SSS-Ranked Surgeon In Another World: The Healer Is Actually OP! - Chapter 212: Back Home

Chapter 212: Back Home

Bruce lifted his gaze slightly.

“Axiom,” he said calmly. “Teleport me out.”

There was no delay, no flourish, no dramatic buildup. The world simply obeyed. Space folded around him as if it had always been waiting for the command, invisible layers peeling away while the Axiom’s Labyrinth receded without resistance or protest.

Reality twisted once more, not violently, but with a quiet inevitability, and in the very next heartbeat the pressure vanished and the open world took its place.

Bruce moved.

The instant his feet touched solid ground beyond the Labyrinth’s bounds, his body leaned forward and ran, the earth detonating beneath his step as he moved at top speed erupted without restraint.

The air screamed as he tore through it, the sound barrier shattering behind him in a violent crack that rippled outward in expanding shockwaves.

Trees became smears of color, terrain dissolved into abstraction, and the ground ceased to feel solid at all. Each step was no longer contact, but intent given form.

Wind clawed at him, tearing past his body in savage currents, yet he cut through it effortlessly, his motion so clean it felt less like running and more like the world yielding before him.

He exhaled once, slow and controlled, a steady breath taken amid impossible speed. It had been a long time since he had run like this. No suppression. No limits. No reason to hold back.

As the scenery collapsed into pure motion, a single thought surfaced unbidden.

’Sophie.’

His pace didn’t slow, but something tightened faintly in his chest, subtle enough that only he would notice.

’It really had been a while. It had been long since he had seen or heard from her…’

After this, after confirming everything, after grounding himself again, he would go see her.

The city’s outer regions rushed toward him faster than most people could even register, distance folding in on itself as roads vanished beneath his stride and landmarks lost all meaning. The world simply gave way.

Then, just as abruptly, he slowed, the violent pressure bleeding off with precise control as the shockwaves dissipated and the air settled, as though reality itself was relieved to be allowed to breathe again.

He was close now. Home.

Before taking another step, his eyes sharpened and the familiar authority answered his will. Life Glance activated silently, without spectacle, and the world shifted in a way only he could perceive.

Sight gave way to existence itself as threads of vitality unfolded before him, layered and distinct, each presence inside the house revealed not by shape or sound, but by life.

Lily’s presence burned bright and warm, stable and unmistakably alive.

Lucy’s was calm and steady, unbroken, her rhythm untroubled.

Ash’s life force thrummed with dense vitality far beyond what his size suggested, vibrant and powerful, a pulse that resonated with strength.

All of them were fine.

Bruce released a slow breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, the tension draining from his shoulders in a way no battle ever could.

In the next instant, he stopped perfectly. No skid marked the ground. No dust stirred. No sound escaped him as he stood directly before the gate, the metal bars mere inches from his chest. His presence folded inward once more, every trace of pressure sealed away as though it had never existed.

For a moment, he didn’t move, simply standing there and listening to the familiar quiet beyond the walls, to the ordinary sounds that defined something he had almost forgotten how to return to. Home hadn’t changed. The walls were the same.

The air was the same. The life inside was the same.

But Bruce Ackerman wasn’t.

And as he reached out toward the gate, one truth settled with absolute certainty. This time, he wasn’t returning weakened. He had come back complete and even stronger.

Bruce reached for the gate.

Before his fingers could touch the metal, something stirred inside the house.

Ash felt him.

There was no sound. No signal. No visible trigger. But the bond snapped taut in an instant, and the little dragon reacted before thought could catch up. A sharp, excited chirp echoed from within, followed by the rapid thump of small feet and the unmistakable rush of movement.

The door burst open.

Ash shot out like a streak of light, wings flaring as he leapt straight for Bruce’s chest, colliding with him in a flurry of warmth and excitement. His tail wagged wildly, wings fluttering without rhythm as he chirped nonstop, circling Bruce’s shoulders as if trying to make sure he was really there.

Bruce laughed softly and lifted a hand, steadying him without effort.

“Easy,” he said quietly. “I’m here.”

That was all it took.

The sound of hurried footsteps followed immediately.

“Bruce!”

Lily appeared in the doorway, eyes wide for half a heartbeat before lighting up completely. Any restraint vanished. With no one watching to make her hesitate, she ran straight at him and leapt, arms wrapping tightly around his side as she pressed her face against his arm.

“You’re back!” she said, voice bright and breathless, as if saying it once wasn’t enough. “You’re really back!”

Bruce rested a hand on her head, ruffling her hair gently as Ash finally settled against his shoulder, still humming with excitement.

“I told you I would be,” he replied calmly.

Lily pulled back just enough to look up at him, eyes practically glowing. Then, as if remembering something critically important, she straightened abruptly.

“Oh! Oh! Bruce, you won’t believe what happened!” she said quickly, words tumbling over each other. “At school, right, at school, I used the spear technique you taught me, and it was amazing! Like, really amazing!”

She lifted her hands instinctively, mimicking the motion.

“I did exactly what you said! I didn’t rush, I didn’t panic. I just waited,” she said quickly, hands moving as if replaying the moment. “They came at me first, but I stayed calm and did it step by step, just like you taught me. And then everything just worked. One after another, they couldn’t get past me at all!” She grinned proudly. “Everyone stopped talking. Even the instructor just stared like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing!”

Ash chirped in agreement, puffing his chest as if taking partial credit.

“And Ash was there too!” Lily added quickly. “He followed me the whole way, and he saw everything! He can confirm it! I mean, they didn’t stand a chance. Not even close!”

Bruce watched her quietly, smiling as she spoke, hands moving, voice rising and falling like she was recounting the deeds of some great hero rather than a school sparring session.

When she finally paused for breath, he spoke.

“I don’t need to confirm anything from Ash,” Bruce said gently. “I believe you.”

Lily blinked once.

Then her smile widened even more.

“Really?”

“Yes,” he replied.

That seemed to satisfy her completely.