"Hang on, Mika!"
"I'm here for you, Genji. I am so, so sorry."
A dying Mikhail weakly opened his eyes and saw the blurry faces of Shizuka and Mizuki. He saw tears coming out from Shizuka's eyes and he used the very last bit of his energy to comfort her by squeezing her.
Currently, our badly wounded main protagonist could be seen on top of a stretcher that is pushed by several medical assistants with Mizuki's personal doctor who's listening to her explanation regarding the causes of Mikhail's injury.
The stretcher reached the doors of the ICU and a nurse faced them, preventing them from entering inside by telling them that, "I'm sorry, but you two can't go any further."
Inside the ICU, the surgeons worked tirelessly to save the injured Mikhail. Blood pooled on the operating table as the damage from Rae's attack became worse: deep cuts, punctured organs, and broken bones. As the surgeons tried to save Mikhail, one of them asked,
"Doctor, it seems that his regeneration has stopped working."
Mizuki's personal doctor grimly stated, "The weapon that his enemy used didn't nullify it completely, but it slowed it down and one mistake can cost his life. We must do anything to save him!"
***
"How did it happen?"
Shizuka looked at Mizuki and then leaned herself against the wall, recalling the incident. From watching Mikhail being stabbed and thrown into an oncoming bus to encountering Rae who summoned demonic creatures, fighting the creatures and being separated by Rae with a barrier to the battle against the Exterminator Squad.
"I… I feel so weak and powerless when–"
Mizuki immediately hugged Shizuka who then burst into tears, repeatedly apologizing to Mizuki for being weak to protect her younger brother. A few hours later, one of the surgeons came out of the room with blood all over his clothes. Both Mizuki and Shizuka could see the exhaustion etched on the surgeon's face despite wearing a mask.
"For now, he is stable but let him rest first. You guys can visit him tomorrow."
As soon as the surgeon said that, a nurse came out from the room with a terrified expression and told the surgeon that Mikhail suddenly went into cardiac arrest. This caused the surgeon and the nurse to return back to the operating room where they, as well as the others, were horrified to see the sudden appearance of numerous injuries all over Mikhail's body, especially the head area.
A few minutes earlier
"Ammar, what do you think your powers will be?"
Ammar looked at Camellia and rubbed his chin, trying to figure out what powers he would receive. He thought about a few such as firing a massive energy wave while screaming the technique name, elongated limbs that could be shaped into numerous forms, or even possessing a ghostly spirit that only certain individuals could see.
"I have no idea, to be honest. You know what? It'd be cool if I could somehow adapt to any phenomenon." Ammar looked up and then continued, "For example, if I fight someone with the ability to fire invisible slashes, when I receive the first slash, not only I can adapt to that technique but also reflect it back to the enemy."
"Wow, that's cool," Camellia was impressed with Ammar's choice. Genji's best friend then asked her about her desired power, to which she replied, "Maybe something related to the soul?"
"Oh, that's cool!"
As both students were enjoying their conversation, suddenly, Camellia tensed up. Her sudden action confused Ammar as she hurriedly went to the living room, prompting Ammar to chase after her. As they arrived in the living room, a worried and crying Mikayla could be seen rushing to the door.
"Mikayla-sama? What's wrong?" asked a confused Ammar.
The crying Mikayla explained, "I just received a call from Mizuki that Mika was hospitalized after fighting someone and he just went into cardiac arrest. You two, follow me now."
***
"Mother!"
Mikayla turned to the direction of where the sound came from and saw Mizuki with Shizuka whose clothes were torn apart. She, alongside Mikhail's friends rushed towards them and inquired about what had happened.
"Someone attacked Genji and separated us. While he fought the attacker, I faced several Level 4 Demons. I thought by the time I finished dealing with them, I could assist Genji but the arrival of the Exterminator Squad prevented me from doing so. If the Hunters led by Rin had arrived a bit later, I am certain one of them would have killed me."
Mikayla, Ammar, and Camellia were shocked when they heard the explanation from Shizuka. While Mizuki continued questioning the head clan of Katagiri, Camellia suddenly heard a fading scream coming from the room. She set her sights on the room and manipulated her Mystic Energy into her eyes, allowing her to see what's inside.
What she saw inside the room terrified her. She saw a giant ghostly figure draining Mikhail's life. This caused her to inform them about something attacking Mikhail's spirit which only she noticed.
"Wait, I felt something. I felt a very malicious presence near Mikhail." Ammar added to solidify Camellia's claim.
"But who can save him?" Mizuki asked everyone who thought the same thing except Shizuka who had an idea.
She stood up and walked away, causing Mizuki to question where she was going. Shizuka said nothing other than showing her phone. Stepping out from the hospital, Shizuka took a deep breath before calling the person she hates the most. A few seconds later, the call connected, and an angry voice echoed through the line.
"The fuck do you want, Katagiri!?"
Shizuka clenched her fist tightly, swearing that if she gets the chance to smash her knuckle into this guy's face, she will definitely do it. Calming herself down, she spoke with a gentle voice,
"Kashimo… I need your help. Please save Genji."
For a moment, Shizuka didn't receive any response from Kashimo. She was starting to get pissed off and about to scream when Kashimo told her to give him five minutes before ending the call. Thanking Kashimo for accepting her plea, Shizuka went back to Mizuki and the others, telling them that someone is coming to help Mikhail.
Five minutes later, a tall guy wearing a green flannel over a black t-shirt arrived at the location. Upon seeing his orange shaggy hairstyle, Shizuka rolled her eyes in annoyance and then crossed her arms.
"You look like shit, Katagiri."
"..."
Mizuki widened her eyes and greeted the young man, "Nishiki, it's been a while. Where have you been? Nevermind that, can you save my brother?"
Nishiki scoffed and said, "There's nothing that I can't do. Anyway, what's the problem?"
"This girl, Camellia, told us that something, some sort of a spirit is attacking Mika, draining his life." Mikayla explained the issue to Nishiki whose dark eyes turned fiery golden.
"The girl was right, Mikayla-sama. Well, I have a few questions but for now, let's save your son's life."
With everyone behind him, Nishiki barged into the operating room which alerted the surgeons who tried to remove him from the room, but a pissed off Shizuka proceeded to grab a scalpel and pointed it at the throat of the nearby surgeon.
"Leave the room." Mikayla ordered the surgeons and when they refused to comply, she repeated her word but this time with an angry tone.
Glancing at the heavily injured Mikhail whose body was wrapped by bandages soaked in blood, Nishiki softened his gaze and whispered, "You look very terrible, Genji… The last time you were in this state was when you fought Daihachi and saved my ass."
Nishiki had a minor flashback of himself being brutally attacked by Daihachi who then constructed an energy axe and raised it. With one swift motion, he brought it down. Nishiki widened his eyes when he realized Mikhail had just pushed him aside and received a deep gash on his back.
"It's time for me to repay my debt to you, Genji."
Facing the others, Nishiki asked, "The only way for me to save his life is through entering his mind with my secret technique. Once we enter his mind, we will witness his memories, past, present, and even future. I can bring two people but I suggest those two people are very close to him or at least knows his past."
Everyone looked at one another with Mizuki and Mikayla looking at each other as if they understood something. They then glanced at Shizuka, Ammar and Camellia.
"One of you has to stay behind." Mikayla said.
After considering the situation, Camellia then told Ammar to go with Shizuka which surprised him. Ammar tried to reason that Camellia is the reason why they knew why Mikhail went into cardiac arrest and she should go with Shizuka, but Camellia refused, stating that Ammar is a very close friend to Mikhail.
"So, who is it going to be?"
"Shizuka-san and I will go." Ammar replied to Nishiki's question.
Nishiki instructed Ammar and Shizuka to stand between him and touch his back. He then touched Mikhail's forehead and closed his eyes. Immediately, their consciousness travelled to Mikhail's mind and they arrived at an assembly hall.
"Where are we?"
Looking around, Shizuka took a deep breath and then replied, "Mikhail's high school. The first place where he changed the course of history and altered his life. This is where both of us met him for the very first time."
Ammar turned around when he heard a loud thud and saw Mikhail punching Shizuka, who spotted a different hairstyle, into the ground. He then heard a loud cheer from the students that witnessed the battle. Among the spectators, he saw Nishiki and Mizuki back when they were young.
"He spared my life, you know? He could've chosen to end my life after I badly beaten his senior, but Genji chose to spare my life even when my late father told him to kill me for embarrassing him." Shizuka whispered as the memory shifted to Mikhail standing over the defeated Shizuka.
Their reminiscence of the past was quickly interrupted by a loud scream of agony followed by an echoing hysterical laughter. They turned around simultaneously and saw a blood-stained wooden door rise from the ground. Nishiki opened the door and gestured to them to follow him and the door led them to a room.
A dark room dirtied with blood that was barely illuminated with a few candles. What stood before them, which surprised and horrified them, was a badly beaten Mikhail who was chained to the ceiling by his neck and both of his palms nailed to the wall behind him.
His left eye was swollen pretty badly, his face and upper body covered with bruises, cuts, and even burn marks. His toes were crushed and some of his fingers were missing. Shizuka widened her eyes as the door behind them was opened, revealing Dayana in a black robe.
Dayana walked through them and with one swift motion, she struck Mikhail in the face with her clawed hands, knocking out some of his teeth and nearly tearing his jaw. The wound healed slowly and it was extremely painful as Mikhail cried through the process.
"Why is it so hard to break you apart? What do I have to do to make you give up and surrender your will to me?" Dayana questioned while looking at the dirty environment. "I framed you for the assassination attempt, I made your friends and teachers turn against you, I even tortured you for months and still you refuse to submit."
She placed her foot on his head and pushed it to the ground, scowling at the crying teenager as she said, "What does it take to break you."
Unable to contain his anger anymore, Ammar tried to attack Dayana but Nishiki prevented him from doing so. He explained that they're in Mikhail's mind, watching his painful memories and there's nothing that they could do.
They watched Dayana raise her clawed hand that radiated sinister demonic energy. Suddenly, Dayana turned around and pointed at them before yelling in a demonic tone,
"YOU ARE NOT WELCOME HERE, INVADERS!"
In the next second, the three of them were knocked away by a powerful invisible shockwave.