"Don't move yet."
In the living room, just as Leon had been pressed onto the sofa by Yukinoshita Yukino, Yuuki Asuna spoke softly while placing her delicate hands against Leon's chest.
"Buzz——"
A fluorescent green glow suddenly blossomed from Asuna's hands. It wasn't piercing; rather, it was very soft, giving off a comfortable sensation.
The radiance was injected into Leon's body along with Asuna's magic, making him feel a warmth spread through him. The pain from his wounds subsided, and he felt much more energetic. His injuries were slowly healing under the illumination of this gentle light, causing him to look at Asuna in astonishment.
"When did you learn to use healing powers?"
Leon had been completely unaware of this development.
"Recently." Asuna stared intently at the wounds on Leon's body, not looking back at him. As she treated him, she explained, "After the last attack, wasn't everyone injured?"
"Especially Kiba-kun and Nimura-kun; their injuries were so severe they couldn't be healed without the Phoenix Tears. It made me feel uneasy."
"Even if I'm just being paranoid, I couldn't help but think: what would happen if we encountered something like that again and someone near us was gravely injured?"
"So, after coming back, I spent my spare time away from sword practice looking through books on healing in the study."
And then?
You just... learned it?
Leon looked at Asuna's flawless, beautiful face, momentarily speechless.
As mentioned before, restoration abilities belong to the highest tier of powers. The number of people who can use them is extremely limited. Specifically, healing abilities capable of regenerating lost limbs are difficult to achieve unless one uses exceptionally powerful forbidden spells or equivalent methods.
Because of this, individuals with restoration abilities are incredibly scarce and highly sought after. Especially within a team, someone with this talent is often the most in-demand presence—longed for by everyone but out of reach for most.
And yet?
Asuna simply read some books after coming back and learned it?
"We didn't expect it either." Yukinoshita Yukino was the peer who understood these matters best besides Leon. Seeing Leon's dumbfounded expression, she added, "Perhaps Asuna truly has a talent for this. She just gave it a try and accomplished it easily."
Since Yukino was the one who spent the most time in the study, she had been present when Asuna went looking for books. She had even helped point out where the volumes on healing were located. In other words, Yukino was the first to witness Asuna manifest restoration abilities, leaving her stunned at the time.
"Don't even talk about you two; even I was surprised," Miyamoto Musashi said, unable to hide her amazement. "I never would have thought, Asuna—that besides your swordsmanship, you'd have such a strong gift for restoration."
Musashi's words reminded Leon of a particularly important detail.
In Asuna's own story, besides being the elite swordswoman known as "The Flash," she eventually earned another title: "The Berserk Healer."
That had happened in another game, where she set her race as a Water Sprite—specialists in healing magic—thereby gaining restorative powers. However, because she frequently abandoned her duties as a healer to charge to the front lines with her sword, she earned that somewhat ungraceful nickname.
So what's happening now? Are we literally bringing anecdotes from the original source into reality?
Leon felt utterly amazed.
However, Asuna herself shook her head and added one more thing.
"I'm not the only one who can do it. Mahiru can use restoration powers too."
That one sentence caused everyone's gaze to shift toward Shiina Mahiru.
"I can use it, but I'm not as proficient as Asuna-senpai," Mahiru said, her caramel-colored eyes lowering slightly in shame. "That's why I didn't dare try to treat Senpai myself. I'm very sorry."
Mahiru looked at Leon with an anxious gaze, seemingly worried that he might think she was useless because of this.
"It's fine. Being able to use it at all is already incredible," Leon said, showing no signs of disappointment. On the contrary, he praised them, "How long has it been since we returned? Only a few days at most. For the two of you to learn restoration in such a short time is more than enough of a pleasant surprise."
He meant it. While Leon was surprised, he was mostly delighted.
He was the "King" of the Eligos Peerage and the leader of this team. He knew exactly how much of an asset restoration was to a group. He had even toyed with the idea of finding a way to recruit Asia Argento, who was originally supposed to belong to the Gremory Peerage.
He never expected that his own household members would possess the rare talent to learn restoration, and for two of them to appear at once was an incredible stroke of luck.
Then again, if Asuna the "Berserk Healer" had the talent, how could Shiina Mahiru, hailed as an "Angel," not have it?
Though it wasn't an absolute rule, restoration powers were mostly positive forces that didn't always mesh well with demonic existences. Thus, people with such abilities were usually found in Heaven or the Church, while they were rarer among Devils and Fallen Angels.
Mahiru might be a Devil now, but she was the possessor of the "Purification of the Purple Flame Master," wielding strong holy and purifying powers. This made her quite compatible with restoration; it wasn't particularly strange that she could learn it.
"Why is it that I can't learn it?"
Kasumigaoka Utaha muttered to herself in frustration.
She had also been visiting the study frequently lately. After seeing Asuna and Mahiru succeed one after another, she had tried it herself, but she couldn't manifest it no matter what she did.
"Talent is a very realistic and cruel thing. You either have it or you don't. It's not something you can just envy," Yukinoshita Yukino said calmly, thinking of her own sister.
She had tried as well, and ultimately failed.
"I can only treat minor injuries. More serious wounds would require in-depth study before I could heal them," Asuna added quickly. "As for regenerating lost limbs, that's impossible for me right now no matter what."
To achieve that, Asuna would need to study techniques at the level of forbidden spells. That wasn't something that could be accomplished overnight. Furthermore, she only intended to study it for now; she didn't plan on making it her primary method.
Currently, she still placed more importance on her training in the Way of the Sword; restoration was intended to be a secondary skill.
"Once you've mastered your current training, you can certainly study it more comprehensively," Miyamoto Musashi spoke up, addressing Asuna. "Restoration is useful in both team battles and solo duels. Especially in a war of attrition, a healer with restoration powers is the lifeline of the team. Even the Great Demon Kings take this very seriously."
"Since you have this rare talent and achieved this level in just a few days, it would be a shame to give it up."
"Once you have the capacity in the future, you can definitely dive deeper. That would be good for both you and the entire Eligos Peerage."
Asuna accepted Musashi's guidance wholeheartedly. She never intended to give up on this power; otherwise, she wouldn't have sought it out in the first place. Once she had mastered her swordsmanship, she definitely intended to study restoration properly.
For now, however, healing was a side gig, and the Way of the Sword remained Asuna's primary focus.
"There."
After a while, Asuna withdrew the glowing green light from her hands and smiled.
"That should do it."
Under her treatment, though Leon's appearance hadn't improved—he was still tattered and covered in bloodstains—his wounds were mostly healed, and the pain was completely gone.
"Yeah, I'm good." Leon tried moving his body. Finding that it felt no different from usual, he gave Asuna a thumbs-up. "As expected of our Asuna. Your healing is very meticulous and thorough."
"It's a good thing your injuries weren't severe, otherwise we might have had to apply to the Underworld for Phoenix Tears again," Miyamoto Musashi laughed. Then, her expression turned serious as she asked, "Is it about time you told me exactly what happened?"
This wasn't just something they were concerned about; the Underworld was also paying attention, waiting for a report from Leon and Musashi.
"Actually, it was like this——"
Leon considered his words for a moment and then recounted the events that had transpired between him and Cao Cao that day.
He didn't need to hide anything, so he explained the entire experience clearly. The expressions of the others turned solemn at first, then shifted through various states of shock.
The amount of information Leon revealed was staggering.
The person who planned this attack was a human, a descendant of a hero—that was surprising enough. But the fact that the opponent seemed to have formed a faction and belonged to the same organization as the Old Demon King faction was even more startling. The opponent had also been present during the previous attack on the three peerage teams; they were the one hiding behind the scenes—if not the mastermind, then at least an instigator and accomplice.
Of course, that wasn't the most shocking part.
The most shocking thing was that the opponent possessed a power that made Devils extremely wary——
"The 'True Longinus'——"
Miyamoto Musashi whispered the name.
"This is going to be troublesome——"