36th Dusk: After Edo
"DAMN YOU, EXORCIST!" The Level 3 Akuma named Hiroshima cursed Dylan for his comeback in the battle. With Nagasaki dead, Hiroshima's chances of victory were reduced significantly, and the fact Dylan had just unlocked a new level of power did not help those odds.
But despite Hiroshima's rage, Dylan face now only showed conviction. Any residual fear or pain that may have been there earlier was removed when he achieved Critical Breaker. All that remained was to finish things off with Hiroshima.
"It's time, Blood-Sworn Knight." Dylan stated the new name of his Innocence again, holding the sword pointed at Hiroshima.
"Don't screw with me!" Hiroshima shouted at Dylan in anger and what sounded like actual fear, which Dylan felt was uncharacteristic of the living weapon known as Akuma. "Don't think just because you killed Nagasaki you can kill me! Nagasaki was second-rate, I'm a close-combat type Level 3; I'm not as easy to take down!" Hiroshima proclaimed this information in a poor attempt to strike fear back into Dylan.
But that was not going to work, Dylan no longer held any such fear for the Level 3 in front of him. Even if one or even two more Level 3 Akuma showed up right now for backup, Dylan doubted that fear would return. That was simply the amount of confidence holding his improved weapon gave Dylan. It was strange even, but Dylan felt as if he was not fighting alone, like his Innocence was truly supporting him in this battle.
Because of that feeling, Dylan felt no fear. "You're wrong, Akuma." Dylan said with a calm, steady voice. "You don't have a chance of winning anymore. Any chance you had... just died."
Hearing those words, Hiroshima held back another scream and tried to relax. "No, Exorcist... you're wrong." It growled back at Dylan. "I'll show you... that I am stronger."
With that said, Hiroshima began walking closer to Dylan while at the same time creating a huge number of copies around it to hide his real body. The copies continued to stretch out in a mass and create a circle around Dylan, making it to where the real Hiroshima could move around behind the copies and be anywhere. But Hiroshima was still unaware of the Innocence fragments stuck on it that told Dylan exactly where it was.
Since Hiroshima only was aware of the fact Dylan was somehow keeping track of its position, it probably believed that if it did something as grand as this, he could still elude Dylan. To prove Hiroshima wrong, Dylan stood and morphed his Innocence into a gun. "No, you're not." He spoke to Hiroshima as he held the gun out at a 40 degree angle from where he was facing and pulled the trigger.
A single bullet was shot from Dylan's Innocence and flew in a line straight for the real Hiroshima within the mass of fakes. Realizing instantly that the bullet was aimed straight at its head, Hiroshima let the illusions drop and put its arms up in front of its face to defend against the attack.
The bullet smashed into Hiroshima's arm and drove itself half way into it. The force of the bullet continued forward on Dylan's command and was pushing Hiroshima backwards as it continued to drive further into the Akuma's arm in an attempt to reach its head. As the Level 3 attempted to fight back against the bullet, it growled in the pain and pushed its arms away from its head. Hiroshima managed to bring itself to a stop and then began pushing the bullet back. While it began to win against the amazing force of the bullet in its arm, Hiroshima cursed Dylan once more for his resistance."Damn... you... Exor-"
But Hiroshima's words were cut off, because at that point, another gunshot rang out, and a second bullet crashed into Hiroshima's gut. The bullet buried itself deep in the Akuma's body while the bullet in its arm continued pushing back against it. "You're wide open now, Akuma." Dylan told Hiroshima, who realized all to desperately that it was true.
Hiroshima basically couldn't move with the bullet it its arm pushing back for its head, leaving it a literal sitting duck for Dylan to attack. Glancing past its arms at Dylan, Hiroshima saw him pointing his gun up toward the air and fire three times. With Dylan's control over those bullets direction, the tiny projectiles bent over in the air and came down aimed at Hiroshima's head.
The three bullets smashed into Hiroshima's head one after another and with each one the Akuma screamed in pain. At the moment all three bullets had connected with Hiroshima, Dylan then acted to finish the battle once and for all.
Converting the bullets into something that mimicked gunpowder, Dylan sent a spark of electricity through each one, which caused all five bullets currently embedded in Hiroshima to explode simultaneously.
The explosions created completely engulfed the Level 3 Akuma. As it perished, Dylan could still hear its cries of pain as its body was incinerated and destroyed. With that, the battle was over. With the danger gone, Dylan, whose body had been overly exhausted, collapsed forward onto the ground, and his Innocence deactivated. Hiroshima's and Nagasaki's final attacks had done a lot of damage, and the electric shock he had sent up his own arm to get Nagasaki had been truly the only thing keeping him conscious. With no pillar left supporting him, Dylan's vision began to cloud over.
"Dylan!" Finally able to do something, Jamie immediately got to her feet and rushed to Dylan's side with Sanzo following close behind. "Dylan, are you alright?" Jamie asked, turning Dylan over so that he was facing up.
Just barely conscious now, Dylan turned his head to look at Jamie, but he couldn't get any words out because he was just that exhausted. He could feel his mind forcing him into sleep to recuperate the damage done, and being unable to hold himself awake, Dylan fell unconscious at last.
"Dylan! Dylan!" Jamie shouted, trying to get Dylan to wake back up to be sure he was still alive.
"It's alright, Young Miss." Sanzo tried to calm Jamie. "He's just lost consciousness, his life is not in danger."
"Really?" Jamie had to be sure, so she put an ear to Dylan's chest, and once hearing a faint heartbeat, breathed with relief. Lifting her head back up, Jamie turned to Sanzo. "We need to get him out of here."
"Indeed," Sanzo agreed. "I can carry you both across the sea in my Akuma form, we will arrive in very little time."
Sanzo stepped closer and picked up Dylan's unconscious form in one arm, and then handed Dylan's Innocence to Jamie. "Hold onto this." He told her, and Jamie took the large sheet of metal in her hands. Next, Sanzo picked Jamie up in his other arm and stood up, preparing to take off his human disguise and reveal his Akuma form. "Hold on tight, Young Miss."
With that warning, Sanzo's human skin peeled off his skin and revealed the Akuma underneath. Jamie looked upon him and was a bit surprised, but only because she had never thought to ask what level Akuma Sanzo was. Like that, Sanzo flew through the air, carrying Dylan and Jamie across the ocean to China.
When next Dylan opened his eyes, he found himself in a bed of an unknown house in an unknown location. Sunlight filled the room from a window next to the bed and Dylan looked around without getting up to see his Innocence leaning against the wall and the other Innocence fragments he carried on a table in the corner.
Dylan gathered his thoughts as he pulled himself to sit up in the bed. He remembered fighting the Level 3's known as Nagasaki and Hiroshima, and just barely defeating them when his Innocence exceeding the Critical Break point and gave him the strength to win. But once he had succeeded in doing that, he blacked out. Sitting up, Dylan found a great number of bandages wrapped around his body and felt many bruises on him as well.
He had taken a huge beating in Edo, so it was no surprise. But Dylan also wondered where Jamie was. She would probably be in the same house keeping an eye on him, so it should be a simple enough matter to find her. He realized that she had probably been worried sick over Dylan falling unconscious like that, so letting her know he was finally up was his first concern.
Dylan got out of the bed and found there was a change of clothes laid out on a chair at the foot of the bed that appeared to be just in case he woke up. Putting the beige long-sleeve shirt and dark baggy pants with a belt on, Dylan took a few deep breaths and bared himself against his injuries; and then turned back to pick up his Innocence by the window.
But when he did, something entered his view outside. The sight made him almost freeze, and as he looked out he saw Jamie fighting with her Innocence. She flew around and attempted to grab onto the Akuma in front of her. But what frightened Dylan was the Akuma itself. Dylan had no idea what had happened after he lost consciousness or for how long he had stayed that way; but one thing he could be sure of by looking out at the scenery was that he was no longer in Edo. And so if he was no longer in that dangerous area of the world that had become the den for Level 3 Akuma, why was Jamie currently fighting against one?
If Dylan had been able to get coherent thoughts through his head, he would have asked himself those questions; but with that scene before his eyes, he could only react. Completely ignoring his own injuries, Dylan grabbed his Innocence and shattered the window, jumping out as he activated it. "Blood-Sworn Knight, activate!" He shouted, which immediately alerted both Jamie and the Akuma to his arrival.
But in a single instant, Dylan morphed his Innocence into a hammer and set plates at his feet to keep him from crashing into the ground. Dylan then swung his hammer down at the Level 3 Akuma to crush it before it could do any harm to Jamie. Seeing this, the Akuma reacted as quickly as it could and leapt to the side to gain fair distance while Jamie stood where she was and shielded her eyes as Dylan's hammer crushed the ground where the Akuma had been standing and sent dust in her face.
Dylan landed on the ground and stared down the Akuma with anger. Without even bothering to turn to Jamie, Dylan shot himself forward with the plates at his feet and morphed his Innocence into a sword to tear the Akuma in two. "Dylan," Jamie called after him for some reason, but Dylan didn't pay attention.
He only focused on the Akuma in front of him and swung his sword. But the Akuma jumped up just in time and flew away from him. Dylan quickly made to go after it, but before he could, Jamie suddenly cut in between him and the Akuma, facing him and spreading her arms out as if to keep him from attacking.
"Dylan, stop." Jamie told Dylan, confusing him to no end. "That's Sanzo." She added.
Hearing that, Dylan really did freeze where he stood and looked past Jamie to the Akuma behind her, who had stopped running and just floated in midair without any indication it would attack. Then the Level 3 in jet black armor lowered itself slowly to stand on the ground, and once it had, human flesh began to cover its body to show its human disguise and prove what Jamie just said.
It did now occur to Dylan that he had never even given thought to what level Sanzo might have been, but thinking back, General Cross had said that Sanzo would prove 'most useful', so this must have been what he meant. Dylan was filled with confusion now, however, at why Sanzo had been fighting with Jamie in the first place. But before he could ask, Jamie gave the answer to it, expecting him to ask.
"We were training my Innocence." Jamie told Dylan.
It actually sounded like a very effective method, too. Jamie was a brand-new Exorcist that had almost no experience with her Innocence; it was amazing enough as it was that she could combat Level 2's just because of her Innocence's abilities and qualities. But even with those special qualities, Jamie's Innocence could not combat Level 3 Akuma very well at all.
It would take forever for Jamie's Innocence to become stronger using the normal method, even taking into account that her Innocence was Parasitic, which increased Synchro rate faster than Equipment, and that she would fight against more Akuma than an average Exorcist in the Order because she was always traveling. Dylan himself had only just exceeded the Critical Break, and it had been over five years since her obtained his Innocence. Factoring all of these variables in, it would still take Jamie years before she could combat Level 3 Akuma at all, much less properly.
However, having the converted Level 3 Akuma Sanzo opened up a unique opportunity. If Jamie fought against Sanzo over and over again, with him being converted by Cross, she did not have to worry about dying just because she was fighting against an Akuma so much stronger than her. And because she would be fighting an Akuma so much more powerful than her over and over, her Synchro rate with her Innocence would likely increase at a much faster rate than Dylan's ever did.
Dylan comprehended all of this and became filled with relief. But when he did, his adrenaline stopped and he suddenly became very aware of his aching injuries again. Because of this, he stumbled and fell forward, but Jamie acted and caught him before he hit the ground. "Dylan!" Jamie cried out in worry for him.
"I'm fine." Dylan assured Jamie. "I'm just exhausted."
"It's not surprising." Sanzo told Dylan. "You were unconscious for ten days."
"What!? Ten days; I've been out that long?" Dylan asked, sounding angry.
"It's all thanks to Hiroshima's and Nagasaki's last attacks, I'd say." Sanzo explained. "Those last two strikes put some serious dents in you; it was amazing you managed to stay conscious as long as you did."
"Come on," Jamie said to Dylan, slinging his arm over her shoulder and then beginning to fly back up to the room he had just jumped out of. "You still need to rest Dylan."
Carrying Dylan back into the room through the shattered window, Jamie sat Dylan back down on the bed and took his Innocence, setting it to the side as it deactivated. Just then, a Chinese man came rushing into the room in a panic. "What's going on? I heard something break." He spoke in English, allowing even Dylan to understand him.
"No, I'm sorry. That was a bit of a false alarm. Dylan has woken up." Jamie explained to the man, who then looked to Dylan and sighed with relief.
"Oh, well that's very good then." The man said and smiled. "So then, Dylan. It's good to finally see you awake, my name is Chang Xu and I've been taking care of you since your friends brought you here."
Dylan nodded in gratitude to Chang. "I appreciate the help, thank you."
"You're quite welcome. Now just lie back down and get more rest; your injuries are going to keep you from doing much for a while longer." Chang told Dylan.
"How much longer?" Dylan asked. "I'd like to get moving as soon as possible."
"It'll probably be another week before your ready to go."
"A week?" Dylan questioned, obviously uncomfortable with staying in one place for such a long time.
"And that might be being generous."
"It's alright Dylan," Jamie tried to calm Dylan. "We don't have to be in a hurry."
In truth, Dylan's discomfort at sticking around wasn't being caused by a desire to get anywhere this time. Rather, it was just that after moving around all the time for so long, staying in one place for only as long as necessary became a habit that was difficult for him to think of stopping. Dylan realized this fact, but it didn't ease his discomfort much.
Just then, Sanzo came into the room. "You need only focus on recovering," He told Dylan. "The Young Miss and I will take care of anything that might happen until you have."
With a sigh, Dylan forced himself to accept all that and laid down in the bed. "Alright, I'll leave it to you." He told Jamie and Sanzo a bit reluctantly.
"Good," Sanzo said, and then stepped to the side as Chang Xu and Jamie left the room.
"I'll bring you some food in a moment." Chang told Dylan as he left.
"Feel better soon." Jamie said with a bright smile as she followed.
Sanzo was about to follow after them as well, but before he did, Dylan spoke to him. "Sanzo, can I speak to you for a moment?"
"Very well," Sanzo said, closing the door and taking a seat in a chair next to Dylan's bed. "What is it?"
"How come you didn't tell us right away that you were a Level 3?" Dylan asked.
"Well, no reason really, I just didn't end up brining it up."
"But what about when I fought Nagasaki and Hiroshima? Couldn't you have helped if you were Level 3?"
Hearing that question, Sanzo sighed. "Master Cross ordered me to obey you, that wasn't a suggestion. I'm not capable of defying Master Cross anymore than a regular Akuma is capable of defying the Mellenium Earl, and you ordered me to stay and protect Jamie. Since I was ordered to listen to you, I couldn't have helped you unless I was given the order to do so." He explained. "But looking at it subjectively, even if I could have, would you have forgiven me for leaving Jamie by herself to help you?"
Asked that question, Dylan closed his eyes. "No, you're right." He admitted. "Thank you for protecting her." He said, apparently being finally past disliking Sanzo just because he was an Akuma. "But one more thing."
"What is it?"
"General Cross had mentioned that you would self-destruct if the conversion effect on you wore off. Just to be clear, how long will it be before that happens?"
"It's not a specific length of time that decides it." Sanzo answered Dylan. "You see, even converted, Akuma cannot suppress their natural urge to kill forever. If I go too long without killing, my natural Akuma instinct will attempt to take over, and once the urge is beyond my control, I will self-destruct.
"Putting it objectively, I believe I can go about two week without killing before my natural instincts attempt to kick in. However, I can easily kill any Akuma outside of Edo, and use that as a means to suppress my natural instincts to kill humans longer. So long as I continue killing other Akuma, I will remain your ally."
"I see, so then, how long has it been since you last killed an Akuma?"
"Four days. The young miss and I cleared out any Akuma in the area then."
"You cleared them out?"
"Yes, Akuma are capable of sensing one another's presence, if there were any Akuma remaining in the vicinity, I would know it." Sanzo explained. "Now, please sir, get some rest." He told Dylan, and left the room.
With a sigh, Dylan closed his eyes and rested. He wouldn't get anything done complaining about the length of time he would be out of commission. With Sanzo training Jamie the way he was, he could trust anything that might happen until then to them. His main focus right now had to be recovering, and with that in mind, Dylan let himself drift back into sleep; and he dreamt. He dreamt peaceful dreams.