"Oh, fuck!" Yoichi gulped, squinting his eyes and holding his hand steady in that position. The black liquid in contact with the glowing claw emitted a strange alien sound and began to evaporate.

Enatsu's abdomen swelled and deflated, letting out all the accumulated Blackblood. The process lasted roughly thirty seconds, but in poor Enatsu's mind, the pain seemed never to end.

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His abdominal muscles contracted, slowing the rest of the sludge trapped between his muscle fibres. The sterile gauze between Takamori's stains became lightly stained with blood from Enatsu's gums, who was biting it so hard that he was self-damaging.

The young merchant's eyes shifted back, and his pupils looked inward at his eyelids. During that painful surgery, he could no longer hold back the pain and passed out.

Enatsu's hands, legs and abdomen stopped vibrating, and mud began to pour out in large quantities. In contact with the air, the Blackblood decomposed and evaporated, burned by the mere incandescence of the dragon flame.

Yoichi opened his eyes again, making sure not to push too hard with his hand. Finally, the inside of the deep gash on his friend's abdomen was back to normal, and a few spots of black sludge lay on the surface.

"I have to get rid of every little piece of Blackblood. If it came in contact with his blood again, it could start regenerating and Enatsu would be infected once more!" Yoichi spoke aloud as if he felt safer that way.

Takamori remained silent, observing the scene along with his mantis, now resting in the center of Enatsu's chest. The ice that held his wrists in place had melted completely, soaking the mattress and dripping onto the wooden floor.

Right there, between the old beams, it was probably dripping downstairs, where the Nightblades warriors ignored what was happening over their heads.

Taking care not to dig any deeper, Yoichi spread his legs and grabbed the wrist of his enhanced arm with his other hand, trying to hold it steady.

"Ouch!" - Unconsciously, the young tamer hadn't thought that without Kenji's enhancement, his human hand would be scalded upon contact with draconic energy.

With one last effort, Yoichi traced the perimeter of the semi-circular wound with his glowing claw, removing the last portions of Blackblood, which evaporated into its usual greyish smoke.

As the last drop of Gonshiro's power was removed from Enatsu's innocent body, blood from within the wound finally began to flow out again.

"I did it!" the blond-haired warrior rejoiced, removing his hand from his friend and deactivating Kenji's power.

Yoichi's arm returned to normal, and the claws on his right hand disappeared, as did the small flames on Kenji's body.

From Enatsu's open wound, a small trickle of 'human' blood began to flow, also bathing the bed, which now looked like that in an operating room.

Takamori grabbed more bandages and the little remaining ointment in a hurry, left by Yoshiko in an earthenware container next to the bedside table. The guild master smeared the ointment on the wound carefully and wrapped the cloth bandages around Enatsu's abdomen, aided by Yoichi.

A sound of footsteps drew the gazes of both of them to the stairs. Sensing Enatsu's heartbreaking cries, Yoshiko was there again, on the third floor of the tower.

"Yoshiko…" Takamori called, who until a moment before would have sworn the young healer was asleep. "What are you doing here? The situation is under control. You were supposed to be resting and..."

Ignoring her master's call, the blue-haired girl slinked over to Enatsu and rested a hand on his neck and her head on his chest. After a few seconds of silence, her large blue eyes lifted to Yoichi, brimming with tears.

"You... you saved him," Yoshiko whimpered. Tears trickled down over her wet lips, and a long wisp of blue hair fell across her face, slightly touching her nose.

Yoichi smiled, sharing his intense joy with his guildmate. It was clear that Yoshiko had become especially fond of Enatsu, despite having had very little time to get to know him.

He and Takamori lifted Enatsu's unconscious body and moved it to the adjacent bed, the one intended for Yoichi. With the bandages clean and the wound no longer infected, the young merchant would now need to go through the standard convalescence to heal.

From a simple experiment, Yoichi had realized, thanks to a hunch, that the power he had inherited from the supreme Therion could also be used to heal people. His friend's life was no longer in danger and, after this fantastic news, he could devote himself to his training without having to carry that heavy burden.

Kenji was recalled to the inside of his chest and was replaced by Gagrelin, the little squirrel demon. Promising Takamori that she would indeed rest, Yoshiko decided to occupy one of the beds on the third floor so that she could stay by Enatsu's side in case of need.

Yoichi sensed the affection that was slowly spreading through the walls of that room and, after greeting his master and thanking him for his valuable advice that morning, he put something under his teeth.

Lunchtime had arrived, and the tiredness of the training against Nobunaga was making itself felt. After finishing eating, the young tamer waited for Shioko to say hi to her before leaving the tower again.

The red-haired girl did not show up, perhaps intent on the backlog of tasks she had not completed during her last journey. Unable to waste any more time and having to concentrate on himself, Yoichi left the Nightblades' headquarters and headed for the arena.

Finally, the constant thought of Enatsu, which was always in the background of his mind and did not allow him to make radical decisions, had subsided.

Even though only a few hours had passed since the previous night and his meeting with the supreme Dragon King, he sensed that the clash with the first of the Guardians of the Whole was getting closer and closer. But how did one really prepare to face one of Lumya's supreme dragons?