"Well then, I hope you and Kojou can leave the hospital soon."
"Yeah, thanks for your concern, Cid-nii-san."
"Nagisa, I'm hanging up now. Bye."
"Bye…"
After saying goodbye to Nagisa, Cid put down his phone and began searching for information online.
His concern yesterday had been completely misplaced. The reason Nagisa Akatsuki had not gone home for three days was simply because Kojou Akatsuki had been hospitalized, and she had gone to take care of him.
Judging from the timeline, Kojou Akatsuki should have been admitted four days ago, the same night he went berserk and got beaten by Cid at the Keystone Gate. In other words, Cid bore part of the responsibility for Kojou Akatsuki ending up in the hospital.
Thinking of this, Cid paused his typing and raised an eyebrow. Something felt off.
He lifted one hand and held his arm out in front of him. A strand of slime shot from his fingertip and sliced a cut across his arm.
The moment the wound opened, a large amount of blood poured out.
But in the next second, a faint blue glow appeared around the wound. The blood vanished, and his arm returned to normal as if nothing had happened.
His healing ability was working just fine.
After confirming that the true damage, poison, curses, and other debuffs he had applied to the wound had all disappeared along with it, Cid felt puzzled.
Even setting aside Kojou Akatsuki's absurd regenerative ability, just the healing blast he had used on him at the end should have already taken care of any injuries.
It was not like he had never treated a Primogenitor Vampire before. As far as he was concerned, Primogenitor Vampires were not much different from ordinary people.
Although the Vampires of World 2 and World 3 were not exactly the same species, they still shared some similarities. Taking that into account, he could say he had experience treating a Primogenitor.
So… what exactly was Kojou Akatsuki hospitalized for?
And what did Kojou Akatsuki being injured have to do with Nagisa Akatsuki? Why did she have to stay at the hospital too?
All these questions almost made Cid call again, but he remembered how Nagisa Akatsuki had hesitated when he previously asked which hospital Kojou Akatsuki was in. He had wanted to visit, but her reaction made it clear they were somewhere that could not be disclosed, so he gave up.
Honestly, was Kojou Akatsuki actually some light novel protagonist who had wandered into reality? It felt like sooner or later, someone else would come looking to deal with him.
Kojou, I am starting to get a bit interested in you again.
After complaining about Kojou Akatsuki, Cid went back to browsing for light novels online. Once he found some, he sent them to the middle-aged man he had added as a friend the previous night.
After a long back-and-forth yesterday, he had finally convinced Rizevim to give up on the idea of taking him as a master. The man was simply too old for that.
Even so, while he avoided becoming a master, he could not avoid becoming a like-minded close friend.
At least, that was how it looked on the surface. In Cid's view, it felt more like watching an ignorant rookie who knew nothing yet rushed headfirst onto the path of villainy.
Rizevim genuinely enjoyed committing evil. The only issue was that his strength seemed a bit lacking. Otherwise, he might have become some kind of world-class terrorist, second only to Shadow.
But despite his pure desire to do evil, his moral standards and approach were so low that even calling him a third-rate villain would be generous.
Cid found some excerpts online about villains being defeated and showed them to Rizevim, asking for his thoughts.
Rizevim's response was, "Why? Why does this guy keep getting back up after being knocked down so many times?"
Hearing the confusion in his voice, Cid thought maybe he had picked something with overly forced plot armor, so he carefully read through it himself.
???
That was his first reaction after finishing it. He admitted the material had some issues, but Rizevim clearly had problems too.
The source of that material was a type of novel that emerged after the world's fusion, when Gods and Demons revealed themselves to humanity. These stories were based on the real-world power system.
The novel he found featured a boy who, by chance, awakened a Longinus.
The scene he selected showed the protagonist being beaten down again and again by the villain, only to stand back up each time with encouragement from his parents and healing from his younger sister, who was a priest, before finally defeating the villain.
To be fair, there really are plenty of things to pick apart in that scene. For example, the protagonist gets back up again and again, so why does the villain only knock him down instead of killing him?
And why does the villain just stand there watching the priest sister heal the protagonist instead of taking her out?
Also, the protagonist's parents are just ordinary people, so how are they completely unharmed during the fight, and still able to comfort and encourage him every single time he goes down?
There are plenty of issues. If the old man pointed those out, Cid would agree. But instead, he ended up asking the same thing as that third-rate villain, questioning why the protagonist could keep getting back up. Where did you even come from, acting like some third-rate villain?
Sacred Gears were created by God. God is the supreme ruler of the Biblical God Faction, and Devils also belong to that same system. So how do you not even understand the properties of the Sacred Gears within your own faction?
Sacred Gears created by God can absorb the emotions of their users and evolve, growing stronger over time. In other words, as long as the user's will is strong enough and their body can keep up, they can continue to grow stronger without limit.
And in that scene, the protagonist's sister is a priest who can heal him, while his parents are right there encouraging him. Yet you are asking why the protagonist can keep getting back up. Are you serious?
The moment Cid realized that Rizevim was questioning why the protagonist could stand up again and again, instead of questioning why the villain acted like an idiot by not killing the healer or the protagonist's parents and just letting them stand there supporting him, he felt relieved that he had not impulsively accepted Rizevim as a disciple.
Gamma and Delta were already the greatest stain on his teaching career. If he had taken in Rizevim, a Devil who could only be described as a third-rate villain, his reputation as a teacher would have been completely ruined.
At least Rizevim was not strong enough to be anything more than someone who talks big. There was no way he could become some kind of terrorist. Otherwise, Cid would genuinely worry about being embarrassed by him.