"Ahem." Cloud withdrew his hand without changing expression, his tone perfectly serious. "I was just checking to see if you've been eating properly lately. Your face looks thinner."
"You're the one who looks thin!" Athena shot him an exasperated glare, but worry quickly clouded her features once more.
She grabbed Cloud's hand and hurried toward the interior of the building.
"Stop fooling around! Come with me, quick! Kensou and Master are worried sick!"
Inside an antique room suffused with the fragrance of medicinal herbs, Cloud finally laid eyes on the two victims of the "Psychic Power Disappearance Case."
Sie Kensou—normally a hyperactive kid who bounced around like a monkey—now lay slumped in a chair like a salted fish that had been completely deboned. Every ounce of energy had been drained from his body.
His face was the picture of despair.
Chin Gentsai, the "hidden master" who usually had his gourd of wine perpetually in hand, was notably sober for once. Those normally bleary old eyes were filled with gravity and barely concealed concern.
"Cloud, my boy, you finally made it." Chin Gentsai let out a long sigh when he saw Cloud enter.
"What exactly happened?" Cloud asked, cutting straight to the point.
"Ah, it's a long story." Chin Gentsai gestured toward another bed nearby, where a young boy lay with a flushed face and a damp towel pressed to his forehead.
It was Bao.
"Ever since the KOF 99 tournament ended," Chin Gentsai began, his voice heavy with resignation, "this little fellow has been running a fever on and off. And the power inside him has become increasingly unstable—more volatile by the day."
"Then, just a few days ago..." He paused, glancing at Sie Kensou. "This rascal was sparring with Bao when suddenly, something went wrong."
"I—I don't know what happened!" Sie Kensou finally spoke up, his voice cracking. "One moment I was about to fire a Psycho Ball, and the next, I felt like something was... sucking all the qi out of my body!"
"Then I couldn't do anything anymore! My Psycho Ball! My Dragon Jaw Crusher! My Spirit Blast! They're all... all... gone!"
He desperately tried to form a ball of energy in his palm.
After straining for what felt like an eternity, his face red from the effort, not even a spark appeared.
He had truly become an ordinary person.
[System Alert: Sie Kensou has been downgraded from Psychic Fighter to "high schooler who knows some martial arts." Combat assessment: 5 (trash-tier).]
Cloud studied Kensou's "drained husk" of a body, then turned his attention to the feverish boy on the bed—Bao, whose small frame radiated an enormous and distinctly ominous power.
His brow furrowed.
He walked to the bedside and reached out to examine Bao's condition.
"Careful!" Chin Gentsai warned immediately. "The power inside this child is strange! Extremely aggressive!"
Cloud ignored him.
He pressed his finger gently against Bao's forehead.
Then activated [Deep Analysis].
"—Hmmm!"
An ancient, chaotic, violent force surged from Bao's body through Cloud's finger, attempting to strike back!
That power felt like a primordial beast from the dawn of time—one that had been starving for eons!
It wanted to devour everything!
To consume Cloud's Chaos Divine Power! To consume his very soul!
However... it had picked the wrong target.
"Heh. Showing off before an expert."
A cold glint flashed in Cloud's eyes.
His Chaos Divine Bloodline, upon sensing this "challenge," began to boil!
A force even more dominating—one that seemed to contain the very essence of the universe's creation—erupted outward!
If the power within Bao was a primordial beast, then Cloud's Chaos Divine Power was the Creator who had made that beast in the first place!
Before the Creator, all created things could only submit!
The moment that rampaging, malevolent energy touched Cloud's Chaos Divine Power, it cowered like a mouse spotting a cat, instantly deflating.
It let out a whimper-like keen, trying to retreat.
But it was too late.
"Think you can come and go as you please?" Cloud smiled coldly. "It's not that easy."
With a thought, his Chaos Divine Power transformed into an invisible net, intercepting and capturing a small portion of that energy!
The [Deep Analysis] function kicked into overdrive!
[Ding! Analyzing unknown energy signature...]
[Warning! This energy contains extremely high levels of corruption and devouring properties! Please proceed with caution!]
[Analyzing... energy structure... composition principles... origin signature...]
[Analysis complete!]
[Target designation: Demon King (Remnant Soul)]
[Description: This energy is the residual consciousness of a catastrophic evil star that terrorized the Central Plains two hundred years ago. Its essence is a fusion of chaos and malevolent thoughts, possessing the terrifying ability to devour and assimilate all forms of energy.]
[Current status: Reincarnated and parasitizing host. Due to the host body "Bao" being unable to withstand its immense power, it currently exists in a semi-awakened power-saving mode.]
[Note: Congratulations, Host! You've encountered a discount-brand colleague with similar attributes to yourself.]
The Demon King's reincarnation?!
Cloud stared at the system's analysis report, a flash of surprise crossing his eyes.
Now he finally understood why Chin Gentsai had taken Bao as his disciple.
The old man had been trying to use his own "Daoist vital energy" combined with Sie Kensou's "Dragon Spirit" to gradually purify the demonic energy within Bao.
Unfortunately, he had underestimated just how domineering the Demon King's power truly was.
As Bao's strength grew during the KOF 99 tournament, that "Demon King consciousness" had begun to awaken.
And Sie Kensou's Dragon Spirit—which shared the same origin as the Demon King's power but was far purer—had become an irresistible delicacy.
It had been completely drained.
And so, Sie Kensou had gone from a psychic fighter to "trash-tier."
This was textbook "sacrifice your teammate to the heavens, gain infinite power."
...
Get 20+ chapters ahead on - P.a.t.r.e.o.n "RoseWhisky"