Rise of the Eromancer

Chapter 321 Hurt

"…I did hear that something happened when they were trying to attach Rhys's bionic arm. Does your expression have something to do with that, Commander?"

"Wow, you really do know everything, huh? Remind me not to mess with you again, Suit."

"And by that look you are giving me, you want me to tell you what happened?"

"I am not giving you any looks, Commander."

"Ho…? You really need to stop pulling my balls."

And while Dr. Dhani was completely busy trying to check on the condition of Rhys's dismembered arm, both Ayesha and Maria were seemingly busy whispering to each other; with Maria very subtly moving closer and closer to Ayesha with a knowing smile on her face.

"I really hate it when you have a smile on your face," a smirk crawled onto Ayesha's face as she crossed her arms and glanced at Maria, "Your robotic demeanor suits you better."

"Perhaps," Maria just shrugged, "Are you going to tell me what happened then, or should I take a guess? I did hear several deaths were involved."

"No," the look on Ayesha's eyes turned serious as she glanced away from Maria and focused on Rhys, "Two."

"Hm…?"

"Two people died," Ayesha closed her eyes and let out a long and very deep breath, "Everything was fine when they attached the bionic leg, there were no problems at all — Rhys did not even wake up from the pain when the doctors expected it."

"Couldn't they have just tried to regenerate his legs?"

"You really think every doctor in this world is like that guy?" Ayesha nodded her head as she glanced at Dr. Dhani, "The most they could do was expertly attach new limbs — expensive limbs, and as I said…

…the leg was fine."

"And I am assuming the problem started when they started attaching the bionic arm?" Maria squinted her eyes as she started fidgeting with her tablet.

"Yeah," Ayesha once again released a deep breath as she seemed to be trying hard not to recall what happened, but it was time that she actually shared it with someone — and who better to share it with than Rhys's very own search engine,

"He woke up, or at least that's what we all thought."

"What do you mean by—"

"...What are you guys talking about?" And before the two could continue with their conversation, Katarina approached them with a curious expression on her face.

"Oh, it's nothing," Ayesha quickly smirked and waved her hand.

"We were talking about what happened during the time the doctors failed to attach his bionic arm, K."

"Damn it, Suit…" Ayesha could really only cover her face, "...You're supposed to be good at keeping secrets."

"I am," Maria shrugged, "But you still have not told what the secret was."

"What… secret?" Katarina squinted her eyes as she looked at Ayesha.

"It's… nothing you should worry about," Ayesha once again waved her hand and just focused on Rhys, "It was… there was an accident that happened during that time."

"An… accident?" Katarina let out a small gasp, "Then should we stop the doctor if it's dangerous for Rhys?"

"No…" Ayesha just continued to watch Dr. Dhani examine Rhys's arm, "...Rhys is not the one in danger."

"...What do you mean?"

"I'm sure it's nothing," Ayesha just shook her head, "The Doc's one of the strongest people in the world. Even if that… thing comes out, he'll be able to smack it around like a pair of balls in a cold nutsack."

"...Right."

Ayesha no longer said anything after that — but Katarina, and even Maria were getting quite uneasy since Ayesha was lightly tapping her foot on the ground. They have never seen her this anxious before…

…just what was she not telling them?

But alas, Ayesha seemed resolute in keeping her lips shut, and the only thing Katarina and Maria could do was watch as Rhys's arm very slowly regenerated from the shoulders.

"Good."

And as soon as the arm was whole again, Ayesha was the first to let out a long and very deep gasp of relief — and for some reason, Katarina and Maria also joined her even though they had no idea what exactly was happening.

"Is… it done, Dr. Dhani?" Katarina held her chest as she approached Dr. Dhani.

"Yes," Dr. Dhani stood up and turned to Katarina, "Arm is as good as new. He just needs a little moment to get used to—"

"Dr. Dhani!?"

"Shit!"

Katarina, Maria, Ayesha, and even Margryth, who had been keeping completely silent on the side could not help but just flinch and back away as something suddenly emerged from Dr. Dhani's chest.

"What…" Katarina blinked a couple of times as some of Dr. Dhani's blood and flesh got on her face.

"This is…" Dr. Dhani seemed to be the last to realize what happened as he slowly looked down, only to see some sort of… black spike pierced through his chest. He was going to take a step forward so that he could heal himself, but before he could do so, the spike just pulled him back…

…straight toward Rhys — it was his arm, which was now suddenly… just a black goo. And before he could even try to push himself away, the spike started to spread across his body, "What is—!?"

And then started crushing and folding his limbs like they were made of styrofoam.

"Shit, what are you guys just looking at!?" Ayesha was the first to snap out of her stupor as she quickly rushed toward Rhys and Dr. Dhani, "Oi, Recruit!"

Ayesha grabbed Rhys by the collar, while Katarina tried pulling Dr. Dhani away from the black goo—but although it looked like goo, it was hard, incredibly so.

"Rhys… what's happening!? Let… let go of the doctor!"

"He's… he's unconscious!" Ayesha tried slapping Rhys awake, "He—"

Before Ayesha could finish her words, the goo just suddenly flew toward her; turning into a spike and stabbing her straight in the chest; managing to pierce an inch through her almost impenetrable skin and flesh.

"Tch…" Ayesha gritted her teeth as she took that as a sign to completely back away from Rhys, also pulling Katarina away from him.

"Wait! The doctor is—"

"The doctor's gone." Everyone then just watched as Dr. Dhani just crumpled like paper there and then — he was not even able to let out a single sound before… whatever Rhys's arm was now seemingly sucked him inside completely, leaving no trace of him at all.

The only thing everyone could do was watch in horror as the black goo just completely ate Dr. Dhani.

"Shit…" Ayesha's breaths turned heavy, "...It happened again, it happened again. Shit."

"What… what just happened?" Katarina stared at Rhys as the goo coming out of his shoulder slowly turned regained its flesh color and turned back into his newly regenerated arm, "Ayesha… what just happened!?"

"I don't know!" Ayesha raised her voice, "All I know is it happened before, and it happened again!"

"Why didn't you warn Dr. Dhani!?" Katarina also raised her voice.

"If I did, then he might have not healed Rhys's arm!" Ayesha's voice was slowly being filled with frustration, "It was my fault that he lost his arm! He lost his arm because of me, and if we told Dr. Dhani, then he… then he wouldn't have…"

"Ayesha…" Katarina could really only close her eyes as this was the first time she was also seeing Ayesha acting quite vulnerable. But as soon as Ayesha saw the look of pity in Katarina's eyes, she just quickly cleared her throat and focused back on Rhys.

"He… seems to be fine now," Ayesha cleared her throat again as she looked at Rhys, who was just completely unconscious on the floor, "But most importantly…

…how do we deal with Dr. Dhani?"

"Ayesha… I think we should take a look at your chest first. It's… bleeding pretty badly."

"Ah… shit."

And while Katarina, Maria, and Ayesha had sweat forming on their foreheads, an amused smile was crawling on Margryth's face.

"So…

…this is why he's so interested in you."

***

"You mean… the doctor just left?"

"Yup. He wanted to stay but he said he had something to do…? I didn't really pry."

"But—"

"Ah, I'm needed in the hospital, Rhys. Can we talk later?"

"But that's—"

After a few hours, Rhys woke up — only to find that Katarina was the only one left with him inside his room. He wanted to ask her about Dr. Dhani, but she just kissed his forehead and quickly rushed out of the room before he could actually ask about anything.

The only thing Rhys could really do as he was sat on the bed was watch as Katarina closed the door.

"My arm… huh," Rhys then raised his right arm, wiggling his fingers and closing it into a fist. But before a smile could actually form on his face, he just quickly let out a breath and shook his head,

"Maria, are you there?"

"..."

"Maria."

"What is it, Rhys?" Maria emerged next to Rhys's bed; her eyes, looking to the side.

"Katarina has always been a bad liar," Rhys glanced at Maria, "And you're acting weird too. Something happened…

…and I want to know what."

"That's…" Maria really only hesitated at the start. But after a few seconds of just staying quiet, she told Rhys everything — everything.

"What…?" Rhys let out a small gasp as he looked at his hand.

"We will make sure that they will never find out about Dr. Dha—"

"I…" Rhys blinked a couple of times as his voice started to tremble,

"...I hurt Ayesha?"