As the smoke faded away, the holy knight looked cocky. There was no sign of Kairo — that insignificant bug must have died under the might of his light ray.
Yet as the debris fully vanished, Kairo could be seen unscathed. Hell, the only sign of damage on his body was the fact his clothes were slightly wrinkled, and that was about it. There was no other sign to show it.
He looked fine.
"That it?" Kairo looked confused. This was the man's full might? Kairo was confused — he had expected the Holy Knights to be at the very least as strong as an Admiral or something.
Yet a part of him seemed to have known they would be this weak, while David thought they were strong.
Kairo merely viewed them as immortality merchants.
The holy knight would scramble a bit, trying to heal, but his immortality wasn't working. The man would look at his wounds; his hands and feet were now stumps. He couldn't heal anymore — the hell?
His gaze would turn cold as he looked at Kairo.
"What the hell did you do to me, you insolent bastard?!"
Kairo's gaze was rather cold. Taking out his sword, he would imbue that shit with haki.
"While yes, you can heal, I simply changed it. You see, humans aren't able to regain missing limbs." Kairo would begin walking toward the man, his sword a dark color, emanating a shit-ton of Haki.
And Abyssal energy.
"An animal who can do that is the axolotl... you see, axolotls possess several specialized cell types and biological mechanisms that enable limb regeneration, which humans lack or cannot activate in the same way. The key cells involved are connective tissue cells, which dedifferentiate into a stem-cell-like state after injury, allowing them to regenerate bone, tendon, muscle, and other tissues."
"These CT cells become the primary architects of limb reconstruction, making up as much as 75% of the blastema — the mass of regenerative cells that forms at the injury site. The blastema also includes de-differentiated cells from the bone, cartilage, muscle, and other tissues, which lose their specialized identity and regain the ability to form new structures. These cells are guided by positional memory, which ensures the regenerated limb matches the original in form and proportion."
"What the hell are you getting at?" the holy knight would say.
Kairo would smile.
"We're getting there. You see, a crucial factor in this process is the role of the immune system. Axolotls exhibit a controlled immune response that reduces inflammation without causing fibrosis, allowing for scarless healing and tissue reconstruction. In contrast, the human immune system triggers a strong inflammatory response that leads to scar formation, which inhibits regeneration. Additionally, axolotls utilize specific molecular signals such as retinoic acid and the enzyme CYP26B1 to regulate limb patterning during regeneration, with higher retinoic acid levels at proximal sites guiding the formation of larger limb structures. The gene Hoxa13 activates CYP26B1 to break down retinoic acid in specific areas, creating a precise pattern for regeneration."
"All this to say: they have a blueprint. The human body, however, doesn't. If you lose something, your cells just close up the wound and that is it," Kairo said softly.
"So for you to be able to grow those new limbs, something must have a checkpoint somewhere for it."
"My ability to regenerate comes from the GODS above, not something a mere beast like you can understand," the man said coldly, as if he wasn't at Kairo's mercy.
"You get your thing from it. Your immortality works like this: your soul contains a perfect template of your healthy body. When injured, your body tries to rebuild itself to match that template."
"Usually, a huge amount of Conqueror's Haki is able to bypass it and hurt you — even reverse the effect, in the case of Rocks." His gaze was cold as he looked at the holy knight.
"However... it's possible to attack the link itself and corrupt it."
Kairo would walk closer to the holy knight.
"In other words... whatever I cut, stays cut forever. No matter what you try, your body and soul will think this is your soul's original shape."
"You bastard!" the holy knight would growl, his own regen being corrupted by this fucker.
"Don't worry, I plan to toy with you a while longer," Kairo would say softly, the lingering effect of his Conqueror's Haki leaving the holy knight's body.
He then took out a syringe, injecting it into the man.
{Divine Judgment} would seem to pierce his body as the holy knight tried to get Kairo away from him.
Yet as the light faded, Kairo was there... unfazed.
"Let me help you."
With one quick slice, he cut off the stump that used to be the holy knight's arms and legs.
"AHHHH!"
A scream of pure agony would escape his lips. He felt it — that shit burned like no other. His pain sensors were brought back for this one moment.
His flesh would contort and distort in weird ways as his limbs grew back, yet the pain he felt was so excruciating that he could barely think.
"You arrogant swine!" Raising his hands, he wanted to slash a light spear straight through Kairo — however, he would notice that his hand was on the floor.
Kairo had slashed it clean off.
"Haa... it hurts..." the man screamed, actual pain coming from his voice. His pain made Kairo smile; he had this satisfied grin on his face, his wings spread apart. He truly looked like a demon.
"Don't worry, we get to play a lot more," Kairo would smile, wanting to see how many limbs he could cut off, and if the man could still live even if he was choking on his own blood.
A/N I please beg yall can see what happening.