Chapter 236 - Bittersweet Rendezvous

"Who the hell are you?!..."

"I think explanations can wait, get in."

Dismissing the question, the mysterious man with fluffy, light-brown hair turned his gaze toward the husks filling into the small area, pointing his eyes back at Sora. 

"...Grrn...Fine."

Hopping into the unorthodox vehicle, the steel door quickly shut itself just as the flesh-hungering entities on the outside lunged at it, doing nothing to the sturdy frame of the vehicle. 

"Woah…"

It was the only utterance that could leave his lips upon seeing the inside of the transportation tool. Before he could part his lips to speak, the man interrupted him. 

"Before you ask--no, you're not crazy. The inside is definitely larger than what it appears from the outside. That's the ability unique to the Unbezwingbar, a mouthful, I know."

"Ability?...This thing is?..."

"That's right--it's a magical artifact itself. The name's Nikko by the way, I'm an adventurer contracted by the Hollow Order, just like yourself."

Still holding the two bodies in each arm, Sora looked down at the extended hand then back at the man who looked probably a few years younger than himself, who awkwardly withdrew his hand with a nervous laugh. 

"Oh, right."

Slowly setting both the boy and the body of his friend down on the black leathered couch that looked built into one of the walls of the gargantuan interior, Sora smiled softly to himself. 

"So, why're you here?"

"What kind of question is that? I don't think you'd be in a very good place if it wasn't for us."

"Us?"

"Oh, that's right. I forgot to mention--we're the Sky Dragon Conglomerate, a full-fledged guild. Anywho, I believe we're here for the same reason: clean up the husk issue. Though, it seems the situation has changed."

As Nikko explained this, Sora looked side to side, not seeing anyone besides the man of a slight build standing before him. 

"Everyone else is in the main control room--oh, there is someone you should probably see." 

"Huh?" 

Being ushered forth by Nikko, who was walking and talking and directing the blood-soaked man with his finger, he was brought into another section of the interior of a seemingly endless size. Inhabiting this room was a full-stock of potions of all sorts, as well as less than pleasant looking tools of medicine. 

Sitting in this room was a half-asleep-looking young man, who greeted the entrants with a yawn. 

"This is Graymore, he's the designated medic of our guild. Graymore, I leave him to you!"

And just like that, the eccentric, glasses-wearing man was out of the room in a jiffy, leaving Sora alone with the yawning healer. 

Nikko suddenly came back through the door with a finger raised, looking directly at the vermilion-haired man who looked like a walking corpse at this point. 

"Your friend out there, he looks like he could use a bit of treatment as well--want me to bring him in?"

Being asked this, Sora's expression came over with a bit of pain as he bit down on his lip, slowly shaking his head. 

"He's, uh, well...He didn't make it."

"Oh…Sorry."

"Just keep an eye on the kid for me, alright?"

"You've got it!"

Nikko's eccentricity came out in a choke as he gave a thumbs-up to the man before leaving the room once more. 

Taking a seat across from the medic wearing a long, white coat, the boy's messy, curly locks of a moss-green covered one of his half-opened, amethyst eyes. 

At first, he believed it to be a standard coat that a doctor would wear, but such a concept didn't exist in this world. He recognized the same sigil that was present on Nikko's sable coat, placed on the left sleeve. It was wide-spread dragon winds with the head of a smiling dragon in the center. 

Man, people in this world sure do love dragons...

"Here, drink this before I start…"

His words came out gently through his tired, smiling lips as he seemed to struggle to reach the highest shelf, barely retrieving the vial containing a clear, verdant liquid and handing it to the man. 

"What's it?"

"Concentrated dragon mucus." 

"What the--?! Do I have to?"

Looking back up at the short medic of a pale complexion with a repulsed expression, his nose scrunching up just watching the substance bounce around in the glass container, Sora received the same, aloof smile from the boy as before.

"Well...It's a miracle you're still even talking--so it's going to take another miracle to patch you up without that."

"I see…"

Hesitantly, he removed the cap from the vial as a repugnant stench met his nostrils, burning away his nose hairs instantly. 

You can do this. You can do this. 

Swallowing his disgust, he downed the entire vial, feeling the potent, slimy substance travel down his throat that vigorously tried to reject it. Finishing with a disgusted gasp, leaving his tongue outside his lips, he gagged a few times. 

"Alright, now lay back and relax. The concentrate will allow you to rest and let your mana synergize with my own while I tend to your wounds."

Following the guide of the dreary, smiling medic, Sora placed his large, muscle-bound body down on the pristine table. His legs dangled off the edge of the table, fitting onto it like the giant of a man he was. 

It was only once his eyelids began to flicker did he realize something his mind had wandered from. 

"Wait--I still need to look for Sirius!"

The thought came too late; before he knew it, his eyelids had claimed victory over his will, fully shutting as he soon dipped into unconsciousness. All of that adrenaline surging through his veins came to null, unable to move a single inch as his body took its rightful, deserved rest. 

Damn, even if I can't feel the pain, the warmth and pressure are still there. I don't think there's an inch of my body that wasn't targeted. Heh...That smarts. 

Slowly opening his eyes once more and blinking a few times, he instinctively sat up, only to meet the limits of his incredibly sore body as he winced. 

"...Agh...Damn."

"Don't move too much yet; you'll open up your wounds."

Sitting beside the treatment station was the aloof medic, who miraculously still seemed to be conscious. Looking down at his own body, Sora found himself covered in bandages, letting out a silent sigh between his lips. 

"I'm halfway to being a mummy at this point…"

"Well, that's the price of being so reckless."

"Reckless, huh?"

Standing up from the table, he nearly fell instantly as his legs didn't seem ready to carry him so soon, grabbing onto the table close by for leverage. 

"Woah--I told you not to move yet!"

Though he was clearly raising his tone, Graymore's voice didn't amplify much past his quiet, gentle self. 

"I'm fine. Thanks for treating me."

Lumbering forward, he knocked his fist against the door leading beyond the medical room a few times, finally opening it somehow as he walked into the steel interior of the vehicle. He forgot just how massive it was inside--looking around to try and regain his sense of direction. 

Somehow, he managed to find the place he was looking for, stumbling into the control room where the bulk of the guild members were, all wearing matching uniforms of a sable shade. 

"Oh? Awake already?"

Nikko was the first one to notice him, hopping up from his lounged position and greeting the man. 

"Damn, you're a tough bastard. I'd be out for a few days at least."

The gruff man leaned against the leftmost wall commented, scratching his scruffy beard as he looked the vermilion-haired guest up and down. All he received from the others present in the room were odd glances or worried looks. 

In the very forefront of the proclaimed control room was a display of magical, azure lines that were reminiscent in his mind of technological holograms from his world. Seeing something so close to that was somewhat surreal to him. 

"None of that matters--I have a friend out there still! We have to find him!"

"Sirius, right?"

"Yeah--wait, how do you know that?"

Left completely puzzled, a sly chuckle left the slender man's lips as he adjusted his glasses, moving past Sora as he gestured for him to follow. 

"How do you think I knew who you were?" 

Perplexed and looking for answers, Sora begrudgingly went along with the adventurer's whims and followed him through the door, traversing a corridor that stretched much further than he imagined before stopping in front of one of the many doors lining each wall. 

"Knock yourself out."

Without pressing any further, Nikko left the man on his own, giving him a pat on the shoulder before disappearing back down the hall. 

"What the hell? Talk about annoying…"

Sighing quietly to himself, the tall, bulky man opened the door before him, revealing the plain, minimalist room to his eyes. 

Sitting on the neatly-made bed with silky, gray sheets was a man most familiar to his eyes; the fair-faced, gray-uniform wearing Outlander. 

"Sirius!"

Caught completely off-guard, the man on the bed was immediately brought into a tight embrace by the vermilion-haired man. They both winced at the same time, separating from each other before exchanging chuckles. 

"Woah, what's up with your eyes?"

"Huh?...Oh, right. Kind of hard to explain. What's up with...your entire body? You got roughed up pretty bad."

"Like you can talk."

The two comrades shared another laugh before it fell silent. Reading the dreadful expression that hung like a somber shadow over the man's face, Sirius was puzzled. 

"...Talk to me. Something happened, right? I mean, besides the messed up shit that's been happening." 

"Yeah, well...I don't really know how to say this…"