A surgical tray hovered in mid-air, iodine cotton balls dripping amber-colored antiseptic. The moment Kuzuryu stepped into the hospital corridor, all sound was vacuumed away. Saline bags on a nurse's cart crystallized into glass pendants, seventeen Tail-class Aragami frozen mid-lunge—their spiral maws mere centimeters from the nearest patient.
"Afternoon tea isn't for cleaning up trash." He unclipped a gilded pocket watch from his chest, its second hand suddenly reversing three ticks.
Space crumpled like tin foil. The Aragami regressed into embryonic forms, shrinking into grayish flesh orbs that rolled across the floor. A janitor pushing a cleaning cart passed by, mistaking them for spilled rice cakes.
"Ultraviolet sterilization, please." He addressed the air, his white coat brushing the orbs as the watch chain chimed like wind chimes.
In the circular medical chamber seven floors underground, Suzune adjusted a neural coupler. The liquid nitrogen chamber's surface reflected a bubblegum-chewing boy—the serpent earring on his lobe flickering like Morse code.
"Did you bag live bait this time?" The boy poked the chamber containing the floating black-haired youth. "To make the Chief use the Sands of Time..."
"The Red Rain incident at Thunder Gate three years ago." Suzune activated a hologram reconstructing charred lantern debris from data streams. "The site labeled as a gas explosion had Divine Relic fluctuations identical to this mark."
Alarms shredded the air. Space rippled as Kuzuryu entered, his watch chain dripping fluorescent slime, sleeves carrying the scent of burnt sandalwood. "Forty-two larval-class, eleven Tail-class—" He tossed a twitching tentacle stump into an analyzer. "All secreting targeted pheromones, like hyenas smelling carrion."
The boy's popped bubblegum stuck to his nose: "So he's monster bait?"
"More precisely, an awakening alarm system." Kuzuryu tapped the chamber, golden fluid rippling. "Post-cardiac arrest, cellular activity spiked 280%—this inverse metabolism..." He leaned closer. "...perfectly matches the 'Phoenix' rampage case twenty years ago."
Suzune slammed her fist on the console, bronze bells shrieking: "Will you execute a memory purge?"
"When I used the Sands of Time to revive lab rats, I scrubbed incinerators all summer." Kuzuryu spun his gilded watch, time-dust swirling like stardust. "But this *is* intriguing—" His pallor deepened. "Reversing death demands equivalent exchange. How much time will you pay?"
"Three years." Suzune ripped her collar open, lava-like erosion marks glowing on her collarbone.
The boy raised his hand, citrus scent trailing: "Plus my mission credits—"
"Minors can't trade time." Kuzuryu flicked his fingers to freeze him mid-motion. The time-dust vortex funneled into Renrin's chest. "But the gesture's noted."
The chamber vibrated violently. Fine cracks spiderwebbed across Kuzuryu's fingertips like frost on glass. Suzune's bells rang autonomously as lotus-shaped light bloomed over the boy's wound.
"85% synchronization." Kuzuryu severed the energy flow, time-dust condensing into an hourglass. "Whether he awakens depends on his worthiness." He tossed Suzune a rusted brass watch. "Take him to Thunder Gate ruins tomorrow—the erased truth lies in the scorched lion-dog statue."
Emergency lights shifted crimson. The chamber trembled as molten gold seeped from the boy's mark, incinerating neural cables. Divine Relic resonance spiked wildly on monitors—
Kuzuryu hit the emergency brake button, clockwork veins glowing faintly blue beneath his wrist. "Seems our guest arrived ten minutes early."