Adopted Soldier

After the battle with Leon, Dan simply stood there unmoving. The truth was after using TRANSCEND Dan's consciousness was already flickering on and off. When he was hit in the back by Leon's scythe Dan was already unconscious then, and his body simply moved on its own. He was able to kill Leon this way as he sustained multiple injuries. 

A few minutes after Leon's death, Dan was jolted awake as an indescribable pain assaulted him. Blood flowed out of his body like a river. If it was any other person, even someone at Richter's level had so much blood come out of him, he would already have fainted and might've died, but it was different for Dan. Aside from Rika who was biologically better than all of humanity, the endurance of Dan's body was only second to her. 

Dan was pretty much a living breathing, human tank at this point. Still, even for him, this much damage was not something he could handle. Coupled with the fact that, the backlash from using TRANSCEND was assaulting him, Dan was supposed to have fainted and died already. Yet with his unrivaled willpower, Dan was able to power through. 

He started to drag his body forward with so much difficulty. If anyone were watching him, they would feel his pain as well, since it was already painful to simply watch. The once-mighty Blond Devil who fought tanks for enjoyment was basically dead now but still, he continued onward. As he forced his body to move bearing unimaginable pain, he only had the promise to his daughter on his mind. 

'What kind of a father am I, if I keep on failing to keep my promises to my daughter?! Stupid body! Move already!' Dan's body which was bleeding all over continued to move one step at a time. As he slid forward, Dan started to remove the weapons that stuck into his body. It was easy to remove the scythe that clung to his back, but the daggers that pierced his chest were a whole other matter. 

It took Dan everything he got to remove those from his chest. He almost lost consciousness multiple times as he tried removing the pieces of the daggers out of his chest. Once all the weapons that were stuck on him were removed, Dan started to bleed even more. 

In his current state, Dan could no longer perform the blood stopping pressure point move. He could no longer exert any strength in his hand as they felt like jelly at the moment. His once-powerful arm became a weight that slowed him down. His powerful body that was stronger than steel was now full of holes. His eyes that used to glimmer with pride and passion was now empty and hollow. The once-powerful Devil of the battlefield, the Blond Devil Dan Regius looked extremely pathetic at this point. 

Even his enemies would look at him in pity if they saw him in this state.

...

As Dan kept on going he remembered his family. His sons have grown into fine young men, his daughter turned into a beautiful flower. While his wife remained ever valiant, ever strong, ever beautiful. She who waited for him all these years, she who stood tall and unshakable, that figure of hers etched in his mind. 

"What... The... HELL!... AM... I... DOING!" Dan's voice that sounded hoarse at first slowly got louder and louder. After shouting his feelings Dan started coughing and even coughed up blood. Still, with renewed vigor, Dan pushed onward, even in extreme pain, even when his strength was spent he kept on moving ever forward. 

'What kind of father am I, if I always break my promises to my daughter! What kind of father am I, if I don't watch my sons become true men! What kind of husband am I if I don't return home to my wife!'

As his vision has gone blurry, Dan could practically see a blurry mirage of his family in the distance smiling at him. They were all there waiting for him. 

'I'm going to go home, no matter what! I will return home!' Dan's breathing was getting heavier and heavier, as he was already low on oxygen. Dan was sure that he was experiencing Hypoxemia but that didn't matter he just needed to move onward, onward and onward. 

He already left his family for ten years, because of his dream to make his martial arts into the most powerful. He sacrificed everything for that purpose, even his family. Now that he was nearing his end, he finally figured out that all of that didn't matter. It was a cliche but now he understood that what was important was always near him. Dan smiled sarcastically at himself thinking of how stupid he was. 

As a warrior, Dan was never afraid of death. What he was truly afraid of was being hated by his family. If he doesn't fulfill his promise to his daughter she would surely truly hate him this time. If he doesn't come home his sons and his wife might not wait for him anymore. 

Dan who was already near death noticed that he was no longer moving. His legs were no longer responding to his commands. Still, that didn't stop him, using his heavy arms he tried crawling forward. It was then Dan smelled something weird in the air. Even though he was already having problems breathing he still noticed this minor change. 

When he got a whiff of this unknown substance in the air, Dan's consciousness which was already on the verge of turning off, was now truly about to make him faint. As he was slowly losing consciousness Dan started coughing a larger amount of blood. 

Something was definitely happening to his body, but because of his injuries, he was sure that his body wouldn't be able to handle the changes. The pain and the frustration he felt all disappeared for a second, as Dan saw the most beautiful sight ever. Right in front of him were his wife, his sons, and his daughter all welcoming him home. 

"I'm home...." Dan was able to say those words with a satisfied smile on his face before everything turned dark.