Rise of the Crusader



Meanwhile, in New Age City, as a portal appeared in front of the mansion allocated to Raphael, Bane, and Devon rushed in with Aiden in Devon's hand.

The three of their clothes were dyed in blood while Aiden was unconscious, and as they stepped into the mansion, Bane's loud voice rang out.

"Raphael!"

"Raphael!!"

The two of them stared at the upper floor of the mansion with worry written all over their faces. Aiden was in a dire condition, the only reason why he was still breathing was because of the system's constant regeneration. If it hadn't been so, he would have already died.

And for the system to completely heal him, he needed a shocking number of points. The system policy was so strict that regardless of the state it saw Aiden, it still remained adamant about its request.

You either provide the points or perish!

It was as simple as that. And if Raphael wasn't also able to help Aiden, his death was inevitable.

"Raphael!" Devon yelled, but even after shouts, there was no response or even the sound of movement coming. It caused a deep frown to appear on Devon and Bane's faces.

Bane sighed, "Stay with him, I will go get Raphael." Bane said.

With his hand balled into a tight fist, he was about to begin to head towards the upper floor of the mansion when a brown-haired figure appeared on the floor.

Staring at Raphael and Gus on his shoulder, Bane pointed his hand at Aiden who was on the floor, "Please help him," he said.

"We were attacked by a beast in the city! We tried to kill the beast, but we were no match for it. The three of us got hurt in the process, but the beast somehow harmed Aiden with a green mist."

Apparently, the green mist was a poison that caused Aiden's entire upper and lower body to be paralyzed. It took everything he had to create a portal that led to the mansion, or else they would have died at the hands of the beast.

Raphael listened to Bane as he continued to explain what transpired in the city, and even though his eyes were glued to Aiden, he didn't seem to give the intention of coming downstairs, not to talk of lending help.

"If you can save him, please save him."

"I will be forever indebted to you," Bane announced as he stared at Raphael.

However, even after he spoke, there was yet to be a response or movement from Raphael. The expression on his face was indifferent, as though Aiden's life and death situation was of no difference to him.

"Please Raphael, he won't make it, if you don't help him," Bane muttered.

It was barely up to a second after Bane's voice rang out, and Aiden's body began to tremble violently. His body shook almost as though he were experiencing a seizure, and as his eyes sprang open, he spat out a mouthful amount of blood.

The look on his face was like someone who had just been pulled out of purgatory. He took a glance at Devon and Bane who were close to him before then moving his gaze to Raphael.

His mouth opened slightly, and he was about to speak when the trembling started again. This time it was even direr than the previous time, and as blood spilled out of his mouth, Aiden could barely breathe.

"You will only harm yourself if you try to speak, you have been poisoned." As Raphael's soft voice rang out, there was hope on the faces of Bane and Devon.

For some reason, the both of them didn't doubt that if there was someone capable of saving Aiden apart from the system in the city, then it was Raphael.

They couldn't explain the feeling but standing before him, he seemed to have the solution to everything, as he was always two steps ahead of everyone.

If Raphael had known this was how Devon and Bane thought of him, he would have shaken his head. Clearly, the two of them underestimated him a lot if they really thought he was only two steps ahead of everyone

As Raphael took a gentle stride to the lower floor, a rough smile couldn't help but appear in Devon and Bane's voice. Devon wiped the tears across his face, and gently moved away from Aiden once Raphael was in front of Aiden.

Raphael stared at Aiden's incomparably pale skin, and his body which was dyed in blood for a few seconds before saying, "Hold still, this will be a little painful."

Aiden was about to nod his head when Raphael placed both of his hands on his injured body. His eyes rolled back and forth around their sockets, and he was just about to let out a scream that could awaken even the dead when Raphael tore a part of his clothes and placed it in his mouth.

"Mhmmmm!" He bit down on the clothes, while his body jerked, trying to break free of Raphael's grasp.

However, before Raphael's tight grip, Aiden's effort to break free from his hold was in vain. His vision soon began to fade as the pain became unbearable, however just as he was about to lose consciousness, a slap landed on his face.

Aiden was instantly awakened, and as he stared at the blue owl on his chest, and then Raphael who had a poker look on his face, terror swept through his body.

"You will die if you fall unconscious, so you should stay awake," Raphael said.

Raphael's words caused Aiden to widen his eyes, he stared at Devon and Bane, who stared at him with him and then bit down on the clothes in his mouth.

When Raphael said this was only going to hurt a little, Aiden had expected it to only be a pinch perhaps, but what he felt was inhumane. It was as if he were set into a pot of lava as he felt pain across every part of his body.

He could tell that Raphael was using his decay power to erase the poison that spread all over his body, but his powers didn't only go after the poison in his body, but they also affected his bones and cells.

The distress caused Aiden to want to lose consciousness, but every time his eyes twitched or even shut close for a few seconds, he received a powerful slap from Gus.

It was hard to believe this was the same owl that he shared meals with and even offered buffalo wings, as when it came to whacking his face, Gus held nothing back. To the point that if one looked at how hard Aiden was whacked, you would assume, he had a beef with Gus.

"That will be all," Raphael said and then took away his hand from Aiden.

He wiped the beads of sweat that were around his forehead and then stood up. Turning towards Bane and Devon, "He will need some rest, but there shouldn't be any life-threatening situation any longer."

"Thank you, Raphael!"

"Thank you"

Devon and Bane spoke. They soon turned towards Aiden, and it didn't come as any surprise to see him unconscious. No sane person would experience this without losing unconscious immediately after.

Unbeknownst to Devon and Bane, as Raphael turned his back against them, blood appeared on the corner of his lips. He touched the blood and soon frowned at the sight of it.

Gus let out a hiss that caused Raphael to shake his head, "I don't regret helping him, Gus. He will be of great use to me, which is why I chose to help him." Said Raphael.

While in the eyes of Devon, Bane, and Aiden, what Raphael did was use his decay power to wipe out the damage caused by the green mist, the truth was it was way more complex than that.

Raphael had contemplated heavily if whether or not to save Aiden. Supposedly, he had enough time on his hand, he could stand inside Aiden's body, and figure out a cure for him, but if he didn't make a move sooner, Aiden was going to die.

There was also the chance that once Aiden came into contact with his decay power, he would perish immediately and might even turn into a bag of bones. It was called absolute decay for a reason, after all.

But to make sure none of that happened, he needed to weaken his power greatly, even more than what he was already doing. Then, once the little portion of decay energy was inside Aiden, he had to control them to eliminate the green mist in Aiden.

Raphael had, however, somehow underestimated the might of the green mist while eliminating it. It retaliated during the process and attacked him, and if it hadn't been for the decay power he possessed, he would have perished.

"Now I can't help but be interested in the beast that was capable of using that green mist," Raphael said as he walked to his room.