Return of the Demon Sovereign (Book 1) [MxM]

83. A King's Declaration

Leo and Skadi stopped in the middle of the camp. Astra and the Captains were first to appear, the healers next. Leo jumped off, and Skadi lowered herself to the ground so he could pick up Erebus.

Astra let out a cry when she saw the massive amount of blood all over the trio, but when she saw Erebus, she dropped the mug she was clutching tightly before, letting it shatter on the ground.

His hair was matted with blood and clung to his face. The black was a drastic contrast against the ashen and sunken face. His eyes were still covered with a torn-up cloth. His clothes were ripped to shreds, and needles were embedded in his skin.

The ten water cultivators from High Serpent were familiar with wounds and blood but faltered when they approached him. They had never seen such extensive damage before—the only one who kept his calm with Rhys.

"Stop gawking and help!" He yelled.

This was enough to get them all moving. They carried him to a separate tent, Leo, Astra, and the captains following closely behind.

The healers tore off the scraps of clothing, leaving him with just his underwear. They pulled out the needles and used water to wash away the blood, but when the wounds were revealed, it caused more chaos.

A couple of the healers had to run out and vomit when they saw his condition. Leo stood still with his jaw tightly clenched and his hands trembling. He hadn't noticed Astra hugging his waist or her tears silently falling. 

Erebus' body was a twisted mess. His muscles were taut from being overused and consistently quivered under the hands of the healers. He was bruised almost everywhere with signs of internal bleeding. Deep gashes covered his body, and puncture wounds were abundantly scattered on him.

However, the most concerning wounds were the places where his arms seemed to split and the puncture wound on his side. His arms looked like bloody lightning crawling up his arms and up to his shoulders. And the stab wound in his side that went straight through has ripped open further because of his battle with the assassins.

Rhys carefully took off the strip of cloth from around Erebus' eyes and breathed with relief. "His eyes are fine," he murmured to no one in particular. "There's no damage."

Rhys and the healers didn't stop their tireless efforts and worked on closing the more severe wounds. Leo, Astra, and the captains took turns feeding Erebus their mana to help strengthen his meridians and core.

It took an entire night and a day to bring him from the brink of death. It took another day to take him out of critical condition. Finally, they only needed two healers to go through the other wounds and bruising.

Healing Erebus took nearly two weeks. His body had finally recovered, but he hadn't woken up.

Rhys would come multiple times a day to check his condition, while Astra and the captains would take turns guarding him, unsure if assassins would appear. 

Leo had wanted to stay by his side, but he was next in command and needed to work overtime to keep the troops calm and focused. They were deep in enemy territory, and he was on edge. He couldn't let anything happen to the soldiers because it would cause more issues for Erebus when he woke up. He needed to support him as much as possible, even if that meant he had to suffer through the days away from him.

However, when night fell, he would be next to Erebus. He would wipe his body down to clean him, brush and wash his long hair, and fuss over his Phonoi Heart marking that became much darker.

Erebus' consciousness was in the Phonoi Heart's world, sitting in a lotus position. He had not moved or said a word this entire time. He was focused on circulating his energy. His meridians were severely damaged, so he needed to repair them. He debated for a while and focused his mana to complete another meridian cleansing. The pain was unbearable and chaotic. It was the main reason he hadn't woken up this entire time. He also knew someone was healing him, so he took advantage of the healers watching over him. With the constant healing and cleansing, his meridians were becoming rebuilt and stronger than before. He was surprised to find that they rivaled his old meridians from the Warring Era. He had to admire Eri's body and how it was built for his type of cultivation.