Despite the young tamer's slow and careful movements, Enatsu opened his eyes due to the burning feeling. "What... who... Yoshiko?" the merchant murmured, opening his eyes and watching his friend take shape before him.

"Hey, brother. What's up?" Yoichi smiled, watching Enatsu's face out of the corner of his eye.

​​

The wound on his abdomen was worse than the day before: the shredded edges of the cut looked rotten and festering, wholly soaked in Blackblood.

That dark substance prevented the blood platelets from regenerating normally the damaged tissues even after Yoshiko's meticulous care. Every time more Blackblood escaped from the depths of the wound, it carried more blood, lowering the venous pressure of poor Enatsu, pale as a corpse.

Takamori looks very sensitive to the sight of blood despite being an experienced warrior. He avoided getting too close to his wounded warrior, trying to figure out from a distance what Yoichi was up to.

"I've been lying on this bed for over twelve hours, I can't move, and a squirrel made me swallow at least a dozen magic acorns... what do you think? I feel great! Aargh!" - Trying to be ironic even in that moment of pain, Enatsu tried to move his back, but to no avail.

"Yoshiko has kept you alive so far, but she definitely needed to rest. Do you remember what you told me about the antidote for the Blackblood?" the young tamer asked. He tore off a piece of clean gauze and used it to tie back his long blonde hair so that it would not obstruct his sight.

"I don't think I remember, brother. My head is killing me, I can barely remember my own fucking name!" - After the sudden awakening, Enatsu began to feel all the pain of the wound again as the analgesic power of Gagrelin's acorn gradually faded.

"What's the only thing capable of destroying the Blackblood?" Yoichi asked, knowing his best friend would understand what he had in mind.

"Huh? Have you gone crazy? Look, I was joking!" Enatsu shivered, widening his eyes. "If you used Kenji's fire on the wound, you'd burn my whole body! Get that out of your head, Yoichi! I don't... argh! Fuck!"

The tamer merchant couldn't even finish a sentence without being interrupted by the searing pain of the still-open wound. The cut on his abdomen was pulsing, and that foul-smelling substance kept self-regenerating endlessly, preventing healing.

"You're right. If I unleashed the dragon flame on you, I would reduce your body to ashes," Yoichi spoke. "But what if I used less of it just to consume the Blackblood?" he added, looking his friend in the eyes as if he wanted to convince him to undergo a strange experiment.

"What?! What do you take me for, Yoichi? I'm not a lab rat!" - fear was painted on the expression of the merchant, who broke in a cold sweat at the very idea of undergoing such treatment.

"Yoichi," Takamori interrupted, taking courage to speak. "You yourself admitted that you are not yet able to control the power of the dragon flame. Using that power to rampage and fight certainly requires less self-control than using it to cauterize a wound."

From his words, even the guild master seemed to disagree. However, time continued to run out, and the cut on Enatsu's abdomen grew even wider, causing him unbearable pain.

"Fuck! Fuck! It feels like someone is digging into me!"

Next to Enatsu's bed, in addition to the blood-stained bandages, a Demon Tooth housed Rokuro, the injured mole demon. Unlike its tamer, perhaps Rokuro would be to heal its damaged body autonomously.

Enastu's groans brought Yoichi and Takamori to look into each other's eyes. The young warrior's gaze spoke clearly: time was running out for the young merchant.

Even if Yoshiko had been there, she would have only delayed the effect of the Blackblood and made Enatsu's agony more challenging to bear.

Takamori let out a long sigh and walked over to the nightstand. Down on the floor, he picked up the basket full of sterile gauze and grabbed one.

"What are you going to do, Sensei? You're not indulging Yoichi, I hope!" Enatsu trembled, barely moving his head and following Takamori with his gaze.

After rolling and folding a gauze to making it thicker and more robust, the guild leader brought it closer to the future Nightblades wizard's mouth.

"Um? Umpf! Uuurgh!" - Putting pressure on Enatsu's mouth, Takamori slipped the gauze between his teeth, preventing him from screaming any further and psychologically preparing him for what would happen next.

Akay, the mantis demon, jumped from its master's head and landed on the soft bed next to the young merchant. Communicating telepathically with Takamori, the Gokirama gave a hint of its power.

The insect rubbed its bladed legs and then waved them forward toward one of Enatsu's hands. Suddenly, a current of cold air created a block of ice that froze the wounded warrior's limbs.

"Uhm?! UUUHMM!"

Enatsu's screams increased further, and his other arm instinctively tried to grab the little ice demon. Under Yoichi's astonished eyes, Akay leapt onto Enatsu's chest and sealed his other hand under another crystalline block.

After immobilizing the helpless Enatsu, Takamori looked into Yoichi's eyes. "You have one chance only, boy. Your friend's life depends on you," he spoke, avoiding dropping his gaze to the wound that oozed black sludge.

Yoichi had been stunned to see the tiny mantis demon create such a large amount of ice. Nevertheless, he shook his head and took a step back, knowing that the temporary lock on Enatsu's arms would not last forever.

"Ildriss!" he yelled, summoning Kenji.

The small dragon's distinctive flame rose from his chest, almost reaching the ceiling. As the black-scaled body of his Oracle took shape, Kenji was fully aware of what it was supposed to do.

During his fights with his last enemies, Yoichi had been able to release large amounts of draconic flame from the deepest spots of his ribcage, unleashing a primal power.

But would he also be able to control it to suture a wound?