Gol D. Ace In Coiling Dragon

“I just heard about Mira and Kong,” Killian said as he, Leo, and Alissa came barging through the doors of Milianna’s clinic in the city of Gol. “How are they?”

“Not good,” Faye said in a hushed tone, worried about disturbing the already frail Ace. “They were in critical condition when we brought them back, but Aunt Milli is in with them now.”

“With Aunt Milli’s abilities, they’ll be fine, right?” Alissa asked, expecting Faye and Lance to nod in agreement, only to find them both looking hesitant and unsure.

It had to be remembered that Milianna’s comprehension of the Edict of Life had reached the profound stage. Aside from Arianna, whose insights into the laws of light had surpassed most deities, Milianna was the best healer any of them knew.

For Lance and Faye to know that and still be so pensive, the severity of their conditions could be understood.

“Ace…” Killian said softly.

“I’m fine,” Ace smiled in an attempt to reassure this younger brother of his. “Alissa and Kong will be fine!”

Ace said that as though he was trying to convince himself rather than Killian, but whenever he thought back to the condition of both Alissa and Kong when he brought them back, his convincing himself was all he could do to keep himself from snapping.

When Harriet blew herself up, Ace had been too far away to stop Wukong from charging in in his crazed state.

Ultimately, all he could do was will his flames to envelope Harriet to contain the blast as much as possible.

His actions had saved many of the mortals closer to the blast, but Wukong…

When the dust cleared, Wukong’s condition was critical. His skin and flesh had been burnt off in most places on his body to the point where the whites of his bones were clearly on display. Calling his breathing shallow was a severe understatement.

Ace knew he had to get him back to his mother’s side as soon as possible, but he was scared about moving him in his condition in case he further aggravated his injuries.

It was then, whilst Ace was deciding on how to proceed, that Amira took matters into her own hands.

With Ace holding her whilst standing over Wukong’s body, Amira took the chance to use the remnants of her fleeting energy to not only summon her bloodline but also use her strongest healing spell on Wukong.

Ordinarily, that would’ve been fine; if anything, she would’ve merely lost consciousness from fatigue, but with the added strain of Maria’s poisonous battle-qi still ravaging her insides, her condition went from severe to worse.

She coughed a mouthful of inky black blood before directly losing consciousness as her normally healthy and flawless caramel skin turned deathly pale.

It was then that Ace threw caution to the wind and took both Kong and Amira in his arms, and shot off at a speed that put his previous top speed to shame.

His desire to get Mira and Kong to his mother was so strong that he, without even realising it, made a slight breakthrough, deepening his insights into the Profound Mystery of Explosions.

Still, in that moment, the only thing that mattered to him was getting his loved ones to safety.

Thankfully, when Amira and the others returned to the Pavilion to apply to become Acolytes, when they received the spell [Force Armour], he received the technique [Pseudo Godrealm].

With the spherical barrier of fire covering them, it prevented any unwanted air resistance from worsening their injuries. Still, there wasn’t much he could do about the jerkiness of his movement technique, especially as he couldn’t afford to slow down, as it would mean they would die before they arrived.

His jerky movements definitely didn’t help, but thankfully, Ace was able to bring them back to Milianna’s clinic, where she spent most of her days, before either of them lost their lives.

The moment Milianna saw their conditions, she urgently, yet still calmly, had Ace lie them both down before having the still frantic Ace wait outside to keep him from disturbing her.

That was over two hours ago. And the only thing holding Ace together was the fact that despite being weak, both Amira and Wukong’s auras were still very much alive.

Suddenly, Ace jumped up as he looked towards the door, where his mother entered from. “How are they? Will they be okay?”

“Wukong’s stable,” Milianna nodded before a slightly hesitant expression appeared on her face.

“What about Mira?” Ace asked hurriedly upon noticing the expression on his mother’s face.

“She’s safe for now, but…”

“But what?” Ace asked frantically.

“But she, she’s refusing further treatment,” Millianna explained. “She says she wants to battle the poison on her own.”

“Why did you listen to her?!” Ace snapped. “Go back in and heal her.”

This was the first time Ace had ever raised his voice at his mother. His actions caught everyone by surprise, aside from the target of his outburst.

A helpless sigh escaped Milianna’s mouth before she calmly replied without answering his question. “Go in and ask her yourself.”

Ace’s brows furrowed slightly, but he didn’t say anything further; he simply marched past her and into the treatment room of his mother’s clinic.

Upon going inside, he saw Wukong, though unconscious and bandaged from head to toe, still stable, just as his mother said, allowing him to breathe a sigh of relief, at least in part.

But beside him was Amira. From the looks of it, her condition had barely improved. Her veins were still dark and wriggling inside her, causing unimaginable pain and discomfort, but a gentle smile hung on her face when she saw Ace’s face – despite his obvious worry.

“What’s wrong with you?” Ace whispered sternly, scared his raised voice could worsen her condition. “Why are you refusing treatment?”

“Look at you… worrying about… me,” Mira voiced between bated breaths with a weak but gentle smile as she ignored her pain to tease the dark-haired teen.

“I’m serious!” Ace replied, ignoring her teasing remarks. “I’m gonna call my mother back in, and you will be treated – This isn’t up for debate!”

“You’re right… it isn’t,” Amira said, still retaining her angelic smile. “I’ve already decided… I want to fight… and beat this… on my own.”

“Why, though?” Ace asked upon seeing the firm and resolute light in her eyes. “You have nothing to prove!”

“It’s not about proving anything,” Amira explained. “This is an opportunity for me…”

Ace listened patiently as Amira explained that when she first used her healing spells, she noticed that she experienced some unexpected gains. She couldn’t be sure, but she guessed it had something to do with light and darkness being opposite sides of the same coin.

As such, she came up with the idea of using the poisonous dark energy inside her to refine her own healing magic and use it to comprehend the Law of Light’s Profound Mystery Of Purity.

Ace knew it was risky, but when he looked into her firm eyes as she told him to trust her, he couldn’t help but step back. First of all it wasn’t his decision to make, and second, he knew exactly how talented she was. If anyone could turn this disaster into a blessing, it was her.

As he came out of the room, everyone looked at him expectantly. They had heard Amira’s reasoning from Milianna, so they knew what her plan was. Still, they thought it was madness, they could only hope that Ace was able to get through to her.

But when he came out, instead of addressing Killian and the others, Ace turned to his mother with an apologetic expression on his face. “I’m sorry for before, mom.”

“It’s fine, son,” Milianna smiled, waving her hand dismissively. “I know how much little Mira means to you.

But more importantly, were you able to get her to change her mind?”

A wry smile appeared on Ace’s face as he helplessly shook his head. “She’s already made her mind up; all I can do now is believe in her.”

“So that’s it?” Alissa asked in almost disbelief. “We’re just gonna let her sit around with poison in her body, slowly killing her?”

“What do you want us to do?” Ace asked back. “You know how stubborn she is; once she’s made her mind up, not even a sovereign would be able to change it.”

Alissa didn’t respond immediately. Although she wasn’t as close to Amira as Ace, they were still good friends; as such, she understood her friend’s disposition well.

“So what are we gonna do in the meantime?” Alissa asked, clearly not reconciled with leaving things as they are. “Are we just gonna let those bastards from the Cult go after what they did?”

“Of course not,” Ace shook his head as a vicious glint flickered in his eyes. “I intend to send a message to all of our enemies so they know the price of crossing our bottom line and are forced to think twice before doing so again in the future.”