conversation. Her father stepped in, his eyes fixed on her mother.

"Haruta. Come with me. We need to speak." Her mother arched an eyebrow but followed without question. Reika sat alone for a moment before her curiosity won out. She crept after them to her father's room and channeled mana into her ears, listening through the closed door.

"I heard about the Kraken," her mother said.

"I didn't see it myself since I was fighting on the other side of the island, but I know you could easily overpower that monster. That number-one S-rank spot should have been yours, not that young woman's."

"Let's not waste time on small talk," her father said.

"You know well that I'm not here to discuss such trivial things."

"This isn't trivial. This is our guild's ranking we're talking about. The White Wolf might be ahead of Skybreak for now, but that's only because Skybreak hasn't been around as long. If we let that woman keep building momentum, she'll overtake us before we know it."

"Are you really that concerned about those things, or are you just trying to distract me?"

"Distract?"

"Instead of asking more about what happened to Hiroto and Reika, you kept going on about the guild," her father said.

"Well, they're fine, aren't they? And I'm sure the government will investigate everything thoroughly." Her father sighed.

"So you're going to keep up the act."

"I'm not acting."

"Haruta, I know you were the one who drugged Hiroto."